Chapter 32 - Deus Ex Machina

Marius lifted his arms in the air, bracing himself to be ruthlessly barraged by attacks. It seemed as though each hero was targeting a specific portion of his body, to dismantle him all at once. Marius had never attempted to split bodies while in monster form before, it could be his last resort.

"Everyone, unleash your attacks!" yelled Grandmaster, pointing toward Marius.

Death's Twin was the first to attack. He held his scythe next to him, and pulled his hood over his head. His eyes began to glow white, and he broke into an evil smile. Then, he leaped into the air, ready to strike.

"Take this, you half-monster abomination!" yelled Saburo, lifting his scythe into the air. He swung it sideways, putting a large gash into Marius's cheek. He landed on the ground gracefully, his cloak offering him slow falling.

Tasuki, a few feet away, lifted Natsuo's sword in the air, holding it with both hands. Although he was many times weaker than Natsuo and had little religious drive, he could still feel the immense power coursing through his veins.

"This one's for you, Divine Knight!!" yelled Tasuki, boosting himself off of the ground with tremendous force. It seemed like high-level heroes were able to jump to incredible heights when they were focused. Perhaps this was part of some training regimen for heroes.

*SLASH*

Tasuki brought down the sword with great force, striking Marius's torso, and putting a large slice in it. Marius began to bleed tremendously, as he stumbled around. Tasuki and Saburo's combination attack worked, and Marius was now heavily damaged.

"Ah, shit, so this is the true power of level 7 heroes, I've severely underestimated them... I'm going to have to change my plans...I hope my wounds regenerate in time, because if not, I could be in serious danger..."

The rest of the top ten swarmed Marius's body, latching on to him, attacking him relentlessly. Daphne was stabbing him, Jirochi was shooting him, Rebirth Man was simply ripping chunks of his skin out, and Alanzo was Piercing him with his rapier.

"Ah, shit! Get off of me, all of you! You're nothing but a bunch of scum! This is the exact reason The Zodiac exists, to rid the world of people like you!"

Marius flailed around, violently shaking the heroes off of him, before attempting to swing at them. Rebirth Man was hit by his fist, and his body was ripped in half on impact, both halves flying a few dozen feet away.

"ARGH!" yelled Senka, ripping in two. The two halves of his body landed near each other, next to a few trees. Grandmaster was also blown away, but sustained only a few minor injuries.

"Gah, hah, I got one of them. But there's still 7 of them left, I don't think I'll be able to handle them all!" said Marius. Grandmaster, landing on the ground hard, was angered...

"Dang, he's powerful! But he's no match for my fists... I've had 50 years to perfect my fighting style! Get ready for some of THIS!"

Grandmaster, nearly being torn apart from the fierce attacks, came to his feet, and leaped in the air, climbing Marius's body swiftly. He prepped his fists, and they began to glow a light blue.

"Nobody outclasses the Hero Camp! You are about to witness a true master at work!" yelled Benji, approaching Marius's face.

"HEEYAH!" shouted Benji, punching Marius across the cheek, his head flew in the other direction, and he stumbled around, before regaining his balance. Marius was now severely wounded, bleeding from his legs, torso, and face. Grandmaster landed on Marius's shoulder, and punched him once more, before leaping to the ground, landing successfully.

"Shit! He's stronger than he looks! I need to start fighting more, but my legs can barely move, and I'm bleeding everywhere. Ugh, what has this battle come to?"

Marius shook his head, regaining his balance entirely. He then lifted his unwounded leg in the air, and stomped on the ground, causing it to shake violently. The heroes fell to the ground, stumbling.

"Ahh! Everyone, watch out! Try not to lose balance!" shouted Tasuki, attempting to stay afoot. However, his advice couldn't be followed. The heroes fell over, landing on the ground...

"Okay, now that they're down, I just need to step on them. It's nothing more than killing a few ants... just a few ants... let's do this!"

Marius lifted his foot, and hovered it over Alanzo first. He quickly came to his feet, and tried to run away. Marius brought his foot down, barely missing Alanzo. Then, he pulled out his Rapier and attempted to stab Marius's foot.

