Tyranny charged towards the Titan with its sword held high as Arylos snarled like a rabid beast. Their swords collided with the force of a landslide as sparks filled the air like amber rain. The impact knocked both monsters back several feet and sent them tumbling to the ground. Tyranny was down on one knee, its left arm hanging uselessly at its side as the machinery whined under the force of the impact. Purple and red blood oozed from a gash in its chest, but it did not seem to be seriously injured. It lunged forward again with its sword raised. Arylos had no choice but to block Tyranny as the impact ran through his arm and shoulder muscles. As he blocked the blow, he brought up an elbow and hit Tyranny hard in the face with his forearm. The shock of the blow caused Tyranny's head to snap back as the machine soldier snarled, yet it remained defiant and kept coming.

The Eikon and the Titan locked together, their movements becoming more violent with each passing moment. Each time they struck each other, the impact sent sparks shooting through the air. They were fighting for all they were worth now; neither could afford a single misstep or slip-up.

"A pitiful display of defiance," Tyranny yelled as it tried to bring its sword around and slash the Titan across the face.

But Arylos used that instant to turn completely sideways, bringing his right arm around and swinging his burning sword deep into the Eikon's upper torso. The impact drove it back as the sword ripped straight through its body, cleaving metal from flesh. A shower of red mist sprayed out as the machine soldier fell backwards as pieces of broken machinery flew from its broken body.

Before it hit the ground, Tyranny struck back with a violent kick that Arylos could barely dodge. Tyranny quickly regained its footing and lashed out once more, this time with claws extending from its human hand, yet Arylos easily avoided them and brought down his sword as the cleaved muscle from the Eikon's arm.

Tyranny lept back and examined its bleeding arm, various wires and machinery handing from the sundered limb as blood gushed like a broken pipe. It laughed as metal plates unfolded from under its body and began reconstructing the forearm, creating a solid gauntlet of purple metal that hummed loudly and shone with a brilliant and haunting purple light. With a wicked grin, it lashed out with its mechanical arm, bladed claws on the fingertips outstretched.

But the fingers were too slow to close around Arylos's neck. He ducked, the tips of his boots slipping over the blood-soaked ground. And then slid underneath Tyranny's legs and rolled back against a wall. Arylos swung wide and fast, aiming right for Tyranny's neck, yet the machine was faster than the god, knocking Arylos's burning sword out of the way before trying to run his sword into Arylos's stomach as the Titan pushed back against the machine's sword.

Arylos gritted his teeth as he tried to resist against Tyranny, the Eikon's machinery in its arms whining all the while as the machine used as much force that it could muster from its artificial muscles. Arylos could see inside the gaping hole in Tyranny's chest where wires flashed in shades of deep purple and white. Arylos's gaze was brought towards the glowing reactor on Tyranny's chest. With a groan, he freed an arm and grabbed the machinery just as Tyranny gained the upper hand and pierced Arylos's side with his sword.

Arylos roared as he ripped the reactor out as sparks and bolts of energy poured from the socket where the device was embedded. Tyranny howled as it pulled backwards and clutched at its chest as the machinery within creaked and groaned. Arylos pulled himself off of Tyranny's sword and ran his sword through the Eikon's neck as the machine growled and liquid gurgled in its broken neck. Arylos twisted his sword and felt a pop as the purple light of Tyranny's eyes went dark and its machine body went limp.

Arylos let out a sigh of relief as he pulled his sword out of Tyranny's neck as the metal of the sword scraped against the metal of the Eikon's neck, squealing like a pig at slaughter. Before Arylos could relax, Tyranny's body shot back to life and grabbed its sword and ran it through Arylos's shoulder, warranting a pained howl from the Titan.

"Fool, did you think killing me would be enough to stop me?" Tyranny laughed as the machinery of its neck pieced itself together. Arylos growled as he yanked the blade free with a quick jerk of his wrist as Tyranny leapt on top of him and pinned him to the ground.

Arylos grunted as he fought against the weight of the machine, struggling to push Tyranny away. "You never understand the meaning of peace, Tyranny! You always fight until victory is yours!"

Tyranny growled as it took hold of the Titan's neck and dug its nails in. "There is no victory, there is no peace, there is only the Great Work and you are an obstacle to its completion. You are an insect that ensnares itself into our portrait, an imperfection in the tapestry that is our grand design."

