In a twist Ares never expected, Abaddon bit down on his spearhead with only the most minimal amount of force and shattered it cleanly.
Like a gluttonous little child, he chewed up the pieces and then swallowed them before kicking away from the greek war god.
“How…?”
Landing gracefully, Abaddon made a disgusted expression as if he didn’t like what he just ate.
“As far as weapons go… I’ve had better. This only makes me even more upset that you ruined my meal with Papa Legba.”
Bosou finally crawled back to his feet, and Ares noticed another problem.
His breathing, his moving, it was all slower than normal.
Right now he wagered that the loa was operating at only nine tenths of what he should have been.
“Why have you slowed down so much?! A few miserable knees to the face broken your spirit?!” Ares asked pointedly.
“I… I… don’t… know… what’s… happening…!”
“Ah! Slow! That made me think of something fun!” Abaddon thought with a smile.
The gods started to get a bad feeling as they watched the dragon god suddenly dig into the pockets of his red pants.
What could he possibly be about to pull out?!
A terrifying weapon?
Another trick he had in store to sap away their power?
Just what could it be!?
Against all expectations of the gods, the only thing the dragon pulled out of his pockets were a smartphone and a pair of wireless earbuds.
Placing them into his ears, he immediately started scrolling through his device looking for the perfect song to go with this moment.
“What..?”
“The hell are you doing..?”
“I always felt like something was missing from by battles in Dola. I think that this will make things a lot more fun.”
The dragon finally settled on a song as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and let out an excited sigh.
This… this was a one of a kind moment already, but he was about to make it so much better.
Abaddon pointed to the area behind the gods with a single clawed finger, and the gravity within that area started to collapse in on itself.
Soon, a literal black hole was created in the cube, and things began to get strange.
Abaddon had been in possession of the ability to create black holes for a long time now, or it is more accurate to say he was in possession of a dumbed down or nerfed version of it.
When true black holes are created in space, they create something like a ‘no man’s land’ in the universe that nothing, not even light, can escape from.
Because of the uniquely strong gravitational pull of black holes, these universal catastrophes are actually capable of bending time itself through a phenomena known as time dilation.
The closer you are to a black hole in space, the slower time moves for you.
To such a degree that depending on your proximity, you could be missing hours, years, or even centuries.
And because black holes absorb all light, you can no longer see your surroundings at all; instead you will only find infinite copies of yourself wherever you may look.
Now, Abaddon did not summon this black whole so that the gods could have their atoms pulverized at the center of it.
No, no, no, that would be far too easy for them.
In this moment, the gods were simply standing dummies who could take as much abuse as Abaddon had to give until their bodies fell apart.
And there was nothing that either of them could do to stop it.
Smiling, Abaddon held out his hand and created a dagger made from the bright golden blood in his veins.
‘I… am so very desperately going to enjoy this.’
–
When Ares’ vision was finally able to correct itself, he immediately knew that something was wrong.
However, he had no idea to pinpoint what.
The dragon god was still standing in front of him in the same place as before, with no real changes about him save for the fact that his earbuds were no longer within his ears.
Evidently, the loa noticed this feeling too, but he did not put as much thought into it as Ares did.
Angered at the feeling that he was going against something that he couldn’t hope to understand, Bosou lunged at the dragon with frenzied fangs and claws poised to strike.
And because he was also prone to irrational fits of violence, Ares nearly followed but then decided to stay put at the last moment.
“What did you do, you monster?!” Bosou roared.
As Abaddon watched the body of his enemy come closer, he performed a silent count in his mind that ticked towards a future only he knew.
Evidently, it finally happened a second later.
While he was still in mid-air, Bosou’s body started to come undone.
At exactly the count of three, ropes and ribbons of flesh started to come off the loa’s bones like they’d all been previously unfastened.
However, this only happened on his legs and arms.
His back and chest only began to show signs of writing being carved into them, and upon taking a closer look Ares realized that they were the names of humans as well as additional writings beside them.
Understandably, Bosou ended up losing his balance in the air and he hit the ground screaming and wailing in front of Abaddon’s feet.
The dragon smiled at his handiwork and admired the slinky-like model in which he’d carved up the savage loa’s arms and legs, and he felt monumentally satisfied.
“I had no idea how to skin things off the bone before my wife taught me. I daresay I’ve become better than her.” He said proudly.
There literally was not a single ounce of flesh still clinging to the bones on Bosou’s arms.
