[Last Episode: Ivarak: Good. I was getting bored]
Chapter 151, Episode 151
[The Terra Celestial World]
[The palace steps were cracked from top to bottom. Five Celestials lay on them, bleeding and barely moving. Pages of the Infinite Book turned in the air above the God of Lunar, soft as rain on a roof]
[Ivarak wiped the cut on his chest and looked at the blood on his thumb]
Ivarak: So you are the God of Lunar..
God of Lunar: Yes!!
Ivarak: You sound very sure for someone who can't use her own Book.
God of Lunar: I can use enough of it.
Ivarak: Then use it.
[He moved]
"Ivarak - Red Blade Cut"
[His red sword came down in one slow arc.The air split along its edge, and a thin crimson line raced across the courtyard, stone peeled apart and a fountain broke in half]
[The white towers behind the God of Lunar cracked down their middles and began to lean]
[The God of Lunar opened the Book]
"Infinite Book - Page of Moonlight"
[A sheet of silver light unfolded in front of her like a curtain. The red slash hit it dead center. The curtain bent inward, rippled, and held with sparks of red and silver sprayed across the stairs. The sound was like a thousand mirrors scraping together]
[The slash died against the veil]
[Ivarak raised an eyebrow]
Ivarak: Now I swe the reason why this book is extremely powerful, this book can rewrite attacks
God of Lunar: This is the end!!
[Blood ran from her left nostril. She wiped it away with the back of her hand
[She raised her free hand toward the sky]
"God of Lunar - Moonfall Cataclysm"
[The pearl sky above the palace darkened. A silver shape slid into view, round and cratered, the size of a small universe. It was a real moon. Every window in the city shook in its frame]
[The moon dropped]
[The ground rippled outward. A hot wind pushed against Ivarak's coat. The shadow of the moon swallowed the entire courtyard]
[Ivarak looked up]
Ivarak: What--
God of Lunar: Give up, you are no match against me!
Ivarak: Interesting words from you
[He raised his hand]
"Ivarak - Nexus"
[The Nexus woke in his chest. It controlled how energy and matter flowed across the multiverse. He didn't fight the moon's gravity. He reached into it and turned the flow around. The pull that dragged the moon downward flipped upward in a single heartbeat]
[The moon stopped in mid-air then it shot back into the sky like a thrown ball. It crossed the heavens in a streak of silver fire, bounced off the edge of the atmosphere, and fell back toward the God of Lunar]
[She didn't flinch]
"God of Lunar - Crescent Sanction"
[She flicked her wrist. A thin silver arc cut across the sky. It cut the moon's authority to be a moon. The giant rock broke into a million glowing shards. They drifted down over the city as a slow, shining rain]
[It melted on the Celestials' wounds]
[Ivarak watched it fall]
Ivarak: Pretty. Useless.
God of Lunar: Pretty is half the work.
[He vanished]
"Ivarak - Vessel: Dimensional Swap"
[The Vessel in his chest simply decided he was somewhere else, He stood behind the God of Lunar with his blade already swinging at her neck]
[She had already turned]
God of Lunar: What.. I didn't see him
"God of Lunar - Full Moon Decree"
[Her voice was quiet]
God of Lunar: Kneel.
[The word became law. A crushing weight dropped across the courtyard.The decree hit the air where Ivarak had been standing]
[He was gone again]
[He reappeared ten steps to her left]
Ivarak: Interesting power
God of Lunar: its like my abilities aren't working on him
[She raised the Book]
"Infinite Book - Page of Eclipse"
[A black disc slid across the sky. The pearl light vanished. The whole courtyard went dark, and time slowed inside it. Ivarak's next step took five seconds]
[He raised an eyebrow]
Ivarak: Clever.
God of Lunar: I'm not finished.
[Suddenly a silver chains rose from the darkness and wrapped around his arms, his chest, his throat as they squeezed
[Ivarak laughed]
Ivarak: You think chains can hold me?
