Sorry for the long delay, I took a short break from writing. I am back now! Woo. Here you go.

Silence filled the arena, no one even dared to breathe.

Erebus hand raised to his now healed nose, touching the blood that remained. The shocked expression on his face slowly morphed into one of glee. “You made me bleed!” he cried out cheerfully. His crimson eye glimmered and shimmered with a twisted sense of happiness. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve last bled?” He wiped the blood from his face, smiling a little. “Ah... You weren’t disappointments.”

Belial took a step backward, a terrible dread entering his body.

“You’ve made me happy...” Erebus muttered, staring at his blood-crusted hand. He looked up, his eye sharpening. “But you’ve also pissed me off. Don’t be angry if I accidentally kill you, ‘kay?”

Belial glanced at Satan, his friend has lost all color in his face. He looked horrified.

A portion of Erebus’ hidden aura peaked out, it exerted immense force and pressure. It wasn’t to the degree of what Lucifer had been faced with, but it was still enough to be afraid of. It felt as if, in that moment, that Erebus was the center of the world.

“This isn’t good,” Satan said. “Ah... We messed up, we really messed up.”

No one dared to move. They all stared at the solitary figure of Erebus. He stood with his back ramrod straight, a vicious gleam in his crimson eye.

“Why aren’t you attacking?” Erebus questioned them, tilting his head every so slightly at the lull in the battle. “Are you afraid?” he taunted, his voice soft.

Satan laughed awkwardly. “Well... This is a new situation for us, apologizes.”

“Eh! Is that so?” Erebus didn’t sound like he cared all too much. “But you know, I’m just starting to have some real fun. I can’t let you guys off easy, you drew blood.”

“I’d prefer if you did, though,” Satan sighed the words. “I’ll go all out, you know? If I go all out it won’t be good!”

Erebus laughed cheerfully though there was a dark undertone to it. “That’s why... I’ll use my magic, too.”

“Pass,” Satan said instantly. He still valued his life, you know? There was a lot to live for. He was only a few thousand years old! He still had a long life ahead of him! He knew when to pick and choose his battles, and this was not one of them! Perhaps it made him a coward, but he didn’t care. Being labeled as a weakling was better than dying like an idiot.

“Not an option.” Erebus pointed a finger at Satan, the Prince leaped back quickly just as a black sphere morphed into existence, sucking everything within its range towards it. Silently, it devoured a small portion of the arena’s floor. “Eh? Why’d you dodge?”

No one responded to his question, they all stared at him with a hint of fear in their eyes. This was the most appalling to two of the four Princes who had never felt such an acute sense of terror.

The one who finally stepped up was Lucifer, determination cut into the angles of his face. “Erebus, are you going to stop playing around with us now?” Lucifer asked this, he still felt odd because he was normally the one doing the toying.

Erebus considered the words, rolling them around in his mind. “Maybe?” he said, scratching his cheek. “But this battle isn’t over. I’m having fun, I already said this.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Lucifer responded. “We’ll fight you properly, too. Don’t be mad if we accidentally killed me.”

The dragon laughed boisterously at this. “You? Kill me? Seriously, don’t kid yourself. I applaud the ballsiness of that statement, though,” he said, chuckles still racking his body. “I’ve given you guys a handicap already, anyway. I won’t use my real body, so maybe you do have a chance of inflicting some more damage than a broken nose to me. Don’t get me wrong, being able to break anything on my body is good enough. You’re truly worthy of your titles. But I’m done wasting time.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Lucifer responded, rolling his shoulders back.

“Break’s over,” Erebus said, appearing in front of Lucifer and wrapping his hand tightly around the demon’s neck. “Let’s get back to it, yeah?” He threw Lucifer’s body like he was tossing aside a doll.

The demon’s body slammed into the force field that had been erected, large cracks forming and causing the field to become visible to the naked eye. Lucifer’s body peeled off of the shield, falling to the ground, limp.

“A-a-a-a-a-a-a-ama-zing!” Tear shrieked, her voice resounding throughout. “Lord Erebus is truly splendid! Magnificent, awesome, great, immeasurable power!” She cried out once more. “I wish that he would throw me around like that, too! Lord Erebus, can I put in a request?”

The response came quickly, “Shut up.”

“Yes! This servant will shut her mouth now!”

Erebus sighed, his eyes lazily drifting over to Leviathan and Satan who were both panting heavily. “Honestly,” he muttered, “I don’t even have to use my magic. Why are they already so exhausted?”

He didn’t seem to remember the minutes before where they had been fighting him tirelessly. And they were beginning to lose the motivation to fight.

What was the point anymore? The three one who had retained their consciousness all wondered the same thing.

