William leaped backwards as a deep wound was carved in his chest, but paid the burning pain no mind as the wound recovered almost as quickly as he had received it.
The Flaxan king's eyes narrowed as he observed this phenomenon up close, but his thoughts were interrupted when the same injured individual leaped towards him like some kind of wild beast.
With a greatsword in each arm, he swung downward, forcing the Flaxan king to slide backward when the swords collided.
CRACK!
The blades in William's hands formed small cracks along the length of the blade, but the enraged warrior chose to ignore this.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Three more ferocious clashes sent superheated sparks flying in all directions before William was kicked backwards with an armored foot.
William uses the heavy swords in his hands to correct his position, but is unable to stop his backward momentum completely.
As he flew backward, he spun in place, pointed one of the great swords down, and allowed it to fall to the ground.
CTCHHHHHH!
A deep trench formed in his wake as he used the asphalt-covered ground itself to stop his backward movement, and as if on cue, the blade finally crumbled into chunks of metal.
With a single sword in his hands, William snarled at the Flaxan king, who was walking towards him with a menacing smile.
He raised his sword into the air, and suddenly, a pressure descended on the entire battlefield, causing the hair on people's necks to stand up and weaker people to fall to their knees.
The Flaxan king's sword suddenly emanated a blood-red light, and in the air, the king, dozens of blood-red translucent blades formed and pointed menacingly towards William.
"HEHEHEHEHE DIE FOR YOUR NEW KING!" He roars, and as if on cue, the blades pointing at William all suddenly surge forward with frightening speed.
RUMBLE!
The sound of thunder roared on the battlefield, and suddenly, William found himself in a different position with a look of confusion.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Before he could truly come to terms with his new position, the blades that were formerly streaming towards him like murderous missiles crashed into the ground and struck with the force of a cruise missile.
William's glowing eyes flared with predatory intent as he suddenly put his entire strength into his legs.
CRACK!
Cracks formed along the rooftop he was on, spreading throughout half the structure.
RUMBLE!
William leaped into the air with such force that the building collapsed onto itself.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
In his feral state, William was no longer holding back his speed, and as he flew towards the still-unaware king, the sound of air braking three times echoed out, but before the sound waves could even reach the king.
SHING!
The king's eyes went wide, and a searing pain was felt in his left arm. He looked over only to notice his whole arm was missing and spraying out a massive jet of blood.
"N... Not Possible!" He said, the pain having not quite registered in his brain yet.
William stood on a few feet on the side of the Flaxan king as he watched the sword in his hand practically disintegrate in his hands.
He stood there for a second, seemingly unsure of what to do, when a scream suddenly echoed out from behind him.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The Flaxan king fell to the ground and held the stump that had stopped bleeding due to his suit's medical functions sealing off the wound, his eyes grew bloodshot, and his breathing grew ragged as for the first time in his kingly life, he was truly feeling fear.
William turns his head towards the Flaxan king, who seemingly sensing his stare, fell backward while holding his sword forward, as if William's very stare was sharp as a blade.
The feral look on his face morphed into a demonic grin, and a semblance of sanity returned to his glowing eyes, as his pupils became visible through the orange flames.
He raised his hands into the air in front of him, causing the king to crawl backward, a group of ten golden juggernauts commanding around thirty remaining regular bronze juggernauts, all surrounding their king with their weapons pointed towards the strange human.
"More... GIVE ME MORE!" He let out a demonic roar that seemed to echo through the whole of the battlefield, garnering him attention from the defenders and the hordes continuing to flow in from the portals.
War Woman and Immortal stood back-to-back, exhaustion clear in their features and blood caking their whole bodies, suddenly heard a yell and watched with wide eyes as the enemies surrounding them all rushed towards the source as if they were under some kind of command or spell.
"Is this real?" War Woman thought as she fell to the ground, panting like she had never taken a breath before.
"This feels... familiar!" Immortal thought as he watched the hordes surround William, the young hero who had proven himself beyond all measure at this point.
Around William Flaxan soldiers, juggernauts (both Bronze, Golden, and the still living Black) formed an ever-tightening circle around the young hero who continued to hold his hands in the air.
Immortal wanted to help, but the next thing he saw caused his eyes to go wide with awe and terror in equal measure.
Suddenly, the blood caking his entire body began to move as if under his command, dancing through the deep crevices between William's muscles, the blood pooled on his hands and in its liquid state formed into the shape of a clawed gauntlet before, with a sound of hissing, the blood began to rapidly harden, and a red cloud formed over his hands.
When the clouds disappeared, slowly revealing the clawed gauntlet, onlookers from both Earth and the Flaxan home world watched with bated breath as a sleek, black, and dark red gauntlet with claws like reversed-bladed sabres, the material hardened into metal plates that protected his wrist and dorsum, and blood red chain links interweaved between.
William squeezed his hands and watched as the claws in each finger retracted so as not to harm himself, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face before he suddenly noticed that he was surrounded by an ever-increasing horde of equally angry and terrified Flaxan troops, and the orange flames in his eyes intensified as if relishing the challenge, or perhaps the carnage to come.
