Will of chaos

Author: I apologize for the previous chapter; I’ve been very busy this December with many things and haven’t had time to correct the previous error, so I’m posting this chapter now.

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Pov Xerxes:

“You’re as wild as ever.” (Malakyel)

“You’re too stiff, have fun, this is my first fight since… how long have I been away?” (me)

“Too long, but those were better times, they won’t come back.” (Malakyel)

“That hurts my feelings~~…” (me)

I look at him, even without seeing his mouth, I know he’ll be smiling, he likes to fight like that. I couldn’t smile with amusement either; I haven’t felt this free in so long.

I didn’t even notice when a lightning bolt hit me, then another, and 50 more after it in sequence as if it were a joke.

“Your luck remains the same.” (Malakyel)

“How about we start taking this more seriously?” (Me)

“No, this event isn’t about us… we’ll have our time, sister… if we survive.” (Malakyel)

Suddenly I feel his Aura diminish, the giant body falls to the ground and snoring sounds can be heard, Guerra was no longer using that body.

“Damn it, still doesn’t like being honest…” (Me)

“[It seems Sirius has become unconscious, so he’s out of combat!!!]” (Igor)

“[The winner is Xerxes!!!]” (Igor)

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Pov Zenos:

Xerxes’ battle was bizarre from beginning to end, because it was silent. I could see Xerxes’ mouth moving and yet there were no sounds of his words to his opponent.

Another strange thing was how the two didn’t start fighting immediately after the starting signal; it was clear they were talking about something.

When the fight finally began, it was even worse; it was a completely physical fight, and they didn’t seem to be using Aura, Concept, or any kind of energy.

Their battle lasted almost 30 minutes, the longest of all the fights today. Their blows could topple mountains, clear storms from the sky, form valleys in the earth that would soon fill with magma, and much more.

Just when I thought the two were finally going to start fighting seriously, Sirius suddenly fell asleep. Even Xerxes was petrified in place, not understanding anything when she was declared the winner.

As soon as she appeared, she was distracted. I noticed in the glint of her eyes that she was lost in memories; she was smiling.

“Xerxes, what happened there?” (me)

“Nothing, just a nostalgic reunion.” (Xerxes)

“…” (me)

“Don’t look at me with that intensity; it’s not my type. I prefer someone with muscles… maybe a big, well-groomed mustache… being kind and always smiling would be good too.” (Xerxes)

“We’re not here for those jokes.” (Sarazar)

“Your fight was different from the others, aside from your simplistic fight, them cutting the audio was strange.” (Sarazar)

“I’ll ask one more time, what happened?” (me)

Just like Sarazar said, this fight was strange, even the way Xerxes won was strange, his enemy just fell backward asleep, that doesn’t make sense.

“The one I was facing wasn’t the big guy, but War who took over his body.” (Xerxes)

“I thought War didn’t interfere in the battles of his Avatars.” (me)

“The big guy isn’t an Avatar, and even if he were, War wouldn’t let any of his subordinates fight me.” (Xerxes)

“Why?” (me)

“Because he knows they haven’t returned. When I start moving, it becomes difficult to contain me, especially if I’m having fun.” (Xerxes)

“He was surprised to see me, but he wasn’t stupid enough to face me using that cuteness.” (Xerxes)

“He gave up the fight too easily.” (Lolth)

“Because he doesn’t care about victory or defeat, he’s confident in winning the group battle and wants to leave it all for the final confrontation.” (me)

“Is that what he wants?” (Xerxes)

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. It was clear he said something to you there, but they didn’t let us hear.” (Me)

“It wasn’t anything important to any of you, it was just a personal and nostalgic conversation in the middle of a meeting that could have been more fun.” (Xerxes)

Her smile and the gleam in her eyes seem to confirm her words, so I’ll leave that aside; I have to take care of Urak before the group clash begins.

I approach Urak and blood gathers on the tip of my finger, piercing the skin. Then I draw Runes of the Law of Chaos on her forehead, heart, the backs of her hands, the tops of her feet, the middle of her stomach, and the lower part of her lower back.

