Chapter 280: Beatdown

I charged at Eris with my blades drawn.

"FLAMES OF RAGE! SUPREME RAGE OF IRATUS!!!" 

My swords burst into crimson flames as the familiar feeling of pure anger washed over me. My power surged and both of my blades slammed into something hard.

Eris raised her hand and a set of black, metallic claws manifested over both of her arms.

Her left eye changed and flared out into a pitch black inferno.

The pressure was overwhelming.

The last time I felt something like this, was...

She's...as strong as Difar!?

She flexed her free hand and threw a lightning-quick punch my way. I barely managed to block it with Vengeance, and was pushed back.

Isabella caught me, thankfully.

"Stay behind me. I'll block her attacks while you and Cassandra deal with her!"

I had a really bad feeling about this...but I didn't have a choice.

"Let's get going, then..." I managed.

She nodded and stepped in front of me.

"Huh? You want to interfere? I won't allow that," Eris said.

"Too bad. We fight together. Now...CROWN OF THE HERO!!!" Isabella shouted.

She unsheathed her sword and the crown of Bravery appeared in her head. At the same time...

"CLOAK OF THE MASTERMIND!" Cassandra shouted.

The cloak appeared on her body and she disappeared.

I saw many wires deployed all at once as several Cassandra clones appeared.

I changed Vengeance into a pair of shotguns. I wasn't ready to use the Fury Form yet, but I knew I would likely have to soon.

Eris lunged forward, completely ignoring the wires and snapping them as if they were mere strings...

Several Cassandra clones tried to assassinate her, but were obliterated instantly.

Eris picked up her speed and slammed into Isabella's shield with shattering force.

I saw Isabella's hp reduced by an entire quarter...

The magic that tried to attack Eris at that point seemed to shift and eventually dispersed as it touched her.

"That's a cute trick. Reflecting damage? That won't work. I can break that pitiful magic with ease! I CAN BREAK...EVERYTHING!!!"

Isabella's eyes went wide as Eris slammed her fist into her shield again...

This time...it shattered.

Eris grabbed Isabella by the throat and threw her...actually threw her with insane force.

I watched in horror as Isabella flew at mach speed into the distance...shattering several buildings and finally landing with an explosive impact.

The magic from Bravery tried to attack Eris again, but was completely nullified.

"Isa...bella...?" I said in complete shock.

I could feel that she was still alive, thankfully...but I was stunned. 

I couldn't remember the last time we had ever struggled against such an enemy...

Multiple Cassandra clones appeared at that point and tried to assassinate Eris.

Everything seemed to move on slow motion...

The clones were dispersed and Cassandra suddenly appeared in front of me. She was confused.

But before she could act, Eris grabbed her by the throat and threw her in the opposite direction of Isabella.

I watched in horror as I saw her crash through multiple buildings in the same way...

I took a step back as Eris smiled.

"There we go...the annoying pests have been dealt with. Are you ready to fight for real? Ah...hold on a second..."

Eris' gaze went to something behind me.

I saw the Cursebreaker approaching with its weapons ready. As it began to open fire, I moved out of the way to avoid being hit...and Eris stood still as she raised her hand.

She pointed a single claw at it with a bored expression.

"How annoying...begone."

I quickly communicated to Rastair.

"GET OUT OF HERE!!! GET THE SHIP AWAY FROM-"

"HUH!?"

The ship tried to dodge to the side...but Eris fired a single black laser through the front of the ship. 

Since the Cursebreaker moved, the shot didn't go directly into the center. However, the result was nearly the same.

Explosions erupted across the side of the ship and one of the back thrusters was completely destroyed.

The ship spun around as it flew to the side and crashed into another ruined building.

"RASTAIR!!! ANYONE!!! ANSWER ME!!!" I screamed.

I heard coughing over the comm line.

"We're okay...I think... Virtus, run a status report...find out if everyone's alive...ugh..."

I felt my hand drop to my side.

I was relieved that Rastair was alive.

And unbelievably pissed.

I turned to Eris with a neutral expression and she smiled slightly.

"Ah, did I anger you? Are you finally ready to fight?"

"You...have incurred my wrath. For the twisted psychopath that hurt my wives and shot down my ship...I have only one request..."

"And that is...?"

"DIE SCREAMING!!!!! FURY FORM!!!"

I sheathed Vengeance and activated the ultimate power that it gave me.

Immediately afterward, I removed my own limiter by turning off the normalization magic.

