Dragonball M, Chapter 5: Clarion’s Call! The Signal! The Fate of the Universes!

[bruceleegreyhulk]

The drill slams into the sphere of Hakai with a sound unheard of in all the universe. A unique shrieking of metal, Creational and god energies scraping against and through the power of destruction incarnate. The Gotengo plows through the sphere, cracking it in half and causing the energies to dissolve and fall apart even as the drill itself becomes so super heated and cracked that it shatters after bypassing and defeating the sphere. Warning lights flare all across the ship as it shoots up into the sky, Hakai orb defeated.


Meanwhile, Sarada you manage to intercept the orb yourself even as Praxat pulls your allies away (in the distance Held arrives near Neva and Etrina). Sarada, your attack cracks the orb thanks to Parsley slowing it down for a moment, but the pieces still shoot at you now, ignoring your allies.
Zaofan, the gathered Threshlings still on planet roar their approval of your words, their energy with you.

Meanwhile, She Who Stalks lands where you were, Sarada. She pivots, dark eyes of Hakai narrowing. Just as she moves to pounce, a cage of Creational energy and magic appears around her, followed by a sweating Caliban landing nearby.

“I’ve got ya, wicked witch. Ya forget ‘ole Caliban, ehh?”

He tightens the cage, struggling, as She Who Stalks roars and beats against it, Hakai eroding contending against Creation.

Praxat's tongue wrapped around Charco, Tasure, Jack, and Totoma would feel very soft, like the softness of fresh snow, with her saliva feeling thick and really sticky. Praxat very quickly unwraps her tongue from Charco, Tasure, Jack, and Totoma. Doing so causes her saliva to flow quickly turn it thin and watery. Praxat then puts her tongue back in her mouth.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The entire battlefield is washed by a magnificent golden glow. Chasing away the lingering darkness, Heka Flow roils across the battlefield and spreads like wildfire, propelled and boosted by the Flames of the Phoenix School. It engulfs all on Reshlan, and a loud roar follows from the entire planet.

“HOLD THE LINE!!!!!!”


The Threshlings, the M-Fighters, everyone allied with Zaofan feels….lifted. Feels filled and re-energized and whole and hale, and the few demons still clinging to the fight either wither and die or are quickly killed off around the planet. Behind Zaofan, ghostly hands seem to gently clap his shoulder as Cleos and Banespell and Zxu’ro’s presence briefly touch his senses, pride clear.


However, the Goddess still stands. Hakai contends with Creation, and the old Goblin, even rejuvenated as the Heka allowed him to be, is straining still to keep her cage. Writhing darkness and light slam against one another and all know the cage won’t hold for long.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Praxat feels rejuvenated and infuses her arms, legs, and sword with electromagnetic energy." Hey, Charco, Totoma, you two better not have had any kinky thoughts when I was holding you two with my tongue. I know how young men think," Praxat said with a body language indicting that she was joking.

" Just joking, probably felt disgusting having my tongue wrap around you guys, didn't it? Oh, And Jack, Charco, Totoma and, Tasure, how about a little thank you. Yeah, I know, I know action now, thank you later," Praxat said.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Meanwhile, Sarada you manage to intercept the orb yourself even as Praxat pulls your allies away (in the distance Held arrives near Neva and Etrina). Sarada, your attack cracks the orb thanks to Parsley slowing it down for a moment, but the pieces still shoot at you now, ignoring your allies.

The divine and mystical powers of Sarada and Parsley combined to combat the Hakai sphere with a synchronicity drilled into them by Ochazuke and Zaofan over the year of training in Vaikuntha. They clashed with the destructive force, Parsley’s slowing it down and Sarada’s pushing against it to grind it to a halt. It started with hairline cracks that started at the point of impact and spiderwebbed across the orb. The cracks grew more expansive until the orb broken apart.

Only the thought of celebration crossed their minds for a brief second before being dashed. The orb had broken, but the shards that remained continued their pursuit. Sarada halted her Galick Destroyer and jumped back. When they followed after her, she knew that she was SWS’ target and took to the sky to draw the shards away from Reshlan and the others. [i]The game’s no fun when you’re losing, am I right?]/i] she thought bitterly as her mind drifted back to the elation the goddess displayed at the beginning of the battle. The struggles and helpless frustration she felt then was worth it to be able to be there and watch her utter unraveling at the hands of people she thought would have been, at best, playthings.

When she left the atmosphere a mere instant after leaving the ground, she unleashed several concentrated energy blasts to further destroy the Hakai shards.

Meanwhile, She Who Stalks lands where you were, Sarada. She pivots, dark eyes of Hakai narrowing. Just as she moves to pounce, a cage of Creational energy and magic appears around her, followed by a sweating Caliban landing nearby.

“I’ve got ya, wicked witch. Ya forget ‘ole Caliban, ehh?”

He tightens the cage, struggling, as She Who Stalks roars and beats against it, Hakai eroding contending against Creation.

For the briefest of moments, Parsley’s gaze drifted skyward in an attempt to follow Sarada’s flight, but her speed was too much for her to even see. The only indication that she had even left was an empty space and a rapidly dispersing aura trail. Her attention returned to the battle in time to find SWS standing some distance from her, right where Sarada had been standing, and poised to strike.

She started to power up in preparation to defend herself from the irate destroyer. Her Super Saiyan 3 form, as inefficient as it was, was her only hope. There wasn’t enough time to fuse with Avoca, and as turbulent as the situation was, there was no guarantee they would do it right even after months of practicing during their final training session. Just when she was prepared to face her fate, however, a glistening cage of pure white energy fell upon the GoD, trapping her and stopping her from doing much of anything other than gnash her teeth and yank against the cage.

“Caliban?” She had already known he was there but had forgotten in the frenzied excitement of the battle. The GoC and her teacher in wizardry struggle to keep the GoD confined within his cage. “Let me help.” She drew additional blood and cast a confinement spell to hinder SWS’ movements and keep her still and easier to trap.

With Caliban casting his spell, Zaofan raised his staff and struck it to the ground, and the spark the Forger left there resonated.

With Heka, the weight carried upon the spirits of the Threshling Knights and the Royal Court had enabled him to tap into something that could scarscely be reckoned by any instrument of measure. Yet like the accumulated whispers he'd held in his hand where he'd touched upon the Spirit Bomb, he knew there was more than meets the eye here.

From the same place that breeds fear stirs hope. Was that what you saw back then, Young 'Ro, when you stood with Cleos and the Forger?

Pursing his lips, he exhaled, the orbits of his eyes filling with a strange, golden light; a Warm Glowing, Warming Glow.

From here...it's a leap of faith!

BGM: Hans Zimmer - Armada

"With me now, Reshlan!" He cried out. "NOW! WITH ME!"