"Ah! I missed him? How!?"

"Shit! He's after me! Help!" yelled Alanzo, taking a few stabs at Marius's foot before running the other way.

"Watch out Alanzo! Here I come!" shouted Daphne, running past Alanzo. She leaped in the air, brought her daggers out, and pierced through Marius's foot, slicing in all directions. She cut one of his toes off, and he shouted in pain.

"AHH! SHIT, YOU DEVIL! I'M GONNA KILL YOU NOW!"

Marius then kicked Daphne away, her body flying across the field. When she came to a stop, she was covered in cuts and bruises, gingerly coming to her feet. She stood up, dazed. Then, she could feel something fast approaching.

"Oh god, what now? Is Marius running at me or something? No, this is different. It's smaller, and it's BEHIND ME!"

A malice fox appeared from the woods behind Daphne, and attempted to eat her. Such terrible timing for a sudden monster attack! But, Daphne became aware of this, and quickly dodged the foxes mouth, running behind it.

"Damn, you came in at the worst time! Ah, my leg hurts. Shit!" yelled Daphne, now dealing with this Malice Fox. Meanwhile, the other heroes were still busy with Marius...

By this point, Marius was gravely wounded. 7 of the top ten heroes were all working together to take down one monster. Their collective power was truly magnificent, but so was Marius, being able to survive this long, against the top ten...

A singular monster would usually be slain in an instant by a single one of these heroes, but Marius had survived a good 20 minutes fighting against 7 of them. He was truly a monster above monsters...but he was reaching the end of his rope.

"Ah, I'm just about finished... I need to think of something... I've only killed two of them, and injured one more. I'm overwhelmed!"

Marius wouldn't be able to take many more hits. He needed to think of something, and fast. He glanced around trying to find possible escape routes, and noticed two objects moving near the trees... it was Rebirth Man.

"What the hell is that!?"

Marius looked toward the trees where Rebirth Man's body lay. Before his eyes, he could see Senka's body reforming. The two halves of his body were fusing back together, the skin and bones reconnecting. He stood up with terrible posture, but corrected himself, before looking into Marius's eyes, and smiling.

"I'm back, how's everyone holding up?" asked Senka.

"Just fine! You came back just in time to watch us kill Marius!" yelled Jirochi, still firing shots toward him.

"Great! I'll take a front-row seat!" yelled Senka, running toward Marius's body. He stopped when he saw Daphne fighting the Malice Fox, and decided to join her to help. Together, they defeated the monster, and returned their focus to Marius.

"Damn it, damn it all! My other monsters ran away, and my life's in danger! I'm going to have to split bodies. I've never done it while in this form, so whatever happens, happens! Let's give this a shot!" said Marius, realizing this was the end of the line.

Suddenly, he closed his eyes, and let out a deep breath. The heroes ceased their attacks, and all went quiet...for once, there was a moment of peace...

"What's he doing?" asked Alanzo, standing next to Grandmaster. He had narrowly escaped Marius's stomp, and was still shaking. Grandmaster was confused as well, but quickly realized what was taking place...

"I don't know...he just stopped... WAIT, LOOK DOWN THERE!"

The ankle of Marius's body opened, and out walked another Marius, this time in human form... he had just successfully split bodies... but if he was no longer in control of his monster form, then that meant---

"LOOK UP! EVERYONE! WATCH OUT!" yelled Tasuki, gazing into the sky. The rest of the heroes followed suit, and collectively realized the horror that was taking place 60 feet above them...

Marius's monster body began to fall. It terrified me... I had never seen anything like it before, not even in movies back on Earth... if it landed on the ground, then... I didn't want to think about what would happen. It was falling slowly...

"HE'S SPLITTING BODIES! EVERYONE, OUT OF THE WAY!" shouted Grandmaster. The giant body of Marius continued to fall, collapsing in slow motion. Marius, in human form, a few dozen feet away, took off.

