CH. 464-465: Against Hades (I-II)

Asahi and Gabriel took off their stealth helmets and appeared before Hades. The skeleton god couldn't utter a word in his terrified state. Two people had snuck up this close to him without him ever realizing. This simple act purged every doubt regarding Asahi's strength. He was no match.

Gabriel beamed a wide smile. "I was right! These baddies had a meeting to plot against you. It happens all the time."

She looked so proud now that her plan worked out flawlessly. This gave her another reason to indulge more in her hobbies.

"Nice job." Asahi patted her on her head. A small reward and some encouragement will keep her confidence strong.

Hades was relieved when Asahi didn't straight up attack him. He had a chance at negotiating out of this situation. Even though Hell was his world, he had no intention of fighting Asahi. He and his grim reaper squad wouldn't stand a chance against Asahi and Ddraig, not to mention the strong Seraph by his side.

"Devil King," Hades interrupted the couple, who declared their desire to beat him up. "Why are you here?"

"Don't want me here?" Asahi said as a grin stretched across his face. "You got Nyx and Erebus involved to take me down. Why not fight me yourself?"

He couldn't recognize the last phantom but he was most likely Angra Mainyu judging from his magic to revive evil dragons. Angra Mainyu was an evil god of Zoroastrianism, hailing from the Persian Mythology. In the later part of the DxD story, Angra Mainyu had recreated Azi Dahaka, Ddraig, and Albion as evil dragons.

'I will let him revive some dragons. What do you say, Ddraig?'

"You will do that?" Ddraig asked, surprised. "Are they strong?"

'You know Azi Dahaka?'

"He! I have heard of his fight against the gods. He died before I could challenge him."

'I'll let you fight him on one condition.'

"I agree."

The heavenly dragon's confidence stood tall despite tasting multiple defeats. She didn't need to hear the condition.

'The condition is I want you to win. Don't get your butt kicked like last time.'

"Definitely. I was against Great Red last time. She is stronger than she looks!"

Ddraig went against Great Red despite knowing the difference in their power. She had fully expected herself to lose, but that didn't stop her from fighting.

She was a true battle maniac.

Asahi's brief conversation with Ddraig gave Hades time to contemplate an excuse. Hades calmly said, "Nyx and Erebus were talking about the upcoming peace treaty. The Underworld and Hell don't have any conflict of interests. Why would I fight you?"

Gabriel conjured a blade of light. "Hades, your evil plans will not come to fruition. Be a man and confess your crimes!"

Hades never had the urge to kill someone so badly. 'Stupid bird.'

He pushed down his rage. "I am not antagonizing you, Devil King. All I am after is Lilith. The treacherous woman has made my life difficult."

"Treacherous? Lilith is my woman, just so you know."

If Gabriel wasn't present, Asahi would have killed Hades right here and now. Gabriel's innocent presence tied his hands from committing excessive violence.

"What? She is the wife of the Devil King you killed for the Underworld. You told me she tried to assassinate you. Now she is your woman?"

The illogical turn of events confused Hades. Asahi had told him that Lilith was his prisoner last time. Then she was found roaming the mortal world.

"I found her attractive. That's all."

Despite all her flaws and suicidal desires, Lilith wasn't a bad person. Just a woman tired of a mundane life.

"Do you not realize you are being led by her? She is acting coy to bide time for the day she stabs you in the back."

Hades tried his best to sow seeds of doubts in Asahi's heart. Unfortunately for him, Asahi had experienced Lilith's feelings first-hand through intercourse.

"You're speaking from experience? Oh, that reminds me. How's Persephone doing?"

"Persephone?" Hades looked confused for a moment. "Are you referring to Adonis's lover?"

"Adonis's lover? Damn, he cucked you?" Asahi couldn't help but laugh. Perhaps Hades was single in this universe, which made more sense with his undead-like body. "That explains your edginess."

Hades clenched his fist, his aura encompassing the chamber. Asahi protected Gabriel from any weird effects Hades' aura had.

"What's cuck?" Gabriel butted her way into the conversation. "Is it some kind of game?"

"My sweet Gabriel, you don't need to know anything about that." Asahi rubbed her head as if trying to make her forget about the wretched word. "For you Hades, I'll inflict every bit of pain you did on Lilith."

Asahi snapped his fingers and seized Hades within a barrier. Hades yelled but his voice didn't pierce the vacuum space. Recognizing the threat, he summoned his staff and smashed it into the barrier. The divine aura of the staff nullified the barrier in several good smacks.

"It's your last chance. Turn back and do not disturb me."

Hades resorted to threats, hoping that the conflict resolved itself without a fight.

"Nope." Asahi's response was firm denial. He wasn't letting Hades off the hook.

Hades stood from his seat and pointed his staff at Asahi, an eerie light shining in the depths of his hollow eyes. "Are you declaring war on Hell?"

His raging heart was at odds with his calm stance. He didn't want to fight Asahi alone. Even all of his grim reapers wouldn't be able to delay the resurrected version of Ddraig. In the depths of Hell, no god would come to his aid. They wouldn't know even if he died here.

'I need to send a message to Nyx… Pluto, he—'

It was too late to regret sending his most reliable subordinate on a 'vacation'.

Asahi chuckled at the audacious question. "Yes, consider it a war. A war to end all wars."

To make matters worse for Hades, Asahi transformed into his fire elemental form. Hades was no stranger to transformation magic. Angra Mainyu, one of his acquaintances, had perfected the art of transforming himself to the point he could assume anyone's identity. But Asahi's transformation was no ordinary spell. Hades felt no scary aura from Asahi, but his instincts told him otherwise.