They were so white and clean that one simply needed to perform a quick wash to get the blood off and then they could go in any museum around the world.
Ares could only imagine the time and meticulousness that went into such brutality.
“What… is that you’ve done to his torso?” The war god asked.
“Ah!”
Abaddon grabbed Bosou by his last horn and held him in place.
Then, he started to point out specific areas he’d carved into and marked the names of humans in, while explaining his choice for their placement.
Of course, Bosou was in terrible pain every time that he felt a simple movement along his tender back.
“These are all of the songs I listened to while I carved him up. I found it fitting. This one is GNF by Polo G. It’s up top because it was first.”
“AAAGHHH!!”
“Over here, this one is one of my favorite, it’s ‘Stabbing in The Dark’ by Ice Nine Kills.”
“AAAAGGGHHH!! I RELENT, I RELENT! PLEASE CEASE THIS!!”
“Hold on, hold on, let me show him one more, I really like human music… Ah! This is my favorite since I came back, it’s ‘Demon Mode’ by Nardo Wick. Fitting, huh?”
By now, Bosou had fainted from the unbearable agony of his torture and Abaddon clicked his teeth as he kicked his body away.
Since he used a weapon made from his own blood to torture him, those wounds would stay as long as Abaddon wanted.
And he would not let the loa heal so easily just yet… because he wanted to show his wives his handiwork first.
“Why..?” Ares asked hollowly.
“Hm?”
The war god checked his body over and over again and yet he was completely fine, save for a single scratch on his cheek.
“I assume you could have carved me up no differently from him… Why have you not?”
Smiling, Abaddon created a massive halberd from thin air and pointed it at Bosou’s pathetic body.
“He is all encompassing savagery, like an animal. So keeping that in mind, I skinned him like one. You on the other hand are the unbearably proud and boisterous greek war god.
The way that I break you, is by giving you the opportunity to do everything that you claim to be supreme at, and then outperforming you by miles.
Only then do you get to die, once you learn just how inferior and outclassed you truly were.”
Abaddon snapped his fingers and hundreds of different weapons of wrath were created in every variety; while all were equally powerful and dangerous.
“Take your pick, Ares. We begin when you are ready.” Abaddon said patiently.
The god looked back and forth between Abaddon and the weapons, and once he saw that the dragon was really intending to allow him to take his time, he floated up into the air to browse.
A few moments later, he came back down with a black shield and short sword pair, which Abaddon found a bit boring but he would not judge another warrior’s weapon choice.
Whatever got the job done after all.
“I’ll give you the first move as well.”
Abaddon let the butt end of his weapon hit the ground as he took on a waiting stance.
Ares gritted his teeth as he started to grow angrier. “Aren’t you looking down on me too much, monster?! Giving me free reign of weaponry and now the first move as well?! You think too little of my ability!!”
A dense red aura of murder started to leave the war god in waves.
Abaddon breathed it in freely, and he could smell so clearly that it was tainted with the numerous souls that the god killed over his lifetime.
He found it funny.
“I thought a god would know better than to engage a dragon in a clash of anger. Since from the moment we are born, ours is UNENDING!!”
BOOOOMMM!!!
A significantly darker and denser aura started to flow off Abaddon in waves and burst into the sky with no sign of it ending.
Ares, who thought himself immune to all intimidation, found that his face paled underneath the considerable weight of all of Abaddon’s unsuppressed hostility.
“I offered you first move so that this would not end too quickly, Ares! But if you are determined to refuse my generosity I am happy to accommodate you!!”
Roaring, Abaddon leapt into the air with his halberd poised overhead.
In a downwards slash, he brought his weapon crashing down like thunder against the erected shield of Ares.
While the force created by their collision was monumental, the weapons made from Abaddon’s own power were more than capable of handling the strain.
However, Ares found that he was completely unprepared for just how hard Abaddon would hit him.
Even though the shield he was using was exemplary, he had still had his arm broken by that blow just now.
Not willing to show any signs of weakness, he knocked his opponent away with his shield to force a separation.
His eyes scanned the length of Abaddon’s body in an instant to search for any openings, but he found none.
But no matter.
If his opponent would not show one on his own, then he would force one!
Charging at him, the war god raised his weapon with renewed vigor and burning hatred.
“I am Ares!! The Olympian of War and Lust for Battle! Son of The King to The Greek Gods! On this day, I swear by the river Styx that I will not be felled!!”