Let the ideas flow~

-------------------------

The sky tunnel, a huge mass of earthen tunnels suspended by pillars of the same material, was swiftly being generated by Hideki. With the protection granted by Burkhard's Aegis, he need not fear any attacks coming from the demon assaulting him. However, although this meant any attack would be nullified, only ordinary attacks would be deflected. Attacks infused with a fragment's power will still penetrate the defenses.

"Oh, no you don't! You're dancing with me!" shouted Cavaron as he blocked Alexander's line of fire.

Alexander naturally witnessed the defensive strength of the Aegis, therefore he thought to attack when Hideki was busy pouring Cyan's power into the sky tunnel. Just as he aimed his railgun at Hideki, Cavaron swiftly provided support with the power of his own flames.

"Fine, then. Have it your way!" bellowed Alexander as he pulled replaced his railgun rifle with two smaller guns, "Carmel! Destroy those tunnels!"

As though she heard his command, the fourteen airships tilted their frames and aimed at the tunnels being built. Fourteen large balls of energy were being built up right at the bows of the airships, and by five seconds were at least three meters in diameter. Afterwards, they shot the balls of energy.

"MINI-ME'S! SWAP WITH ME!" ordered Cavaron.

Immediately, the three midget Cavaron's assaulted Alexander momentarily. Naturally, because of Kali's Flames, the attacks had little to no effect. Even so, it gave Cavaron a momentary window to erect a wall of Flames that were big enough to catch each ball of energy. Out of the fourteen shots, only thirteen were blocked. The last one successfully hit a portion of the sky tunnel that had circled halfway the island.

However, although a portion was destroyed, Hideki quickly mended the bombed out portion as though it hadn't been destroyed.

"Fucker..." cursed Alexander, "Carmel! Release everything!"

---

Aboard a Lockheed C-130 troop transport was a large group of paratroopers. These paratroopers were not of one nation, but of a coalition of many nations. Amongst them was a Japanese woman who was watching a corner of the island go ablaze, and saw a large earthen structure being rapidly built around it.

"Gimme some sights." said the Japanese woman, "Is that a tunnel?"

"What do we do, SMaj. Tanaka?" asked a pilot, "They must have a reason for building a tunnel."

Aiko used a high amplification camera to view the events on the battlefield. Except, she had to take a step back as she found something surprising.

"That freak looked right at me!" she screamed, "He knew we were coming!"

"Uhh, SMaj?"

"Tell all aircraft to fly through the tunnels. The fact that freak looked right at me meant something."

Aiko looked through the camera again and found Cavaron pointing at the sky tunnel. He also made a gesture of a plane going through it while fighting off Alexander's forces.

"Yeah... Go through the tunnels!" she ordered.

Subsequently, the radio operator relayed her order. Naturally, doubts and complaints were radioed back from confused pilots but were quelled when Aiko took charge.

"You want to end this war!? Just do it!" she bellowed.

The radio was silenced, and the result could be seen outside when all aircraft began to maneuver towards the sky tunnels. Aiko left the cockpit and went to the cargo bay where the group of paratroopers were on standby.

"Right, then. I have to thank a certain old man for forgetting to wipe my and the Colonel's memories, and forgetting to check our technologies." she said, "Everyone! I won't bother with long, inspiring speeches. What I will tell you now is hope for our future!"

The paratroopers were silently paying attention as they looked at her. Out of nowhere, her voice was heard over the radio of the entire offensive. From the aircraft to the naval ships and down to the submerged submarines.

"This is the last stretch! Within this month, the whole world was thrown into absolute chaos. Nations fell at the might of one man who acquired fantastical power. We lost many, we may even lose more after this... but, in return, another group of fantastical beings with incomparable power appeared. We will use this chance to redeem ourselves for a future of peace. Even if that peace is merely an illusion, it will be peace nonetheless! Let us use this chance to reach for that once unreachable victory! We will not pause! We will not falter! We will be victorious for the future of our world!"

"URA!!!" cheered the Russians.

"BANZAI!!!" cheered the Japanese.

"HOOAH!!!" cheered the Americans.

"HURRAH!!!" cheered the rest.

Morale was at an all time high, that even the pilots double-timed as they pushed their engines to the limit. One troop aircraft after another flew towards the sky tunnel as ordered.

---

Deep within the island.

"How far are we from completion?" inquired Ismael.