The man gave him a dreadful feeling.

"It might be my last battle," Hades openly admitted as he aimed his staff at Asahi. Countless beams of his divine aura rained upon Asahi and Gabriel.

The Seraph instinctively froze from the unimaginable amount of power coming at her.

Asahi snapped his fingers again. Flames swirled around him and condensed into a molten shield. The barrage of divine aura struck the shield before vanishing.

Hades felt a bit more confident after seeing the first clash end as a draw. His attacks had forced Asahi to defend himself. He could buy enough time for grim reapers to notify Nyx and Erebus.

He didn't realize that no grim reaper came to check on them after the influx of energy in the hall. He had no leisure to notice the advance barrier deployed by Asahi.

Gabriel trembled and hugged Asahi, even though he was burning. "That was scary."

Just a few minutes ago, she told Hades to be a man. Now she cowered like a kitten hiding from the rain. The disparity made Asahi laugh out loud.

"Bad Husband." She threw childish insults at him that only made him laugh harder. "I'll tell it to my father."

"Oi, oi, don't drag the old man into our relationship."

Hades felt like a character in the scene even though he was supposed to be engaging in a thrilling battle with the Devil Emperor of the Underworld.

"I'll crush you," he roared and teleported to Asahi's location. With his staff, he attacked Asahi. "Die, Devil."

Asahi backhanded the staff. While defending from Hades' fierce attacks, he pushed Gabriel with his telekinesis until she was out of the barrier surrounding the hall.

His amused eyes gave the complete opposite impression of Hades' rage-filled figure. He didn't look like a man who was fighting one of the strongest gods in the universe.

Hades noticed Asahi's relaxed stance and teleported back to his seat. "I am no match for you in a fair duel. My instincts were on point when you showed arrogance in the Underworld."

He thought that slowing down the fight was a better way to buy time.

"Arrogance?" Asahi asked. "Is it really arrogance if I know I am stronger than everyone?"

He had reached the breaking point of this world after defeating Great Red. How could he not be confident after that mess of a fight?

Hades chuckled. "Fair point. But there are people stronger than me out there. Beings who can destroy our world with a snap of their fingers."

"Are you talking about Great Red?" Asahi asked with a grin. "I defeated her last week."

Hades, of course, didn't believe him even though he couldn't sense a shred of lie in Asahi's words. He refused to believe anyone could take on that monstrosity that was deemed undefeatable by everyone he knew.

"Geez, why did you go there? Come, fight me." Asahi provoked Hades. "Wait, let me guess. You are waiting for your grim reaper squad to bring some reinforcements."

His massive grin scared Hades. "Saeko, bring them here."

A portal opened beside him. Out of the swirling mass, a grim reaper flew out and landed at Hades' feet. The grim reaper stayed there, lifeless. The portal spat out more cold corpses of Hades' subordinates.

A purple-haired woman calmly stepped out and dusted her hands. She looked at Asahi and smiled. "Stealth missions are thrilling."

Hades walked toward the pile of grim reapers' corpses and stared at them. "You… killed everyone."

Even Pluto was dead. The grim reapers weren't his family, but he treated them like one. And now they were all dead.

His howl beat at the wall, the howls of a man who had lost his rationality. A dark aura exploded with him as the heart, shattering Asahi's barrier. Gabriel felt the death approaching her and involuntarily looked at Asahi. A fiery wall came in between her and the terrifying divine aura, giving her time to retreat to Asahi's side.

Hades' palace crumbled under Hades' outburst. Hades raised his staff and countless black circles filled the pale sky. Black meteors wrapped in deep black flames, numerous spears of red color, even black lightning—Hades threw everything in his arsenal at Asahi.

Snap! With a snap of his fingers, he created a large screen of flames. Hades' spells couldn't break through the endless supply of purest form of fire.

"He is so powerful…" Gabriel stiffened up in fear. "I-I won't be scared."

"Big words for someone shaking in her boots," Asahi said and stroked her back. "It's okay, I'll protect you."

Gabriel clenched her fists and pushed Asahi away. "Klyscha, send me back to my room…"

She didn't want to become a distraction in the fight, even though she was fully confident in Asahi's victory. She was forcing Asahi on defense.

"I'll see you later." Asahi said, kissing her forehead. He had noticed something off about Gabriel, but this wasn't the time to talk about it.

After Gabriel disappeared, Saeko pointed at Hades. "He got a power up here…"

Rather than feeling concerned, the samurai woman grinned ear to ear, a sadistic glint in her blue eyes. They pushed a god to the point he broke through his limits.

'A god, fufu.'

Asahi flew through the hailstorm of spells and arrived before Hades. The God of Hell vanished from his sight and appeared behind him. The exotic staff stabbed through him. The flames roared and melted the staff wrapped in Hades' divine aura.

Asahi grabbed Hades' face. "You should have stopped when I let you leave the Underworld in one piece."

Hades tried his teleport spell, which gave up on him. Having no choice left, Hades wrapped his fist in his divine aura and punched Asahi.

"It tickled," Asahi chuckled and increased the pressure behind his fingers. His burning fingertips left black marks on Hades' bone face. "Good night, Hades."

"I don't fear death," Hades said. "But you'll fear the Olympus once they learn about my—"

Asahi destroyed his skull before he could spew the typical revenge bullshit. As Hades' decapitated body plummeted down, a bolt struck the earth. A pillar of fire connected ground and sky, so bright it could blind any eye. The roaring flames blazed through Hades and bored through the lifeless earth of Hell.

The God of Hell's ashes scattered across his realm.

***

No cliffs this time around. Sad...