I walked forward, past all of the Dark Elves. They noticed pretty quickly and responded as they usually did. I always found them funny in that way, worshiping me without doubting my intentions.

Keeper.

Solemn and quiet whispers of the title they gave me, echoing. They all began kneeling in front of me, letting the same whisper escape from their lips.

Keeper.

Again.

Keeper.

And again, until it wasn’t a whisper.

Keeper.

What is it that they really want?

Keeper.

Hope?

Keeper.

I can understand it. When there seems to be nothing left to go on, you hope. But what are they hoping for exactly?

I walked faster and they spoke louder.

Keeper.

Were they willing to die?

Keeper.

I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re willing or not. Death was not something that waited for others, I knew that much from personal experience.

Keeper.

I looked at them, the unified army created just to stop me. Did they know they would die too? Maybe they were pretending not to. It would help with morale if they did that.

And further off, the Tartarus hovered in the distance. The thing made just to capture me.

What faces will they make when it doesn’t hold me? What will they think when I break Randolph? How will they feel when I kill all of those Angels? And the Gods too...I can’t help but be curious of how they would react when the ones who came to kill me end up dying instead. But it doesn’t matter. The outcome doesn’t really matter if my children are safe.

“Still, I’d like to see it.” I smiled.

Keeper.

“So try your hardest...And I’ll promise to do the same.”

...

As soon as Ira reached the front of the Dark Elf Army, the sky darkened. The Red Moon descended from some unfathomable height and moved to block the sun, painting a dark haze over the land.

“Keeper!” Soldiers of the Dark Elf Army cried out as their eyes turned bright red.

Ira didn’t say anything in response, he simply lowered his body.

Far above him, Avery acted in unison, she drew her sword and several orbs made of fire began to orbit around her.

The Angel’s stirred, drawing out their own divine power. The army serving under them made their own preparations.

The battlefield went silent for a moment and that moment seemed to stretch on forever.

“Charge!” Harith was the one to break it.

Both sides screamed violently and rushed forward.

Avery sent the flaming orbs flying into the enemies front lines and they exploded into massive domes of fire.

As her attack ended, the Valkyries flew forward to meet the Angels. The lower-ranked faceless Angels fell quickly, but those with multiple pairs of wings proved to be difficult.

A Valkyrie raised her sword up and was immediately pierced with a golden spear before she could attack. It tore through her body and the divine power within it ran amok, tearing her body up from the inside.

Avery moved to assist her fellow Valkyrie and slashed the Angel in half while its back was turned.

“How’s your injury–” Avery couldn’t finish her question as the Valkyrie who was attacked began to fall to the ground lifelessly. It was clear the attack she suffered was fatal.

“Be careful of their weapons!” Avery shouted as she brandished her shield.

“Understood!” Lauren flew past with the Blood Sword in hand and cut down the weaker Angels who blocked her.

Explosions of magic power and divine power filled the air, with bright flares of Avery’s flames being the most vibrant.

In that time, Ira wasn’t still. He leaped into the air and tore the Angels apart with his claws. It almost seemed too easy for him. He grabbed the wings of one Angel and ripped them off before crushing another’s skull. Another had its chest pierced by him and many more died in the same way. Ira landed on the ground to find another part of the battlefield to focus on but it wasn’t long before he was confronted.

“Avarus!” An Angel called out as he flew toward Ira. It wasn’t Harith, but some other high-ranked Angel and he wasn’t alone. Several Angels, who seemed to be at just under Harith’s rank as they each had six wings in total, surrounded him.

Ira didn’t waste time with words and lunged at the nearest one. The Angel lifted his sword to block Ira’s attack but it did nothing to stop two claws from tearing into him.

Ira made a pulling motion with his hands and three small pillars made of darkness rose up, pulling half of the Angels inside, leaving three to face him alone. Ira took a slow step forward and then his body vanished.

The strongest of the three was caught off-guard when a giant beast appeared in front of him. But his surprise lasted only for an instant as Ira’s teeth ended his life immediately. Ira vanished again and appeared as a human, grabbing the last two Angels by their skulls. Black mist leaked from his hands and began burrowing into the heads of the Angels which brought out terrible screams.

The shrieking of the Angels was incredibly loud, drawing all eyes. And when the Unified Army found the source the morale began to drop as the screaming grew louder.

Just then, a body outline by a bright gold color leaped across the battlefield.

…

Randolph cut through the Dark Elves easily. His sword shone and his eyes flashed with a white gold color and he pushed his way through hundreds of Dark Elves. A Lycanthrope jumped into the fray and was immediately beheaded by him.

“Stop that human!” Orders were shouted from the Dark Elf side and the elite soldiers leaped into the air to kill him.

They all attacked in sync, forcing Randolph to twist his sword and block. Each of their weapons landed with immense weight behind them, pushing him down. But a golden light flashed again and a burst of strength coursed through his body.

“Haaa!” He shouted and went on the attack. His sword slice through the Behemoth’s bone armor with ease, taking their lives.

“Follow the Champion!” A General ordered as he watched Randolph massacre the Dark Elves.

That’s when high-pitched screams echoed across the battlefield and two Angels could be seen kneeling at Ira’s feet.

“Ira!” Randolph shifted his focus and leaped away without a thought for the army behind him. It would’ve seemed as if they didn’t need his help since their numbers were in the millions, but the eclipse caused by the Red Moon proved otherwise. The Dark Elf Army was far stronger with the Red Moon influence, strong enough to pressure some areas of the army greatly.

Randolph held his sword with both hands and thought to cut Ira in half, but the Avarus was already prepared.

