37 War III - Hades vs. Atlas

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The war as well as half of the Underworld-building has been completed on my end. We are slowly nearing the world of Bleach where Hades will spend quite a while in. It is one of my personal favourites long before the anime started.

The FML/love interest is from Bleach. Now I added a poll in the Auxillary chapter. I need some darker character that is strong at the same time. It is either of those two and I believe they both deserve a bit of love.

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Thunder struck and multiple explosions could be heard from Mount Othrys. The air was filled with attacks of all shapes and sizes. 

Hades could see Zeus far in the air floating and using his Master Bolt to fire at Mount Othrys and doing major damage.

As surprising as it is, the idea to take the higher ground and attack the Titans from the air was surprisingly effective. How they had not come up with that sooner ... Hades didn't understand.

But oh well. To each their own. Now it was time for Hades to do his part. He had not gotten a symbol of power, at least not one that was crafted by the gods. But maybe, he could get his own symbol of power very soon. There was this world that came to mind again. 

He thought about going there already but forgot about it because he had other more pressing matters to attend to. But he will go there for sure. It was his favourite manga when he was still human. 

.

Finally, something happened. Hades could see a giant of a man running towards his position. It seemed Cronos had given the order to attack Mount Olympus from the ground and Atlas was the one to do his bidding as one of his most devoted followers.

But that was good for Hades. He wanted to test out his strength against the Titan of strength. It would be the last time until Heracles was born and then turned into a god of strength by Zeus. 

Atlas saw Hades but paid him no mind as he had never seen him before. However, as he ran passed Hades, something peculiar happened. His vision got blurry for a moment and he found himself flung backwards.

He fell to the ground and crushed many monsters and minor gods that came with him. 

"Wha- what happened?", Atlas was confused. One moment he was running and the next he got flung backwards. Was there an ambush? A trap of sorts? No, he couldn't see anything. Did he trip?

Or did Cronos call him back and therefore turn back time? Better make sure.

Atlas stood back up and ran back up Mount Othrys...

...

...

"What the bloody heck is going on? Where is that buffoon running to?", Hades said after an awkward pause. 

His enemy first doesn't even notice him and then after he makes him shoot back, he runs away. That makes no sense. 

"Oh well, I guess we must enjoy ourselves then don't we?", Hades said addressing the monsters that were also perplexed about the situation. The minor gods looked at Hades with trepidation. None had seen him do anything but they figured it must have been him who knocked Atlas back.

"Well ... come at me."

No one moved a muscle. They were either confused or wary of Hades. But that was not cool in Hades' eyes. He was unhappy about the beginning of this fight. 

"If you don't want to attack, I will."

In the next moment, darkness spread from Hades' position in a circular manner until it covered a wide area. This action alarmed many, but before they could do anything, spears, swords and other weapons or claws came out of the darkness and killed the monsters.

They fell to the ground, dead. The minor gods that had seen this were also stabbed but they didn't die from it. 

"Rise and Serve!", Hades' voice sounded all around the battlefield. 

One after the other, the shadows of the monsters began to move and stand up. 

The minor gods who saw this were terrified and tried to flee. 

"And where are you going?", Hades said, "Blue!"

Hades used Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and pulled all of them towards him. As they flew towards him, Hades waited. In total, there were five minor gods present on the battlefield. And those five approached his position.

Before they crashed into him, multiple attacks came out of the shadows of his body. His shadows used the small shadows that his clothes made and attacked the bodies from there. It was well choreographed. No communication was needed.

"Hmm, that is a problem I haven't yet thought about. I can't truly kill you, can I? You are immortal and are connected to your domains. This means that as long as your domain exists ... you won't ever truly die."

Hades was thinking out loud as the bodies of the gods were impaled or bitten or just lay on the ground around him. He was unconcerned with them listening to his rambling. He had to find a way to kill them. 

"And if you guys don't truly die ... I can't make shadows out of you. So how shall we do that? I mean it's not like the world will fall into chaos when you no longer exist ... So does it truly matter? Hmm..."

Hades contemplated for a moment. He did go against the natural order of things. But death was natural and if they die then ... it would be natural ... or not?

.

While he contemplated this, Atlas had arrived back on Mount Othrys. He didn't understand what was happening. It hadn't been Cronos who pulled him back, but then who was it?

Atlas made his way back down. He had a lot a lot of time going back up. Now he had to make haste. Cronos was unsure about the outcome of this battle and he had never seen his brother like that. 

When he descended from the mountain he didn't see any of the monsters or gods waiting for him. They must have gone ahead. Good, at least some thought ahead. This would save him a lot of time. 

He accelerated and put a lot of force into his legs. He shot forward ... and then something happened. The same thing as before, Atlas was halted and pulled back again. 

His organs hit the front of his body and he felt some blood run down his mouth. 

"You know if this happens again I might get the impression you don't even want to fight me. I am deeply hurt, you know. I had an entire speech planned that villains and heroes exchange. 

