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

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Genesis is about to reply before she quirks her head, a curious expression on her face.

“And them”

A tearing sound rends the air and Efrideet feels the familiar godly essence of Remnant appear in the upper atmosphere, heading straight for her.

Genesis steps back and nods.

“I will…contemplate what…you said. Be careful…..Remnant…seems…enraged beyond the…norm.”

"I cut their arm off, broke most of their bones and threw them across the Universe." Efrideet noted as she turned, bemused. "I suppose I do not blame them, but I am merely attempting to fulfill their heart's desire." Focusing on the angered pseudo-divinity Efrideet stretched out her palm, unconcerned with the collateral in this place, this moment, and offered Genesis a final word before setting her focus completely on Remnant.

"You have haunted my last two iterations... played a part, small though it was, in their descent, and death. We will finish what was started all those years ago, you and I. With an olive branch, or a blade."

The pseudo-divinity had a death wish, but thrashed so violently against her offerings. She would whittle away at them until she understood why.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

BGM: Jackie Chan - Hero Story

Four down...

Instantaneously, the number of opponents, the impression of the images in the headcount dissolved in his mind as he crossed hands with the next of Cancer's acolytes. Zaofan was put on the defensive, and as the other two signatures raised around him,
Blocking an attack without aura would damage his space suit, and so his options had suddenly become further limited from his previous surprise attacks.

Limitation, however, was something he'd always been fully cognizant of.

If we don't have Parmesan...

He would not throw his hands recklessly, for the clash would damage his suit, that vital impediment. Furthermore, his opponent's openings were covered by his comrades at range. Yet the time to their thoughts, struck with hypnosis, so undisciplined, and without nuance...they were simply far too easy to read.

Fist, claw, foot or tail, this fellow before him kept swinging at him, and always seemed to miss as Zaofan drifted with the strikes as they came.

...we make do with Padano.

The rush of energy shook, unhindered in zero-gravity. Unimpeded, the Death Beams fell all around, and by the narrowest margins he dipped, turned topsy-turvy to dodge, taking advantage of the lack of gravitational pull to find new angles.

Zaofan never stopped moving closer to Cancer even as the Hakai closed around him.



Laser fire fell, destructive fire roused, and he moved to an absence of rhythm in the silence of space.

Then at the perfect moment, when the Arcosian's arm fell into full extension just a tenth of a microsecond longer, as one, pinprick crimson flash after the other shone to telegraph the Death Beams, Zaofan snatched the limb. Heaving with the passing momentum, he swung the body it was attached to into the laser fire, and threw him at his comrade idling at the back.

...but I'm working with a fully stocked pantry...a clean sink...and most importantly thanks to our mysterious benefactor, refurbished cookware.

In the reflected light of the Forsworn World that bathed the remainder of the Dark Moon, Zaofan floated like a leaf as his momentum from the swing turned him towards Cancer. His usual Ruby Quartz aura hadn't manifest since he moved to the battle, but as the Hakai drift toward him, he felt an answer beckon him from within.

For in the first time in over a decade, his ki channels - now rewired by Inanna's Divine Intervention - allowed him to perform the legacy technique he was forced to leave behind when he created the Optic Blast. Slowly it began to gather between the gauntlets, outside of his space suit. Cupping his hands together to his side, a blue light began to fill them...

The one he threw is torn apart under a slew of Death Beams already fired. When the two realize what has happened, they roar and charge towards Zaofan, regardless of anything else.

Meanwhile, The Beast God maintains against Cancer, though his aura is starting to diminish and he is taking more defensive measures than before. The last of her brood hangs back, still observing everything.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

BGM: Only a Chilling Elegy

As the Heart of Prant was seized by her abomination of a daughter, Koorimaru was left with the fading shell. The Last Daughter departed, and silently, he slithered his tail about the remainder of the freeform Creation Energy to seize it. Through the pain forcing itself through his energy pathways, there was nonetheless a cruel smile playing upon his features.



