The plan was working relatively well. Moirai watched as the three high-ranking Lords peeled off the dragons that had been following the big Gold Dragon. Those dragons had confidence in their leader’s ability to triumph against the weird fox creature that kept running away, so they didn’t mind engaging separate targets when the opportunity was presented. Neiveoss would not appreciate anyone butting in on his hunt anyway. The white-sashed woman who had named herself Sareash was doing well against her opponent, but the two green-sashed Lords were not faring as well. Not that they were in danger of losing quickly, but they were not exactly winning either.

With Moirai’s support, the other Lords were pushing the dragons back despite their lack of numbers. The dragons simply weren’t as well trained in fighting as a group even if they were individually more powerful, and Moirai could hold her ground against several rank eleven and lower dragons. Originally the plan had called for the bastion to move as a support as well, but the Dragonkin mages had taken this opportunity to launch an assault on the bastion, forcing the constructs and the defenders inside to focus on repelling the assault. Even now several magical attacks were crashing against the bastion’s defenses. Still, Moirai was confident that the situation was turning in their favor. Dee would be able to handle the Gold Dragon, and even if that was the only victory they managed to achieve today, it would be enough.

Suddenly Moirai felt two things that raised her hackles. Her senses as a psion revealed a lot of anger being projected by another powerful psion, and she also felt the rapid approach of a large amount of psionic energy. “Everybody fly up!” She ordered quickly.

She was not the person in command, but the Lords had seen and heard enough of the universe to take such sudden warnings seriously. They complied almost on instinct, and just in time too as an enormous blade of psionic energy suddenly swept horizontally through the aerial battle. The blade was larger than the entire flying fortress that functioned as a base for the Assembly forces; in fact, it was multiple times the width and much more in length. They couldn’t even clearly see the other end of the blade. As the blade passed another one took its place as if the blades were attached to one another. It reminded Moirai of a sword-staff that had a blade coming from both ends of the handle.

Several of the dragons fell from the sky with various wounds from the sudden attack, and even one of the rank twelve dragons started to fall after losing a wing to the blade. “What the hells was that?!” Sareash demanded while getting closer to Moirai. The intelligent woman didn’t forget to take advantage of the situation by attacking the confused dragons with her spells, but she also realized that Moirai seemed to know something.

“That was Dee. She seemed to be quite ticked off for some reason.” Moirai replied with a wry grin. Dee could have weird bursts of emotion on occasion.

“Is she crazy?! She almost cleaved our forces in two as well!” The woman protested angrily, even if the result was great for them.

“Is she crazy? Eh, most likely. But not more than the rest of us. In this case though, she knew I would be able to sense it. Besides, the first swipe went through an area with almost no Lords. If she didn’t care at all, she would’ve struck at the spot where the battle was the thickest.” Moirai explained.

“Still. Is she done with the Gold Dragon already? We could still use her help with the battle, although we can manage without. That was a very useful surprise attack, but I feel it was not exactly the most effective thing she could have done.” Sareash was referring to the fact that an attack like that used quite a lot of power, while the effect might end up being rather limited. Several smaller spells at a shorter range would be a more efficient use of power.

“She should be done, but I don’t think the result was what she wanted. I feel she was mostly venting with that attack. Besides, I think she’ll manage. She can draw on a quite a bit of power from different sources.” Moirai knew that the previous attack might be a little excessive when it came to using Dee’s psionic power effectively, but that Dee also had access to her holy power. Besides, Dee was always good at recovering quickly.

“Venting? That was just venting? She injured a dozen dragons and severely wounded one of the rank twelve immortal ones as well. Most of them will recover given the chance, but still. Remind me not to piss her off.” Sareash gave a small shiver.

Sareash was rather proud of her power as a rank twelve immortal, and for a good reason. She was much stronger than the two greens for instance. However, the twelfth rank was the widest when it came to levels of power, and the power just displayed rather casually by Dee put things into perspective. Dee was clearly someone who would be able to approach the beings at the top of the twelfth rank, which were approaching the fabled thirteenth rank. She decided to keep the name Dee in mind for future. The Assembly didn’t have too many beings that could claim to be rank thirteen and not too many more of those that could claim to be close to becoming one either. Most of both were either leaders of the factions or were part of the council.

