Nasir-Sin stared out from his realm at the surrounding darkness. The realms of the gods were partially real places while partially existing as pure concepts. Each god had a realm of their own, although some of the minor gods only had a small plot of land staked on some minor world. The highest ranking gods like him could have realms that didn’t really even have a fixed shape or size. The realm was as small or as large as he needed and had whatever was required inside of it. Most of the realms of the gods drifted in the space between reality and dreams, between the material plane and the other planes, ranging from elemental to places so bizarre that even the gods didn’t understand them. Usually, the realms of the gods didn’t come into contact, but there were exceptions. If one of the gods involved wanted to draw closer to the realm of another deity, then the two would slowly draw closer. Reasons for such approach were numerous, ranging from alliances to all-out wars.

Nasir-Sin had been planning on making a move on Lumen. With the recent hunt for the remaining servants of Lumen, the realm of the Goddess of Light had become vulnerable. As expected, Lumen had forced a short truce between them to pull her own followers into her realm. A foolish choice. Many of those followers served Nasir-Sin as well, and now Lumen’s realm was vulnerable to attack because he now had power inside her realm as well. In a normal situation, a deity didn’t allow servants of other gods into their realm just for these kinds of reasons.

If he couldn’t replace her with a more pliable goddess, then maybe he could attack her realm and gain the victory that way. A god was extremely powerful inside their own realm. The more power the realm held, the more difficult it was to attack. The realms could hold all sorts of defenses from spells to guardian creatures and familiars. When two realms came into contact, gaining victory in a battle between the two realms was possible, but the defending side usually held an advantage that bordered on unbeatable. That’s why battles between realms were so rare. Unless something happened to make the other realm especially vulnerable to attack.

His plan had been a good one. Lumen had even promised to reveal the identity of the party responsible for disrupting the gateways of the angels. Nasir-Sin would have allowed the truce even without that promise, after pretending to be unwilling of course, but Lumen had even sweetened the deal without asking. She was a bit too eager to jump to her own defeat. That made Nasir-Sin suspicious. Obviously she had a plan, but what could she do? He had considered the possibility of the whole thing being a trap, but the servants he had sent to Lumen’s realm truly were making it vulnerable to attack and there seemed to be no extra defensive measures taken. Lumen could be subtle when she wanted, but only to an extent.

Things should’ve been fine. He had even gathered dozens of gods that had promised to help him in the upcoming attack. Yet the darkness around his realm made him wary. There was something unnatural about it. It was as if there was something hiding in the darkness, just waiting for an opportunity to attack. Many of the worlds his servants lived on had already suffered from attacks by shadow creatures. Surely the same couldn’t happen to his realm? His servants and spirit warriors could fend off any such attack, but surely his own realm couldn’t be vulnerable to such things? It was obvious that a certain Goddess of Darkness was up to no good, but his realm was just as difficult to attack as any other. She shouldn’t have the strength to threaten him.

Suddenly the hairs at the back of his neck stood and he heard an eerie laughter that seemed to be coming from all around his realm. Yet only he seemed to be able to hear it as none of his allies reacted. “Umbra!” He scoffed angrily. “How bold of you to approach my realm so openly. And I can’t even sense your realm, which means you have come here with just your own power to back you up. Have you come to surrender?”

He couldn’t see the goddess but her voice sounded from all around once again. “Surrender? I don’t think so. Why would I surrender on the eve of my victory? And why shouldn’t I be here? Surely you’re not thinking that you are the only one able to launch attacks on the realms of other gods? As for my realm, I don’t need it. My realm is wherever there is darkness, and in case you missed it, you’re surrounded by nothing but darkness. However, I’ll be merciful and let you in on a little secret. I won’t even need my realm for what’s to come.”

“You chose the wrong time to attack.” Nasir-Sin stated. Umbra’s confidence was unsettling, to say the least. As was the fact that she was boasting. Umbra wasn’t the type to volunteer information that could be used against her. Thus she had to be certain that he wouldn’t be able to use that information. “Brothers and sisters, prepare for battle!” He gave the signal and the allied gods and all their gathered servants appeared from the various buildings in his realm that they had used for preparation. He looked towards the darkness once again. “So you see Umbra, even if you are powerful, even you can’t fight all of us.”

