***The World***

***Ascathon***

I appear in the imperial throne room with Lucifer clinging to my shoulder. My familiar meows, annoyed at being carried around like one of my weapons.

Luxley the XII is sitting on his throne, looking relieved upon seeing me. Like his long line of predecessors, he is my puppet, representing my interests and wishes in front of the mortals. Thanks to Ashley’s efforts there is always an inheritor ready to replace the old Luxley. This latest version shows at least some resemblance to the original, sharing the same aristocratic nose, but the succubi made a point of avoiding inbreeding, looking for other traits than appearance, like a tendency for religious fervour and devotion, combined with just enough smarts to think for himself.

“Bless you! I thought you abandoned us in this dire hour!” Getting up from his throne, Luxley number twelve drops to his knees in front of me, showing the proper respect for his deity.

“Behold!” One of the Priests of Chaos at Luxley’s side calls out in an awed tone, himself a distant descendant of the first original Knight of Chaos who recruited himself into my service. “Our god is speaking to us!”

The people present hurry to get to their knees, planting their foreheads on the floor without the need to release my aura.

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at the forced theatrics, I quickly search the room, hoping and dreading to find one of the succubi here. I would have to get them somewhere safe.

But there is nobody here, making me probably the only immortal to guide these mortal fools since Myrm’s people started their attack.

I raise my finger and point at Luxley. “Behold my words, mortals. The gods of the heretics decided to turn this war into a conflict beyond mortal means. The Heavens shall collide and the Earth will shatter. Fight! Fight the last battle and hold nothing back and I shall fight with you – until we achieve enlightenment!”

Sending out a few sparks for good measure, I take a pathway and appear high above one of the conflict zones which I noticed earlier in our headquarters. Hoping that my little show achieved its desired effect I slowly descend to make out some details.

But I don’t care at all what the mortals are up to. My only desire is to find Myrm’s people and end this, hopefully killing a bunch of them before Myrm himself decides to show up. Honestly, I don’t expect much from the mortals, but maybe Myrm’s followers get distracted when my people start throwing nukes left and right. That’s why I told them that this is the last battle.

To set up the stage for the next act, I have to get rid of most of those pesky godly auras which are connected to the World Enchantment. Over a dozen deities are simply too much to dispel on my own and be sure that the desired result is achieved. If just a little part of the World Enchantment survives attached to the aura of some godling everything might be for naught.

Stretching out my senses, I unleash my aura, not caring about breaking those close to me wherever I go next. “Lucifer!”

Calling on our connection, I channel a part of my power into my familiar, allowing Lucifer to grow to the size of a horse. His stubby limbs elongate and the fur around his neck sprouts until he looks more like a lion. Finalizing the transformation, his claws and canines grow, giving him the features of a sabretooth with oversized claws. The changes turn him into a truly frightening creature, able to deal with a lesser deity on his own, though not much more than that.

“Let’s find you some food.”

I take us through the pathways, directly towards the closest detectable aura. In a place like the Crystal City with all its different energy sources it would be nigh impossible to pinpoint the location of a released aura exactly, but in this world, even with all the gods residing on it, there isn’t nearly as much background noise.

Appearing in the sky above some battlefield right next to a woman who is surveying the fighting mortals below, I twirl my knife and bring it down on her in an overhead strike. Not caring for her identity, I press against her aura and succeed in stabbing the weapon into her chest.

Her eyes widen in surprise and she looks down, seemingly not believing that I cut through her aura just like that.

Pulling out, I sheathe the blade inside her flesh three more times before the light leaves her eyes and she starts falling, her aura fading with her descent. Lucifer dives after her, yowling in delight at the seemingly fleeing prey.

“This is almost too easy.”

Leaving the finishing-bite to Lucifer, I inspect the knife which already felled two gods in quick succession, but there is no damage to the thin blade. It still looks pristine in its blue, glass-like appearance, only slightly discoloured by a red tinge, caused by the blood on it.

The feeling of two more auras appearing in close proximity draws my attention, and I turn to face the newcomers, a god and a goddess. I recognize them as Lemion, God of Health, and Hara, Goddess of Time, two of Myrm’s close followers and strong deities in their own right.

The woman reaches up and brushes her brown hair away from her ear, pushing down on an elongated earlobe with an earring made out of gold. Glaring at me with single-minded conviction distorting her aristocratic features, she calls for more assistance, “He is here. Get everyone to this location asap.”

“You really think you can take me!?” I point the bloody knife threateningly at them and pluck one of the pouches from my belt. Scattering the contents into the wind, I pick up the crystal shards with force magic, circulating them around me in a protective sphere. “Bring it on! At the end of the day, we shall see who is still standing and who shall fall.”

Pointing, I unleash pure force magic at them, but they dodge through the pathways. Unhindered, my spell travels onwards. Since it was angled slightly downwards, it carves a canyon up to the horizon into the world. Moments later, the caused damage claims its tribute and the ground rumbles in a cataclysmic earthquake.

