The Demon Queen

Akuro threw Lilith's body to the ground, standing over her as he glared down at her.

She got to her knees, her wounds healing over of their own accord, then she let out a faint laugh. She looked up at Akuro and spoke, "I see. So that's what's going on, Mato has a new toy. How annoying."

Akuro raised his scythe above his head, but as he swung the weapon through the air Lilith leapt away from him creating a good distance between the two of them.

"Looks like play time is over, it would seem you will be lucky enough to witness my little secret." She winked, "Promise it'll stay between the two of us?"

Lilith rose her hand above her head, and as she did the ground erupted upward in a red light. A colossal hand burst from the earth, followed by an arm that led to the body. Lilith leapt and stood atop the giant's shoulder. The being was at least three times the height of the Thunder Golem and it's body was wrapped in red chains that were covered in demonic symbols. The chains were nailed to the giants body, as were giant plates of armor across its frame. The giant's head was human like, a large beard growing from its pale face, but large nails were burrowed deep into its eyes and two large bull horns extended from its head, chains dangling to and fro from it.

"I collected this from the old war, and very few know about him." Lilith called from atop the giant's shoulder. "Allow me to introduce you to Ballakon, the King of Titans!"

All around Akuro the ground began to crack open, strange demons of all shapes and forms crawling out of the depths of the earth. He was surrounded. He glared up at the Titan standing over him with an indifferent expression plastered to his face, as if he didn't care that he was facing a being of destruction incarnate.

"Obliterate him!" Lilith commanded her army. As the demon's screeched ghastly cries of war and ran at Akuro, he tilted his head, cracking his neck, then grabbed the demon nearest to him and crashed its head into the ground before throwing its body through the air with such force that its body actually cracked and broke onto separate parts just from the force. He then raised his foot before crashing it into the earth, shattering it and sending a wave of destruction outward from his body.

Akuro's body disappeared from view and within a span of mere seconds, demon bodies dropped one after another as Akuro moved from one to another faster than any eye could follow. A large demon let out a bellow, it's body was large and bulbous and it's head was round with small eyes and a large overbite. As it let put a roar, Akuro flashed into existence above it, it's head shattered with a  *CRRRACK* as his foot made contact with it.

No matter how many demons Akuro decimated, they just kept getting back up, seeing as they were immortal, there was no quick way to kill them without taking their souls.

Lilith grinned. She had her prey cornered, and she would not let them get away.

Akuro suddenly stood still, facing Lilith. He stared dorectly up at her, unmoving as the demons around him slowly recovered from their wounds.

"What?" Lilith asked, "Have you fallen victim to my beauty? Or have you just given up?"

Akuro raised a hand, his thumb held at the side. Lilith shivered then as she felt an immense pressure in the air. 'What is this...?' She thought as she looked around, and then she realized.

Lilith's eyes went wide as she looked to the sky. It was pitch black, not even the billowing smoke or the scarlet light of the flames could be seen.

"There's no way.."

Akuro's hand shifted then, his thumb pointing downwards. Then the sky seemed to fall, a wave of pure black pressure crushing everything it touched. The army of demons was obliterated, and even as their bodies were crushed, their souls as well were all shattered in one blow. A black sky that could shatter the souls of anything it touched as it blanketed the earth. The ground around Akuro quaked violently as the wave of darkness struck the earth.

When the darkness faded, Lilith still stood upon her Titan, laughing.

"That was impressive, it's just too bad for you that I don't have a soul, nor does this Titan, you've los-"

Lilith's body streamed through the air and crashed to the earth as Akuro's fist made impact with her face. Where she landed, the ground shattered around her. As she tried to get to her feet, Akuro slammed into her, his feet crushing her ribs and creating a depression in the earth from the impact. He then grabbed her by her throat and rose her into the air, then brought her back down on his knee, snapping her spine in half before throwing her up and then materializing his scythe. If he couldn't break her soul, he'd have to seal her aura.

Just as Akuro was about to swing the God Slayer, Lilith spun in the air, facing him with her wings outspread as she waved her hand towards Akuro, a massive wave of pressure colliding with his body, pressing him downwards towards the ground, buckling his knees. The ground cracked around him, giving way under the force of the pressure. His legs went deeper and deeper into the ground, and as he was pinned there in the earth, a colossal hand came soaring down on him, crashing to the ground where he was with tremendous force that seemed to rattle the planet.

