“It’s here!” Major Igor shouted out loud, as he stared at the small figure that had blotted out half the sky with a single attack. The men in the command centre bristled at that sight, and sirens began to sound as the entire command post moved away from the battlefield.

The Northern ground troops likewise began to move, and this time, as they shifted positions, purple screens of light appeared in between the troops and the golden figure floating high above the ruined walls of the Holy Temple. Civilian structures were now visible, even from afar, as the howitzers had never let up on their bombardment the whole time, but it seemed that no one in the command centre was paying attention to the state of Centoria’s defences.

Lieutenant Marie tilted her head. “Who’s that? And why is everyone so cautious?”

“Wrong question, missy. It’s not ‘who’s that’, it’s ‘what’s that’ you should be asking.”

“What do you mean?”

“What the major means,” cut in an observer from the Eastern Territories, “is that person over there is a Demigod, a familiar spirit of the Human God Anren.”

Sergeant Aziz felt his mind go blank for a moment, as he heard two words from that unfamiliar observer. He knew their individual meanings, but when pieced together, his mind was yielding nothing but a sheet of white paper.

“Demigod,” the sergeant muttered. “Demigod.”

“H-hey, Sergeant Aziz, you alright?” Lieutenant Marie asked.

“Give me a moment.” The dumbfounded sergeant rubbed his eyes, stopping only after they turned somewhat bloodshot. “I’m better now. A Demigod…a familiar spirit of a great god…I think my life’s nearly complete now.”

“Don’t be too sure about that,” said Lieutenant Marie. “I’ve read about them — Demigods rarely appear, but when they do…”

Everyone inside the Cosmic Eye winced as their hands shot up to cover their ears. Aziz himself winced as red liquid filled his auditory canal — his eardrums had been ruptured by a deafening thunderclap. The nameless Demigod had swept a beam of immense power, in a direction parallel to the destroyed walls of Centoria to create a deep trench that rivalled that of the Northern forces, sending large chunks of earth flying and creating a minor earthquake that floored thousands of Northern soldiers.

“Flashy, but the Central Circle isn’t the only one with a Demigod.” The major clenched his fist and looked towards the direction of the Northern troops, and as everyone followed his gaze, a soldier walked in front of the cowed Northern troops, his appearance ordinary.

The golden Demigod at the ruined walls of the Holy Temple, though his features were indecipherable, was clearly staring at the seemingly ordinary soldier. Air began to congeal as the Demigod continued to stare at the man standing out from the crowd, warping air and light alike.

“A familiar spirit.” The soldier spoke, in a tone and volume not unlike what Aziz would use to address his compatriots, but the sergeant could hear these words as though as the soldier had been right beside him. “Is the first shackle not enough, so much so that you’d actually subordinate yourself to one of the most restrictive great gods?”

A spire of golden light erupted from the Holy Temple’s Demigod at the soldier’s taunting words, but before it could do anything else, the soldier had raised a finger, pointing it at the scarred battlefield. A shockwave thundered across the battlefield, which was riddled with small craters and chasms, and where it passed, obstacles and gashes on the battlefield closed up, mended by some immense power.

The Demigod floating above the walls of the Holy Temple threw out his hands as the shockwave approached Centoria. The Northern Demigod — someone of such power had to be a Demigod, by Aziz’s reckoning — folded his arms, and watched as his power crashed into the golden barrier the opponent had conjured.

Thunderclaps rang out across the otherwise silent battlefield, and soldiers of both sides stumbled. The soldiers of the Holy Capital were particularly unlucky, given their proximity to the clash, and Aziz winced as he spotted an entire battalion of foot soldiers from the Central Circle reduced to dust on the spot — they had been too close to the area where the two powers clashed.

There was something pervasive about the Northern Demigod’s attack. The shockwave, at the moment of contact, had seemingly dissipated after the first clash, only to reform behind the golden barrier to rampage through the half-ruined city the barrier was protecting. Clouds of grey dust shot up into the sky, and the blue sky began to darken as these clouds started to block out light from the sun. Buildings, especially those at the northern sector of the Holy Temple had been destroyed, falling apart when the dispersed might of the Northern Demigod coursed through them.

The Demigod of the Holy Temple turned its head to look at the damage to the city behind, just in time to see a majestic tower crumble and break apart. Centoria, as one of the wealthiest cities in the entirety of the Five Lands, was a place known for its architectural beauty. Now…it looked like a ruin. Sergeant Aziz glanced at Lieutenant Marie, who had an odd expression on her face, and he briefly wondered if she too was comparing the Centoria in front of her to Ark City.

“Give up, familiar spirit. It’s been a decade and a year since one of the Human God’s familiar spirits died. I intend to reset that counter.” The Northern Demigod drew out a sword, whose appearance began to blur and warp at the edges.

The Central Demigod mirrored his actions, and as they locked eyes, their figures vanished. The sounds of metal shrieking on metal were painfully amplified, and whatever soldiers from the Central Continent who remained anywhere close to the battlefield tripped over themselves by the thousands as they broke into a rout. The Northern ground troops beat a hasty retreat, with individual commanders working as hard as possible to restrain their charges from fleeing in panic. Their flier squads withdrew with even greater expedience, creating mini hurricanes as they left.

Waves of gold and grey light slammed into each other, the only indication that there were people in the seemingly emptied battlefield. The frequency of the latter was far higher, however, and more and more waves of grey might were now targeted at the Holy Temple itself.

“NO!” A scream, which sounded more like the roar of thunder to Aziz, echoed throughout the battle as the Holy Temple’s Demigod suddenly appeared in the path of an incoming attack, targeted at a particularly opulent tower situated in the middle of Centoria itself. Golden light erupted from its body as it bore its sword onto the incoming blast of power, dimming as it deflected the attack. Another tower, to the Demigod’s left, blew up as the diverted wave of power smashed through it. The golden brilliance faded slightly as the Holy Temple’s Demigod staggered from the sheer effort of diverting the enemy’s attack.

“To think that I have been backed into a corner.” The Demigod spoke, the thunderous quality of its previous shout now absent. “But I’m not done yet!”

A pillar of golden, gentle light fell onto its body, warping to create a pair of illusory wings and armour. A simple circlet appeared on its head. It was a simple object, but its appearance had sent everyone present into shock, as soldiers from both sides began to drop to their knees.

“T-the Human God…Anren.”

Aziz didn’t know who said that…but it sounded right.

“At long last,” said the Northern Demigod. “I get to meet this damned god again. Finally willing to talk, Anren?”