[He opened his hand]
"Ivarak - Nexus"
[He took hold of physics itself. The Nexus bent the laws that said chains could squeeze. A wave of pale light spread outward from his palm. The chains grew soft. They stretched. They hung off him and then dissolved into harmless mist. The eclipse above cracked like glass]
[Ivarak rolled his neck]
Ivarak: That was a nice trick. I've seen better.
God of Lunar: That was one page.
[Her hands shook. A thin crack ran up the back of her wrist, like a fault line in a porcelain cup]
[She spoke without taking her eyes off him]
God of Lunar: The Book has limits.
Ivarak: No wonder you can't use greater power
God of Lunar: I can only use part of it. It needs a chosen user. I'm not that user. I made it, but it doesn't belong to me.
Ivarak: Then why do you carry it?
God of Lunar: Because someone must.
Ivarak: And when it breaks you?
God of Lunar: Then I'll break.
[She looked over her shoulder]
[On the stairs, Celestie had pushed herself onto her elbows. Tears ran through the dust on her cheeks]
Celestie: My lady. Please stop.
Musaha: You can't use more. It'll destroy you.
Daylight: Let us help.
Bellatrix: We can still fight.
[God of Lunar smiled at them. It was soft and tired]
God of Lunar: Stay down. All of you.
[Lunar tried to stand and fell back down]
Lunar: My lady. Don't do this!!
God of Lunar: This is my world. My duty.
[She turned back to Ivarak. Her eyes glowed bright silver]
God of Lunar: I won't hand it over
[She lifted the Book above her head]
"God of Lunar - Heart of the Moon"
[She opened every page at once. Light poured out in a blinding white column. The Book answered her in a thousand voices]
[She pushed past the limit. She pushed past the warning. She poured her own life into it like fuel into a furnace]
[Silver cracks ran across her skin. They spread up her arms, down her neck, across her face. Her hair went from silver to gray to ash. Blood ran from her eyes and ears]
Celestie: NO!
Musaha: My lady!
[Bellatrix tried to crawl toward her and couldn't]
[The God of Lunar kept going]
God of Lunar: Page of Genesis!!
[The sky behind her split open. A wave of pale gold light rolled across the celestial world. It carried the power of beginnings. It tried to rewrite the ground beneath Ivarak's feet into a place where he had never stood]
[Ivarak's boots slid back. His coat flapped. His hair streamed behind him]
[For a few seconds, he was losing
[Ivarak planted his heel and dug in]
[His face stayed calm. But a drop of blood ran from his nose]
Ivarak: That's the most power I've felt in this world.
God of Lunar: It's not enough.
Ivarak: No.
God of Lunar: But it's something.
[She raised her hand]
"God of Lunar - Full Moon Decree: End"
[She spoke a single word, and the word cut. The air around Ivarak split like paper. A long silver line sliced across his chest, deeper than the last. Blood poured over his coat. His knee hit the stone]
[Ivarak looked down at the wound and for a moment, nobody breathed]
[Then he started laughing again]
Ivarak: HAHAHAHA!
[The laugh shook the whole courtyard. It wasn't joy. It was the sound of something old and cruel being entertained]
Ivarak: Look at that.
[He stood up slowly. Blood ran down his stomach]
[The Vessel was already closing the wound, stitching skin over skin]
Ivarak: A little moon burning her own body to scratch me. Do you know what that is?
God of Lunar: Determination.
Ivarak: Waste..
[He raised his sword toward the sky]
"Ivarak - Decree of End"
[A line of red light cut across the heavens. It unfolded into a sentence, written in a language older than any Celestial tongue]
[THIS ENDS]
[The Terra Celestial World felt it. The gardens withered. The fountains stopped. The white towers crumbled at the edges like burnt paper. The idea of tomorrow itself stopped moving]
[The God of Lunar raised the Book]
"Infinite Book - Page of Beginnings"
[She wrote a single word across the sky in silver ink]
[BEGIN]
[The two words slammed into each other above the city]
[The sky flickered. One moment it was dark with the red decree. The next it burned silver]
[The two commands fought for control of the world. Wind roared across the courtyard. The ground shook. Every Celestial on the stairs covered their eyes]
[For five seconds, the fight hung in balance]
[The silver word held. The red word held]
[Then the God of Lunar coughed blood]
[The crack on her face split wider. Her left arm broke apart at the elbow and fell to the floor as silver dust]
God of Lunar: Not... yet..
