Agrona looked down at them with a small arrogant smile. "We'll see about that."

Five black crystals in the columns beneath the Vritra shined with a silver light before sending out a pulse of mana.

"Fuck!" Arthur grunted as his armor shimmered into being upon his body as he created a mana barrier around Elijah, Tess and himself.

To his surprise the pulse passed right through his barrier and body harmlessly, with them only feeling a slight tug on their cores. Everyone else however, they were thrown back and into the air. The pulse ended at the arched line Arthur saw earlier, and from it a barrier rose up to the ceiling.

"I must compliment you for reaching the white core," Agrona said smugly while looking at Tess. "This will save time strengthening your body after I put the legacy in it."

Arthur ignored his comment and examined the barrier. He was confident that he could break it, but it would take time, time he didn't have while fighting Agrona and followers.

"Impressive barrier," Arthur commented.

"Oh I'm not done yet." He replied casually, flicking his wrist.

Arthur could feel it, their mana was being suppressed.

"Art?" Tess said, sounding nervous.

Arthur smiled warmly back. "Don't worry I've got this."

"You've got this?" Agrona questioned humorously. "Your mana has been suppressed and you're trapped within this barrier with multiple Vritra. You have already lost."

"It's funny. As smart as you claim to be, you are I'll prepared for a fight against me," Arthur released the pressure of his aether core, catching all of them off guard.

Boom!

Then everyone but Arthur looked to his far left column to see Regis in his destruction form smashing through one of the mana dampening artifacts. It wasn't that Arthur needed them destroyed, but Tess and Elijah wouldn't even be able to withstand the coming battle without mana.

Seeing Regis destroying one of the artifacts one of the Vritra lept into action. He was rather heavy set and close to the normal height for a human with horns like a ram, and moved surprisingly fast for his size.

"Oh fuck! Look at this fat ass coming for me," Regis mocked. "Somebody get this cow on weight watchers."

The Basilisk created a large black scimitar and swung it at Regis, but missed.

"Woah there fatty, swing that thing like you're trying to cut your second dinner and you might actually hit something!"

Regis swung a destruction covered claw and cut into his left arm. He cried out in pain, then started to panic as the flames spread, not lessening or going out.

"Don't worry sumo boy, I'm going to help you by cutting away at the fat." Quickly Regis got behind him. "It seems your head is too fat. Let me take care of that."

He then chomped down on his opponent's head without using destruction and ripped it from his body, tossing it over the edge towards Arthur. Arthur caught the head and stored it in his rune as part of his long term plan for Dicathen. There was another crash as Regis destroyed another artifact and leapt off the edge, flying to the other side.

Seeing Regis on the move, two more Vritra took to the air to intercept him. However, before they were even in striking range Arthur godstepped above them, his aether sword formed, and slashed the heads of both of them off. As the heads were severed Arthur caught them by the horns and stored them in his rune.

A third tried to come up behind him, Tess called out to warn him, but Arthur was already aware.
The Basilisk swung down with a black halberd, but Arthur spun around mid air and grabbed the shaft as it came past. He then jerked it forward, taking the owner along with it and grabbed him by his throat, making sure the claw-like fingers of his armor went into his flesh and drew blood before throwing him down. The Vritra crashed into the floor, and Arthur landed right on top of him, driving his aetheric blade through his shoulder to pin him down.

Arthur looked down at the panicked Vritra darkly, he made a promise to him in the previous timeline, and it was time to keep it.

"I told you once before, after I broke out I was going to kill you all. And I always keep my promises."

He looked confused as Arthur pulled out his blade then thrust it down again between the Vritia's eyes. Then with a quick swipe he removed the top half of his head and stored it in his rune.

Regis landed right beside him after destroying two more artifacts, dropping another head as he landed. Arthur stored it, much to the other Vritia's anger, but they didn't move. Agrona was holding them back, Arthur had gained his interest. Arthur held his hand up and formed a spinning cone of aether and fired it towards Agrona. He didn't care anymore if he saw him use aether, it didn't matter, it was too late for him to develop any countermeasures against him. The cone wized right past Agrona's head, and collided with the final artifact, allowing Elijah and Tess to use mana again.

