[PLAY: Daughter of the Dark God - Octopath]

Mantle and Atlas both shook violently as Salem held a ball of darkness in her hand as she gracefully walked over the rubble she caused. Buildings fell down from where they were, making Atlas' metal exterior creak and groan at the violent show of power. Salem ran a hand over her hair, dropping the numerous hair ties she had while letting her hair down.

"Oh how I've enjoyed our game of cat and mouse dear Y/N." Salem said mocking the boy. "But I've grown tired of you and I-"

Without another seconds notice, Salem's head exploded with Y/N's fist colliding with the brain matter. Salem's body went limp before her hand shot up and through Y/N's stomach, completely ripping out his spine. Y/N charged up a blast of electricity into Salem's gut, sending her backwards while her body burned. Both of their bodies began to rapidly regenerate as they locked eyes once more.

"Oh? So you HAVE gotten stronger." Salem laughed to herself. "Something tells me this isn't the first time you've battled an immortal."

"Fuck. You." Y/N said blatantly as he got up and wiped the spit from his mouth.

"But we already did?" Salem smirked before holding her hand. "Do tell me if you cannot go on dear, I wish to make you watch while I flay your loved ones."

Giant Grimm tentacles immediately sprouted from Salem's shadow and soared into the air. Y/N immediately turned around and began running before purple magic circles began appearing all over the skyline. Pulling out his pistols, he thrusted himself forward and over one of the tentacles before shooting a magic circle, shattering it. He slid to a halt before twisting and turning around the tentacles while blasting away all of the magic circles. Turning his head, he leapt off of the building he was on as it exploded with the remaining magic circles firing at it.

Salem reacted in an instant, appearing in front of Y/N with her spell book hovering in the air alongside her, an aura of black and purple swirling around it. The pages flipped violently before ceasing as Y/N pointed a pistol to Salem's head in the air. Within seconds, a magic blast and a pistol shot ripped apart their respective heads as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground. Within milliseconds they regenerated and were back to their feat both unwavering in their goal.

"Without Graham I imagine this is much harder isn't it?" Salem scoffed as she stifled a yawn. "You'll never be able to truly kill me without him, you know this yes?"

"God you're annoying..." Y/N muttered before shooting forward and blasting her head off with a fiery fist. He pushed himself and his bloody hand off of her body before spinning around with electricity and raising one leg. Salem's body stood their waiting as Y/N surged forward and began smashing Salem's body with furious kicks as he began to turn her torso into a pile of mush and black ooze. Salem caught his foot as her body regenerated and ripped his leg off with ease, placing a hand on his chest before blasting him away once more. However, Y/N predicted it this time and grabbed her hand, twisting and pushing off the ground with his other leg. With one move, both Salem's head and his leg regenerated at the same time, as Y/N spun in the air with his leg coming back just in time to slam his heel into Salem's temple, sending her body soaring towards a building leaving her imprinted in the side of it.

He lunged forward with a fire blast at the ready before being caught off guard by a nevermore swooping in and clipping the boy with its wing. Y/N began to spin out of the air, but luckily he ended up using that momentum to dodge a blast of magic from Salem. He landed onto the metal floor and began to spin himself around while dragging his feet and hands in the ground while beginning to create a smokescreen around him. He used his electricity to dash away before sending a few fire blasts in different directions as he hid.

'I need a plan and I need one now. She's immortal by the right of the gods. I'll eventually run out of energy, she won't.' Y/N thought before a hand shot out from behind him and grabbed his face. It completely smashed his face inside of itself before Y/N's body kicked itself up and over the wall he was hiding behind and he twisted Salem's neck around before leaping off of her with his head appearing soon after.

Salem's hands reached up and twisted her head back around before snapping her fingers as tornadoes began to appear, taking everything up with them. Shadow hands began to appear around her as they all began charging up beams of dark magic. Y/N grit his teeth before attempting to dodge the cyclones, but was fruitless as he was swept up and immobilized by the air current they were creating.

He held his pistols out, attempting to shoot down Salem's shadow hands, but the bullets were getting wrapped up in the air on top of that.

"Fuck!" Y/N yelled in anger as his hair whipped around his face. He could barely hold his pistols with the debris and other things in the air knocking him off balance. In a matter of seconds his body was being bombarded with a multitude of magic blasts, completely tearing apart his body and turning it into shreds. The light in his eyes went out as his body was riddled with holes and pouring out blood. Salem landed on the ground with ease and snapped her fingers as her shadow hands and cyclones disappeared. Y/N's corpse began regenerating as he hopped up with the same energy as before.

