Chapter 85 Sophia Part 7
Zero’s consciousness had begun to fade and he was trying anything he could think of to get the jester to release him. As a last-ditch effort, Zero pulled a sword out of his dimension and stabbed his neck which caused the archon to release him and retreat. Blood dripped from the archon's hands as it roared in anger.
Zero coughed repeatedly before smiling at the archon and said, “You can’t touch me without making your hands solid.”
“Very… clever… little… boy. You’re… the… first… person… to make… me mad. I’m… starting… to like… you… more.” said the archon as its sinister smiling face changed into a rage theater mask.
“You can keep your feelings, I don’t need them.” said Zero as he launched fireballs at the archon.
The fireballs phased through the archon and it clapped as it laughed at Zero's attempt to hurt it. It disappeared and Zero lost sight of it and as Zero was about to stop time a clawed hand appeared and gouged a piece of flesh from his side.
Zero had planned to dodge but his reflexes were too slow allowing the archons’ attack to succeed. As Zero laid on the ground with pieces of his flesh and organs lying near him. He grunted and lifted himself off the ground as his wounds healed but at a slower rate than the previous time.
The archon lept and slashed at Zero who teleported next to his blade and grabbed it before teleporting back to attack the archon. The attack was too slow as it had already shifted itself to another pocket dimension.
‘Damn!’
Zero retreated next to where a blades was stuck in the wall. He stopped time again and activated his dimensional portal overhead and dropped all the blades facing downward. The archon didn’t have time to react to this attack so it sustained some wounds. It received many cuts across its body and its left arm was severed completely.
“Damn… you!” yelled the archon.
“What you didn’t like my present.” said Zero with a smirk.
Zero snapped his fingers and a portal opened underneath him and the archon. They both fell through the portal and appeared in the skies Obsidian the NetherRealm. Zero manifested his wings as he saw the archon crashed into the ground. Zero wasted no time and launched fireballs continuously into the crater formed by the archon.
Zero stopped firing and looked to see the result of the attack. Zero noticed the archon was no longer injured but it was still missing its arm. The archon started to fade away but suddenly it was blown back into the sea. It seemed to be unable to manipulate dimensions in Zero’s pocket universe.
The archon roared as it attempted yet again to manipulate the dimensional spaces but was instantly repelled and blown back yet again.
“What… have… you… done!” screamed the archon as it formed a fair of fleshy angel wings at rushed at Zero.
Zero smiled and fired fireballs at the archon which caused multiple explosions at knocked it back to the ground.
“If I had known you’d be so easy to kill here, I would have brought you here ages ago.” said Zero as he fired another fireball at the archon as it tried to charge at him again.
As the fireball was about to hit the archon’s chest opened up and the fireball passed through it as it continued to charge at Zero. It reached Zero before he could react, sliced off one of his wings, and then proceeded to stab Zero in the chest and rip out his heart.
The light in Zero’s eye went dim and the archon dropped the body to the ground. A crack formed around the mouth area of the faceless archon and it split open to show razor shape teeth. With its newly formed mouth, it began to devour the heart blissfully.
Finished eating Zero’s heart the archon floated down to Zero's dead body. It picked him up and stroked his cheek as it said, “You… look… lovelier… dead.” It said as it brought Zero’s face closer to it but before it could do anything Zero disappeared.
Appearing a few feet away Zero fell to the ground as the hole in his chest began to close. He grabbed his chest and looked at the archon saying, “That was so repulsive that you literally resurrected me.”
The archon made a screeching sound that caused Zero to cover his ears. Its body began to shift and twist as it transfigured from the form of a jester into the form of a faceless female-shaped humanoid creature. The archon turned to face Zero and said, “I… will… kill you… and make… you… mine.”
After saying those words, the archon moved and instantly traversed the space between the 2 in a fraction of a second. It kicked Zero in the chest and launched him back as he skids across the ground. Zero slowed down and stopped face up with his chest slightly caved it a bit.
The archon jumped and landed on Zero’s arm crushing the bones in the arm. Zero grunted in pain as he raised his other arm and launched a fireball which forced the creature to retreat. Zero was now experiencing a vast amount of pain despite his pain suppression skill. He grunted in pain as the broken bones in his arm began to fix themselves.
Before he could manage to stand up the archon kicked Zero in the ribs. The kick was so powerful that it sent him crashing into the wall and caused some ribs to break puncturing his lung. Zero fell to the ground gasping for air and failed to notice that the archon had moved next to him. The archon then sliced off Zero left arm and threw it aside before turning to face Zero.
Zero had lost his arm and laid on the ground in a pool of his own blood. The archon then looked down on Zero who was grasping his severed arm and said, “An… eye… for… an eye.”
Zero smirked and said, “You talk… too much.” before summoning shadows to restrain the archon before using his blood manipulation skill to control his blood. He crafted multiple daggers made of his blood and sent them flying at the archon stabbing it profusely. As the dagger stabbed into the archon they would then liquify and enter the archon through the open wound.
The archon began to scream in pain as its skin started to tear off and it bled blue glowing blood as Zero’s shadows disappeared. The archon collapsed screaming before it stopped moving completely. Zero was still not confident that he’d killed the creature so he summoned Death’s shadow and sent it to dismember the creature. As the shadow raised its scythe the archons’ clawed hand pierced through the shadow’s chest. Unaffected by the attack the shadow proceeded to slice off the archon’s remaining arm before decapitating it.
As the archon's head fell to the ground Zero collapsed as he could no longer endure the mental fatigue. As his vision began to fade he ordered the reaper to protect him before losing consciousness. However, unbeknownst to him the body of the archon stood up and retrieved its head while the reaper was checked on its master. The archon stealthily retrieved its head and reattached it before letting out a ferocious roar as red blood poured out from its wounds. As the last of the blood left its body the wound closed up and it turned to face the reaper who was standing in front of its unconscious master.