His left hand raised, finger extended. He traced her energy where it drifted, and beneath his fingers, blackened from exposure to Hakai and tattooed with arcane, near runic fissures from the unnatural suffusion of its ethereal opposite. It was paltry to the Remnant's, a far cry from Inda'ren...but there was a reserve now crawling within his flesh, stirring alongside his ki channels like ambrosia and poison.

Yet even a fragment of a diamond chipped to an edge will carve through an immaculate surface of its own making. Upon the fingertip, a precarious, volatile balance, was in a sense the same.





That was the theory...the synthesis had failed before...but Asha'rah, Inda'ren, they did not know what they had.

Forged from black fire slagging the generative force, the mixture was of a colour nigh imperceptible, shadow cast from a warped lens that peers into nothing only to magnify emptiness.

And if it was from the fancy of the Elder Dragons that wishes are spun. the substance behind them will remake reality itself...

The pain stretched through the nerves, and the shock running through his single digit was like exposing flayed flesh to ice.

"...ohh hoh hoh hoh hoh..."

Of the Namekians and the Earthers, Koorimaru had beheld and partook of miracles of his own. Once he'd dared to ponder what lay beyond in the death of dreams. Now having lived through it...

...perhaps you will do to test it...

His lingering view passed, from the dredges of the moon where the Galloping escaped, from the great vessel of the Galactic Patrol, to where the Gotengo flew in formation with the Coldlight...

Then clasping his right hand over his left wrist, he shot his finger out and loosed the energy directly at Cancer, a volatile catalyst meant to rend and destablize the energies of those who would issue order throughout eternity itself or sunder chaos within existence with a mere thought.

Kill the dreams of the Immortal, unmake the Eternal. Godslayer Death Beam.

The Beast God’s eyes widen, and for a fraction of a second, Koorimaru can see…not fear, but causation in his eyes.

He draws his blade suddenly, surprising Cancer with a thrown weapon. She bursts into a cloud of bats and reforms, but the Beast God was not there anymore.

His blade carry’s on and is dodged by the observing Frost Demon, who fails to realize that where the blade goes, the Beast God can follow. He teleports behind the observing Frost Demon, clutching the blade, and in one swift mive decapitates it as Cancer turns and sees this.

This is what allows Cancer to not notice Koorimaru as he blasts her into nothingness with one attack, the Death Beam rendering her to nothingness.

—————

The two Frost Demons charging toward Zaofan maintain their momentum and speed, but one slowly morphs into Cancer as she replaces her body with one of her remaining children.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I cut their arm off, broke most of their bones and threw them across the Universe." Efrideet noted as she turned, bemused. "I suppose I do not blame them, but I am merely attempting to fulfill their heart's desire." Focusing on the angered pseudo-divinity Efrideet stretched out her palm, unconcerned with the collateral in this place, this moment, and offered Genesis a final word before setting her focus completely on Remnant.

"You have haunted my last two iterations... played a part, small though it was, in their descent, and death. We will finish what was started all those years ago, you and I. With an olive branch, or a blade."

The pseudo-divinity had a death wish, but thrashed so violently against her offerings. She would whittle away at them until she understood why.

Genesis nods and turns back as Efrideet blasts a mightn’t beam upward. Her energy flashes and can be seen throughout local space, but so can Remnant. The hybrid slams into the beam and pushes through it, enraged and constantly shifting as the one armed entity plows through the attack towards Efrideet, intent on striking her.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

As Praxat works on honing her Bio-Electromagnokinesis and her swordsmanship in Mcfrog style Electromagnetokinetic Combat. she ponders to herself. ( It would be great if Uncle Bullick were here so that I could spar with him. In fact, it would be great if one of my fellow GP officers decided to spar with me,) Praxat thought.

( I mean, the thing I can do right now is prepared by honing my Bio-Electromagnokinesis and swordsmanship. That includes honing my Electroreception since it's an application of my Bio-Electromagnokinesis, ) Praxat thought.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

" My electroreception has detected Parsley and Sarada. They are okay. Parsley is on Held's ship and, Sarada is on the Gotengo," Praxat said.