"Construction has already been completed." answered a Child, "We just need to install the power cores and fuel before we can ascend."

"Good." said Ismael, "Hang tight, everyone! Soon, we will witness the ascendance of the GODS."

The other Children saluted Ismael before returning to their work.

"I will be heading towards the observation room."

Ismael left the factories and went to where Carmel was. Along the way, he met up with Malachi who was headed towards the same destination.

"How's your side going?" asked Malachi, "Mine's almost finished."

"Same." replied Ismael, "Just a little more and the Project will come to fruition."

The two brothers had finally arrived, but saw that all the lights in front of Carmel had gone on full red alert. The two of them ran to Carmel's side.

"What happened!?" questioned Malachi.

Carmel glanced at him while busily manipulating the control arrays. The status of all docks on screen had gone from "Inactive" to "Active" and was the cause for her two brothers to worry.

"Father ordered to release everything we've got." she replied, "Prepare yourselves to defend the GODS as they ascend as they will be exposed to enemy interception fire."

Malachi and Ismael turned their gazes at the video feed and radar respectively, and their expressions turned serious.

"Then it will be sooner than you think." said Malachi, "I'm going."

"Hey, I'm going, too." announced Ismael, "This will be our repayment for Father taking care of us when we were abandoned."

Just then, a report came from a radio.

[Elders, everything is complete.] said the reporter, [Ascendancy is at hand.]

---

While Cavaron stopped each effort by Alexander to destroy the sky tunnels, the troop aircraft were nearing the tunnels. Alexander, eventually, gave up on the tunnels and focused on Cavaron.

"Fuck it." he cursed.

"BABABABANG!"

"PEW!PEW!PEW!"

Supersonic bullets left the gun on his right, and directed energy fried the air on his left. The fourteen airships also directed their fire on Cavaron instead despite their shots having little to no effect. Suddenly, the earth rumbled beneath them, and a structure opened up. From the structure, hordes upon hordes of mechs, vehicles, and black monsters poured out like a broken faucet. Soon, half of the island was filled with Alexander's forces.

As soon as the structure released their troops, the first troop aircraft flew through the sky tunnels. It was a C-130 troop plane. Its cargo bay dropped open, and one paratrooper after another disembarked. Sadly, with the presence of the demon nearby, not all paratroopers landed safely. Not to mention the active defenses around the island that shot the other following aircraft down like flies that were swatted away.

Even then, the aircraft didn't stop. Even at the sight of their comrades falling in vain, the troop carriers passed through one after another until, finally, a large enough force had a foothold in one corner of the island. By the time the rotor crafts landed, more troops ran out into the battlefield with guns blazing.

From high above, a voice was heard, and Blake flew out of Cavaron's body.

"BANZAI!!!"

Aiko dropped from a C-130 and released her parachute. As soon as there was enough distance, she separated from her parachute, and rapidly fell to the ground. Upon landing, she rolled a few times to break her fall, then stood up with her rifle.

"Hey, freak. Thanks for forgetting to wipe my memory." she greeted.

"Aiko-samya!!" cried Blake as he catapulted from Cavaron in his cat-form.

Aiko took a side step and deftly evaded the black cat. Missing his mark, Blake turned around to see Aiko aiming her handgun at him and fired indiscriminately. Of course, the bullets did nothing as they were disintegrated by Blake's Flames.

"Munya, such a tsunde—"

"BANG!"

"Are you sure it's wise to waste your bullets, Aiko?" asked Cavaron.

"It's fine, I can just pick up some more." she replied, "Well, I guess that's the overlord, eh?"

Aiko turned her gaze towards Alexander. Alexander also met her gaze with a smirk.

"Greetings, visitor." said Alexander, "Do forgive my rudeness and inability to provide more hospitable conditions. Then again, seeing as you see me as THE prize, this hospitality should be enough, wouldn't you agree?"

Alexander let loose a supersonic bullet towards Aiko, but was blocked by Blake himself.

"Che, damn your brother, Kali."

(He was always like that, Lex.) replied Kali, (It would be best to redouble our efforts in keeping them at bay. After all, that is all we need to achieve.)

"You're right." agreed Alexander, "We only need the Project to succeed."

Just then, another rumble was heard. This time from the middle of the island. Once this deep, yet loud rumble was heard and subsequently felt, Alexander's expression turned gleeful.