Agrona just stood there silently watching Arthur with interest, not caring about his clansmen around him fuming and wanting Arthur dead, or the many highbloods outside the barrier whispering. Arthur, a human, had just killed several Vritra, their gods before their very eyes, making him look like a god himself.

Arthur though didn't care much about the dead Vritra, they were scientists, not warriors. Even those with athletic bodies couldn't match up with him, not because he was stronger, but because they completely lacked any instincts for combat. He had already sized up his opponents, Arthur had surpassed all of them, except for Agrona. There was a noticeable gap between Agrona and the rest of the Vritra, and Arthur had only come to the point of matching him. But he wasn't concerned, he had defeated opponents stronger than himself before, his combat skills would be more than enough to ensure victory in this situation.

"So do you plan to just stare at me all day as I slaughter your minions? Or are you going to come down here and fight me?" Arthur taunted.

"Aether," Agrona said in realization, then floated up into the air. "That's how you managed to defeat my scythes. You managed to master aether."

Arthur remained silent as Agrona floated down to the ground. He recognized him instantly from their encounters in the previous timeline, but noticed something different. Embedded in his chest at the base of his neck by his collar bones he noticed a red gem.

"Tell me, how many god runes have you gained?"

"Is this normal for Vritra to talk before a battle to the death? Because I have no interest in answering your questions," Arthur replied coldly

"It doesn't matter. You see, I have no intention of killing you. You will serve me one way or another, and then you will volunteer that information."

Agrona held out his right hand and pulled a black staff from his dimensional ring. A second later and aetheric head formed to make it a spear. Arthur wasn't too surprised by this, he knew elder Rinia had gained basic insight into aether after nearly seventy years of studying and training, so Agrona being able to do this much after centuries seemed more than understandable.

"Is that the best you can do?" Arthur taunted as he formed his sword and entered a battle stance.

"Now this won't be fair." He then raised a hand up with three fingers and waved them,and three more Vritia began floating down to join him.

Arthur sized up the situation. He couldn't allow them to make a move on Tess and Elijah, so he and Regis would have to take those three out quickly while also keeping Agrona at bay.

"Oh don't worry, they won't be attacking your friends. They are here to keep your little dog company."

"Company? Dog?!" Regis growled.

"You're using the wrong analogies. The correct way to describe them would be to call them playthings, and Regis should be described as a majestic wolf."

Regis and Arthur then shot forward towards their respective targets. As long as the opponents Regis was fighting stayed focused on him everything would be ok. He was confident that Regis could handle them, it just wouldn't be fast. The problem was that he didn't trust they would stay focused and would take an opportunity to go for Tess.

"I'll keep an eye on them, if one of these snakes makes a run for them then I'll let you know," Regis said, feeling his concern.

Arthur ran towards Agrona, trying to make this as quick as possible, and god stepped behind him at the last second. Arthur swung the blade for his neck, but his spear swung back and parried. Agrona spun around, holding his spear near the end with one hand, forcing Arthur to back up to avoid the swing of the blade. Quickly Arthur charged in to take the offensive. Aetheric blades clashed repeatedly, with Agrona constantly staying on the defensive. Despite this though, Arthur couldn't help but feel that Agrona was somehow controlling this fight.

It was an uncomfortable feeling Arthur couldn't seem to shake, he knew he needed to end this fight soon. Several of his runes glowed as his sword changed to a flaming blade of destruction. Arthur lunged forward swinging his blade in a wide arc, but Agrona jumped back to avoid it. Arthur continued his assault, but his attacks just couldn't manage to connect. He never faced someone else who could use aether before while he used destruction, but he wasn't all that surprised that it was able to block his attack.

Soon Arthur saw an opening. He quickly got close and grabbed the shaft of the spear and slashed his blade across Agrona's chest. Agrona reached his hand out towards Arthur's head, but he jumped away quickly. He was well aware of Agrona's ability to alter people's memories, and even though the basilisk never tried it on him in the previous timeline, that didn't mean he wouldn't here.

Arthur looked at Agrona with satisfaction, it was only a matter of time before the aetheric flames consumed his body, leaving not even ash behind.