‘The reds clearly have a new trump card. Something I should pass on to the rest of my faction.’ Suddenly she noticed a pillar of light that fell towards the direction where the psionic blade had originated from. “And what would that be? Don’t tell me there’s another attack coming.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I doubt it’s an attack. Look!” Moirai pointed at something at the top of the pillar of light. She and many others recognized the symbol of Lumen, the Goddess of Light. Moirai also suddenly realized that she could not sense the presence of Dee with her Mindscape. With the amount of time the two had spent together, there was no way Moirai would not notice Dee either. “I have a feeling we might have to deal with the current situation without Dee for a while.”

-----

“What now?” Dee growled in frustration. She was still in her dragon form, which was part of the reason she didn’t get close to the battle just now. While the Dragonflight might find out about her dragon form, she still thought it might be best to not advertise it to the Assembly until her position was more secure. They were likely to find out anyway, but the timing with such things was often important.

Suddenly a solemn voice sounded from behind her. “Champion of Lumen! You have been called here to take part in a challenge in your chosen deity’s place.”

As Dee focused on her surroundings, she noted that she was almost drowned out by the sheer amount of holy power in the area. Even the walls and the floor seemed to be made of pure holy power. Her current position looked a little like an arena of sorts, though it felt a little cramped for her current size. Then she realized that she could change the size with a thought. Or that someone could. The holy power in her surroundings could be freely controlled to change those surroundings, but someone else was already exerting control over that holy power. She might be able to wrest control of the power if she really tried, but decided not to do so for now.

Her surroundings were also filled with…well not people exactly. The seats of the ‘arena’ were filled with almost indistinct forms made of pure and extremely dense holy power. While the forms seemed indistinct, Dee realized that she could get a much clearer view if she focused on a single form at a time. The forms seemed to be representing gods and many of the gods had more than one facet and appearance, which is why they seemed indistinct when you didn’t focus on them. There were also a lot of those gods sitting in the audience seats. Still, it seemed that these were only small pieces of the gods and not their true bodies, if they even had one.

One of those gods was in the arena with her, while another seemed to be acting as some sort of referee, floating above them. That deity clearly expected some sort of an answer from Dee, and she decided to oblige for now, at least until she had a better idea of what was going on. “Have I? And where is the Goddess of Light?”

“That is not your concern Champion. You were called and now you must do your duty.” The deity that seemed to be in charge of the proceedings declared. As Dee focused on the form, she realized that the deity seemed to be some sort of genderless deity of balance and fairness.

“I don’t think so.” Dee growled. “I don’t fight because some random god commands me to. I’m not your Champion or your servant. Anyone can claim to speak for Lumen, but that doesn’t make it so. Now, where is the Goddess of Light?”

One of the indistinct forms sitting in a separate section of twenty seats flew towards the arena. Dee could of course recognize Lumen as they shared the connection of a blessing, and idly also noted that a couple of those separate seats were empty. Most likely one of those empty seats belonged to Eternity. Dee could feel Umbra and Death present, but not Eternity.

Lumen grinned as she got closer. “Well done my Champion. Some of the gods are a bit too stuffy and wanted to use the ceremonies to put pressure on you. It’s nice that you put them in their place right away. You are not theirs to command.” Her eyes also gave the silent message that the goddess realized Dee was not under her command either.

“So what’s this about?” Dee asked a bit curtly. She had some idea just from the first words the ‘referee’ had said but wanted a bit more information.

“So as it happens, many deities have tried challenging me to clear the way for Order to usurp my position. You knew this already. What you did not know is that I’m allowed to have you represent me in my stead. They didn’t quite realize it either before now, even though I threatened them with it earlier. At first they were hesitant to even try, but they decided to go on with the plan. Oh, and you are in the land where gods meet. The other Pantheon.” Lumen explained.