“Who said I came alone?” Umbra’s laughter once again sounded, mocking all of them. The darkness parted in various places just for a second, revealing the presence of hundreds of dark gods, all of whom had gathered to feast on the remains of one of their most powerful enemies. Even the draconic deities were present, though they were here just to witness what was about to happen. Was that Sol-Invictus among the enemies?

For the first time, Nasir-Sin felt a little worried. Umbra had come prepared. How did she manage to rope in the Sun God? More importantly, was Death here as well? Still, his realm was powerful and within it, he would be able to stand strong. Assuming Death and Eternity weren’t taking part. Something he fervently hoped to be true. “Come then! Let’s make this the day when your little rebellion is crushed!” He was blustering mostly to increase the morale of those fighting alongside him. He wanted to show his confidence so that they could fight to their fullest as well. If they gave into fear, then morale might break and they would all be cut down attempting to escape.

“There’s no rush. The moment of your fall is close, but it’s not here just yet. Just give it a bit of time and use the last few hours of your life well. Use the time to arrange your affairs and to come to terms with your inevitable passing.” Umbra stated and was content waiting. The right moment would come soon enough.

-------

Dee exited the Astral Sea in her dragon form and found herself physically within Lumen’s realm. The trip had been relatively long considering the speed at which she had traveled lately, and she got the sense that the whole thing was possible only because Lumen allowed it. The realm seemed to have expanded since her last visit in her dreams, but the reason was also obvious. Hundreds of thousands of angels were now taking refuge within the realm. Perhaps even millions, considering the possibility of people hiding inside buildings that might be much bigger on the inside than on the outside. The previously pristine and magnificent realm had turned into a refugee camp. Not a squalid place, these were still angels after all, but some of the pomp and splendor was wearing thin.

Most of the palaces and temples were filled to the brim with angels of different ages, mostly children and angels that were showing visible signs of age. The younger adult angels all seemed to be hard at work at building more shelters for the refugees that kept on arriving and providing food for everyone gathered. Angels generally didn’t require a large amount of sustenance and some of the mages and light spirits could conjure most of what was needed. Still, it seemed like the offerings were a bit slim. Paradisia in general was starting to suffer from a lack of food due to the gates not working properly and they certainly weren’t providing the refugees here any help.

“This might be a slight issue.” Selvaria commented. She was the only one riding on Dee as the others were all gathered inside her pocket dimension. Dee had emphatically refused to carry anyone else. “My dimension is large enough to house all these angels for a while but there’s no shelter and certainly not enough food. Good thing we left all the women I saved with the Five Winds.”

The two had negotiated this point at length. Selvaria had wanted to keep the women she had saved close at hand to continue protecting them, but Dee had pointed out that some of the angels might end up turning hostile. They had been paying a short visit to the Five Winds at the time, so they had ended up leaving the women in the care of the all-female Jun race. That was a softer way of handling things than dumping them in the White City, even though Selvaria could get them a safe place thanks to her role as a highly regarded Lord. Nyx and Moirai had also promised to look after the women.

Moirai had actually wanted to come along for the attack, but Dee had vetoed the idea. The help Moirai would be able to provide would be limited, and there was a rather high chance of death during this attack. Moirai would actually be more useful staying safe than causing Dee worries during the battle. Incidentally, Dee had chosen not to visit any of her other acquaintances of Pantheon. She would have time to do so properly after gaining victory.

Dee released a deep sigh. “Fine.” She stated in a voice that made it seem like she had just made the hardest decision in her life. “Bloody pigeon refugees eating all my food.” She then handed a mountain’s worth of food from Croestia’s storage to Selvaria. “I want to stress that I’m only doing this under duress and expect to be compensated once this is all over! Some of those dishes were hard to find.”

Selvaria was laughing silently but decided not to prod her daughter. Dee’s gluttonous streak had already become obvious to her. Their appearance caused a disturbance amongst the angles that had not expected anyone from another race to arrive in the holiest part of Paradisia. The thought was unthinkable under the best of circumstances and gate travel should’ve been impossible. The disturbance became even clearer as Dee flew to the sanctum of Lumen without any obstruction. Any angel trying to get close to the most sacred area in the realm was turned away by the light spirits, but those same spirits made no move to stop Dee.