Avoca let out a sigh of silent relief. That was one less thing she had to worry about, and knowing that those two would soon be rejoining the battle made her feel better about what she was about to do. "Okay, good. Thanks."

She rose to her feet and stretched her back out. "I'm heading back out there if -

Praxat decides to take a walk around the Coldlight to ponder what to do with her time.

"...Alright then." With Praxat seemingly uninterested in continuing the fight... or perhaps even starting the fight, she turned to her fellow Saiyan. "What about you? Ready to dive back in?"

[grampagen]

The one he threw is torn apart under a slew of Death Beams already fired. When the two realize what has happened, they roar and charge towards Zaofan, regardless of anything else.

Meanwhile, The Beast God maintains against Cancer, though his aura is starting to diminish and he is taking more defensive measures than before. The last of her brood hangs back, still observing everything.

The Beast God’s eyes widen, and for a fraction of a second, Koorimaru can see…not fear, but causation in his eyes.

He draws his blade suddenly, surprising Cancer with a thrown weapon. She bursts into a cloud of bats and reforms, but the Beast God was not there anymore.

His blade carry’s on and is dodged by the observing Frost Demon, who fails to realize that where the blade goes, the Beast God can follow. He teleports behind the observing Frost Demon, clutching the blade, and in one swift mive decapitates it as Cancer turns and sees this.

This is what allows Cancer to not notice Koorimaru as he blasts her into nothingness with one attack, the Death Beam rendering her to nothingness.

—————

The two Frost Demons charging toward Zaofan maintain their momentum and speed, but one slowly morphs into Cancer as she replaces her body with one of her remaining children.

"Khhh---~!!"

A stuttered rasp of pain left Koorimaru. The discharge of his new technique left his left hand blackened, and the veins that ran through it pulsed with such violence it felt like magma running through the flesh. An echo of the energy web grafted into his own spread from his hand to the elbow, knotted pathways of burning red. The very power that once suffused though him was not meant to be his, uet knowing this blasphemous weapon could destroy him paled to the proof of its concept befor ehim. It were to be the antithesis of at least one god's incarnation, and that was to his satisfaction.

"Fuh fuh fuh...hah hah hah hah...OOH HOH HOH HOH HOH! SUBURARSHII YO!"

His laughter carried the sound of madness, but at this moment, the realization of his goal had brought clarity through the pain of this mortal body.

"I cut their arm off, broke most of their bones and threw them across the Universe." Efrideet noted as she turned, bemused. "I suppose I do not blame them, but I am merely attempting to fulfill their heart's desire." Focusing on the angered pseudo-divinity Efrideet stretched out her palm, unconcerned with the collateral in this place, this moment, and offered Genesis a final word before setting her focus completely on Remnant.

Genesis nods and turns back as Efrideet blasts a mightn’t beam upward. Her energy flashes and can be seen throughout local space, but so can Remnant. The hybrid slams into the beam and pushes through it, enraged and constantly shifting as the one armed entity plows through the attack towards Efrideet, intent on striking her.

And when one God of Destruction's energy had waned, a great torrent of energy flashed from the Forsworn World below him where he floated.

It would not do to have you perish so soon, Inda'ren. How appropriate that it will be done once I pry your own power from your discarded hand!

Pain radiated through his frame. Whatever golden light shone above or collectives pooled around, Koorimaru would partake in none of it, for he stood alone with at last a push towards his final ambition. Once he sighted Remnant's severed arm, he reached towards it with psychokinesis to extract its dredges.

___

The fighting instincts trained into his bones served Zaofan well within this situation, while the danger of it forced him to adapt his method to exceed the limits of his current condition.

The two Frost Demons charged forth; one of them shift, and its shape was subsumed by the dark features of its master in a cruel rite of regeneration. Zaofan held his hands at his side. Her Hakai for once seemed to be reduced in the middle of her rebirth, and so he'd finished gathering his ki to finish the fight.



