The sound of footsteps echoed steadily as a knight, clad in stone armor, walked slowly across the battlefield. Silent in their movement, they stepped past the scattered bodies of both allies and foes alike.
Though the land around them was blanketed in white, the grime and blood of battle cast a darkness over the world that felt almost tangible. The knight understood this darkness was not simply the aftermath of war, but also the nature of the enemies involved.
Bruises and wounds marred the knight's left arm, where the armor had been broken away. But disobedience was not an option. The orders they had received could not be defied.
Abruptly, the knight came to a halt, their gaze falling forward. Silence persisted as they laid eyes on four figures ahead, cloaked in darkness, each bearing a terrifying visage.
Foes.
The knight stood still for a moment longer, assessing the situation. Then, slowly, they drew their blade. Their stance steadied, though faint tremors betrayed their fatigue. The creatures of darkness snarled, their rows of jagged teeth making them all the more horrifying.
And before long, their clash began.
Meanwhile, thousands of feet above, two gods stood suspended in the air, arms crossed, while winged creatures clashed in the skies before them. Abyss and Tremor.
Abyss let out a slight gasp, the strain of countless summonings finally taking its toll. The presence of Ouroboros had nullified the infinite power of both gods, forcing them to fight within finite limits. Tremor, too, began to show signs of fatigue, his breathing more ragged than that of his rival.
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted in the distance, miles away in the direction where Siege and Tundra had engaged in combat. The aftershock hit both gods like a sweeping wave of heat and chill.
Tremor glanced briefly in that direction before returning his gaze forward. "This groweth most infuriating," he muttered, disgust dripping from his voice.
"Is it because you are losing?"
Tremor turned, eyes narrowing, to find Abyss smirking despite his weariness. The jab struck a nerve. But then Tremor's gaze shifted back ahead, and his eyes widened. The spawns of darkness had just slain the last of his stone constructs. The creatures howled in triumph, their monstrous roars echoing across the sky.
The sight struck Tremor hard. He was losing, and it was undeniable. "Impossible," he whispered.
Abyss's confidence grew, his smirk curling higher. "Tell me, Tremor the Seismic," he taunted, "do you still believe this will be an easy fight?"
Tremor's attention was soon drawn to the battlefield below, where the last of his constructs had just been defeated. He watched as the spawns of darkness beneath also roared in triumph, celebrating their victory. It was clear that he had been outclassed in their brawl. The realization irked him, and with that frustration came a decision: he needed to change his approach and shift the battle into a form that favored him.
Abyss began to advance, but he abruptly halted as an overwhelming force pressed against him, compelling him to stop. Looking ahead, he saw Tremor stretch his arms outward, palms facing the earth below.
Tremor's breathing grew heavier, revealing the immense energy he was expending."This battle hath remained airborne for far too long," he muttered. "Time to return to stone."
With those words, the pressure Abyss had felt intensified, and suddenly, he plummeted toward the ground, along with every remaining winged creature of darkness. The force was too great to resist, especially in his fatigued state from all the summoning. Within seconds, Abyss hit the earth, unable to maintain flight. The crushing weight of Tremor's command dropped and crushed every other sentient being left in the battle.
As they fell, Tremor cleared the entire battlefield, wiping away the corpses of both allies and enemies, leaving only his opponent and a vast, empty field. And with his feet now firmly planted on the ground, something became apparent: his power had surged.
The scene transformed swiftly. Where there had once been countless warriors and creatures, now stood only two gods: Abyss, the god of Darkness, exhausted and pinned to the ground by a relentless force, and Tremor, the god of Stone, upright and unshaken. The fatigue that once plagued him had seemingly vanished, replaced by a newfound strength radiating from his connection to the ground.
Abyss struggled in confusion, unable to rise, bewildered at how quickly the tide had turned.
Tremor inhaled deeply, confidence returning with each passing moment. The ground itself fed his strength, restoring him over time. Then, slowly, he raised his right hand to the skies above Abyss. In response, a massive ball of metal began to take form, spiked on nearly every surface and radiating destruction.
