The highest of highs would never expect that a mere mortal would be capable of moving so fast that this mere commoner might even rival Hermes if the chance of a duel happened to take place. But this is all too unreal for him because he knows that a human shouldn't even match the speed of the gods themselves.
Lightning from the heavens continuously struck in random directions while Yasuke was dodging effortlessly, sprinting at speed that made him look as if he were teleporting all over the place. "Impressive," Zeus commented with amazement, seeing that he had found a worthy opponent to finally test his limits with.
However, the swordsman didn't care about compliments or praise, only wanting to defeat him as quickly as possible so he could focus on stopping this invasion once and for all. "You must be wondering how I was able to hurt you," he said while spontaneously moving around to avoid getting hit by lightning bolts. "It's simple, really," he explained before suddenly appearing in the air above him.
His blade glowed brighter than before; its orange hue was like embers dancing wildly in flame when it came rushing towards its target. "My sword can cut anything as long as I believe it to be," he uttered with a serious expression.
Having read the god's brain signals to anticipate his next moves, Yasuke instinctively avoided his opponent's deadly beams of magic from his eyes with ease by predicting their trajectory and path in advance, causing Zeus to speak in an irritated voice aloud, "All of these useless tricks are nothing for me!"
Listening to another neuron activating in the man's brain, he didn't waste this opportunity to land a blow on Zeus right shoulder, stabbing deep through his flesh and letting out blood flow from his gaping wound that made him let out an agonizing roar of pain as the swordsman moved his own body in a curve to avoid the incoming beam of projection that would surely annihilate him.
Disappearing once again, the mighty Zeus felt both arms paralyzed, making the situation much worse for him from being unable to move them. "Did you really think having me rendered defenseless in combat would work?!?" Shouting out with pure hatred and disdain toward his enemy, looking at the now-standing vigilante with his katana dripping with his godly blood.
Meanwhile, Yasuke was in deep contemplation of what to do next, knowing that his weapon didn't paralyze his entire body, just one peculiar limb. It has been a long time since he faced someone who could withstand the full might of his blade's power without being paralyzed after being attacked at full force.
In spite of how much he wants to kill him in hopes of putting an end to this massacre once and for all, he refused to do the dirty act because killing is an easy thing for scum like him to do; instead of throwing them into bars and letting them rot, there is a better solution compared to their own deaths. But then again, he's dealing with a god and not an ordinary human being.
So there is nothing more to lose if he kills him right here and now. After all, his chances of survival are quite dependable; if he were hit, either a punch or an attack from Zeus would instantly kill him, not having the strength to withstand such attacks from a deity.
Gripping his sword hilt, he wanted to ask something of this god—a question that had been bothering him all this time. Looking up at the deity, he voiced out his curiosity: "How far are you willing to sacrifice everything in the name of being a god?" The vigilante inquired, gaining the attention of the one whom he fought against.
Calming down for a second, Zeus would just kill him right here and there but decided to humor the child for the time being, barely having used his whole power yet. "Questions after questions, child," he replied calmly with a frown, "such an annoying mannerism. But if you must know, I am willing to do anything to preserve the peace and order in this world, as well as restore balance for things to go back to how they originally were," he explained with certainty and truth.
"By invading them?" His tone was serious and deadly, cold as steel when he stared at his opponent. "You have already destroyed half of the city while slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocents, and that doesn't count the fact that many families of the people killed in here have suffered terrible losses in their lives because of you." His words made the god unaffected by such losses.
Letting out an answer that Yasuke was surprised to even hear with his own two ears, "The deaths of those are a tragedy, but they are simply no more than statistics of casualties during war; these mortals have the instrument to make more, so why bother to grieve for the dead when they have the same tool to replenish what they have lost in the first place?" Declared with no hint of remorse at his actions.
The swordsman furrowed his brows with anger and fury. "So you think the lives of innocents should mean nothing to you just because they can be replaced at any time?" The question that he asked made him shake his head in disbelief. "These people may not be worth anything to you, but they are everything to those who have loved them," he proclaims with coldness in his harsh voice, his hand clutching tight on the handle of his blade.
