Bathing In Corruption [Algos/Vanyel]

He was hardly surprised at Algos' ability to counteract his attack, using tendrils to devour and break down the knives that he had thrown. He hardly had anything in comparison to that -- aside from his strongest ability, something that he had no intentions of bringing out now and burning through all of his energy in the process.

Instead, he continued to stick with knives, brief blasts of lightning, protecting himself with his abilities, and attempting precise strikes with Corrosion Cloud. But, as he went to bring out more throwing knives, he stopped in his tracks as Algos laughed at him, only for him to get even more furious. She thought that was the reason why he was angry? Did she just forget the fact that she abused, drugged, and damn near mutilated his beloved with little to no remorse?

The man started grinding his teeth, but quickly covered his eyes at the sudden burst of power being summoned from the demonic princess, the crackle of the wind as the ground around them erupted in a flash of crimson energy, with Vanyel being knocked up into the air, sent flying and shattering a layer of his defenses. Manging to right himself in the air and land in a way to minimalize as much damage as he could, Vanyel slowly got to his feet, chuckling softly.

"You're an idiot. Do you really think that you fuckin' her is why I'm pissed?"

Tilting his head up and gathering energy into his legs, he kicked off the ground and launching himself toward Algos, readying Corrosion Cloud as it shifted its shape, Vanyel drawing Kuro Komo and the metaphysical construct coiling around the sword as he pointed it down and attempted to drive it right into Algos' chest. Regardless if she took the hit or moved out of the way, Vanyel would waste no time in returning to a neutral stance, pointing the weapon toward her, ready to counter and strike again.

"You hurt her. You abused her, drugged her, tortured her, forced her to watch as you toted your happy ass over to Minatumi to try and murder one of her closest friends just because of something YOU HAD NO FUCKING AUTHORITY OVER."

A groaning type of moan exited the mouth of the demoness as the male called out to her. Those memories were dulled, numbed, and forgotten to the Princess as she felt she had resolved that with the essence of Calypso's mind: Pseu. Sweet, Pseu. If Pseu could forgive her, everyone else's opinion was null on the subject matter. There were many foul things done to that woman, but Algos did desire to want to make it right in her own foul way.

Still -- she was a creature of sin.

When the likes of Vanyel went in to attack once more, Algos felt the blackened pain in her chest flare up as those awful things she did came back to her mind and fueled her assault to come. As, in a matter of mouths, she vomited a flood of shade energy drenched in Death's Essence. Provided he was willing to suffer through these acidic fluids drenching him, he would have his strike at her chest. Regardless of what happened, The Demoness would remain in place as her crimson eye never left his sight.

"And what do you want? An apology? I'm aware of what I did was foul. We've made up, forgiven each other and I just want Pseu to love me again."

That was the only thing burning in her mind at the moment. Her sister. What did he even know of their bond? He was an outsider. So, as she scoffed, the woman started to grow irritated as the whole area darkened with the stench of death itself over flooring it. The extract of her essence was bleeding black energy which filled the atmosphere with this overwhelming presence that sought to eradicate the air the male breathed and smother him in this contempt.

"What do you even know of my connection to her? You've only just known my sister, while Pseu and I go back many lifetimes. What the fuck do you even know? I love her. I love my sister so much it hurts."

Now with her biting her lip out of hate to the point of drawing blood, the woman started to see him -- as an enemy.

As Algos prepared to respond to his attack, Vanyel briefly relented in his attack, but quickly resolved himself and drove his augmented weapon forward without hesitation. But, as Algos upchucked the death-filled essence at him, splattering it and burning his clothes and skin, Vanyel gritted his teeth and bared with it, driving the weapon deep into her chest.

But, with his tolerance for such a powerful and damaging substance corroding away his will and body, Vanyel didn't have time to use Corrosion Cloud's influence to try and attack something of Algos' and slow it down. Instead, he used her as a springboard, kicking off her and pulling his sword out and landing on his feet, groaning for a bit, before collapsing to the ground and screaming in pain, having been unable to protect himself fully from the attack with his defenses.

Tossing his jacket off and scraping whatever he could of the acidic death-puke off of him, Vanyel was left with his gloves and the long-sleeved dress shirt and vest that he wore underneath -- a habit brought about from his time in the yakuza and the need for flashy clothes as a low-rank grunt. But, as Algos spoke, it only served to anger not only Vanyel, but the Phonoi -- the collective spirits of murder and killing, and Algos' brother.

