DIVINE AND PRIMORDIAL

An open field was laid bare before two sword-shaped mountains rising up toward the sky, while the field’s sides were surrounded by massive, artificial gashes in the earth. Standing a mile or so from each other were two figures; one of a stout, heroic-looking man with a massive, black-clad halberd, his hair rolled backward and pulled behind his ears. His eyes stared narrowed, unflinching, as his muscles bulged slightly. On the other side was a veiled figure, with limbs as thin as tree’s branches, and barely any weight to them. They were donned in a pure, silver robe with burning scarf-like object wound around their neck. The figure’s arms lay relaxed by the side, both empty. Although the figure appeared frail and broken, Retch knew far better. Just a few moments ago, a gigantic hole in the sky opened, and he glimpsed its true shape; it wound on for millions of miles, its eyes alone the size of entire realms if not more, burning in purified silver. It didn’t take long for Retch to realize that opposite of him stood Primordial God of Light. Although surprised, that was all – a brief moment of surprise.

“… thinly veiled mortal,” soft, almost ethereal, voice broke out from where the figure was standing. Retch felt as though life itself has washed over him, causing him to shiver for a moment, alarms in his mind singing. “Why must thou stand before Me?”

“…” Retch didn’t reply, merely staring at the figure, waiting for a singular sign of movement.

“Of same breath am I, are We, as you; blood needn’t be spilled, yet crimson the rivers you dye. We – I – merely wish to linger… why stand against Our dream?”

“Linger? Then stop breeding,” Retch said, scoffing coldly. “Should you really be relaxed? That portal won’t be open all year long, you know.”

“… aah, a stone-shriveled brute, battle-crazed maniac… it seems Brother has deceived me. Oh well. Another time, perhaps.” Retch’s eyebrows twitched as he was called brute and maniac; true, he may not be the brightest fish in the pond, but he still carried head on his shoulders. Without saying another word, he reached out and grabbed the shaft of his black halberd whereupon a faint, violet glimmer appeared at the center of the spearhead. There, within the blackness, emerged a singular sapphire and glimmered like a star.

Mana around Retch suddenly surged like a tsunami as winds began bellowing like abyss-drowned beasts. Halberd wailed like a wounded widow, its screech piercing into the sky, causing ripples in the space itself. Retch grabbed it single-handed, spinning it around as he warmed his muscles up. In his other hand, a massive shield suddenly appeared; the shield was similarly black, squared and had a gem embedded at its core – however, unlike the halberd’s, shield’s was a ruby. The small speck glimmered crimson like sun, causing vein-like threads to spread throughout the shield, which immediately grew twice the size, as tall as Retch himself, with triangular spikes reaching out at each of the shield’s edges.

“… Ephemeral sanctity would have been for naught were it not for marring of the sinners,” Retch arched his brows, a glimpse of confusion apparent in his eyes. “A becoming Queen reigned, desultory King bled, dulcet rivers flow, erstwhile Heart sank like ships upturned. Ineffable sadness… jaded rue… lissome hope… alas, mortal, behold opulent beyond!!”

As last words were spoken, brilliant light suddenly shone behind the silver-clad figure. Spread apart, it feathered ethereally as the light deformed into a pair of angelic wings. Spanning nearly a mile on both sides, it was more than enough to stun Retch for a moment – but, merely a moment. Snickering lightly, he tightened the grip on his halberd and pounded it against the shield as he roared, causing muscles of his calves to bulge.

“Behold me, wretched God!!!” he roared as Mana once again surged around him in overbearing waves. “As I blow you back home!!”

Like a cannonball, Retch plunged forward through the air; a brief sensation of shocked flashed past the figure’s eyes hidden by the veil, as it clasped his hands together. Suddenly, a light, shimmering barrier appeared before it; the moment it took shape, Retch arrived, his halberd pointed forward. Imminent clash ensued, causing a massive explosion which blew apart earth beneath, leaving a massive, ten miles deep and dozens of miles wide crater. The silver-clad figure was blown backward at immense speed, while Retch bounced back off the shield, summersaulting in the air before roaring once again. As he was falling, he caught a glimpse of the angelic wings spread; feather-shaped arrays of silver light plunged from heavens like rain, all aimed toward him. He immediately raised his shield and cowered behind it, as arrays poured against it. Each strike forded him further backward, increasing his plummeting speed. The entire sky was covered in the arrays of light, but Retch merely smiled. As he plunged into the ground, he created yet another crater. However, even before the quaking of the earth stabilized, he bulged yet again as crimson flames erupted beneath his feet, spreading outward like wildfire as he bolted into the sky, leaving behind a massive trail of fire.

