PARADISE IN FLAMES

Thalia suddenly felt herself being jolted back to reality, as if a massive bolt of lightning struck her mind out of defenseless stupor. Her blank eyes regained their color and vigor, quickly clearing up doubts and confusion which had piled up within them. She looked around, quickly growing alert. Yet, the wicked-looking figure who had managed to crawl inside her mind was nowhere to be found. Glancing sideways, she noticed Parsia and crimson-haired child staring at the distant spot with stunned and complex expressions, especially the youthful looking child’s.

She focused her attention on the spot they were looking at and, a mere moment later, she felt tears swarm up into her eyes. The remnant of aura… the warmth of the fading flames… how would she be unable to recognize them? She watched both of them grow up from utter insignificance to the levels which had blown past her understanding and comprehension. She had fallen in love with them, and had her heart broken by them all the same. Even if it was just a remnant, almost completely gone, she’d recognize them even on the doorstep of death itself.

It didn’t take longer than a moment for her to realize that the reason she was free now was the owner of the fading warmth. It was not her will, heart or mind which broke her free, but a single act of a now distant figure. Although she felt like crying, she held back her tears, sucking them back down. She had no right to shed tears any longer. As he had on that day bade farewell to her, she had also bade farewell to him. Perhaps, this was his way of apologizing. Or ensuring their victory.

“Thalia…” she heard Parsia’s soft voice and glanced sideways, seeing his conflicted expression. She smiled lightly before replying.

“I’m fine.” Parsia could only sigh. Whether she was truly fine or not, that was something only she herself knew, deep down.

Unlike the other two, crimson-haired child’s expression wasn’t complex because of something simple. He knew exactly where Lynne was now, and what was he doing – or rather, who was he fighting. No matter how strong he was, or how much of a genius he was, what he did right now cost him dearly. At best, it was a heavy wound. At worst, perhaps he was already close to dying. However, he couldn’t linger on it; he had saved them. The False God believed deeply that Lynne wasn’t as much of an emotional person that he would risk endangering the entire world because of Thalia, just as he was certain this won’t be the only place his flames will be felt across the myriad of realms. In truth, going by sheer numbers, the Alliance of Ancient Clans stood no chance. Just here, above the insignificant Kingdom in a mortal realm, they were already outnumbered one to ten. Who knows how harder it was at places where losing and winning actually bore some significance?

In the end, he simply sighed. He gave them a chance, one they could not waste. Steeling his mind, he shook away unnecessary emotions as he sternly looked at the group before them. Even though they lost their leader, their brief shock had quickly cleared up. They were also most-likely informed that such event won’t occur again, which rekindled their confidence.

“Reminiscence later,” the False God spoke harshly toward Thalia and Parsia, jolting them back to reality once more. “We have a war to fight. Just because one enemy fell, do you think it’s enough to relax?”

“No, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Parsia said, shaking his head lightly, as if to purge the conflicting thoughts. “Brothers, sisters, warriors of our small Paradise, enemy knocks!!!” he bellowed in a deep voice as he turned back to their own army. “It would be rude not to welcome them warmly, no?”

“Ha ha, the King speaks the truth!”

“Let’s welcome the bastards!! With swords up their assess!”

“For the Paradise!!”

“For the King!!”

“For the Queen!!”

“ROAAAAAR!!”

Sky shook as hundreds of thousands of men and women shouted from the depths of their lungs, brandishing their weapons. Parsia followed suit, with a golden spear akin to a coiling dragon appeared in his hand, charging forward bravely into the fray. Thalia followed immediately after, and Soldiers of Paradise moved right behind them.

The False God elevated above; it would be naïve to think that the enemy army was composed entirely of low-tiered Grand Realm Mages. Through his senses, he already discovered over two hundred thousand Mages that were at least Emperors. Fifty thousand of them were at least Gods, and at least ten thousand were Creators. Against this kind of force, Skyfire Paradise stood no chance. Forget Gods and Creators – just the sheer number of Emperors would be enough to overwhelm them.

Just as he rose a few miles above Parsia and others, two lights flashed at his sides; next to him appeared a man clad entirely in black, and a beautiful woman with flames flickering within her eyes. Two Dragons stared solemnly at the mass of enemy soldiers in the sky. Much like the False God, they had realized that the chances of a victory were low, even with the three of them.

“Although they have no one else at a Divine Magus level, this is still too much.” Ryuuk said, sighing. “It seems someone bears a really deep grudge against that kid.”

“He’s offended a lot of people, after all.” the woman said, smiling lightly. “And then he ran off, leaving us with the trouble of cleaning up.”

“Eh, at least he dealt with the most troublesome one.” Ryuuk said.

“Bleh, if he had enough time to kill one, he could have killed a few hundred thousand while he was at it.” the woman said, but it was clear she didn’t truly mean it.

“How bad is this situation?” Ryuuk asked the crimson-haired child, rare look of worry on his face.

“… I don’t know.” the False God said honestly. “All we can do is trust him. They’re about to clash. I’ll take care of their Emperors. You somehow take care of everyone else.”

