"No!"
Ezra was horrified by the scene in front of him.
With Alvarach's nails sticking out his back, the Emperor looked like a chicken pierced with a fork.
"Blergh!"
Puking blood, light seemed to illuminate the Emperor. His once glorious armour now in tatters, covered in grime, sweat and dirt, as was his skin.
He'd gained more injuries in this battle than every other he'd ever fought. His golden hair had its shine suppressed with blood as it lay there dishevelled.
The Emperor had never looked so pitiful, and Ezra watched with rapt attention as his movements loosened to a halt and Shredder fell out of his hands.
Alvarach watched with an expression of disappointment. "What a waste," he said. "You should have accepted my offer when I offered you the chance"
The Emperor gave no reply, looking with a lost gaze as the majestic sparks of lightning began dying out.
With no response given, Alvarach turned his attention to Ezra.
He stared at the boy, savouring the hopeless expression he'd long to see.
Indeed, the situation was looking hopeless.
With the rest gone, he was on his own with an insurmountable enemy in front of him all while time trickled by.
"Well?" Alvarach spoke, his tone akin to a whisper with a tinge of mockery. "Will you still continue fighting even now?"
Ezra's fist tightened so hard around Skyfall his bones quaked with his mind strained trying to find a way out of the situation.
If he was to thwart the enemy blocking him, he needed help.
"Is this it?!" Ezra suddenly shouted. Startling Alvarach, who realized right away who the boy was talking to.
The Emperor turned his head to him.
Alvarach watched with amusement, he shook the Emperor like a doll, speaking incredulously. "You think he can save you from me?"
Ezra continued, ignoring Alvarach's taunts.
"Will the Emperor die so pathetically?! I thought you bowed to no one?!"
Being ignored killed Alvarach's mood.
He realized he was wasting much time playing along with this farce.
As Alvarach turned, the Emperor held onto his arm.
The sudden movement surprised Alvarach and he turned to see the Emperor, but this time, with light in his eyes while he forced out each breath.
Sparks of white lightning began emerging as the Emperor's forced out words.
"Right…I am…the Emperor"
For demons, such a scene was incredulous, Alvarach couldn't help but be amazed at the nonsense of this race.
So he took his attention off Ezra and onto the Emperor.
Shaking him, Alvarach watched as the Emperor groaned.
"You seek to stop me in this state?" Alvarach was almost laughing, he hadn't seen a better joke in centuries.
"You really think you can stop me?" he repeated, shaking the Emperor harder.
He really wanted to see what exactly the Emperor would do.
Standing in the way of the portal meant Ezra would have to go through him to get away or run in the opposite direction.
Regardless of which he did, Alvarach would beat him at it easily.
Groaning, the Emperor's hands tightened around Alvarach's arm, popping veins.
Then, his murmurs became audible.
"I…am…the Emperor"
Even while poison from Alvarach's nail consumed him, he kept muttering.
"I…am…the Emperor"
White lightning sparked a bit, and erased Alvarach's amusement.
'Look at this insect'
He clamped his left arm shut.
No, he tried to. Andrew held down his fingers, and looked him in the eye, his voice very much audible as he proclaimed…
"I. Am. The. Emperor!"
*CRACKLE*SPARK!*
The Emperor erupted with lightning like never before.
Immediately, "Then die"
Alvarach set his nail's ablaze and brought down his second arm to swiftly end the Emperor's life.
On cue…*Spark!*
Ezra burst into action and ran at Alvarach.
With a snort, Alvarach swerved and kicked him away.
"Ack!" puking blood into the air, Ezra's eyes shook as his dizziness hit him all over, he'd delayed Alvarach's attack, but at what cost?
His eyes began to fall as sleep lured him in.
But then. [Ezra, wake up]
A call from within brought him back to the present.
[You have to escape]
To that, the boy responded… "I know" before racing back to Alvarach.
'But I'm not leaving without him' he thought, looking at the Emperor.
In a state of emotional turmoil, Zydrax didn't bother persuading him otherwise, it would undoubtedly be futile.
Being burnt from within was anything but pleasant, yet while experiencing such excruciating pain, the Emperor refused to budge.
With the second pair of nails piercing his body, the outcome was already set.
Still…
Holding down both hands from tearing him apart, he sees Ezra approaching from the corner of his eye.
'I can't let him see me being so pathetic'
That proved to be more than enough motivation.
As such…'I have to put my back into it!'
Already stretched to his limit, the Emperor braced himself to surpass them one last time.
Alvarach was thus faced with an oxymoronic situation where the one burning alive kept outputting more and more strength.
"What is this?"
The sheer absurdity of the situation was bending his understanding of the norm.
Engulfed in lightning, Alvarach found this race's ability to surpass expectation as perverted and disgusting.
Why couldn't they just die easily?
In his frustration, Ezra was able to land a clean strike on Alvarach, and blood burst out of his back.
Moreover, it was not just any weapon, but one made with the parts of a demon, making it far more painful.
"Let him go!" Ezra spoke.
Furious at the absurd situation, Alvarach strengthened his arms and tried to use the Emperor like a hammer.
Since the Emperor didn't let him remove his nails, he used the man to hit his son.
With quick instincts, Ezra leaping out of the way, else be swatted like a fly.
Motivation couldn't only do so much while being burnt alive and smashed against the dirt.
The Emperor was reaching his limits, he felt his lower body become elastic as soon, it would fall off.
His death was all but guaranteed.
So he cried out to his son. "Ezra, go!" he forced out from his burning vocal cords.
