Chapter Three Death is Knocking On Your Door

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sprinting through the pitch-black forest, snapping of tree branches around King. A fireball nearly misses him engulfing the tree past him in flames, a shadow brushes past the fire. Running through the forest he ignites two blue fireballs while sliding through trees and leaping off a trunk of one, launching one to his right just as he catches a branch to hold him. Swinging back and forth to gain enough momentum to get to the other tree, hopping on the sturdy branch to hurl the second fireball burying the left side in blue fire, completely lighting up the area for a few seconds. The crew stood in the light, staring at him, not making a single sound or movement, the light dies down darkening the area. Isabel dashes to the right, and the whole group moves all at once.

King shouts into the dark: "I have Ash hidden, you guys need to let me go! I can save Ash!"

No one responded to his voice, giving him the hint that they aren't there to listen. Jumping to other branches eight different balls of elements fly towards him.

King: "Dark shield!"

A dark matter shield covered him from the deadly combo, King sees an opening through the tree line. Stumbling through the vegetation focusing on his breathing to keep himself from passing out from exhaustion, the spell drained him of his stamina.

King: "Almost there."

Making out to the open grasslands, a small abandoned house sat there decaying; King spots Vain's hole where she burrowed. 

 

 

King in a rush: "Vain come out!"

Flying out of the ground Vain lands beside King, in her tail is Ash's body, the group stands at the tree line walking forward with very much intent to kill. A dragon flies overhead alerting King of Jax's arrival, King hops on Vain, she grows bigger than a train.

Astrid Roars at King: "HE SAVED YOU FROM DEATH!"

King: "Well, catch you later guys!"

The Vain train moves onward, Astrid and Isabel can catch the tail of Vain, and King rushes to kick them off. Grim's prairie dog runs up Isabel's shoulder leaping off to hit King in the face. Zipping around him in a lightning state, biting him. King catches it and sends it through the air, refocusing on the two trying to release Vain's grip on Ash. King rushes down, and Isabel meets him head-on while Astrid tries to get Ash out. 

King tired from fighting the people he doesn't want to fight: "Come on Isabel! I don't want to do this!"

Isabel cry out: "You left us no choice! You think I want to fight you!"

King gets ready: "No, but I have to do this!"

Moving forward, ball forming in his hand, the wind fiercely trying to knock them off their feet. Aiming past her, the ball of fire wiz past her hitting Vain's tail sending Astrid off balance. Isabel comes at King missing him with a swing. King boots her in the butt pushing her to the front of Vain, King takes the opportunity to get Astrid, sending another fireball towards her Isabel shoots a stream of scalding water, hitting the fireball and nicking King in the arm. Daygon sends a strike of fire lighting up Vain's back with green fire. Vain hisses in pain while the battle continues.

King bellows: "VAIN! THAT'S IT!"

King unsheathes his blue gladius, the blade bleeds red, raising it to the air souls flood out the blade in flocks of hundreds spreading apart. 

King commanding his army: "My army, take that dragon down!"

Hordes of undead spirits fly toward Daygon bombarding its chest, Daygon barrel rolls in the sky trying to shake them off. King sets his focus on Astrid who is holding onto Vain's tail, dangling off it. 

King on the ledge of Vain's tail looking down at Astrid: "I say, Astrid, of all the woman Ash could have picked, you are the most violent one."

Stomping on her hands, she winces in pain, eventually letting go and hitting the ground tumbling hard. A dark smile finds its way onto King's face, the smile fades away just as quickly as it appears.

King is done with everyone's bull: "Isabel, just stop already!"

Isabel goes for round two, instead of a punch she slides aiming for his legs, and King hops over. Zooming back to her feet following the slide she lands a Sparta kick. Daygon comes fumbling down, black smoke surrounds his belly as he comes crashing into the ground. 

King tries to reason with her: "Come on Isabel! You are outmatched here!"

Isabel barks: "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop!"

Just before they are about to start up again Vain turns sharply whipping them off the Vain train. King smashes his ribs into a tree all the while Isabel uses magic to negate her fall, her daggers fly out of her hand.  An ungodly amount of blood comes from King, laying on the ground while he chokes on his blood.

