As Salomé and the others were about to rush forward, the sky tore apart with a deafening crash. A flash of immaculate whiteness split the horizon, cutting through the writhing mass of celestial creatures like a glowing knife slashing the darkness.
Jin Muleo, halting abruptly, frowned:
— What… was that?
A crushing silence followed the blast. Then, something appeared in the air. A humanoid figure, motionless in the void, bathed in spectral light. Around its waist floated a white fabric with iridescent reflections. Its skin, slightly dark, contrasted with the blinding brightness emanating from it. Its eyes… two blazing yellow suns, unfathomable.
When it spoke, it was not a voice, but a hundred voices speaking in unison, like a cosmic choir resonating in the soul of each:
— I hope… I am not too much… to join your party.
A collective shiver ran through the earth. No one moved. No one breathed.
The stranger slightly tilted its head, a nearly innocent smile on its lips. Then it raised a hand. A simple gesture.
What followed defied all logic. The myriads of creatures in the sky… vanished. Not destroyed, not killed… they ceased to have ever existed. Their cries ended in absolute silence, their bodies dissipating into conceptual dust. Even the colossi born from the earth's depths were annihilated, erased without sound, trace, or resistance.
A chilling wind swept across the plain. The entire world seemed to hold its breath.
Salomé, her throat dry, dared not speak. But the false Sakolomé stepped back, his features tightened with incomprehension and fear:
— It's… impossible…! Those creatures… they were all Deviant level…! To erase them like that?!
The words struck Salomé like thunder.
— Deviant… level?!
A heavy silence followed. All eyes fixed on the unknown, whose smile slowly widened, radiating overwhelming confidence.
— You really do not know… who you are facing.
Then he descended from the sky, brushing the air with the lightness of a ray of light, and his feet touched the ground silently. He tilted his head slightly, like a predator amused by the stupefaction of its prey.
— I am…
— Isissis 1.
The voice came from behind, heavy, deep, sharp as a blade. Everyone turned around at once.
It was Orlongue. Motionless, his face tense, his gaze fixed on the celestial entity, an unusual worry darkening his features.
He advanced a step, his cloak whipping in the wind, and spoke slowly, weighing each word:
— What brings you here, Isissis 1?… Are you looking to prove something?
Isissis 1 closed his eyes for a moment, letting the breeze caress his pure black hair. A smile of chilling softness curved his lips. A presence from beyond the world.
Behind Orlongue, Ysolongue tensed, feeling her heart beat faster. Her voice trembled despite herself:
— Father… Who is… Isissis 1?
Orlongue never looked away, not for a second.
— Isissis 1… is the most powerful secondary god that exists.
The words fell like an axe blow. A sepulchral silence settled, heavy, suffocating. Then suddenly…
BOOM.
An oppressive wave surged over the plain. A cosmic pressure, so dense it seemed to crush even air particles. Bodies bowed, knees shook. Even Jin Muleo, carefree moments earlier, clenched his teeth under this invisible tide.
Isissis 1… was still smiling. Calmly. As if this ocean of horror bearing down on them were but a whisper.
— You felt it… didn't you?
Salomé, gasping, felt her bones crack under the strain, her breath breaking. Her eyes widened, terror written in every fiber of her being.
— What… what is this?!
Then Orlongue lifted his head to the sky. His gaze lost in infinity.
— This pressure… it is not him… It is… the gods watching us.
A shudder of dread swept through the assembly.
Jin Muleo, throat tight:
— The… gods…?
Lingyin, pale, murmured:
— How… many could there be?
Isissis 1 burst into clear, almost melodious laughter before answering with a voice layered with a thousand echoes:
— All. All the secondary, tertiary… quaternary gods. None want to miss this. They know that… tonight, the strongest of the secondary gods is about to dominate those who dared to transcend divine rules.
A chilling silence fell. The wind itself seemed to die. The war had just changed nature.
Salomé, frowning, whispered with a trembling voice:
— What is he… talking about?
Orlongue, impassive despite the tension weighing on the air, answered calmly:
— Don't worry. He's just looking for an excuse to impose himself. In reality, he has no legitimate reason to be here. If he's come… it's because he sensed something. A potential evolution that teases him a bit too strongly.
Kai, arms crossed, his icy gaze fixed on Isissis, said:
— A potential evolution?… Who could it be?
Isissis 1 raised his hand almost gracefully, a cold smile on his lips. His yellow eyes, burning with authority, settled on the double of Sakolomé and his allies.
— You… are agents of Raktabīja Rāvana. He too must have felt this evolution. That is why he sent you here…
Then his tone hardened, each syllable vibrating with overwhelming power:
— But your presence… might bother me.
And then… everything shifted.
In a breath, the double of Sakolomé disappeared. Not destroyed, not struck… erased. The masked being was also torn from existence. Not a cry. Not a sound. Just the void swallowing them.
But at the same moment, the shadow entity wavered. His cloak of darkness dissipated like smoke chased by the wind, revealing a human body… fragile, naked, falling heavily on the cracked earth.
Jin Muleo, stunned, widened his eyes:
— Wait… it's Edwin!!!
Lingyin, frozen in turn, breathed in an incredulous voice:
— Really?!
Salomé, confused, turned to them:
— Who is… Edwin?
