The Shades howled, their cries like the wails of countless grieving wolves, a sound that crawled into the marrow of the soul.
It was not rely a sound but an emotion, a lantation of agony and longing, echoing with the anguish they carried in life and the tornt binding them in death.
Their cries hung in the air like a heavy mist, thick with sorrow and regret, the kind of sound that could haunt a man long after his battles were won.
These were not re shadows. They were tethered fragnts, bound to the outskirts of Hades by their own despair.
Neither worthy of Elysium nor condemned to Tartarus, they existed in a liminal purgatory, a mockery of rest, their "anchors" glinting faintly like cursed chains.
Rex cracked his knuckles, the sharp pop cutting through the eerie cries like a defiant battle cry. Though he felt a pang of sympathy for their plight, he couldn't let himself wallow.
Compassion had no place in the heat of a fight. Besides, he knew his task was their salvation.
"Simulations or not, you guys are ssed up," Rex muttered, rubbing his lips with a growing smirk. "Guess it's my job to set you free... and rack up so XP while I'm at it." His voice rose, brimming with his trademark cocky flair. "Cronus! Don't let turn into a softie, yeah?"
Without hesitation, Rex surged forward, his fists blazing with Aether, a bright glow in the dim haze of Hades.
Instead of eting the nearest Shade head-on, he feinted, a perfectly executed backflip that sent him soaring above its twisted, gaunt form.
The Shade hissed, its elongated arms snapping forward with grotesque speed, fingers distorting into clawed appendages that raked the air with a sickening whip.
The claws stretched unnaturally, growing wider as they aid for Rex mid-air.
"Not today!" Rex bellowed, igniting the Aether in his legs. The energy surged like a coiled spring, propelling him downward with bone-shattering force. His glowing fist struck with pinpoint accuracy.
CRACK!
The Anchor shattered beneath his blow, the tallic chain erupting into ghostly fragnts that dissipated into the void.
Rex landed in a crouch, the shards of the Anchor still fading into mist. But before he could even breathe, an enormous, ghastly hand erged from the gloom, descending toward him like the shadow of a thundercloud. Its sheer size seed to blot out what little light the Aether provided.
"Damn it!" Rex growled, his instincts kicking in. His eyes burned with icy blue light as he hissed, "Temporal Rift!"
The hand froze mid-air, suspended in the distorted haze of halted ti. The Shade that owned it reeled back in confusion, its hollow eyes searching for its missing appendage. It shrieked in frustration, a sound that made the air tremble.
"Five seconds," Rex muttered under his breath, his voice icy calm, though his pulse thundered in his ears. "That's all I need."
He shot forward like a cot, each stride cutting through the heavy mist with raw determination. Every second was precious.
As he closed in, his fist drew back, glowing like a sun aid for the Shade's Anchor. Victory seed inevitable.
But then, the air tore with a deathly scream, and another hand materialized before him. This one moved faster than he could react.
It caught him.
The Shade's ghostly grip tightened around his torso like a vice, lifting him off the ground. Rex's breath hitched as a wave of icy numbness flooded his body, spreading from the Shade's fingers and gnawing at his strength. His vision blurred as if the very essence of his being was unraveling.
"Damn it... Soul Drain, huh?" Rex groaned through gritted teeth, his voice strained. "Figures these bastards would suck the life right out of , literally!"
The world around him began to shift unnaturally, the scene unraveling like a tape rewinding. Every motion, every blow, reversed itself. The sensation was dizzying, but Rex forced himself to focus.
"Good," he whispered as the sequence rewound to the mont just before he charged the Anchor. "Ti Rewind: five seconds complete."
His feet hit solid ground again, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths. He staggered for a mont but quickly steadied himself.
His mind raced as he replayed the encounter in his head. The Shades' weaknesses were clear now. Their bodies were intangible, until they struck.
A smirk tugged at Rex's lips as he rolled his shoulders, a fla of determination igniting in his chest. "You're vulnerable when you attack, huh? Fine. Let's see if I can bait you into making a mistake."
The Shades howled again, their cries sohow louder, more desperate, as if sensing Rex's defiance. But this ti, Rex was ready.
"Let's dance," Rex growled, a wild smirk pulling at his lips. He spread his palm wide, and the air around him crackled with raw energy. Aether began swirling into his hand like a torrent, threads of brilliant blue and white converging into a glowing sphere. It pulsed with an otherworldly light, humming with barely contained power.
"Guess what? I just ca up with this skill," Rex muttered, his tone cocky yet tinged with exhilaration. "Haven't even nad it yet."
