Blitzing through the cave system of trains at superhuman speed, I descended deeper into the earth—miles beneath the mountain—until I arrived at my destination: a massive ritual site carved into the bedrock. Glowing magical circuits webbed across the walls, pulsing with raw energy. Crystals of radiant light were embedded at precise intervals, casting otherworldly shadows that danced like spirits.
"Went a little hard on the boy, no?" a stylish woman called out, drawing my attention. She lounged atop a raised ledge, one leg crossed over the other, an open screen floating beside her. Mortals fumbled their way through the mountain corridors in real time, broadcast for all to see.
"It was entertaining, at the least. Wouldn't you agree, Kimaris?" I said, arms raised in defense, a grin tugging at my lips.
"Horrifying is the word I'd use," muttered Heru, swiping his own glowing screen away with a flick. "Still, good work dragging the surveyor into his own nightmare. With a bit of flame-fanning from me, news of Arthur's regression status spread like wildfire through the system. The stream's viewership skyrocketed—billions now watching."
"Hundreds of kingdom-class and several dreadnought-class ships have already been detected," added Clara, who sat below Kimaris, stylish glasses perched on her nose as her fingers danced across a laptop. "They're moving through galactic warp gates—heading straight for us in the galaxy. First wave hits in five minutes."
"Uh-huh. And Sathuna's golden boy? And the witch herself?" I asked, casting my gaze toward the heart of the ritual.
There she was. Crouched in the center of the glowing array, Sathuna chanted in a dozen magical tongues at once. Her voice was a garbled symphony, unraveling logic with every syllable. Spectral copies of her flickered in and out of existence, slipping through dimensions like ghosts dancing on the seams of reality.
"Sathuna's fully focused, clearly," Kimaris said, removing her top hat and dropping it onto Clara's head. She then ran a hand through her hair, smoothing the strands around her devilish horns. "As for her progeny... he's doing splendidly. Playing mouse and leading all the cats right into our trap. Watching him work is like watching a master chef slow-roast his ingredients."
"He's burning himself out, though," Heru muttered, frowning. "Cayden's a fifth-ring sequencer, and most of his targets are third-sequence at best, but still... the precision required to apply those runes is insane—especially with how spread out the targets are, Strife."
"That's why Anika's supporting him with her teleportation," Clara chimed in, standing and adjusting the hat Kimaris had left. "Even with Cayden's affinity for speed and illusion magics, it'd be a miracle if he pulled this off solo. He's just like us, Heru—a regular mortal. Demon sub-species or not."
Kimaris nodded in agreement as the three of us watched Cayden through the stream. He was a blur of light, vanishing and reappearing as he tagged his marks with glowing runes—an uncatchable dance leader guiding his unwilling partners in a flickering ballet of precision and misdirection.
It was like watching fireflies blink in and out of existence, each flash revealing a new target trapped in the same doomed waltz.
A buzz crackled through Clara and Heru's earpieces. They exchanged grim looks.
"What's an Outer God doing here already?" Clara asked, stunned.
"No clue, but it wasn't on Sathuna's guest list," Heru replied. Another buzz. He cursed under his breath. "Shit. Wukong just engaged the first wave above Trannorri. Sifo Ren's mopping up the stragglers. Vitrena's on the other side of the planet and won't make it in time. Strife—can you handle the Outer God? Dryden's curse detection spells are classifying it at Ninth Sequence."
"Oblivion Hunter, then," I muttered, stepping back as aether sparked at my feet. "It must've tracked me while I traveled with Sifo. I'll keep it occupied—see if I can multitask."
Another sharp buzz hit their earpieces. Clara's eyes widened.
"Second wave just arrived—and they're attacking the Outer God! Must've mistaken it for one of ours."
"Perfect," I said, relaxing slightly. "Buys me time to prep. Any suggestions for my forte today?"
"Whip Master!" Kimaris shouted weirdly enthusiastic, eyes gleaming. "Use that for the invasion!"
"Clara, what about the Outer God?" I prompted.
