The Earth After Rebirth

It took them several minutes, where the light had been, stood two beings. A master holding his staff with his mount by his side. For a brief moment, everyone held their breaths at the seriousness of the moment.

"Ah, f*ck! I knew there\'d be restrictions that came with this reality warping thing. So many stages to unlock, it is so unfair." Kiro complained as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"Hahaha," Hubris laughed heartily. "Well of course you can\'t be too powerful, I\'m the one who should be, to protect you."

Kiro looked at him and smiled, "you\'re still just a stubborn pup I have to protect to me, you always will be."

Hubris wished he could drop dead where he stood. Thinking about those days was something he didn\'t want to be reminded of, they were simply too embarrassing for him. But was glad nonetheless Kiro took pity on him back then, otherwise he would\'ve been bear poop by now.

Ammon got up, a little bit ashamed by his behaviour. He had just bowed to the rightful heir and his master, it was utterly distasteful. He couldn\'t even go back to his previous master, he knew too well how Azazel operated. He had zero tolerance for traitors.

"What do we have here, didn\'t he offer to serve you Hubris?"

"Well, maybe he was offering himself up for you."

It wasn\'t long before the battle resumed. This time, Hubris ordered for everyone injured to sit this one out, he couldn\'t bare losing any more. Everyone injured, was, well, everyone except for them.

Just the two of them, against hundreds of hounds. They stood defiantly beyond the crack on the ground. In front of them was complete darkness, hounds as far as their eyes can see.

"This should be a piece of cake." An evil smiled formed on Kiro\'s face.

They both felt better than when they started this battle. The crystal merged with them successfully, healing them completely and giving them bodies that were far stronger.

Kiro held out his fist side-ways, to where Hubris stood.

"What\'s that?"

"You\'re supposed to bump it with yours, dummy."

The hounds behind him were quite shock at how casually Kiro insulted the rightful heir. But that was something they\'d need to get used to.

Hubris bumped his fist.

Kiro instantly disappeared where he stood. In a blink of an eye, 20 hounds were felled by the same fist.

Hubris wasn\'t left behind either, he used hellfire balls, as many as he could muster. Since the hounds before him were all his enemies, there was no holding back.

Now, it was a competition between them of who could kill the most. Kiro used Ryu to shoot out lightning bolts. He didn\'t know what it was but using Ryu made them thinner and more concentrated.

Soon, the battlefield was bombarded with explosives the enemy couldn\'t hope to survive. In mere minutes, they had taken out the army completely. All that was left was Azazel and Ammon.

"Hubris, I leave him to you."

"Of course." He bowed slightly.

Azazel was still in a bit of shock, but he came out of it faster than Ammon. Hubris hoisted him up using his newfound ability, and dragged him through the air, landing right at his claws.

He slammed him on the ground and waited for him to get back up. He disappeared to the back of him and yanked his tail out with his fangs.

Azazel cried out like a wounded animal. "No, not my tail. You stupid brat, do you know what this means? You\'ve doomed me."

"That\'s one thing I remember. You\'ll die and never join our ancestors, that\'s what you deserve you traitorous scum." He spat on the ground.

For the first in his life, he formed a fist in battle. Something his master taught him not long ago, before that he\'d never have thought of using these means. But he wanted a slow terrible death for the hound in front of him.

He used gravity once again, to drag him closer to him. He used it on himself and made his fists heavier and he started pounding on his flesh.

The second fist caused for all his teeth to fall out. His eyes were all red from the blood that was quickly travelling to his head. Even then Hubris didn\'t stop, his fists carried an anger he knew nothing about.

He had never been this angry, maybe deep down, he had hoped his uncle was a good guy, someone who had no idea how his own brother died. But here he was, smiling like a maniac, without an ounce of regret on his swollen bloodied face.

"Killing me won\'t return your father you know." He mocked, as if to motivate Hubris to pound him to death.

Hubris stopped for a while, "you know uncle, you robbed me of my childhood and a life with my father. I don\'t remember much about those days, but you\'ve also given me something of equal value." His voice came out cold and calm, looking at Kiro as he said.

His next punch completely shuttered his chest, it looked like a hole had been dug. He was still smiling as his body finally hit the ground.

Hubris walked away.

"Thank you, nephew." He whispered as he drew his final breath.

It was a whisper from a dying hound but he heard him clear as day, but he didn\'t turn. He thought that would make him appear weak. The crowd behind them exploded in cheers and howls.

The King that reigned the lands terribly for hundreds of years was finally defeated. Even the sun came out, marking a new dawn for the realm.

Hubris smile wryly as the cheers turned into bows. Thanking him for coming back, for fighting with them when he didn\'t really need to.

"Hubris, are you ready to take your kingdom?" Kiro asked him looking conflicted.

"I should be." Was the only answer he could come up with.