"Oh, joy!" said Alexander, "The final phase is at hand... HAHAHAHAHA!"

[Father, ascendancy is at hand.] said Carmel's voice over the radio.

---

"Open the launch bay doors!"

"Opening the launch bay doors!"

"Ascendancy imminent! All hands are to evacuate the launch facilities!"

Construction has been completed on the three structures. These were, apparently, spacecraft equipped with weapons. High above the three spacecrafts, bay doors began to open. Dust and small debris fell from the bay doors that made many of the Children evacuate.

"Launching in thirty seconds!"

"30! 29! 28!..."

Inside the observation room, Carmel took a speaker phone in one hand.

"Brothers and sisters! Ascendancy is at hand!" she announced, "The orders stand, protect the GODS at all costs! Follow your Elders, Malachi and Ismael, and prevent any of our enemies from destroying the GODS!"

On the surface, apart from the launch bay doors, garages and factory doors also opened. Behind these doors were the signature bipedal mechs and the Children that piloted them. Alongside the bipedal mechs were small flying crafts similar to jet skis they used to destroy the Pacific Fleet at the start of the war. At the forefront of these bipedal mechs were two Children in exosuits similar to what Alexander wore.

"Brothers and sisters! Today we shall leave a mark on this world as shatterers of a false peace!" cried Malachi, "Ascendancy is at hand! Destroy the interlopers at all costs!"

"Ride with me!" cried Ismael, "Destroy the coalition!"

"RAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" cheered over a thousand Children.

Their cheers unnaturally resounded all over the island. The soldiers heard this battle cry, and soon found hordes of red-eyed people pouring out from the center of the island, intercepting and preventing their charge further.

At the same time, sirens blared across the island, and smoke rose from the center of the island.

"Ascendancy is at hand! None shall hinder the GODS from ascending!" bellowed Alexander, "All or nothing, my children!!!"

"Gods? What gods!?" cried Maguro, "Cavaron, whatever he is planning, it shouldn't be good for this world!"

"Maguro! How long has it been since we left Edeortha by now!?" questioned Cavaron.

"Are you... Argh! Approximately twelve hours!" replied Maguro, "Who are you bringing out now!?"

"Rata! Rati!" cried Cavaron, "Papa's calling!"

Cavaron made a wide circular gesture overhead with his Flames, and out came two sleeping children. Rata and Rati, the two Planar Dragons that see Cavaron as a parent.

"Suu... Haa... Suu... Haa..." breathed the two quietly as they slept.

The surrounding soldiers and enemies cast strange gazes at the two sleeping gold and silver children. Although Alexander was surprised, the fact that the two children came from Cavaron's portal had him become wary at their presence.

At the same time, a structure emerged from the launch bays, it was one of the three spacecrafts. Afterwards, it was soon followed by the other two spacecrafts. As soon as their bodies were halfway through, thrusters erupted from beneath them and the spacecrafts propelled into the sky.

"What are those!?" cried a soldier, "Missiles!? Nukes!?"

Maguro ran next to Cavaron.

"Cavaron, those are spacecrafts!" he explained, "I'm not too sure about their purpose, but the fact that there are three of them and are too large to be ordinary vessels, should be related to those gods Alexander has been screaming about! Cavaron! Are you listening!?"

While Maguro was in the middle of an explanation, Cavaron was staring gobsmacked at one of the propelling spacecrafts.

"Cavaron!" repeated Maguro, "Get a grip, dammit!"

"The GODS shall ascend, and their wrath shall descend!" bellowed Alexander, "This is my legacy and none shall impede it!"

Alexander went full throttle. His Flames dancing ever more sporadically and creating more and more mechanical armies. His once small army, boosted by his Children, and now reinforced by even more creations was about to fill the island.

"Rata! Rati! Wake up!" ordered Cavaron.

Sensing the urgency in his voice, the two children stood at attention and found a blazing battlefield around them. Humans, monsters, and machines were killing one another, and a sight of a lone human producing more soldiers one after another at the expense of his life was burned into everyone's eyes.

"Eliminate those spacecrafts!"

...

(Lex? No regrets?) asked Kali.

"No regrets." replied Alexander, his voice already weakening.

"Father!" shouted a man from behind. It was Malachi.

"Father! We are here to help!" he said, "Come, my brothers and sisters! Drive them back!"

