Chapter 52

Wil looked down at the sword in his hands. He was struck by how it felt like a weapon made of contrast. The dark blade against the white moon, the black hilt held in his pale hands. It was a sword that could slay a god, destroying and consuming everything they were or could be, but it also birthed one as well. A weapon of destruction and creation. Protection and annihilation.

His connection to the weapon, his Divine Throne, made him a divinity. What it consumed, it fed to him, purified, and cleansed. It had taken everything he was, and had given it back, forever changed. His mana, golden and black, swallowed by the void, had returned to him in divine white.

Wil breathed in deeply, feeling the world around him in a way he had never felt before. He was linked to the earth below him, as well as the remains of the now White Moon. He could even feel Secundus, a connection he still didn’t quite understand. One divine being, recognizing another.

He was a god, his body reforged by the making of the sword. He had taken what was offered by Erebus, cleansing the evil taint that coated her Throne, and made it his own.

“Wil, what have you created?” Secundus asked, terror in her voice as she stared at the sword. It filled her with fear, a primal feeling of prey in the presence of a predator.

“A throne of Sin. Devilish Gluttony, shackled and bound.” He replied, looking up from the weapon. With a wave of his hand, he cleansed the blood from his white robes.

“I removed everything that could possibly influence me, the Draconic Essence, the remains of the Archdevil Mammon. But it’s still a part of me. At least now, it’s safe…useful.” He muttered. “I didn’t want to repeat what Erebus had done, condemning the world that we are supposed to protect for selfishness.”

Wil turned away from Secundus, looking at the kneeling Erebus, who lifted her head weakly. She felt the connection between them, her replacement, supplanting her Divinity and making it his own.

“Our Pact. You promised.” She said, her voice barely a whisper. Wil watched her for a moment, considering, before nodding his head.

“As agreed, go in peace, Erebus. May you find redemption in reincarnation.” He spoke. In a flash of light, the goddess was gone, sparkles of light carrying her to the afterlife. Hovering in the air where she had been, the last shard of her divinity floated. Wil reached out, summoning it towards him.

It flew into his hand, merging with his flesh. In an instant, the feeling of Erebus that had stayed with him was gone, replaced with a new connection to the white soil beneath his feet. The White Moon was not his Throne, it contained only a fraction of his power, but it was his, and through it, he could interact with the world beneath him.

The sword in his hand could not be a symbol, something for people to believe in. They needed an object to inspire, a visible personification of his divinity. The White Moon would be that symbol. A light in the darkness.

With a thought, the soil shifted and roiled, a wave that sealed the rents in the ground, healing the White Moon’s wounds. Satisfied, he turned to Secundus.

“You should leave. Take the others and bring them to safety. I had thought with Erebus gone, the portal would close, but it seems there is another cause for its lingering presence. I will find you once it is finished.” Wil assured her, gesturing to the other gods, freed from their confinement but drained from the experience.

Secundus was about to argue, to advise that they should face the Outsider together, when a powerful force swept over her. Wil’s divine powers were at their peak, here on the White Moon, she was powerless to resist.

In a flash of light, the goddess and her companions were gone, Teleported back to the surface of their world. Turning, Wil looked upwards into the Night sky, where a great rent was visible to his eyes. Deep within, a figure stood, a small speck of light against a writing mass of tentacles.

With a thought, Wil disappeared into a streak of light that pierced the portal.

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Astrid paced the hallways of the manor house, filled with worry over Wil. He had been missing for nearly a day, leaving them here while he fought in Aachen. The fact that he had snuck into the manor house to see Serena, but not any of the rest of them, only deepened her fears.

‘Why would he feel the need to avoid them?’ she thought, the question constantly whispering in her mind.

The others had been too shocked by the changes in Serena’s appearance to realize, but she had focused immediately on what the young girl had said about Wil. She said he was different, his mana felt strange and chaotic. He had been wearing white robes, matched by his hair! What could have happened to him that forced such alterations in his appearance?

Astrid knew more about Pact with devils than anyone else at the manor, including Serena. In the time her and Wil had been apart after he fled into the Wilds, she had researched Tieflings, and the Devils they had served. For Wil to be able to free Serena, what had he given up?

Walking down the hallway, her body was bathed in soft white moonlight. Pausing, she stared up at the White Moon, a disk hanging in the heavens above their heads. It had been Wil’s work, if Serena was to be believed. Cleansed of the black tar, all traces of infection and corruption had been removed.

It gave everyone a feeling of peace and protection, as if everyone who stood in its light was safe and secure against the darkness.

Looking at the moon, Astrid clenched her hands together, saying a prayer for Wil.

“Please, let him be safe. Let him return to me.” She whispered.

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Secundus reappeared, hovering briefly in midair, inches above the ground, before dropping, her feet digging into soft sand.

Looking around, she could see that she was in the Midnight Desert, the black sand dunes lit from the white moon above. The air was filled with mana, the Center Spring bubbled and gurgled in the distance, water pouring from its mouth and sinking into the sand.

Turning, she found the other gods beside her, laying in a row. Rushing to her brother, she lifted him by his shoulder, cradling his head in her lap. His red hair glowed in the light, his skin pale as he slept.

“Primaris. Brother, wake up.” She whispered, shaking him gently. Again and again, she called, urging him to wake. Finally, in response to her words, her brother slowly opened his eyes, gold irises peering at his sister through slightly open lids.

“Sister…have you fallen?” Primaris asked, confusion lacing his words as he stared at her pale face. Secundus widened her eyes in surprise at the question.

“Primaris, this isn’t the afterlife. You’re alive.” She responded, tears forming in the corner of her eyes at her brother’s safety. He was alive, they were together once more.

“Erebus…the betrayer captured us. You must escape, sister! Flee this place before it is too late!” Primaris whispered harshly. He tried to sit up but was too weak. Secundus hugged him tighter.

“It’s alright, brother. You’re safe, we’re all safe.” She hushed, lifting him upright so he could see. The god stared in wonder at the Midnight Desert around them, focusing on the other gods as they lay on the black sand, before raising his head to look at the White Moon, shining brightly in the sky.

“What has happened…” Primaris asked, his voice trailing off in awe.

“Our Champion has succeeded. Erebus is gone, another has taken her place in the Night sky.” Secundus explained simply.

“Wilhelm.” Primaris said, surprised. Although they had given him aid, working through him to improve their world, he didn’t expect the mortal to defeat Erebus and those that served the Outsider.

“For now, he will likely be given a new name, one more fitting for the White Moon.” She said, smiling.

“Now that you are awake, I must go. It’s time that Night ends, the suns must rise.” Secundus continued. Primaris nodded, gesturing weakly to the others.

“Go. I will see to the others, sister. This world needs a dawn, after what it has endured.” He spoke. Smiling, Secundus disappeared in a flash of blue light.

On the eastern horizon, the darkness was split by a faint blue light, the edge of Secundus’ brilliance appearing, driving back the Night, heralding the dawn.

Wearily, Primaris climbed to his feet, watching the darkness fade, before moving to check on the others.