Seems like nobody is responding, so I'll just go ahead and invite Morte to the scene.
I'll be posting in red text from now on. I think that everyone else should also do this, since it makes it easier to distinguish whose post it is. Just like in Gradual Massacre.
Reserved.
Nyxia stared, wide-eyed, at the gargantuan, roiling sphere of black and red floating in the sky. She was shaking, not from fear, but from a mixture of awe and another strange emotion she could not quite identify. Through the Aetheric pendant that linked her mind to Jonathan's, Nyxia could feel that Jonathan was changing, and she was somehow changing along with him.
"Nyxia... Are you all right?"Kain asked, a worried look on his face. "What's happening to Jonathan?" The Vampyre looked up toward the sphere of Darkness, still unable to believe the power emanating from it that seemed to surpass even the Archangel in his True Form.
"He is... being reborn," Nyxia swallowed. "When he comes out of there... he'll be different."
A deep, resonant roar erupted from the very core of the dark sphere. Just like before, the sound echoed in darkness and shadows, but this time the roar had a profound, innate power behind it that made even Emparael's eyes widen in anticipation. The Archangel could see something moving within the cocoon of dark energy, like a perfected butterfly about to emerge from its chrysalis.
The sphere of Darkness abruptly split apart, as though sliced in half by a sword from within. The black and red flames began to fade, while a vicious, sanguine blade emerged from the dissipating cloud of dark energy. The blade was attached to a tail, the tail of a great black dragon that was once Jonathan. After the tail, the wings appeared, all six of them and each one large enough to obscure the sky. When the three pairs of wings extended to their full spans, a thunderous roar came from not one, but three different sources. The smoke and shadows finally cleared, giving Emparael and the creatures below him a full view of the demonic beast that emerged from its dark chrysalis.
It was a dragon, but all similarities between this monster and Jonathan's previous form ended there. This new dragon was much less serpentine, its basic body structure resembling a lizard standing upright. Dark obsidian scales covered limbs that ripped with musculature, powerful limbs that seemed capable of tearing the life out of anything they touched. A black fire danced within every draconic scale, mercilessly devouring all hints of light that fell upon it until all was reduced to pitch blackness. The dragon had three pairs of wings, their full spans more than enough to block out the entire sky. A thick, powerful tail trailed behind the dragon's body, and a long, vicious-looking blade, resembling the Soul Eater, was attached to the end of the tail.
However, the most startling difference was the dragon's head. Or, to be more precise, head
s. The dragon had not one, but three heads. The heads on the left and right were identical to the one Jonathan had in his previous form, both of them having three eyes, two horns protruding backwards, and a blade-like horn pointing forward. The dragon head in the center was ten times more intimidating. A ring of horns decorated its head like an obsidian crown, and it had five Eyes of Darkness, one in the center and two on both sides. The three dragon heads simultaneously broke into crooked smiles, showing mouthfuls of razor-sharp, blood-drinking fangs. The dragon's eyes, eleven of them in total, fixed themselves on the glowing form of Emparael.
"...Ancient One," Emparael finally said after staring for half a minute. "I thought your kind was long extinct."
"
Even the Void was unable to eradicate our entire race," Jonathan's left dragon head replied. His voice, still sinister-sounding, was now cool, calm, and collected, showing none of the hatred and malice Bloodshadow displayed earlier. "
You now know my true nature and power. Are you still willing to let this duel continue, knowing that I am stronger than you even in your True Form?"
"The Archangel of War never backs down from a challenge," Emparael said with disdain. "Especially from a Darkness scum like you."
Jonathan sighed. "
Not all Darkness beings are wicked fiends," he said, with his right head this time. "
Your hatred toward us is as misguided as my anger toward you."
"What do
you know about me, Darkness filth?" Emparael snarled.
"
Only that your father, the former Guardian of Peace, was slain by an Obyrith," Jonathan's middle head said calmly. "
The atrocities committed by those abominations do not account for the nature of Darkness in general. In fact, we both know that the Obyriths, though Demonic in origin, were more Void than Darkness."
Emparael stared, eyes wide, at the colossal black dragon before him. He could sense no anger, no hatred, no malign intentions from the monster. It was as though all of Bloodshadow's hubris and antagonism simply evaporated after his transformation, turning him into what the Master of Darkness was meant to be, a powerful and benign being dedicated to maintaining peace and balance in the world.
"
I would stop this duel right now, if not for the fact that initially it was I who challenged you," Jonathan's three heads said in unison. "
I would advise that you yield, to avoid any and all unnecessary casualties in our forces. Remember, our true foe is Morte."
"Yes indeed. It would be utterly foolish of you to fight among yourselves, when my army already has you in its deadly grip."
Jonathan and Emparael both turned around, as did everyone else in the party. "
...Morte," Jonathan hissed.
So yeah... I was lazy and skipped the Jonathan-Emparael duel entirely. They didn't need to fight, after all. So I brought Morte along.
Oh, and Morte brought an army of Reapers and a dozen Tartarian Netherlords, the Death equivalent of Archangels. He is also riding atop a giant flying bone castle built from a hundred Dracoliches; the entire Necropolis is a moving fortress. Have fun