Thousands of bipedal mechs marched through the island and razed down anything in their way. Kinetic weapons, thermal weapons, directed energy weapons. A light show of death danced through the battlefield producing corpses that were either riddled with holes or burnt to a crisp. The armor of their bipedal mechs proved to be a force to be reckoned with as none of the conventional Terran weapons scratched it. The only time when a bipedal mech would fall was whenever they ate a face full of missiles and rockets, or when a missile or rocket hit their vents.

Now that Alexander had become weakened due to his use of Absolute Creation, the barrier surrounding the island had lost its power and dissipated. Cavaron and Hideki's fragments felt the absence of the barrier, and relayed this information to their carriers.

(Chief! The barrier's down!) announced Blake, (Tell Aiko-samya about it!)

Cavaron looked around and found no trace of the barrier. Immediately, he went to wherever Aiko was and told her about it.

"Aiko, the barrier preventing entry around the island has disappeared!" he said, "Better radio the fleets outside to send in more reinforcements!"

"Gotcha." replied Aiko.

Aiko grabbed hold of her radio and relayed the information she received. A few seconds later, a lone cruise missile was seen heading towards the island. As soon as the missile passed underneath the sky tunnel Hideki created, the missile landed square on a building. Immediately after, naval transports were seen sailing towards the island, and cruisers and destroyers could be seen operating their guns.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

The naval guns launched a salvo of shells into the island. Some hit empty land, many hit the island's facilities, and others actually hit Alexander's army. After cannon fire came carrier-based aircraft from the rear. Strike aircraft zipped by and dropped precision bombs over designated targets. The entire island was set ablaze.

Alexander was still creating more reinforcements, his face already becoming pale. Malachi arrived next to him to support his Father.

"Father! What are you doing!?" cried Malachi, "You're getting paler! What's happening!?"

"Ma...la...chi..." said Alexander as his face became thinner, "See...you...in...the next...life..."

Alexander's body became engulfed in flames. The flames then formed into a black panther, and looked at Malachi with stern eyes.

"Lex has fulfilled his wish." said the panther, "It is time to say goodbye."

"What!? No!" cried Malachi, "What do you mean!?"

"Live a long life, my child." said the panther, not with its earlier voice but with Alexander's.

The panther dissipated into nothingness and left Malachi in the middle of the battlefield.

"Father! Father!!!"

"Malachi! Where's Father!?" questioned Ismael as he finally arrived next to him.

Ismael found a rare sight of Malachi kneeling on the ground with tears in his eyes. Malachi was staring at nothing and hadn't even turned to his brother beside him. Suddenly, he stood up, and energies revolved around his exosuit.

"Graaahhhh!!! I will kill you all!!!" bellowed Malachi.

With great explosiveness and agility, Malachi charged forward barehanded and caught soldier. The soldier struggled futilely and was ripped into two by an enraged Malachi. Next, one soldier fell to the same fate after another.

"Malachi! What happened!?" cried a confused Ismael, "Argh! Dammit!"

Ismael also charged forward to protect the berserk Malachi from their enemies.

---

"Hey, what just happened to Alexander?" asked Hideki, "His Flame just devoured him."

(The cost of using our absolute power.) explained Cyan, (In order to not extensively damage the balance, a risk was put in place to deter the carriers from recklessly shifting it.)

"What do you mean?"

(We were never good nor evil. We are just tools with unimaginable power. We were created to break away from the chains of fate to a certain degree. That was because 'He' understood long ago that even if 'He' grants us these gifts, even if 'He' gives us power to reach the unreachable, even if 'He' provides us with the ability to attain impossible dreams... A price must be paid to achieve it.)

Hideki silently stood by as he watched the battle continue. He then closed his eyes and looked up to the sky.

"You mean to say, that 'He' is the Devil himself?" asked Hideki.

(I... cannot truly say...) answered Cyan, (That question that could be answered by a 'yes' or a 'no' cannot be truly answered by others. Only by what you believe in.)

"Heh, helpful."

---

The observation room.

"Father..." uttered Carmel.

She was responsible for overseeing and supporting Alexander. Naturally, she saw how everything went. Witnessing Alexander being devoured by Kali, watching Malachi go berserk, it took a toll on herself. Eventually, she also witnessed the sudden presence of two large dragons: a golden dragon and a silver dragon. These two dragons were headed towards where the spacecrafts were.

"Malachi! Ismael! The dragons are headed towards the satellites!" screamed Carmel into the radio.