“You came just in time.” Lumen stated as soon as the two entered. “Nasir-Sin was only a week away from being able to launch an attack on my realm. I’m not entirely sure I would’ve been able to repel that attack. Umbra did something though, and now they are both unreachable.” She looked at the two judgmentally. “Don’t tell me it’s just you two. I have faith in your abilities Dee, but this seems like a bit much for just you to handle.” The goddess already knew that Selvaria was in charge of taking care of the refugees. Paradisia was the home of all the angels so its military might shouldn’t be underestimated.

“No, we have some additional help. I’d simply like to keep their exact number and nature a secret as long as possible. I’m sure someone is already informing the enemies that a dragon just entered your realm without obstruction. Selvaria will let the others out while I draw everyone’s attention, and she’ll start taking in the refugees right after. The sooner we start the better. You’re the one who originally suggested detaching your realm from Paradisia, but you didn’t actually explain what that will entail. So spit it out. What do we have to do?” Dee asked.

She was in contact with the forces she had gathered and would relay the plan to them as soon as they had the details. She already had a pretty good idea of what it would take thanks to her previous visits; she just wanted to make sure. She would’ve asked the goddess earlier, but that would’ve come at the price of listening to the goddess complain and moan about the current situation, so she had pushed the whole thing off. She’d rather improvise the whole operation than sit through the complaints of the goddess.

Lumen sighed at the realization that things had come to this point. Separating would be an irreversible step and would basically make sure that the ancient connection between her and the angels would be broken. That bond had soured but it had lasted for such a long time that it was hard to let go. “The realm and Paradisia aren’t actually that strongly tied as my realm isn’t usually a physical place. You will need to sever the connection at five points that work as sort of anchors. The problem is that the connection was made by my power and built into the very fabric of Paradisia, so I can’t do the separation, and the anchors are on the Paradisia side and not inside my realm. You will need to handle that part of the process, and it will require a very powerful attack.”

The goddess was quiet for a moment before continuing. “You might have an easier time as my Champion but for anyone else, it will require something on the level of a rank thirteen being making a serious blow. The attack has to be a very focused one though, so no large-scale attacks wiping away half of Paradisia. In addition to causing collateral damage, the power of the attack will be too spread out. You might get one anchor easily, but the angels are aware of the possibility and will try to stop you once they realize what you’re doing. The worst part is that you can’t cut them at the same time. They have to be severed one at a time with at least ten minutes between each anchor. Otherwise, the connection might be able to reform.”

“That is as expected. Well, prepare your familiars and minions for battle. And prepare any defensive spells you might have in place. It will be your duty to keep the low ranking angels out of our hair. You can be just as merciful or brutal as you want. Just keep in mind that if I have to deal with them because you won’t, I will not spare anyone. Also, I have it on good authority that Nasir-Sin will not be able to take part in the battle in any way, so you’re free to go all out in supporting your forces.” Dee explained.

Umbra had heavily hinted at her own plan, so Dee knew that Lumen was free to act. The goddess would not personally attack the angels that she had created, but she could spawn countless light spirits to keep the normal angels busy. That left only the most powerful angels for Dee and her allies to deal with. Lumen’s realm was well protected as well and could help against the magical defenses that Paradisia might have. It was also a fact that the angels that had designed the defenses of Paradisia did not expect to defend their home against Lumen, so all those defenses were directed towards the gates instead. That didn’t mean that none of those defenses could be re-directed though.

Dee had hatched several possible plans with the others beforehand and simply let them know which plan they were going to go with. Selvaria went to release the others while Dee took the most obvious and prominent position above Lumen’s sanctum. She was the decoy, and she was going to do her best to draw everyone’s attention. It was time to start the battle before the angels managed to make their move. Dee had enough allies behind her to make this work even if the angels were all ready and waiting, but making the first move was a slight advantage at least.

“Are you sure about this?” Croestia asked as Dee reached for the Authority hidden within the pendant.

“Yes. It’s possible we might be able to pull this off even without the Authority, but I won’t take any chances. And I’m rather confident we will bring about enough death today to allow me to remove the Authority after I’m done. This is the first time I’m using it after all. Besides, the Assembly will probably want it back once they see me using it. I’ll be happy to oblige. I won’t need it after this.” Dee replied. The Authority in question could only be removed once enough death had been meted out and the amount of death required grew on each use. There was a reason Dee had refused to use the Authority before now. She didn’t want to end up stuck with it.