Was that all she cared about? Pseudologoi's forgiveness? Did she even really care about Calypso? Was it like how Mana felt about Vanyel, only caring about the Phonoi that was locked up in him? Gritting his teeth, Vanyel picked up his sword from the ground, with Corrosion Cloud circling around the blade and reaffirming itself to the weapon again.

But, before he could move or speak, the skies began to darken as Vanyel started to struggle to breathe, his hands moving to hover over his throat as his weapon clattered to the ground as he felt the pressure of Algos' essence depriving him of air. The man collapsed to his knees, trying to get deep breaths in, only for it to get harder and harder.

Feeling around for his weapon, he slowly picked it up, holding the blade out toward Algos. It wasn't nearly as effective at this distance as it was when he was up close -- but she was still within twenty meters. So, tapping into the shapeshifting abilities of Corrosion Cloud, the blade shape on the end of the blade shot outward in the form of a long, blade-like needle toward Algos at Mach speeds, intending to strike her in the throat, to throw her off and hopefully get her to ease up on whatever it was that she was doing that was causing this.

With little to fight back against the obliteration of the air itself in the vicinity -- if this kept on, it was becoming more and more likely that Vanyel would die.

Algos just looked aimlessly at the blood dripping from her. There were no mortal wounds done to her, of course, but the emotion behind them reeked of suffering. Even in this state of depraved frenzy, she could sense that. So, her crimson eyes gazed at the male with a sense of hollowness behind them as the demoness sized up the situation. After taking a moment to inhale the scents of her own iron, the woman regenerated the wound in her chest and resolved to have one of her tendrils blocked the projectile needle from harming her neck; causing it to let out a shriek of pain as blood spewed out of it.

"I've used her up as much as you have used up your energy fighting a demi-god. If nothing else, at least you actually love her."

There was a sense of sorrow in her voice as the woman sighed; dulling the force that was corroding the male's essence. If nothing else, he would at least be able to breathe a bit easier; although there was still enough force to make moving a chore.

"Do either of us really know why we care for her? Are we both just ready to throw our lives away for that demon?"

At this point, the woman closed her eyes, sat on a piece of debris, and exhaled as her body was still ready to respond with the utmost of violence if attacked at this moment. The reflexes of a creature of this magnitude were not to be undervalued, but still...it was off.

"Tell me: what does actual love feel like, Vanyel? I wish to possess it, but I don't think I've ever truly felt it once in my life."

Everything that he threw at her, she just batted away as if he were just a common housefly. It was demotivating, to say the least -- with no further indication needed other than Vanyel's head slowly dipping, sputtering and coughing as he wordlessly called Corrosion Cloud back to him, the extended cloud of madness and corrosion sliding back onto his hand, wrapping around him like a glove.

The pressure from the demoness began to lift, and Vanyel slowly turned himself over, sitting up as he held his knees close to his chest. All of that, for nothing -- barely even able to make a dent in her. What did he expect? He was just human, how in the unholy hell could he ever hope to match against someone who could probably end a continent if she wanted? His arms slowly coiled around his legs, resting his head against his knees as he let out a soft sigh.

He didn't even have the energy to be mad at her anymore. Part of him wanted to cry out in frustration at his own weakness and incompetence, furious at himself for not being able to do something against her. Another part of him wanted to just continue attacking, even if it meant he would die here alone. Just about everything he had, for a single damn drop of blood in a fight that wasn't anywhere close to an even match -- it was like a toddler being forced to compete in a footrace against an Olympic athlete.

It was fucking pathetic.

At her second set of comments, his head slowly lifted, a fire burning in his icy blue eyes as he responded with no stutters or second thoughts.

"I'd gladly throw my life away for her, without hesitation."

A set of words that he would never falsify -- his personal vow to protect Calypso to love her as best as someone like him could. His tongue spewed nothing but contempt and venom as he spoke those words, yet mixed in was the truth that not a single being could ever question. Despite this, Algos simply sat down, sighed, and asked him a question: What did actual love feel like?