Lingyin kept her gaze fixed on the inert body, her eyes shining with a mix of worry and anger.
— We'll talk about it later…
Then her pupils narrowed as she stared at Isissis 1. Her voice became grave, sharp:
— If we survive this.
Isissis, meanwhile, still smiled. His shadow stretched for kilometers, engulfing the entire plain.
Salomé clenched her fists, her gaze burning with uncontrollable determination:
— I don't know what we're waiting for… If Isissis 1 wants war, then we'll give it to him!
She almost launched forward, but a firm hand held her back. Ysolongue, face grave, locked her eyes onto hers:
— Calm down, Salomé. You don't understand… Father hadn't even planned to intervene in this conflict. He is here only because Isissis appeared. Do you realize what that means?
Salomé, surprised, turned to Orlongue, breath short:
— Lord Orlongue… Is it true?
Orlongue was silent for a moment, as if choosing his words, but his worried gaze already spoke. He slowly nodded:
— Yes. And if I am here, it is not to watch… but to prevent a disaster.
A shiver ran down Salomé's spine as the old god resumed, voice lower, almost a whisper no ear was supposed to hear:
— Isissis… is not an ordinary god. He is the fragment of Morlük, an avatar of the father god Odin… and is the incarnation of the forces of Madhurya itself.
Hearts froze. The words vibrated in the air like an inevitable sentence.
— The… Madhurya? repeated Salomé, her throat tight.
Zelongue, pale, asked the question haunting all minds:
— So… that means he…
Orlongue completed gravely:
— That he is the beginning. The root. The incarnation of Meta-Concepts and Narration. He is the source of secondary, tertiary, and quaternary gods. The master of narrative foundations.
An oppressive silence fell over the battlefield, only broken by the low rumble of the heavens. Even the air seemed to bow under the weight of this revelation.
Salomé felt her legs grow heavy, her words escaped in a trembling breath:
— So… what can we do against… that?
Orlongue closed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice rang like a desperate prayer:
— Hope. Hope that he does not decide to wipe everything away.
For he knew: Isissis obeyed no law, no command — not even that of the gods. His will was his only rule. He was the incarnation of divine ego, the reflection of raw power. A being who did not live under order… but who imposed order by his very existence.
— Understand this well… added Orlongue, reopening his eyes shining with worry.
— Isissis does not bargain. He does not negotiate. He simply is. And because he is… he dominates.
Isissis slowly stretched out his hand into the void, his yellow eyes shining like dead suns:
— The one I seek is not here yet… So you will distract me.
At these words, the sky, already dark, turned an abyssal black. Rumblings traversed the atmosphere, and suddenly, shapes slowly descended from the heavens. Silhouettes. Human for some, indescribable for others, shrouded in light or covered with moving symbols.
Isissis slightly raised his head, a fold of annoyance crossing his face:
— Tch…
Jin Muleo, eyes fixed on the celestial vault, murmured:
— What are those… things?
Orlongue, pale, answered with a heavy voice:
— They are the gods. They have come… to stop him.
The whole sky covered itself with thousands of deities. Some had infinite wings that seemed to contain galaxies, others were but a spark of conscious light. A few wore armor engraved with primal runes. All were here for one reason only: Isissis 1.
A god with onyx skin, whose face was masked with a veil of gold, spoke, his voice ringing like a thousand thunders:
— Isissis… You should not be here. Leave this plane immediately!
Isissis tilted his head, a carnivorous smile twisting his lips:
— Shut up. I take no orders from what was born from me. Get lost.
Another god, his face covered but mouth free, roared:
— We know why you're here! You want to sow chaos to satisfy your ego! You will destroy everything just for fun, Isissis!
Isissis sighed, rolling his eyes as an exasperated child:
— Are you going to annoy me much longer?
His arm rose, fingers opening as if to grasp the entire world.
— Primordial Domain.
Then, the cosmos screamed.
A shrill rumble split reality. The sky cracked like glass, with shards of light falling as burning rain. The gods screamed, but too late. An invisible blast struck them. And, one by one, the divine colossi fell from the firmament like broken puppets.
Their wings tore. Their armor shattered. Their bodies twisted… until they were no more than vulnerable silhouettes, stripped of all grandeur becoming simple mortals who had never transcended.
The wave did not stop there. It spread. From the Madhurya to the heart of universes, from mythical realms to astral plains, everything collapsed. Mortals fell into endless sleep. Great Mythical beings lost their essence and crawled like broken beasts. The myths themselves seemed to die.
Only a few entities were spared: Salomé and her allies, as Deviants and Dragons. And Shushu, who was a demon. But even they… were suffocating. For it was not power they felt. It was the Law. A raw law, crushing their beings.
Salomé, gasping, felt her bones crack under the pressure. Her blood burned. But deep inside, something roared. In an explosion of mana, her draconic wings burst forth, tearing the air with violent force. Her eyes sparkled with pure rage.
— God or not… YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACT THIS WAY!!!
Isissis's laugh shattered the silence, cold and contemptuous. He slowly turned his head toward her, his gaze piercing her soul.
— Right? His voice sounded like a tidal wave of overlapping voices.
— WHO ARE YOU to speak to me of rights?