With determination, Dee grabbed the weapon and armor inside Croestia and activated them. Suddenly her form was surrounded by a blinding energy. The Authority got familiar with Dee and started adjusting for her use. She seemed to melt and a giant mix of something demonic and something forged by the furnaces of some crazed but brilliant craftsman was standing in her place. The giant was over twenty mel tall and seemed to be formed of super-heated metal with a core of some molten power that radiated the same dark purple light that Dee’s dragon form radiated. The giant gave the impression of a suit of weird armor walking around, except the armor was covered all over by runic symbols, and the demonic visage on the helmeted face seemed to be screaming from grief and loss. Two wing-like shapes protruded from the sides of the elongated helmet, along with a plume of dark purple hair seemingly made of fire. Her angel wings still appeared behind her back, appropriately sized, though she had no idea how they got through the armor.

The whole form was wreathed in flames. At first, the flames were bright red but soon adjusted to the dark Flames of the End that Dee usually wielded. In her hand was a wicked looking serrated claymore that was just as covered in runes as the armor itself, and the handguard of the blade had a mouth that seemed locked in a silent scream. Then the scream was no longer silent. Everyone in the radius of a thousand kilomels heard a scream of psionic energy in their minds that seemed to render them incapacitated for a short time. There was something inhuman about the scream, as if it was coming from the bottom of some endless pit and bouncing and echoing off the walls in a futile attempt to reach the light.

With a single step Dee reached the border between Lumen’s realm and Paradisia and made a measured slow swing with her blade. Everything the sword pointed towards was turned to ash as the black flames fanned away from the blade like a dragon’s breath. There had likely been tens of thousands of angels in the area that was just removed in a single swing. Some of them had likely been refugees escaping for safety, but everyone in the area would have been caught up in the coming battle anyway. Besides, many of the angels had been spies and soldiers that would attack them anyway. Now the battlefield was cleared. She could feel the life-energy of all those that died rushing towards her and replenishing any power she might have expended.

She then drove the blade into the ground, striking at the first of the five anchors. It would take a bit of time to break the connection, but she would try to do so quickly. Not too quickly though. She was the distraction after all and wanted to draw everyone’s attention. Not that her current form could be missed, especially in combination of the earlier scream of psionic energy. The light spirits and Lumen’s familiars also rushed out to meet the forces that would soon be incoming to meet them and the defenses of Lumen’s realm sprang to life, already eliminating some of the defensive formations that might attack the realm given the opportunity.

Her actions had of course alarmed the angels and countless warriors would approach as soon as they recovered from the stunned state the psionic scream had left them in. The Archangels had also been alerted and were already moving towards the area. They had been preparing for an attack anyway, just that they had assumed they were attacking Lumen’s realm and not the other way around. The devastation was also a signal for Dee’s allies. She had told Selvaria that the latter would know when it was appropriate to let the others loose, and she had been right.

Dee’s allies divided into groups, and each group had someone with them capable of detecting the anchor they needed to break. They had four groups, but realistically all groups would not be able to reach an anchor by themselves. Either that or they would be pushed away before they could sever that connection. That’s why they had a contingency plan. In fact, they had several contingency plans just in case, as most likely they would need more than one. In any case, one of the groups wasn’t even aiming for an anchor and had a different goal altogether, so Dee would have to deal with a second anchor personally. Normally she would’ve aimed at the anchor most distant from Lumen’s realm, but that one was heavily guarded. Even if those guards would not be able to defeat Dee, they would be able to delay her.

The first group of Dee’s allies was made up of dragons of various clans, led by the Aspect of War Qazarass. The Platinum Dragon was flanked by the female Azure Dragon Aspect as well. Their presence had been a surprise for everyone, but as a result, this was the group they had the strongest faith in. Just as the large group of dragons reached their destination, they were met by the Archangel of Glory leading a full army of powerful Cherubim warriors.

The female Archangel clad in a full golden armor stood firm in the face of the two Aspects. Empyrean might be the leader of the angels for the time being, but everyone knew Glory was the shining spear that took to the field when the hour seemed the darkest for the angels. “Well, well. If it isn’t the Aspect of War and the Aspect of Strength. I should be surprised to see you here but I’m not. I expected the Dragonflight to take advantage of the situation, though you did so in a manner I did not anticipate. I’m curious to know how you got here but that is irrelevant. Just know that you have come just to fail.”

