“First the audience!”

Merkabah clapped his hands twice. All of the sudden, the lifeless corpses of celestials started to twitch as one after another stood up and turned toward Alastor. Yet their movements were slow and very mechanical, somewhat clumsy. Their feet did not touch the ground; they actually floated slightly above it.

“Die!” Alastor materialized the ultimate soul weapon Excalibur and swung it and cut through the bodies of these risens. If these were undeads, the sword would obliterate their souls and destroyed whatever magic that was controlling them. However even when they have fallen, these celestials would rise again.

“Secondly the ensemble: ”

A bright light blinded Alastor. When he opened his eyes, there were four Merkabah sitting behind the celestial crowd, each with a different musical instrument.

“” Alastor’s body illuminated as light magical missiles fell upon the mass. In an instant all the celestials were burned to crisp by the heat of these sunlight beams. Now nothing but the ashes remained. Yet not a single one has touched the ensemble. Some kind of barrier was surrounding them, accompanying by the sound of a hand bell.

“The bell calls upon the protection from the wicked ” One of the five Merkabah was rattling a smell bell in his hand. It seemed that bell was the cause behind the barrier as it emitted a vibration in the air that surrounded the five.

“” This time, a flute player.

The remains of the dead celestials began to reform their bodies. In a few seconds every single one of them was already back on their feet.

“” The third Merkabah using a harp played a score, making all his minions turned berserk jumped after one another at Alastor.

“” Alastor cast a ring of fire around him. While it could handle these undeads easily as everything touching it would turn to ash, they would just come back again. But light magic didn’t work against it. Not even soul magic could. It was as if these were just bodies being controlled. But how?

Using his Mana sense, Alastor could see the flow of mana inside all things in his vision. These celestials did not have any mana inside them. However small cords of mana could be seen attaching to different parts of their bodies. And the other one of all these cords were linked to the fourth one who did not hold anything.

No wonder why their movements were so clumsy. They were literally marionettes controlled by Merkabah through these strings. That also explained why Excalibur did not work against them. It was not the corpse that should be hit but the strings.

Jumping back, Alastor entered the sword drawing stance and launched a soul shockwave that cut through every single mana cord in one hit. Free of Merkabah’s control, all the celestials fell down and slowly turned into light particles before completely disappear.

Without letting him a chance to retaliate, the boy chained with a second attack, this time aiming at the four remaining Merkabah. The most problematic would be the bell as it seemed to be able to deflect magical attacks. However what would it hold against magic combined with physical?

“Time to end this game! ”

This spell, however, had some modification from the previous version. First of all, the hole now appeared on his chest, constantly emitting a vacuum force that would absorb everything inside it. Even if the object in question was larger than the hole itself as the black twist would twist and crush it before finally consuming it. Secondly, to make sure that some targets who managed to resist the sucking force would not be able to escape, from inside the hole, black tendrils shot out and pierced through the barrier, capturing them before finally pulling them back into the hole. However one managed to dodge it, the original.

Some clones tried to cast some spells but Alastor found a way to cancel it. He noticed that before any spell, they needed to play a portion of their music instrument as part of the chant. Music was essentially vibration that travelled through the air. If he could suck in all the air at the same time, not even sound could escape, therefore cancelling their spells.

Powerless before this attack, all the clones ended up being dragged into him before turning into nothingness.

However, something was odd. Alastor expected a bit more from a God. Compared to the giant Gnome, his power was not even half of his. He just did not feel that kind of overwhelming presence from him. Was this guy really a God?

But again the boy did not want to underestimate his opponent. If there was anything he learnt, that was carelessness and arrogance usually led to defeat. It was possible that he had some kind of trump cards up his sleeves and just like Alastor, it could be that he was still testing the extent of his opponent’s power.

“Amazing! You destroyed all of my clones so easily!” Merkabah said.

“Why don’t you show what your real power is? You can’t be telling me that this is all you have?” Alastor questioned.

“Of course not but that was all I could do for now….I am not like I used to be anymore. But matter! You have proven yourself to be capable of handling the opening! Now I will show you the finale!” Merkabah proclaimed.

What was he trying to do? Why did he stop all of the sudden?

“I love music. In the past, whenever lord Eden comes back to Celestia, I would play a parade for him. Gnome always falls asleep quickly as soon as he hears my lullaby. Elemyr loves it when I sing for her by ourselves. Amon and Baldo never admitted it but in the end they never say no to me. Those peaceful days of mine….now merely a long distant memory.

