Chapter 54: A new challenger appears!

Mother's voice and presence faded and soon the world gained colour again. I must have really had a big stupid grin on my face because I noticed that both Hestia and Hephaestus were looking at me with raised eyebrows.

Refusing to blush I instead coughed into my hand and explained what happened, "Mother just visited me and had some wonderful news. I am more than a little excited about it."

As I sheathed my blade and set it back onto my waist Hephaestus asked, "Oh? May I be so bold as to ask who your mother is, My Goddess?"

Nodding my head as I walked past her towards the large double doors in her room I said, "You may. My mother's name is Lilith. Though, her title and species will give you a better idea of who she truly is."

With a smirk I looked back to the two followers and as I opened the doors I said, "Lilith, The NULL Kitsune."

I let out a soft chuckle as I watched their faces pale while we continued into the hallway. Ignoring the two stunned statues for now, I looked down both ends of the large hallway and noticed that it too had several weapons and a few suits of armour on display.

Walking forward a bit, I looked out of the large oval window that was in front of me, and smiled. It seems we were on the second floor, and below us was a vast garden. What caused me to smile however, was that the garden was steadily being corrupted and the flowers changing.

As I watched the red roses turn to black I thought, 'I wonder just how strong their connection to this dimension really is. I can only assume it's as strong as what I have with mine. I wonder if that means if I wanted to, for some stupid reason, to avoid fighting I could corrupt everyone by just corrupting the dimension itself…'

I wasted no more energy on this trail of thought though. The very idea of not fighting for something like this was heresy to me. My very core, or maybe just my War Authority, agreed with this thought.

Mentally shaking my head, I turned around and snapped my fingers to get the attention of the still stunned goddesses.

With an amused smile I asked, "Is it truly that surprising?"

Hestia was the first one to shake off her surprise and then she slightly frowned and said, "You're kidding right? Learning that your mother is THE Lilith is VERY SURPRISING!!"

With a small flinch at Hestia's volume Hephaestus said, "And the fact that we are all still… existing, means you are not lying. Truly, you are well beyond us lowly deities in potential."

With a smirk I said, "Yeah, well. You all are too busy playing your little games with the mortals instead of actually trying to grow in power. I mean, I don't really blame you though. You have no idea that you are all just tiny blips in the True Omniverse. Shit, do you even know about other multiverses?"

Both of the goddesses shook their heads as Hestia answered, "No, we had no idea until you blessed us and we got some general knowledge about you."

Nodding my head in understanding I said, "Thought as much. Anyway, Hephaestus, which way is out. I want to get to the fighting already."

Hephaestus smiled as she pointed to the right and said, "That way, My Goddess. Just down this Hallway, and take a right. Down the stairs and then straight until we're outside."

Without wasting any more time, I followed her directions while getting lost in my thoughts again, 'Should I release Pandemonium right away and play it safe? Or should I treat this little adventure as a DBZ episode…'

As I was tossing the idea around on whether or not I wanted to take this seriously from the start we quickly came to the door leading outside.

With a shrug I said, "Meh. I'll play it by ear like I always do. Now, which way to your true bod-"

However before I could finish asking Hestia about her true body's location, my instincts flared warning me of something. My hand moved faster than light as I caught a golden arrow that was aimed for my heart.

With a small frown I looked down on the arrow and said, "Well now, that is just like her isn't it you two? Artemis is trying to end the fight before it can even begin."

The arrow started to tug against my grip, trying to return to its mistress, but I was having none of it. Focusing on the arrow it started to quickly turn black and take on a sinister feeling.

With a cruel smile I lifted the arrow up in a throwing position and said, "There, now you can have your little toy back, Artemis."

With an annoyed grunt, I augmented myself with reinforcement and threw the arrow as hard as I could. The black pavement below me caved in from the pressure and there were several loud cracks as the arrow broke through the sound barrier several times.

With a bit of hesitation in her voice Hephaestus asked, "You don't really expect that to hit her… do you?"

With a chuckle I shook my head and said, "No, no I do not. I expect her to dodge it thinking it's a normal arrow."

With confusion Hestia asked, "It's not a normal ar-"

But she was interrupted by a massive explosion off in the distance. While it's true that what Artemis had shot was a normal arrow filled with her Divinity, what I sent back however was something far worse.

Not only did I corrupt the Divinity in it so she could no longer control it, but I also used my Authority of War to… alter said arrow. I had turned her normal hunting arrow to a weapon of war that was basically a nuke filled with Corruption Mana.

With a hum I thought, 'Well, it's really just my mana. But since my Authority over Corruption is the strongest by far, that's what my mana has aspected as. Ohh, there is a thought. If NULL becomes my strongest Authority, I'll have to play carefully as my mana will be that aspect… hmm, thoughts for later.'

As the black mushroom cloud was starting to settle down I said, "Okay, I'll play with-"

However, I was once again interrupted by my instincts flaring and the world seemed to slow down as I looked at what was heading my way. Arrows. Trillions and trillions of arrows. I smirked as I reached for my sword and quickly drew it.

With time seemingly still slowed down I thought, 'Well, now we're talking. This is more like an attack from a god. There is enough Divine Mana in each of those arrows to crack a world. And not a single one is aimed for Hestia of Hephaestus, which is perfect. Fool must think they can be "saved."'

As time started to return to its normal speed, my form started to blur and leave trillions of afterimages from how fast I was moving to counter this Divine Volley from the Huntress goddess.