Her boast seemed out of place considering that she was facing two of the three most powerful Aspects, but she was not making an empty threat. Surrounded by all the motivated angel warriors within the heart of their homeland she was close to being invincible. The golden light that covered all those fighting with her also turned them into a weapon capable of fighting anything. As long as the angels had faith in her victory, she would never fall, and in the homeland of their kind that faith was unshakeable.

The second group of Dee’s allies was mostly made up of Lords of the Assembly. Fawwaz was the only rank thirteen Lord present, but the red faction had brought several of their most powerful members here because they realized that this was an opportunity for them to aggressively push the advantage the Assembly held over the angels currently. If they could deal a large enough blow, then the Assembly might be able to remove the angels as a credible threat to them for a long time to come, and the red faction was always looking for ways to make the Assembly’s influence stronger. This was the reason they existed as a faction, so obviously they would help.

The second group was successful in pushing to their objective as well, but Fawwaz was chagrined to realize that his opponent was the elusive Archangel of Destiny. Destiny might be old and at least slightly insane, but he was an impossible opponent to pin down. This would be a battle without end. Unless he tried to attack the anchor, in which case the old Archangel would strike without hesitation and with enough power to stop him. This would be annoying. Sooner or later the sheer press of the angels defending their home would push them back, so they had limited time.

The third group was made mostly of Dee’s personal friends and allies. Notably, Mneventh and Teresa both pushed along with this group. They had the unfortunate fate of running into the Archangel of Death who had recently made it back to Paradisia through the few gates that had been fixed. She was accompanied by the Archangel of Wisdom Zacharael, who wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the whole situation. Still, he too was a formidable opponent. This group didn’t even make it all the way to the anchor before being stopped.

Dee’s distraction worked well in the sense that their fourth stealthy group managed to pass unnoticed. The small group held Mit-Amen and Aurelie. The stealthy group actually didn’t have the strength to sever one of the anchors by themselves. Instead, they were a distraction of another sort. They were meant to slip behind the lines to release the Fallen Angels imprisoned during the purge.

The Fallen were imprisoned on a purgatory world of sorts, only accessible from Paradisia, so freeing them wasn’t exactly simple. How those Fallen would react to being freed was another question entirely, but they were sure to mix things up. They would likely be in a weakened state after the long imprisonment, but the sheer number of them would make a difference. As a fellow Fallen, Mit-Amen was the most likely candidate to get along with the imprisoned Fallen and could also pass off as a normal angel during the chaos. Aurelie went along as protection that was hard to detect.

To their shock, they were not the first group to arrive at the gateway. A group of dark-clad figures following a man Aurelie recognized as Hassan-i-Sabbah were already at work breaking the spell sealing the gateway leading to the purgatory world. The man was masked, but he was still easy to identify thanks to the fact that his voice was extremely recognizable while he gave instructions to the other assassins who were still busy clearing out the angel guards that kept rushing in almost as quickly as the last ones were killed. It also helped that the others used his name.

“How did YOU get here?” Aurelie demanded. The man had been on Pantheon during the attack on the gates and he didn’t have Dee’s ability to move through the Astral Sea.

The masked man turned towards the duo and stared at them for a moment before replying. “You’re assuming I wasn’t here the entire time. Well, I can give you a hint I guess. Everything can be bought for the right price and while our little Dee has the best method to get around, that doesn’t mean there are no other ways. Especially if you have advance knowledge when it comes to needing such methods of travel. That’s not what you really want to know though, is it?”

“No, it isn’t.” Mit-Amen stated firmly. “What’s your plan here?”

“For now, we have the same goal. The release of the Fallen. Ironic is it not? The only gateway that I didn’t manage to destroy is the one that leads to the place the angels least want to go to. Not that I tried, mind you. The angels might not be careful in most things, but they are excessively careful when it comes to the Fallen. I had to wait for most of the guards to rush towards Dee’s position before making my move.” He looked at the gateway that was quickly coming unsealed. “Of course, I can’t promise you our goals will still align after we are done here. If you find that unsatisfactory, then you’re welcome to try and do something about it. Though I would advise against it personally. I might not be as strong as someone that used to occupy a position rivaling an Archangel, but I still have my ways.”