"Well don't you seem satisfied," Agrona commented, causing that uneasy feeling to grow a little stronger. "Did you honestly think this would finish me?" The wound glowed amethyst and the flames were extinguished as his wound healed.

"How?" Arthur breathed out.

"I've spent centuries studying aether, and you didn't think I gained a god rune of my own?" Agrona chuckled. "Vivum is all about balance, life and creation versus death and destruction. If one possesses a greater insight into the life branch, overcoming your destruction branch isn't all that difficult."

Arthur returned his aether sword to normal as he retook his fighting stance. It didn't matter that destruction didn't work on his opponent, he still wasn't fighting with everything he had. There was a sudden change in pressure coming from Arthur as his hair turned white and eyes glowed purple.

Even though Arthur had expected using aether would be enough to defeat Agrona he didn't bet everything on it. Knowing there was a third stage to Sylvia's will allowed him to reach it much faster, and his part Asura body ensured that this time he could handle it without harming himself. He of course did more than train Sylvia's will, he also worked to integrate mana into his fighting while also simultaneously using aether.

Arthur used aether to use burst step to close the distance, then seamlessly channeled mana to use thunderclap impulse. His body sparked with black lightning as he unleashed a relentless assault on Agrona. He was still blocking and dodging, but it was clear he was having to focus to keep up.

As his assault continued Agrona for the most part somehow managed to keep up with Arthur's pace.  This of course didn't mean that he made it unscathed, Arthur got in plenty of flesh wounds, but it was obvious to him that Agrona merely allowed them to keep him from leaving a more dangerous opening. One of the more frustrating things Arthur noticed was how the wounds were so minor that they healed quickly. As he noticed this, he also kept noticing his own eyes being drawn to the red gem in Agrona's chest, and even noticed it glowing dimly. Suspecting this may be some kind of artifact, he decided to change his tactics and target that instead.

Deciding to go for the direct approach, Arthur lunged forward and reached out for the artifact. Agrona tried to defend with his spear, but Arthur blocked him with his sword. He tried to counter by redirecting the sword to the side, opting for a strike with the other end of the spear, only to be stopped midway by Arthur grabbing a hold of his hands. Catching Agrona off guard and having little choice, since both of their hands were occupied, Arthur resorted to smashing his head into Agrona's face.

Agrona roared in anger as he backed away and grabbed at his nose with his free hand. Arthur tried to make another attempt for the crystal, but Agrona released a stream of black flames from the butt end of his spear. Arthur backed away quickly, he didn't think it would be lethal as he survived it in the previous timeline during the Victorad, but it definitely would be more painful than he would want to endure during a fight.

The flames continued to come for him, so Arthur used Realmheart to take control of the flames themselves. Agrona and everyone else was in a state of complete dismay as they saw Arthur take control of Agrona's spell. He spun it over his head as he gathered it together, then sent it right back at Agrona. The basilisk was sent flying back into the reinforced wall, hurt but not defeated.

"Are you ready to just bow your head and accept your fate?" Arthur asked arrogantly.

"Ha, you think it's my fate to die here?" Agrona asked in an angered amusement. "I've seen my fate. And you're there bowing in loyalty to me!"

"Is that what that stone in your chest does? Let's you see the future?"

"So you know about it," Agrona concluded.

"I heard Sylvia destroyed it."

"She did. I had abandoned all expectations that I could ever fix it, until you started changing everything and going against the predictions." He then touched the stone. "That's when I looked into this artifact again. I couldn't bring it back to its original glory, but with it I can now see anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes into the future."

"Well based on your recent reactions I'd say there are a few bugs left in it."

"As I said before, you have the ability to go against my predictions, more so now that you've gained god runes." He smiled confidently. "But I've seen how this battle will end. Soon I will have you."

"I don't think so," Arthur replied and shot forward.

Arthur pulled his sword back, ready to thrust it forward. However at the last second he changed tactics, and switched to a drop kick. This however wasn't a normal drop kick. Agrona raised his spear to block, and as Arthur's feet touched the shaft he used piston stomp. White flames burst out from Arthur's feet and seared Agrona's face.