[Ivarak lowered his sword and spoke softly, almost kindly]
Ivarak: You've done well, Moon better than most who stood here. but. Let me finish it.
[He lifted two fingers]
"Ivarak - Alpharus"
[His voice rolled across the sky like a verdict]
Ivarak: Your authority is invalid.
[Alpharus overruled the logic behind every ability she owned. The Page of Genesis crumbled in her hands. Her Full Moon Decree turned to dust in her mouth. Everything she had built to protect her world dropped out of her body like water through a broken bowl]
[She stood in the courtyard with nothing]
[Ivarak crossed the space between them in one step]
[He drove his sword through her chest]
[It made a soft sound. Like a page being torn]
[The God of Lunar looked down at the red blade and her mouth opened.]
[Behind her, on the stairs, Celestie screamed]
Celestie: NOOO!
[Musaha tried to stand and fell. Daylight covered her face. Bellatrix pounded the stone with her fist]
[Lunar crawled forward on her hands and knees, calling her name]
[Ivarak held her there on the end of his blade for a long moment]
[Then he pulled the sword free]
[The God of Lunar fell forward onto the stone. Her body began to glow. Silver light poured from the cracks in her skin. She was coming apart like moonlight scattering through water]
[The Infinite Book slipped from her hands and landed on the steps]
[Ivarak bent down and picked it up]
[The Book was heavy. It was warm. Silver pages shifted under his fingers like living things]
[He opened the cover]
[The pages were blank]
[He flipped to the next one. Blank. And the next. Blank]
[A thin silver flame sparked at the edge of the cover and crawled over his fingers. It burned. He didn't flinch. His skin blistered, then healed, then blistered again]
Ivarak: It resists.
[He smiled]
Ivarak: Of course it does.
[He tightened his grip. The silver flame flared brighter. The Book trembled in his hands like a living thing trying to pull free]
Ivarak: I'm told it needs a chosen user. I'm told it must accept me. I'll make it accept me.
[He laughed again. Slow. Quiet. Terrible]
Ivarak: Everything bends in the end.
[The God of Lunar lay on her side, half-dissolved. Her eyes were still open. Her lips moved]
God of Lunar: It will not choose you.
[Ivarak turned his head]
Ivarak: That's your last word?
God of Lunar: It will not choose... one who ends worlds.
Ivarak: Then it will break.
God of Lunar: Then it breaks.
[Ivarak crouched beside her.]
Ivarak: Let me give you something to take with you.
[He spoke slowly, each line falling like a stone into a still lake]
Ivarak: Small moon, you wore a borrowed light
and swore it was your own.
[He stood]
Ivarak: Rest.
[The last of the God of Lunar's body dissolved into silver petals. They rose on the warm air, swirled once, and vanished into the sky]
[Above the Terra Celestial World, the great pale moon dimmed]
[Ivarak tucked the Book under his arm]
[He didn't look back at the stairs. He didn't look at the five Celestials crying in the dust]
[He walked down the steps one by one. His boots left red prints on the white stone]
[At the gate, he stopped. He raised his hand. A rift opened in the air in front of him, black and silent]
Ivarak: Leave the world standing. It's more fun to take it later.
[He stepped through. The rift closed]
[On the stairs, Celestie curled into a ball, shaking. Daylight pulled her close. Musaha lay on his back and stared at the sky. Bellatrix wept without a sound. Lunar pressed her hand to her mouth]
[The silver petals fell around them like snow]
[Nobody spoke]
[The Eastern World piles up]
[Giga-Strike Divine Judgment screamed down from the sky]
[The beam was wider than the capital. It hit the ground and kept going. Every house, every tree, every blade of grass in its path turned to white glass.]
[Laxcarseel and Jairulioyo stood in its path]
Laxcarseel: Now.
Jairulioyo: Together.
