Author Declan Coughlin | Banner: Santiago Fontalvo

The village of Kitakami River was under attack. The people ran and hid as thieves riding on horseback came and torched their homes and killed their loved ones, swift arrows marking their graves. The marauders showed no mercy as they slaughtered men, women, and children. In just a short hour, nearly the entire population of the once peaceful village had been wiped out.

A young woman was led by two of the thieves, her struggling growing less and less as the men refused to let her go. Eventually, they reached their location: a cross, not unlike those of biblical times, planted firmly in the dirt, overlooking the river. The woman was dropped to the ground, and she breathed in relief as she believed she had been freed, only to greet reality once more as she was tied to the giant cross. With chains restraining her hands and legs, the woman desperately tried pulling on her confines, only to receive nothing but a tight feeling as her limbs began locking up from exhaustion. She begged and pleaded to be freed, only for the two men to laugh at her.

“You should be happy, not afraid. You have the privilege of being the first of many sacrifices to our ruler.”

Before the woman could question what the man had said, the ground began to rumble, as if an earthquake was happening right below her. The earth began to split open, creating a gaping hole which lashed out with fire towards the surface, the flames beginning to spread to the forest, turning it into a raging inferno. It was as if the gates of Hell themselves had been opened. It wasn’t a shock then, when a devil not seen for millenia made itself known.

A giant hand emerged from the crevice, slamming into the ground with enough force to nearly topple the woman’s crucifixion. As a second hand rose from the crater, the entire body of the entity began to rise. Its body was pure molten rock, resembling the material the Earth was made from rather than a creature living on it. Its eyes, or where they would be, ironically resembled the same crude structure that the woman was tied to. Two bony protrusions sat above his back, looking like a mix of serrated claws and wings. But worse of all was the demon’s smile. Its unnatural grin reeked of pure malice and hatred, as the golem looked upon its sacrifice.

Kumasogami’s smile only widened as it looked down at her, listening as the remaining villagers were slaughtered in the distance. It lived for this carnage, as it was the thing that gave it life and power. Power was achieved from fear, and fear conquers all, something the demon knew all too well. Suddenly, the wicked beast heard a voice from below. It was one of the men that had summoned them. The man raised his hands to the sky as he reveled in the sight of the god-like being.

“Oh great and mighty Kumasogami, we have called you to bring destruction upon these putrid tribes, who have sinned by not praying in your name! Cleanse these parasites from the Earth, so that you may spread your murderous intentions to the world, and turn it into a living…”

Kumasogami, getting a little tired of the man’s ramblings, slammed a fist down onto the miniscule human. A burst of wind indicated the force of power sent through the ground, turning him into little more than ash.

Said actions, however, had their side effects, as the woman’s constraints had loosened enough as her prison fell to the Earth. The young girl, along with the partner of the man who Kumasogami had killed, both sprinted as fast as they could, neither even focusing on the other’s hatred as the two desperately began to run. If Kumasogami’s grin could spread anymore, its jaw would have probably broken.

Dropping its hands to its sides, they began to morph into weapons. One hand became a bow, the other a set of arrows. He placed one of the arrows into the bow before pulling back and firing. The projectile immediately hit the two running humans, instantly crushing them and sending an explosion of dirt and rock into the sky as the fires the demon had created only intensified. The remaining survivors of the village slaughter and even the demon’s own followers were shocked by the malice that the creature had shown. The demon turned his eyes towards the frightened masses, getting ready to send another arrow in their direction before hearing something behind him.

The false angel turned towards the river, which was bubbling and thrashing, almost as if something was attempting to free itself from the water’s shackles. The villagers seeing this, began chanting and praying their defenders name, for they had a God of their own.

“Baradagi! Baradagi!”

Before the demon could question their intentions, the water suddenly erupted upwards as a reptilian form flew out of the water and landed opposite of Kumasogami. The beast’s light brown hide contrasted its dark eyes, which pierced the abomination’s heart. Its back was adorned with long, sharp spikes which went the entire length of the monsters back all the way to the head. Its claws flexed as the creature’s jaw opened and let loose a guttural roar, which carried as much volume as the devil’s own piercing cry.