"These games hast gone on long enough," Tremor growled. "It is time to bring it to an end."
The aftermath of a massive impact settled over the battlefield, and the lingering fog finally began to fade. The collision of their arrows had been so immense that it grounded both fighters, leaving fractures in the very space where the clash had taken place.
Siege lay on the ground, consciousness slipping as the force of the attack continued to reverberate through him. The speed of the exchange had been so overwhelming that he couldn't react in time to summon Defender for protection.
His armor was in ruins, with shattered pieces embedded into his skin, while other segments had broken off completely. He had, by sheer luck, managed to spawn a helmet moments before the explosion engulfed him. That alone may have spared him from death.
With a groan of pain, Siege despawned his damaged armor, clutching his chest as he gasped for air. Then, wincing, he summoned a fresh suit, this time without a helmet like usual. Every movement sent jolts of pain through his body. He could hardly believe the sheer devastation of the attack, especially given that they had been miles away from the point of impact.
As he struggled to get to his feet, a shadow loomed over him.
Tundra stood before him, a massive smile on his face, though he too was breathing heavily, his right hand pressed to his left shoulder.
"Thou never ceasest to amaze me, Siege," Tundra said, his amusement clear. "That attack did wound me greatly."
He removed his hand, revealing a burned patch beneath his skin, before slowly, his suit of armor began to mend itself.
"I would have perished there, had I not activated that earlier," Tundra added after a short, maniacal chuckle.
Tundra's words were vague, but Siege understood the reference. He understood that Tundra was speaking of whatever he had done earlier when he slammed that orb of ice into himself. Siege still had no idea what that move truly entailed, but there was no time to dwell on it now. His opponent was in better condition than he was and rapidly recovering.
Before Siege could fully react, Tundra suddenly lunged forward and stomped his foot into Siege's chest, sending him flying.
Siege tumbled across the ground, coughing up clear blood, the pain undeniable.
Tundra winced slightly from his own lingering injuries, but it was clear the pain was fading. His breathing steadied, and the smirk never left his face.
"What became of thy vow to sever the smile from mine face?" he taunted. "It seemeth thy luck hath run out at last, treacherous fool."
Sol and Tempest clashed at blistering speed, their battle relentless as they exchanged tactical blows. Fists swung with precision, each movement charged with their personal ideals. But as time wore on, Sol began to feel an odd tingling coursing through his body.
His vision grew hazy, balance wavering beneath him. "What is going on?" he thought, his focus beginning to slip.
Suddenly, Tempest caught Sol's arm after dodging a punch. "Thou feelest it, dost thou not?" he said, then drove his forehead into Sol's skull before kicking him away.
Staggering back, Sol quickly regained his footing, just in time to see Tempest raise his hand toward the sky. The storm cloud looming behind the god of Storms began to glow with a vivid electric light. With a sharp motion, Tempest dropped his hand, commanding the cloud to unleash a bolt of lightning at frightening speed towards his foe.
Reacting swiftly, Sol extended his left wing, swatting the lightning bolt away before launching himself back into the fight.
"What did you do to me?" Sol demanded, fists flying once more toward Tempest.
"The roar's effects yet linger, dost they not?" Tempest replied, revealing the cause of Sol's strange sensations.
"And when thou addest that to the currents that surge secretly through every strike thou dost parry…" Tempest continued, swinging his hand sharply toward Sol's face.
Sol caught the blow with his left hand, but the moment their skin touched, a jolt of energy surged through him, numbing his arm and staggering him. Without pause, Tempest struck again with his opposite fist, slamming it into Sol's torso. The impact cracked through the god of Light's armor, sending him reeling.
"… then the tides of battle begin to shift." Tempest finished coldly, as Sol collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest.
Tempest loomed over him, expression void of emotion. "I hope thy love for these insignificant creatures was worth it," he said, raising a hand as the storm cloud began to churn, forming another deadly bolt above.