"Laxcarseel - Final Absolute Transcendence"
[His body stretched upward. His shadow grew until it covered the whole street. His presence alone made the air tremble. Laws of nature flickered around him like a candle in a draft. The beam hit his outstretched hand and slowed]
"Jairulioyo - Absolute Catastrophe"
[He slammed both palms into the ground. A dome of blue-white lightning opened above them, thick as a mountain wall. Every bolt in the dome was a miniature storm. The beam crashed into it]
[Both of them dug in]
[The ground cracked under their boots. Rubble rose into the air. Their coats caught fire. Their skin blistered. Blood ran from Laxcarseel's nose and Jairulioyo's mouth]
[For ten long seconds, the two of them held the beam back with nothing but their bodies]
[Then the beam bent]
[It split into two halves. One half curved into the void that Laxcarseel opened. The other half ran into the lightning dome and grounded out into the earth]
[A wall of blinding white light rolled over the capital]
[When it faded, the sky was gone]
[A clean black strip where the atmosphere had been burned away. Beyond the capital, a hundred miles of land lay black and smoking. A crater a mile deep scarred the earth where the beam had touched]
[In the middle of it, two men stood back to back]
[They were still alive]
[Jairulioyo spat blood into the dirt]
Jairulioyo: I think that was the loudest thing I've ever done.
Laxcarseel: My ears are ringing.
Jairulioyo: Mine too.
[Laxcarseel flexed his left hand. A shadow was wrapped around the stump of his forearm like a bandage]
Laxcarseel: He's still glowing.
[Atlas floated above the crater, a column of living plasma]
Atlas: You survived the Judgment.
Laxcarseel: Stop underestimating us
Atlas: I'm impressed.
Jairulioyo: You shouldn't be. Your beam missed the target.
Atlas: Your arm says otherwise.
Jairulioyo: That was Laxcarseel's arm.
Laxcarseel: I'd like it back.
Atlas: Pity.
[Atlas lifted one hand. A bolt of gold lightning crackled between his fingers]
Atlas: Now you understand. In this form, I'm immune to energy. Immune to physical force. Nothing you throw can hurt me.
Laxcarseel: Interesting.
Atlas: Surrender and I'll make it quick.
Jairulioyo: We serve our Lord and we will never surrender in your hands
Atlas: Keep dreaming!
Jairulioyo: I'm going to be honest. That's the worst pitch I've heard all week.
Atlas: You talk too much.
Jairulioyo: You've been talking since you arrived.
Atlas: I'm a god.
Laxcarseel: A god??.. you call yourself a god..
[Atlas's eyes narrowed]
Atlas: You dare mock me huh
Laxcarseel: You are nowhere near a god status
[Atlas screamed and threw the bolt]
"Atlas - Zeus Obliteration Bolt"
[The spear of gold lightning tore across the crater as space bent around it. The ground melted in a straight line. Its tip pierced five layers of reality in less than a blink]
[Jairulioyo was gone]
"Jairulioyo - Godspeed Circuit"
[His body dissolved into a streak of blue-white light, The spear passed through the space he had occupied a half-second before. He reappeared on the far side of the crater, grinning, one eyebrow raised]
Jairulioyo: Late..
[Atlas turned his head toward him]
"Atlas - Volt Speed Divine"
[He split into a hundred bodies. A hundred Atlases appeared at every point around Jairulioyo, each one already mid-strike. Fists, knees, elbows, heels, all landing at once]
[Jairulioyo didn't try to dodge]
Jairulioyo: He create copies of himself??
[The strikes hit empty air]
Atlas: What?
[Jairulioyo stood in the center of the hundred Atlases with his arms crossed]
Jairulioyo: He can strike from every point at the same time
[Godspeed Circuit had put him ahead of Atlas's speed. For a single breath, every spot Atlas could strike from was already occupied by a copy of Jairulioyo. Every one of Atlas's fists landed on another fist, a hundred pairs of knuckles clashing in the same instant]
[The shockwave blew the crater wider]
[Atlas staggered back]
Atlas: He is getting faster than my speed.
Jairulioyo: I'm faster than the idea of your speed.