The Flow of Heka rose once more in a mighty wave, and the collective energy pooled together into something far stronger than they were frayed alone. If they could not give their bodies to the fight, it had carried upon their ki; and now that their ki had been exhausted, it fell to their spirit. As Zaofan sighted his target, he animated the collected hopes into a beam that illuminated with the Flame of the Phoenix School, wherein this projection, he, too, carried the dream of those striving to live and magnified it into Ho-ou Sosei!

It wasn't his aim to strike down an enemy, he was close to his limit; but thanks to those who put their belief behind him, their strength became his strength, and now he dispersed it directly to those in the thick of the battle, and all that had empowered him had been carried forward to rejuvenate and replenish the reserves of their group and their allies.

"HOLD THE LINE!"

The entire battlefield is washed by a magnificent golden glow. Chasing away the lingering darkness, Heka Flow roils across the battlefield and spreads like wildfire, propelled and boosted by the Flames of the Phoenix School. It engulfs all on Reshlan, and a loud roar follows from the entire planet.

“HOLD THE LINE!!!!!!”

The Threshlings, the M-Fighters, everyone allied with Zaofan feels….lifted. Feels filled and re-energized and whole and hale, and the few demons still clinging to the fight either wither and die or are quickly killed off around the planet. Behind Zaofan, ghostly hands seem to gently clap his shoulder as Cleos and Banespell and Zxu’ro’s presence briefly touch his senses, pride clear.

However, the Goddess still stands. Hakai contends with Creation, and the old Goblin, even rejuvenated as the Heka allowed him to be, is straining still to keep her cage. Writhing darkness and light slam against one another and all know the cage won’t hold for long.

Parsley, Avoca, and Sarada felt Zaofan’s Heka Flow wash over them like a gentle breeze on a warm spring day. At the sound of his cry, they felt their spirits lift and their power return to them. Parsley felt as fresh as she did when the fighting began on Sarada what seemed like hours ago. The injuries they suffered at the initial outset of the battle, like Sarada's missing hand and bisected leg, were healed and restored.

“We’re going to win,” she stated with absolute confidence. It wasn’t just the blind pride she displayed in her younger years. Rather, it was an unshakable confidence in herself and her friends that had been forged in the fires of combat and tempered by countless victories against all odds. Sakin sought to undo that confidence by unleashed an endless stream of famed and powerful enemies. Little did he realize, they had been preparing for that moment since they day the M Fighters first assembled on Eva's Lookout.

Or perhaps he did realize that and only sought to delay their inevitable conflict until such a time that he could fulfill his so-called destiny unhindered. Regardless, his days were close to an end.

She poured more magic into her confinement spell, strengthening it in hopes that doing so would alleviate some of the pressure Caliban and his cage were both under.

[Miburo]

"I can only give you a moment."

And so, the final seconds passed. There was a brief silence as the Gotengo's thrusters pushed forward in full through the Void Tunnel in front of it.

To know destiny...is that indeed to be trapped by it? He saw how it would go, and the fear of what would transpire almost seized the moment. Perhaps...is that why you'd dismissed it all, 'till death took you.

Assailed from foes from all sides and marching towards doom, was this to herald the end-times as determined by this game of ancient powers? Reading into the sublime served as well as all the data streams filtered through his thoughts; Destruction became She, the awe of death her dimense.

...the first time.

The shadow below She Who Stalks seemed to grow as the Hakai orb fell.

Then through a Void Tunnel above the ground, the super-katchin bow drill of the Gotengo shot upward. Wreathed in the energy of the Genki summoned from Reshlan itself, though Ochazuke could not fashion the legacy technique in full, Sarada's contribution of God Ki had not gone ignored, and through analyzing the frequency of the raw Hakai, he'd channeled the Mastered Kiai through the Forger's Hammer as it surged upward and struck the first, fallen Hakai orb head on.

Matching her in this state may have been fruitless, but by every means her had he stood to oppose her, and with myriad energies focuses to a single point, he played the start of his final gambit.

The hopes of a planet must be carried upon a will to enact it. The drill spun on, and sheathed in all these mortal, rogue elements, he aimed to split apart the orb's structure as it fell and divest its energies.

"If this is Reshlan's doom," He spoke steadfast over the comms as the energy cascade billowed and twisted upwards, white-hot iron winds carrying oscillating light through the dark, "then there shall be no way forward but through!"

The Nevadian nodded in affirmation.

He reached for his spear as he focused his will into the rune array--only to realize that a force of habit and muscle memory caused him to act as if he had not seen the artifact vaporized with his own eyes.

An annoyed sigh escaped his lips.

As the Shingan manifested, Held could see the energy flowing of the planet flowing through the leylines, clearly still functional. If some of the array had been damaged, it did not seem to be by enough to impede his ability to activate the great spell.

An odd gesture was made with his right hand, glowing with power as his left focused on the ground before him, magical energies pumping into the very heart of the great rune work.

Slowly, it churned to life, an ancient engine that had been ceased to roar months ago, and yet still maintained. It was hardly surprising. Auroc went through quite a bit of trouble to establish this system.

Power surged from the core of the planet, pumping through the carefully crafted magical circuits like veins. It was a simple matter for the Nevadian to direct power that surged beneath the planet; It was even easier to determine where such power needed to be.

That malevolent, wretched power seemed to grow in intensity with each passing moment. Even from this distance, Held could see She Who Stalks, barely contained by the efforts of the others. It was clear time was on her side.

It's now or never...I don't think she'll be this open again if we fail.

The Nevadian flicked his right hand outwards towards She Who Stalks, redirecting the planets hidden power. It pooled beneath the surface, gathering in mass and volume as the Nevadian began to constrain it, causing pressure to build and churn with every passing moment.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the most demanding part of the task. Auroc's array had been made to wield the entire power of a planet widescale, likely against an invading army. It was like a fire house, directing the power housed within a fire hydrant to put out the flames enveloping a mansion.

She Who Stalks was incredibly powerful. She was also a singular being. Allowing the array to work as intended would likely have resulted in collateral damage and wasted energy, the energy of the planet flooding over so many other beings.

And so, he compressed the lifeblood of Reshlan, directing it to explode directly beneath She Who Stalks, in an area scarcely larger than the cage which contained her. It took a great deal of focus to enact such restraint on something neigh unrestrained until this very instant.

A grunt of effort escaped through gritted teeth, beads of sweat appearing as the pressure intensified.

He maintained his grip on the power, barely, growing deeper in intensity and more agitated at it's imprisonment by the Nevadian with each passing moment. It yearned to be free. It yearned for release.

This....Is it....!

Sensing he could restrain it no longer, he loosed his hold. He could no longer hope to wield it in this instance, merely release it in the right direction.