Thou shall not pass and then you go, you can't stop me! And then back to me 'It's not too late to change.' and then you 'You'll never win' and then me again 'Evil will never prevail!' and then you 'Weakness disgusts m-', oh wait no that would be one of my lines."

[Atlas.exe has stopped working.]

"Well, it's still a work in progress. We don't have to use these exact words, we can-"

"ENOUGH!"

"Sheesh no need to shout. I'm standing right here."

"Who are you?"

"Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi, how ya doin'?", Hades offered Atlas a hand. 

"Hades ... you're one of Cronos' brats! But I haven't seen you all those years. What happened? Were you scared?"

"Eh, not really. I mean while it is indeed scary to fight in a war ... I am usually the scary one.", Hades had taken to a lower more threatening tone. No more games. This was going to be a fight to the 'no-longer-able-to-fight'.

"HAHAHAHA ... you are funny. So you hide for over a decade and then decide to face me as your first opponent. You truly are a strange one. But oh well, if I bring Lord Cronos your head, he'll be more than pleased."

"Oh? You are very confident in yourself. That is good, I hope you stay that confident."

Hades was no longer in any mood to joke. He had taken to his usual stoic face. Atlas was a good opportunity to test himself. He hadn't fought a good battle since he challenged his brother Satoru. And now, he was much stronger than back then.

.

(Hades POV)

Atlas attacked. It was nothing special, the attack had a good technique and it became apparent to me that Atlas had fought a lot of battles before, but there were no martial arts used. 

Atlas had a wide grin on his face. It seems he was happy about 'killing me' and bringing my head to Cronos. He will be disappointed though as this ... is not even slightly close to making my try. 

The Titan bent his knee, pulled his right arm back and punched with great force. Once again a fist was nearing my face in the span of two days. How do these people think that he is an easy opponent? Is there something on my forehead that said so?

I bent my head to the side and the arm shot right passed me. The momentum was too much though and Atlas lost his balance. I of course used this chance and brought my knee up and hit him in the chin. 

While normally the fight would be over now, this was not the Titan of strength for nothing. Even though his brain was rattled, he managed to stop himself from falling unconscious. 

Atlas narrowed his eyes and looked at me. It seems that surprised him. And I must say I am also surprised at his tenacity. Now the fight can start for real. 

Atlas once again attacked. This time he was prepared for counterattacks. I dodge his fist once again and attack with my own fist to his solar plexus. He blocks my punch and tries to grab me with the other hand. 

I duck and bend my knees to build momentum. I put some strength into my legs and try to uppercut the Titan. He narrowly dodges backwards, sets his left foot back and raises his right one. He does a frontal kick with the right foot and stops my advance.

He has very good battle instincts. I don't think his brain can keep up with all of this. He does it all on instinct. But it matters little. No matter how much of an experienced brawler you are, you will never win against someone who has mastered many martial arts. 

The fight continues. Atlas trying to gain enough space to use his monstrous strength and punch me, while I keep us close to each other to have him lose his rhythm and keep him from really delivering punches that contain his full power. 

He punches out with his left and I dodge to my left. I punch out with my own left, targeting his centre. Atlas has no time to dodge and just takes it while trying to get me with his cross. 

My left fist digs into his stomach. I pull back very fast and deflect his cross with my retreating arm. This opens him up for another attack, which I promptly deliver. My right fist approaches his face and makes contact. 

This marks the fight's first hits. Atlas collects himself again and once again tries to hit me. He is a simple fighter and does not even use his legs very often. He likes to get close and personal.

I have no problem with that and deflect or dodge all his attacks. I wait for the right chance and punch or kick him. 

He punches with the left, I duck under it, come around the right and use a right hook to hit him in the face. 

Atlas shakes it off ... swiftly ... and tries to elbow me. I retreat a step back and wait for his assault. 

Just as predicted, he uses his top speed and punches out as fast as he can, hoping to get a shot in. That however is a pipe dream. I am just as fast and simply deflect all attacks. 

(3rd Person POV)

The fight gets more and more hectic as Atlas loses more and more ground. He turns into a beast that no longer cares for defence and only tries to hit Hades. 

Atlas punches with his left, and Hades blocks and punches him in the face. Atlas punches with his right, Hades deflects and punches him in the face. Atlas tried to tackle Hades. Hades put his palm forward with it facing the left. He has it in the perfect one-inch punch position and then uses it. 

*Pffffff*

The air leaves Atlas and effectively stops his advancement. Hades grabs Atlas' head and brings it down to meet his knee. Their meeting doesn't go well and Atlas' head cracks. 

His head shoots back making him look to the sky and then Atlas falls to the ground. 

Hades stands there and looks at the beaten form of Atlas. That was a good workout. 

"Well, I think we're done he-"

A flash! Hades' eyes widen in surprise and then ...

*BOOOOMMM!!*

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Cliffhanger returns.

I am quite proud of this chapter. Tell me how you liked it.

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