The theory passed from Zxu'ro, down the lost ages into the legend of the Obushi-sennin; As it was written, when peace became a cage in an age of violence, the Turtle Monk Yoroi founded the technique that would become the signature and armor of his order, disseminating far and wide in its notoriety. There were many imitators, but Zaofan hadn't found the real deal until the heir of the old ways had taken him on. Master Eskrimato shown him how to sculpt it, but he had met him far too later whenthe damage had already been done. He could only bring the vision forth from his eyes, passing in imitation of the technique of heroes.

Now the ki pathways that had slept within him had been opened, and though all was silent around him past his helmet, when the ki gathered outside of his space suit, it was then for the first time he spoke the name of the legacy technique of the Turtle School before it passed forward from his hands.

Kamehameha!

[grampagen]

ignore this

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Genesis nods and turns back as Efrideet blasts a mightn’t beam upward. Her energy flashes and can be seen throughout local space, but so can Remnant. The hybrid slams into the beam and pushes through it, enraged and constantly shifting as the one armed entity plows through the attack towards Efrideet, intent on striking her.

Remnant bearing down despite the beam of energy engulfing it, Efrideet cut the beam off suddenly; allowing the pseudo-divinity to barrel forward faster, and hopefully disoriented by the sudden shift in momentum and speed. Should it pan out?

"Hello again, Remnant." Efrideet coos softly, as she swings a closed and glowing fist.

[grampagen]

The faith of the Saiyan race overtook Sarada, swallowing her up like high tide. it permeated every cell and beyond. It seeped past her physical body and washed over her very being. Sarada had never felt anything like it.

Parsley had.

The warm, soothing embrace of Heka Flow was an unexpected but welcome balm that soothed her wounds. The pain that had been radiating through her holey body subsided into nothingness, leaving nothing but the renewed and reinvigorated strength.

For Sarada, it was the same, but to a greater extent. Before OchazukeÂ’s eyes, her body was made whole once more. Unconsciously, her new limbs twitched and flexed, as if growing accustomed to actually existing in a physical form once more.

There was a deep breath from within the suspension field, followed by Sarada’s eyes fluttering open. The first thing she saw was the Martial Master’s stern grimace. “Urgh,” she groaned. Her throat burned from that single utterance but it felt good to actually feel something. “The hell happened?” Her being with him on what looked like the Gotengo provided all the evidence she needed that what she had just experienced wasn’t a hallucination, but reality. Miracles had been raining from the sky constantly that day; her being alive and okay was just another in a long list.

“Thank you.”

At the same time, Parsley jerked awake and suddenly shot up into a sitting position. She touched her chest and arm and found that her flesh had been made whole again. “I’m alright,” she muttered to herself. The gift of Heka Flow had once again proven its worth as an invaluable boon from Banespell.

In response, Ochazuke slowly, but firmly, affixed Sarada to the gurney.

"Stay down."

Though her body had been restored, the blood soaking the topsheet was still fresh enough to coldly mark what had just transpired.

"Your gratitude may yet render itself through the discipline to lay there and recover from losing over half of your body. It will not avail you to treat this, all of this...as a matter of course."

There was no dismissal in his voice, yet his tone was quite short in his next words.

"You among all of us ought to know that the power of divinity is insignificant without faith to uphold it. Do not ever take this for granted."

He stepped back for a moment, engaging a mobile viewscreen that carried with it the visuals from the bridge before them.

Genesis nods and turns back as Efrideet blasts a mightnÂ’t beam upward. Her energy flashes and can be seen throughout local space, but so can Remnant. The hybrid slams into the beam and pushes through it, enraged and constantly shifting as the one armed entity plows through the attack towards Efrideet, intent on striking her.

"Do you see this? Efrideet has already made planetfall. If she would be born from Inanna's suppressed desire to depart from the cycle of godly machination, then it is a choice freely taken. In so far as this, she has decided to stand with us."

With the strange emission of energies lashing out at a scale yet unseen, to describe it further would be folly. To behold, to sense, the beam clash bearing down on the Forsworn World was a mere taste of things to come.

"But if this should be all we have left to offer, we shall see this to the end on our own terms. For that, you too must see past the obvious. It will help to steady your ki to take the measure of the situation before you."