The energy burst forth like a geyser, a torrent of energy erupting from the earth's crust beneath She Who Stalks, in a dazzling display of luminous golden light

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

With Sarada successfully taking care of the Hakai that went after her, and with Etrina and Neva helping contain the power to just inside where She Who Stalks is, Caliban and Parsley both nod and let their cages fall just as Held strikes.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

After a long moment, the pillar of energy abates and She Who Stalks is no more. An ancient Goddess has died this day, and it was a mortal that struck the final blow.

Reshlan is free.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

With Sarada successfully taking care of the Hakai that went after her, and with Etrina and Neva helping contain the power to just inside where She Who Stalks is, Caliban and Parsley both nod and let their cages fall just as Held strikes.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

After a long moment, the pillar of energy abates and She Who Stalks is no more. An ancient Goddess has died this day, and it was a mortal that struck the final blow.

Reshlan is free.

" Yes, we did it guys Reshlan is saved. Oh, Jack, Charco, Totoma, and Tasure you four need to wash up. Who knows where my tongue's been. Just kidding my tongue is clean," Praxat said.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

With Sarada successfully taking care of the Hakai that went after her, and with Etrina and Neva helping contain the power to just inside where She Who Stalks is, Caliban and Parsley both nod and let their cages fall just as Held strikes.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

After a long moment, the pillar of energy abates and She Who Stalks is no more. An ancient Goddess has died this day, and it was a mortal that struck the final blow.

Reshlan is free.

Even if Sarada was in space, she could still see and feel the final, finishing blow that Held struck against SWS. The massive pillar of tremendous golden power was entirely hard to miss, even if she couldn’t sense magic worth a damn. In the past, she had once had a desire to learn magic and even approached Neva with the intention of learning. That curiosity turned to dismissal when it quickly became very obvious she had no aptitude for it whatsoever. She supposed she could lighten up after watching all the magic users come through in the clutch time and again.

The Hakai that had been chasing her had been dealt with, so she was safe to return to Reshlan. “Hell fucking yeah!!” she cheered as she slapped Held on the back. “When are these godly douchebags gonna stop doubting us?”

It was only because Sakin was so afraid of them that he even considered sending such powerful opponents after them. Cancer to the Saiyan throneworld and then She Who Stalks to the Threshling homeworld. Both were Gods of Destruction, among the most powerful in any universe. They had just slain one, and Cancer wasn’t long for that world. She, too, would suffer the same humiliating end that her contemporary just suffered. Sarada especially had a bone to pick with her, not only for killing off hundreds of her people, but for kidnapping her niece, brother, and cousin. If she could, she would end her herself, but wouldn’t care who struck the killshot. As long as she died, that was all that matter.

“This is one for the history books, guys,” she said as she powered down. “But it’s not over yet.”

I wish you were here to see this, she thought mournfully as her gaze drifted skyward. What are you doing out there? Do you really not care that everything is about to end? A small part of her hoped that Inanna was getting ahead of things and was taking the fight directly to Sakin; the larger part knew that was bullshit. Her wife didn’t care about much of anything, besides her and Kumara. Whatever she was doing was more pertinent to her interests than ridding the universe of Sakin’s wicked influence. “Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s worth it.”

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

The death of She Who Stalks wasn’t just witnessed by those on Reshlan; rather, it was view by every world. Every world that had been graced with the presence of Earth’s diplomatic convoy had been able to bear witness to man’s struggle against the gods themselves. They bore witness to man’s victory, just the first of many to be earned that day. On Sarada, Maiz had been watching with bated breath. Her heartfelt worry and concern fell on all the M Fighters, but, especially those she had a hand in raising since the moment they were born.

When the final blow was struck by Held, a thunderous roar of jubilation and excitement rippled through the planet’s population. For many, there was nothing more exciting in general than watching a closely contested fight. By that point, mostly everyone was aware of what Gods of Destruction, Angels, and the like were and how powerful they were purported to be. So watching one die and seeing that their Queen had a hand in it was cause of celebration.

Maiz herself only allowed herself a relieved exhale upon realizing that her daughters and their friends would survive to fight another battle. The day had been long and stressful. Worries over them, over Pinach and Rutaba, over little Garnish, and the fate of everything weighed heavily on her. There was nothing worse than knowing there was nothing she could do to help besides make sure the Saiyans were ready if they were needed.

“That was a very impressive,” Mato said in a reaction that proved to be far more tempered than his fellows outside what remained of the palace.

“Mm,” she hummed in agreement. “The war is not over yet. There’s still the hostages Sakin has taken, and Sakin himself and those allied with him. The latter of some of the most powerful in creation.”

Mato grimaced and kicked a piece of rubble to the side as he began to pace. “Peace isn’t easy to acquire.”

“Nothing worthwhile ever is,” was all Maiz could say in reply.

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

Back on Reshlan, Parsley approached Caliban. “I should have known you would help finish what you started SWS,” she said with a growing smile. “Thanks.”

With the battle then over and a temporary reprieve in order, it was the best time to divulge to the others what she had learned about Night and Alakazah. "Everyone, listen," she said loudly to gain everyone's attention. "I told Zaofan this, but I need to tell everyone else, so listen carefully. Alakazah has a son." Rather than allowing that revelation to sink in, she then went on to relay verbatim what she saw when she managed to pierce through Night's mysterious veil and glimpse at his true self:

It is like pushing through razors. Parsley’s mind is flayed and she can feel her inner eye, the thing that lets her use her Observational Focus, cracking.

But she does see a truth.

Night’s form is an illusion. Instead, a dragon like humanoid stands before her looking suspiciously like a human and Alakazah had a child. An overlay of Grinthorn and a beautiful brown haired human woman can briefly been seen.

And you realize this is Eldfen’s son.

Your mind breaks free of this truth, and you stagger back, bleeding from your eyes and ears.

"That's all I could see," she continued. "I don't know how this information will help us, but it's good to know for our coming battle with him."

Sarada spat on the ground.

[grampagen]

The entire battlefield is washed by a magnificent golden glow. Chasing away the lingering darkness, Heka Flow roils across the battlefield and spreads like wildfire, propelled and boosted by the Flames of the Phoenix School. It engulfs all on Reshlan, and a loud roar follows from the entire planet.

“HOLD THE LINE!!!!!!”


The Threshlings, the M-Fighters, everyone allied with Zaofan feels….lifted. Feels filled and re-energized and whole and hale, and the few demons still clinging to the fight either wither and die or are quickly killed off around the planet. Behind Zaofan, ghostly hands seem to gently clap his shoulder as Cleos and Banespell and Zxu’ro’s presence briefly touch his senses, pride clear.


However, the Goddess still stands. Hakai contends with Creation, and the old Goblin, even rejuvenated as the Heka allowed him to be, is straining still to keep her cage. Writhing darkness and light slam against one another and all know the cage won’t hold for long.

