“Witness and behold…” The Demigod’s voice lingered on the wind, as strands of energy began to rise from the elevated platform below him, the Altar of Gods. “The appearance of a new god.”

Lightning split the sky, but its appearance was considerably muted. Whatever natural phenomena that was going on was likewise quite subdued, as though as the man at the centre of attention was making it a point to be low-profile — if that was even somehow possible for such a ritual.

Gaius watched quietly as the Demigod began to manipulate the countless streams of power. The sun had somehow stopped shining, which meant that the only thing that was illuminating Nox was four different lights, each from the corner of the Altar. These lights bathed the Last Star, growing only stronger as he continued to manipulate the strands of energy into four distinct pillars of power.

“He somehow managed to activate the Altar…how?” Gaius asked.

“Put that aside for now!” A hint of panic entered Nexus’ voice. “Look sharp! He cannot be allowed to complete this ritual, or your sister will never wake up again! Right now, the connection between him and Nakama is still made up of his own divinity, but if he takes in the powers of the other four, even if you kill him afterwards, she’ll be linked to the remnant energies of the Cardinal Champions instead!”

“What?!” Gaius trembled uncontrollably. Stray thoughts fled his mind, red clouding his vision as he took out the Terminus. His vision narrowed, and the boy activated the interface of the Blink ability. Hundreds of threads extended outwards from him, but all of them avoided the Altar he was staring at.

A black, black pillar of darkness was surrounding the Demigod and the platform he was standing on, extending to some point above the sky itself. More than twenty guards began to surround the Demigod, presumably on instinct or by order, as the boy’s vision returned to normal. The Republic’s fliers left the scene, soaring skywards under someone’s direction as their delegates left the colosseum.

Gaius stilled his trembling hand and waited until they were far enough.

“Don’t tarry anymore,” said the artificial intelligence. “Go!”

Gaius took a deep breath, and began to dive. Wind whistled in his ears, a sound intimately familiar to him, and the boy couldn’t help but compare his current actions with a moth drawn to a blazing inferno.

Shouts went up as Gaius’ invisibility was dispelled by some artefact, and the boy looked at the wall of guards ahead, who were responding to his sudden appearance taking on a defensive formation. Sigils danced behind every single guard in the lead, while tens of Palisades activated, creating a translucent wall that was all too visible in the darkness.

Gaius imitated their actions, his left hand turning into a blur as he created three sigils. The guards tensed up as the sigils shot forward, vanishing from existence as they met the barrier to send a shockwave blasting through the assembled guards. Palisades shattered — the explosion sigil was meant to destroy buildings — and surprise ran through the defenders.

Enduring the shockwave, the boy plunged into the crowd of Knights, the Terminus flashing brilliantly even in the false night. The boy’s leg flashed out, and his target only cried out once before the silvery weapon decapitated him.

Gaius’ barrier lit up as tens of energy projectiles bombarded him, and the boy tasted blood from the impact. His eyes locked onto a particularly old man, and silver light flashed as the boy tossed out three knives. They bounced off the old Knight’s own barrier, but in that instant, the boy had accelerated, the Terminus slashing down onto his target.

The Knight’s arms shot upwards instinctively, but the blade passed through barrier, blood and bone alike. Without waiting to see the outcome, Gaius blasted out another opening within the defensive line with his own qi, and soared through it.

Shots exploded behind him — Gaius noted dimly that the enemies were beginning to use the equivalent of timed or proximity fuses to detonate their own shots — but the boy’s focus was on the next defensive perimeter. He’d tried to Blink, but the black pillar’s influence had locked down the entire area.

His back was stinging lightly, and the boy could sense the first defensive line beginning to collapse in pursuit, but Gaius’ eyes was looking only at the second line of guards. The woman at the front yelled out something, but the boy only drew another five sigils in response. Gaius’ Dragoon — an invisible blade of qi — began to trail after him as the sigils shot forwards, bombarding the second batch of Knights.

The boy swung the Terminus down, locking blades with the woman at the centre. She buckled under the sheer strength of his strike — her Engine clearly didn’t have a defensive ability — before the boy dipped downwards slightly, and then rammed upwards with his shoulder.

Both weapon and woman dropped like a rock, and Gaius’ Dragoon swept outwards, cutting an arc towards the helpless Knight. Heavy impacts blasted into his back, but Gaius ignored them as he picked up speed towards the group of five Knights in his way. The Terminus swept out again as he closed the distance. There was no time for him to draw any more sigils, as the other members of the second group began to encircle him. Light flickered again as Gaius tossed another batch of knives, all of which was deflected by an almost contemptuous flick of the man at the front.

Energy blasted out again from the Altar, and the boy’s heart pumped even faster. Desperation in the form of a howl escaped his lips, sending shadows through the eyes of the last five guards standing between him and the unaware Demigod, and the boy’s instincts sent him diving headlong to the awed guards.

A shockwave, one even stronger than the ones generated by the explosion sigil, rocked the air, blasting four of the Knights backwards. One of them was bisected by the Dragoon, and as Gaius’ eyes met the ones of the man opposing him, the others began to tie down the invisible blade.

An immense pressure crushed down on him as the Knight…no, the Lord holding him off exerted his cultivation base. The man spoke again, and this time, Gaius could hear his words.

“Why are you doing this? Stand down, boy! There’s no cause—”

Gaius laughed madly as at another pulse of energy emanated outwards from the Altar, and his right arm began to burn with pain as the boy exerted more strength. His right leg suddenly flashed out, and a searing pain registered for the slightest of moments as the boy pitted flesh and bone against a Lord’s defensive measures.

The Lord shuddered as the impact of Gaius’ kick ran through him, and Gaius immediately redoubled the strength he was currently using. The man’s blade bent and shattered on the spot, and with his unharmed left leg, Gaius sent a knee flying towards the Lord’s abdomen. He raised his own leg, blocking the deadly blow, but before Gaius could do anything else, an explosion separated the two combatants.

Another volley of qi bombarded the barrier protecting him, and for the first time ever since Gaius got the Stellar Core, he could feel it beginning to weaken. His qi was beginning to run out, and once it did…

Gaius looked all around him, and realised that the precious few seconds he’d spent fighting the Lord had allowed them to regroup and encircle him. Behind the solid wall of Knights was the man he had to kill, but the boy was suddenly too aware of his body’s condition.

“If you have grievances—” The Lord tried to speak.

Another Knight exploded into flesh as the boy’s Dragoon returned to his side. Fatigue sunk in, and the world turned darker for a few moments. Red faded from his vision, and for a moment, the boy could only feel the futility of his efforts.

He thought of the little girl lying in the Library, and smiled tiredly. Gaius raised the Terminus slowly, and pointed it at the men and women standing against him, the smile widening into a leer.