Chapter 331 - Ruri Akasha - Queen of The Shadow Dimension

The golden lightning in Zeel's eyes intensified and Seth panicked as the energy he perceived became more and more familiar.

The mere thought of what was to come sent Seth's thoughts into disarray.

"Throughout my life, I have done so many wrong things… I have killed families… slaughtered moons… conquered galaxies…

I have experimented on lower species and even bed the ones I found aesthetically appealing… I have loved… lost… and killed lovers…. I even managed to hurt my own soulmate…

But for all the wrongs I have committed in the past, all of it was wiped away when I became a God…

Still, nothing is truly zero-sum in this world. The Laws of The World cannot punish me for something I did before I became a God but it is a petty Governing Entity…

The Laws of The World will always keep count of the wrongs committed… while it cannot administer punishment for the previous wrongs of a God…

The Laws of The World can deal punishment for misdeeds if you request punishment…

After all, who wouldn't want to give someone like me an ass-whooping?" Zeel yelled his speech to the skies as if talking to Heaven.

Each of Zeel's words held a profound heaviness of guilt that came along with sincerely admitting to one's misdeeds.

Alice and Elizabeth were the only ones who could tell that Zeel was merely faking his emotions to make the speech more authentic for some reason.

"You wouldn't!" Seth said, challengingly looking at Zeel.

Still, Seth's shaking tail clearly demonstrated that he believed Zeel would perform such a crazy action.

"I, Zeel Crawford, request partial punishment from the Heavens for all the crimes I have committed in the past!" Zeel yelled towards the skies, gold-lightning flickering across his body.

Zeel Crawford had beckoned the Heavens to partially punish him for his misdeeds… and anyone caught in the area of his punishment just had tough luck.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!" Seth yelled, attempting to close the negligible distance between himself and Zeel.

Seth genuinely regretted toying with Zeel for so long, but he was severely lacking entertainment for the past ten thousand years.

Being bored for so long even made a battle of life and death into a welcomed event.

Before Seth could move even a centimeter, a shower of golden lightning fell from the skies like an endless waterfall.

Each lightning was as thick as the branches of a World Tree and as fierce as a crazy ex-girlfriend who caught you cheating in the house she paid for.

Zeel and Seth felt nothing as the lightning impacted their bodies but that terrified them even more because they knew that things that don't hurt immediately, tend to be felt later with a vengeance.

Zeel had made sure to request only 'partial' punishment from the Heavens since a 'full' punishment would kill him alongside Seth.

After the shower of lightning descended, it was then a loud crack shook the skies. It was as if the skies were being consumed ravenously by the descending lightning…

Like the skies were being punished by the Heavens for not being beautiful enough…

*KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*

*KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKARRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*

Then came the noise of thunder but even worse than the noise were the screams of three men – Zeel, Nick, and Seth.

Zeel had willingly called forth partial punishment from the Heavens for all the sins he had committed…

Sins such as destroying planets, killing species, unwilling experimentation, spreading chaos and death…

The Heavenly Lightning descended to punish such sins but Zeel was not the only person nearby that was guilty of such sins.

Hence, the lightning that was originally meant only for Zeel was shared with someone as equally corrupted and morally ambiguous – Seth.

The pain Seth and Zeel were experiencing was excruciating, while Nick was only being partially affected by the lightning due to his association with both Gods.

'Guilty by fucking association!' Nick cursed as the lightning strands whipped him into submission.

Ahmanet was also being punished but her sins were not yet heavy so she only gritted her teeth and bore the pain.

Alice, Himiko, Jenny, and Elizabeth were also being showered by Golden-Lightning but they felt nothing apart from slight stings.

The four of them had never committed such actions and hence could not be punished for it.

The women had probably stolen and killed before but such sins were negligible in comparison to enslaving entire planets.

Alice's and Elizabeth's faces grimaced as they listened to the soul-tearing screams Zeel was making.

They could only imagine the amount of pain required to partially cleanse Zeel of his past sins. The only good news was the fact that Seth was also experiencing a similar punishment.

Zeel's actions were literally the example of 'Going to Hell? Well, might as well drag someone else down with you.'

However, Alice and Elizabeth did notice that Zeel's screaming was louder than Seth's and that meant that his sins were heavier as well.

It made Alice and Elizabeth wonder why Zeel would call down an attack that was even more damaging for himself than his enemy.

In a battle so one-sided, everyone could understand a suicide attack but that was not Zeel's style.

∞∞

Elizabeth's Side

Elizabeth realized that the Heavenly-Lightning was also a unique form of light and began to absorbing as much as she could, using her Light Divinity.

'Brighter… Brighter… Brighter…' Elizabeth began to reform the Heavenly-Lightning inside her mind to create something that was powerful enough to actually hurt Seth.

∞∞

[Lightning Manipulation]

While being showered by the endless waterfall of Heavenly Lightning, Zeel managed to manipulate some of the lightning to increase the burden on Seth.