With Reshlan at his back and the fighters before him, the weight of Zaofan's action had eluded him in the moment's haste. Then when he struck the Heka Spark imbued into his staff by Caladash Banespell, something ignited across the whole of the planet.

Whoa!

Certainly while he had traced the technique, that was only like dragging a path through the dirt. Funneling the hopes of the collective in their hour of need, the Phoenix Flame was no longer his, and the weight of it nearly overwhelmed him, and for a moment, he nearly fell backward. That was when he felt the hands support him.

...Banespell? Cleos?!

And along with the departing Palatine, another familiar presence braced him. It was distant before in the memory etched in the Earth's leylines, but now it had become clear.

Sensei...that's right...it's not about me or them...

Nobody expected much, least of all from humanity. Yet with the Palatines at his back, strangely his thought fled to the last stretch of training over the last year.

"This is a strange mortal riddle," spoke the Archon Lasair. "The elemental flame consumes, yet not all is fodder, understand this well."

After hours spent within the hearth of Illargi seated in meditation within the Elemanti's trial, the tongues of fire finally receded. In the darkness there welled a residual agony to him and his martial brother, and it felt as if his skin wicked of its moisture would tear like paper, but for the legacy of the fire passed down to them.

"Whatsoever can withstand it, the flame changes and tempers."

The Phoenix Flame rose, and Zaofan planted his feet.

...it's about hearing their voices, that all of us might stand together!

With Sarada successfully taking care of the Hakai that went after her, and with Etrina and Neva helping contain the power to just inside where She Who Stalks is, Caliban and Parsley both nod and let their cages fall just as Held strikes.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

After a long moment, the pillar of energy abates and She Who Stalks is no more. An ancient Goddess has died this day, and it was a mortal that struck the final blow.

Reshlan is free.

Then when Held loosed the final blow, together the people and the planet itself struck into the eye of the Storm herself! The hopes of the world converged on a single point in the darkness and stuck with a brilliance he'd never seen before that it was almost blinding.

When his sight returned, a long silence hung in the air, and the maleficent presence had been completely purged from the world.

Held's done it-! The words died dryly in his throat; he'd been screaming as long as the Heka carried itself. The rigors on his person hit him all at once, his legs so stiff that he had to prop himself up on his staff.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't turn around to face themHis back to the Threshling allies, Zaofan's tattered white cape caught the breeze. Once the storm had passed, it seemed as if a new dawn had filtered down through the skies of Reshlan, and he raised a fist to the sky.

BGM: Queen - Flash Gordon

[grampagen]

The drill slams into the sphere of Hakai with a sound unheard of in all the universe. A unique shrieking of metal, Creational and god energies scraping against and through the power of destruction incarnate. The Gotengo plows through the sphere, cracking it in half and causing the energies to dissolve and fall apart even as the drill itself becomes so super heated and cracked that it shatters after bypassing and defeating the sphere. Warning lights flare all across the ship as it shoots up into the sky, Hakai orb defeated.

In the aftermath of the attack, the Gotengo's Wave Motion Engine seized. The amount of energy gathered in such an instant into the collective had passed untold and untested thresholds that even immutable Super Katchin was unable to bear it as they brought it crashing into the black fire Hakai.

For a long moment, Ochazuke sat, the weight of gravity pulling him back as the starship point straight up like a strange tower rising from the earth, the fractured structure upon the bow rotating in the sky. Breathing heavily, Ochazuke dared for a moment to open his eyes and saw the darkness in the sky above and the warning signs of the monitors.

"Well struck, Earthman."

Floating beside him, Koorimaru spoke with poisonous jubilation, his thin black lips parted. The Arcosian raised a closed hand to his face and laughed into it.

"Ohh hoo hoo hoo..."

Ochazuke's eyes widened still as he noticed the ripple of a Void Tunnel opening behind Koorimaru. The rotation of the bow drill slowed to a stop, and the Gotengo began to lean starboard as it began to fall.

"Adieu."

The shadowy fold in space stretched and Koorimaru fell backward into it. In an instant he was gone.

She Who Stalks was incredibly powerful. She was also a singular being. Allowing the array to work as intended would likely have resulted in collateral damage and wasted energy, the energy of the planet flooding over so many other beings.

And so, he compressed the lifeblood of Reshlan, directing it to explode directly beneath She Who Stalks, in an area scarcely larger than the cage which contained her. It took a great deal of focus to enact such restraint on something neigh unrestrained until this very instant.

A grunt of effort escaped through gritted teeth, beads of sweat appearing as the pressure intensified.

He maintained his grip on the power, barely, growing deeper in intensity and more agitated at it's imprisonment by the Nevadian with each passing moment. It yearned to be free. It yearned for release.

This....Is it....!

Sensing he could restrain it no longer, he loosed his hold. He could no longer hope to wield it in this instance, merely release it in the right direction.

The energy burst forth like a geyser, a torrent of energy erupting from the earth's crust beneath She Who Stalks, in a dazzling display of luminous golden light

As the sirens blared, the basso sound of creaking metal rode up and down the broken starship as it began to lean. Though the Gotengo's systems shut down and fell offline, through the connection with the Zero System Ochazuke felt it starkly, as if the sensation of phantom limbs.

When Held activated the array the golden light flood the vessel even through the tear in the starboard bow.

"It's done."

That was the last call from the ship as suddenly the comm line went dead.

Careening downward as the Unicorn's light pierced the heavens, Ochazuke's thoughts were only with the remainder of the stowaway crewmen on board. A shroud of ki flit through the remainder of the superstructure as Ishiki Toei reinforced what was missing. Disorientation shook the bridge, and ever facet of the inertia bathed his senses where it intersected with his meditation field.

But so shrouded by sensation and his bracing for fortitude's sake, this concentrated act of will could not prepare him for what fell next.

The Gotengo struck the earth and slowly ground to a halt as it plunched into the very leylines that fed into the array. It flooded his mind when it came, that distant memory-echo that bled from the heart of Reshlan itself.

Inanna reached down, to her ruined leg- it would mend in moments, when she'd recovered her energy- and felt the strange, orange energy that smouldered there. The woman whispered, and the energy was swiftly massersted by Hakai, for consideration, appraisal... but the more important task?

Inanna scratched a few runes into the blood puddle; and before doing as she'd done to bind Genesis... but with a twist. The item given by Hilda was drawn, and swiftly shattered. The Hozon within draining and dripping into Inanna's ascendant ichor.

"I am Inanna, the Unchained. Not some whelp bound to serve a sundered Firmament... not enough to simply destroy." Inanna stood shakily too her feet.

"May my first judgment, be this..." By the powers both given, and taken, the spell was cast; and a broken world found new life flood swiftly into it.