Lilith alighted on the ground, folding her wings. She spat blood from her mouth and walked towards where Akuro had been hammered into the earth. Ballakon's hand retracted as Lilith came closer. She glared down at Akuro, his body encased in stone and dirt.

"You are really annoying, and you are giving me a really hard time. You should've just-"

Akuro burst from the ground, his hand gripping Lilith's throat.

"Ooh, kinky.." she said in a choked voice.

"Why are you here, Lilith?" Akuro asked.

"Well hello, Mato. I'm here because your vessel... has killed Gallatine, and now he's killed Edo. Blood for blood, it's that simple."

"Leave. Now."

"Hmm..." Lilith spoke, "can you, Y'know, loosen your grip a bit?"

Akuro tightened his grip on her throat instead. Lilith let out a moan, causing him to tilt his head in confusion, but then a black blade ran itself through his chest. Akuro looked down, seeing the God Slayer embedded in his body. His grip loosened in Lilith until he completely let her go, pulling the blade from his chest. He stumbled until he fell to his knees.

"Damn... you..."

Lilith grinned. "Y'know, I'm not gonna kill you." She leaned over, her hand brushing Akuro's chin. "I want to play with you some more."

•

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Inari collapsed as she watched Akuro being taken. She watched as Lilith wrapped black chains around his body before she, the Titan and Akuro vanished into the earth. She felt her own heart begin to break. She was alone. Darius was gone, and now Akuro was taken. She had no one. She was alone, again.

Inari thought back on all the times she'd seen it, the darkness in Akuro's heart. She thought back to it and wondered... could she have saved him? Would she have been able to do anything for him? Would she have been enough for him? She remembered how she had begged him not to leave her, and how the entire time, his back had been turned to her. And now he was gone, just like everyone she cared about. In the end it was the same. Always the same, everyone leaves her. She's always alone.

Inari knew ever since she first saw Akuro in the Temple of Fantasies that he had a darkness in him. But at the same time she was fascinated by him because at the same time she saw a light, a sad boy who lost his joy to the cruelty of the world, and in a way she wanted to be close to him. She wanted to draw out that light, she wanted to save him if she could, but she'd failed in the end, just as she always had. She could never do anything right.

Inari looked up to the sky and cursed the gods, she despised them. She hated them.

"You there, girl, what going on?" Came a voice from Inari's right. She turned and her eyes narrowed when she saw Adeline standing there, staring at the crater below them.

"Screw off." Inari said.

"Excuse me? How dare you talk to me like that!" Adeline yelled, "I am superior to you in all ways! You have no right to speak to me in such a way!"

"I said shut up you dumb bitch!" Inari roared. She felt like she was going to explode at any given second.

"Why you, that is it! You have crossed the line! Prepare to die you lowly scum!" Adeline raised her hand, but as she did her body was sent flying as Onoma seemingly teleported into view.

"You..." Inari hissed.

"Relax." Onoma said. "I'm not here to fight you."

"Then why do you always try to kill Akuro?"

"I don't hate him, I just saw him as a challenge to overcome. But now things are different."

"Different? How is that?" Inari asked.

"These demons came to our world and did this. I stood idly by at first... but now... things have gone too far." Onoma said. "Lilith needs to be stopped."

"Damn you all!" Adeline cried from below them in the crater. "Stop treating me with such disrespect! I am above all of you! I will show you!"

The earth shook then and large vines burst from the ground, rising to the sky with Adeline standing on top of them.

"I have power over all the elements! No one can stop me!"

"You're really annoying, bitch." Onoma growled, then held out his hand and twisted it clockwise. Red aura enveloped Adeline's body then and she let out a cry of agony.

"You may have all the elements, but you aren't immortal."

Adelines body began to change, her skin became rough and wrinkly within seconds and her body became frail and old, and then a second later she was little more than a pile of bones. As her body aged, as did the vines she had made. They became dried and brown before eventually fading to dust, falling to the ground below.

Inari stared at the pile of bones below her in awe. She then glared over at Onoma. She had to be careful or she would end up meeting the same fate.