Halsey (l) v Legion (w) [ref:Joe]

 The black inferno engulfed her and Legion could only stare on behind the shattered fragments of his broken mask. Chips fell away from what parts remained and slowly revealed the eyes of a possessed man. Legion could feel his mind and will bending to that of Hades', yet still he continued to siphon from the being as old as time. Part of him wished the flames would purify her, steal away the thread of life that she so desperately held onto.

But it was for naught as she rose from the flames like a phoenix reborn from the ashes. Her eyes peered out from the darkness that shrouded her and a hallow gulp called for her rejuvenation as her aura roared with the breathe of life once more. "Tsk," Legion's tongue clicked against his teeth as his expression soured. 

How much longer did he have to continue this bout? Was even Hades' power not enough to free her from her petty existence? Legion had put every ounce of his strength into the two techniques and still he seemed to have not harmed the elder. Was this a sign of his weakness or a testament of her durability? Legion could only wallow in his own doubts for the moment while she flaunted her rejuvenative abilities. 

"Had enough?" Legion taunted with a double voice, one much deeper than his own echoing off in waves behind each word. "No?"  He muttered baffled by her wick grin that had broke through her once calm façade.  Her hand then slowly wrapped itself around the hilt of her blade now shrouded in void. Fingers dancing in an almost rhymical fashion as they cinched themselves around the hilt for an extra grip. Her arms bend and so did her knees as she steeled herself for her assault.

"Perfect," The excitement of Hades could not be suppressed as he masked Legion's free with his own emerging will. Then, she charged, dead ahead like a boar charging after its prey. That's when it happened, for the second time since he had met her, the blue lines. As if telling him tales of the future and events bound to happen. He could see them everywhere, slowly tugging away at his chest, neck, back, and arms. One after the other falling closer to him. His eyes began to rapidly trace the lines, inspecting and observing each one with a hyperawareness he had never experienced before. Was this the power of Hades? Slowly he began to understand, it wasn't the future but understand. 

It was experience paired with raw skill, it was simply instinct. Hades' instinct to be exact, he was adjusting to the battle, interrupting it as it happened, analyzing every detail of his opponent in order to survive. A predictive ability based of a hyperawareness only awarded by millions of battle or bestowed down upon the gods. Regretfully this meant that Hades had saved Legion's life countless of times before, influencing his actions with the tales of futuristic possibilities. Rather he would have liked to admit it or not, he was indebted to the King of Hell. 

Fully trusting the demonic lord he threw his body to the side, narrowly escaping the initial lunge of his opponent. Finally he rotated slightly, like a boxer weaving inside the guard of their larger enemy. As his shoulders rolled and his back slanted he could feel the blade kiss the hairs on his neck, feel the blade trimming the hairs that lingered in the position he once was. As he finished the movement he could feel Hades smiling, feel the sly sinister grin that will was filled with joy because Legion finally understood what the "blue lines" were and meant. 

Manipulating his ki once more he spun the webbing of strings unlike anything he had done before. They thickened and whipped nearly uncontrollably before threatening Halsey and her movements. It was without question that Halsey hated this technique based off her reactions before. But more importantly, Legion found himself relying on the ability to lock her out of the battle and force her to struggle with her plans to overwhelm him. In his own way it was a fighting style only he could pull off. In fact, the ability to lock down his opponents was developed purely to suppress and subdue Hades if it every came down to it. With a twist of his hands the strings suddenly sprung like a fly trap and attempted to reach out for Halsey arms. 

Then the laughter started. A deep and booming laugh that echoed into his mind. Hades had figured it out, if not known the entire time, Legion's plan to subdue him in the future. With this knowledge Hades would be able to prepare for it- not the ideal situation but that would be for later. With the laughter echoing his hands lifted to his head and his fingers began to dig into his temples in order to relieve the pain. 

His chuckle began to burn and resonate with Legion's own thoughts driving him deeper into madness and causing him to slap his hands against the ground in his outburst. With a roar filled with pain and agony, spit dripping from his lips as he screamed, he released all his emotions. The ground splintered like wood and fractured like glass before flames began to spew as if they were rising from the depths of hell. Tinged with the faintest hints of blue and white they began to rain down from the heavens after bursting into the sky like a geyser. His arms swayed and wave as he controlled them like a conductor to a masterpiece. Bending to his will the fire soon found itself closing in on the woman. 

Wasting little time he charged, obsidian spear twirling in his hand after plucking it from the ground once more. Then, with a flourish, he spun once more to gain momentum and strike with the butt of his spear. Spinning once more he then took the hilt firmly in his palms and threw his body into one last swing, extending his slash by holding the end of the hilt like a baseball bat. His fighting style had changed, it was more wild and unrefined and now he had slowly begun to fall to Hades' will. How much longer would he be able to hold on?  

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