This was not a mere diversion for these idling moments until fury or strength took her better nature when the time for battle came. The presences were far fewer than before, and now apart from the chaos it would be simpler to take stake of things.

"Parsley's survived, in much the same manner as you with Held upon the Galloping. The report from the Coldlight said much the same for Avoca, along with a number of hostages. I would presume you had accounted for your lost children and hostages had been accounted for before the moon was destroyed. Sasheem, Blizzar, Lantro, a host of Galactic Patrolmen stand by us along with the Guardians of the Universe."

"That will be all who remain once Sakin closes this space around us."

More energy than ever before poured into Ochazuke. An entire universe, and even beyond it, have given him their faith. Their hope, their love, and all their sorrow and pain too. Everything they had, he is given.

It is nearly transcendental. For this moment alone, one human bears the greatest Genki-Dama ever assembled in all of the universes.

They gathered there slowly, drowned out at first from the energy cast off from the clash of gods outside, but Ochazuke had felt them collect slowly. The Genki from the silent utterances of nature were composited from fine whisps, but as these small globes of energy gathered as swift as intention, he had felt within each and every one of them a conscious will. The Cosmic Leylines reached back to the multitudes, to distant stars and the worlds that surrounded them, and for each of the billions of contributions, he'd gleaned a distinct impression from each.

Upon distant Promethea, the clan of Titanus reached towards the stars, knowing they had been seen and welcomed as equals despite the distance. The Nevadian Federation, whose advances in aerospace freight had united much of the universe, united their clans upon one vision. The Elemanti of Illargi who'd remained divested among changes of matter and energy state were united as the Archon roused the spirits animating their substance to a shifting phenomena that bathed the surface of their world. Even the spirits of the sundered afterlife, from the formless disembodied vapours to the halls of noble souls and the Oni that had stayed to guard the ministers.

But through it all his thoughts remained with the Earth, the allies they'd made over the years, the comrades that had fled from this impending battle, and the seeds of the future he had left behind.

Eh? S'that was you, kid? Mmrgh...the hell-hoppin' was gettin' boring, but I c'n stay awake fer this one, you betcha!

We're all here with you now, Sensei! Ten thousand wings strong, osu!

I kept telling you to stop chasing after me, to walk beside me instead. But you were always looking for the path from the start...now see this through and come back to us...Ochazuke.

The Heka Axis still called to them, a beacon in the dark. In the middle of his words with Sarada, Ochazuke had become silent, his steps ceased and stance affirmed.

The power of the Universe gathered to a single point... Just above the Gotengo the mass gathered and swelled. Though the light suffused from it was soft, but its appearance was quite deceiving; it was not the mass or quantity of the aura, but the unification by which they had harmonized and returned it to him with such speed and force that he nearly was overwhelmed as he reached for it.

With great concentration, Ochazuke began to compress the Genki Dama from something the size of a small moon to a form about ten meters wide, to balance the need to carry it along with the ship.

"Evangeline..." he spoke of the comm, "prepare for the attack run...we know where Remnant is, but Sakin will make his move soon...which means we will soon see to Grinthorn..."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

In a swell of power, Cancer and her last remaining child are engulfed in the crisp blue beam of Zaofan’s Legacy technique, the Kamehameha Wave. It washes over both and engulfs them, incinerating the god and her child in one massive display of power. No fanfare, no last dying words, merely the end to a twisted entity long passed her death date.

And thankfully, the two other bodies she could have inhabited are not currently within this reality (the Saiyan children she turned).


When the light dies, nothing remains of the two. The Beat God looks at Zaofan and salutes him with his blade.

————

Koorimaru, slowly the arm floats to you and you manage to drain it of its power.

————

Eva nods and brings the Gotengo around, preparing for its attack run as Ochazuke said.

————

Efrideet, Remnant eats your punch and is sent flying g away, crashing into a barren mountain leagues away. Oddly, there is no damage done to the landscape other than a small body sized crater.

Remnant, cheek dented and spitting blood and teeth out, is right back in her face. The merged entity appears before her and suddenly it grows in size, planted a boot down and attempting to crush Efrideet under its heal.

