Apophis felt everything around him slow down in that moment.

He was hyper aware of everything within the room, but nothing more so than the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears.

The rage threatened to drive him insane. His rationality was fleeing him as fast as it could.

He could only vaguely focus on the sight of some foreign man standing in his great hall while saying something he couldn''t even hear.

But despite everything, he was aware of the fact that Amaterasu desperately needed him.

A bright green bubble formed around the body of the goddess.

Her breathing, movements, and bleeding all ceased. Instead of trying to rewind time, he isolated the moment she was currently in and froze her within it.

She was locked permanently in a state of near death. Only to be saved later. If he ever got the chance.

Claire seemed to know exactly what her husband was thinking, and she opened one of the books she was always seen carrying.

It''s magic focused on Amaterasu and pulled her inside- completely out of harms way.

"Girls... run..!" Apophis roared.

"We''re not leaving you!" Fierce winds kicked up around Rita as her eyes shifted to a dull green color.

A golden lance formed within her grasp and she pointed it directly at the intruder in their home.

"Rita... I need you to go..!" The floor underneath Apophis began to melt.

The room''s temperature went to a rolling broil that could have fried most humans just by standing near it.

"Please, spare me the theatrics." The strange man dismissed. Read latest stories on My Virtual Library Empire

Apophis'' from tore itself apart as his form nearly doubled in size and a golden armor formed along his skin.

His arm mutated and formed into the head of a great dragon reminiscent of himself.

"Die."

A blast of powerful flame was emitted from the jaws of the creature and blew apart everything in it''s path.

Apophis'' grand castle that had stood tall for thousands of years suddenly experienced a wave of enchanted fire bursting through the front gates.

One could easily see a clear path of destruction following all the way from the throne room to the outside. Yet Apophis'' eyes narrowed when he saw the destruction he''d wrought.

Their density was only half the problem. His adversary had none of his training, but he was extremely gifted at defense.

He kept up his guard perfectly and left little chances for Apophis to attack his actual body.

"I tire of your games, boy!"

Apophis summoned a curved golden sword to his normal hand and rushed at the stranger who''d so rudely barge into his home.

Apophis''s sword cut through his adversary''s tough skin with great ease.

His entire left forearm was lopped off with no chance to regrow- leaving him unprotected.

At the very moment there was an opening, the dragon prince raised his dragon arm and unleashed another volley of fire.

The stranger barely managed to duck away from the wave of heat, but Apophis wasn''t going to make the same mistake as before.

His volley of flame transformed, becoming a living mass of flaming serpents. Each of them over fifty feet long and ravenous beyond description.

They pursued his adversary like hunting hounds, and just for the moment, Apophis was filled with joy at watching him squirm.

But just for a moment, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A strange, glossy sheen almost like a barrier.

''When did he..?''

Apophis turned around and pointed his arm at the barrier.

All of the sudden, his senses began to scream at him to move out of harms way.

He ducked just as a twisted, deranged limb tried to remove his handsome head.

Putting some space between himself and his new assailant, he lays eyes on a rather annoying sight.

A duplicate.

But Apophis hadn''t seen when he formed it, or felt the magical fluctuations in the air when it was called into being.

His frustration with himself only intensified. There was far too much that he just wasn''t noticing today. And he couldn''t begin to explain how or why.

"Your resistance to my powers is... irksome."

Percival #2 lifted a jagged blade for an arm and pointed it at Apophis.

"But worry not, for resistance is not to be confused with complete nullification. You will feed my ascension whether you want to or not."