[Carmel! Malachi has gone nuts!] radioed back Ismael, [I don't even know what happened!]

Carmel's chest tightened. She was unsure whether to tell him what happened.

"Ismael... Father's..."

[Sorry, I'm gonna ask that demon for some help!]

Ismael cut his radio off. On the monitor, Ismael could be surprisingly seen requesting the demon to get rid of the two dragons. The demon looked up, while ignoring the bullet impacts on its body, and watched the two dragons fly after the spacecrafts.

The demon, astonishingly, agreed to Ismael's request with a nod. It suddenly produced two black balls of miasma and threw both at the dragons. The black balls of miasma hit the silver dragon's underbelly, and a small burn mark could be seen. Rata, the silver dragon, evidently got pissed as he turned back to counter the demon's attack.

Rati, the golden dragon, momentarily paused mid flight to look back at Rata who was about to destroy the demon. Rati ignored them and continued forward to the soon to be leaving spacecrafts.

Seeing as only one dragon remained in pursuit, drones and flying vehicles, includingnthe fourteen airships launched intercepting fire at Rati. Fourteen balls of energy flew towards Rati at high speed. Out of the fourteen, nine shots were evaded by Rati it five shots hit her body. Distracted by the directed energy fire and intercepting vessels, Rati had no choice but to get rid of the small fry first as she opened her maw towards one of the fourteen airships.

A large ball of golden flame formed in between her massive jaws. With a jerk of her head, the golden fireball flew towards its target, and resulted in one of the fourteen airships exploding. She did the same to each airship. Although she had to take care of them, she was still able to make time to catch up to the three spacecrafts that were almost disappearing from sight.

Back with Rata, he had already killed the demon by crushing its body with his jaws. His short work of the demon made Hideki and many others shiver. Only Cavaron was smiling as he glanced at Hideki.

Rata immediately flew after his sister and, with no other impediment, swiftly caught up to her.

---

Earth's Thermosphere, 140 kilometers above the surface.

Three large spacecrafts were about to reach the exosphere. These spacecrafts were satellites that would then orbit around the Earth for reasons unknown. Below these three satellites were two dragons exerting great effort to catch up as they burned through the atmosphere.

"Rati~ it's getting hot~" whined Rata, "Let's hurry up~ and go back to Papa~"

"Then destroy those things, Rata." snapped Rati, "The faster we get rid of it, the faster we'll be able to return."

"Okay~"

Rata spread his wings wide and flapped hard. With each flap, he ascended hundreds of meters at once. Rati did the same, and the two dragons swiftly chased after the three satellites.

---

"Okay! Enough watching the sky fall! Get rid of the rest!" commanded Cavaron, "The faster we clear this place... Wait... Blake! Alexander's gone but his children aren't!? Hey!"

(Oh dear, oh dear... Mrow...) said Blake, (He didn't wish for the fragments back... This is gonna be one hell of a disaster.)

"Grah! Hideki! You're up!" shouted Cavaron, "Get rid of them all!"

Water enveloped Hideki's body. Similar to when he neutralized Cavaron and his Flames, Hideki assumed his transformation with the Water of Tranquility. Crystalline blue and white reflections of light wrapped his very being and his eyes turned icy blue. With his Riot Sword, water swirled around its blade until Hideki appeared like a god of water.

The earth beneath him rose and propelled him forward into the fray. The armor of the once thought to be impenetrable bipedal mechs were effortlessly severed by Hideki's Riot Sword. Along with his powers over the earth, the ground burst with tree roots that wrapped around the legs of the mechs, hindering their movement. Once the mechs were stalled, they were easily destroyed by Hideki's Water-infused attacks.

As counterattacks rained down from the numerous automated defenses around the island, Cavaron supported Hideki by using his Flames as a defensive barrier. Each attack was henceforth negated. In the middle of all this...

"Will someone get rid of those towers already!?" bellowed Cavaron.

As though to answer his request, steel swords flew through the sky and dropped precision bombs. Not all of them were able to reach their targets due to interception fire, but many were still able to destroy their designated targets. The attacks on Hideki and Cavaron had considerably lessened making their assault bring out significant results.

Just when the mechs were being pushed back...

"GRAAAHHHHHH!!!" bellowed a Child wearing a similar exosuit.