The Law of Chaos is a direct manifestation of the Concept. Urd and his Divine Law are a branch of mine. Astro and his Celestial Law are a branch of Urd, while Urak is merely a branch of Astro’s Celestial Law.

After his fight, it was clear he was misusing his own power. I didn’t follow his training; I fully trusted Astro and Urd for that. Now I realize my mistake.

“(They weren’t able to see what lies behind the Guardian title…)” (me)

“(Leaving everything solely to the power that comes from her son… doesn’t she realize it herself, or does she refuse to use another power?)” (me)

“What did you do to her?” (Lolth)

“Nothing, I just gave her a hand…” (me)

Suddenly her body trembles behind me as the light of the starlight flames passes through me. It seems the process has begun. She’s lucky to be unconscious, so she won’t feel any pain. At least I hope she doesn’t feel any pain.

“Now that I’ve taken care of her, could you explain why Igor hasn’t made any announcement about the group confrontation yet?” (Me)

I look behind Xerxes; someone appeared there unnoticed by anyone while everyone was watching what was happening with Urak. It was the System.

“[The fight will take hours to begin; this interval is for the participants of the individual battles to recover or be replaced according to the rules.]” (System)

“We will not make any substitutions, thank you.” (Me)

“[As you wish.]” (System)

He disappeared as suddenly as he appeared, but something still seemed strange to me. A strange picture is forming in my mind, small clues being thrown like breadcrumbs here and there, joining together into something I still don’t understand how it fits.

“Xerxes, what do you think will happen in the final battle?” (Me)

“We will lose, I have no doubt.” (Xerxes)

“Why do you think that?” (Me)

“War always achieves his goals; he must have always expected at least a draw in individual battles and used group battles to maintain balance. It’s clear that War seeks to resolve this in the duel.” (Xerxes)

“If we win the group battle, the duel becomes irrelevant.” (Me)

“If you’re so sure he’s going to win, then tell me how he’s going to do it?” (Me)

“I haven’t the slightest idea, but he’s going to win, believe me, it’s not about power, it’s about ability.” (Xerxes)

“Your improvisations won’t save you from the first strategist in all of existence, and trying that won’t change anything.” (Xerxes)

“He now knows all his participants and already has an idea of ​​their powers, but you know almost nothing about the participants under his command. One of them gave up, another used an item, and another was used as a vessel for War.” (Xerxes)

“Are you going to give up without even trying?” (me)

“I’m not going to give up, you can be sure of that, but do you really think he doesn’t have countermeasures against me?” (Xerxes)

“Before I sealed myself away, the few times I lost control, it was War and Pride who held me back long enough to regain control and lessen the damage.” (Xerxes)

“I’ll give you some advice…” (Xerxes)

“Sometimes victory lies in defeat…” (Xerxes)

“…” (me)

I didn’t understand what she meant by this contradiction, but I already knew that group combat would be impossible. The basis of an army has always been to act in groups. Guerra will be better at this than me; he’ll make better use of the terrain or come up with something else. There’s no way he’ll let an opportunity pass that will undoubtedly arise.

None of our men trained as a group. There’s no coordination or synergy between them. We didn’t have enough time for something like that; it would be impossible to conduct team training in so few days. That’s why I set aside commitment, thinking solely about winning individual battles.

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Over the next few hours, I discussed possible strategies with everyone. It would be a group battle, so separating everyone to try an individual battle would be useless; the enemy group would just eliminate them one by one.

It would have to be a battle of all against all, with minimal parameters and a chance of defeat. Since our group lacked coordination, the best we could do was a single move made with all our power, a single chance to attack was the only strategy I could think of.

Suddenly the screens reappeared, shining brighter as they returned to the main screen.

“[Now let’s start the event!!!]” (Igor)

“[A battle where power alone has no place; the same rules as individual battles apply!!!!]” (Igor)

Ding!

“[ Start of group battle ]”