[Laxcarseel raised his good hand]
"Laxcarseel - Wonder Nullification"
[A line of black light drew across the sky. It wasn't aimed at Atlas. It was aimed at one word]
[Immune]
[For three seconds, the concept of "immunity" stopped working in that crater. Atlas's glowing body flickered. The plasma that shielded him from energy and force went dark. For the first time since he took the form, he was only a body]
Atlas: What did you—
[Jairulioyo was already moving]
"Jairulioyo - Aethon Blitz"
[His fist, wrapped in white lightning, slammed into Atlas's jaw. The impact cracked the sky. A ring of light rolled across the crater. Atlas's head snapped sideways. A tooth flew out. Blood sprayed]
[Laxcarseel stepped in from the other side]
Laxcarseel: This is the end!
"Laxcarseel - Ethereal Soul Sword"
[The pale blade appeared in his one good hand. It cut spirit, not flesh. He swung it across Atlas's ribs]
"Laxcarseel - Abyss of Sin"
[A dark crescent ripped through his chest. Blood and plasma poured from the wound. He screamed]
Atlas: AAAGH!
[He flew backward across the crater and hit the wall. The rock cracked behind him]
[Laxcarseel lowered the sword. His face was calm]
Laxcarseel: That's the soul.
Jairulioyo: Different department
[Atlas pulled himself off the wall]
[His chest was torn open. His lip was split. A thin stream of blood ran from the corner of his mouth]
[He wiped it away and stared at his hand]
Atlas: They are extremely powerful as a team..
Laxcarseel: That's what happens when u look down on your opponent
Atlas: No one makes me bleed... IMPOSSIBLE
Laxcarseel: Shut up..
[Atlas's eyes flared bright gold. The lightning around him went wild]
Atlas: I am the thunder of creation!
Jairulioyo: You're a very loud power cable.
Atlas: I command the storm!
Jairulioyo: And the storm's out of battery.
[Atlas roared]
"Atlas - Plasma-Genesis Storm"
[The sky, what was left of it, boiled with gold electricity. Bolts the size of mountains fell in dense columns. The crater lit up white. The ground turned to glass. The air stank of burning iron]
[Laxcarseel raised his hand]
"Laxcarseel - Nihilism Void"
[A black hole opened above them. The bolts swirled into it like water down a drain. But the storm was larger than before. The void shook. Lightning arced through the cracks and hit the ground around them]
[One bolt struck Jairulioyo in the shoulder]
[He screamed and dropped to one knee. His coat burst into flames. His arm hung at a strange angle]
Jairulioyo: That was my good shoulder.
Laxcarseel: You have another.
Jairulioyo: I'm running low.
Laxcarseel: So am I.
[They shared a bloody grin]
[Atlas flew down and landed in front of them. His body shook. His chest was soaked in blood and plasma]
Atlas: I will not lose to nobodies.
Laxcarseel: We're not nobodies.
Atlas: Then who are you?
Laxcarseel: The most trusted loyal servants to our Lord.. Lord Leo
Atlas: Lord Leo??..
Laxcarseel: Yes... he surpassed all gods and deities
Atlas: That's a lie!
Jairulioyo: Check your chest.
[Atlas looked down. Blood still ran from the wound. His lightning flickered like a dying lamp]
[His hands trembled]
Atlas: No.
[He slammed both fists into the ground]
"Atlas - Ragnarok Thunderclasp"
[The shockwave rolled across the crater. Space cracked. Distance folded. Laxcarseel and Jairulioyo flew backward through the air and hit the far wall]
[They both landed hard]
[Laxcarseel's good arm hung limp. Blood ran down his chin]
[Jairulioyo lay on his back, staring at the burned-out sky]
Jairulioyo: Still alive?
Laxcarseel: Barely.
Jairulioyo: Good.
[They pushed themselves up, shaking, bleeding, and faced the man in the center of the crater]
[Atlas stood panting, one hand pressed to his bleeding chest. His eyes were wild. His smile was gone]
[But he was still on his feet]
Atlas: I'm not finished.
Laxcarseel: Neither are we.