Malachi came charging through his fallen brethren, and leapt at Cavaron. Cavaron received Malachi's attack with his sword, but when the blade hit the exosuit, it did not penetrate.

"What the!? Adamantium alloy!?" cried Cavaron out with surprise, "Shit! There's mithril in there! Fucking cheating!"

Cavaron, a carrier of the Flames of Chaos, and Malachi, having been granted with the same fragment, were at an unbelievable stalemate. None of Cavaron's attacks had any effect on Malachi's strange armor, but none of Malachi's jabs and grabs hit their mark.

"This is for my Father! Die!" cried Malachi.

"Fuck your father! He killed himself!" countered Cavaron, "Shit! Hideki! I can't penetrate this with my Flames! This is absolute bullshit!"

Hideki double-backed when he heard Cavaron. The earth beneath him exploded and he was catapulted by the force of the explosion. His target: Malachi. Like a bullet that left a gun's muzzle, Hideki flew towards Malachi at high speed with his Riot Sword forwarded to pierce through.

However, just before Hideki could reach his mark, a small sonicboom was heard and a supersonic deflected his Riot Sword by a wide angle. Regaining his balance, Hideki found the source to be another exosuit-wearing child: Ismael.

"Stay the fuck away from my brother!" bellowed Ismael, "AAHHHH!!! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

One supersonic bullet after another was let loose by Ismael. Each of them landed squarely on Burkhard's Aegis. However, the fact that Ismael had a small fragment of the Flames of Chaos, and the weapons and armor they used had a trace of the Flames' power, each attack was slowly chipping away the translucent shell until, finally, it shattered.

"Ahh, not again." commented Burkhard, "Many pardons, Lord Cavaron, Master Hideki, I need to recuperate for a while."

Burkhard, although he was pulled through Cavaron's portal of Flames, faded out of the world as his power was used up in defending his target.

Eventually, more shots came from Ismael's railgun and each shot impacted, however, on Hideki's weapon instead as the Hideki was using the flat of his blade to deflect the bullets. However, although Hideki able to get rid of the Flames' influence and was barely able to deflect the bullets by ricocheting it somewhere else, the kinetic force delivered by each shot was still very significant.

"Dammit, my hands are getting numb." said Hideki, "I really wish I had Senior's Flame barrier right now."

Suddenly, an arrow dissipated on Ismael's exosuit. Ismael turned to the source and found Aimi shooting one mana arrow after another.

"Foolish girl! We already know how to counter your magic!" shouted Ismael, "Give up, or die!"

Ismael aimed his railgun at Aimi, and Aimi hesitated before nocking another mana arrow. Ismael frowned and pulled the trigger but, before the bullet even left, Aomi mauled him from the side.

"ROAR!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?" cried Ismael, "STAY AWAY, AHHH— Huh...?"

Ismael shot Aomi but his railgun was parried away by Aomi's paws. Ismael leapt back and regained his balance. However, this momentary distraction cost him his life. Hideki's sword pierced through the exosuit and through Ismael's body. Hideki commanded his Water to attack the insides of Ismael until he went limp. Hideki pulled his sword out, and returned his attention on Malachi.

---

"Ismael..." cried Carmel, "Khh..."

Carmel wiped away her tears and looked at the situation in the sky. The three satellites had begun to successfully orbit around the Earth but the two dragons were gaining on two of the three satellites.

"Foolish." she said, "Once the GODS are in orbit, none can stand in their way."

Just then, Rata opened his maw and released a massive bolt of lightning. The bolt of lightning, as fast as light, impacted on the satellite with a glass dome. The satellite didn't explode, but shattered into debris. This made Carmel silent, then she turned around and pushed a big red button.

[Self-destruction in thirty minutes.] said a crystalline voice, [All personnel, please evacuate the island. Repeat, self-destruction in thirty minutes...]

Carmel left to exit the facilities.

After the first satellite was destroyed, Rata caught up to the satellite loaded with missiles. However, Rata and Rati didn't know that. Rata fired off another bolt of lightning, and soon enough, the satellite loaded with missiles exploded and produced a glow of a thousand suns. The two dragons were blinded by the flash, and were also impacted by the shockwave, plunging them back down to the Earth.

The shockwave that was akin to hundreds nuclear missiles simultaneously detonating also destroyed the remaining satellite with a gun fitted to its side. The last satellite turned into debris, and a large crystalline object could be seen hurtling down to the surface of the Earth. This crystal was blue and translucent, and seemed to give off a mysterious light.