In the distance, a Shade let out a blood-curdling howl, its hollow, malevolent eyes flaring like twin infernos in the darkness. The cry cut through the air, vibrating with fury, as if the very sound could peel away the layers of a man's resolve. Rex's heart thudded in response, but his smirk only grew wider.
The sphere of Aether in his palm swelled, growing larger with each passing second, until it reached the size of a grapefruit, fifteen centiters in diater, glowing like a miniature star.
"Thirty Aether already? Damn it!" Rex grumbled. He could feel the drain in his core, his energy reserves dipping with alarming speed. But this wasn't the ti to hesitate.
He leaped high into the air, the sphere blazing in his hand like a cot. Below, the Shade stretched its grotesque hands forward, its elongated claws slashing upward to swat him out of the sky.
"Oh no, you don't!" Rex roared, his voice carrying defiant fury. His eyes flared with icy brilliance as he activated Temporal Rift.
Ti fractured. The Shade froze mid-motion, its claws halted in the air like jagged statues. The world around Rex seed to distort, the shadows rippling as though caught in a ti-storm.
"Gotcha," Rex muttered, diving headfirst toward his target, his Aether sphere burning brighter with each passing mont.
The Shade's hollow eyes flickered as ti snapped back, its head swiveling in an almost panicked motion. But it was too late. Rex drove the Aether sphere directly into its face, his voice booming like a war cry.
"AETHER NOVA!!!"
The sphere detonated on impact, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion of light and force. The ground quaked as the blast erupted outward in a brilliant shockwave, engulfing everything in a dazzling burst of Aetheric fire. The Shade's hollow wail was drowned out as its form disintegrated, fragnts of shadow shredded into nothingness.
The shockwave hurled Rex backward like a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard, sliding across the cracked terrain before skidding to a halt. His breath ca in ragged gasps, his entire body trembling from the effort.
A mont of silence hung in the aftermath, the air thick with the acrid tang of burnt Aether. Wisps of energy floated upward, fading into the void.
Rex groaned, propping himself up on his elbows. His smirk returned, despite the ache in his muscles. "Aether Nova, huh? Not bad for a na I pulled outta nowhere."
"Seventy left…" Rex winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Man, that thing was a freaking energy vacuum. Gotta be more careful next ti."
"Thou hast done well! I am impressed!!" Cronus surprisingly praised Rex, his tone hearty.
Rex blinked in shock, sitting up straighter. "Wait… what? Did you just praise ? Like, actual praise? Not so cryptic riddle or backhanded insult?"
Cronus' voice carried an amused tone. "Indeed, thou hast exceeded my expectations. Thy resourcefulness and flair for naming skills on the fly are comndable."
Rex chuckled, rubbing his chin smugly. "Well, you know , talented, charming, devastatingly handso, and apparently Shade-destroying extraordinaire.
Cronus sighed. "Must thou ruin every mont of gravitas with thy incessant jesting?"
Rex shrugged, standing up and brushing off the dust. "It's called staying humble, big guy. Keeps grounded."
Suddenly, a noise was heard, a low, guttural growl, deep and resonant, reverberating through the shadowed expanse like a distant thunderclap.
Rex froze, his senses sharpening instantly. His smirk faded into a focused line, his gaze snapping toward the source of the sound.
The air grew heavier, a palpable tension pressing down on him as a figure erged from the gloom.
It wasn't another Shade.
No, this presence was far more nacing. It moved with deliberate grace, its form towering and wreathed in shadow. As it stepped into the faint glow of Aether's lingering light, Rex's breath hitched.
The figure was unmistakably feminine, yet her aura was suffused with wrath and vengeance, an unrelenting force of nature.
Her hair was a cascade of dark tendrils that writhed as though alive, and her eyes burned with an intense crimson glow.
In one hand, she gripped a barbed whip, its length dripping with what looked like molten shadows.
Her armor, sleek and black, glinted with an unnatural sheen, jagged edges reflecting the faint light like the sharp grin of a predator.
Na: Erinyes
Role: Enforcers of Justice
Class: Tier one greater beast
Strength: 200
Agility: 290
Endurance: 200
Intelligence: 150
Ability: Curse Infliction: can place powerful curses on those who have committed wrongdoings, such as eternal pain, madness, or misfortune.
Wings of Shadow: massive, bat-like wings grants incredible mobility in battle, capable of summoning storms or razor-sharp feathers as projectiles.
Fire manipulation: Can summon the elent of vengeance, Fire, to aid in battle
Origin:
As Uranus' blood spilled onto Gaia , it mingled with her fertile soil. From this union of divine blood and earth, several beings were born, one of them....the Eryines.
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