But before the strike could descend, Sol surged to his feet and lunged forward, driving his shoulder into Tempest's abdomen. The impact disrupted the god's attack, causing the bolt of lightning to misfire as the two gods crashed into the ground below.
The three pantheon gods--Sol, Siege, and Abyss--found themselves in unfavorable positions within their respective battles, each fight gradually shifting further out of their favor. Yet to The End, who sat observing with a calm smile, it was nothing short of amusement.
"Now this... is true entertainment," The End said, thoroughly enjoying the simultaneous chaos before him.
But as moments passed, his gaze softened, recognition flickering in his expression. Slowly, he turned his head to the right, fixing his eyes on one of the petrified figures lying motionless on the ground.
The body of Zeal, the god of Emotion, remained petrified in gold. He lay on his back, arms outstretched, eyes fixed skyward. But suddenly, as if responding to the turmoil of the pantheon gods, a subtle shift began to stir around the fallen god.
Above his right palm, a small sphere of light began to take form, glowing with a vibrant pink hue. Gradually, his petrified fingers started to tremble. Then, with deliberate motion, they slowly clutched onto the glowing orb.
His fingers trembled with strain, but eventually, Zeal used them to crush the ball of light, shattering it into fragments. But the moment it broke, a sudden slam echoed across the chamber.
The End now stood directly above Zeal's body.
With cold precision, he had driven his foot into Zeal's petrified torso, shattering the statue in two with a single, forceful stomp. His eyes, once entertained, now brimmed with fury.
"Who gave thee permission to intervene?" he spat, white pupils locked onto the broken form of the god.
In a blink, The End vanished, reappearing on his seat without further motion.
Yet though he had silenced Zeal, he had not undone the god's final act. As The End shifted his attention back to the battlefields, he watched the effect of the god of Emotion's final ability begin to take shape.
Siege tumbled to the ground, pain etched across his face as he struggled to rise.
Tundra smiled, standing tall, almost unaffected by the brutal clash earlier between Harbinger's Pierce and his own Arctic Arrow. But then, as the battle progressed, a sudden surge pulsed through Siege's body.
In a fleeting instant, an image flashed before his eyes: the face of the one this fight had always been about and the true reason he fought. His wife, Guinevere.
And in that single moment, a strange force awakened within him, causing Tundra to freeze mid-step.
Tundra's smile faltered--more than it had at any point during the fight. "What... is this force?" he muttered in disbelief, eyes locked on Siege, who began to rise.
Siege slowly stretched out his right hand, and before long, a certain object began to form in his grasp. As he rose fully to his feet, a flagpole took shape in his palm, the flag bearing the familiar emblem of the black and white ghosts. This was the very same flag he had once wielded during his descent against the monster race.
Without a word, Siege planted the flag into the ground, its presence alone making Tundra tremble. But it did not end there.
"Pierce through every adversary..." Siege whispered, his left hand extended before him.
From thin air, a radiant weapon slowly began to form; long and golden, stretching up to nine feet in length. Intricate markings coiled along its frame, illuminated by the deep red cloth tied to its tip, fluttering in the quiet storm of tension.
"...O Impaler," Siege finally declared, revealing and wielding the mightiest weapon of the Divine Arsenal.
A massive metal ball, covered in jagged spikes and so colossal it blotted out most of the sky above, came crashing down toward Abyss. The god of Darkness struggled to rise, the strain from the summoning battle earlier still weighing heavily on him. His body was fatigued, and his limbs were forced to remain in place by the force Tremor maintained on him.
But before the ball could descend fully upon him, a flood of memories suddenly surged through his mind.
Abyss witnessed his fellow gods of the pantheon. The world they had forged together.The mortals he had breathed sentience into, spanning from Main World to Under World. And finally, he was reminded of the one he had lost... the woman who had given him a child during his time among humanity.
That was the reminder he needed.
Drawing upon the depths of his motivation--as well as the sudden, unexpected surge of power he felt--two massive arms of darkness erupted from his sides. They reached skyward in a flash, catching the descending ball of metal before it could crush him.
