For the first time since their arrival, the Divine Sentinels stopped.
Six radiant figures stood like pillars of judgment, their golden eyes locked not on Kael's estate—but on the abyssal nightmare that had emerged from the shattered gate beneath it.
They did not tremble.
They did not speak.
They did not waver.
And yet, the air around them wavered.
Reality itself twisted and groaned as the presence of the Abyssal Entity collided with their divine essence. Two absolute forces—one sculpted by the purity of celestial law, the other hewn from the infinite void—clashed in silence.
Above them, the heavens flickered between light and shadow.
A swirling vortex had begun to form, where time stuttered and the sky forgot its color. The once-proud skyline of Solmar—spires of gold, statues of angels—bent under the cosmic pressure, twisting like melted wax.
The Sentinel of Radiance moved first.
Tallest of the six, it wielded a sword that shimmered with absolute light—light that judged, that purified, that burned not only flesh but memory. In the blink of an eye, it vanished, displaced through divine speed.
A heartbeat later—
It descended from the sky like the wrath of creation itself.
CLASH!
The impact cracked the world.
Stone shattered. Wind howled. Debris exploded outward in every direction, leveling buildings across several city blocks. Screams echoed in the distance, but they were swallowed by the overwhelming roar of divine and abyssal energy colliding.
And yet—
When the dust cleared, the Abyssal Entity still stood.
A jagged wound blazed across its chest, molten cracks glowing with residual light. The scent of scorched void clung to the air.
But it did not kneel.
It did not cry out.
Instead—
It roared.
A sound older than language. A sound that made even the storm above recoil. It was not merely rage—it was memory. Pain. Vengeance carved into sound. The kind of roar that reminded the world of what it had forgotten.
High above, atop the fractured balcony of his estate, Kael watched, arms folded, golden eyes glowing.
A small, cruel smile tugged at his lips.
"This," he murmured, "is how gods die."
Beside him, Selene stared in horrified awe. Her hands were clenched, her blade trembling by her side.
"You summoned that thing," she whispered. "Are you sure you can even control it?"
Kael didn't turn.
"Control?" he echoed.
He gestured toward the battlefield, where the void-borne horror met divine fury.
"This isn't about control. This is about balance."
Selene's eyes narrowed. "Balance?"
Kael nodded. "The Sentinels never belonged here. They are anchors of divine law—tools used only when the gods themselves have abandoned reason."
He exhaled, the wind swirling around him.
"So I simply opened the door."
Selene took a half-step back. "You didn't summon it?"
Kael's smirk deepened.
"No. I reminded the Abyss that the gods had trespassed. And the Abyss… answered."
Down below, the Sentinel of Judgment advanced.
A towering colossus with four arms, each bearing a weapon of divine sentence: twin hammers blazing with scriptural fire, and a spinning glaive that hummed with celestial hymns.
Its approach split the ground in symmetrical patterns—ritual glyphs that turned stone into scripture.
The demon watched it come.
Then moved.
Despite its mountainous frame, the Abyssal Entity moved with impossible grace, bending through space in defiance of logic. It slid past the first strike. Evaded the second.
And then—struck.
Its claws wrapped around one of the Sentinel's arms and, with horrifying strength, ripped it free.
Golden ichor exploded into the air.
The impact sent shockwaves across the field, flattening entire battalions of fleeing guards and shattering nearby monuments.
But the Sentinel did not scream.
It simply stared.
And slowly, its arm reformed—restored by divine code, light stitching itself back into celestial flesh.
Still, it had faltered.
A crack had formed—not in its body, but in its certainty.
Solmar was no longer a capital.
It was a battlefield.
A realm between heaven and abyss.
Towers collapsed. Roads warped. The very laws of physics fractured. Fires burned in reverse. Children aged and un-aged in seconds before vanishing altogether.
Above it all, from the central spire of the Imperial Palace, Emperor Castiel stared in pale terror.
His throne room once echoed with power. Now it echoed only with silence.
Advisors knelt, praying for guidance. Priests wailed before statues of hollow gods.
Castiel stood motionless, watching the Sentinels struggle.
His voice was dry, cracking. "They… they were supposed to bring order. Deliver me from Kael. From this heresy."
But what he saw was divine failure.
The gods were here—and they were losing.
Kael turned away from the carnage and looked to Selene. His voice, when he spoke, was calm and surgical.
"Are our forces in position?"
Selene hesitated. "…They are. Waiting for your signal."
Kael nodded.
He raised one hand.
And with a single motion—
He gave the order.
From the shadows of shattered towers, from hidden tunnels and camouflaged outposts, Kael's army surged.
Thousands of elite warriors—mercenaries, assassins, war-mages, cursed knights—poured into the battlefield. They didn't charge blindly. They moved like a machine.
Coordinated. Efficient. Ruthless.
Spellfire lit the skies.
Chains wrapped in anti-divine sigils lashed out, binding the Sentinels mid-movement. Poisoned blades found weaknesses between their glowing armor.
And from the highest point—
Kael moved.
He descended like a falcon, his black cloak trailing behind him. His power—refined, intelligent, deadly—surged outward in golden arcs.
He landed beside the wounded Sentinel of Judgment.
Their eyes met.
In that instant, the Sentinel seemed to hesitate. Almost as if it recognized something ancient in Kael.
But Kael showed no hesitation.
He raised one hand.
A blade of condensed will formed—shaped from purpose and hate, not steel.
And with a clean, elegant stroke—
He severed the Sentinel's head from its shoulders.
The divine body collapsed.
Light poured upward like a soul escaping.
And the heavens shuddered.
A ripple passed across the storm.
One Sentinel had fallen.
The divine equilibrium had cracked.
Kael stood over the glowing remnants, his eyes burning with quiet resolve.
"Not so divine after all," he said.
Behind him, the Abyssal Entity reared back and slammed both fists into the ground, sending a new shockwave that flattened everything within three hundred feet.
Another Sentinel staggered.
Selene landed beside Kael, her armor scorched but intact.
"You killed it," she said, awe in her voice.
"No," Kael replied. "I ended it."
He turned his gaze upward.
"Now let the rest fall."
To be continued…