But no matter how much I love playing all kind of instruments, there was one thing that I never touched. I tell myself days after days, hoping to never use it. Yet a part of me was curious, the desire to play it. This forbidden craving for it, how long have I tried to suppress it… But now, does it matter anymore? It’s already over anyway.”

Suddenly from his hand, a bright light shined as something began to manifest itself. A trumpet!

“I am the maestro and the world is my chorus! Bear my witness as I shall play this requiem to you! Behold the final performance of Merkabah!”

Merkabah blew the first trumpet.

A cold wind swirled across Alastor’ shoulder. Was it because he was on the sky? No, it was windy sure but not that cold. Then the temperature started to drop down increasingly, following with a cracking sound as if something was freezing. The sounds came from below. Curious as also being careful to avoid any unsuspected attacks from behind, Alastor decided to take a glance down. Fortunately, he was right on the edge of the arena and the sky was clear, giving him a perfect vision.

The entire ocean has frozen, or at least the surface. But from here, he could see no end to the ice. It was as if all the oceans in the entire world has frozen.

“The Age of Ice shall return, freezing all oceans. That was the first verse.” Merkabah spoke as he prepared for a second blow. “And here comes the second verse”

The second trumpet was blown.

* * *

Ivory City of Caelum

The sound of a trumpet echoed across the entire world. No matter who you were, no matter where you were, high above the sky or deep in the underground, all livings creatures shall hear this trumpet.

From the sky, a rain of fire hailed upon the world. Just now the entire surface of the world seas has been covered with ice. Ships sailing became stuck without warning because of this bizarre event. And that was not even the end. No, only the beginning. The frozen sea was now under siege by a heavy rain of fireballs exploding and melting the ice.

In Caelum, the already ruined city saw the wrath of gods for the first time. Each fireball touching the ground resulted in a small explosion and spread the fire to its surroundings. In just a few seconds, the city was on fire.

“Your Majesty, we must get out of this place!” shouted the female knight Catrina.

“It won’t matter where we run. Don’t you see that this thing covers the entire area? Gather the troops immediately! We will go activate the barrier using our Blue Phalanx!” ordered Morrigan.

“But the southern wall has already been destroyed. How would we do it?”

“Form a circle around the city and we will all cast at the same time. The wall may have been destroyed but the mana flow and formation is still there. You will concentrate all the mana back to my position at the Cathedral where I will create a new barrier!” explained Morrigan.

“Yes your Majesty! I will be on my way!” Catrina ran away to inform the troops as fast as she could.

Alone sitting on the chair that only the pope once sat, Morrigan thought about Alastor. The moment he went away, this happened. She was right about how he would participate in events that would shape the world.

‘Please be safe, Alastor!’

* * *

Back at Avant-Heim, Alastor was fending off against the rain of fire.

“”

A magic portal opened and let out a few dozen black knights holding greatshields. They quickly rushed toward their master’ side and formed a square with their shield, covering every inch. And they waited for the rain of fire to finally subside before breaking formation.

“From heavens, a rain of fire shall burn the world of its trees and grass. That was the second verse. Though the power I used was only half of what it used to be so the effect might not be as I expected. What do you think of it?” asked Merkabah.

Alastor sensed that it wasn’t just at Avant-Heim or Ragna that was affected by that spell. The entire world was under that spell. Hopefully everyone back at the castle was ok. That place was secure and there was still Azureus and Maria together with Lilith. They should be fine on their own. But to make sure, Alastor needed to find a way to deal with that trumpet before another came in.

“Third verse: The judgment of the gods shall strike down the sinners.”

The third trumpet was blown.

* * *

Continent of Oros

“Syralth, go in the cave now!” a kingly figure shouted.

“But what about you?” the little girl said.

Something very wrong was happening. First the ocean turned frozen then a rain of fire hailed down from the sky. And now a storm of lightning that continuously struck down lightning bolt.

Immediately when the rain of fire started, Kaiser has moved the young draconian back to his castle. To him dodging these fireballs would be an easy task. Lightning however was a different story. With its light speed, evading one could be possible but this many at the same time, it was difficult. He could take on himself a few strikes but with a child in his care, he could not risk to be hit even a single time.

Now that he has moved her back to the cave and ordered his soldiers to keep the girl safe, Kaiser was now standing above the cave. With this kind of constant lightning, the cave would not be sure to hold much more. He must drag the storm away or find a new target for it.

And he shall be the new target. Flying above in the middle of the storm, Kaiser planned to absorb all the lightning so none could it what was below. He must protect Syralth, his one and only subject. It was his duty after all.

“Come at me! ARGHHHHH!”