“What do you think you are doing!?” Lemion calls out, his blonde hair being messed up from the resulting wind. “Do you want to tear the planet asunder?” His angelic face looks horrified, almost as if he never truly realized what would inevitably happen if I were to fight other gods on this planet.

“That’s something you should have thought about before you started this!” Changing my aim, I chuckle. “Do you really think that I would have let you get away with attacking my people? Did you think I would just watch? If this planet still exists when we are done, you can call yourselves lucky.”

I feel the arrival of more auras all around us and stretch out my hands, welcoming the guests of this party. “Today, it’s Chaos against Order.”

“You are outnumbered!” Hara gestures at her allies. “Give up! There is no hope for you.”

They somehow managed to assemble eighteen people, way more than I assumed they could sway from the pantheon. Furrowing my forehead, I suddenly realize that some of the deities aren’t even a part of our pantheon. They must have hired outside help… why didn’t I anticipate that?

If I can do it with the succubi, then why shouldn’t they?

“You think that numbers matter against me?” I smile. “Do you expect me to just roll over? To despair, confronted with impossible odds? Why shouldn’t I fight with everything I have?”

“If you surrender quietly, we will capture your soul and store it somewhere safe until Tjenemit decides to give up on this stupid project,” Hara suggests. “I have divined this battle countless times, and there is no possibility that you will walk away alive on this day.”

“Today, you will learn a lesson.” I start laughing. She divined this battle? She believes that they can strike me down because she saw some probabilities? “You are amusing.”

“Shoac!” I brush my free hand over the book at my side. “Open the Gate to the Mind!”

Arcane power surges forth, flowing from the book into me, and destroying the seal I put onto myself in order to avoid utter madness. Feeling my aura grow in intensity, I revel in the power, harnessed directly from a dimension of pure Chaos.

“Get him!” Hara points at me. “Mird, dodge!”

Feeling free for the first time since I discovered the plane of Chaos during one of my experiments, I unleash one of the shards at the closest god, but he moves to the side, a moment before the piece of Mana Crystal can pierce his forehead.

Surprised at the unexpected skilfulness of my opponents, I dodge and flow, avoiding the auras of eighteen gods pressing in on me in an attempt to pin me down, to cage me in a barrier.

Sliding sideways, I reach one of the lesser deities and kick out, pushing her back. The resulting shock wave flattens the earth below and a flash of pure white plasma arcs between our auras as we instinctively unleash our energy at each other.

“Drey, left knee! Now!”

Something slams into my shield just at the right moment to break through. Hissing, I feel the pure-white energy of a summoned arrow punching through my left leg, right above the knee. Only through the power of my will, I am able to suppress the wish to start a mindless temper-tantrum, giving in to the energies I harnessed through the book. It would be too easy to just follow my nature. I wouldn’t be able to savour the battle and its aftermath.

Instead, I endure and let instinct take over as I dodge the attacks of multiple opponents, trying to be as aware as possible of my surroundings. As our auras clash, the world around us comes apart, turning into a field of burned earth and ionized air.

Lashing out at an opportune moment, I cut off the arm of a deity who came too close. At the same time, I unleash some of the shards at my opponents to keep them busy. Judging by their frightened expressions, it must have been a long time since they found themselves in a situation where they had to dodge multiple projectiles in a life and death situation.

All the while, Hara calls out orders, seemingly knowing beforehand whether an attack of mine would result in a fatal injury, or in a minor cut.

Seeing myself falling behind, I draw my blade across two more of the pouches on my belt, allowing the contents to pour free. Grabbing them too, I up the game, forcing Hara to make priorities in calling out commands.

Following my mental command, Lucifer rejoins the game, using his ghost-like nature to distract and attack when the opportunity arises, but he is just one combatant. Hara quickly reacts with orders of her own, sending two of her companions to deal with my familiar, turning him into not much more than a distraction for two or three deities at most.

Again, I am struck from behind and something sinks into my shoulder. A quick glance at my back reveals another arrow of light.

Laughing like a madman, I swing my blade through the arrow in my leg, then behind my back, cutting through the spell matrix which holds he summoned object in reality. The arrows disperse into fragments of energy, and I cast a healing spell to patch myself up.

I either have to find a way to deal with the arrow shooter, who up until now managed to stay hidden within the crowd of attackers – at least I couldn’t identify the person who is able to create these attacks – or I have to deal with Hara who is calling out the shots.

My eyes narrow when I realize why she is calling the shots. It’s so that the bowman can attack without fearing my retaliation. So far, he was the only one who managed to punch through my aura.

Analysing the battle gives me an idea of what to do, even if I didn’t want to play this card so early in the game. The time it took me to think up a plan also proves enough of a distraction for someone to launch a big spell at me.

Feeling myself turning weightless, the world starts spinning as I am picked up by an invisible force and flung away with incredible speed, impacting some forest on the far horizon; and then there is earth and dust in my face and everywhere.

