Blessed by Night

Even though he knew that Apophis was strong, Malachi was still a bit annoyed after seeing him get up right away.

The dragon dusted off his chest and pants casually before taking in the sight of a newly large and furry Malachi.

Whether he was surprised or not, he showed no visible reaction on his face.

He simply seemed to be taking this all in stride as if it were a casual walk in the park.

And that seemed to annoy Malachi quite a bit; so much so that he believed it his place to take the overconfident prince down a few pegs.

Malachi dropped onto all fours and started channeling power into his legs and feet.

A bit more than he was used to, honestly…

The difference in power compared to now and before he absorbed the totems was a bit like suddenly swapping from a small pistol to a gattling gun- a fact that he wouldn't realize until it was too late.

He launched himself at Apophis at an incredible speed the likes of which were unprecedented for him.

And uncontrollable.

His body flew somewhat awkwardly as he completely lost his balance.

And Apophis made him pay for it instantly.

At the moment where Malachi came within striking range, Apophis raised his leg high above his own head and buried his heel into Mal's head.

The impact not only knocked him headfirst out of the air, but it also fractured his skull right down the middle.

He hit the ground in a disoriented daze, with the last sight he saw being multiple Apophis' standing over him.

Unsurprisingly, he completely blacked out seconds later.

Before anyone noticed his eyes shut, Apophis waived his hand and erected a wall of bright purple flame around the two.

Needless to say, this caused quite a stir in the crowd full of anxious spectators.

Serana: "Hey! Why can't I see my gorgeous man-candy?!"

Aisha: "I've got a whole twelve pack of beef ramen on this, I need to see what is happening!"

Felicia: "Oh lord, my baby!!"

-

Malachi was only knocked out for a short amount of time before his skull healed and he jolted awake.

He immediately cursed himself for his lack of foresight as he recalled the last moments of the battle.

It was so long before he even noticed the heat and lifted his head to look up at the wall of flame around him.

"It took two minutes for your skull to close back up. Is that fast or slow for you?"

When Malachi looked to his side, he found Apophis sitting on the ground not far from him.

Ignoring his question, he instead pointed at the wall of purple flames erected around them. "What's with this? Are you trying to cook me?"

"More like I'm sparing you from your own stupidity." Apophis waived his hand.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Twenty-two."

"Happy birthday?" Mal tilted his furry head.

"No, dingus. It's the amount of opportunities I had to end this fight before you could even get your momentum started."

Mal's face darkened instantly- because he knew the prince wasn't bluffing.

"Let this be a little lesson to you, yea?" Apophis lectured. "Familiarity with these powers of yours is not the same thing as mastery.

From what I understand, mostly all power you have held before has been borrowed, but those divine items don't work like that.

You've effectively gotten the brand new keys to a Ferrari with only simulated driving experience. Hence your little 'crash out' earlier… dumbass."

Malachi's muzzle twitched from annoyed embarrassment as he tried to look anywhere but where Apophis sat.

The young prince started to feel like maybe he'd been a bit too harsh on the half-tiger and scratched the back of his head in annoyance.

"Look... obviously I know what it's like to be overconfident in your power. But something you have to learn sooner or later is that there is always a bigger fish. And they are usually impervious to any preconceived notions we have about ourselves."

Malachi knew that every word out of Apophis' mouth was dead on target.

And perhaps that was what annoyed him so much.

The excitement and nostalgia that he had felt from having two of his original powers returned to him was more than he realized at first.

It made him so overconfident that he didnt even hesitate for a second to challenge someone he already knew to be far above him.

It was as embarrassing as it was eye-opening.

"... Help me get better." Mal suddenly said.

"Eh?" Apophis was on the verge of ripping off his own ears because he was certain that they were no longer working as they should have.

"Did I stutter?"

"Might as well have..."

The pointed teeth in Mal's mouth ground against each other roughly. "Look... You said it yourself, I have things I need to learn. Don't tell me you can't be bothered to lend a hand after picking me apart like that."

Apophis looked like his mind was taking a moment to process everything before he inevitably shook his head and stood up. "You're better off asking my sister. Dealing with sudden large influxes of power is definitely more her thing."

"You're saying she's stronger than you?" Mal mocked.

"Uh-huh." Apophis nodded unbothered.

If that answer hadn't left Mal stunned enough, the prince's next actions certainly did.

Taking his horrifically sharp claws, Apophis raked them all over his own body in an instant, spilling blood everywhere.

He then gathered it up en masse and threw it onto Malachi like some kind of modern art painting, and then made sure to singe a couple patches of his orange fur.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Helping you." Apophis answered.

"How?!"

"Dumbass. Your people depend on you, so you can't let them see you get knocked down. You have to maintain your image in their eyes no matter what, because for many of them you are the only hope they have left."

While Malachi was stunned, Apophis carefully singed a bit of his fur to sell the illusion before lifting him up with telekinesis.

After breaking one of his own arms for good measure, Apophis dispelled the wall of flame obscuring everyone's vision.

Needless to say, everyone outside who had been anxiously waiting to see the end results of the fight was suddenly on the edge of their seat.

Even the serpent Ajani had no idea what was going on inside.

Naturally, the first thing that everyone saw were the two men standing face to face, somehow looking equally damaged.

Apophis suddenly walked past Malachi while waiving dismissively to everyone in the stands.

"Sorry to dissapoint you everyone, but… It's a draw."