Ira took a step back and caught Randolph’s sword between his hands with a bright yet vicious smile.

“You’re still too weak.” Ira ignored the divine power that burned at his palms and pulled Randolph forward before kicking him in the chest.

A loud shockwave traveled through the air along with Randolph who crashed in the area he came from.

Ira followed right behind and landed in the middle of the fight between the Unified Army and the Dark Elf Army.

“I don’t see Clark.” Ira scanned the faces in his vicinity and immediately noticed Clark’s absence. He didn’t have time to look over a few million faces but the golden shields that Clark could create would’ve caught his eye. That and the fact that Clark and Randolph seemed to be like brothers in some way.

“Shut up!” Randolph went for Ira with far more intensity than before.

In his frustration, his attacks became sloppy allowing Ira to avoid them with far less effort than he usually needed.

“Where is Juliana?!” Randolph spat while swinging his sword.

“I’ve told you already, she doesn’t want to leave,” Ira said with a chuckle before his eyes sharpened.

Ira ducked under Randolph’s wide swing and uppercut him, sending Randolph into the air.

“Support the Champion!” Humans flanked Ira as soon as Randolph was clear but they were little more than ants in comparison.

Ira took and deep breath and then exhaled, letting out a massive storm breath. Hundreds of people were blown away in second or ended up being knocked off their feet.

“Stay together–” A general atop a horse was apart of the casualties as one of his own men came crashing into him.

“I’ll deal with you later, Randolph,” Ira whispered to himself.

The storm breath kicked up a huge commotion so he couldn’t be bothered to go searching for Randolph. Ira’s body was covered in black mist as he shifted into his beast form and ran forward.

“It’s him! Focus your attack!”

“Damn it! Run!”

“Move!”

Of course, seeing a ten-foot creature with ominous black horns, glowing red eyes, and body covered in writhing darkness wouldn’t allow anyone to react calmly. As Ira’s jaws opened, a huge force pulled anyone in his immediate range into it. He began to devour droves of people within seconds.

The abrupt force that pulled them in also crushed their bodies, causing blood to splatter everywhere. And eventually, the blood-colored fog filled the air as Ira ran unchecked.

“Fuck! Where are the Angels?!” A general cried. He looked above to seem them entangled with the Valkyries and began praying for help. It seemed his prayers were answered as Harith flew over and unleashed a rain of divine arrows that all went directly for Ira.

They sunk into Ira’s body and exploded causing his form to contort strangely.

“You…” Ira growled with an eerie sense of joy. He aimed his hand toward Harith who flew erratically in response. “Won’t you stay still?”

Ira trail of black mist was fired from Ira’s hand and was avoided by Harith.

Harith flew through the air beautifully, sometimes spinning and sometimes drawing arcs. His speed was fast that Ira’s reflexes weren’t enough to land a hit.

“Fine,” Ira snickered. He threw his hand out and dozens of pillars made out black mist rose from the ground.

“Avarus!” Harith shouted angrily. The thought that he was being disregarded in favor of killing weaker mortals. “You will pay for your arrogance!”

Several more divine arrows were shot, but they did little damage to Ira who ignored the damage being done and continued eating the soldiers.

The Dark Elves quickly gained the advantage and the Valkyries seemed to be able to hold off the brunt of the Angels. Still, it seemed as if the two sides were holding back. Since Ira didn’t use his reality separation ability and the Angel’s didn’t use the Tartarus. The consequences of that affected both sides. The Dark Elves were taking on losses due to the massive amount of enemies and the Unified Army had to withstand Ira’s assault.

The gap only widened as the eclipse began to end. Gradually, the Red Moon began to disappear from sight and there was no way Ira could summon it again without expending a large amount of energy.

Then, as if on cue, thunder began to echo across the battlefield.

“Wait…” Ira stopped his attack and looked to the sky.

It wasn’t the sound of thunder as there was no storm and Rhys wasn’t present. The source of the sound were the wing beats of a large beast. With the sun at its back, it flew from behind the Dark Elves.

“What is that?” Ira mumbled as his eyes narrowed in focus. It wasn’t a dragon because it was far too big, though it did have golden scales along with feathers. It also had a beak instead of the snout's seen on dragon's. Then, the biggest difference was the huge storm forming under its wings. It was completely unimaginable, several tornadoes were created with each flap of its wings.

“Shit,” Ira cursed as he changed back into his human form.

It was the last Primeval Beast left in the Mortal Realm and its appearance spelled trouble for Ira and the Dark Elves. Its scales shined with a golden luster that was only outdone by the vivid fury within its eyes.

Since Ira now knew of the taboos he broke, he realized that the Angels were attempting to get him to break another. If he did so, it meant Randolph would undergo possession from a God and then the chances of winning would decrease dramatically.

“Ira!” Avery landed next to him while staring in disbelief at the giant avian creature that moved closer. The storm it carried with it would wipe out the Dark Elf Army if it was allowed to continue. The unified army would also suffer some damages but no before the Dark Elves. That and, the creature seemed to be under the command of the Angels as it flew directly toward the Dark Elves without deviating.

“I know, I know.” Ira took a deep breath. “Just give me a bit of time to think.”

“You don’t have much of it,” Avery replied while tightening her grip on her sword.

The Tartarus was at his back, the last Primeval was at his front, and a few million people who wanted him dead surrounded him. If he were to use Reality Separation to its full capability at the current moment, it would leave him extremely vulnerable and unable to properly contend with a possessed Randolph.

“Unless…” Ira’s eyes flashed with realization. "I got it!"

Ira smiled. He didn't plan on giving up just yet, even if the Angels attempted to corner him.