"Do you see now Y/N?" Salem said holding her hands out. Her crimson and black eyes pierced through his amber orbs as his breath hitched. There was some sense of twisted beauty in the way she looked. The cracked moon sat behind her and made her skin glisten in the sardonic tone of the night sky. Y/N took the moment to look around at his surroundings and was taking it all in. Half of Atlas was completely flat. The metal structure was sparking and burning with blood and remnants of building splattered all over the place. Smoke and ash appeared from every nook and cranny of the dilapidated town while Y/N narrowed his eyes.

"You wanted this?!" Y/N scoffed. "Fat fucking surprise you're as fucked in the head as ever!"

"Oh my sweet boy." Salem laughed haughtily. "You don't even realize it."

"..." Y/N stayed silent as he looked at her.

"I'm trying to get you to understand just what you're doing. My method would've given humanity a quick and painless death among other things. The animals of this world would be completely wiped clean and allowed a respite away from humans like yourselves." Salem began to monologue as she took out a small remote from her shadows. "The path you're on leads to nothing but heartbreak and despair for everyone and everything surrounding you. Shall I show you?"

"What are you-" Y/N began as Salem pressed the button. Y/N was confused before Salem twirled and laughed in the moonlight.

"I always hated that disgusting island of yours. Even long before your kind inhabited it after the Great War." Salem said as she hoped down from where they were. They looked over the dilapidated city and out across the sea, looking straight across the ocean. "You know they say you can see Menagerie here, can you see it?"

Y/N was completely confused before he checked his phone to see that any signal to and from Menagerie was completely lost. Salem grinned wildly as a Seer Grimm appeared from nowhere.

"What...what did you do?!" Y/N said wildly as Salem laughed like a maniac.

"I...hm, what was the term Watts used? Oh right! I nuked Menagerie." Salem grinned sadistically. "This what your path leads you to Y/N. I've tried over and over to show you this but you're far too stubborn to do anything about it."

The Seer Grimm began to project what had just happened. A large amount of bombs were sent across the ocean until it reached Menagerie and exploded on impact. The scene showed a large explosion of fire and smoke hanging over the island with destructive waves pushing the ocean all over the place.

Without another second to go by a bullet killed the Seer as a shadow covered Y/N's eyes. He took a step forward in silence with clenched fists. Salem eyed him like a kid opening a Christmas present with glee. 

"How does it fell Y/N? Are you ready to give up?" Salem laughed sadistically. "There's nothing left to fight for, the human world hates you, your homeland is dead, and-!"

Y/N collided his fist with Salem's face shattering it completely. Salem's mind was running wild, being completely unable to see any of his movements. His fists were interchangeable with his legs as fiery sparks appeared from all across his body. With one last kick her body went flying as her head regenerated, but her right arm was coming back slower and slower.

"What on Remnant?" Salem looked at her arm and then back to Y/N. "How did-"

"I'll mourn for them later." Y/N looked at her with the fiercest gaze he had ever shown anyone before. Salem nearly felt a shudder of fear before grinning at him as he stood ready to fight. "The only way to make their deaths meaningful, is to destroy you and what you stand for."

"It seems like Watts was right, your mental fortitude has increased!" Salem rolled her eyes. "Truthfully, I was hoping to let this one die off naturally, but you leave me no choice."

With a wave of the hand, Arslan appeared from the shadows in a bloody and beat up state. Y/N showed no change in emotion as he stared at her with the same cold look in his eyes.

"Not even a single movement? Impeccable work child." Salem scoffed. "I was wondering about how I would increase my power in this world. After millennia's of surviving, what on Remnant could actually help me surpass the level that I have reached?"

Arslan was bleeding profusely out of several cuts and bruises with her right arm being twisted beyond what human bodies were capable of. She sputtered with a blank expression on her face. Salem grabbed her by the throat as she held her up, waving her arm and sending Grimm Y/N's way as he began to punch and burn them all, desperately trying to get Arslan back.

"I pity you the same way I pity myself little girl. You're nothing but a slave to the gods and that boy down there. Poor little thing wasn't even able to choose her own life hm?" Salem said loosening her grip as she looked towards the moon. Arslan coughed out blood as Salem turned her with her. "Do you see that moon? I am the reason for it. The ones that are responsible for shattering humanity. Fitting don't you think?"

"Arslan!" Y/N said grabbing the jaws of an alpha Ursa and ripping its head out. He grabbed the teeth of it and shoved them through the head of a creep before latching onto an alpha Beowulf and tossing it towards a swooping Nevermore. "God dammit!"

Salem's Grimm tentacles shot out from the earth and began to impede Y/N's way as he jumped and burned as many as he could. The Grimm were relentless, continuing to to charge him with everything they had. Arslan's eyes bleakly looked over to Y/N as she held out a hand towards him weakly.