---

The skies lit up when the satellite carrying the missiles blew up. Its blinding flash was witnessed by the many people currently fighting on Pamana Island.

"That was... Was that from the spacecrafts?" wondered Maguro, "Wait... That intensity... Shit! E! M! P!'

As soon as Maguro realized what happened and would happen, all vehicles and electronics went dead. This included the bipedal mechs and exosuit worn by the Children. Aircraft crashed, naval ships were dead in the water, and none of the defenses on the island properly functioned. A great reversal.

Now that none of the high-technology weapons worked, conventional and present-era weapons wielded by the soldiers held the upper hand. However, instead of victory, Carmel appeared from out of nowhere. She walked through the battlefield, ignoring the gazes of the others until she arrived in the middle of it all.

Cavaron, who had finally pushed Malachi away, stood stock-still when he saw Carmel.

"Aisha...?" he uttered.

Hideki was immediately alarmed and looked at Carmel as well. Indeed, she appeared similar to Aisha if not for her red eyes. Hideki immediately went next to Cavaron, and snapped him out of a trance by smashing the flat of his sword on Cavaron's back.

"Senior! Aisha is dead!" shouted Hideki, "You, who are you?"

Hideki questioned Carmel. Carmel continued walking and arrived next to Malachi. She held him up, and brought him to the remaining children to rest. Afterwards, she turned her attention to Hideki.

"I am Carmel." she answered, "Do feel free to flee, now."

Hideki immediately brought his Riot Sword forward, but was surprised at the sudden retreat of many red-eyed people. Those who were in mechs got off and ran back, many others ignored the pursuing soldiers. Suddenly, giant squids appeared on the shores and coastlines of the island. Each one rescuing the few remaining Children on the island. With all vehicles disabled, none of the soldiers on foot could pursue any further.

"You're leaving your home?" inquired Hideki.

"This battle is lost." replied Carmel, "And the war has ultimately been lost. Only one thing remains."

Carmel smiled, and Cavaron snapped out of his stupor. Immediately, he let out one Mana Pulse after another. Sensing nothing, he infused it with the Flames. He sensed nothing again. The others felt the wave of mana produced by Cavaron.

"Cavaron, what's wrong?" asked Maguro.

"Something about that smile reminded me of a memory of a long past." explained Cavaron, "A smile of resignation. And whenever someone does so, they have done something reckless to do so. Blake, change the search target to weapons. Weapons of any kind."

(Roger, chief.) replied Blake.

Cavaron once more let out a Mana Pulse. Finally, he found something in the deepest part of the island, and immediately went pale.

"You... you didn't..." said Cavaron as he pointed at Carmel, "NUCLEAR DETONATION IMMINENT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The soldiers around them were stunned and became confused. Fortunately, Aiko lived through the ordeal, and set order to the panicking troops.

"You heard the man! Full retreat! Get row boats if you must!" she ordered, "Cavaron! Where is the nuke!?"

"In the deepest part of the island!" he replied, "We won't have enough time to search and defuse it! Carmel? Is this your wish?"

Cavaron stared at Carmel, his emotions unclear. Seeing a face so similar to a loved one, he was unsure of what to do. Carmel noticed his confused gaze.

"It is not mine." she said, "But merely ours."

"There is a hint of regret in your voice." said Cavaron, "If you die, I hope to see you in the next life."

Just then, the two meteors came crashing down from the sky. They were the two dragons that were stunned by the explosion earlier. Following right after then was a smaller meteor. Cavaron immediately turned his gaze at the smaller meteor and froze up.

"No way..." he said, "Grr, Rata! Rati! Snap the hell out of it!'

A strong voice was carried by the winds and reached the two falling dragons. Rata and Rati woke up from their concussion, and righted themselves in midair. With a powerful flap of their wings, they halted their descent. Soon, another order came from Cavaron.

"Either of you! Retrieve that thing falling behind you!"

Rati was the first to see the smaller meteor. It was the crystal that fell from the last satellite. Rati flew towards it and caught it with one of her claws. She inspected the crystal and found something within it. It was a young woman with blonde hair. Rata and Rati flew down towards Cavaron and delivered the crystal.

"Shit... I can't believe it..." commented Cavaron as he gazed at the woman in the crystal, "Dita, how the hell did you get here?"