He cried out in pain and Arthur flipped around and landed, then shot forward to continue. As Arthur approached Agrona was able to open his eyes again and saw Arthur coming in. He lowered his spear and thrust it forward, however something unexpected happened. A pair of aetheric wings formed from Arthur's back and came forward to shield him. As the spear hit the wings they opened, pushing the spear and Agrona's hands away. Arthur then ducked down and spun quickly in place, his wings slashing Agrona at his stomach as he jumped back.

Once away Agrona took a knee as blood poured from his abdomen. Arthur had proven to be far more dangerous than he had ever imagined. He looked to Regis and his battle with the three other Vritra. It was true they weren't warriors, but he never expected the sight. One was already dead on the ground, his head severed and body burning away from destruction. Another was missing an arm and was bleeding profusely as the third was on the ground holding his leg on as black flames healed him back together.

Inside the barrier he saw Tess and Elijah watching in amazement, as the nobles outside were clearly no longer seeing him and the Vritra as godly beings. If he lost, if he failed to capture Arthur, centuries of planning would be gone in an instant. He couldn't let that happen.

Arthur lunged forward to take advantage of Agrona's weakened state. He was still on one knee using his spear to steady himself as his wounds healed. Seeing Arthur coming at him he forced himself to his feet and readied his spear while he worked out a plan. As something different, when Agrona thrust his spear forward Arthur used his wings to knock the spear aside before thrusting them forward and into Agrona's shoulders. He then reached out and grabbed the stone in Agrona's chest and ripped it out, and ignited it with destruction.

With the stone gone Arthur moved to finish Agrona off once and for all, but was stopped as something wrapped around his body, pulling his arms down to his sides and pulled him away.

"Art!" Tess cried out as Arthur struggled against Agrona's spear, which now wrapped around him like a snake.

She and Elijah tried to run towards him to help, but a wall of black flames burst out from the ground before them.

"No interrupting," Agrona scolded as if talking to a child.

He looked like a complete mess, but considering how close to death he was it was understandable. Agrona stood tall as his wounds healed with a purple glow and walked towards a struggling Arthur.

"And here you thought you were going to defeat me," Agrona mocked with a sadistic smile while standing before him. He then grabbed both sides of Arthur's head violently. Arthur almost instantly stopped struggling and his eyes closed.

"Arthur!" Regis roared as he lunged at Agrona in his werewolf form, leaving his last opponent on the ground ripped in half and burning up from destruction.

Agrona released Arthur and jumped back to avoid Regis, who landed and took a defensive position between them.

"Sit dog, and prepare to serve your new master," Agrona said pridefully.

"Fuck off you horned bastard. All I need to do is rip your ass in half before Arthur wakes up," Regis spat.

"Then come at me mutt," Agrona replied confidently.

Regis was about to attack when Agrona was bombarded by multiple metal and wind spells from behind. Unfortunately he was able to raise a wall of black flames before most of the spells connected. He turned and looked up to see Tess and Elijah holding position up in the air.

"Don't think he weakened me enough for you to stand a chance. If I fight you both seriously there is no way you can win," Agrona said with annoyance.

"Regis, what's going on?" Tess called out, completely ignoring Agrona.

"It's like he's in some kind of trance, he's not answering."

"Allow me to explain," Agrona said arrogantly. "I was in the process of manipulating your husband's mind to make him loyal, before the weapon got in the way. I may not have been able to finish, but I started the process, and put him in a dreamlike state where my spell will finish the job."

"Regis, is there anything you can do? Don't you have some kind of mental bond where you can talk with him?"

"Yeah, but I told you he wasn't responding."

"What if you went into his body? Could you mess with that dream?"

"I don't know? Maybe?"

Tess and Elijah looked at one another and nodded in agreement. They now knew why they were there.

"Then do it! We'll buy you as much time as we can!"

"Haha," Agrona chuckled. "Do try and keep me entertained then."

——————————————————————-

Beep beep beep

He rolled over to his back and opened his eyes to a pure white ceiling as an alarm clock rang.

"What? Wasn't I just in a fight?" He asked himself while laying in a soft bed. "Did I die?"

"Ughhh," someone groaned from beside him. "Please turn off the alarm, Grey."