From nearby, a news helicopter was hovering just outside the battlefield, and inside, a news reporter was speaking into her microphone to viewers all over the world live.
"What we are experiencing here has been nothing short of spectacular and nothing less than terrifying. The hordes of invaders are seemingly endless, and our defenders, although naturally putting their all into it, are still being overwhelmed.
The camera panned from Rex who had been getting his ass kicked to Immortal and War Woman's final back-to-back stand against their foes.
People in their homes were on the edge of their seats with worry, were they going to be enslaved as a species to fuel some alien monarchy? Would they even live to see it? These were questions running through the heads of billions of viewers, both foreign and domestic.
It was then that a yell echoed through the battlefield and caused a feedback effect in their equipment temporarily.
"MORE... GIVE ME MORE!"
The camera panned over to a young, newly emerged hero who goes by Everlast who they had to blur due to his nude state, but they left his head, chest and arms uncensored, revealing an extremely toned and muscular body, with muscles that seemed more like steel wires beneath his skin which appeared soft and somehow rugged at the same time which left a lot of female viewers blushing.
Most eye-catching of all, though, were the burning orange flames that danced within his eyes; these eyes carried an alien and dangerous appearance that sent shivers down the spines of some and caused the hairs to stand up on others.
One of these viewers was the Pope for the Vatican, surrounded by cardinals, each one with a stern and hardened expression on their faces as they watched what was going on in Chicago.
The pope paused the video using TiVo, stopping the image on William's face, the flames in his eyes somehow seeming to still slowly shimmer despite the video's paused state.
The Pope leaned back and folded his fingers together as he began to think deeply, the holy aura around him seemingly intensifying.
Suddenly, he speaks, "Give the call, the Anti-Christ is among us!"
The cardinals surrounding him all stared with their mouths agape, looking at the Pope as if they had heard something crazy, but when he slams his hand into the desk, they snap to attention and begin making calls to several different organizations under the heel of the church.
On the screen, William suddenly disappeared only to reappear in front of one of the remaining black juggernauts with his hand in its chest, elbow deep.
SHNK!
He pulled hard, and his deadly clawed hand pulled out a misshapen heart that beat a few more times before it stopped.
SQUELCH!
He squeezed his hand into a fist, crushing the heart in front of the juggernaut and the rest of the invading army and spraying blood in all directions.
The juggernaut fell lifelessly with a gaping hole in his chest before the army surrounding William all rushed towards him, looking to swarm him to prevent him from any further slaughter of their brethren.
FLASH!
He disappears from his position just as a golden juggernaut attempts to grab him, only for its arm to fall off at the elbow.
Before the juggernaut could cry out in pain, however, his vision suddenly flips, and the last thing he sees is his headless body spraying out blood like the Bellagio fountains.
William dove headlong into the oncoming horde of Flaxan troops with his claws extended, and soon the viewers on the live broadcast were witnesses to the true definition of slaughter.
SLK!
He slashed horizontally in a full circle, cutting nearby Flaxans in half and freeing himself some room before he began flying through the horde.
SLASH!
With a single slash of his claws, a group of Flaxan soldiers would collapse into a bleeding heap of flesh.
BOOM!
He charged headlong into a juggernaut's chest and drilled straight through to the other side, causing blood, guts, and other bloody bits and bobs to splash out in William's wake.
The Flaxan king's fear only grew more profound as he watched this strange human carve through his men like butter, and even as he was stabbed, impaled, or blasted, he continued unabated as though driven by some primal urge to kill.
Using the ancestral sword in his remaining hand to push himself up, he was about to turn around to leave through the portal when his instincts suddenly screamed at him, and listening to his instincts, he dodged to the right, risking pain in his missing arm in order to avoid an otherwise deadly blow.
A thick red blade seemingly made of Williams' blood slashed past where the king was previously standing before an unaware Flaxan troop who happened to be in front of him was suddenly rendered into a fine mist by the blade that continued to carve its way through his soldiers, only stopping as it entered the portal itself.
On the other side of the portal, the scientists in control of the portal noticed a strange energy reading and were in the middle of examining the results from the machine when a red blade shot out of the portal and slammed into the control panel.
SLASH!
A scientist watched in horror as the strange red blade cleaved their machinery in two, along with several Flaxan scientists and engineers who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
BZZZT!
The machinery flickered and began sputtering, and at the same time, the main portal began to slowly close, causing the remaining scientists and engineers to scramble in an effort to slow the process and at the same time alert their king of the predicament.
Back on Earth, the heroes, GDA, and every civilian tuned into any given news network were watching a rain of blood fall in Chicago over the battlefield as, with every swipe of his clawed hands, several Flaxan lives were taken as if the grim reaper himself waved his scythe towards them.
As he continued to carve his way through the remaining army, the Flaxan king suddenly got an emergency message, and his eyes went wide.
Looking back, he noticed the distinct lack of incoming troops from the portal, and even more terrifying was the fact that the portal was slowly closing along with every other portal.
"R... RETREAT!" That was all the Flaxan king could scream out as he scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash to the large portal.
He dashed through his men, carving a small bloody path through the ocean of troops.
