Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 236: CCXXXVI. Blood And Sand

Immediately, one of the two dark arms seized the enemy's weapon and pulled it forcefully backwards, disarming him.

Soon after his opponent fell to the ground, Dag quickly retreated, recoiling his weapons and grabbing Oyvind's, who looked at him in disbelief.

"Just stop playing! Take me back and free Freydis, otherwise, I'll kill you and everyone else that gets in my way!" yelled Dag, sticking the handle of the double-headed axe into the sand, pretending to be ready to activate the teleportation.

"Do you think you can use it? Hahaha! You're just a fool. No one can activate the power of my axe beyond me!" yelled Oyvind, charging at him and pulling two sharp daggers with curved blades from the back of his belt.

Dag left the handle of the axe and immediately pulled out the axe and hammer, ready to defend himself. 

Oyvind jumped towards him, trying to kick him, and when he dodged the blow, with a twist of the torso, the enemy attempted a dagger lunge, which scratched Dag's arm, who emitted a groan.

Landing on his feet, the Horns Of Heimdallr's Master Of Offense snapped forward again, pointing both blades at his opponent's chest.

Dag placed the Giantbane blade in front of him and in an incredibly rapid movement, he once again managed to parry the blow, but Oyvind's two blades surrounded themselves with the same yellow aura as before.

"His fighting style has now changed completely... I don't know how he can fight with both a heavy axe and two daggers, the positions and timing are diametrically opposed... he's an incredibly versatile warrior!" Dag thought, who didn't have time to assess his opponent's weaknesses after he changed the way he attacked, going from a heavy weapon to two light weapons.

With a frequency of about three strokes per second, Oyvind continued to hit Dag, who retreated, sank his foot at a point where the sand was even softer, due to an underlying void and stumbled.

Taking advantage of the moment, the enemy managed to hit him on the side, right at the rib, and he felt excruciating pain, followed by a groan.

The liquid behind his shoulders, after the dagger blade entered Dag's body stiffened, sharing his pain and immediately tried to grab Oyvind's throat, which shoved the other dagger into the other rib, piercing it.

Dag stretched his eyes and looked toward his wounds, while much blood came out of his mouth ajar, out of control.

Then he looked up again at his opponent, who always with the same mocking smile continued to sink his blades, rotating them slightly and inflicting even more damage.

"Hahahah! What's it like, kid? What's the defeat like? Can you feel it? You felt invincible, didn't you?!" yelled Oyvind, despite his face being inches from Dag's, who couldn't move, and began to stagger, standing on his feet through the two blades stuck in his body.

Oyvind pulled out both of the daggers and kicked him in the chest, causing him to end up on the ground, back on the sand, which was covered in thick blood, whose red shone under the Sun's rays, clustering and infiltrating under the brown grains.

With a considerable effort, he tried to get up, resting one hand on the ground, then the other, but the enemy hit him again with a kick, but this time under the chin, knocking him down.

"Before you die, boy... tell me, how did you get these strange powers? This material that comes out of your body... how do you control it? And above all... what the fuck is that?" asked Oyvind, who after spinning the two daggers, shrugging off the blood on their blades, headed for the axe, pulled it out of the ground and rested near Dag.

"I... I don't know... I... I..." answered him, who was slowly losing consciousness, when the enemy's hand slapped his face.

"Hey, hey! Don't think you can die here alone like a loser! no, I need everyone to see who killed the young and talented Hammers Of Thor Master, Dag the earthling! Hahaha!" chuckled Oyvind, as Dag's eyes closed completely and his breath became weaker and weaker, as his hands lost their grip on the two weapons, which remained resting on the sand.

...

"SoHvaD pagh Hegh, Dag. ya mIq mIw vay'..." 

*tum-tum*tum-tum*

The sound of his heartbeats echoed around those words of the ancient Xis language.

When Dag opened his eyes, in front of him, there was nothing but darkness.

Right, left, below, above: wherever he looked, there was nothing else besides black.

"SoHvaD pagh Hegh, Dag!" the voice continued, coming simultaneously from each side.

"Why me?! I never wanted these powers, why I'm so different?! Who's talking?!" yelled Dag until he lost his voice.

"tu'lu' tIq mIw vay'" continued the voice, which unlike Hjalmar's when he turned into a demon, was not baritone and deep, but seemed much more common, hoarse, human.

"I don't understand what you're saying! I'm dying! I'm dying for these stupid powers, which do nothing but cause me trouble and endanger the people I love! Please, whoever you are... If you're inside me, help me save Freydis! I love her! I love her more than my own life!" he continued to scream, turning on himself and looking around, fearing that he was now one step away from the afterlife, as the beatings of his heart became more and more weakened.

*tum-tum*.......*tum-tum*

The alien voice did not respond to his scream of despair, and total silence fell into that endless, wall-less dark room, far from space and time.

"Naaaagh! I can't leave her there! I can't leave them all! I made a promise! Freydiiiiiis! Griiiid!" continued Dag, screaming loudly and kneeling on the ground, violently slamming his fists against the floor that appeared to be made of glass.

"I can't die! I can't! Not now! Bring me back!" 

One punch after another, the floor began to crack and Dag's knuckles bleed, until the cracks spread sideways and vertically, shattering it.