Poppy was the first to attack, twirling and twisting with a devastating straight shot at the maddened Oren.
He evaded, leaning left as she shot right past him.
Jackal turned to a low sprint, sliding and slashing at Oren's ankle.
However, Oren only kicked him aside and outstretched his arm, forming a swirling sphere of shadowy energy in the palm of his clawed hand.
"Go!" Justin screamed, outstretching his own hand as blood soared through the air from his many cuts.
Oren's hand was snapped shut by ropes of blood, and seconds before he could rip it off... Chase appeared with Apocalypse swinging down with full force.
CLANG!
Five spears made of shadows shot up from the ground, bocking Chase's attack as Oren was able to launch his own counter.
FWOOOOSHHHHH!!!
The sphere of shadows grew immense in only seconds upon being launched, and in those moments... Its violent torrent destroyed everything in its path, taking Justin and swallowing him into the abyss...
"Damn it all..." Chase growled, stepping back and readying his axe.
Oren roared, lowering his body and barreling towards Chase with terrifying speed.
Chase sidestepped last second, swinging Apocalypse and letting its crown bite into the arm of Oren and grip.
Using the momentum of Oren, Chase swung himself above the ravaging beast.
Apocalypse rose as if it had suddenly met the scent of death.
Wearing a devilish grin, Chase swung down with his descent, tearing open Oren's back with a storm of blood spraying from its wake.
Chase landed with a painful thud, and Apocalypse digging itself into the flooring below as Oren suddenly turned with a look of terrible rage in his crimson eyes...
"Down boy!" Poppy landed on Oren's back, with the violent piercing of the prince's shoulder staggering the beast.
Chase pulled Apocalypse and twisted with a weakened spin.
Oren thrashed as Poppy tried to avoid the deadly claws of his maddened state, but luckily Chase's axe tore into Oren's ribcage with elite precision.
"I missed!?" Chase gasped, feeling the gentle crack of Oren's catalyst; however, under such an attack...
It had survived...
'How?'
Poppy looked down at Chase with panic in her crimson eyes.
Oren laughed, grabbing her and tossing her aside before turning his sight on Chase.
He ripped Apocalypse from the wound, backing away just in time to avoid a downward slam of Oren's fists.
Chase grit his teeth, feeling his Axis energy return to his body...
Once again his vision shifted... Revealing even more possibilities before him, when suddenly...
His body moved on its own, hurling towards Oren with incredible speed.
Apocalypse jingled, slashing at Oren with killing intent.
But the prince had vanished into the shadows, appearing behind Chase and attacking.
Chase turned lifting Apocalypse with a last second Axis twitch.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Four consecutive clashes between Apocalypse and the shadowy blade of Oren took place, a deadly and unbroken balance between two powerful warriors...
Chase ducked underneath the slash of Oren, kicking at the side of Oren's leg... Turning his body he hurled Apocalypse up and over his own horizontal body and crushing Oren's shoulder with a devastating slam.
Chase twisted his legs, somehow catching himself in an awkward squatting position, but just in the right spot to press an insane amount of Axis energy into the back of his foot and launch himself back into the air, taking Apocalypse with him and ripping it free from Oren's shoulder.
He let out a roar of pain as Chase soared above him twirling and twisting with Apocalypse mirroring his every movement at his side.
His equal...
Chase realized that he had began to understand fighting with a weapon of Apocalypse style... No...
It wasn't just that...
His body...
Could lift the mighty axe as if it were the weight of a sword...
Chase landed with a torrent of attacks, bending over the slash of Oren while missing his attack on the beast's head; however, Chase's legs kicked up knocking the side of Oren's face and turning mid-air, hurling Apocalypse at Oren's chest, grinning as it knocked right back into Chase's hands.
However...
Oren growled.
His body reeled back...
Lowering and squirming, twitching and revolting under its master's control...
His eyes began to flash with shades of red that didn't make sense, and the energy shading his eyes began taking strange sporadic shapes...
His head swayed back...
ROAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
Scarlet energy erupted from the beast, knocking Chase back and stunning him in that moment.
Oren licked his lips, turned towards Chase and began taking malicious steps towards him with patient pace.
"Worthy... Prey..." Oren growled.
Chase panicked, twitching and trying to force his body to move as the shadows below began to devour him...
Poppy tried spear Oren from behind, but only got knocked away by a giant arm of shadows.
Chase watched in horror as Oren's claws gripped his shoulder, shoving him into the abyss below...
...
Chase sat in a familiar spot, spitting on the front steps of The Oasis...
"How in the hell are you here again? I would assume an attack like that would would send you to Layla or Luna or something..." Cloudy frowned beside him.
Chase shrugged with confusion written all over his bloodied face.
"How come you keep putting yourself against absurd opponents? You do know that you can die, right?"
Chase scowled.
"It's not forever though..." He shrugged.
"It might as well be, Chase... You only get one life every so hundred years... And there is no way to know if you will be the same you or not... And you only get one chance to be around the people in this life..." Cloudy scowled back, while crossing his arms.
"They will go to the after life... Will they not? Is that not the whole point of all of this? Heir of this, heir of that? What the hell is the point? If my mother is some sort of ancient goddess of death, then what the hell do you mean? Can I not just bring them back?" He grit his teeth.
Cloudy's face saddened.
"Chase... There have been maybe two beings in all of history to successfully bring someone's soul back from the dead permanently and without any error... Both of which were Gods of the old age..." He sighed.
Chase cocked an eyebrow.
"I did it, did I not?" He frowned.
"You had the help of multiple lesser gods... And you have a body that can withstand incredible amounts of energy... But your soul was not gone, it was only your body and catalysts that needed restoration in that moment."
"Oh..." He took a deep breath.
"Well, since you are here... I suppose you can ask one question."
"How do I survive the underworld's air?" Chase asked with little to no hesitation.
"Huh?" Cloudy blinked.
"You said one question?" Chase shrugged.
"I was assuming you would ask about how to beat Oren of House Durangor... But I guess not." Cloudy sighed.
"Next time you lose to someone who is far stronger than you... Go to the islands in the far South... That is where you can enter into the underworld either inside of or near your mother's dominion."
"Yo!" In that moment, Justin's figure formed out of thin air.
He stood in front of Cloudy of Chase with a terrible broken set of armor.
"This bastard is invading our thoughts right now... You can probably get us out of here with your flames."
Cloudy coughed.
Chase turned with a glance. "Is that it?"
"Is that what?" Cloudy responded with lack of eye contact.
"The way to beat him? My flames?" Chase asked, at the same as a giant torrent of shadowy energy came tearing through the snowy mountains behind the Oasis.
"Let's go Chase!" Justin yelled.
Chase sighed, watching Cloudy smirk as he reached inside of his own catalyst and pulled forth the biggest burst of flames he had ever pulled off.
The both of them appeared sliding and crashing into the wall of the horribly dark room.
However...
They had freed themselves from the shadowy prison...
And the both of them had been entirely overtaken by rage...