[Atlas raised a trembling hand]
[Catastrophe in the Chaos Universe]
[The sky above the guild district was packed with glowing shapes]
[Six hundred million Hyper Beings hung in the clouds like a swarm of locusts]
[On the ground, Flak stood in a sea of broken guild members]
[Christo lay in a crater, coughing blood. Juno was pinned under a fallen wall. Avior sat against a pillar, one eye swollen shut. Blaze's coat was torn to ribbons. Nox's mask was cracked down the middle]
[Flak raised his hammer and grinned]
Flak: Is that all?
"Flak - Spirit Obliteration"
[The hammer hit the ground. A pale green shockwave rolled outward]
[It broke souls. Every guild member in a mile felt their spirit shudder. Their knees buckled. Blood ran from their noses]
[A dozen mages dropped screaming]
Flak: Your bodies are fine. Your souls aren't.
[Christo pushed himself up on one elbow]
Christo: I'm... still standing.
Flak: Not for long.
[He swung again]
"Flak - Ethereal Shatterstrike"
[The hammer came down on Christo's chest. It didn't touch his armor. It passed straight through. It hit the spirit underneath. Christo's eyes rolled back. A cold white light burst from his chest and scattered like glass]
[He fell face down in the dirt]
[Juno lunged from behind a pillar with a spear of lightning]
"Juno - Thunder Spear"
[The spear flew across the street and hit Flak in the shoulder. It cracked the iron plate. A burst of lightning arced across his armor]
Flak: Weak..
[He grabbed the spear and crushed it in his fist]
Flak: Let me show you what you're up against.
[He raised one huge hand toward the sky]
Flak: Those are six hundred million hypers. Each one is indestructible. Their bodies don't break. Their defenses don't crack. You can pile layers of conceptual attacks onto them and nothing happens. Fate can't touch them. Time can't touch them. Law, space-time, reality. They shrug it all off. Existence erasure? They laugh at it. They erase concepts. They live beyond time and space and they never stay dead.
[Avior coughed]
Avior: Absolute resurrection.. I see
Flak: You've been reading.
Avior: I've been listening.
Flak: The only way to beat them is to surpass their power and none of you can.
[Nox pushed himself up and wiped blood from his mouth]
Nox: That's a lot of talking for someone who's winning.
Flak: I like to explain. It makes the screaming better.
[He snapped his fingers]
[The sky shook]
[Six hundred million Hyper Beings dropped out of the clouds]
[They fell like rain. White streaks across the sky, when they hit the ground, shockwaves rippled outward. Buildings collapsed. Streets split. The air filled with the roar of a thousand earthquakes]
[Squad commanders stepped out of the swarm. Each one glowed brighter than the rest]
Blaze: Everyone up!
[Christo's eyes opened. He was bleeding from the nose. He grabbed a broken pillar and hauled himself upright]
Christo: Ice Knights, with me!
[Juno shoved the wall off his legs]
Juno: Black Phoenix, form up!
[Avior stood, wobbling, and raised one hand]
Avior: Solar Dragons! Support!
[Nox adjusted his cracked mask]
Nox: Dark Lords, spread out.
[They were bleeding. They were bruised. They were barely standing]
[But they stood]
[The Hypers hit the guild lines like a tidal wave]
"Christo - Frost Wall"
[A ring of ice rose from the ground, ten stories tall. It crashed into the first wave. Hundreds of Hypers froze mid-charge. The ice cracked under their weight. A fine mist rose from the broken frost]
[The frozen Hypers shattered seconds later, they stood up again. Their cracks closed. Their eyes glowed]
Christo: They keep coming back!
Blaze: Then we keep hitting.
"Blaze - Vex of Portals"
[A thousand black portals opened in the sky. Swords, spears, and boulders poured out of them like rain. They hit the Hyper lines in a deadly storm. Heads rolled. Arms flew. Hundreds of bodies fell]
[They got up]
Blaze: That's going to be a problem.