“You might have wanted to mention this before I became the Champion.” Dee growled a lot more quietly this time. Clear enough to display her displeasure, but not loud enough to draw attention. Lumen was making sure they were not overheard as long as they kept relatively quiet, but apparently it was not appropriate to prevent all sounds from escaping.

“Would it have stopped you? Besides, I think you’ll end up liking this one. You get a free license to put your claws on deities and their Champions. That will be a double benefit for you. If I’m not completely mistaken, the death of the Spider Goddess was quite a power increase for you, and don’t you have a certain goal that requires the deaths of just the types of Champions and deities that Order might send against us? It’s almost like a free buffet.” Lumen whispered in a conspiratorial tone.

“A buffet where eating will tick off the other gods.” Dee pointed out the obvious disadvantage.

“Only some of them. Most gods will actually be happy that some of their rivals will either die or lose power and prestige. Besides, you have the protection of more than one deity. It will not be easy for the gods to seek revenge with backers like us. And the more my position elevates, the less other gods will flock to Order’s side. It’s a win-win for both of us. The more prominent you become as my Champion, the less resistance Order will be able to muster when you set yourself against the angels.” Lumen explained. She had planned this out. She knew Dee would be pissed, but she also knew that she could make Dee see reason. The girl was very logical after all. They both knew that Dee’s time of hiding was coming to an end. It was time to take a position on the stage, so might as well go big. She didn’t realize just how big it was going to get though.

“Fine. Who am I fighting? A deity or a Champion?” Dee acquiesced. She knew Lumen had glossed over some of the downsides, but the goddess was not wrong.

“The cowards were a little careful this time. One of the gods of glory challenged me, and as soon as I invoked my right to have you take the challenge in my stead, they did the same. The Deity is calling for their Champion right now. I think you’ll like this one.” Lumen returned to her chair and left behind the teasing hint.

“Challenger, call your Champion!” The referee had decided Lumen and Dee were done and instructed the god still on the arena to do what he was here to do. The holy symbol of the deity floated in the air and seemed to turn into something looking like the surface of a pond. An angelic being suddenly burst out of the pond, scattering the holy power mimicking water into the surroundings.

“Champion of Vinh Quang! You have been called here to take part in a challenge in your chosen deity’s place.” The referee declared again, and the deity made a simple declaration. “For Glory!” Which was returned by the Champion. It seemed no other explanations were required. They had obviously planned this out beforehand.

The interaction had been small, but it showed that the referee was playing favorites. Lumen had not been allowed such interaction before Dee had demanded it. The difference was small, but still there. Dee observed her opponent. The first thing worthy of her attention was obvious. The enemy was actually an angel. The second thing was the wings. Where most angels had wings of feathers, this angel had his wings made of pure energy, in most cases holy power. The wings seemed capable of taking any form the angel desired, although in this case they looked like chains floating behind his back.

Dee’s knowledge on the different angels was relatively good, so she could recognize one of the Cherubim when she saw one. The wings were a really obvious hint. The Seraphim with their flaming wings were the most dangerous warriors of Paradisia, but the Cherubim were a close second. Where stereotypically Seraphim focused on speed and skill, the abilities of the Cherubim leaned more towards sheer strength and fortitude. That such a relatively minor deity had such a high ranking angel as a Champion, clearly indicated that the deity was allied with Order. It was possible that the Cherubim had been made a Champion just for this occasion.

“So I’ve been called to slay a dragon this time? Well, you will not be the first serpent of your kind I slay in the name of my glorious deity.” The confident angel stated. He seemed to be unaware of Dee’s odd heritage, as there were no others of Dee’s kind, which should have been fairly obvious at a glance.

Dee gave a savage grin. “I think you’re mistaking something. You’re not here to slay me. You’re here to die instead of the coward deity that you serve. He chose to run away as soon as he realized he had no chance personally. Glory indeed.”