Reshlan would find itself gifted the same energy that had been used to preserve the wayward Tyrannosaurus. Divine Intervention, but on a global scale. And though the buildings would remain rubble, and the scars of battle might never heal to as they were before... and yet Reshlan would not suffer from its years under Auroc's yoke. It had not been by the race's own hands, that they found themselves here... and this was something Inanna simply couldn't overlook.

Using the last vestiges of her ascension... Inanna, the Unbound, had passed judgment on Reshlan and its people.

One of mercy. Hope.

A rush of energy pours into Reshlan, and the planet almost seems to...sing....in happiness and joy. The leylines, opened and cleaned by Held, and the planets Madame energy, already summoned by The Man in White, make Inanna’s judgement even easier.

Plants grow, tainted water springs anew, forest are strengthened and their roots and trees grow strong. Fields and crops grow a bounty, and a wounded world heals.

All around nature, held down by Auroc to a bare minimum, springs up anew and the Threshlings can only watch in wonder and joy as nature blooms anew.

Inanna, you see the world you helped and know it is Good.

The world was already broken once and brought to mend by...

What was this, an act of Creation? Fleeting images stilled from a distance, yet the energy signature was unmistakable. The malevolent Saurian had fled the moment he dismissed Auroc...and it seems he was not alone in this capricious act, for following in the shadow of the Destroyer was one they both had deigned worthy of their attentions.

Genesis's trail. It carries through this world like a scar.

For the plight of their hubris, both they and the planet both had bled for it.

While we cut Auroc from the spell which festooned his dominion over the leylines of the world, there was another who sought to destroy it.

There, in this instance, it rendered itself starkly, the truth of the matter. Even if it were for spite's sake, there was a moment where Inanna had deigned to turn what considerable powers were foist upon her to mortal ends. In doing so, she'd opposed Genesis, the god hunter, and preserved Rex long enough that the Ogatan scion could return through Charco's reincarnation.

In pricking a shard of his own life force to provide a focal point for which to gather the Threshlings seeking to cast off their yoke, he'd realized that they had been more alike in their defiance for a time.

The Gotengo stood sideways in the array, the visions slowly fading as the spell fell inert. Ochazuke leaned where the Gotengo landed portside.

"Damage Report." Silence. "Cheh."

Tearing the helm of the Zero System off, he first inspected for signs of life.

_____

Once assured the Snake School stowaways were indeed alive, he flew through the crack in the hull, the right side of the starship now become the ceiling.

The Ghetti Nanites would assuredly repair the vital systems in time, but could only do so much without matter to rearrange.

It is no easy thing to create miracles. Moreover, the Orichalum fastened to the hull fared little better than the Super Katchin, stripped bare from the drill and bores. Perhaps the spheres had been deemed higher, the magnitude larger...

Sighing as he surveyed the damage, the Forger's Hammer apparated in his hand once more and he began to work. He'd resigned himself to the task, and all he could do was press forward.

But nothing comes without consequence.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Inanna arrived to a world of wine-dark seas.

The pristine surface of this world's oceans spread as far as she could see, and as far as she could sense; with only echoes of Ki, and crumbling edifices remaining of the life that had once thrived beneath the waves. A testament to the inevitability of time, and the haunting perfection to be found in serene silence...

"... And so, you will remain on this world until its heart beats as yours. For that is what is required to learn the truth of my first Amesha Spenta; and begin to shed the shackles of mortality. So as you float, and listen, and meditate, I ask of you this:

On a world that exists nothing but wine-dark seas, what remains?"

An answer that took thousands, upon thousands of years to learn; and only then by means of desperation.

What Zurvan returned to, that gaunt woman driven to the edge of madness by starvation and curiosity... whose only sustenance in the years between his departure and return had been stagnant water, had whispered out two words when he repeated the question:

"Silence. Perfection."

From there, he had plunged the nearly ruined woman straight into the second. Abandoning her to a nightmare of verdant green.

A nightmare she asked for.

"..."

Inanna brought a hand to her mouth, biting down hard enough to draw blood. An echo of an action performed by another woman half a decade removed. But what once had been a familiar taste was like ash in her mouth. Disgusting. Foreign... but enough to win free of unwanted remembrances. Enough to consider their source.

That which had summoned her. Had summoned Ishtar, all those centuries ago.

While she was not the least surprised it had managed to escape, thanks to Sakin's "gift”, she had believed it capable of only whispers, given her resistance to foreign manipulation. That it could dredge up these memories she'd long abandoned made her uneasy; it raised questions she had neither the time nor safety to consider in depth... though perhaps that was the ultimate point.

Ish...tar... That damn name. As if it knew...

"Inanna." She corrected, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth with a thumb.

Ishtar.

"That is not who I am." She hissed.

The wine-dark sea she hovered over disappeared in an instant, bleeding away to reveal in their place a desiccated husk of a world long since stripped of atmosphere. An illusion she couldn't sense.

The unease, became a knot of worry, and the world she hovered over began to taste familiar.

"No..."

She had been here... Ishtar had been here... when it ended twenty-thousand years before. She watched, with Zurvan at her side, as two clashing empires split the seas, and shattered the earth.

Listened, and felt it as the world screamed, and thrashed. The seventh lesson.

"A lesson not of my Bounteous Virtues, yet important beyond measure. A truth. The truth. Insight into the nature of mankind, and its myriad reflections. Bear witness to the fate of all not tasked with the maintenance of the firmament, and its fixtures."

"Behold, the inevitable end of mortals."

Inanna brought a hand to her mouth and bit down again, her thumb this time; blood spilling down her chin as her teeth connected with the bone. She spat in disgust from the taste, the ashen blood sizzling in the vacuum. Immediately, the world shifted yet again as vines and overgrowth swiftly overtook the surface of the world.: The verdant hell she feared remembering.

... and she understood.

It was in her head.

Teach... you...

Bloody tendrils exploded from the ground, but as she dodged them with relative ease, she found her mind flooded with memories- many hers, many more not- dulling her senses, and twisting what was real.

How?

Thanks to her mother's boon, she was immune to such tampering wasn't she? Even Ishtar had been immune, such that she resisted Auroc's brand. Yet the more Inanna considered it while she struggled against the telepathic onslaught; the more she realized she had been ignoring something.

The Crucible.

A place where the Crystalline Archon had brought Ishtar in an attempt to aid the Oni who had spared its people a slow death. Her immunity had not mattered there. The chamber, suffused with strange energies, had split her consciousness in two; allowing a chance the half imprisoned to regain control.

Why had that been successful?

Focusing more and more on the newly exposed, and unexplained weakness, Inanna faltered. Allowing a tentacle to finally wrap itself around her ankle and pluck her from the heavens; slamming her onto the planet's surface. Only... she found herself...