Using the tree to support him, painfully pulling himself off the floor up slowly, he wheezes, standing up crookedly favoring his right. One of his ribs pierced his lung filling it with blood, limping his way back to his blade which has reverted back to blue. King's vision was just a blur just like tears blocking your view. Isabel sees King who looks like he is about to kill over, she races to him. King makes no effort to stop her, not even able to see who is helping him, his mind fading in and out as he holds onto his life.

King forcing air to come out: "A.........little.....closer."

Isabel lends a hand: "Let me help."

Picking up his gladius she hands it back to him, she could hear him wheezing loudly, she used her shoulder to let him lean on. King's vision blurred, his legs felt heavy and his arms felt dead. Vain comes into view still holding Ash in her tail held up high. Lowering the tail, she gently unravels Ash's body. King drops to his knees sitting over his warm body, a drop of blood falls from King's lip staining Ash's shirt. The sword in his chest sparks out, King sumps over, bowing his head, tipping to his side.

Isabel shakes King: "No don't go, King, it's not your time!"

She holds her hands over him: "Minor healing! *No response*, Minor HEaling! *Still nothing*, Minor Healing minor healing minor healing! PLEASE!"

A dark portal of purple goo swirls itself to life, Isabel arms herself with King's sword, the blue strobes slowly. She uses all her strength to keep it upright, A armored leg comes through, black steel with white on the edges, the knee had jagged metal giving it a dangerous kick. The rest comes through slowly revealing a fully armored dark knight who stood over six feet. His weapon is the blackest metal known to man, his eyes are the bluest made of fire. Slits emanate the blue fire just as the floor freezes over. The frost spreads to a small radius around him, in his left hand he holds a sword with the blade dragging behind him, the blade of the sword withers the grass it was dragged through turning it black. Trudging through the grasslands, each step freezing the ground along with a streak of withering grass behind him. 

Isabel's voice can only be raised a little higher than a whisper: "Stay back, don't come closer, I am warning you."

Not stopping his open hand extends out, Isabel dunks her head scrunching her face to prepare for death. 

A deep voice: "Greater healing."

A green aura covers King's wounds, sealing them up in an instant. Isabel tosses the gladius aside setting her eyes on King, shaking him violently. He didn't wake up, his body had no response.

Isabel hysterically shook him: "Wake up, Please!"

The metal overlord stands over him, Isabel looks up to him, pleading with just her eyes. Making a gesture she moves to the side, quiet as a mouse she waits for the metal skeleton to work his magic. Fully shading King, his body unresponsive. The metal knight pulls back his leg then full force kicks him in the side, King holds his side, wincing in pain as Isabel jumps on him. 

Isabel full of emotions wrapped her arms around his neck: "I thought you died!"

Sobbing on his shoulder, he holds onto her and propping himself up with his right arm. 

King: "It's okay, I am still alive, I haven't left this world yet."

The death harbinger whispers: "Decaying hand."

His hand mists a black smog, he grips Isabel from the neck lifting her off the floor. In a tight grip, he holds her in the air while hovering his right hand over her face, ready to kill her.

King Lich: "She is in the way of my goal."

She struggles to try to release herself from his death grip to no avail. Her eyes filled with pure terror as she looked King in the eyes.

King's voice cracked: "Sin STOP!"

Sin the king lich: "You failed Ash, King, did you forget your promise to him? Your very promise to protect him as he has protected you."

King snarls at him: "Don't tell me about my promises! Let, Her, GO!!"

Sin pauses for a minute, eventually dropping her and canceling his spell. Isabel breathes rapidly, King comes to her aid forgetting Sin who has made his way over to Ash.

Sin: "My mentor, look how they have treated you, why did you leave? I will cure you."

The murky purple portal expands tenfold, Lifting Ash up, the group arrives beside Jax who is tending to Daygon. Astrid and Sam stand side by side, staring down the Lich King.

Sin projects his voice: "So you two are betrothed to my mentor, Sam, Astrid, then that means you can easily handle my army than."

Sixteen portals appear, in the sky, on the ground, behind them, and in front of them, Sin walks back to the original portal, King rushed him only to have a portal pop up every step he took towards Sin. All of the portals started connecting together closing them from the outside world, a giant purple cube eats them, and pure silence sits for a while until King sends a fireball into the portal. The portal makes a ripple as it eats the fireball away, silence for ten more seconds. A foot of bone comes through the portal, skeletons. One after another come through, King launches another fireball knocking down a few. The skeletons suddenly stop.

