The sky bled light.
A thousand suns rose where none should exist, their fire reflecting off the crystal towers of Heaven.
At the heart of that divine inferno stood the High Arbiter, hands raised toward the colossal form chained within the Celestial Armory — the Divine Annihilator.
It was not a being.
It was a will — a consciousness older than creation itself, slumbering within the armor of a fallen star.
> "By the covenant of the First Light," the Arbiter intoned,
"I unseal your chains. Let the unworthy tremble."
Golden glyphs spun through the air. The vast armor shuddered, releasing a tremor that rippled through all realms.
Then a single eye opened — a burning sphere of white flame.
Every angel in the heavens fell to their knees.
Every mortal below felt the breath of death pass over them.
Even the jinn whispered in fear.
The Annihilator was awake.
---
Kael felt it first — a pulse that nearly tore the light from his soul.
He staggered, pressing a hand to his chest.
"Arhaan… do you feel that?"
Arhaan stood still, eyes closed, chains humming around him.
"Yes. Heaven just broke its final seal."
The Oathbreaker quivered in his grip, runes flaring in violent protest.
Azrakar's voice spoke within his mind, dark and urgent.
> "That weapon was never meant to be used. It feeds on divine law itself — the moment it strikes, all creation will unravel."
Arhaan's eyes snapped open.
"Then we stop it before it draws breath."
---
High above, the Annihilator rose, towering over the clouds. Its wings were not feathers, but blades of condensed light.
Each step it took made the fabric of existence groan.
The Arbiter floated before it, his voice booming through all realms.
> "Erase the heretic. Burn the covenant. Let no will but Heaven's remain."
The Annihilator raised its sword — a line of pure creation energy.
The blade came down.
BOOOOOOOM!
The world split open. Mountains dissolved into dust. Oceans boiled.
The very sky cracked like glass, showing glimpses of the void beyond.
Kael and Arhaan shielded the gathered survivors, their combined powers forming a vast barrier of light and flame.
Even then, it trembled, fracturing under the cosmic pressure.
Kael gritted his teeth. "We can't hold this forever!"
Arhaan's eyes glowed crimson-gold.
"We won't. We'll strike back."
---
He slammed the Oathbreaker into the earth. Chains erupted upward, wrapping around the cracks in the sky itself, holding reality together through sheer defiance.
"Azrakar!" he shouted. "Bind the world!"
The jinn's voice echoed like thunder.
> "With pleasure."
A spectral form appeared behind Arhaan — vast, horned, and wreathed in shadowfire. Together, they channeled power into the Oathbreaker.
A second pillar of light erupted upward — crimson against gold.
The two beams clashed in the heavens, shaking the firmament.
The Annihilator's blade faltered for the first time.
The Arbiter's calm broke.
> "Impossible. You are mortal!"
Arhaan roared back, voice carrying through the worlds.
> "No. I am free!"
---
The Annihilator staggered, but its core continued to burn, brighter and hotter.
Kael looked at Arhaan, panting, his wings in tatters. "We can't win like this."
Arhaan nodded grimly.
"Then we find another way. We'll strike at its heart — the core of creation itself."
Kael frowned. "That's suicide."
"Maybe," Arhaan said softly. "But so was being born human."