Thunderous booms echoed and splatters of crimson blood sprayed as Seth's head rocked backwords. His head rung as his brain rattled around in his skull with every brutal punch from this mountainous Dwarf. He had put his axe away at some point, opting to simply beat Seth to death.

His boulder sized fists slamming into Seth's face over and over. But no matter how many hits he took, Seth refused to go down. Although, as much as he held on, he could have sworn that the longer they were fighting the stronger these punches were getting, which didn't make sense at all.

No... It was probably just his imagination. Yeah, that was probably it. He was pretty tired after all... So tired. Maybe just one little lie down wouldn't hurt.

He stumbled back, his legs wobbling as warm blood trickled down his chin from his nose, yet he still found the strength to swerve around another punch and lash out with one of his own. He stepped like a boxer, a drunken one, as he stepped under the dwarves arm and passed his reach to send a punch deep into his stomach, before stumbling away to avoid retaliation.

Seth had no idea how long they had been going at this, beating the snot out of each other. Maybe it was the head trauma, or perhaps it was something else, but he was having trouble remembering how he got here. He was having trouble remembering a lot of things actually.

But no matter how many blows he took or how much he forgot, there was always that little thought in the back of his mind. The cockroach that had skittered away, hiding and waiting for the right time to come out. No matter how many memories and other thoughts were beaten out of him, that thought stubbornly remained.

He just wished he had enough time to think so he could remember what it was. It was getting distracting, having this thing nibbling at the back of his mind the entire time.

Weaving around another punch, he feigned an upper cut, just enough to make the Dwarf raise his hands, before Seth instead lifted his boot and planted it firmly between the Dwarves legs. There was a crunch and a sickening pop, before the Dwarf let out a high pitch whine like a boiling tea kettle.

He hunched over, bringing him just low enough for Seth to give him two thunder cracking crosses on each cheek, before finishing with an actual jaw smashing uppercut that lifted the mountainous Dwarf from his feet.

The dwarf's back slammed against the ground as Seth stumbled again, his legs wobbling before finally giving out causing him to fall to his knees. His posture slumped, his head hanging low as he used his hands to support himself on the ground.

Weakly lifting his head, Seth gazed at the swirling black sky of the Abyss, and at the projection of his bodies viewpoint. Astra was dead, killed by his own hands, as he stood over her with blood soaking those guilty, murderous hands.

"I'm too late... Too late... Too weak and Too late... What's the point anymore."

His head fell forward, his body growing still as the last remnants of adrenaline, which had been entirely fuelling him, were pushed out by the overwhelming sorrow.

Heavy footsteps appeared next to him as the Dwarf strolled over, letting out a deep rumbling chuckle.

"That's right boy. Just give in, make it easy on yourself. Give in, and I won't make you watch as I kill the rest. Or should I say when you kill the rest, cos that's what they'll be seeing."

His axe flew out from the depths of the Abyss, rocketing into his hand like the hammer of Thor. He hefted it above his head, getting a firm grip on its shaft.

Seth wiped the blood from his mouth, his lifeless eyes staring at the ground hopelessly.

'He's right... I may as well just die. Nothing I can do anymore...'

He was tired, so dreadfully tired. Beaten, abused and broken. Everything he was fighting for was gone. It was over. It was time to finally rest, giving up was just the right thing to do. But just as that thought entered his mind, another quickly shoved it to the side. It was an odd thought, speaking to him in a voice that was not his own.

'Look at your hand.'

'Huh?'

'Your hand. Look at your hand.'

Seth rolled his eyes, but decided to humour the thought. It was, after all, the last thought of a dead man. It deserved to be humoured, like a final joke before he finally got his rest. So he looked down at his right hand, for some reason that just felt right, and looked at it with derision.

It was a hand, so what? A hand with some blood smeared across it.

He flipped it over, holding his hand in front of his face as his head hung, making him stare directly down at it. He chuckled softly, amused by the pointless final thought, when a drop of blood dripped from his nose and landed on the soft, pale skin of his hand.

That sound, the gentle sound of a droplet of blood touching skin, was like a jolt of lightning through his entire system.

The Dwarf begun his swung, cleaving the axe downwards towards Seth's neck, but he didn't care. Seth's mind had finally clung to that elusive cockroach thought, dragging it out into the open. Finally, it all clicked into place.

DOOOONNGGGG

The Dwarf frowned in confusion as the sound of metal clanging against metal echoed out, his axe stopping mid swing just before it could carve through the little rats neck. He tilted his head, looking past the blade to see what had stopped it, only to find a set of slender, pale fingers wrapped around the blades edge.

A single, scrawny hand had stopped the colossal executioners blade. Blood coated the palm of the hand that had caught it, but it was not blood from a cut. The palm was perfectly fine, all expect for a single droplet of crimson blood in the middle.

A metallic sheen bled from the axe, as if it's blade was liquifying, and spread over the scrawny hand. First the fingers, then the rest of the hand and even down the arm, until it stopped just between the elbow and the bicep.

An entirely metallic arm now held the axe at bay, as Seth chuckled softly.

"You know... You almost had me there. Honestly, you really did. But I must be some special kind of idiot not to realise... what utter bullshit this is."

The arm let go of the axe, pulling back as the fingers curled into a gleaming fist, before slamming into the Dwarf's body. He gasped out in pain, blood spraying from his mouth, as he shot across the endless Abyss like a rocket.

But before he could get too far, his body jerked to a sudden stop in the air, as if by magic, before being slammed down into the invisible ground.

"But you must be a bigger idiot than me, because your attention to detail is just awful. I mean a hand? Red blood? It might have worked for others, but I really should have known those don't apply to me.

I have to commend you for the video though. It was a good touch. Threw me off just enough to keep your sloppiness out of my mind, but even that is a pile of shit.

There are three people in that room, and two of them I definitely couldn't kill with my barehands. I'd be dead before I could even get one of them, never mind both. But you needed me to surrender, didn't you?

To give up my mind. My soul."

Seth hovered in the air, his metallic arm extended outwards, fingers splayed, as if he was holding down the Dwarf with naught but the power of his mind. As he spoke, golden flames erupted in the air behind him, a twin set of orbs that danced through the air, leaving trails of golden flames behind them as they flew.

They swirled and twirled, performing a beautiful, mystifying dance. Yet as enchanting as the dance was, the Dwarf seemed unable to appreciate it. He stared up at Seth, as he hovered in the air, with a look of abject horror, his eyes reflecting the trail of fire that was being painted in the air.

"That's... That's not..."

"You recognise it, don't you? This symbol."

He desperately shook his head, before letting out a hellish scream as all of his limbs twisted. With a simple clench of Seth's hand, bones cracked and snapped, blood spraying outwards.

Seth narrowed his eyes as he looked down at this Dwarf like he was a mere bug beneath his boot, his iris' glowing and crackling with golden flames.

The trail of fire behind him formed a colossal, burning rune in the sky. The orbs that had traced it floated either side of Seth, swirling until they resembled his burning golden eyes, with black slits for pupils.

"Don't lie. You know what it means. Say it. Say what it means."

"It...it.. it... it m-m-m-m..."

Flexing his fingers once again, a ball of golden fire appeared in Seth's palm as he tired of the roaches muttering.

"It means God. Now Bow."

A column of flames roared from Seth's hand, engulfing the Dwarf as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.