“Fuck!!” Ryuuk cursed immediately. “It’s only been a few years since I broke the seal off, I’m far from my peak! I’ll take care of Gods.”

“… eh, I guess lady is stuck with the Creators.” the woman said casually. “That brat is yet to fulfill his promise to me. I can’t be dying here today.”

“Down we go…”

Suddenly, a string of colossal explosions echoed throughout the sky, shaking it unceasingly. The trio dove forth; as if to reply their prior arrangements, all of Emperor-tiered, God-tiered and Creator-tiered people left the swarm of black and rose up to battle them. While, individually, they were way weaker than the three, their numbers were simply overwhelming. As they all unleashed their prowess, their presence was no weaker than trio’s.

While the battle below caused some ripples to appear in the space, the battle above tore it open immediately. Ryuuk turned into a gigantic Dragon immediately, roaring out into the sky as black flames burned around him unceasingly. The False God immediately transformed into a crimson giant with blood dripping around him like rain, while the woman turned into a fiery Dragon almost as twice as large as Ryuuk. The trio stood imposingly in the sky, almost deterring the two-hundred-thousand-strong force – but it was only for a moment.

Myriad of spells were suddenly unleashed at the trio as brilliant colors caused even sun to appear dim and drab, as Mana burned around relentlessly. The trio repaid in kind, as black and golden flames surged outward in cone, burning away a great deal of spells and reaching the front of the charge, killing nearly a thousand of people.

On the other hand, the crimson giant boomed out with Blood Laws, causing everyone with weak will to feel their blood freeze as their bodies stiffened. A moment later, throughout the swarm, crimson explosions occurred as bodies exploded inside out, causing blood rain to fall in droves. However, despite that, the spells never ceased eclipsing the sky; torrent of them landed on the trio and broke through their defenses. The burning Dragon’s scales broke off at few places, causing golden blood to bleed out slightly. She shrieked in pain as her eyes turned bloodshot, her gigantic body emitting heat akin to ten thousand suns.

The battle was quickly split into three fronts; the crimson giant fought the weakest group, while the fiery Dragon fought the strongest group, with black Dragon fighting the middle of the pack. Their battle had completely eclipsed whatever was happening beneath them, as mere remnant ripples of their battle caused those below to feel suffocating pressure, sometimes killing in hundreds.

Corpses rained from the sky onto the ground beneath like rain, and fires blazed while thunder and lightning danced. Within few minutes, land beneath was scorched and set ablaze, burning unceasingly. Thalia and Parsia were Lunar Emperor and Tonitrus God, and they had several hundreds of Emperor and above tiered Mages around them, but they were far from enough to overwhelm the opposition. Both sides were suffering terrible casualties, and nobody seemed to be caring too much about their lives; they all appeared crazed to their bones, and even if at the brink of death, all they could think about was how to bring someone else down with them.

Lighting danced around Parsia’s spear as he began thrusting it at speed which left blurs behind, causing thunder to boom out with each one of his strikes. However, all sounds appeared muted beneath the battle occurring above them; he knew very well that their chances of victory were slim, but he trusted the three above. Even if he and others around him were all killed, as long as those three won, Skyfire Paradise would be saved. Kings, Queens, Elders, Princes… all of them were replaceable. Lynne was the best example. Despite the miracles he had done, and all the reverence he inspired inside people’s hearts, he was still replaced. Kingdom’s pillars were people who kept the gears spinning, not those who oversaw it. Even if he were to die, he would have no regrets.

Thalia felt much the same; she battled with the same notion. Her spear, while not as fast as Parsia’s, was much more mysterious, and she had already killed over hundred Mages from the other side, and even a few weaker False Gods. She knew very well that this was just a first tide. Toward the very back of the enemy’s army, there were ten rather powerful presences – almost as strong as a First Cycle Divine Magus. She knew they were all False Gods, and they were the true pillars of enemy’s force now that their strongest False God was killed.

Behind the battle which had already caused space to tear open at several places, and ground beneath to break apart like weak porcelain, a translucent figure hovered in the sky, gazing toward the distance. This was no one else but the Spirit. His expression was solemn and his eyes full of worry. He had no way to participate in the battle himself; he was just a Spirit, a speck of will left behind to take care of the Sect. During the deliberation, it was decided that all of Sect’s Beasts and Wills were to be Kingdom’s last resort. If they failed in the initial battle, he was to release everything and everyone in one final push.

He watched as the Paradise was slowly being engulfed in flames, miles on end, and, in his heart, he knew that the battle upfront will be lost. However strong the trio above was, they were already wounded before even defeating a quarter of their enemies. The enemies fought without even paying attention to their lives. It was much different than simply measuring strengths – the trio didn’t have such luxury. If any one of them were to fail, it would no doubt signal the collapse of the Paradise.

“… is this how it all ends?” he muttered softly, looking up toward the sky. “Is this how your dream disappears?” he mumbled yet again, as though he were praying to something otherworldly to prevent the Paradise from burning away into ash and ember, and out of books and memories.