... standing at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a fertile valley, obscured slightly in a haze of smoke.

She had watched this place for centuries now. Watched, as the nomads settled and put down roots. Built a home between two rivers, and tilled the fertile soil until a settlement became a town. A group of peoples making a better life that they would not see themselves; all so that their descendants would not know then hardships they had experienced firsthand.

Now she stood, and watched the future they'd built burn.

Invaders from the south had come. Not content with the conquests in their own corner, they had gone elsewhere; killing and stripping the land to fuel their campaign as they subjugated their neighbors... and had finally made their way here. To a fertile valley, and peaceful peoples.

... The smell had reached her first, the burning crops She could feel as it burned to ash. Then came the screams- borne on warm winds, as they cried out and prayers to a God they believed was there. Blue-skinned. Horned.
Ishtar.
Once, she might have helped them, too, answered their prayers and put an end to the conflict between neighbors. Shown a better path. But intervention was not her calling, and had long ago been proven by her mentor a fool's errand.

So now she simply watched the cycle of life and death play out in microcosm. Indifferent to the pain of these... lesser things.

Floundering in the crater she was half buried in, she struggled to break the telepathic tether. This is wrong. All of it wrong. I am on Xel'Tais.... No! I am here to confront the God of Blood.

She struggled to rise, stained with soil, and blood. Anger beginning to overwhelm her worry, and the pain. "I. Am. N-"

The tentacle wrapped around her leg, without heed. With a sudden jerk, she was flung up, and slammed down again, and again; more tendrils erupt from the fractured earth, to bind her. To her credit, Inanna thrashed violently in her attempt to resist and break free, anger swelling to

rage, as it warred against them...

and though a valiant effort, it was for the moment in vain. Tendrils beginning to constrict, gripping with enough force to break bone, and a slurry of fetid memories was forced upon her.

Recollections of a myriad worlds, some ended by the inevitability of time long before she'd been left to meditate upon them; others shattered by mortal might, her only goal to chronicle their end; so that she might come to appreciate that without her guiding hand this Universe- like the world's she watched suffer, and die- would suffer the same. And forced to relive the nightmare of her subjugation, and indoctrination, the Oni-that-was found herself lost for a time; though through all of it she remained dimly aware that what she was 'witnessing' was nothing but illusion, and memory. And this tether, fleeting though it seemed provided a foothold.

And from that foothold, she found the rage necessary to resist.

Sickly orange lances of Ruination tore cleanly through several tendrils, as Inanna found her opening...

The tendrils began to rot away to dust immediately, and for a moment the physical contest was decided; the tendrils of congealed blood quick to recede... and along with this recession, came the respite of silence. Blessed silence.

Or so she thought.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

A new memory clouded her mind:

The knife slipped between her ribs...

punctured their heart.

And as one fell lifeless... the other dropped to her knees, clutching her breast.

sapped of strength to scream.

and around her, she sensed...

... their intent, through the pain.

to bind

break

contain.

The taste of copper. The smell burning flesh. She had ripped them apart with her bare hands... relished in their anguish. It was not enough to sate her.

Blood was no longer sufficient, it required more...

The might to tear their jewel from the heavens...

To learn, and understand. Become.

And standing motionless atop the grand monument to their arrogance...

confined within the bones of sundered gods...

Ishtar passed judgment; a sound like thunder echoing as the ground buckled and the Moon was ripped to pieces.

Pain tore her from this jumble of patchwork recollection, and as a clawed hand ripped into her she reached out and grabbed it. What she saw staring back at her sent her reeling. A writhing mass of fetid blood, and sinew; and two golden eyes leering back at her.

"... Ishtar?"

It couldn't be. Not after her consciousness had been Hakai'd. The horned head that connected with her chin and shattered her jaw, however, caused her to doubt herself.

Still holding onto Ishtar, Inanna found herself struck again, and again; ripping chunks and shattering bones faster than she could mend them. Until she was unable to maintain her grip and was knocked over the horizon.

But the pain was secondary now, and with the cessation of fetid memories to cloud her senses, the question she had been repeating since they'd locked eyes now took the fore.

How?

It was the Blood God, of that she was sure... and yet the memories it possessed, the eyes, and horn. It was also, Ishtar. Or was... becoming Ishtar?

How?

Illusion or not, she needed to know.

Skidding to a stop, Inanna forced herself upright as her body attempted to knit itself back together; and as her enemy closed the distance she held up her hand and braced herself.

... just in time for Ishtar to slam face first into the barrier.

The two locked eyes, the brief silence and stillness that followed broken only when Inanna asked, her need for answers far too powerful to ignore. "How?" The golden-eyed Oni planted her hands on the barrier, and spoke for the first time; and offered more than parroted phrases of a time long gone. "Communion... Remember?"

Inanna eyes widened. She had done no such thing. Reinforcing the barrier, she responded simply.

"Liar."

Hands still pressed to the barrier of folded spacetime, the Oni tilted her head. "I... cannot. Have you... forgotten?"

Inanna frowned. She had no memory of communion, merely the memory of a near-miss; Ishtar arriving on Irem only to find a world buried by sand long before; and of whispers that struck fear to the core of her. Before she could respond again, a memory was forced upon her once more. This time far less disorienting, but all the more disturbing.

Ishtar sat cross-legged, as if meditating; and beside her a pale woman.

They had met less than a fortnight before, yet the Oni's curiosity had caused her to keep company with the pale woman, to travel alongside her so that she might observe, and understand her and her strange habits... but as with all things, Ishtar's curiosity bid her do far more than simply observe; so now she sat on the precipice of stygian understanding.

"Are you ready?" She heard the voice ask, softly.

She nodded.

The pain was fleeting, two pinpricks, and with an offering of life-blood the pact between two strangers was sealed; beneath the glow of a waxing gibbous moon.

Inanna recoiled from the brief memory of a pact made by another woman... an act of ignorance, and curiosity; and when her eyes met Sanguine Ishtar's own, she understood. It had been with her all this time, given permission three-thousand years before by a consciousness that had once inhabited her body; set free by Sakin to put shape to the thoughts, and dreams it had fed on thanks to their... her 'communion'.

"Ming Yue?"

"Ishtar" grinned, jaw filled with far too many teeth. "Yes..."

Inanna attempted to strike quickly, Ruination erupting from a fingertip as she attempted to disengage... but it was too late. Tendrils erupted from the ground on her side of the barrier, pinning her down as Sanguine Ishtar- casually- ripped through the barrier; and Inanna realized she had let this happen. She had let this happen... allowed herself to be drawn in by her desire to make sense of things; dropped her guard.

"No..." that wasn't entirely true though, was it?

She needed to be sure.