"The only tapestry you weave is death," Arylos snarled as he gathered his strength as the air roared with a deafening hum and he and the Eikon were slowly crushed into the ground by a crushing force not unlike a mountain overhead.

"Life is the flaw, and we will eliminate that flaw from existence," Tyranny growled as the machinery in its body whined, resisting against Arylos's crushing magic.

Arylos howled a blood curdling roar and finally managed to pull free of the Eikon and kicked it away from him as he scrambled to his sword. His eyes flashed brilliantly as a shockwave launched Tyranny backwards and into the wall of a nearby building. Arylos growled as he launched himself at the Eikon with blindingly fast strikes, yet Tyranny was able to keep up and block each one, leaving gifts of deep cuts on Arylos's arms. Yet the Titan didn't care, biting through the pain as he focused on his goal; seeing the Eikon dead.

Arylos took advantage of the close quarters and struck Tyranny's upper thigh and gut, following up with a swift headbut that even sent flashes of red and white through Arylos's vision. As Tyranny staggered to the side, Arylos lunged forward with his sword. But Tyranny saw the attack coming and twisted its body aside. A flash of purple light flared as Tyranny's mechanical hand closed around Arylos's throat. Another flash of purple light exploded and sent Arylos backwards as he reached for his broken neck and choked on his black blood.

"Your life is nothing but an inconvenience," Tyranny spat out like poison as Arylos struggled to draw breath. "You are an imperfection, a flaw of evolution, a mistake to be corrected."

Arylos struggled to breath as he tried to speak through his drowning throat. "No," he growled while trying to catch his breath. "You are the mistake that I need to correct."

"Life is a plague on this reality," Reyz growled in an irritated voice as it grabbed Arylos by his neck. "Think of the suffering you have seen in your life. Tell me that life is better off with this suffering. Tell me that letting them war against each other is better than letting them die as fertiliser for better lifeforms." Tyranny's hand tightened around Arylos's neck. "We are perfection, the peak of evolution, the final creation. We are the last step of the Great Work."

"And when you're done?" Arylos choked as he gripped the Eikon's mechanical arm tight, trying to break free from the iron grip. "What happens after you have eliminated every imperfection from this universe? Sterilised reality until nothing is left but cold and grey worlds?"

"There is nothing but the Great Work," Tyranny growled as the purple glow in its eyes shone like haunting suns.

"And what then?" Arylos growled as his anger flowed through his veins. "What's left once you win and exterminate life from this reality?"

"There will always be those spiteful enough to rise up and ruin our perfect design," Tyranny said with a disgusted growl as it lifted its sword. "And you will be the first to die." Tyranny lifted its sword and prepared to run it through Arylos's chest as Arylos mentally scrambled for a plan. Before Arylos could act, Tyranny was pelted by brilliant bolts of thundering blue and white lightning that brought the Eikon to its knees. Each blast sent shockwaves through the city that knocked Arylos away as the Eikon howled in a screaming mechanical voice. The blasts continued, sending out bolts that smashed into a nearby building, sending the stone building to the ground as the foundation and supports crumbled beneath it. Arylos watched Tyranny as it was bathed in the holy cerulean light that burned bright enough to blind him.

Arylos struggled to his feet as he watched the bolts of energy strike the Eikon as it circled around, trying to chase down the source as it howled loudly like a banshee. The Eikon caught on and followed the bolts of energy as they screamed through the air. Timing its strike, it reached out with its mechanical hand and grabbed the bolt of lightning, stopping it in its tracks as Iris slowly rematerialised from the lightning, grasping at the Eikon's hand that held her throat tight in an iron grip. Iris grunted as she struggled against the Eikon as blasts of lightning erupted from her body as she tried to get away, yet the Eikon held her fast like she was a rock in a rushing river.

"No," Arylos growled as he limped forward as his chest tightened and his head spun. "No!" He roared as he continued to approach the Eikon, using his sword like a cane.

"Pathetic insect," Tyranny growled as it looked at Iris with its burning purple eyes. It clenched its human arm as a short blade extended from its wrist. Arylos felt his mind empty in blind rage as he watched Tyranny run the blade into Iris's stomach as she gasped for air.

In that moment, Arylos died and Zjornfernheim was reborn.