The question took him by surprise, his eyes widening for a moment as he processed it. He knew that he could feel it, but how in the world could he ever describe it? His head dipped once again, his arms wrapping tighter around his legs as he tried to think of how to describe what he felt toward Calypso.

"It's not something you can 'possess,' dipshit. But...I guess, if I described it, you're always wantin' to be with them. You're happy when they're there, you're sad and lonely when they're not. You wanna stay with them and hold them, and just be there with them, even if there's sometimes never a word between you. Life just seems okay with them there, even if it feels like the world's against you and wanting to kick you in the pants over and over again."

He paused, his head lifted as tears slowly dripped down his cheeks.

"And in my case, it shows a deadweight like me that there's someone that believes in me, someone that cares about me, someone that won't leave me or hurt me. Someone...who's willing to put up with my bullheadedness, stubbornness, and idiocy, just to show me that it's okay to love."

Algos ingested everything the male had to say. The insults were nothing to her at this point as she had already demonstrated she could systemically break his body, mind, and spirit at whatever point she chose as the dominance in raw power was as clear as night and day to her. Yet, there was something which she could not take unless she were to rip his brains out, rearrange his personality and alter his memories and that was love. It brought about a physically painful reaction that groaned in her body as the woman started to have fluids of putrid shade drip from her lips; though she gave no pained response and only stared with the essence of vacancy filling her eyes.

"Then even if you are corrupt with our blood, you have nothing to fear as love is one of the most potent things a demon can possess."

The woman continued to gaze at the visage of the crying male as her own vision started to have shades of black and grey fill this dull world. As the winds blew her snowy air in the breeze, the woman reflected it's cold embrace as the blackened rains continued to fall. This coolness, this pain, and this aloneness was her strength. Leaning into that pain caused so much corruption in this world that she bathed in it. This power in her body was built with much love, but it corroded, decayed, and turned into a grave of misery. And so, she knew what to say acknowledging that.

"You have something I cannot take unless I jam a spear in your brain and take your ego from you. And you know what that thing is? Love."

Now with a burdened sigh, the woman twirled her wrist to dismiss the fires around them until they each stood in a field of smoldering ash and blackened rain. She then offered her hand to him if he decided to take as she crouched down on her knees to get to his level.

"We will either become consumed by hate or love, and this strength of mine once was filled with a deep, fiery love for people, places, and all things in existence. So do not become a demon like me if nothing else."

There was more she could say to explain the context of what made her, but would it have even been of any use at this point? The only thing left to do was clean up her mess and that started with patching Vanyel up, but not before a question:

"Still, if you were in my position, what would you honestly do to take away this pain?"

Wiping his eyes, Vanyel fell silent as Algos ingested what he had to say -- still keeping a hand on his sword, on the off-chance that she might attack. While he said nothing at the first of what Algos said, only blinking a few times, the words stuck with him for a moment. Love was one of the most potent things that a demon could have -- even if her love was false, unjustified, and toxic, Algos proved that. Love, in any form, was powerful for a demon, but also dangerous.

But, her next words caused the man's eyes to narrow and twitch in irritation, his fingers tightening around the handle of his weapon. The notion that the only way that she would be able to take his love for Calypso away would be to jam a spear into his head, and rip his ego from his skull brought nothing but anger to him, and while he remained silent, a single thought burned in his mind.

'You'd have to kill me a thousand times before you could ever hope of taking that away from me.'

As she snapped her fingers and dismissed the hellfires raging around them, she offered him a hand to help him get up. Sneering, before drawing his sword and sticking it into the ground, Vanyel used the weapon as a crutch to help him to his feet, slightly leaning onto it as he stayed steady. But, as he did, Algos asked him a question that, frankly, he didn't fully know how to answer: What would he do to take away that pain, if he were in her position?

His eyes briefly diverted to the ground as he pondered it. She was only in pain because she couldn't have Calypso -- she held no remorse for abusing her, and all the pain that she put Caly through. The man clenched his teeth tightly as his eye twitched briefly, turning back to look at Algos.

"Do something that actually benefits people, something that Caly would actually want from you. Do shit that benefits demonkind, do something that keeps your mind off it, I guess. The shit I do to deal with it isn't something anyone should repeat."

But, with how she had acted and what she said, he didn't believe there was a chance in hell that it was possible for her.