The moment the platform started to move, Metra charged at Arkeidos’ earth incarnation. Brutal swings smashed against the bulky, brown plate. Gargantuan digging claws intercepted Rex Magnar’s trajectory. The halberd was caught between two of them and slid down to their base at the widened wrist of the tyrant. Had it not been completely rigid Terrium, it would have appeared like a broad sleeve.

The hand underneath those claws was oversized, compensating for the girth of the limb it extended from. All of this simulacrum’s limbs were drastically larger than normal for human proportions. Of all of the tyrant’s doubles, this one looked the most solid. A rock of a humanoid.

Metra grinned madly under her armour as she let go of her halberd. Drum beats spurred her on, the weapon approving of and fully indulging in the violence. She leapt up to the horn of her enemy. She grabbed onto the collar. Two curves met in the middle, rising to a sharp point that would have cut anyone not covered in Astrotium. The back of the collar was similar, but the thorn there was much broader, rose higher, and was bent forwards. Together with the large horn on the helmet, it gave Arkeidos a look akin to a stag beetle.

A form that allowed for similar strategies. Metra let go of the collar when the Emperor attempted to pin her between the horns. In the air, Rex Magnar appeared back in her hand with a shredding sound. Metra tore open the world and dropped through a portal.

For a second, she was in a confused space. All around her was bizarre, stretched images of the scene from which she had left the regular dimension and the location at which she aimed to re-emerge. Swiftly, the drop was over. Now behind Arkeidos, she brought the thorn of her halberd down on her opponent.

The back plate visibly rippled, the seemingly solid form of the armour bursting open into individual segments that roughly described the form of musculature and bones. Nothing further was realized by the attack and Arkeidos turned around, arm swiping.

Metra was catapulted off to the side by the impact. Stabilizing in her flight for just long enough to toss Rex Magnar, she found herself once more in the twisted space in-between, before emerging next to it. It stuck in the floor; she grabbed onto it just quick enough to halt her own momentum. No respite was given. One of the many boulders that accompanied the statues on the platform smashed right into her.

It was a mere distraction, preventing her from seeing Arkeidos until his hand shattered what of the rock hadn’t broken on her Astrotium armour in impact and grabbed her by the torso, massive fingers clasping. The larger, more powerful tyrant carried her towards the edge of the battlefield and rammed her into the wall.

She ploughed through the rock, while the enchantments carried them through the tunnel. Astrotium broke stone with no spark ever flying off her form. Arkeidos ripped her away and threw her back into the main battlefield.

Metra landed on her back and groaned as she got back on her feet. The fortress had taken more damage than her, but it had been disorienting. She took her time standing up, calmly dusted off her arms, and kept her eyes on Arkeidos. The Emperor was walking a large curve around her.

“Is that all you are? A sturdy ragdoll?” he asked, clearly disappointed.

“We’ll fight as equals when I decide we do,” Metra responded jovially. Tapping her shoulder with the shaft of her weapon, she listened to the excited notes the halberd produced. “Let’s keep this violent!”

Metra thrust her left arm forwards. It appeared in front of Arkeidos’ horn. She ripped it back, the force and surprise hitting the Emperor strong enough that he was pulled off balance. An opening that the First of Wrath swiftly exploited. Accelerating, partly leveraging the pull she had just executed, she bridged the gap and then swung sideways. The attack was blocked at the last moment, axe-blade smashing against one of the four digging claws.

On the sliding battlefield, they exchanged their blows. Metra let no shame nor rage at being knocked around by the Emperor bother her. Those emotions were not yet useful. Studying her opponent’s moves, the First of Wrath relied on her defences. Terrium was the hardest of the elemental extreme metals, so this was a difficult fight even with her weapon and armour.

Both of them swung at each other with all their might. Metra’s arm was swept aside by the force, leaving her wide open. Advancing immediately, Arkeidos brought his second arm up from a deep angle. The central two of the four claws rammed into her chest, punching through the segmented Astrotium armour and into weaker, fleshy materials underneath.

Pain surged through Metra, a dull, rare sensation. She embraced it with a cackle, grabbed her halberd with both hands, and thrust the spear tip against Arkeidos’ chest. The impact let her shove off the claw.

Back on the ground, she turned into a whirlwind of attacks. Pieces of the floor were folding up around her. Again and again, Rex Magnar shattered the stone. In a small opening, she smashed the axe blade straight into the ground. Earth Ravager, one of her weapon’s enchantments, turned the impact into a directed crack that travelled up to Arkeidos. Temporarily turning his attention to this advancing chasm, the Emperor sealed it with his earth magic. From the small opening, Metra had created a larger one, just big enough for her to toss Rex Magnar.