"Huh?! I—uh—w-weapon thief! No, wait—!"
"Whip Master and Weapon Thief it is," I declared, locking in the roles with a grin. "Interesting combo... but I'll manage with some god-king extravagance. Take care of yourselves while I'm out."
Kimaris pumped her fist while Clara moped at her indecision. "Finally got you to be a circus performer." Kimaris celebrated.
I raised two fingers in salute and shot off in a bolt of lightning, bursting out of the mountain's train-filled heart. I streaked across the planet's surface, blazing continents behind me, until I skidded to a halt beneath a storm of explosions in the upper atmosphere.
Above me, spaceships housing thousands were being shredded by scything beams of cosmic energy—dealt mercilessly by the Outer God. Those that slipped through the massacre met a fiery end crashing into floating train tracks or colliding with the sky-bound trains themselves.
I rolled up the sleeves of my autumn-toned jacket, fire in my blood and a grin breaking across my face.
"All of you... come out."
[Aspect: Taken Devourer — Taken Army!]
In an instant, ink-black shadows coalesced across the broken terrain and up in the sky. Hundreds of thousands of figures emerged, knightly silhouettes kneeling before me no matter where they appeared—on the ravaged earth, on crumbling train tracks, or floating midair.
The four strongest among them stepped forward: a knight clad in jagged obsidian armour, a serpent-bodied naga swung its tail with anticipation, a nine-tailed Kitsune with hungry eyes, and a gigantic echidna that rumbled with barely-contained violence.
"We await your command," they spoke in unison, their voices like the rustle of torn parchment.
"Take what you want," I said.
A roar immediately erupted as the army surged upward—an inverted waterfall of destruction clawing toward the heavens. Flying beasts carried knights, others leapt between floating train tracks, and the sky darkened beneath the tide of living ink.
"I'll take as I like too, then," I whispered.
Chains coiled around my forearms, unfurling like serpents and unraveling into twin whips. Ribbon-like feathers were woven through their metallic links, fluttering in the rising winds, lending the weapons an almost dreamy, ethereal grace.
I began to spin the whip on my left arm. Its speed increased rapidly, digging deep trenches into the ground with every revolved arc—until, with a flick, I swung it in a great, sweeping motion.
The chain extended.
Far beyond expectation.
It stretched through the heavens, shocking even those watching from afar. The gleaming length of metal and light cleaved through ten dreadnought-class spaceships in a single strike, shredding them into cosmic debris. In the same motion, the chain whipped the unknown outer god out of the planet's atmosphere, sending it hurtling into the endless void.
Dragging my hand down, the chain shrank and coiled once more at my side, obedient and subdued.
"...Shouldn't have been that easy," I muttered, disappointed. "Must be a peculiar type. It'll be back soon enough, I imagine."
[Stigma: Equal Correlation — Sequence 6.3]
A wave of weakness slipped between my fingers.
My muscles tightened. Then trembled. Power fled my body as the [stigma] forced my strength down, trying to level me with the invaders' median. I fought it—briefly. A mistake. Blood gushed from my mouth, spraying as fine mist through cracks that tore open in my skin before mending over just as fast.
"Urgh..." I staggered back, grimacing. "Thought it wouldn't hit this hard at the start. Damn it..."
The backlash meant only lesser gods and fledgling Transcendents had arrived so far. That Oblivion Hunter—whatever breed of horror it was—must be far enough away that its presence wasn't skewing the [stigma] too heavily.
[Skill: Sephiwrath — First Gate of Yesod!]
Power erupted from my core. Golden and silver patterns split down the center of my body—left side igniting with golden tattoos, right side glowing with silver-veined roots beneath my skin. The surge counteracted the [stigma] just enough, forcing a channel of strength back into my limbs.
"...Much better." Wiping blood from my lips, I exhaled.
More ships pierced the atmosphere above, swarming in like locusts. Armies of rival pantheons desperate to capture the one power that could crown them kings.
Arthur Moonleaf—and the universal regressor powers of his [aspect].