King: "Is that it!"

A dragon made of bone flies through the portal along with swarms of undead ranking from regular skeletons to liches and boneclaws. Thousands invade the cube from all directions, the group gets in a circle using every magic spell they knew. 

Astrid: "Thunder level five!"

Black lightning vaporizes the undead in quick succession, she lets loose a torrent of lightning bolts from her hand which goes through the undead and bounces off others setting off a chain reaction. The bolts of lightning zoom through exploding the dead, clearing hundreds of them. As soon as those hundreds die, more take their place, a never-ending army.

Astrid: "There's no end to them!"

Grim lets out a charged shot from his bow: "Even holy magic can't make a dent!"

His bow transformed into a staff: "Purefoy level five!"

A blue holy ball expanded on the tip of his staff, growing to the size of a boulder, he launched it forward, it ate all undead who entered it, completely dissolving the bone till there was nothing left. Grim uses his muscles to hold himself up as he just used all his stamina to launch the ball. 

Sarah: "Step back Grim! You over-exerted yourself!"

Grim swings his staff knocking a few skeletons back: "I still got a few spells in me."

Sam hurls house-sized balls of water, they strike down creating a splash as they hit the ground. She follows up with a charge spell.

Sam shouted to the crew: "Cover me, I need to charge this one!"

King steps in front of Sam: "Got your front."

Placing both hands on the ground: "Veins of fire, level five."

Cracks started to form from the ground in front of him, spreading like wildfire. The blue fire veins open up shooting fire into the air, cooking hundreds of undead. Sam shuts her eyes tightly holding her hands out, she drops to one knee growing weak from how draining the magic is. She furrows her brow, dealing with great mental pain to her. Sophia takes charge, going after the dragon, she picks up Isabel effortlessly and throws her at the dragon. Isabel gets ahold of one of the dragon's jagged bones, holding on with one hand she holds out the other.

Isabel: "Fire dagger level four!"

A blood-red fire dagger forms in her right hand, the shape is a lot more defined and not out of control than a level one, she stabs the collarbone of the dragon, jamming the dagger deep inside its bone. Once getting her footing she leaps off the collarbone onto its rib cage next to its soul which is in the center of the dragon's body, where its heart should be.

Sophia swings her oversized sword like it's a stick, slicing the undead in half she squares off with a boneclaw connecting with its claw, Isabel flies overhead slowly closing in on the heart. The dragon barrel rolls sending her flying off. Sophia swings her sword through the boneclaw into the air, Isabel leaps off the sword back onto the dragon spearing the soul with a small hidden knife on her leg. Sophia's sword hits the ground sinking into a skeleton's skull.

Sophia brawls with the dead, smashing them to bits and stealing their weapons, and destroying them. Isabel lands beside Sophia, she dunks as Sophia tears through a lich. 

Sophia: "Nice acrobatics skills, but you lack something like this."

Fire of red balled up in her hand, it spread throughout her body covering her in a set of fire armor, she punched through a skeleton's head setting its body ablaze. The fire took the color of dark red, the fire burned like a shiny piece of glass. The fire didn't look like fire as it had a way more defined figure than the lower-level spell. Sophia lifted an undead using her gauntlet to make it feel like she was lifting nothing. throwing the skeleton at its comrades, she pummels the crowd burning them as well as smashing them to pieces. 

Isabel flexed her agility and acrobatic skills, grabbing a few makeshift bombs out of her pouch she leaps onto big skeletons sticking the bombs in their eye sockets and leaping onto the next. Using all the bombs she had and jumping off the last skeleton, she throws her fire dagger at the last one while in the air hitting the bomb in its eye causing a chain reaction of all the other bombs. The first blast propelled her further in the air sending her rolling toward the group. 

Isabel back in the circle: "Who the hell was that guy!"

King letting a blast of dark magic: "He is Ash's pupil!"

Astrid was still ticked off: "Why the hell did any of you tell me about him!"

King losing ground: "Ash wanted to leave his past that is why he never talks about anything, then Sam showed up!"

Sam almost lost focus on her spell: "Well I still have a child to think about, so don't go pinning the blame on me!"

Astrid holding her sword out ready to take any attack and counter it: "Why did Ash's pupil do this to us!"