Flipped onto her back, Inanna could only stare up to the heavens as the Sanguine God buried its claws in her chest, ichor staining the dead world beneath her as the primordial creature began to feed. It was then, and only then, as she felt the pain of dying clear as she saw the starry-sky... and noticed that they were not the same as they had been, when last she stood on Xel'Tais. The game was up. More than that, however...

There was no warning for what happened next, and even had there been there was nothing to be done.

As the God of Blood buried its face and drank deep of Inanna's ichor; the woman released her seal. Though there was no atmosphere left on the dead world, a pressure wave ripped across the surface of the world that served as their battleground, silent herald to the power that then burned it to ash.

Inanna felt the backlash of handiwork, a psychic scream ripping through her as Sanguine Ishtar was caught up in the conflagration, and left to drift in the void. Remnants of its harrying tendrils, withered and blackened the only remnants of its subterranean form.

Though it was not dead yet, spasming weakly as Inanna approached... defiant to the last. In another circumstance, she might have even found it admirable.

She only felt contempt, now. For what it was... who it represented. Inanna also understood that what had been stolen- and sealed away- from her had been restored. Her final fetter, broken.

She extended her hand, and one of the first Gods of Universe 15, a being of a billion, billion souls possessed solely of a desire to feed and amass power...

"Hakai."

... Was erased as if it had never been alive.

Turning her back then, as what remained of the Primeval God faded away to nothingness, Inanna took a moment to reflect. It had been the first time in nearly a year she had been so hard-pressed... and in the end only because of the mistakes of Ishtar... Zurvan. Had she remembered herself sooner, it would have ended as swiftly as she arrived.

A mistake she would not make again.

She flexed her muscles, sore and slow to heal from the battering she had received, and paused to consider the ramifications of what had just transpired. Haunted by the whisperings and slow corruption of a God as old as life in the Universe, she had put it to the sword... and with its execution; she had also put and end to Blood Magic. Its power, reliant on the Primeval being, would now be greatly diminished...

There was some small satisfaction in that.

A sudden fluctuation across the Leylines drew her focus then, and she locked eyes on a World she had all but forgotten.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Reshlan.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

She had almost forgotten their struggle, save her acknowledgement of those final few discharges of divine energies; and was preparing to leave them to their hubris. Only to stop short of abandoning the Universe to its fate, as she sensed the presence of another.

"Lampton." She cast simply, not bothering to turn; only for the Transcendent Angel appeared in front of her, clapping slowly.

"Very good. Lampton is glad to see you survived."

"Been watching this whole time, then?" She asked, ignoring the comment in favor of getting to the point.

"Lampton has been watching this whole time," he confirmed calmly, almost pleasantly. "Lampton is... impressed to see you break the seal. Lampton also suspects Inanna knows, then?"

She narrowed her eyes. "As soon as I sensed it. Tell me why."

Holding up his hands defensively, Lampton smiled coyly. "Lampton believed it necessary. Sent to Cleos to train Inanna was, yet she nearly killed the mentor in a fit of rage. This would not do, no no. Steps were taken by Lampton to ensure the student was on the path... and Inanna is better for it in the, yes? No more chains?"
She fell silent, rage threatening to boil over, and it took several moments for her to get herself under control enough to think; and even longer to come to grips with the truth.

"Yes."

The former Angel nodded, as if he'd known the answer all along. "Yes."

Tired, and losing interest in the conversation now that Lampton had seemingly gotten what he wanted, Inanna turned to leave... only for the former Angel to appear beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lampton does not think it is time for Inanna to leave... much left to be done."

Resisting the urge to lash out at the unwanted contact, she sighs and shakes her head. "Why do you care? I certainly don't. This isn't your Universe, isn't mine... and," the woman hesitated before finishing the sentiment. Lampton turning her toward him to offer a sad smile. "Lampton knows. All the same, Lampton also knows there will be no safe havens now. If one Universe falls, the others will... and in the end you will be trapped- along with so many others- in a gilded cage."

Inanna started at the Angel, searching for the lie to justify her desire to let it all burn... and she couldn't sense it. Only the truth; and she hated it. Hated him. In the end, true or not... he was attempting to have her do his bidding. Like Zurvan, and so many others.

"Why... why do you care, and why should I care!?" She shouted, on the verge of tears- the first since her rebirth. "Tell me why!"

Lampton's shoulders slumped, as he relented. "Lampton has watched Inanna, this whole time." Repeated slowly, . "Lampton wishes to see Inanna succeed where he could not... does not wish a repeat of Cancer." Falling silent, it was several seconds before Inanna understood the tacit admission.

He cared what happened to her.

"I see."

Lampton's smile fell away however, when addressing the second question. "Lampton cannot tell Inanna why she should care... that is a question for those you feel cast you aside. They care, Lampton knows you felt then struggle so, against She Who Stalks." At this, Inanna simply stared as Lampton continued. "Lampton also knows Inanna does not wish to return, but she must. To get the answer Inanna seeks, yes?"

Again the woman searched for a lie, and found only a truth she hated.

"Yes."

Lampton nodded and patted Inanna on the shoulder. "Then Lampton wishes Inanna luck; and hopes to see Inanna again." With a curt wave, the former Angel disappeared. Alone again, Inanna turned her eyes back toward the world- and the mortals- she had only moments before been set to abandon.

Reshlan.

[grampagen]

Even if Sarada was in space, she could still see and feel the final, finishing blow that Held struck against SWS. The massive pillar of tremendous golden power was entirely hard to miss, even if she couldn’t sense magic worth a damn. In the past, she had once had a desire to learn magic and even approached Neva with the intention of learning. That curiosity turned to dismissal when it quickly became very obvious she had no aptitude for it whatsoever. She supposed she could lighten up after watching all the magic users come through in the clutch time and again.

The Hakai that had been chasing her had been dealt with, so she was safe to return to Reshlan. “Hell fucking yeah!!” she cheered as she slapped Held on the back. “When are these godly douchebags gonna stop doubting us?”

It was only because Sakin was so afraid of them that he even considered sending such powerful opponents after them. Cancer to the Saiyan throneworld and then She Who Stalks to the Threshling homeworld. Both were Gods of Destruction, among the most powerful in any universe. They had just slain one, and Cancer wasn’t long for that world. She, too, would suffer the same humiliating end that her contemporary just suffered. Sarada especially had a bone to pick with her, not only for killing off hundreds of her people, but for kidnapping her niece, brother, and cousin. If she could, she would end her herself, but wouldn’t care who struck the killshot. As long as she died, that was all that matter.

“This is one for the history books, guys,” she said as she powered down. “But it’s not over yet.”

He was really feeling himself in the moment, hand and head held high. When he heard Sarada mention the long road yet to go, a long exhale left Zaofan and brought him back down to earth.