Meanwhile, Genesis watches and, unbeknownst to all parties, so does Sakin.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Efrideet, Remnant eats your punch and is sent flying g away, crashing into a barren mountain leagues away. Oddly, there is no damage done to the landscape other than a small body sized crater.

Remnant, cheek dented and spitting blood and teeth out, is right back in her face. The merged entity appears before her and suddenly it grows in size, planted a boot down and attempting to crush Efrideet under its heal.

Meanwhile, Genesis watches and, unbeknownst to all parties, so does Sakin.

Efrideet braces, as the heel is slammed down on her, and as she is driven into the surface of the Carin World; the Sword of Damcoles is brought to bear.

Though she does not parrot the words spoken by Ishtar, she drives the blade into Remnant's foot.

[Miburo]

" My electroreception has detected Parsley and Sarada. They are okay. Parsley is on Held's ship and, Sarada is on the Gotengo," Praxat said.

On the Galloping, Held sat down in the ships cockpit, rubbing his temple as in took in the sudden change in fortune.

Things happened so quickly, he scarcely had time to think.

He had felt a familiar--yet distinct-- energy as the moon erupted around them, a voice just as familiar heralding something transcendent.

Is that Inan....No....

Thanks to Inanna's gluttony, their souls were imprinted in her mind; knew the pathways of their Ki like an old friend. So it was these three, she would reach first. Wisps of True Magic filtering through them as they saw their energy returned, wounds mended, and strength amplified.

An act of Divine Intervention. With a word.

"I am with you."

He stared, dumbfounded as he saw this new power flow into his being, melding with it as it strengthened his body and honed his mind to a razors edge.

There was an awkward tingling behind his eyes. Not painful or unwelcome. Merely unusual.

The Galloping swoops in and picks up Held, Karine, Totoma (if Dai allows), and Charco, who swiftly carries the near unconscious Parsley with them onboard the ship. Charco (and Totoma, pending Dai) have weeded their attackers down from fifty who had survived the moon cracking, to a mere dozen. The last twelve disciples of Cancer had fled shortly before The Galloping had arrived, heading towards their mother for reasons unknown.



For Held, the power pools into his Spear and his tiredness, confusion, and wounds fade away. His mind is sharp, his awareness sharper, and his eyes glow as he attains a new level of Shingan. He sees Cancer, he sees that so long as her other dozen children live, she can come back from death another twelve times. It is why the Beast God and Koorimaru failed to kill her yet. She can keep coming back.

It was dizzing, disorienting. The Nevadian felt uneasy as he surveyed the world around him. Something was...off. Different. It was as if he had one drink too many, altering his insight just slightly.

The shift was so complete, so sudden, that he realized it belatedly. It was as if one was so focused on a singular object that the shift in scenery went unnoticed.

Now that his focus was undivided, the night and day difference loomed large. It was as if he had fallen into an entirely different spectrum of insight. It was if the Nevadian had been been seeing in primary colors, only for secondary colors to come into existence. It was as bewildering as it was mesmerizing.

This is….My Shingan...?

[Sub-Zero MKA]

In response, Ochazuke slowly, but firmly, affixed Sarada to the gurney.

"Stay down."

Though her body had been restored, the blood soaking the topsheet was still fresh enough to coldly mark what had just transpired.

"Your gratitude may yet render itself through the discipline to lay there and recover from losing over half of your body. It will not avail you to treat this, all of this...as a matter of course."

There was no dismissal in his voice, yet his tone was quite short in his next words.

"You among all of us ought to know that the power of divinity is insignificant without faith to uphold it. Do not ever take this for granted."

He stepped back for a moment, engaging a mobile viewscreen that carried with it the visuals from the bridge before them.



"Do you see this? Efrideet has already made planetfall. If she would be born from Inanna's suppressed desire to depart from the cycle of godly machination, then it is a choice freely taken. In so far as this, she has decided to stand with us."

With the strange emission of energies lashing out at a scale yet unseen, to describe it further would be folly. To behold, to sense, the beam clash bearing down on the Forsworn World was a mere taste of things to come.