With shield cast forward, arrays of lights were shattered like glass as he neared their source; the silver-clad figure was hovering in the sky, its two hands clasped together in front of its chest. As it noticed Retch’s charge, it bent forward slightly whereupon a golden, burning wheel appeared above its head and between the wings. The wheel spun at speeds no carriage could even fathom, spewing out sparks of fire. It suddenly halted as a massive gong echoed out into the sky, reverberating across the space. However, how could a mere sound halt the charge of a raging bull? A mile… five hundred meters… two hundred meters… just as Retch was about to crash his shield against the figure, the golden wheel exploded into specks of light which fluttered into the sky, forging a massive, phantasmal sword. The sword’s edges shimmered in golden while its body was translucent, faintly silver.

The gigantic sword slashed downward and crashed against Retch’s shield. Yet another explosion ensued; this one was strong enough to tear open space surrounding it, causing both the figure and Retch to bleed backwards through space, tearing it apart as they went. They both crashed into dozens of mountains on two opposite sides, blowing them to smithereens, before slowly losing the momentum.

The entire sword was blown apart and vanished into thin air, while the shield had a clear, diagonal mark running across its entire surface. Retch was slightly surprised; although he never expected the shield to actually survive the clash against a God, he didn’t it would be damaged so soon. After all, it was no ordinary shield. Nonetheless, he cared very little for it. It was just the first weapon in his arsenal. Only someone like Lynne, with massive inheritance and talent to re-forge it into his own could fight using just one weapon. Most others had arsenal as large as random Kingdom’s treasury. However, it wasn’t time to discard it just yet.

As he lost all momentum, Retch roared once again like a beast, blowing apart the piles of rocks and stones that had buried him. No matter how good his eyes were, there was no way he could see where the figure was, but he still felt the massive Mana surge from way off forward. He whistled lightly as a crimson flame slashed out from the ruby at the center of the shield; it quickly transformed into a massive, fifty meters wide bird burning freely. Phoenix screeched into the sky as Retch leapt onto its back and heralded it forth.

On the other side, the silver-clad figure similarly shattered the rocks and stones piled atop of it before pillaring into the sky. Its hidden face remained indifferent as he watched the flaming figure approaching through the sky. A mere moment later, they once against stood a mile off from each other, but, instead on the ground which was half-blown to smithereens already, it was in the sky this time around.

“You muse me, mortal,” the figure spoke softly still. “To take my sword head on and not receive a wound, even all of my brothers and sisters cannot achieve that.”

“You’ve damaged my shield,” Retch said, grinning like a madman. “It cost me a fortune to make it, you know?”

“You don’t seem or sound that hurt, though.”

“I’m just very good at keeping my emotions in check.” Retch said, laughing lightly.

“… I wonder whether others have begun their symphony yet…” the figure spoke as it looked into the distant horizon.

“Who can ever tell?” Retch said, smiling faintly; he was speaking truth – there was no way to know. The Spacial Locks surrounding every battlefield were so thick that not even the Godly Diviner could see past them, to say nothing of him or the silver-clad figure in front of him. “Are you afraid?”

“… of course I am,” the figure’s words surprised Retch slightly. “We are One Blood, One Soul. Would your eyes not bleed if your own blood bled?”

“… I just figured you’d be more confident, ‘s all.” Retch spoke truthfully. One doesn’t get a chance to speak to a Primordial very often, so Retch didn’t mind. After all, time was his friend; even if he can’t kill the silver-clad figure, he only needed to last for as long as the Dimensional Tunnel is open. If, for some reason, silver-clad figure remains here by the time the Tunnel is completely closed, it would lose nearly all its powers and, by then, Retch could either kill it or not, as it wouldn’t make any difference.

“Why would I be?” the silver-clad figure spoke lightly. “We’ve looked down on you mortals once before, and no good came of it. Whatever lay deep in in our Souls, there is a reason We no longer send our Children to battle you. We, at best, can keep this form for a fortnight while maintaining full strength, yet, you lot can seemingly store infinity in your tiny vessels. You were cursed by birth to be the weakest, yet gifted by growth unseen in the World. You make even Us jealous of your potential.”

“… ha ha,” Retch burst out in brief laughter as he hauled his head backward. “I am honored, oh Mighty God. But, what do you mean by gift? Do you know how long it took me to get here? What I had to do? I’d rather be birthed into your strength, than have this elusive notion of infinite potential lingering above me.”

“… aah, the grass is always greener on the other side, after all,” the silver-clad figure spoke as it shook its head lightly. “The time is ripe, mortal.”

“Let us dye the sun crimson, God.”

No more words were spoken as the two immediately took battle stance; Retch raised his shield and pushed his halberd at the side as he urged his Phoenix to circle the figure. The latter, on the other hand, suddenly began humming a song. With each note, one of the feathers of its angelic wings collapsed and turned into a small droplet which began forming into a sphere of liquefied light in front of the figure. Retch reacted immediately; bellowing from the depths of his lungs, he raised back his arm and heralded his spear forth directly at that droplet. Halberd, however good a weapon may be, is just one in his arsenal. The time was ripe. No more words would need to be said.