The army scrambled behind their king while making sure to guard him from the demonic human who was currently disemboweling a black juggernaut who struggled madly, landing punch after punch that no longer seemed to affect William at all, like a toddler hitting a brick wall.
William noticed the king's massive form retreating towards the portal, which still had quite a distance to go before reaching.
A demonic grin, which was frighteningly wide, appeared on his face as he flew up into the air, still holding the corpse of the black juggernaut with his arm through his abdomen.
He cocked back his arm holding the juggernaut and his densely packed muscles engorged to the maximum and thick veins became exposed under the skin as they pulsed to his heartbeat.
WHOOOSH!
He threw the massive black juggernaut's corpse in a straight line towards the Flaxan king's retreating figure, and before the monarch could react to the sound of air braking, he was suddenly hit directly with the black juggernaut's corpse, which sent him sprawling forward.
CTCHHH!
His armor sent sparks flying as he slid to a stop, and he looked up to see William, looking down at him from above with his strange glowing eyes.
It felt like looking into the heart of hell to the Flaxan king, who only remained standing because his suit had a stabilizing function that helped him retain his footing in normal situations.
Suddenly, William dove like a falcon about to punch its prey to death, and the Flaxan king began to retreat in a panic, turning the men in front of him into meat paste as he crashed his way in the direction of the portal.
SPLAT!
CRUNCH!
The sound of bodies being pancaked echoed out around the king as he made his way.
"Just a little more, just a little!" He thought as he was nearing the portal.
Suddenly, his instincts screamed at him, but to dodge now would prevent his escape, putting him in a dilemma.
Feeling like he had no other choice, he began focusing on the majestic blade in his remaining arm, the blade that had run through his family for a thousand years, and suddenly, the blade began to thrum with violent and chaotic, blood-like energy and suddenly he could hear the screams of millions of tortured souls being as they were turned into energy.
"If I have to burn every soul in this blade to survive, I will do so!" He thought as he raised the now glowing sword and turned around to meet his foe.
William approached with such speed that a vapor cone formed in triplicate behind him, and as he neared his target, he felt the pressure emanating from the blade as it was raised.
"Hmph!" He snorted before once more speeding up and nearly turning into a blur that only Santana, who was blasting a group of Flaxans with her lightning, could see properly.
The king swung his blade towards William, who swung his clawed hand towards the king.
SLASH!
The Flaxan king's sword, with its superior range, struck first and cut William's shoulder and nearly cleaved him in half, but remained stuck fast in his rib cage.
HYAK!
William spat out a mouthful of blood as the blade had destroyed his lungs on the left side, but the demonic smile never left his face, and before the Flaxan king could react, William's remaining hand reached out and grabbed the king's throat and began pushing him through the army towards the portal, forming a river of blood and gore through the streets made of mostly Flaxan invaders.
During this process, the strange sword had come dislodged from William's shoulder, and he had healed, allowing him to reach out and slash at the arm holding the sword.
SHNK!
The majestic blade sunk into the Earth and William was about to step through the portal holding the neck of their crippled king when the portal suddenly snapped shut taking the Flaxan king and his arm with it.
"AAAGGGG!"
The sudden and unexpected pain caused William to yell out in pain as his blood sprayed forth onto the Earth.
Surrounding him were the remaining Flaxan invaders who had been stranded here; each one had a dark look on their faces as they looked at the person responsible for them being stuck here and unable to return.
As William's arm healed back to normal, he spoke in a crackling, demonic voice.
"Oh... Suddenly, you all have the balls, interesting!"
William grasped the hilt of the strange but majestic sword that had stopped glowing when it left the Flaxan king's hand and looked up with a demonic blaze in his eyes that caused the Flaxan soldiers and juggernauts to retreat a step.
One of the last two remaining black juggernauts was the first to charge forward, followed by the rest of the abandoned army.
Swinging the blade with killing intent fully displayed on his face, he cut and slashed through the armored plate on the chest of the black juggernaut, the transfer of force, however, sent the juggernaut shooting backwards and killed dozens of the smaller Flaxan on the field.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" William cackled madly as they struck and blasted him to no avail, the blades no longer cut through his flesh, and the beams no longer burned.
SHNG!
He swung the blade with reckless abandon as he was not one trained with a sword, but the results spoke for themselves, enemy Flaxan invaders fell like wheat before a scythe, and pretty soon the crowd around William turned into a mere few.
People all over the world have never seen such raw brutality, and while most were singing his praises and hoping to raise Everlast as the next Omni-Man, others were terrified beyond measure and for good reason, as the man on the screen seemed to revel in the slaughter, and this was never a good sign.
RUMBLE!
The ground shook as William stomped his foot into the abdomen of the last remaining black juggernaut, and the creature gurgled on the ground, only for William to appear above him and swing downward with his sword.
The remaining Flaxans scattered in all directions, choosing to allow themselves to age out of existence rather than face William's new blade as they heard rumors that the blade not only absorbed blood but also the souls of those it kills.
Teen Team and the Guardians walked towards William with caution, the feeling of danger flowing off of him like a bloody aura, but when he noticed them arrive, the aura disappeared as if it was never present.
"Oh, hey guys!"