Hand then touched his shoulder, startling the vigilante from having sensed the familiar presence of someone that he had known ever since his beginning as a superhero. "Do not waste your breath on someone who has no sympathy for them," his fellow comrade remarked with a tired sigh escaping his lips. "Our words couldn't even change his mind," Akito said with an exhausted smile, surprised to be still alive.
Upon seeing him back up on his feet, Zeus clapped his hands in seeing the very boy who withstand his infinity beams. "You survived an attack that should erase you from existence," the god grinned with great pleasure in his victory. "Your tenacity and willpower exceed that of mortal expectations. It would be a shame to eliminate such a resilient fighter," offering him a place by his side as his loyal servant.
Removing his hand from the swordman's shoulder, the two then took a battle stance in preparation for a fight. "No thanks; I only serve the people because it is my duty as a superhero to protect the innocent, and that includes people like you as well," he declared with firm resolve, not budging at the offer of being a slave.
The last question perked his curiosity and confusion: "Me?"Are you implying that I am innocent, boy?" Asking in bewilderment at the strange words of the unarmed fighter, finding it ridiculous and laughable from his own perspective, "This is quite rich if you propose that I am interested in such naive things," scoffing at him while his arrogance increases with each passing second.
Akito gritted his teeth with a serious look. "That isn't what I meant," he said bluntly. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to bring you into justice after knocking some sense into you whether you like it or not," informing him with no hesitation, "because no one is going to die when I am around!" Charging towards him with his fists raised at the ready.
Yasuke, on the other hand, had easily disappeared and reappeared in front of his opponent; this time, his sword is being held in lower guard with the blade in a horizontal line, intending to slash the deity's eyes for a good measure of blindness in order to finish this battle as quickly as possible.
However, something strange happened that even frozen Akito in his spot; the infamous black swordsman was still if time had completely stopped in that exact moment with Yasuke's body starting to tremble from the unimaginable event taking place, widening his eyes with disbelief when he felt his own chest forming a hole through his ribcage.
Blood began gushing out of the fresh wound, making him cough out thick crimson liquid through his mouth before the hole finally materialized, resuming his time as he was violently thrown away by a powerful blow in the distance.
While the vigilante landed hard on the ground, his body rolled over due to the momentum while he left a trail of blood smears on the floor from his open chest, holding it tightly with his bare hands to stop the bleeding but failing to do so when it kept on gushing out.
Groaning painfully while lying on his stomach, he turned his head back to see the symbol of justice running toward him with a worried expression. Removing his own headband, he wrapped it around the injured area as best as he could to stop the massive bleeding from killing his comrade. "Hang in there!" The brown-haired young man encouraged, desperate to keep his friend alive.
"Focus on the fight, idiot," he said, coughing blood as he wheezed painfully, struggling to stay awake. "Forget about me; you need to..." His sentence trailed off when the words were then spoken by the hero that registered inside his brain, realizing that his comrade wouldn't abandon a person even at risk of losing.
"No," Akito said while still pressing his palm firmly onto the bleeding wound. "I refuse to let anyone die on my watch." Shaking his head, he smiled reassuringly to him. "It's a promise I made to protect everyone; that includes you," patting his 'vigilante's shoulder gently with his free hand.
"His not going to die, not yet," Zeus presence appeared behind them, causing the two to look at the hovering big and muscular elderly man that was looking down at them a few meters away. "For even though fate has chosen to intervene, it would be a foolish endeavor to ignore a gift from the sisters of fate themselves," they concluded in seeing their desperate forms of having to fight back.
"What did you do to him?" He asked, raising fists up at the ready to protect Yasuke until he slowly starts to breathe more evenly, not giving up the fight just yet, "Answer me, damn it!" His patience is wearing thin with this unknown superpower this man displayed earlier.