"It worked! But now the whole place is in danger! Meh, as long as I survive, I could care less about what happens to the city. I'm outta here! Call it a stalemate, who cares!" said Marius, running away.

His body splitting was successful, and he had sustained no severe injuries. Although, he had now put the entirety of the top ten in grave danger. If nobody did anything soon, his body would hit the ground and kill everybody.

I couldn't let this happen. I had to muster the strength I had left and attempt to take control of the monster's body... I came to my feet and held my hand in the air. Ambrosia took notice and widened her gaze.

"Yukio! What the hell are you doing!?"

"I'm going to try and control Marius! It's our last resort!"

"But you have barely any energy left! If you try to control something that massive, you're gonna kill yourself! YUKIO!"

"STOP!" I yelled, holding my hand out in front of me. Ambrosia grimaced, and looked toward Marius's body, hoping that something would come out of this...

But nothing was happening... the body of the monster was already deceased, meaning nothing I did could stop its trajectory. I tried as hard as I could, but it wouldn't work...

"SHIT! It's not working! Ambrosia, can you try and use your mind to take control of it!?"

"I CAN'T! I USED ALL MY ENERGY ON THOSE 30 MONSTERS!"

"SHIT! Are we doomed!? The entirety of the top ten is knocked to the ground, unable to get up due to the rumbling!"

"Marius outsmarted us... and it's going to cost us our lives unless we do something now, but there's nothing we can do! Yukio, I'm sorry, but I think we're about to die!"

"If that's so, then, then, shit!" I yelled.

I rushed over to Ambrosia, and hugged her as hard as I could. None of the top ten heroes were able to do anything... and Marius's body was about to hit the ground. She hugged me back, tears streaming from her face.

Marius, the Patriarch of Gemini, had won... his discovery of being able to turn humans into monsters was revolutionary, and it posed an extreme danger toward the hero camp, and to humanity as a whole... this was a demonstration of his true power...and it was horrifying...

"Ambrosia, I'm sorry..." I said, accepting death...

Marius's body approached the ground, and was about to hit it, sending a shockwave across the land, and possibly killing everyone nearby... but right before it hit the ground, the unthinkable happened. Something I hadn't ever expected, not even for a moment...a Deus Ex Machina...

"..."

*Snap*

"Huh!?" I shouted. Everything went silent around me, and my voice echoed throughout the field.

Time had stopped around me... everyone was frozen, unable to move, except me. I backed away from Ambrosia, and stood up. I glanced around, checking out what had just happened. Marius's body was inches away from hitting the ground.

"..a-am I dead? Did we die yet? What's going on?" I asked myself, taking a few steps. I found it incredibly hard to move. My feet were heavy, and I could barely stand up straight. My energy was still drained, but I managed to walk to where Marius's body was...

The faces on the heroes...they were terrified... some had accepted death, while others appeared as if they weren't ready to die. I then noticed a man, standing in the distance... he looked at me, with a neutral expression. I took notice of his distinct appearance, it was familiar...

He was as tall as me, maybe a bit taller, had short white hair, and lavender eyes... he was wearing a silver and gold hero outfit, with a large white cape... he looked about my age...

He looked at me and smiled, his cape gently flapping in the wind. He walked over to me, stopping a few feet away from me. He stood there for a good 10 seconds, analyzing my features, before uttering his first words to me. He spoke in a teenage boy's voice, similar to Tasuki.

"...interesting, my time manipulation seems to have zero effect on you... who are you, mysterious boy?" he asked excitedly.

His presence alone chilled me to the core. Without knowing who he was, I could tell he had no limit to his power. He had the eyes of a deity, watching over the universe, and keeping it in order.

"I could ask you the same question, mysterious boy... who are you?"

"Haha, answering a question with a question. You remind me of Ambie. But, I suppose I should answer your question. Considering you're the only other person moving right now, you're worthy of knowing."

Ambie? Could he possibly be referring to Ambrosia? If this was the case, perhaps he and she have a close relationship.

"You see, I don't really have an official birth name, but you can just call me "Hero" for now, okay?"

. . . . .