(Verse in the bible)

And the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."

And so a swarm of locusts descended upon the world, their numbers immeasurable, their hunger insatiable. Upon a field of barren ruin, upon a field of a broken king, and of a broken kingdom, they blotted out the twilight sky of a world of infinite blades.

Death loomed in the dim lit horizon.

Melquart stood at the helm, for he ruled all flying insects, the most numerous and diverse creatures in the world. His form was taught, his massive arms at the ready; Yagarish poised to lash out with gale force winds against his adversaries. And yet further still was his presence growing. Lightning sparked from Ayamari, painting the very picture of a tempest of violent storm clouds. Nature was at Melquart's very beck and call.

Melquart's shadow stretched across the land.

But where there is a shadow, there will always be a light. Radiant pillars of power pierced through the heavens, their presence undeniable.

"For the light that guides me forward, my chivalry will pave a path to the radiance of a new dawn, for I am RIGHTEOUS!"

Arthur shot into the air on noble steed, his form blurring between the lines and manifesting into a fiery comet of fire.

Tails of iridescent starlight trailed from Arthur's wake, his sword in hand scorching all in its way.

"My core is twisted in madness, Caladbolg!"

Like the spear of Odin, like the tail light of a thrown Gae Bolg, the prototype blade of Excalibur ripped through the air. Space itself distorted, twisting along side Caldbolg's altered spiraled blade; the subsequent shockwaves, as it near instantly broke the sound barrier, sending tremours through the ground on which Shirou stood firmly.

Melquart, for a moment, didn't know what had hit him. At least not unil Caladbolg had detonated directly in front of him, forcing him to guard against the subseqeunt explosion. It hadn't made sense. For once, Meqluart was left unable to comprehend the significance of his deductions.

Feet now planted on the ground and arms blistered from Caladbolg's power, Melquart stared at Shirou in a new light. The battle had lulled to a stand still, Arthur watching the proceddings from the sky.

"Hahah, truly this is the power of the strongest!" Melquart said. "Never before have I witnessed such a marvel, steel within steel."

Melquart pulled out the shattered debris of Caladbolg from a deep wound on his forearm.

"To contain the ferocity of Cú Chulainn's demonic spear with the contradicting nature of the holiest sword within one blade," Melquart stared deeply at the piece of Caladbolg within his palm. "Is impossible; no, perhaps its because of the contradiction that such a grand explosion was possible."

Caladbolg, as the sword originally wielded by Fergus mac Róich in Celtic mythology, had strong ties to Welsh mythology, but at the same time held relevance to Cú Chulainn: Fergus mac Róich, as the foster father of Cú Chulainn, and Excalibur due to the theory that it is the same as Caledfwlch of Welsh mythology, making it a prototype. And although these speculations may prove sufficient, they still don't account for the alteration Shirou had cast on the blade.

"No matter," Melquart said briskly. "Now isn't the time for talk. For now we take up arms once again!"

Despite Melquart's large size, he moved with extreme agility, shooting past the numerous blades Shirou shot off into the air.

"I am steel! My body stronger than any other!" Shirou said as he withstood the impact of Yagarish on his body, the subsequent winds failing to knock him back due to his increased weight. "I am of the earth, a dragon of immense power!"

Strength pooled from the ground and up through Shirou's legs, the earth giving its blessing to the blood of dragons. Verdant scales traveled up to encompass Shirou's arms, encasing them in draconic steel. Furthermore, micro-blades stemmed through the armour, jagged, serated, and deadly.

Melquarts eyes widened.

"I am the Lord of Tyre! Owner of Herculean Strength!"

Melquart lashed out with a punch at the exact moment Shirou retaliated.

Fist met fist, with neither side gaining ground, and yet there stood another in the midst of the battlefield.

Arthur stared carefully at Melquart, looking for the slightest opening to exploit. Time was of the essence, the other two, Godou and Erica would not last long against the Persian war god. Which was all the more reason why Arthur steeled himself to utilize lethal force.

A sleek white lance appeared in Arthur's hand surrounded by orbiting spheres of fluorescent rock.

Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, moons of Jupiter.

"I am Artorius, I am Jupiter, the king of gods!" Arthur poised the lance forward, his eyes narrowing upon spying the break in Melquarts guard as the micro-blades on Shirou's arm pierced Melquart's flesh. "My charge will pierce the heavens, my thrust faster than lightning! None may be my equal, for I am faster than light itself!"

The orbiting spheres spun faster and faster, round and round until they collided to produce an immense throttle that propelled Arthur forward.

Descending towards the ground, Arthur capitalized on Melquart's moment of weakness. His form unable to be described as anything else but nonexistent, thus was the extent of his speed. In particular, was the fact that although space itself distorted to account for said speed, not once did Arthur lose sight of his target, but rather, he struck with unerring accuracy in much the same way as Odin's famed spear never missed its target.

Faced with imminent danger on both fronts, Melquart could do the only thing befitting of such a situation. He laughed, long and hard despite the lance that pierced through his chest which continued to drag him across the battlefield. He laughed despite the pain of numerous noble phantasms digging into his being as his body was dragged across the ground. It was...Unnerving to say the least. And yet what can one really expect from a Divine King-class Heretic God?

Melquart knew of pain, he relished the feeling in battle, for the pain inflicted on his person spoke wonders about his opponent. Inspite of everything however, it all melted down to his very being. By Melqart's true name of Baal Hadad. He was Baal, but he was also known as Beelzebub of the seven princes of Hell according to Catholic views. It was why he ruled all flying insects, it was why he knew greatly of pain. As a prince who ruled within Hell itself, he had heard the screams of the damned as they burned for eternity unable to die within the cess pool of a burning inferno.

Oh it was only a matter of time before he would show his adversaries why it was that they should fear the 'Lord of the Flies'.

Erica didn't know how much time had passed since Shirou and Melquart disappeared into the distant horizon, but she hoped that the five minute mark would soon arrive. She didn't know how much more she and Godou could take.

Initially, Erica had been getting by, by utilizing her leap magic to traverse the battle field and narrowly dodge the numerous bolts of lightning aimed her way, but even that had its limits. Specifically when one compared the magical reserves of mortals to a god's. She wasn't disillusioned, it was because of Godou that she was still alive at the moment. The fool had managed to steal the incarnation of the bull from Verethragna using the tome of Prometheus. At this point, she didn't really care if Godou was a civilian or not, he fought just as well if not better than most magicians she had the liberty to work with. However, if there was one thing she knew for certain, she had placed her trust in him.

"Godou! To your left!" Erica yelled.

A bolt of lightning had descended from the tips of Verethragna's fingers and homed in on Godou.

After years of honing his senses in baseball, a game where even the slightest mistake can lead to a heavy injury, Godou could accurately claim to read his opponents intentions and develop tactics to win against them. This was no different from what he did a moment prior to the lightning bolt striking his location. He stomped down hard on the ground. Although such an act can be considered rudimentary at best, rudimentary means nothing in the face of herculean strength granted by the incarnation of the bull.

The earth trembled before a large slab of said earth rose up to intercept the bolt of lightning from Verethragna. With the enregy of the bolt dispersed, Godou picked up the slab and threw it at Verethragna who merely back handed it away.

"Impressive." Verethragna complimented. "But how will you deal with this?"

Verethragna rose into the air, his white silk robe fluttering with the wind. When at last he stopped amissed the clouds, he peered down at the mortals below him and raised an arm above his head. No sooner than he had, a vortex of wind funneled around him and tore a rift through the sky.

"Thus speaketh Lord Mithra." Verethragna narrowed his eyes on Godou alone. "The sinful shall be met with justice."

Movement was seen from within the rift, piercing red eyes bearing down upon the world within the compounds of a vivid violet ether.

"May spines be crushed,"

A flaming hooved appendage stepped out from the ether.

"May bones be broken,"

An unearthly roar tore the clouds in two.

"Tendons torn; hair, brains, and blood mingled and trampled together with the earth!"

Verethragna's divine boar made itself known to the world, stepping fully into existence.

