He awoke, and blades, countless blades, pointed toward his body. The man tried to move, but the chains held him fast. His body hung suspended in the sky, ready to fall into the sea infested with creatures whose height could not be scaled.
The grunts weighed on his heart, and the eyes never looked away from him. They might emerge in grotesque forms, but they never reached him.
When vision was granted to him, he saw the woman seated upon her throne, shadows playing across her beautiful body. Her bored expression quickly turned to its opposite upon seeing him, teeth bared in a smile.
"The great Faller stands before me…"
She placed her hands over her chest, protected by darkness, as colossal thorn-like shadows rose from her back.
"You make my body excite itself in ways no man ever has."
For a few seconds her cough covered the silence, but when he lifted his face to look at her, there was no reciprocation.
"Where is my wife?"
The Destroyer stopped rubbing herself and snorted through her nose. The shadow enveloping her formed a staircase so she could stand directly in front of him.
"That Victoria girl? A stunning woman, but obviously not as stunning as I am…"
Between the fingers that hid her own face, her gaze gleamed.
"She… will get exactly what she deserves. But right now, the main subject is you…"
Her fingers caressed his chest, and her seductive body slid along the man until she reached his back, lips drawing close to his ear.
A strike. His body was hurled into the air.
The head, which had split apart, reconnected, and the once-wide smile vanished.
"Not every man has such loyalty to his woman. That makes me even more aroused. But I'll hold myself back because of your impressive… 'courtesy'."
An arm extended and enveloped him in seconds.
"Krythos needs a Thunder Destroyer. You are perfect for the role."
But lightning burst from the dark sphere, and he broke free. The chains were flung away, and Mara shielded herself to avoid being thrown again.
When he landed, the demons leaped forward and opened their enormous mouths. Yet with a single raising and lowering of his hand, lightning struck them, and the sea that had been their home became their death sentence.
Landing atop the floating corpses in the water, his dominant hand seized the creatures' hides. With head bowed, he declared:
"A creature that is not faithful to his woman is not worthy of being called a man."
"How romantic…"
She descended and landed before him as dark mountains rose from beneath the sea.
"Nevertheless, I will ignore your marriage and make you taste true pleasure."
Far from there, among platforms floating in the air, with wind slicing like blades and deafening thunder, a woman in an elegant dress awoke, blood dripping from her mouth.
Before her stood a being made of pure hatred. Blade in hand, eyes fixed on hers. He crouched in front of her, reaching without hesitation for her chest.
But her breasts dissolved into water.
And the rest of her body followed.
He froze in midair. His eyes followed the crystalline liquid spreading across the ground.
"The first thing you do upon awakening… is flee? Humans are strange creatures."
Before he could slash through the water, the woman reemerged from it and slammed his face against the wall, filling his armor with liquid.
"Because…"
He seized her hand as though it were nothing, twisting her wrist.
"Do you think I have a body like yours?"
With that, he sliced her in half, but the dress dissolved along with the flesh, and the water escaped the temple even faster, crawling across the platforms.
Hades followed her with slow steps, passing through water that always parted for him. In a surge of rage, he severed the bridge connecting the platforms, and the entire path was destroyed.
"My father, you should have chosen someone else to be the vessel for the Sea Destroyer."
"He chose."
From her back, as though one body were being born from another, she touched the armor, and the sea covered the skies while the wind was forced away.
The armor cracked.
He dropped to his knees, a trembling hand covering the darkness that tried furiously to escape. Slowly he turned his face, white eyes sharpening.
"You are dead."