Several Exalted beings turned their gaze to me, divine sight focusing like a spotlight. The deep ravine to my left, carved in a single motion, and the floating wreckage of the first wave behind me were enough to give them pause.
[Stigma: Equal Correlation — Sequence 6.5]
But presence alone was no shield.
Their animosity burned through the skies as they dove down en masse, only to be met by my apocalyti army—beasts and knights of ink that tore them apart before they even passed the atmospheric train tracks.
More came. Millions more. The skies blotted with dreadnoughts, dragon ships, divine arks. A billion spaceships now.
"...I'll need to get creative if I'm gonna stop all this with a couple of whips." A smile crept onto my face as a dreadnought slammed through a line of hovering trains above. "Heh. The whips can be a little special. I'll name them... Naegling."
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest — Naegling!]
Power surged into the whips, flowing down the chain links like molten rivers. The feathered ribbons hardened into glowing cores, and strange bark-like material twisted along the metal edges.
They tore apart—splitting into four living whips—twisting like serpents in the air. Each now crackling with black ink at the tip, pointing toward the cardinal directions.
"...A little lacking with the [stigma], but whatever!"
[Skill: Sephiwrath — Second Gate of Gevurah!]
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest — Breach Surge!]
The four serpents launched skyward, unshackled, infinite. They slithered through the heavens, ripping through battleships and fledgling gods alike, their paths scarring the sky with explosions and shimmering destruction. A twister of divine carnage—thousands of miles wide—and I hadn't moved an inch.
"Die!!" A fledgling deity of the sixth sequence charged me, screaming with divine madness.
Without a glance, I flicked my wrist. The whip end snapped once and he was gone. Split clean down the middle.
A god of space, perhaps. Rare. What a waste.
[Stigma: Equal Correlation — Sequence 8.1]
"...Now it's getting interesting."
The whispers came—crawling aether through my skull, begging for more, for destruction, for spectacle. My grin widened. I barely noticed the ship formation aiming to suicide charge me—until my right arm swung and erased them in a cyclone of whip strikes.
The Naegling Whips darted skyward again—serpents of death dancing between galaxies.
[Skill: Astral Third Eye — Spatial Ripple Detection]
Portals. All across the planet. New waves of divine scavengers spilled through. More aspects. More Exalted. All chasing Arthur.
"...Someone annoying's shown up." I tilted my head, speaking to the air. "Heru?"
A mechanical mole shot from the ground, speaker-mouth buzzing with Clara's voice. "Wukong and Vita are handling the sky with Sifo REN's fire support. Clear the ones slipping through to the surface, Strife."
"Sounds fun." I snapped my arms down. The whips slithered back, reconnecting with bone-cracking precision—once more just two. "...My legs needed a stretch anyway."
[Skill: Autumn King's Conquest — Mach Rush!]
With a slight step I vanished. The ground quaked and tore apart in my wake as I blitzed forward at full Mach speed. The whips trailing from my arms carved through Exalted bodies like butcher's wire. With every step, the earth exploded, entombing the ruined corpses in craters.
[Aspect: Primal Rebel — Self-Fun!]
On the eastern hemisphere, a golden horde of laughing monkey clones held the skies with savage joy. Each clone struck down Exalted like falling stars, while the original sat atop a pillar breaching the heavens, waiting for a challenge worthy of him.
[Aspect: Full Moon's Constellation — Star Hunter]
On the planet's night-cloaked west, the stars themselves became weapons. Constellations fell like arrows, piercing exalted flesh and disintegrating their souls. In her celestial nest, the Huntress lounged, sadistic hunger gleaming in her eyes.
[Aspect: Taken Devourer — Telekinesis!]
And across the surface, cutting from pole to pole at impossible speeds, I moved as a blur of annihilation. My smile never faded, even as blood painted my skin, spraying from crushed bones and shattered pride.
This was a war we would win too easily.
Three of the most powerful beings in the universe facing an invasion that couldn't even force us to break a sweat.
Only ten minutes had passed. And we were bored. All we could wonder was: When will someone truly entertaining arrive?