This would usually have been impossible for anyone of any level to do but not everyone had an Apollonian as their soulmate.

As long as there was a hint of Aurolana's aura in Zeel's soul, then matters of Heaven would have a majorly reduced effect on him.

That was the reason Zeel was so confident to call down Heavenly Lightning even though it would injure him as well.

The effects could have been further lessened had Aurolana not been occupied in a battle of her own at the moment.

Still, not everything would go according to the plan Zeel had envisioned.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Seth yelled, shakily standing to his feet against the torrent of Heavenly-Lighting.

The God of Death looked incredibly imposing as his tall body towered over the kneeling Zeel amidst the waterfall of lightning.

A famous painter would have captured such a moment in an exquisite masterpiece that held randomly profound truths about the nature of Death.

"You have no place here!" Seth screamed to the skies, the black mist from all over the Death Dimension gathering in the air to form two hands as large as small planets.

*Clap*

*BBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM*

With a clap from Seth, the massive hands enclosed around the thunder clouds of Heavenly –Lightning.

There was a brief moment of resistance but ultimately Seth's resilience won out and the clouds were crushed causing the shower of Heavenly-Lightning to immediately stop.

There was no great explosion since Seth was merely closing a rift in the fabric of space-time.

However, by the time Seth had stopped the Heavenly-Lightning, the damage had already been dealt to both him and Zeel, leaving everyone else, apart from Henry, relatively unharmed.

Henry's body was on the ground, slowly decaying since he encountered the Heavenly-Lightning not as the 'good' Henry Jekyll, but as the 'evil incarnate' Edward Hyde.

Zeel shakily stood, his body smoking and skin burnt beyond recognition.

Even more disturbing was the fact that his wounds were not healing at all or at a pace so slow that it made no difference in the battle at hand.

Seth was in no better position, body burnt beyond recognition with golden-lightning dancing around his body like a clingy woman.

The only difference between Seth and Zeel was the fact that Zeel was not alone in his battle.

Seth felt his face sway left as a flaming fist impacted his skull with reckless abandon. Alice did not relent as she bombarded Seth with flaming fist after flaming fist without any reprieve.

Alice was venting all the frustrations in her heart on the dog-like head of Seth. Alice's divinities of Punishment and Retribution also added to the toxicity of her attacks on a God of Death.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Each of Alice's attacks sent Seth deeper and deeper into a crater that was already twenty feet deep.

Himiko, Elizabeth, Jenny, and Ahmanet, who remained relatively unharmed from the lightning, watched with morbid fascination at Alice's unconscious brutality.

Zeel moved his hands around to regain the sensation of touch and quickly commanded Alice to withdraw using the nanites.

Zeel knew that if his own senses were returning, so was Seth's. The Heavenly Lightning no doubt injured Seth greatly but it was not to the point of fatality.

∞∞

Elizabeth's Side

'Brighter… Brighter… just a little Brighter…' Elizabeth chanted inside her mind, charging up her Light Divinity for something truly great.

The entire time Alice was performing her beat-down of Seth, Elizabeth had been gathering the Light of Heavenly-Lightning into her palms.

∞∞

Alice flashed to Zeel's side and they both watched the crater with concerned looks edged onto their faces.

Zeel had to admit that he was dreading the moment Seth truly became serious but his plans were so near to completion at this time.

Jenny was crying over Henry's decaying body while Nick comforted her. Himiko and Ahmanet were nowhere to be found and Elizabeth seemed to be in a deep state of meditation.

Suddenly, there was a change in the crater as the last monument, a monument of a scythe, shot across the horizon and into the crater faster than anyone could react.

Alarm bells rang off in Zeel's mind since he recognized the weapon as Seth's Divine-Weapon.

"Retr-" Zeel's words were stuck in his throat as he witnessed something not entirely unexpected but still very shocking.

*Puchi*

Before Zeel could give the order to retreat, the blade of the scythe had already passed through Elizabeth's heart as she completed charging her Light attack.

"[Concentrated Colorful Radiance]" Elizabeth murmured sending a beam of light into Seth's eyes before falling into a state of unconsciousness that lingered around the border of Death.

Seth grabbed his head in pain, knowing that his eyes were no more after Elizabeth's impromptu attack.

Seth grew angry knowing that Elizabeth had decreased his combat ability by a large degree.

Elizabeth had not simply blinded Seth, she had blinded the concept of 'sight' within Seth so all of his senses were working at a minimum.

Seth angrily removed his scythe from Elizabeth's chest and targeted her head with another slash.

As The God of Death, even a slight cut from his scythe would kill a God as weak as Elizabeth but there was still a unique pleasure that came from beheading a Goddess.

However, Seth had underestimated the bonds forged between Alice, Elizabeth, and Zeel… even Zeel had underestimated the bond since his reactions were counter to his own predictions.

