Shaaa!!!
Campe roared, her vicious fangs glistening under the hellish glow of Tartarus.
'First gate. Second gate. Third gate.'
A surge of power, raw and electric, flooded Hades' veins as the first mental gate crumbled. His muscles tightened. The second gate fell, and the world around him seemed to slow, the frantic swipes of Campe's claws becoming easier to track. With the third gate, a sharp, metallic gleam ran down the length of his spear, and the leading edges of his wings honed themselves to a razor's edge. He could feel the air itself parting for him.
Campe swung her massive claws in a decapitating arc. Hades met the blow with his spear, the impact ringing through the cavern. Before he could reset, her colossal tail whipped toward him. He beat his wings hard, lifting himself just inches above the sweeping attack. She lunged, her jaws snapping shut on empty air as Hades flew backwards, evading the bite by a hair's breadth.
'Metal Surge.'
The ground trembled. Massive iron lances erupted from the stone floor, impaling Campe's serpentine lower body.
SHAAAA!!!
She screamed in agony, thrashing wildly. In a fit of rage, she smashed the lances to pieces with a single, powerful swipe of her tail and claws.
'Metal Manipulation.'
The shards of broken metal rose from the ground. They swirled together, forming a single, giant lance that hovered in the air for a split second before shooting toward her heart.
In response, Campe and every one of her serpentine hairs unleashed a thick, green poisonous gas. The cloud hit the metal lance, and it melted into nothingness within a second. But she didn't stop. She kept breathing, and an acrid smell filled the entire cavern with a corrosive, acidic fog.
Jasssshhh!
The poison ate away at the very structure of Tartarus. The ceiling dripped, the walls sizzled, and the floor dissolved beneath their feet.
Cough! Cough!
Hades doubled over, violently coughing. The skin on his arms blistered, and his magnificent wings began to fray and smoke at the edges. He wrapped himself in a shield of divine energy, but it wasn't enough; the poison seeped through.
'Fourth Gate.'
He forced another gate open. His body instantly adapted, his skin hardening and his internal systems neutralizing the toxin. He could breathe again.
Through the green haze, Campe camouflaged herself. But hiding was a useless tactic against the God of Secrets.
'Invisibility. Fifth Gate.'
Hades vanished from sight. The fifth gate sharpened his senses to a preternatural level. He could hear her heartbeat, smell her venom, and feel the displacement of air around her body. He beat his wings, gained height, and then dove, spear pointed forward for a killing blow.
Just as he was about to strike, Campe's head whipped around. She narrowed her eyes, sensing the air shift, and swung a claw blindly.
The blow connected mid-dive, smashing Hades out of the air and into the ground. The impact crater was deep. Her poisonous claws had torn through his armour and dug deep into his side. His body tried to regenerate, but her unique venom nullified his healing abilities.
Argh!
He grunted in pain, forcing himself to stand. Across the chamber, Campe took a deep, rattling breath, gathering energy. Her snake-hairs spat more venom into the gathering fire. She unleashed a torrent of enhanced green flame.
Hades responded, breathing a jet of brilliant blue hellfire. The two streams collided, but her empowered flame slowly, surely, overpowered his.
'Sixth Gate.'
The sixth gate unlocked, massively amplifying his magical power and control. The blue flame, once pushed back, now roared with renewed fury. It overwhelmed her green fire and washed over her, scorching her face and upper body.
SHAAA!
She roared in pain, clawing at her burned face. Seizing the opportunity, Hades conjured a small, swirling sphere of purple-pink energy.
'Dream Void.'
He hurled the sphere. It sped toward her, but at the last second, her primal instincts screamed a warning. She jerked her head aside, and the Dream Void missed, hitting the wall behind her and dissolving into nothingness.
"Tchh!" Hades clicked his tongue in frustration. 'What is she? She can sense pure intention itself.'
Enraged, Campe slammed her tail down. Hades took to the air, dodging the shockwave.
'Arcane Pulse! Netherflame Blitz!'
He unleashed a relentless barrage. Blasts of pure arcane energy hammered her scales, and bolts of black Netherflame stuck to her, burning until her scales shed to reveal new ones underneath. She ignored the assault, focused solely on swatting him from the sky with claws and blasts of fire, which he deftly avoided.
'Seventh Gate. Eighth Gate.'
As the final two gates unlocked, a cold, hyper-clarity washed over Hades' mind. The chaos of battle slowed to a crawl. His divine sight instantly analyzed everything, pinpointing the one faint, pulsing weakness beneath her emerald scales: her heart.
While maintaining his barrage to keep her distracted, he focused every ounce of his divinity into his spear. He imbued it with the absolute finality of Death and the cold touch of Mortality.
He saw his opening and dove.
Campe sensed the imminent, existential threat. She reacted instantly, reinforcing her skin with a dark green glow of divine and demonic energy. She swung her claws to intercept him in mid-air.
But she was a fraction too late. Hades had already thrown the spear.
It flew with impossible speed, striking her left chest. It pierced her enhanced defences, tore through skin, fat, and muscle, shattered a rib, and grazed the surface of her heart.
SHAAAAAA!!!
She unleashed a world-ending scream of pain. Her tail whipped out, coiling around Hades and crushing him in its grip. With her own claws, she viciously tore open her chest and ripped the spear out. Dark red blood poured from the wound, and it did not heal; the divinity of Death prevented any regeneration.
While she was distracted by her grievous injury, Hades, trapped in her coils, prepared his final spell. His hand glowed with a sinister purple hue.
'Gleam of Nightmare.'
He pressed his glowing hand against her tail. The purple energy traveled up her scales, snaked along her body, and finally shot into her eyes, pulling her mind into an illusion of her deepest, most primal fear.