The God Baradagi, Varan the Unbelievable, was infuriated.

Kumasogami took a few steps back, surprised by the appearance of this reptilian. He stopped himself when he realized that he was going backwards. Was he actually showing hesitation in attacking? He roared in rage at his opposition. Likewise, Varan snarled at his molten foe. He sensed the demon and his followers slaughtering his people and tainting his land. As lowly as he regarded his followers, they still worshiped him as a god. While Varan’s origins were anything but godlike, he would make sure his followers’ faith was not in vain.

The two combatants, as different as they could be, charged.

The titans sprinted towards each other, trees being thrown aside as if they were toys and craters the size of whales being left by their gigantic feet. The two collided, each trying to overpower the other. Kumasogami, getting sick of the stalemate, sent a fist into his foe’s side, sending him staggering back. Varan cried out in pain and surprise. The demon’s fist burned, as if he was made of the same fire that defiled his home. He couldn’t think about it for long as Kumasogami threw another punch, smacking him in the head and sending him down to the ground. Before the reptile could attempt to recover, the demon began stomping on his chest, each step being rewarded with a cry of pain and the sound of cracking ribs. Varan grimaced before flipping himself onto his stomach.

Just as Kumasogami’s foot began to come down for another stomp, Varan positioned one of his sharp back spines directly in the path of the demon’s foot. The spike pierced his molten hide, causing the foul god to scream in agony as he stammered backwards, holding his foot in pain. Varan, finally free of his torment, began clawing at his opponent’s stomach, carving small grooves in the demon’s molten armor. Kumasogami grimaced before grabbing the monster’s hands, burning the flesh. The reptile screeched in alarm as his skin began smoking. It felt like his arms were about to be ripped off.

Just before his opponent could test this, Varan thrust forward with a powerful headbutt, sending his demonic enemy crashing to the ground with a loud THUD! Kumasogami screamed as he felt a part of his head crack from the force. He wasn’t expecting a strike that powerful from his opponent. He wouldn’t have time for surprise as Varan lunged forwards and bit into the demon’s neck. He wrestled to get free from the grip of his enemy, only to feel his opponent’s teeth pierce his skin. Now it was the mountain god’s turn to feel pain as his mouth burned. He staggered off of Kumasogami, desperately trying to remove the burning taste from his tongue. While Varan was distracted, the destroyer rose back to his feet, pure anger emanating off of his vision.

How? How could this pathetic, overgrown triphibian damage his almighty form? Kumasogami was stumped between respect and rage.

The latter emotion gained supremacy when the demon began morphing his hands into a bow and arrows. Varan watched on in intrigue, attempting to deduce what his opponent was doing. He wouldn’t get much longer to think as the demon fired two blazing arrows, piercing his hide and exploding, sending chunks of burnt flesh to the ground. Varan howled in horrendous pain as the demon fired another round of arrows which once again blasted more flesh off of the reptile’s brown skin. With his skin torn and bleeding, Varan slumped to the ground. He didn’t even have enough strength to move.

Or at least, that’s what he wanted his opponent to believe.

Kumasogami chuckled as he watched the near-dead kaiju, changing his hands once more. While his right hand reverted into a set of fingers, his left became a demonic sword, one that dripped with hot lava. He walked over to his opponent’s injured body before thrusting his sword upwards, preparing to decapitate the interloper. Now he would wish that he had never tangled with the mighty Kumasogami.

But while Varan was down, he wasn’t even close to being out.

Just before the demon could claim his prize, Varan suddenly leaped upwards and extended his arms, his hidden membranes becoming visible as he glided into the sky. Kumasogami was stunned, briefly dropping his weapon in pure shock. He had never expected his opponent to be hiding something from him.

With the wind hitting his face, Varan grinned to himself. He had fooled his opponent into believing he was defenseless, only to show his hidden features. Unlike what most would believe about him, the ancient beast was actually a triphibian, being able to fight and traverse the land, seas, and skies easily. With renewed confidence, Varan made a u-turn towards his demonic rival. Kumasogami, still stunned, suddenly felt his shoulder pierced as his foe flew over and upside down, impaling the body part as molten blood sprayed out of the wound. The demon stumbled back, holding the wound with his open hand, all while groaning in misery.

