... Aku was causing landslides by the mountain range. Kratos and I went to investigate, and were immediately under attack. Aku was a formidable opponent. He could shapeshift at will and he was fast; at one point, he grabbed my leg and flung me into a mountain. [He stops talking for a moment, mulling things over. It's been a while.]

Neither standard magic nor physical attacks had any effect on him, so Kratos resorted to a holy spell. I gave him most of my mana to increase its potency. Just before the spell hit, Aku managed to run Kratos through, but it wasn't fatal. ... There was an explosion. The shockwave didn't hit Kratos, but I was slammed into a rock, myself.