* * *

“” A staff materialized from Alastor’s hand. He pointed it to the sky and attracted all lightning toward the staff. Lightning arc splintered from the spear after absorbing so much energy and there was one target right in front of him to redirect all that energy to. “Take this!”

A small beam of pure energy discharged toward Merkabah. The heat it emitted could melt everything it touched, stone or flesh. And it moved with the speed of light. At this distance, no one could dodge that attack.

In a flash the beam pierced through Merkabah’s right shoulder, leaving a bleeding hole. But it wasn’t because he could not dodge that attack. He simply didn’t.

“Argghhh… * heavy breathing * There is no need for me to dodge that. I can’t stop now anyway… Fourth verse: The breeze from heavens shall cleanse the world of filth”

* * *

Galahad, Jewel of Malatas

The people of Galahad, capital of Malatas, were rushing toward the castle. Among all the buildings in the entire city, the castle had the sturdiest structure and was therefore the best bet they had. But could it withstand the inferno? First a rain of fire fell then a storm shot down lightning, ransacking the city. And now the omen of a new incoming disaster as the clouds swirled around in a circular motion.

“The people is hitting at the door at the castle, milord! We need to let them in.” said a minister.

“But even if we do that, there is no way we can defend against that if this continues! A solution must be decided.”

“But what?”

As all the nobles were panicking, facing this catastrophe, the new king of Malatas Aldol called his court mage to come closer.

“Hum…what do you think I should do?” asked Aldol.

“What do you want to do, your Majesty?” said Astrea.

“Watching them die would be nice but then again that would raise some problems no?” Aldol grinned when he heard the desperate of the people shouting outside. He was enjoying this. “Look at them! Bunch of animals! I guess I have to be the saviour!”

“Most wise your Majesty! Now would be the perfect time for a small test of your new body!” Odium, disguised as the court mage, spoke. Ever since returning from the Abyss, she has been barricading herself in her personal laboratory, performing experiments. This period coincided with a series of missing persons in Malatas numbering in hundreds. What happened to those people, only one would know.

And finally she did it. Her experiment succeeded. She managed to create what she wanted and the fact that king Aldol stood here was the testament of her success. After all he volunteered to be the first test subject.

Ever since he was a child, Aldol has been abnormal. He would kill small animals without any coherent reason. One time he hung up all the cats and dogs in the palace as he gutted them one by one. When he was confronted by his parents, the boy simply smiled at them without a word to defend himself.

His mind was filled with strange questions, on the border of deviancy. And he had unusual tastes. Tastes that no moral persons could ever understand. Even when planning the death of his entire family, he did not feel a single shred of regret nor did he feel sad about it. In fact, he didn’t even hate the rest of his family like his sister. What he wanted was simple: to prove that he was alive, to prove his existence. And he found the answer to his question: by taking away the lives of others, he could affirm his own, that he was breathing right here right now while the other was not. Even if history passed him down as a tyrant, a murderer, that would be fine. At least that way he would be remembered.

Now what would happen when such a mind encountered someone like Odium? The master of schemes met the psychopathic mass murderer prince. Something sparked within them the moment they saw each other. Deep inside, they knew that the other was the same as them. If they both wanted the same thing, why not support one another? Together, what would they be able to accomplish? Whatever it was, Malatas surely would have to suffer for it.

“Very well then!” said Aldol.

Ignoring the lords, Aldol walked of the palace. In front of him, millions of people were begging at the entrance of the castle behind the closed bars and the lines of guards trying to keep everyone in line. The city was on fire, buildings were crumbling. The wind became even more furious by every second. Not even the ancient trees of the forest surrounding Galahad would be able to withstand against such a force.

Now a giant column of tornado began to form on the sky and descended upon Malatas. Their citadel has already suffered so much destruction. One more would mean the end.

In front of all these chaos and carnage, Aldol smiled. ‘What a beautiful scenery! Too bad it has to end now. How regrettable!’ thought Aldol.

Raising both his arms above his heads, Aldol shouted.

“”

From his hands, a mystical beam rose to the sky and dispersed the tornado in an instant. The impact was so powerful that it left a gap void of clouds in the sky.

“So this is the power of a demon lord. How interesting!”

* * *

Merkabah seemed to get worse from the injuries. His chest heaved heavily rapidly with heavy panting. Even when more blood was coming out of his wound as he blew the trumpet, he did not stop to heal or do anything to cure the wound. Has he gone completely insane that he could not distinguish anything anymore?

His body was now inside a tornado imbued with lightning, keeping Alastor out of reach. The wind was so powerful it blasted away a few levels of Avant-Heim.