"But if this should be all we have left to offer, we shall see this to the end on our own terms. For that, you too must see past the obvious. It will help to steady your ki to take the measure of the situation before you."

This was not a mere diversion for these idling moments until fury or strength took her better nature when the time for battle came. The presences were far fewer than before, and now apart from the chaos it would be simpler to take stake of things.

"Parsley's survived, in much the same manner as you with Held upon the Galloping. The report from the Coldlight said much the same for Avoca, along with a number of hostages. I would presume you had accounted for your lost children and hostages had been accounted for before the moon was destroyed. Sasheem, Blizzar, Lantro, a host of Galactic Patrolmen stand by us along with the Guardians of the Universe."

"That will be all who remain once Sakin closes this space around us."

Sarada’s vision was still blurry and had been slow about clearing up. Still, despite that, the large red splotches that stained the parts of the sheet covering her newly reformed body were as visible as they were recognizable. She had seen more than her fair share of blood and grievous injuries. Still, it was her blood... No matter how many times she found herself in that position, it was still surreal. She found her stomach turning as the smell of slightly old copper hit her nose.

When Ochazuke forced her to lay down and stay down, she didn’t offer any resistance, verbal or otherwise. And as he began speaking, bringing her up to speed with regards to how the others were faring in the most important battle of any of their lives, she remained silent and listened.

Parsley, Lantro, and Avoca had also been saved. That was good. She hadn’t realized they had been caught up in the blast or how injured they were as a result, but they were as much on the mend as she was. Or maybe they were about to reenter the fray. Even better, Efrideet already had. Whether it was because of what Ochazuke had said got through to her or simply out of survival didn’t matter. They were all fighting for survival. Trivialities like right and wrong were immaterial. She had come to realize that at last. She was probably the last one to, but better late than never. Coming to that realization meant that there was nothing off the table. As long as they won and the universe survived to see tomorrow, that was all that mattered.

Who would have guessed that a near-death experience would have made her introspective. Then again, meeting the end was reason to reflect and all that.

Sarada remained quiet long after Ochazuke turned his attention to other matters. She could feel the battles raging outside - the godly battle between Efrideet and Remnant, as well as the battle of god and man between Cancer and Zaofan. She felt how Cancer kept coming back after suffering what should have been killing blows. She wasn’t sure what kind of bullshit she was capable of, but it was allowing her to stay in the fight long past her welcome.

Then, suddenly, Zaofan’s ki flared to an extreme height. The next instant, Cancer’s vanished. One second ticked by, then another and another. Sarada kept waiting for it to return, but it never did. She smiled to herself and closed her eyes. Great job, Zaofan.

She flexed her hand into a fist. She had barely gotten to fight her, but that was fine. There were at least four other gods and god-like beings for her to tussle with. Beyond that, there were four more enemies to kill before they were finally safe. She wasn’t sure which out of the four of them would be the toughest, but there was no enemy they couldn’t kill when they worked together.

“Then it’s on us,” she said after a very lengthy silence. True, it would have always fell on them, but there wouldn’t be an army of the universe’s most powerful warriors behind them. With everyone back home, all that had was their moral support. That was assuming the tangible representation of that support could even get through Sakin’s barrier thing.

“How much longer?”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Efrideet braces, as the heel is slammed down on her, and as she is driven into the surface of the Carin World; the Sword of Damcoles is brought to bear.

Though she does not parrot the words spoken by Ishtar, she drives the blade into Remnant's foot.

The blade punches through to the hilt, burying itself feet deep into their heel.

A moment, Thena roar that shakes the world as Remnant reels backward, seething as the form shifts. The blue auras sharpens, their power growing as they stare at you, than at the blade older then themselves.

“Where…..”

They trail off, then cock their head to the side and nod. With blood dripping from their now useless foot and missing hand, the merged behind rises up, opens their arms wide and grows.

And grows.

And grows.

Remnant towers over everything, over a thousand feet tall in a near moment. Hovering, it raises its one hand, bigger than the plateau you are on, and drops a massive ball of Hakai down towards you.