The weapon cut through the opening into a larger chamber. Arkeidos charged in a renewed offensive, only for her to drop through another portal and instantly appear by the blade of her weapon. Quickly, before the momentum could cause it to fly away from her, Metra grabbed onto the handle of the blade. Another enchantment let her adjust the weight of the weapon, making it heavier than herself. Holding onto it, Metra flew with the energy of her own toss.

Shortly before the impact, she made the weapon lighter, allowing her a perfect landing near the centre of the dome. It was dull, with different areas dedicated to different stone-dominated landscapes. Highlands, deserts, cliffs, mountains, cities, and the statue-covered court, those were the six segments of the dome.

Arkeidos stood dismissively in the middle of the ascending segment, as it slotted properly into the room, the tunnel they had entered through locked. Green-tinted light illuminated their arena, and gave a hint of the proper colour to the blades of grass, forged from iron, that covered some of the artificial landscapes.

“Come on,” Metra shouted, beating her chest. Wrath was invited into her mind. She beat her chest again, metal slamming against metal. A resonating sound echoed outwards. Inside, the anger boiled. “Come on!” Harder, she pounded her chest, feeling the two holes close. “OBSTACLE OF MY KING, TYRANT EMPEROR, COME ON! FACE METRA, BREAKER OF ARMIES! LET ME GUIDE YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE!”

Arkeidos dismissively grabbed a boulder and tossed it at her. Magic accelerated the projectile. Relative to their power, it moved like a friendly pitched ball. With raw power, Metra shattered it with a single strike of Rex Magnar.

Pebbles rained down on her, drumming on her armour in strange harmony with the excited shredding guitar sounds from her weapon. Throwing her arms wide open, Metra screamed at the ceiling. She remembered it all. An entire civilization undone by the ambitions of the goddess of chaos. Her own part in it. What Tiamat had become. All those she had served, deserving and undeserving. All that she had lost, deserving and undeserving. All that she had to protect. The king she chose to serve and his happiness, foremost.

Mid scream, the lower half of her helmet tore open. The volume increased drastically, the metallic ring to it vanished. Astrotium formed two rows of sharp, carnivorous teeth around an endless, pitch-black maw. Amidst her rage, she was barely aware it had happened. All she knew was that she was approaching something incredible, yet lacked the pure wrath to truly tap into it. It didn’t matter. She had all the power she needed already.

“COME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!” the First of Wrath screamed her challenge one final time.

All around her, rock and earth began to move. Sand and stone rose up and then flew towards her. Pebbles and chunks, they attempted to bury her where she stood. It layered on top of her. With the strength of rage and her Unbreakable body, she tore through the bindings. Nothing would hold her captive. Nothing would stop her.

Rock broke on her, stone splintered under the aggressiveness of her steps. Holding Rex Magnar close to the head, she charged through the storm. With a massive leap, she broke through the outer perimeter.

Arkeidos was off to her right. His hands froze in their esoteric motions when Metra’s hand once more appeared by his head. This time, he had his feet planted firmly enough that he wasn’t affected by the grip itself. While he was unmoving, the Rip caused Metra to entirely change her trajectory. Rather than uselessly fly forwards, she was now headed directly towards Arkeidos.

She smashed into his chest. The heaviness of the blow staggered the Emperor. Holding onto his collar again, the First of Wrath stabbed at his head with the tip of her halberd. The impact blasted apart the segments of the left half of his helmet. Necromantic green energy adhered fragments that were several centimetres apart.

Metra turned and kicked back the approaching hand of the Emperor. Again, her sudden strength startled him. Adapting swiftly, he grabbed her with his left before she could take another swing. Her leg was caught and Metra swung around like a flail. Slammed into the ground, she brought her hands up to grab the descending, gargantuan foot.

“Raw brutality!” Arkeidos shouted while pressing down on her. Their forged bodies were locked in an inexhaustible struggle of sheer strength. “All change stems from it, all authority is derived from it! Only might matters; might entitles you to change the world because only one who can enforce it has a right to claim anything!” He lifted his foot for one moment. “I underestimated you. You understand, you embody it. The supreme authority.” He brought it back down.

“You got that fucking right, words are worthless without violence!” Metra shouted back. “LET’S MAKE THIS HURT!”

Relying entirely on anger-guided instinct, Metra chomped down on the foot. The Astrotium teeth penetrated the surface. With the strength of her entire body, she twisted to the side. Arkeidos toppled and fell.