[Athena fired three arrows in a single breath]
"Athena - Archery Elements"
[The first arrow carried fire. The second carried ice. The third carried lightning. They hit three different Hypers in the chest. The bodies fell. The wounds closed]
[Becrux twisted the space around a squad of two hundred]
"Becrux - Spatial Fold"
[The street folded in half like a sheet of paper. A thousand Hypers were crushed in the crease]
[The paper unfolded]
[The Hypers stepped out unharmed]
[Raphaela raised both hands]
"Raphaela - Green Fire"
[An emerald wave of flame swept across the district. It burned stone to ash. It melted steel. The Hypers inside it screamed and vanished]
[Seconds later, they walked out of the smoke]
Raphaela: I'm out of ideas.
[Kurina fired off a cyclone. Aries swallowed a whole squad in a single bite. Valentina cast judgment on a hundred Hypers and watched them fall dead. Laaki raised a shield wall to hold the line. Elaine cut open her own hand and turned the blood into razor whips. Sao threw daggers]
[Nothing stuck]
[They fought for an hour]
[Two hours]
[Their numbers started to shrink]
[A cloth-thread user named Luciana fell with her arm torn off. Cian went down under a pile of bodies. Rhea screamed as a Hyper's blade tore her wing]
[Matthaus broke his polearm over a Hyper's skull and fought on with the splintered shaft]
[Shannon ran from one fallen friend to the next, hands glowing green]
Shannon: Stay with me!
[Nobody was winning]
[Nox stood in the middle of the fighting with his hands at his sides]
[His eyes were narrow. He was watching]
Nox: Wait.
Izar: What?
Nox: They stand up because they were dead.
Izar: That's what resurrection is.
Nox: No. They stand up because they were dead and now they're alive. A switch. On, off.
Nerose: So?
Nox: So what if we leave the switch halfway?
[He raised both hands]
"Nox - Liminality"
[A gray fog rolled across the street. It was neither light nor dark. It was the space between states. Wherever it touched, things stopped being one thing or the other]
[A Hyper that walked into it wasn't alive. It wasn't dead. It simply was, stuck in the gap between]
[The Hyper stood still]
[Its eyes went empty. Its mouth hung open. It didn't resurrect, because there was nothing to resurrect from. It didn't die, because dying hadn't finished]
Nox: There.
[Mael watched the frozen Hyper for a moment, then grinned]
Mael: You trapped it between.
Nox: A switch with no position.
[The gray fog rolled outward. Thousands of Hypers walked into it]
[All of them stopped]
[The guild fought harder]
[Every time a Hyper fell, Nox's fog caught it before it could stand up. The dead and the half-alive piled up in the gray. The numbers dropped. Fifty million. Ten million. One million]
[Cetus poured karmic power into the fog to keep it from fading. Rose Beatrice petrified the ones that tried to crawl out. Mael cut them down with his sword. Vesper's death magic held the last few]
[By the time the sun touched the horizon, the sky was clear]
[Six hundred million Hypers were gone]
[The guild stood in the ruins, wounded, bloody, and breathing]
[Flak stared at the empty sky]
[He hadn't moved the entire time]
Flak: You... you killed my army.
Nox: We stopped it.
[Flak's hands shook]
Flak: Six hundred million.
Nox: Fewer now.
[Flak raised his hammer]
Flak: Then I'll kill you myself.
[He swung]
"Flak - Phantom Soul-Drain Harvest"
[A green aura spread from his body. It sucked at the spirits of everyone in sight. Guild members dropped to their knees. Their skin went gray. Their breaths came out shallow. Flak's armor glowed brighter with every heartbeat]
[Shannon ran forward and slammed both hands on the ground]
"Shannon - Life Wave"
[A wave of warm green light rolled across the street. It pushed back the drain. The grayness faded from their faces]
Shannon: I can't hold it long.
Christo: Then we end this fast.
[Flak laughed]
Flak: You can't win.
[He lifted one hand]
"Flak - Reincarnation Absolute"
[A hundred ghostly wraiths rose from the ground. Pale, translucent, screaming. Each one was a soul he had ripped out of the afterlife and chained to his will. They charged at the guild like a wave of smoke]
[Staril stepped forward]
"Staril - Nirvana"
[A gentle golden light spread across the ground. The wraiths touched it and went still. Their screams softened. Their chains cracked. One by one, they dissolved into drifting sparks]
[Flak growled]
"Flak - Spirit-Chain Entanglement"
[A white chain shot from his palm and wrapped around Blaze's chest. At the other end, a distant star flickered in the sky, burning low]
Flak: When that star dies, so do you.
