Temple of Judgement
Elysium, the temple that stands, housing Hades' true body in dormancy. The host that housed his soul had driven it back out, and now it would return to it's original body… However Hades took something with him once he was pushed back. Into Elysium he pulled the host of Athena, trapping her in an urn. The great eclipse was coming and soon the world would end. The other saints were dispatched and sent to Tartarus, dying in vain. A lone man was hired to kill Hades. Someone who had killed a god once before. Someone inhuman.
Within the Elysian Gardens stood a towering figure. The man's appearance was very distinctive, bearing a wide brimmed traveler's hat and a dark cloak, holding in his right hand a blood splattered stained sword. However his most distinctive feature, was the strange unearthly beauty that his features held. On the ground at his feet laid the bodies of two. Hypnos, the lord of sleep, and Thanatos, the god of death. The cloaked man stepped over their bodies, entering the temple as he swiped the blood from his blade. "You sure killing those guys won't you know… Throw the world out of balance or something? Disrupt the natural order? Killing a god is a big deal you know..." A low and crude voice suddenly spoke out, coming from the hunter's left hand. However the man gave no response.
The Hunter kept on moving through, passing the gardens by and climbing to the top of the looming temple. Before him now, was an enormous urn containing a feminine body, and the very tomb that held Hades' physical form. The man walked up to the urn first, placing his left hand up against its surface. He finally spoke after a long silence, a cold and emotionless voice emanating from his mouth. "What do you know?..." The voice that from his left hand earlier seemed to be respond. "This urn seems to be draining the girl of her blood. You'd do best to get her out quickly." The man reaches for his sword, but before he could pull it out suddenly the ground starts to shake. The tomb's doors flew open and a dark thunderstorm formed over the entirety of the temple.
Down the stairway leading to the tomb walked another man, donning elegant black armor, with wings of metal protruding from his back. His face held a beauty that might even rival the hunter. "They only sent one?..." He finally reached the end of the stairs, pulling out what seemed to be a black sword contained within a scabbard. He began to pull the blade out, crimson lights emitting from it's revealed edge. There was no doubt that this man was Hades himself, having taken form within his original body once more. The Cloaked man took a step forward, standing infront of the Urn as he unsheathed his longsword. Hades smirked slightly at him and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know who you are, but I can see one thing for sure. You're no human." The King of the Underworld drew out the full length of his sword and pointed it towards his intruder. "My presence alone should have killed you, yet here you stand… What is your name?" The man that stood across from him gave a simple answer. Just a letter. "D." "Well, D… I suppose I shall now give your salvation. The sweet release of death."
The two figures suddenly swung at eachother with blinding speed, their swords clashing together. However, in that moment, it became apparent that D was severely outmatched physically. His sword was pushed back as his arms broke from the impact. Hades dashed passed his guard taking advantage of his vulnerability, stabbing him in the ribs. "You're weak. Your strength can't ever hope to match mine… Maybe you're human after all." He shoved his sword deeper into D's mid section, causing the hunter to cough and spit up streams of blood. The God pulled his blade out and struck D with it's pommel, breaking his jaw and sending him tumbling backwards… And then rather casually, the hunter even after all his punishment stood. His arms shifted back into place and his jaw was healed completely. "You shouldn't be alive after that… How did you?..." Hades widens his eyes in shock. Not only did this man completely regenerate the damage dealt, but he survived a direct stab from his sword. No one, especially a weak mortal, should have been alive after a strike from his blade. D suddenly charged in once more, meeting further retaliation from Hades as he started swinging again. The Hunter was ready this time and gracefully dodged each slash, slicing Hades across the neck, and chopping his sword arm off for further measure. Despite his lack of physical strength, his attacks somehow bypassed The King of the Underworld's durability.
Hades fell backwards from the damage, gargling and spitting out blood just as he watched his opponent do seconds earlier. In further repetition of events, he stood back up, his arm reattaching and his throat healing. While D expressed no surprise by the act, his Left Hand certainly had some words to say. "He healed… Even after you cut his fount of life." The God now had an expression of rage as he stared towards the Hunter. "This will be the end of you. I will destroy you for wounding me." They clashed and swung more times at each other, exchanging countless blows in an instant. However in each physical exchange Hades came out on top, his strength simply too much for D to keep up with. Crimson lights flew out from his sword, using his cosmic energy to repeatedly reduce his opponent to sub-atomic particles. Yet the man just kept coming back. Having enough of this, he throws his sword through D's chest, staggering him back and pinning him to the stone floor. "Stay dead damn you!..." The air around them suddenly became darkened, pulling Hades out of his angered state as he looked to the skies. The Great Eclipse had finally come, blotting out the sun and leaving the earth in eternal darkness. "...You're already too late now… It has happened. The world will now forever be covered in shadows…" He steps to D's body and pulls the sword out from his chest, glaring down to his beaten and battered intruder. "Abandon all hope… And fade into nothing…"
The Hunter's aura in instant began to intensify. Whirlwinds were created from the amount of energy he exerted, D's presence engulfing them both in an even greater darkness. A true darkness where no sunlight could pierce through. A voice rang out in the black abyss, amplified and echoing. It was the voice of the hunter himself. "Many before you have attempted to destroy this world. Madmen and Gods alike... Yet you all share one thing in common. You were all Transient Guest." D emerged from the darkness before Hades, his features having changed completely. His eyes were red and he had bared pointed fangs… The Hunter took on the full visage of a Vampire. The God immediately slashed towards D, aiming to decapitate him, but before he could land his attack, the Hunter's eyes began to gleam. A blood red light shone from his gaze, a light so strange and magical that one might even call it a miracle. In that moment, Hades suddenly felt vulnerable. His sense of power, godhood, confidence, they had all been crushed in an instant. D stabbed him through the heart, and blood started gushing out profusely. The King of the Underworld screamed out with great pain, for a wound was inflicted that he could not heal from. Hades had been stripped of his immortality.
D pulled his sword out from his chest and put his left hand out. A mouth and eyes resided in his palm, it's jaw now open agape as it began to make an inhaling motion. Hades himself was being absorbed, and not just his mere physical body, but his life force too. Nothing was left of Hades… Not even his sword. D closed his hand as the god was sucked in, and his vampiric form reverted back, his features becoming normal again. "...I have to admit D. That seemed a bit close, even for you…" The Left Hand let out a low chuckle, as the Hunter took in a breath. "Now since you're done fighting, why don't we free that woman already?..." The Hunter turned back towards the Urn in response to his Left Hand's remark. He brought up his sword and sliced it in half with ease, free'ing the girl captive inside. D caught her and threw her over his shoulder, beginning to walk back out of the temple. Before he leaves he looks up to the skies one last time… The storm over the temple was gone. The Sun was shining again, no longer dimmed out by the moon.