"RELEASE LEVEL TEN!!! FULL POWER!!!" I roared.

The explosive energy in my body was released violently and swirled in a vortex of crimson ether.

The sky was darkened and a terrible storm began to form as my body was covered in black armor.

"LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE FINALLY GETTING INTERESTING! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Eris said.

She lunged at me and her fist was stopped on a shield that I had conjured.

Currently...my mind was in a haze. I could already feel myself slipping away. The anger I felt was enough to swallow all of Tanavol.

Several floating swords appeared and changed into turrets as my arms glowed red.

The turrets opened fire as I launched a storm of instantaneous attacks at Eris.

She was pushed back and tried to attack me with her magic.

However...

[I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!!!]

The voice of Vengeance roared in fury as I used Faith's first form, Faithful Weapon, to summon the spirit of Vengeance.

And like me...he had every ounce of power within this sword.

He appeared as a middle-aged man in black armor with a cloak. His hair was long and black, tied in a ponytail. 

One of his eyes was blood red, while the other was a light blue. There were streaks of white in his hair and he was only slightly bigger than I was.

"ANOTHER ONE!? DAMMIT! WHY CAN'T WE JUST FIGHT ALONE!?" Eris screamed in anger.

Instead of dignifying her words with a response, I unleashed a storm of shuriken that sliced into her skin and created more turrets to attack.

She shot forward past Vengeance and slammed into another of my shields.

I hit her with blast nova and blew her away. Then, using my own magic, I teleported to her in mid-air and brought Vengeance down in the form of a hammer. I used Willpower's instant weapon and phase blades combined with a skill called Pulverize from Strength.

For extra damage, I also used Strength's blast hammer form.

Eris was sent crashing into the ground with an explosive impact. I once again teleported to her location and swung Vengeance at her.

The sword was caught between her claws and she smiled wide.

"You pass. Now...let me show you my power!" 

I almost laughed...but that was quickly interrupted as she clutched my blade.

And when she did...Vengeance shattered in her claws.

My eyes went wide in confusion as she instantly slammed her fist into my chest.

As if she knew instinctively what my weakness was...

I saw my health deplete to nearly nothing and I dropped to my knees. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vengeance stop in place. He glared at Eris with hatred as his body dispersed.

Finally...the fourth form of Vengeance disappeared entirely. 

I felt weak...I was certain that I was about to die.

"NOOOO!!! MIZIK!!!" 

I heard Isabella scream and Eris looked condescendingly at her.

"Looks like he lost. I'll be taking my prize. If you want to try and stop me, go ahead. Oh, but don't worry. I won't kill him. He's far too valuable to me for that," Eris said.

I saw Isabella hesitate...and yet, she didn't back down.

She looked ready to give her life for the sake of getting me out of here.

I would never allow such a thing.

"Isabella...get out of here..." I said.

"But-"

"No arguing...! Order...a retreat... Get everyone...to safety...!" I managed.

I felt faint. My consciousness was waning...

Any moment from now, I would pass out.

Isabella opened her mouth to speak and suddenly, there was an impact in the ground nearby.

When I looked, I saw a large beast of a man standing with his sword ready.

Triglavikk had arrived.

"ERIS! HE'S NOT AN ENEMY!!!" Triglavikk roared.

"Of course he isn't, you idiot. He's my prize. I came here to test him and he proved worthy. Now...I believe I have something to say to the traitor that never returned with his report."

His eyes went wide with genuine fear as Eris closed the distance between them in an instant.

"Die."

Triglavikk's head exploded from the impact of her fist. In her hand, the Eye of War glowed dimly. 

She cleanched her hand over it and it returned to a similar dormant state as the Eye of Order.

She just...killed Triglavikk... Killed him in an instant.

I looked at Isabella as Eris turned her attention back to me. With the last bit of my power, I sent a command to her through telepathy.

"Get out of here! Get everyone to safety! Go back to Excelsis and wait for me...I'll find a way out of this. I promise!"

With tears in her eyes, she nodded and disappeared in a flash of light.

It hurt my heart to see her go...but I promised that I would escape somehow.

So at this point...all I could do was look at my soon-to-be captor and glare at her.

"Do your...fucking worst..." I hissed.

This seemed to excite her.

"Fierce even until the end? You really are quite something, you know? Now then...let's get going."

She began dragging me away.

As my consciousness began to fade, I noticed that even if the gateway platform had been completely destroyed, the gateway itself remained.

She picked me up at that point and jumped through it.

I passed out before I could see the other side.