King caught a blade of an undead and headbutted another skeleton coming at him: "Well, Ash is dead and we are alive! Sin is dead loyal to Ash, meaning he would kill anyone and himself to save Ash but we are still alive and he isn't!"

Sarah struggled against a boneclaw: "What is he!"

King shouted as he took a slice to the shoulder: "He is a lich!"

Sophia comes back into the circle: "There is no way he is just a normal lich!"

Sam sat on her knees still holding her hands out in front of her: "Last time I saw him he was a lich!"

King: "Flamethrower level five! *a burst of blue fire spews out of his hands decimating a huge area* Sin is a King Lich!"

Astrid sweeping the leg: "I thought that was a myth!"

Grim impaling a skeleton on his staff: "No but there was only one that can live at a time, he was the next elder lich to do it."

Sam barked orders: "Everyone, cover me!"

Sam sluggishly got to her feet, the crew let all of their magic go wild sending waves of magic to clear enough room for Sam. Sam slides her hand around the circle they formed until coming back to her spot and holding her palms down against the floor.

Sam Screamed: "Wash The WORLD AWAY!"

Icy blue water formed around the circle, and a wave the size of mountains sweep the area completely washing away the horde of undead and sending them back into the portal. The portals collapse on themselves vanishing into thin air. Everyone hits the ground simultaneously, exhausted. Sam falls asleep.

King took a big gulp: "That was her last resort spell, a deadly spell."

Sarah lies spread out: "I am aching all over, I can't believe that was Ash's pupil."

King rolls to his back: "That was his number one, I know he had more of his stronger army in the back."

Astrid was stunned: "So you are saying that wasn't even his strongest!"

Grim: "I may have heard of Sin besides the Sin that was Ash's brother, he has a group under him named Five Deaths."

King laying there: "Ash always has friends, even friends that his close friends don't know. *King sits up* The crazy thing is Ash has built such a connection and webs of allies that some of the world's greatest people know the name of Ash Hadeus, the strongest demigod there is."

Astrid stands: "I am guessing he hates his last name."

Grim sits on his knees: "You have, no clue."

King: "If that name had a body, he would torture it nonstop till the end of time."

Sophia retrieves her weapon as it has jammed itself through a skeleton's skull into the ground. 

Isabel reluctantly gets up: "I got to find my daggers."

She walks away as King feels a little nudge in his chest: "Where were you when I needed you!"

Vain yawning: "Ahh, I found a cozy little spot in your pocket. What! you could handle it I believed in you."

King: "You damn garden snake."

Sarah still motionless: "What do we do now."

Astrid walks over to King: "We get information out of this ass, and I haven't forgotten about what you did on Vain's back."

She dug her high heel into King's shoulder where the open wound is, he yelps in pain as he squirms around trying to lift her heel out of his wound.

King: "Ah you dick! I can't tell you!"

Astrid slowly eases off his wound: "I can make you talk."

She slams her heel in, and King grits his teeth holding her heel.

King: "Look Astrid, I can't tell you, you can kill me for all I care but I won't tell you, it is not for you to bear! It is my fault and I will handle the consequence!"

She takes her heel out of his wound: "Let's camp here tonight, we will search for Ash ourselves."

King lays his head back down, feeling nauseous from the info he already gave them. 

Sophia comes to King's aid: "Minor healing." 

King showing relief on his face: "Thanks, Sophia."

Sophia cracks a joke: "You're lucky I like you so much."

A smile grows on King: "Yes I am."

 

 

 

 

#

 

 

 

 

Ash: "The trek is going to be far here, about two days worth."

Chris: "It is a dangerous path."

The underworld had a red tint in the air almost like the air was made up of hot substances, up above was a ceiling of molten rock and demon ore completely covering the underworld from the overworld. The lava-filled lands expand far than the eye can see, showing an afterlife of misery until you reach judgment day upon your soul as you wait in a line of other poor souls. 

Chris: "Can I come with you."

Ash: "No, I have to do this by myself. Even if I lose my legs and arms, I must see if my memories are true."

Chris: "So, do you have a familiar to help give you a hand on the journey."

Ash puzzled: "What do you mean? I thought they turn to stone when the master dies."

Chris holding his hand out: "Well, *a flame spirit forms in his hand* if you die, so does your familiar, don't you remember your pact you make once you take them as your familiar."