"The one unblunted and unapproachable! Oath breaking sinners be purged by the iron hammer of justice!"

Time itself seemed to stop as Verethragna swiped his arm down and signaled the charge of the mighty divine boar. Heedless of Verethragna's command, the boar would have charged anyway, but fueled with its masters intentions, its downward descent doubled.

Large embers were left behind in the boar's wake, many having drifted to the ground and set ablaze wild grass and shrubs.

In the face of his looming adversary, Godou held his ground and resolved himself to the inevitable. And yet fate works in mysterious ways. In much the same way as the unpredictability of a god's whims, fate seemed to be on Godou's side. Spell words of power filtered through his brain without frying it from the inside out due to the divinity granted by said words.

"As the one who holds all victory in my hands," A golden aura sprouted from Godou's feet and encompassed him like a flickering candle flame.

"I am the strongest. Man and devil—all enemies, all who harbor enmity will be vanquished."

Godou's eyes narrowed with purpose as he shot his arms out to intercept the boar.

Pointed tusks met callused hands.

"Hence I shall smash through all enemies in my way!"

The strength of the bull shot up dramatically; the ground splintered under the sheer force of the confrontation. With a mighty heft, Godou spun the Boar full circle and tossed it straight back to Verethragna, its speed doubling further as the momentum of the original charge enhanced the kinetic energy acting on the boar.

Eyes widening in astonishment, Verethragna took the attack head on.

Ichor, the life blood of the gods, fell in droplets towards the earth. Such a feat would have been considered absurd had it not been for the damning evidence for all to see.

A broken fragment of the boar's massive pointed tusks was stabbed deeply through Verethragna's chest.

"...This," Verethragna began before he coughed and spat out the blood in his mouth. "Wasn't what I was expecting."

Nimbly, Verethragna placed his hands along the Boar's tusk and swiftly pulled it out of his body, letting the tusk fade back into the ether and a copious amount of his blood to spill.

A smile tugged along Verethragna's face.

"HEheHAhah!" Verethragna laughed, not caring how wretched his appearance made him seem. Be that as it may something had changed within Verethragna, perhaps his disposition or posture of arrogance, one could never really tell. However, thinly veiled within Verethragna's eyes, there was no longer any curiosity, nor admiration, only the beginings of a fierce blood lust.

"I am a companion of Mithra, I am the being described as 'the most highly armed' and 'the best equipped with might.'" Verethragna sent a withering glance at Godou and sidewards glance at Erica.

Illogical fear crept up the backs of both Godou and Erica, who for the most part was being ignored in favour of Godou. Thankfully that fact had saved Erica's life, no matter how self deprecated it made her feel.

"With effervescent glory and conquering superiority, I have fought countless battles against the most wicked of men and demons." Verethragna voice grew deeper, harsher, more straight to the point. This was no longer the care-free god Godou and Erica had fought moments prior, this was the true persona of the Persian god of legend.

"My name, is Verethragna the Persian God of War! Within my hands lay the means to all Victory! Force, subjugation, bribery, it matters not; I know them all despite never stooping myself so low to resort to such means. Charisma to move the thousands, leadership to succeed where others could not, I possess them all!" Verethragna's fom shone bright, and no sooner did all his injuries disappear. "O Worthy warrior who hath standeth here before me, state thy name so we may re-enact a battle of legend!"

Godou gulped, yet still stood strong.

"My name is Godou Kusanagi!" Godou all but shouted to the heavens. "And I, I will stop you!"

"Your courage beckons me forward and I will not resist." Verethragna said.

Landing on the ground, Verethragna traced a hand over the blood that had stained his white robe a deep crimson before smiling viciously at Godou.

"Every sinner shall tremble before my power. Now is the time, that I obtain the toughness of ten mountains, the strength of a hundred rivers, and the power of a thousand camels! Upon my mighty self, I shall bear the symbol of the raging camel!" Divine energy erupted from around Verethragna. "Godou Kusanagi, prepare thyself for battle, for if not..."

Godou face contorted in shock.

"Thou shalt die." Verethragna said from directly in front of Godou.

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

-Parcasious