“Excalibur!” With his soul weapon in his hand, Excalibur transformed into a translucent spear, emitting an incredible aura. Focusing all his force into his hand, Alastor threw it into the tornado. The aura surrounded the spear repulsed the raging gale and lightning, making a clear path toward its center where Merkabah resided.

With the flash of an eye, the spear perforated his stomach. With that much force put into the spear, Merkabah’s body was being pushed into buildings after building before finally being stuck on a wall. Yet he still lived, despite all the blood he was dripping.

“Huff…..hufff…….Fifth verse: The foundations of the land shall collapse, awakening its wrath.”

The fifth trumpet was blown.

* * *

Cedra, the Golden City of Ceadric

Back in Ceadric, the capital Cedra, the Golden City, was under an unimaginable earthquake. Cracks opened on the streets, swallowing down a whole district.

King Charles has only recently been crown and already he must face much more troubles than any of his predecessor. First was the treason of the archduke. His execution also meant the lost of one of the main pillars of the court. Then there was the news of the fall of Caelum and the declaration of war from Empress Morrigan. When he sent messengers to contact with the kingdom of the elves to ask for their help and advice, none ever returned and the new king did not seem to have taken any action facing these outrageous events. Not to mention that his ascension to the crown was also suspicious given the circumstances behind the death of every member of his family. However no proof was given and all charges were claimed to be responsible by the dead princess.

And now his palace seemed to be under some kind of attacks. Thankfully he has summoned the help from the Academy Helios and its headmaster in order to deal with the current situation.

“Your Majesty, I have come!” Ganon, headmaster of Helios, bowed to the king. Though Helios was neutral to all foreign influences, Ganon himself has known Charles for years and was certain of his characters for a king. So while he claimed to be biased, he sometimes accepted requests from the royal family of Ceadric as part of strengthening their relationship.

But now was not the time for formalities.

“Master Ganon, do you have any idea of what is going on?” asked Charles.

“I do not have any concrete proof and I am afraid what I am saying will be considered…..blasphemy.” the headmaster hesitated. The moment he has seen all the signs, it reminded me of a certain book, one about the old tales of the Gods. In it, a certain passage mentioned something similar to this but its significance, the fact that it was happening right now, could change the entire foundation of the world. Which was why Ganon was reluctant to speak frankly.

“I invited you here because I hold your words in the highest esteem. So please share with us!” said the king.

“Your Majesty, all these events are following exactly like it was described in the Book of Revelation rumoured to be written by God himself. The Day of Judgment is upon us and God is the one behind these attacks.” Explained Ganon.

“What? God is attacking us? Why?” questioned Charles.

“I don’t know but if I am correct then these were not just the end. These catastrophes we have seen are only a prelude to the two final one. And when the last trumpet sound, it will…..”

Before he could finish, a powerful tremor shook the entire palace, almost making him falling on his knees if not for his staff. Fractures came out of the walls of the hall all the way up to the ceiling. The glass windows shattered into pieces as everything was coming down.

“We need to get out of here! Come quick your Majesty!” Ganon cast a sphere barrier around him as he led the people of the court outside. King Charles, accompanied by his guards, held the hand of his queen Lindzie as they escaped the crumbling palace.

And it was a nick of time. As soon as Ganon and the others managed to get out, the palace of Ceadric collapsed the ground. The once magnificent golden palace was now nothing but a pile of rubbles and dust.

Trouble did not end there. The sky darkened as everything faded into darkness. But it wasn’t because of the clouds. No the sky was clear after the storm earlier. This dramatic change could only be explained through the power of a god. Yet why did the Gods forsake their people?

The sun seemed to be swallowed up by a creeping shadow. The old headmaster’s expression became pale as everything became pitch black.

“The sixth verse of Revelation: The light shall leave this world as the sun and the moon vanish from the sky”

* * *

Back at Avant-Heim, since the island was actually floating thanks to Lilith’s power, it was not affected by the series of earthquake around the world.

However Alastor now found himself in a pitch dark place. Even when he placed his hand right in front of his face, he could see nothing. Not the radiant sunlight nor the soothing moonlight. Even the stars were gone. The whole world was in complete darkness.

“Alastor, we finally arrive at the grand finale. This will be the seventh and the last. It won’t matter where you run. This will be the end of the world. So please…..enjoy!

When the last light leaves this world, when everything fades into nothingness, mankind shall recognize their frailty, the sins they committed as their souls will once again be one with the Flame. The gate of Heavens will now open!”

The final trumpet was blown.