Ash combs his hair back: "What can I say, I have been alive for thousand years, some of your memories will be a little foggy."

Chris's jaw dropped: "Wait, YOU Survived the great purge of the demigods!"

Ash makes an expression of reliving the memories: "Oooh yeah, good times, uh I mean yeah those dark times."

Chris fanboyed over him: "Wait does that mean you got to meet the great spartans, Oh how was Leonitus, is he the fierce warrior all the tales say!"

Ash raises his head high: "No, he was better, I learned from him personally how to fight with every kind of weapon, but the way he used his spear could inspire anyone."

Chris: "Lucky! I wish I got to meet him!"

Ash changed the subject: "Okay we are off-topic here, so if I were to just, *Ash shuts his eyes* Vex, come to me!"

A black summoning circle formed on the ground opening a black abyss, Vex rose from the circle, taking in the surroundings with her big pearly eyes.

Ash: "Hello Vex."

Vex snaps to Ash: "Master! Why haven't you summoned me! I was so scared!"

She runs up his arm: "Where are we."

Ash looks around with her: "I died Vex, this is the underworld."

Vex: "Oh, that sucks I guess, what do we do now."

Chris intervenes: "Wait wait wait wait wait, this is your familiar you spent all those years with."

Vex hops on Chris's head staring at his eyes from the top of his head: "Who is this little boy master."

Ash picks up Vex: "This is Chris and no this isn't my familiar that I spent all that time with, this is his child, sadly my familiar passed away."

Chris: "Sorry to hear that."

Ash steps down the steps of the mansion: "Don't worry about it, Take care, Chris."

Chris waved goodbye as Ash and Vex made their way to the door to the overworld. 

Vex: "Hey Master?"

Ash: "Yeah Vex."

Vex: "Do you remember what happened when you died."

Ash sighs: "Yeah, my eyes have a mind of their own."

Vex rests on his shoulders: "Please don't do that again."

Ash leaps over a canyon of lava: "I promise."

 

 

 

 

#

 

 

 

 

Mount Olympus 

The city in the sky 

 

 

 

Athena: "Zeus, the titans are breaking their prison, it is only a matter of time before they come loose."

Athena's pleas landed on deaf ears, and Zeus sat on his throne of gold looking down upon the earth.

He eyed the group from the skies: "What would you think would happen if I sent a bolt of lightning down upon them, do you think they would be powerful enough to survive or they would just perish."

His white beard sparked lightning, she could only stare at the group resting: "They will be too weak to defend against your power."

Zeus stands from his throne: "Do you think you can beat the strongest demigod."

Athena jokes: "I wouldn't need to because he is already dead-"

Zeus cuts her off: "Do you think you can kill Ash!"

Athena looks up at him: "He is powerful in every aspect, and still even if he doesn't want to accept it, he is Hades' son. No Zeus, I don't think I can defeat him and most of us probably can't defeat him. Why do you ask?"

Zeus keeps his eye trained on the group: "Nothing, I was just thinking that's all, you are dismissed."

Athena leaves through the giant white doors leaving Zeus to his thoughts. 

Zeus: "I will have to pay someone a visit."

Outside Athena walks to the edge of the city near the cliff to earth: "Why is he so adamant about Ash, the titans are going to come knocking while he is just watching a bunch of kids play god."

Hera stands behind her: "It is cause you were his favorite, you were the strongest child he loved beside Heracles who was an utter fool."

Hera places her hand on her shoulder: "Can you keep a secret."

Athena: "Depends, how bad is the secret."

Hera: "Nevermind."

Athena gets up quickly: "Wait no tell me!"

Hera: "Ash is more than a demigod, he is a full-fledged god."

Athena star-struck: "Wait you are telling me Ash is a god and he hasn't even ascended godhood yet, he will have to be the strongest god there is! How long have you known!"

Hera summons a crow: "Did you forget I am the goddess of birth."

Athena stares down the world: "Does Zeus know."

Hera: "Oh Hades no! That is why it's so great! I finally did something to him that he didn't start!"

Athena: "Geez no wonder why this world is falling apart, the gods are so petty."

Athena takes a deep breath before asking: "So what are you going to do with that information."

Hera grows a demented smile: "I was thinking of Marrying Ash, if he refuses then I will tell his little friends who he actually is, Sin the dark god."