"You know Mother?" inquired Carmel, surprised by Cavaron's actions.

"Mother?"

"Yes, Father received his power from her, or so I was told."

Cavaron gazed at the young woman named Dita but was awoken by Blake reminding him of the nuke down below.

(Mrow... Chief? We still a nyuke problem.) said Blake, (I also think the girl's cute, despite aging a wee bit faster than expected, but there is still that biiiiig boom-boom benyeath the island. I really don't wannya be that guy who died in a Chinyook.)

Cavaron turned silent. He then faced the two dragons and gave an order.

"Rata, Rati. Get everyone off this island." he said, "I'm destroying that nuke, also, my anchors should still be active, send Dita home for me, okay?"

The two dragons blinked twice when they heard his plan. However, knowing Cavaron, they would believe in him. The two dragons spread their wings wide, and grew enormously. Then, they scooped up the remaining stragglers onto their backs, including the rest of Cavaron's companions without any explanations.

"Cavaron! What are you doing!?" cried out Maguro, "You know nukes can still kill us!"

Cavaron ignored them and turned to Carmel.

"You really had to put the biggest bomb down there, huh?"

"It was Father's idea as a last resort."

"I wonder how much I need to destroy just to reach the damn core?"

(Uh, chief? Nyou're not serious, are nya?) asked Blake, (Do remember what Cyan and I said about the Absolutes. Chief, are nya listening? Hey! Chief!? I still wanna meet Aiko-samya! Hey!)

Cavaron ignored Blake's ramblings and walked towards the center of the island. Curious, Carmel walked alongside him. The two of them were now the only ones left on the island.

"Why are you following me?" asked Cavaron.

"The truth?" said Carmel, "You remind me of someone I cannot recall."

"How is that possible?"

"No idea. I just do."

"Heh."

"How about you? Do I remind you of someone?"

"..."

"That's a 'yes', then. I wonder who that is?"

"Hey, I haven't answered yet."

"But you hadn't denied it."

"... Yeah, you're just like her."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Are you sure you won't stop me from stopping the bomb?"

"If you can stop it, then you can stop it. If not, then we all die."

"Great... Just great... You've really resigned yourself to your fate, haven't you?"

"Maybe. Maybe... Well, we're here."

"You really... Never mind."

Cavaron and Carmel arrived at the very center of the island. Using Mana Pulse, he sensed that he was right above the core separated by earth, steel, concrete, and many more materials.

"Oh, man. You guys used Adamantium in large quantities?"

"Father produced it. Father created it."

"Father this, Father that... Can't you say anything else?"

"Well, it was because of Father that many of us were still alive. Despit Father's youth, Father took care of us, even though many were older than Father himself."

"... And those two guys?"

"Malachi and Ismael? Malachi is the true child of Father, born from his very essence and gifted by Mother, er... Dita? Yes. As for Ismael, he was the first Child to be adopted by Father, I was the second."

"Wait, his 'essence'?"

"A clone, so to speak, but Malachi doesn't know that. Only I knew that, when I saw the papers."

"Woah..."

"Well, you only have five minutes left before the island self-destructs."

"All right. Then, do stand back."

Carmel did as she was told, and gave way to Cavaron. Blake was still protesting against Cavaron's actions, but was ultimately ignored. Flames erupted around Cavaron's body, but instead of spreading, the flames focused around his arms. He bent down, and erased a layer of the ground beneath him. The flames intensified, and the rate he erased the materials increased. Soon, he was descending at 11 m/s.

Carmel stood by and watched as Cavaron descended into the abyss.

After descending nearly three kilometers, Cavaron had finally found the core reaching critical mass. The core, spherical in shape, had gone white-hot from containing whatever was inside. Cavaron, however, had to go through layers of adamantium with the power of the Flames of Chaos to get here. He had already gone deathly pale.

"Haha... It wasn't painful, but damn I'm losing focus. The final stretch."

He reached out to the core with his flame-enveloped hands. Once the flames touched the surface, Cavaron willed them to wrap around the core, and slowly destroyed it.

(No regrets, chief?) asked Blake.

"Eh, quite a lot, but still incomparable to this long life."

(Hmm...)

"Why? Do I need to be totally free of regrets?"

(Nyot really...)

"What will happen after this, anyway?"

(...)

"Hey, answer me."

(You'll see.)

"Great, now I'm curious."

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