"I'd be lying if I said this was easy -tss~!" A sharp pain crept up his shoulder; he'd held his stance as if glued to the top of the Gotengo for far longer than was comfortable. "Pain is the price for perfection-ahem."

Straightening up as he rolled his right arm around, Zaofan continued.

"But you're right about one thing. The victory goes to Reshlan itself and all of her people! And now...now that everyone's seen it..."

Trailing off, his eyes widened as the enormity of the task facing them suddenly seemed to lean its weight into him. With a resigned shrug, he popped one of the Senzu Pastries he'd rationed earlier, and began counting up the reserves he had left to dispense.

Back on Reshlan, Parsley approached Caliban. “I should have known you would help finish what you started SWS,” she said with a growing smile. “Thanks.”

With the battle then over and a temporary reprieve in order, it was the best time to divulge to the others what she had learned about Night and Alakazah. "Everyone, listen," she said loudly to gain everyone's attention. "I told Zaofan this, but I need to tell everyone else, so listen carefully. Alakazah has a son." Rather than allowing that revelation to sink in, she then went on to relay verbatim what she saw when she managed to pierce through Night's mysterious veil and glimpse at his true self:



"That's all I could see," she continued. "I don't know how this information will help us, but it's good to know for our coming battle with him."

Sarada spat on the ground.

"Really, it would be only appropriate the custodian deal with the refuse of his universe."

A cold chill filled the air, carrying with it a certain absence, until he set foot on the ground and strode forward.

"My, the summons brought a God of Creation across the way," Koorimaru started, before turning his reptilian gaze over to Parsley, Sarada and Avoca.

"Oh, where are my manners? Hello, monkeys," he sneered. His eyes raked over Parsley, in particular, and at the mention of Night they narrowed and so did his lips to a smile.

"Really now? Hoh! How nostalgic, some things never change! He'd visited you in person and that is all you could glean from his lineage?"

[Miburo]

With Sarada successfully taking care of the Hakai that went after her, and with Etrina and Neva helping contain the power to just inside where She Who Stalks is, Caliban and Parsley both nod and let their cages fall just as Held strikes.

A golden torrent of energy from the planet erupts from under She Who Stalks and engulfs her in blinding light. The pillar is at least fifty feet wide and goes up for at least a mile straight. As Held and the onlookers watch, the dark form of the Hakai being can no longer be seen, instead replaced by the golden glow of victory.

After a long moment, the pillar of energy abates and She Who Stalks is no more. An ancient Goddess has died this day, and it was a mortal that struck the final blow.

Reshlan is free.

The battle began just as it had ended to the Nevadian. Violently. Suddenly. Swiftly.

But the chaos of waking up to a world that had changed without him, a universe engulfed in strife and pandemonium, had ceased. At least for this moment. A silent uneasy peace, a since of relief and a vague satisfaction washed over him.

It was very vague. Held barely knew who She Who Stalks--well, Stalked, as it were--was before his return to Reshlan, joining the fray with his comrades in arms. He knew she was evil from the wickedness of her energy, he knew she had to be stopped from what he could glean in her role to play in the universes chaos.

But he had no personal animus towards her; The rotting demon did more to offend Helds sensibilities, than she did.

Held leaned over slightly, poised to rest on his spear. He stopped, realizing a force of habit was no longer applicable.

While She Who Stalked had unmade his spear, the Nevadian felt melancholy, dejected as a result, not hatred towards her. Perhaps it was the satisfaction in a job well done, saving Reshlan once more, that had balanced out his mood.

The Golden Spear he wielded was forged in purity and righteousness, borne to destroy the wicked and impure. It had dealt a grievous blow to such an enemy, proving instrumental to victory. If the weapon had any say in how it would be destroyed, Held imagined this would be it. There were worse ways to lose such a splendid companion.

He sighed, the luminous pillar of golden energy that overtook SWS possessing a hue similar to his broken weapon. It was an exhausting day, to be sure.

He stared at the pillar for several more moments as it ascended into the heavens, as if considering something, inspired in a moment of serendipity.

As the lifeblood of the planet began to rain down, saturating into the soil of Reshlan and returning to where it belonged, his bracer hummed faintly adding the power of the planet to itself.

Held paid this no mind.

Runic Art: Transmutation!

A large stone bowl formed in front of the Nevadian, slowly being filled with the creation tinged life stream of the planet. He could not undo what had been done, but perhaps he would be able to replace what had been lost.

Even if Sarada was in space, she could still see and feel the final, finishing blow that Held struck against SWS. The massive pillar of tremendous golden power was entirely hard to miss, even if she couldn’t sense magic worth a damn. In the past, she had once had a desire to learn magic and even approached Neva with the intention of learning. That curiosity turned to dismissal when it quickly became very obvious she had no aptitude for it whatsoever. She supposed she could lighten up after watching all the magic users come through in the clutch time and again.

The Hakai that had been chasing her had been dealt with, so she was safe to return to Reshlan. “Hell fucking yeah!!” she cheered as she slapped Held on the back. “When are these godly douchebags gonna stop doubting us?”

The Nevadian barely managed to regain his balance from Sarada's enthusiastic greeting, flailing his arms to support himself. He smiled, relieved to see another familiar face, "I suppose it looks like luck to them, although I would imagine we've pulled through too many times for a reasonable being to continue thinking as much."

Maybe they hope to wear us down with pure attrition....It almost never ends.

It was only because Sakin was so afraid of them that he even considered sending such powerful opponents after them. Cancer to the Saiyan throneworld and then She Who Stalks to the Threshling homeworld. Both were Gods of Destruction, among the most powerful in any universe. They had just slain one, and Cancer wasn’t long for that world. She, too, would suffer the same humiliating end that her contemporary just suffered. Sarada especially had a bone to pick with her, not only for killing off hundreds of her people, but for kidnapping her niece, brother, and cousin. If she could, she would end her herself, but wouldn’t care who struck the killshot. As long as she died, that was all that matter.

“This is one for the history books, guys,” she said as she powered down. “But it’s not over yet.”

I wish you were here to see this, she thought mournfully as her gaze drifted skyward. What are you doing out there? Do you really not care that everything is about to end? A small part of her hoped that Inanna was getting ahead of things and was taking the fight directly to Sakin; the larger part knew that was bullshit. Her wife didn’t care about much of anything, besides her and Kumara. Whatever she was doing was more pertinent to her interests than ridding the universe of Sakin’s wicked influence. “Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s worth it.”

Held laughed uneasily at Saradas warning. She was right. Hilda was very explicit in just how bad things were getting within the galaxy at large. It was simply wishful thinking to believe that peace would ring eternal from a fist fight with a strange cloud lady.

As things were, he would settle for the peace of five minutes.

"As long as it ends long enough for me to grab a drink, I'll make due. I'm parched."