So did Metra. In the space between for just a moment, she re-emerged high above. Her Rage was spent, a temporary affair. Its depletion never lasted long. To build the resource, she needed to keep hurting, get hurt, or use her Rage building abilities. Fighting – all she had to do was keep fighting.

Answering the call of its wielder, Rex Magnar appeared in her hand. She aimed it downwards, one foot on the thorn, as she fell towards Arkeidos.

Crossing his claws, the Emperor created a mesh that caught the tip of the weapon between it. His arms were forced down from the impact. His chest was etched by the battle hungry halberd. With one massive effort, he forced the super-heavy weapon back into the air and Metra with it.@@novelbin@@

Immediately, Metra activated the Extreme Plasma Burst. Fire and lightning exploded out of the thorn opposite of the axe blade. It was extremely difficult to move the weapon in such a way that the energy did not send her flying off to the side. A wielder of all weapons, an ancient berserker, Metra pulled it off. Guiding the energy, she circled once around her axis and slammed Rex Magnar back down at the tyrant.

Arkeidos caught the weapon in his palm. The impact rippled up the entirety of the limb, scattering out the magically cohesive fragments. A cascade of brown-black mist exploded out of the new gaps. “THIS IS WAR!” the Emperor screamed ecstatically. The arm kept trembling, pushing against the unleashed enchantment. Metra could do nothing but keep it steady and watch as Arkeidos forced his way on his knees, then on one foot, finally on both.

The plasma was still flying, igniting the air, when Arkeidos drew his arm back and slammed his claws into her side. It was a sloppy punch, failing to penetrate her armour. She was sent flying back, turning once with the remaining energy of her attack, before the enchantment finally sputtered out. Her feet and left hand shattered the stone, before she came to a halt.

Immediately she charged again. Arkeidos blocked her overhead strike with his right, keeping his dispersed left back while the segments of the limb drifted back together. “It’s just you and me,” Metra growled, her tone betraying a grin her current mouth was incapable of having. “All those other fights you are having – they have no influence on this one.”

“We are all one, sharing memories, but my simulacrums are created with their own part of my growing soul,” Arkeidos confirmed for her. “What do you do with this knowledge, breaker of armies?”

Words that she had thought she would never say again, words that required salt water when it was a borrowed power, words of extreme power crossed her teeth, “Terrible, mother chaos…”

Arkeidos reacted instantly to the beginning of the incantation. The arm he had held back to regenerate came forwards, a swipe accompanied by a torrent of nearby rock.

Letting go of her weapon, Metra jumped backwards, narrowly escaping both. “…fallen, broken, twisted you are…” The words continued to flow, the syllables chosen by the power formed by them. Metra slammed her foot down, shattering the floor underneath her as it started to rise.

Grabbing Rex Magnar, Arkeidos prompted a discordant series of notes from the weapon. It disappeared from his hand before he could do anything with it, instead lying in Metra’s right once again. In its stead, the Emperor grabbed two boulders and threw them at the First of Wrath. This time he meant it. The first she managed to destroy, the second slammed into her and sent her flying on her back. Her concentration remained.

“…and I still carry all your wrath!” The air all around began to shimmer and waver, as if it was affected by strong heat. In her periphery, Metra saw stone and dunes warp and bend. Her focus lay on Arkeidos, who charged at her, both arms lowered.

The first claw swiped at her from the left. She jumped over it, then used Rip to pull herself ahead. The other arm of the Emperor cut through the air behind her. His horn came forwards and slammed against Rex Magnar’s grip. The exchange had gathered her enough Rage to execute a short teleport. She dropped through, re-emerged from a tear in space a few metres behind her opponent.

Arkeidos took a heavy step backwards. A cone of earthen spikes extended towards her. Metra slammed her weapon down, cracking the ground before the attack could reach her. “To your nature I deliver…” she continued. Each further word increased the flickering effect in the world around them. The noxious green tinge of the light was replaced with ambient light of an inexplicable origin.

Facing her, Arkeidos slammed his hands together. The impact boomed and shattered the spikes. Points aiming at Metra, the storm of rocks flew at her. Reinforced with his magic, the cascade of stones gradually diminished her health, but she continued on unabated.

“…this loathsome sinner…” The penultimate line spoken, Metra took a moment to break out of the storm of attacks. Another Rip catapulted her towards Arkeidos. Rather than attack him, she used the arm he raised in defence as a springboard to fly up in the air. He did not chase after her, only watched her land twenty metres away. Metra knew the look in those glowing spheres in his helmet. He wished to know how this would end. “…And drag him down to hell!”