Erebus narrowed his eye at them, clenching his fists tightly. They were becoming boring now.

Whenever one of them tried to attack him with a spell, he easily brushed it aside and incurred nearly no damage still.

Erebus sighed, swinging his leg and kicking Satan squarely in the stomach but before the demon could be sent flying he grabbed onto Erebus’ leg tightly. Erebus could break out of Satan’s hold if he applied a little more strength, but he decided not to because he wanted to know what they were planning.

Leviathan didn’t move from his spot, either, he was anchored in one place. This caused Erebus to scowl, he began to dig his heel into Satan’s stomach.

Satan’s expression contorted but he still didn’t release Erebus.

“Hmm...” The dragon considered his options, they were taking too long... Should he just take care of them now? It was better before when they actually had hope.

Before Erebus could make his decision, Belial’s fist swung into his face. His head shifted slightly in the opposite direction, hardly moving at all. This only served to further dwindle their hopes about winning.

Belial quickly withdrew before Erebus could fight back. It was seriously impossible, he was starting to doubt that he had broken Erebus’ nose in the first place--maybe it was just an illusion and the blood wasn’t real.

“Come on now,” Erebus said. He pushed his other foot off the ground, swinging it up in an arc to kick Satan squarely in the chin; Satan’s head snapped back and his grip on Erebus’ leg was released, allowing Erebus to easily slip out.

While Satan was still staggering and was dizzy from having his brain jolted, Erebus somersaulted and launched himself, wrapping his legs around Satan then used the momentum, swinging the demon’s head into the ground.

As Erebus rolled to his feet and activated his magic, a large vortex with a great gravitational pull that began to drag everything towards it. The area began to distort, Erebus’ magic almost seemed to be devouring reality itself.

“That’s enough!” a voice boomed throughout, shaking the entire foundation of the coliseum.

Everyone’s head turned to the three who had entered, confusion on each of their faces. Satan pushed himself off of the ground, blood spilling from a large gash on his forehead. He flipped over, his eyes beholding three people who exerted a pressure similar to Erebus’.

Massath, Frize, and Azure had entered the stage. Frize was looking especially annoyed while the other two still managed to remain impassive and unconcerned about the entire situation.

“Eh? Frize?” Erebus’ magic deactivated and then his hand raised to his head to scratch it nonchalantly. He had been so preoccupied he hadn’t felt their presences. “What are you three doing here?”

Frize’s face twitched. “I could say the same to you.” His cold eyes surveyed the surroundings, resting on Lucifer’s unconscious body before moving onto the battered bodies of the other three Princes. “What are you doing here?”

Erebus clicked his tongue in irritation. “What do you want?” he asked, the previous innocence in his voice completely evaporated. “It’s not like I’m breaking any rules. It’s just a spar.”

“Then what was that just now?” Azure asked, smirking at her friend. “If I recall correctly... that spell was--”

“Ah! All right, all right!” Erebus cried out, dragging his hands through his hair in exasperation. “Everyone, leave! Hurry up or I’ll kill you.” The last part was not a lie.

With an amount speed that a crowd counting in the hundreds shouldn’t have had, within minutes; everyone was cleared out. The Four Princes hobbled out, giving the three dragons that stood there a wide distance as they left.

“So?” Erebus pressed the three, his eye narrowing. “What reasons did you have for ruining my entertainment? I was about to do something interesting before you interrupted.”

Azure’s hands played with her long hair. “Hmm? Were you in the middle of something?” she said dryly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Sorry, Erebus,” Massath apologized for the other two who were not at all apologetic. “It looked like you were beginning to have fun... But,” he stopped speaking, deciding to leave off there. He glanced at Frize, expecting the eldest dragon there to finish what he had brought up.

Frize crossed his arms and heaved out a sigh. “There are some issues that we need you to deal with... More specifically, that Ayirn’s pet is going wild. Again. Unsurprisingly enough. Right now, Ayirn is dealing her but--”

“She’s awake?” Erebus cut off Frize. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Frize snorted, looking at Erebus crossly. “Like it’s my duty to deal with her.” He pulled out a mana stone with a crack running through it. “It’s broken, for good this time. Fix it or else Rolut will step in.”

“I’ll deal with it,” Erebus snapped. “It’s not my fault that Ayirn wants to keep that dangerous thing alive. If it was my choice, I’d kill her.” He tapped his foot impatiently. “This is so troublesome, Ayirn is lucky that I still owe her a few favors.”

“We know,” Azure drawled. “So let’s get going before she awakens completely,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder, “then it’ll really get bad. She’s already beginning to destabilize and Ayirn’s magic won’t be able to subdue her for long, which means that we need to hurry up.”

Erebus sighed, cracking his neck. “Fine, fine. Let’s go.”