Tremor's eyes widened in disbelief, surprised by his opponent's sudden surge of power.
With minimal effort, the twin hands of darkness hurled the massive metal ball aside. It slammed into the ground beside Abyss with an earth-shattering impact, shaking the entire battlefield beneath their feet. Then, Abyss began to rise.
The force that had pinned him down shattered in an instant. He lifted his gaze from the ground at last, his voice calm but cold as he exhaled softly.
"I warned you, didn't I?" he said, his hair masking his eyes slightly. "Now you will witness the true horrors of the abyss."
As Abyss's words faded, and his gaze finally met with his opponent's, darkness began to spread from his skin--slowly at first, then rapidly accelerating, forming a vast, expanding sphere. The bubble swallowed the area whole, engulfing Tremor before he could even react.
The battlefield disappeared beneath a veil of pure shadow, the darkness stretching for miles in every direction.
Sol and Tempest continued their clash, but it was becoming clear that the fight was leaning in favor of the god of Storms. Sol could feel the lingering effects of Tempest's strikes; each hit had left him dizzier, the shocks compounding and disrupting his focus and balance. The more he remained in unavoidable contact with his foe, the worse his condition became. But there was nothing he could do about it; he had already been caught in the trap.
But as the fight progressed, Sol suddenly stood in silence, his eyes displaying shock as the effects of Zeal's action reached him.
Noticing an opening, Tempest clenched his fist and swung a punch at Sol. But before it could connect, a sudden, massive beam of light instantly fell from the infinite skies above, bathing Sol in a radiant glow that kept growing wider.
Tempest swiftly jumped away to avoid the beam, but its brightness was still enough to make him flinch, something that never typically occurred among gods. He glanced at the beam with caution, a light so blinding that it had completely enveloped Sol within it.
After a few seconds, the beam began to dissipate, revealing the god of Light still standing at its center.
Sol stood tall, his wings spread wide as the effects of the light lingered on his armor and skin for a moment before slowly diffusing into the air around him. His gaze showed a chilling focus, the kind that sent a cold shiver down his opponent's spine. All physical wounds and scratches on his armor had also been completely purged at first glance.
Immediately after, three simultaneous sparks appeared behind Sol--one above his head, and the other two near his shoulders, all behind the halo at his back. Soon, three vertical rings of light manifested, their presence elevated as they began to spin with radiant intimidation.
Tempest could tell from a single glance that Sol was no longer affected by the abnormal conditions he had inflicted. But before he could attempt to deduce what had just happened, Sol extended his left hand forward, pointing his index finger toward his opponent.
Immediately, the rings of light began to spin at hyper speeds before firing three beams of light in unison toward their target.
Tempest was caught off guard, but he managed to evade the attacks, though one of the beams grazed his shoulder, tearing through his armor like a hot knife through butter.
He glanced at his arm briefly, but when he looked forward again, Sol had already closed the distance, slamming his right fist into the god's chest. As Tempest staggered back, he lunged forward once more, attempting to overpower his foe. However, the tide of battle had already shifted.
Sol moved effortlessly, weaving through all of Tempest's attempted strikes before landing a devastating straight kick to his torso. As the space between them widened, the rings of light hovering just behind Sol spun once more, each refiring a solar beam at Tempest.
Noticing the incoming attack but with no time to evade, Tempest raised his right wing in front of himself to soften the blow. But the beam was too strong, piercing through his wing and striking his right arm. The golden light shot cleanly through him, and clear white blood began to seep from the wound.
Tempest fell to the ground, groaning in pain from the attack. Realizing he was being overpowered, his blood began to boil, and rage finally took hold of his mind. He let out a furious roar as a surge of lightning suddenly began to course through his body.
Static currents sparked along every inch of his frame, and his hair began to glow as it rose with the charge. "This ends now," he spat, voice crackling with fury as he spread his hands out.
Immediately, the massive storm cloud looming behind him began to grow, its hue darkening as immense currents of energy surged through it, resonating with his body that levitated off the ground.