Her words clearly angered the angel as he dashed towards Dee even before the referee had given the signal to start. That the referee didn’t prevent it was another sign of preferential treatment. Not that Dee really cared. While the angel was a powerful enemy to most beings, to her the angel was not a real threat. Very few beings by themselves were. The breath of a dragon gathered in her throat. The angel didn’t seem too worried, which was a bad decision. While the sturdy Cherubim could most likely resist the breath of many dragons, this one was a little different, even without much of the dark flames being added.

As Dee’s head moved to release the breath attack, the Cherubim moved to dodge the obvious danger. Why take the attack head-on if you can avoid it? Except he didn’t get far before bindings of golden holy energy wound around him, and Dee’s position shifted faster than even the gods could follow. Dee had gotten the idea from the wings of the Cherub, and the irony was not lost on anyone. Usually the powerful angel could have shaken off the bindings rather quickly, but he didn’t get the opportunity. Dee released her breath at point-blank range, disintegrating the poor angel in less than a second.

The Cherub had not been randomly chosen, and neither had the god that had made him a Champion. With their combined abilities, the Cherub should have been able to return from almost any damage. He was one of the beings that could regenerate his body from being blasted to mere particles, but in this case that ability was useless. Dee never gave him the chance to regenerate. The gods could all see how the soul of the Champion was devoured by Dee right after, showing what fate awaited those that challenged Dee. They all turned together to look towards Death in the highest position currently occupied.

‘So that’s why Death was the first to rise in defense of Lumen the last time Order tried to make a move.’ Sol Invictus suddenly realized while sitting close to the goddess everyone was focusing on. ‘Death has allied herself with Lumen and Umbra? That’s bad. That’s very bad. I wonder how invested she is in this alliance? I better have a word with her after this. I have a feeling there’s more to this alliance than just helping Lumen. And if there is, then there might also be an opportunity for other considerations. Assuming that Champion survives what is about to come.’

Sol Invictus was not the only deity to make the connection, though not many realized all the implications. They just knew that the Champion of Lumen had some ties with Death. That also explained Dee’s ability to kill the Spider Goddess. They had not been sure of the reason before, and this information was making them feel better. Unknown things made the gods nervous. Even if the information came with the implication of an alliance of sorts between Death and Lumen, that was something they could deal with. Even if this messed with their plans in a major way, that was still better than the unknown danger.

Unfortunately, the unexpected alliance has only hardened the resolve of others. A Champion of Lumen that also had the blessing of Death was a threat they needed to deal with before it was too late. As soon as the battle was over, another deity dropped into the arena. “Isha, the Goddess of Desert Sands challenges Lumen, the Goddess of Light.”

“What is this?” Lumen demanded with a stormy look on her face.

“Looks like a trap to me sister dearest.” Umbra stated with her own deep frown.

“Indeed. The rules about multiple challenges in succession have always been more of a polite agreement and not a real rule.” Order crowed from his own seat. “If you can suddenly choose to ignore the old habits, then so can we. Let’s see just how long your Champion can last. It seems she might have used a bit of overkill to slay that poor Cherub, and it seems she came straight from a battle. I wonder if it was a rough and draining battle. Oh dear.” Order’s worry was so obviously feigned and full of sarcasm that there was no way to miss his real meaning.

After a moment of silent seething by Lumen, Order continued. “Of course, nothing is stopping you from taking your Champion’s place. Though I’m afraid that at that point the challengers will no longer be using their own Champions either. It will be all deities from that point on.” His threat was obvious. He had more than likely also provided other angels as faux-Champions to other gods that were in on the plot.

“There actually is a limit set in the rules, though I doubt we will reach that limit.” Death suddenly stated. “I wonder. How many gods have you managed to rope into this little plot of yours? We will not be accepting the same gods taking on new Champions and challenging her again. If they want to give a second challenge, they will have to put their own lives on the line. How many will have that courage?”

Death was actually glad about the situation, which is why she had not done anything when she had heard rumors of the plot. This moved her plans forward nicely. It would be a really long day for Dee though. Lumen would not be able to take part because that would result in a chain of fights tiring her down before Order personally made a move. As long as only Dee was fighting, the most powerful enemies would stay in reserve. Dee would be so pissed by the time this was done.