HADES Unleashed
837 Words
ARC ONE: BIRTH OF THE KING
Chapter 3: Hades Unleashed
Flames consumed the marketplace.
Collapsed buildings littered the streets while thick clouds of dust choked the air. Citizens fled in terror, their screams echoing throughout Mount Othrys.
At the center of the destruction...
Two figures stood facing one another.
One was a young prince with a carefree smile.
The other...
A fallen angel whose very presence carried plague and death.
The wind fell silent.
Hades stretched his neck before pointing lazily at Beelzebub.
"So..."
"You really chose option three."
A grin spread across his face.
"I like your confidence."
Without another word...
BOOM!!
The ground exploded beneath Hades' feet.
He shot forward like a cannonball.
His fist tore through the air.
"BACK TO HELL!!"
Beelzebub didn't move.
Instead...
He smiled.
"...Plague Art."
Dark green energy seeped from beneath his cloak.
"SWARMING INSECTS DEVOUR."
A deafening buzz erupted.
Thousands...
No.
Millions of grotesque insects burst from the darkness, instantly surrounding Hades.
The swarm swallowed him whole.
The prince disappeared beneath an ocean of black wings.
CRUNCH!!
CRUNCH!!
CRUNCH!!
The insects tore into his flesh with horrifying speed.
Blood sprayed through the swarm.
"AAARGH!!"
For the first time...
Hades screamed.
Beelzebub calmly walked forward.
"You rely too much on brute strength."
The swarm suddenly dispersed.
Hades emerged, covered in blood.
Chunks of flesh had been stripped from his arms and shoulders.
His breathing became ragged.
Before he could recover—
BANG!!
Beelzebub's roundhouse kick slammed into his ribs.
The impact launched Hades across the marketplace.
He crashed through a stone pillar before smashing into three nearby buildings.
The entire street collapsed around him.
Dust swallowed everything.
Beelzebub lowered his leg.
"My name..."
"...is Beelzebub."
"The Lord of Flies."
"The Angel of Decay."
"You would do well..."
"...to remember it."
Silence.
Then...
The rubble shifted.
"Cough..."
A battered hand emerged.
Moments later...
Hades slowly climbed out.
His body was covered in wounds.
Blood dripped from countless bite marks.
He stared at Beelzebub.
"...Ouch."
He dusted his shoulder as though nothing had happened.
"That..."
"...actually hurt."
He smiled.
"Not bad."
"Really not bad."
Beelzebub narrowed his eyes.
"You smile even now?"
Hades shrugged.
"If I stop smiling..."
"...my sisters will worry."
For just a brief second...
Beelzebub was caught off guard.
Then Hades sighed.
"Looks like I'll have to stop playing around."
He rolled his shoulders.
"I wanted to settle this peacefully."
"But..."
"...you've officially annoyed me."
He closed his eyes.
The wind stopped.
Complete silence engulfed the battlefield.
Then...
A single pulse echoed from Hades' body.
THUMP.
Beelzebub instinctively stepped backward.
"What..."
Another pulse.
THUMP!!
The ground cracked beneath Hades.
Lavender-colored energy slowly leaked from his body.
The air grew unbearably heavy.
The pressure alone forced nearby buildings to crumble.
Beelzebub's expression changed.
"This pressure..."
Far away...
Inside the Palace of Time...
Cronus suddenly opened his eyes during meditation.
His pupils narrowed.
"...Hades."
Elsewhere...
Hestia dropped the tray she had been carrying.
Demeter stopped watering her flowers.
They both turned toward the marketplace.
They felt it too.
An enormous divine power...
One unlike anything they had ever experienced.
Back at the battlefield...
The pressure continued to rise.
Purple cracks spread across the earth.
Red lightning danced around Hades' body.
Violent gusts of compressed air spiraled into the sky.
The marketplace trembled.
Windows shattered.
The heavens darkened.
Beelzebub unconsciously took another step back.
His instincts screamed at him.
Run.
Hades slowly opened his eyes.
They had changed.
No longer black.
They had become silver-gray.
His black hair gradually lost its color...
Turning completely white.
The wounds across his body healed before Beelzebub's very eyes.
Muscle.
Skin.
Blood.
Everything regenerated.
The lavender aura exploded outward.
BOOOOOOM!!
A pillar of divine light pierced the heavens.
The shockwave flattened every remaining building within hundreds of meters.
When the light finally faded...
Hades stood calmly in its center.
His white hair danced in the wind.
Lavender flames surrounded him.
Red lightning crackled across his body.
The cheerful smile remained...
But something about him had changed.
Even his carefree aura now carried the dignity of a king.
Beelzebub stared in disbelief.
"...Impossible."
Hades raised one hand.
Divine energy gathered into his palm.
Slowly...
It condensed.
Taking shape.
A magnificent saber materialized from pure divine power.
Its silver blade shimmered with lavender light, while crimson lightning crawled along its edge.
Hades rested the weapon on his shoulder.
"So..."
"This is what my power feels like."
He smiled.
"I like it."
Beelzebub tightened his fists.
"What are you?"
Hades laughed.
"I've been asking myself the same question."
He pointed the blade at the fallen angel.
"But we can figure that out later."
He lowered his stance.
The ground beneath him fractured.
His aura roared like a raging storm.
"This is Round Two."
"And trust me..."
His grin widened.
"I'm hitting a lot harder this time."
In the blink of an eye...
Hades vanished.
Beelzebub's eyes widened.
"He's—"
Too late.
BOOM!!
A devastating impact echoed across the battlefield.
The second round had begun.
End of Chapter 3
- Writer