Ezra ignored his father's cry. "I can still save you!"
"LEAVE!" The Emperor boomed louder than ever before, pushing Alvarach back a step as he mustered whatever strength his vocal cords had within. "NOW!"
The sudden shout shook Ezra, forcing him to a halt, his mind and heart lay in conflict.
Struggling to make a decision, Zydrax came to the rescue.
[If you don't leave now, his sacrifice will be in vain]
"But I can…
[No you can't!] Zydrax cut him off, unrelenting still.
[There's no one who can save him on this planet!] his words shook Ezra. [Stop trying!]
The last part sounded like a desperate plea rather than an order.
Ezra was visibly shaken, he looked at his father held down by the demon underneath an umbrella of lightning.
Their eyes synced, and the Emperor simply nodded.
A cold feeling washed over him, as right after, his eyes came clear.
Holding down his lips, Ezra let out a heavy breath.
"AH!" With his shout, he forced out power from within and black lightning erupted in its own majesty.
Without hesitation, Ezra beamed towards the portal.
"I won't let you" Alvarach turned to obstruct him.
In a hoarse voice, the Emperor spoke "You have me to deal with!"
Mustering whatever strength left and took to the sky, dragging Alvarach along with him.
"No!" Alvarach pulled himself towards Ezra.
With the little strength he had left, the Emperor rose a mere three feet into the air, which allowed him a view of his son racing into the portal.
'Good luck, son'
Even at the end of his rope, the Emperor held onto his style of massive action.
Looking into Alvarach's eyes, he lets out a last lightning spark.
"Ah!" and with the shout of a king, burst his core and detonated himself with decisive precision.
*BOOOM!*
An exit worthy of an Emperor.
Reaching the portal, Ezra turned, only to see the Emperor in the air.
On cue, he releases a lightning bolt and explodes, the shockwave smashed into Ezra almost immediately, pushing him into the portal while his eyes never left his father's last position.
*Bam!*
Moments later, he smashes into a wooden floor, but lay still, processing what just transpired as the portal above him closes.
"Ezra!"
A familiar voice breaks him out of his reverie.
Now cognizant, he finds himself face to face with the purple haired girl from Arcadia.
In a weak voice, he mutters. "Valentine?"
"Where…" Turning to determine his current location, darkness overwhelms him.
If nothing else, he'd successfully escaped the clutches of a Mythic rank demon.
Meanwhile…
"Regi sarta kagum!" (That puny imbecile!)
Standing at the former site of the portal, Alvarach was pissed!
The Emperor's last stunt levelled the surrounding landscape.
More importantly, Alvarach had taken a massive hit.
Touching his head, he finds the left side of his face greatly charred.
Sight of his bleeding arms only infuriated him more.
The moment the Emperor detonated, Alvarach pulled out his hands and guarded against it, but at such range, it did little to shield him from harm.
He was bleeding all over, like everything else, the last attack exceeded his expectations.
The raw power unleashed had him looking miserable, proof the Emperor was but a step away from Mythic rank.
The wounds heal with pace as he slowly collects his thoughts.
If nothing else, he had underestimated the planet's inhabitants too much.
While he did foresee obstacles along the way, this seemed too out of order for him.
Especially that boy.
Alvarach clenched his fists in frustration of his failed hunt, before slowly releasing it.
While he wished to chase down the boy right this moment, not only did he not know where to go, he was also in no shape to begin another battle.
He caught sight of a person walking towards him.
His last emissary pressed down on her arm to stop it from bleeding as she limped towards him.
Crea looked devastated.
The Emperor self-exploding left her with tattered clothes and deep wounds.
Alvarach watched her approach, and thought to him…
'Should I start with her?'
Her soul was bound to be of much help, but Alvarach decided against it.
All these years he'd been relaying information, and he planned with that information.
Sadly, the reality of doing so gave a different outcome.
"My lord!" Crea said. Her lord being injured left her shaking.
As an inhabitant, she was the best person to help him understand this world better.
"The boy escaped" he said, leaving a moment of silence before continuing. "That aside, I will need your help to bring salvation to this world"
"I will give my life" she hastily replied, and Alvarach nodded, mapping out a change in his original plans.
This battle had extended him more than he'd like to admit.
He had to recover his strength and fast, before the inhabitants of this world came upon him.
Luckily, he could feel the thousands of beings just miles away, he would use them as a starting supplement, and work his way from there.
Having lost the element of surprise, it would be unwise to move unhinged any longer.
There was also a need to integrate more with the natural power of this new world before venturing further.
"Hm" his attention is taken by the two appearing entities.
*Bam!*Bam!*
His generals had arrived, but the event had long since passed.
"Shrega Saga?" (What took you?)
Rumbling their own replies, they tossed something onto the ground.
It was a man covered in blood and dirt.
It was Getrahan.
"Oh" Alvarach smiled.
Not everyone got away, it seemed.
Moreover, he was more surprised at the fact that the man was still alive.
Picking him up, Alvarach plunged his nails in his neck, forcing him awake.
His eyes shut open and Getrahan quivered, kicking at the air, trying to free himself, but to no avail.
As with the Emperor, he was sucking out the Getrahan's life force.
Unlike the Emperor though, Getrahan was too tired to resist and turned into a decayed corpse soon after.
Alvarach's wounds healed substantially.
With his face healed, he looked to the horizon.
The boy escaped his grasp, but not for long.
In but a week, he would've rid himself of the atrocious curse placed upon him, regaining his full strength and more.
Then, there would be no stopping him.
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