Before he could attempt to counter, he felt a blow to the back of his head that sent him tumbling down. Kumasogami began changing his hand once more as he was getting sick of the little pest’s hit and run strategy. Just as Varan soared over, the wicked one ducked down, avoiding the attack before sending his hand forwards, the appendage now being transformed into a demonic whip of sorts. The weapon wrapped around Varan’s leg, causing him to cry out in pain as he felt the whip scald and scratch his flesh. Gravity took effect on his body as he was slammed down hard into the ground, a crater being formed as trees were uprooted from the impact.

Varan groaned in misery, only for it to turn into a scream as he felt a molten sword slash into his skin, blood flying and painting the ground a shade of red, while the cuts inflicted burned. Kumasogami continued to hack into the triphibian’s skin, each cut rewarding the demon with a painful cry as Varan’s body became overrun with cuts and burns.

Finally, after a minute which felt like an hour, the torture mercifully ceased. Varan panted, each breath coming out as a weak wheeze as it hurt to even breathe. Dirt and ash clogged his wounds, making them sting even more. The triphibian lay still, using the last of his energy to roll over onto his stomach. This was the end, he thought to himself. He only hoped the demon would grant him a quick death.

Suddenly, something in Varan’s head snapped as he felt adrenaline kicking in. What was he thinking? Was kneeling over to die truly how he would go out?

NO!

He was a warrior, one that has survived centuries of combat. Why should he die today, when his own people live in torment? No matter what, Varan would not give up. In his relatively intelligent brain, he concocted a plan. He slowly closed his eyes, pretending to play dead.

Kumasogami stomped over to his opponent’s apparently dead body. Knowing to be careful, he threw a light kick at his side. The body moved, but overall did not react. Kumasogami reared back and roared to the heavens, letting all of Kitakami know that their god was dead.

Varan inwardly grinned to himself. He was falling for it, now he just needed to wait.

As Kumasogami ended his cry, he once more began turning his hand into a demonic sword. He knelt down, preparing to cut Varan’s head off from the neck. The demon beamed devilishly. He had claimed another trophy from a stupid creature that wished to test his might. Now it was time to claim his prize.

But just before he could slice the triphibian’s head off, Varan’s eyes snapped open.

Kumasogami was shocked! How was his enemy still alive after all of this torment? He roared in outrage before lunging forward with his sword, promising to make Varan’s death as painful as possible. At the same time, Varan jumped up on his four paws, his body lunging forward.

The two jumped at the same time, but Varan was half of a second faster.

Varan’s spikes shot straight through Kumasogami’s rock-hard skin, impaling his fiendish heart. The devil roared in absolute agony. For the first time in his long existence, the demon was afraid of death. Pathetically, he began to plead for mercy while weakly grabbing his head, attempting to remove his opponent’s deadly tools from his heart. Varan snorted. After all the demon had done, defiling his home and killing his people, he wanted mercy? He would receive none.

Rearing slightly up with Kumasogami still impaled on his spikes, Varan grabbed one side of the demon with each of his front paws before beginning to pull. He strained and howled as his skin burnt and his blood boiled from contact with the demon’s life essence, but he refused to give up.

A tearing sound proved that Varan’s determination had paid off.

Kumasogami’s body was ripped in half, each half of the demon’s body being thrown off of the triphibian’s back. Molten skin and blood of lava tainted the ground as the demon’s remains were scattered. On both sides of his body, the demon’s eyes briefly kept their glow before fading away, becoming as dark as the night sky.

Varan grunted as his body struggled to stay upright. This fight had taken nearly everything out of him. It was only thanks to his last ditch effort that he was able to win. With weakened legs, he began to stumble back to the waters of Kitakami River. Just as he reached the shoreline, he turned to see his people, and even some of the thieves that attacked his people, in prayer, chanting Varan’s name as they knelt to him. Varan nodded to them, as if he understood, before letting out one last roar that echoed throughout the land. He then turned back to the water before slipping below the depths, going to enjoy a long rest.

Although there were many demons in the world, the people of the Kitakami could rest knowing that perhaps the most dangerous of them all had been slain.

Winner: Varan (Universal)