Blaze: That's cheating.
Flak: That's a Tuesday.
[Blaze looked up at the dying star]
"Blaze - Vex of Portals"
[He opened a portal in front of the star and a second one in the middle of the void. The star slipped through the first and came out the other side, a billion miles away, burning bright]
[The chain snapped[
Blaze: Out of range.
[Flak snarled]
[Flak raised his hammer one more time. His eyes glowed green]
"Flak - Rewriting Tempest"
[A storm of screaming souls burst from his armor. Billions of faces. Billions of voices. They crashed over the guild like a black wave. Memories vanished. Names slipped away. Guild members dropped their weapons and clutched their heads]
[Christo's hands shook. His eyes went blank]
Christo: Who... who am I?.. we can't defeat him..
[Avior stepped in front of them. He raised his hand]
"Avior - Mind Shield"
[A glowing wall of thought rose in front of the guild. The wave of souls crashed against it. Avior's body shook]
[Blood ran from his eyes and ears. His knees buckled]
Avior: Hold... hold on.
"Avior - Words of Thought"
[He whispered a single word]
Avior: Silence.
[The tempest of voices went quiet. The screaming faces froze. Then they faded, one by one, into soft gray ash]
[Avior collapsed to his knees]
Avior: That's all I have.
[Flak stood alone]
[His hammer arm was shaking. His armor was cracked. Green light leaked from his body like water from a broken jar]
Flak: You... you've broken my army. You've broken my storm... But you can't kill me. I'm the sovereign of souls. I can't die."
[Juno stood up slowly]
[His arm was broken. His eyes were bloodshot. His coat was burned. But in his good hand, he held a long, thin sword of lightning]
"Juno - Henio Thunder Sword"
[The blade crackled with a deep, steady glow. It could negate any power. It could negate immortality]
Juno: That's what you think.
Flak: What is that?
Juno: A very good sword.
[He ran]
[Christo raised his hands]
"Christo - Ice Prison"
[A cage of ice slammed down around Flak's legs. He roared and tore it apart. But it slowed him for one second]
[Blaze opened a portal behind Flak's head]
"Blaze - Vex of Portals"
[A hundred swords shot out and hit him in the back. They bounced off his armor. But they distracted him]
[Nox raised both hands]
"Nox - Liminality"
[The gray fog wrapped around Flak's ankles. For a heartbeat, he wasn't quite alive or quite dead. His immortality faltered]
[Juno leaped]
[The blade of lightning hit Flak square in the chest]
"Juno - Henio Thunder Slash"
[The sword didn't cut iron. It cut his immortality. A line of white light opened across Flak's armor. It ran through his body. It tore through his soul]
[Flak's mouth opened. Green light poured from the cut. His armor cracked. His hammer fell from his hand and hit the ground with a thud that shook the whole district]
Flak: Impossible.
[Juno pulled the blade free]
Juno: Wrong word.
[Flak toppled forward like a falling tower. The ground trembled. Dust rose in a long gray cloud]
[His armor cracked into pieces. The pale ghosts around his legs screamed once and faded]
[He lay still]
[The silence that followed was thick]
[Nobody cheered]
[Christo sat down in the dirt and put his head in his hands. Juno leaned on his sword, panting. Blaze lay on his back. Nox slid his cracked mask off and pressed it to his chest. Avior crawled to a pillar and slumped against it]
[Shannon walked from person to person, wiping blood off their faces, healing what she could]
[The district was a ruin. Buildings were rubble. Streets were craters. The sky was clear for the first time all day]
[Avior lifted his head]
Avior: Is it over?
Christo: This front.
Avior: That's something.
Blaze: It's a lot.
[They sat in the wreckage and breathed]
[Somewhere far away, the war was still going]
To be continued..