Apophis was in a bad state, having been critically hurt by the intense beam of light.
In fact, this was the most grievous wound he had received in the game—his arm had been torn off, and he was bleeding profusely. In shock, he realized that 50% of his HP was missing.
Most worryingly of all, he was suffering the Stunned condition. As an Esper, he was very weak against direct attacks, and even all his enormous stats hadn't been enough to protect him like his ~Susanoo~ usually did.
Everyone turned in amazement towards the origin of the beam.
Lucifer stood there, arm still outstretched. He was luminous, clearly having buffed himself with some special skill.
Jiraya and ThreeDog got into fighting positions once more. ThreeDog ran towards Apophis, wielding his huge shield with both hands to protect Apophis—
But then Zeus stepped in. "What are you doing here, Lucifer?! We had an agreement! You were not to enter the city under any circumstances!"
Lucifer's response was cold. "Our agreement is no longer valid, Zeus. Apophis has just destroyed the entire continent that belonged to Lord Of War! Moreover, he has severely damaged the ecosystem of my future planet. In one moment, he cost us billions of GC! So you have a choice: either you step aside, or I'll crush you and you fucking guild, alongside that bastard!"
Zeus wanted to kick Lucifer's ass, but Hera sharply ordered him to stand down. He was to do nothing unless Lucifer went after one of Spartan's guild members, which Apophis certainly was not.
Of course, the Spartan members were sick to their stomachs. They had just fought alongside ThreeDog and Jiraya, battling like brothers, but now had to stay inactive while their once-allies were in danger.
Lucifer immediately formed a pyramid shape with his hands and a powerful ray of concentrated light blasted out from it towards Apophis's location!
ThreeDog leaped in between them, putting his shield in the way…
But Lucifer's attack was simply too powerful.
ThreeDog couldn't block it entirely, and the force of it drove him backwards several centimeters every second, like a sledgehammer repeatedly blasting him. His shield glowed and then began to melt, and in a moment, it would fail entirely.
Jiraya hadn't been complacent during this time. He had dropped to one knee for an accuracy buff and was chaining powerful plasma shots at Lucifer, but every one of them passed through Lucifer as though he were a mirage!
It seemed that Lucifer had also acquired a skill similar to Apophis's [Ghost] passive ability, which allowed him to dodge any physical attack. That meant that only attacks which originated from an Ascensionist's cosmic energy could touch him. Though Jiraya's plasma shots were almost pure energy, they were charged by his weapon, and not his own cosmic energy, so they were useless here.
Even Jiraya's mutant bear pet could do nothing. His heavy claw swipes passed through Lucifer's body, who ignored everything except charging another concentrated light beam.
ThreeDog's shield finally melted.
The beam pierced through and drilled into ThreeDog, who collapsed in a pool of blood on the ground a split second before disappearing.
Jiraya reeled with shock, but before he could think of another strategy, a ball of light exploded in his face, blinding him!
When Jiraya's vision returned a moment later, he realized there was an intense heat radiating from his back, and a drizzle of blood was coming from his stomach.
The attack had gone right through him like a hot knife through butter.
He, too, collapsed and then disappeared like ThreeDog had.
However, their deaths had not been in vain.
Apophis finally straightened, his Stunned condition having dissipated. Tears came to his eyes as he saw the pools of blood, all that remained of the two companions who had died to save his life. He had never imagined he might have companions as faithful as them.
Zeus, Hera, and the Spartans were also sad. Zeus's clenched fists shook with rage. For him, it was the greatest insult to his masculinity to see two brothers in arms die on his territory while he simply watched.
Yet, he had to stay neutral. Failure to do so would mean disastrous consequences for him and his guild.
Lucifer and Apophis moved closer to one another, glaring wordlessly into each other's deep, black eyes.
They remained that way for a good ten seconds, making the atmosphere very heavy.
These were two men who hated and admired each other at the same time, quite a paradoxical feeling. Whatever happened next would determine how an important future played out for a long time to come.
In less than a second, Apophis drew the sword that Regnier had given him, as well as activating every flame skill and ~Susanoo~.
Lucifer, on the other hand, became a being of pure light once more, summoning hundreds of tiny orbs of pure light which hung above his head.
Apophis immediately realized Lucifer was not moving, as though he was too superior to strike the first blow.
Thinking quickly, Apophis released all his energy from his body, letting it roar out from him like a wave of black fire, as though he were trying to intimidate or impress his opponent with a show of dominance.
Lucifer responded in kind, releasing his light energy in a similar burst. Their auras dueled each other, a contest to see who had the greatest energy reserves.
Zeus and Hera looked on in amazement! This was the first time they'd ever seen an aura duel. The scene was both beautiful and terrifying, although, of course, it was an absolute waste of energy to release it in such a raw form.
Despite this, the sheer amount of aura they were giving off gave the whole Spartan guild goosebumps.
Something bizarre quickly became apparent…
Lucifer had more energy than Apophis.
How could this be possible?? Between all the treasure, quest rewards, and skills Apophis had gathered in his adventures, opportunities which no other would have access to, how was it possible that this dog had better stats than him?!
Apophis, in defiance, started moving with slow steps closer to Lucifer, who did the same.
The two auras moved dangerously closer to one another, but the players didn't care. On the contrary, they pushed their energy output to the maximum! In a moment, their details were indistinguishable, so that only the vague forms of two humanoids could be seen…
A dark being with purple eyes, and a yellow being with teal eyes.
The two auras met.
Something like cracks in reality appeared all around them, but the two players paid no mind, and kept approaching.
Then the inevitable happened.
A violent explosion of light burst between them, causing a huge shock wave which threw them violently backwards into the faces of the remaining buildings.