"Arslan! I'm coming!" Y/N roared as he exploded in a torrent of flames. The Grimm were shot back before Y/N surged forward. However, Salem had a three griffons swarm him as Y/N began shooting and dancing around their attacks. "Fuck!"

"Aw that's cute, but you of all people should know that love is finite." Salem said as Arslan turned to her and tried to say something before Salem shoved her entire shadow hand through Arslan's chest. Arslan's eyes widened in pain before the forces of Charlottes curse made her go back to being neutral.

"Dammit Charlotte!" Y/N roared out as he could feel tears welling up. "I swear to god I'll hunt you down and kill you if you don't stop this! Charlotte! FUCK!"

Y/N punched through a griffon before throwing its corpse towards Salem. It disintegrated before it even got near her as Y/N's eyes widened. Glowing gold magic lines began transferring from Arslan to Salem as Y/N's breath caught.

"No no no no!" Y/N said without fear as he used the griffons to jump forward. "I swear to god Salem I'll fucking kill you!"

A magical forcefield stopped him before he could move forward as Y/N pounded his flaming fists with everything he could. Buildings were being destroyed from the force that shot out from behind him and the ground was being set out on fire. Grimm tentacles began to wrap around his body and pulled him to the ground as Y/N tried to break through them all or burn them, but was unable to. He was overwhelmed by the appendages and brought to his knees as he watched in agony as Arslan was being murdered and absorbed at the same time. The force field dissipated as Y/N was forced to watch the life drain out of Arslan's eyes. She looked towards Y/N with extreme pain written all over her face as Arslan held back screams because of her curse. Her mouth said something that Y/N couldn't quite here before his breath hitched and he couldn't speak anymore.

'I love you.'

The life immediately left Arslan's eyes as Salem roared in pain. Her body was thrown towards Y/N as her corpse collided with him and the Grimm appendages disappeared. He went flying back before slamming against a building with Arslan in his arms as Salem continued screaming in agony.

Y/N felt for a pulse on Arslan but got nothing as he tried to heal her wound with his aura, but found it useless.

"Arslan no, come on." Y/N desperately looked for signs of life as she laid still in his arms. "Arslan no no no, anyone but you!"

Salem ceased her painful screams before looking towards Y/N with glee.

"I...I feel wonderful!" Salem held her hands out. She looked identical but Y/N could tell she was a little more powerful. "Is that what it feels like to be fully complete? Two halves of the entire world have now been coalesced within me. I could leave right now and you'd die within a few years. I could kill every single person close to you and watch you perish as I-"

[PLAY: The Words That Came From Deep Inside My Guy/Yuji's Rage Theme - Jujutsu Kaisen OST]

Salem was hit with a downward punch as Y/N slammed his fist into her forehead. He quickly used his fire to slam his fist into her face after and Salem was sent backwards. Salem grinned with joy before blood spilled out of her nose and mouth. Not black blood, but real blood.

"What on Remnant is-" Salem began, but Y/N punched right through it. Anger was evident in his eyes as Salem lost control of the Grimm. Her magic and shadow hands were intact, but the light within her began to dispel the effects the Grimm pool had on her body all those years ago. Half of her body was human while the other half was still Grimmified.

Y/N continued his onslaught as he screamed his heart out. Punch after punch came and Salem couldn't do anything but take them as she struggled to adjust to her new powers and form. Eventually she charged up dark magic in her right and light magic in her left before grabbing onto both of Y/N's hands. He looked at her with wild eyes and slammed his forehead directly into hers repeatedly as Salem stumbled backwards feeling the brute force pain. Salem recoiled back before Y/N was impaled by two shadow hands before he ripped them out and proceeded to beat Salem with her own creations. The dark energy burned the light side of her body as she screamed out in pain. Her flesh began to burn from the dark energy and flames that Y/N was putting out.

"ENOUGH!" Salem roared out and summoned an explosive blast that sent both of them away from each other. Salem wiped her mouth as her body healed itself as she looked down upon Y/N. His eyes made her recoil for a second before she composed herself.

"I'm going to kill you."

Y/N said plainly as she surged forward and slammed his leg down onto her block. Salem twisted and threw a fist coated in light magic towards his gut, which connected and made Y/N spit up blood. Taking it with ease, Y/N grabbed onto her arm and spun around, carrying her with him. Her body went flying and was put through multiple buildings as Y/N felt Atlas begin to become lopsided.

"The chains?" Y/N looked down and then looked across the battlefield to everyone fighting the other villains. He thought for a moment before narrowing his eyes back on Salem.

"I don't care how hurt I get. I don't care who dies. I don't care about being a king." Y/N clenched his fist. "All I want, is to make you suffer!"

Salem and Y/N locked eyes before both of them charged each other once more.

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