Madness… absolute, unbridled madness overtook Zeel and Alice.

Madness and madness and terror and more madness with hints of insanity and rage and rage and death and torture and madness and hate and abyssal-black hate and bloodshot eyes and kill and kill and kill and kill and kill and kill and kill and …

"KILL!!!!" Alice and Zeel shouted simultaneously and leaped back into battle like berserkers.

[Deep Time-Zone]

Zeel appeared in front of Seth in a flash, opening his mouth wide as Dragon teeth, sharper than any blade, bit into Seth's neck like an angered animal that would not release even in death.

All the Draconic-Energy in Zeel's body flooded out of his mouth and ravaged Seth's body without any reserve.

Alice flashed in front of Seth, both her hands gripping his face and looking directly into his eyes with her most bloodthirsty [Malevolent Gaze]yet.

Seth desperately sent out a shockwave in hopes of knocking Zeel and Alice away but he only succeeded in knocking Jenny, Nick, and Elizabeth's dying body away.

Henry had all but decayed away into dust already.

Zeel ripped at Seth's neck like a Psycho-Godzilla that was dedicated to the kill, while Alice stared into Seth's eyes with a madness that was determined to burn the very essence of his being.

Zeel and Alice resembled Gods of Death more than the God of Death himself. For the first time since his conceptual birth, Seth experienced a hint of fear encroach upon his domain.

Seth coughed a mouthful of black-golden blood and mustered all the Death-Energy he could manage to create a massive shockwave that finally sent both Zeel and Alice spiraling away.

Seth even had the maddening thought to explode his entire Dimension should Alice and Zeel had resisted his shockwaves.

The thought of such a thought made Seth angry at his own cowardice.

Seth flashed over to Zeel and Alice as they were being bounced back from the shockwaves, grabbed them both by the heads, and slammed them into each other before slamming them both into the ground.

Seth began stomping down on both Zeel and Alice with such concentration that he neglected his surroundings entirely.

Using the chance Seth was distracted, Ahmanet leaped from the shadows with Seth's dagger in her hands.

Stabbing Seth with his own dagger would create a conflict that, in theory, would weaken him enough for Zeel and Alice to defeat him.

Sadly, Ahmanet would never get the chance to find out since Seth had already expected her betrayal.

Seth caught Ahmanet mid-air and stared into her eyes with disappointment "Why do you betray me?"

Of course, Seth still stomped down on Zeel's and Elizabeth's battered bodies as he talked to Ahmanet.

Nothing was about to stop Seth from making Alice and Zeel suffer for making him feel fear.

"Did I have a choice?" Ahmanet questioned in turn, knowing that Seth had already planned to betray her first.

Seth laughed tiredly and nodded "No you did not… but it still hurts so I CURSE YOU WITH MORTALITY!"

The tattoos on Ahmanet's body evaporated as she became human once more and Seth simply tossed her away like garbage.

Had it been any other time, Seth would have killed Ahmanet but Zeel and Alice required more stomping to vent his frustrations.

Himiko flashed out of the shadows, caught Ahmanet, and flew away in the blink of an eye. If there was one thing the cowardly Wanderer could do, it was running away quickly.

"Any last words?" Seth asked Zeel, feeling that the Homo-Superior had earned that much respect.

"I will kill you… kill you… kill you… kill you!" Zeel whispered with madness overtaking him.

Just as Zeel was about to slip into total madness, a voice answered from the back of his mind.

'Very well 'Master',' The voice said in a mocking tone as shadows wrapped around Zeel and Alice, sending them to Elizabeth's side in the distance.

Slowly, shadows swirled from the crater Zeel was previously in and all the shadows in Seth's Death-Dimension danced excitedly as if welcoming their true Ruler.

When the shadows stabilized, out of the shadows came a beautiful figure that Zeel didn't know was even still alive – Ruri from his time training on the Nameless Planet.

Ruri was as flawlessly beautiful as one could expect from the First Vampires.

She had blood-red eyes that twinkled with darkness, abyssal-black hair that consumed all the nearby light, and a shapely body that even made Seth slightly lustful.

"Ruri Akasha – Queen of The Shadow Dimension heeds the call of him who binds me with blood," Ruri stated, gesturing to Zeel lazily and causing Seth to take a couple of steps back, wary of her presence.

Even Seth could sense that his new opponent was only marginally weaker than his current self. That meant that she also reigned over an entire Dimension from which she drew power.

Still, Seth was not particularly worried about his new opponent due to a simple reason.

A God of A Dimension was akin to renting a home that belonged to someone else so the God can be dethroned from his assigned Dimension if the Head of The Pantheon was willing to create a large enough conflict.

A Ruler of A Dimension was different, however.

A Ruler owned the Dimension completely and the Dimension would die with them if they died, but that also meant that they were significantly weakened outside their Dimension…

So Ruri was akin to a turtle that left its shell at home…