My voice echoed out and sounded distorted as I gave my two followers their orders, "It seems they want to 'save' you two. Use that to your advantage. Go and get Hestia's True Body. Summon help if you need it, I trust you know how and who?"

I was able to hear some awe in their voices as they answered, "By your will, Our Goddess!"

As I sensed them leaving via my shadow, I also took notice of what exactly was happening with every arrow I struck.

With a cruel smirk I thought, 'So it would seem my sword has properties of NULL now. Every arrow that I strike isn't just breaking, they are also vanishing completely. Heh, you have truly become a fine weapon now, haven't you my eternal partner?'

I couldn't help but bark a laugh as I said to no one, "Too bad there is no real sun. With all these arrows in the sky, I could be fighting in the shade."

As fun as this initially was, it was starting to get boring as it seemed Artemis was hell bent on trying to overwhelm me with numbers alone. I had noticed that the quantity of arrows had started to increase exponentially over time, but it was all the same to me.

If I was being honest with myself, I would be disappointed. Sure, this is impressive but at the same time it isn't. She is a goddess for fuck sakes, yet all she is doing is just shooting a lot of arrows in the end. Sure, a single arrow can crack a planet, but that's not really impressive in the grand scheme of things.

With a mental sigh, I started to push against the endless tide of disappointment and headed towards their source. I even had enough time between each arrow to even start sending my own attacks underneath the volley; some good ole Burst Air's.

It must have made for an interesting sight to anyone watching. Above me, the air was so full of arrows it might as well look like a giant golden tree trunk. And below it, there were large beams of red-black light being shot off in the other direction.

I didn't even make it twenty steps before the volley stopped, causing me to rocket off to where Artemis was waiting. I knew it was a trap, but I didn't care. Seconds later I arrived with a loud crack and looked around. I took a quick look behind where I came from, and I was unable to see Hephaestus's home anymore.

With a small smile I thought, 'Well, at least she has some range to her.'

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a power wash over me, and tree's started to rapidly grow all around. In less time it took me to get here, I was now in a thick and vibrant forest.

I then heard a voice echo out all around me, "Vile. That is the only word I have for a creature such as you. You reek of a source not seen before, and it corrupts and twists all that is good in our Heaven."

I couldn't help myself as I let out a dark laugh while a cruel grin crept up on my face. Though my stance looked relaxed, I was primed to cut down anything that would show up.

With my voice filled to the brim with mockery I asked, "And? Are you so weak you need your domain to even have a hope?"

Once again her voice echoed all around me, "It is not a weakness for the hunter to accept that the prey is stronger than them. I can not defeat you alone, but I can stall you until help arrives."

Feeling my instincts flare up, I turn around and catch an arrow that was aimed for my neck. With a chuckle, I simply snap the arrow and toss it aside.

Looking all around me I asked, "Can you now. Well, let's make a little bet then. What will arrive first, your fellow deities, or my…"

As her voice echoed out, I could hear the small amount of interest in it as she asked, "Your..?"

I raised my free hand to the sky and said one word, "Meteors."

I heard her gasp and release a panicked scream as she yelled, "ARE YOU MAD?!"

Looking up, I saw the beauty of my spell falling towards us high, high in the sky. A meteor triple the size of my old Earth's sun was making its way towards us.

Keeping a neutral face I thought, 'I… may have put too much mana into that. Meh, not like it will hurt me, but if they can't stop it it will most likely destroy this dimension in its entirety from how much mana it's giving off.'

Looking back down towards the forest I smirk and say, "Tick tock. Are you going to come out and play? Are you going to run, but if you do, where too? I am sure you can feel the amount of mana that thing is giving off…"

Her voice echoed out, but this time it was filled with both fear and rage, "Monster. You have no confidence in your power to take on more than one of us, so you'll take everyone down with you?!"

I frown in annoyance before I disappeared from where I was standing, leaving a completely solid after image. Moments later the ground around the image shatters and caves in as a large area around it explodes from the kinetic force of my movement finally catching up.

However a scream of pain had long since rang out as I had pinned Artemis to a tree with my sword going through the exact middle of her chest. I made sure to suppress the NULL effect of my sword for now, as I wasn't done with her quite yet.

Grabbing her by the chin harshly as I pushed my blade further into her body I said with annoyance, "Oh, I have nothing BUT confidence in my power. Don't ruin my fun by saying something careless now."

As both my gaze and sword pierced right through her, I saw nothing but fear in her eyes. Which made sense, as I had managed to not only find her in her own domain, but I also managed to surprise and wound her before she could even react.

Leaning in towards her ear, my voice was filled with disappointment and annoyance as I whispered, "Stop underestimating me, or you'll find yourself as nothing but a helpless rabbit in front of me."

Leaning back, I let loose my entire Blood Lust in the area around me. It caused the air to stain red, and the trees around us to explode outwards in warped red chips. Pulling my sword out of her chest, I also started to suppress my Blood Lust again.

As I held her shivering form by her chin still, I said, "Now, do give it your all, Artemis. Stall me for as long as you can, and pray to whatever god or goddess that is your boss that help arrives sooner than you were expecting. You are on several time limits now, after all."

With that all said and done, I threw her hard in a random direction deep into her domain.

A large sadistic smile was on my face as I glanced at my spell falling down towards us as I started to walk after her.

With a malevolent laugh I said, "Time for round two."

[author] Still sick. Horribly so. I didn't have the drive to play games for most of the day, so I wrote a chapter instead. Hope you liked it~. See you in the next one~.[/author]