The tyrant remained unfazed, his eyes narrowed, and finally, he answered with a smirk, "You have no idea, do you? I'm capable of manipulating the fates from the infinity alternative futures of a person I look upon, and as such, I have chosen an event that had my uninjured hand pierced through his chest," he said with a cold, callous demeanor to his own actions.
Trying to absorb the new information that has been given to him, Akito felt for the first time hopeless in this revelation; if those infinity beams of his could hurt him, then perhaps the idea of magic could bypass the defenses he has that have protected and saved him from his many fights with villains.
Still, he refused to give up and ran at top speed with his fist ready to punch at full force, only to be halted once again, his entire body frozen in time lock while being forced to listen to the mad tyrant's lecture, "If you attack me right now, I would pick an alternative future that shows you suffering the same fate as your companion and do it in slow motion," warning dangerously.
Gritting angrily with pure determination still pumpkin in his veins, he moved his eyes to stare directly at the god with a look of disapproval, signing his head to signal that he wasn't afraid of dying for the right cause in protecting and saving those who were in need.
Releasing an amused chuckle, the mighty Zeus is pleased to see the human's courage and determination to try his best in killing him. "Not bad, mortal," he praised his bravery. "But bravery or not, you are still weak, as well as stupid," he stated with a brutal answer before snapping his fingers.
Feeling his chest form a hole like his comrade, time resumed for him as he let out a silent gasp of pain with blood coming out of his mouth and wound altogether, feeling his breathing become difficult and shallow, making him drop on his knees while holding his injury with both hands.
"Pathetic," Zeus watched his defeated form with lack of interest, "I'm disappointed; after all that talk and actions of trying to prove yourself superior, you end up kneeling like a weakling after a single injury, not that I blame you," sighing with understanding of this boy's situation, "everyone would feel despair after being rendered powerless against God."
Slowly, he stood up with his shaky form despite his entire body trembling from the amount of pain and blood loss he was experiencing, forming fists to gather the courage and bravery, forcing his own two legs to get up. "I won't give up..." He weakly uttered, stumbling in front of his opponent, "until I fulfill... My promise...of...no one dying," vowing to save both enemy and ally.
Staring at the young man, he saw the hidden potential inside of him to the point that he started to respect him as someone equal to a warrior: selfless, brave, and stubborn. All these characteristics that any average mortal being does not possess as they tend to run away and seek their own selfish needs
The hubris this child possesses still requires punishment, "you cannot fight with that form, boy," Zeus noted the fact of losing so much blood at a rapid pace, "it would be impossible for you to continue," he declared at this moment while floating in front of him, seeing the determination in his eyes refusing to give up.
And yet, Akito still continued to move even when all the blood from his injury ran out; he kept moving by ignoring the fatigue and dizziness of having to face such a powerful enemy. "I won't... Stop fighting you... No matter... what," the young man said in between his groans and heavy breaths with struggle, "you... need to be... brought to justice," vowing to punch the lights out of him.
Zeus felt the need to finish this already; the sight was so pitiful and embarrassing for his own eyes that he needed to put an end to it soon. Before he could do so, a street lamp post was suddenly hurled between them, knocking the weakened Akito away as he fell hard to the ground, sending him into a state of unconsciousness.
"Hmm?" Interest grows on the god's face from having another intrusion, wondering what heroes and warriors this country has to offer that might give him a proper challenge: "Are you done entertaining me or do you wish to show yourself to me?" He questioned the person responsible for this act, waiting impatiently for their appearance.
The smoke of dust and dirt slowly cleared away, revealing the one who interfered with their battle: a figure of a young woman wearing beautiful blue pearly eyes along with long blond hair, standing near the lamppost that was thrown in.
"A woman?"
Furious of this mess and finding the person responsible, she pointed her hand towards him with a look of disdain and anger that even matched his, opening her mouth to let out the longest and loudest speech that caught Zeus by surprise, causing his mind to become dizzy from having to listen to the rant of her yelling.