Laughing, I take a pathway, appearing right above the impact zone, feeling Lucifer catch up to me through the spirit plane. When I was picked up by the force spell, I lost control of my little projectiles, so I cut open two more pouches as the mob of angry deities appears all around me, some of them looking worse for wear, but overall they look to be in a much better state than I do.

Running a hand over the pouch with my diary, I recite an old mantra, hoping that it would keep the madness at bay.

“The sentient beings are innumerable, We vow to liberate them.”

Dodging, another big force-attack, I catch where it was coming from. Three lesser gods in the distance are working together on a spell matrix in an attempt to form an artillery spell that’s capable of doing damage. I still have a card up my sleeve, but without knowing Hara’s exact capabilities it would be a waste to use it if she knows beforehand and just dodges.

Barrelling through between two deities who are hacking away at my aura, I launch one of the precious Mana Crystal shards at Hara and – at the same time – give Lucifer the command to attack the three lesser gods.

Hara dodges the shard effortlessly, teleporting a few metres to the right, but Lucifer turns into his ghostly form and speeds effortlessly past his opponents and into the three gods, dispersing them like frightened chickens.

“The illusions are inexhaustible, We vow to transcend them.”

I grin, assured that there is a play I can make, even as Hara gives another command.

Knowing what’s to come, I dodge, and the arrow of light just scratches my shoulder. The deity who is shooting the arrow, Drey, isn’t perfect. But another god materializes above me, battering a baton into my shield and sending me down to the earth like a shooting star.

“Knowledge is immeasurable, We vow to master all of it.”

I cough and recite my mantra as I get back to my feet even as the dust is settling around me. Then I rise up into the air, not wanting them to wait.

I wonder if Willow managed to discover her nature before she died, and what it was… Did she follow my advice and found her own mantra of power? After all, a god is only as strong as he or she believes himself to be.

Hara appears above me, Lemion at her side, probably to make sure that their battle coordinator is always in a top-state. “Are you ready to give up? We don’t want to destroy this world, but we will do it if you force us.”

I grin, raising my dagger in defiance.

“The path of transcendence is exceedingly exalted, We vow to realize it.”

Lemion shakes his head. “He must be insane. He hasn’t taken down a single one of us, but he is still fighting on as if there was a chance at victory.”

“There is victory. It’s already a foregone conclusion,” I inform them and draw on more power, circulating the shards even faster, I cut my last two bags with shards, topping up on the amount of Mana Crystals I can use for my defence.

Hara raises her eyebrows, looking at me with extreme concentration as her irises glow with a yellow light. “Drey, get him! He is planning something. Pleia, create a smokescreen.”

Continuing their perfect teamwork, Pleia, some goddess of nature summons a thick mist, surrounding us. A moment later, one of the strange arrows shoots forth from that mist, the originator unseen. But the attack is blocked by the spinning cocoon of crystal shards all around me. The arrow is caught and shredded to pieces before it can reach me.

Unfortunately, Hara realizes that she can make a play of her own. “Everyone with lesser status and Drey, switch to his familiar. He can’t attack while he is pouring all his power into his defence!”

I grit my teeth, but do nothing as they converge on Lucifer who was caught outside my shield. We need more time, so I have to sacrifice him in order to win. Forgive me and buy some time...

“Body, mind and soul in perfect unity, I send out my heart with the sound of the bell.”

I do nothing as they catch Lucifer inside a spectral cage, causing him to rage against the confines of his prison.

“May all people awaken from their carelessness and overcome all their fears and sufferings.”

I do nothing as they use their numbers to overpower what energy I gave to my familiar, dispelling his spell matrix.

“May the world reach peace with the silence of thought.”

He roars, dispersing into countless particles of light – one of them, a blue one, returning to me. It passes without problems through my defences and enters my chest, giving back what I had to give in order to share power with a familiar that was never meant for a god.

“This wonderful sound brings me back to my true self.”

I chant my mantra, drawing on even more power and with it everyone’s attention. Smiling, I offer Hara a salute. “We’ve never fought a group of deities who worked together so well. In fact, you almost defeated us, thanks to that teamwork. It’s a shame that we have to strike you down like the worms you are.”

Hara looks concerned, but her concentration is still on me. “That’s it. You must have gone down the deep end for sure, or why are you talking in plural?” She scans her surroundings but is unable to predict the actions of anyone but me.

Smiling sweetly, I lower my dagger. “You may be a deity of Time, and have the ability to predict the future to some extent. But do you really believe that anyone can predict Chaos?” I shake my head, closing my eyes. “If there was a way to predict Chaos, it wouldn’t be chaos.”

Looking angry, Hara points a finger at me. “Build a Containment Barrier around him. If he doesn’t want to give up his defences, then we just have to wait him out. Even if he has the power, there is no way for him to maintain that level of concentration forever.”

I smile as they form up all around me, caging me in, summoning a barrier which should be impossible to break from within. But with maintaining the barrier, they also bind their numbers to this task. It's barrier against barrier.

Hara lets out a triumphant sigh when the barrier snaps into place, sealing me for good. “We just have to wait for him to drop from mental exhaustion, and then we can send him back to Hell!”