Chapter 113: Reaper's Calling.
South of the explosion the survivors of Argom's moon-meteor strike watched a massive dome of golden fire expand into the sky like a pillar, and from there it continued expanding outwards approaching at a speed they knew nobody could escape even if they tried.
Standing on the balcony of her castle with a multitude of survivors behind her the Queen closed her eyes, fell to her knees and began praying, and at her example the others behind her also began praying as well.
"Ikaris, get me above that, I've recovered a little." Sol looked at her while the two of them were flying backwards and watching the destruction spread with Dina keeping up.
"Master Vestic!" Arla called to them, from further ahead, in her grasp was Usami who didn't have the ability to fly, and holding on to Usami's leg was Han who couldn't fly either.
"Ah!" Ikaris snapped her fingers and summoned Eris and Bruce, along with Sara and Idria, while she caught idria in her arms, she found that the other three were already holding on to each other so it was easy when Sol grabbed Bruce by the back of his armour with Eris and Sara holding on to his legs.
"How is it still growing?" Sol stared at the fiery doom that was consuming everything in its path.
"Allow me to do something about this," Ikaris closed her eyes expanding her senses throughout all of Arkadia and then speaking again with her eyes taking on an ethereal glow and her voice booming across the entire planet.
"Move."
Everyone and everything heard her, and felt a tug at their bodies and mana before their vision shifted to white and they all vanished.
"What... Is this?" Darla Vermon asked first, watching massive chunks of rock soar above her head weightlessly, guided by Arkadia's gravitational pull.
"Where are we?"
[This is D'ol, the battleground of the gods] Dr'ul answered in her true form as she appeared standing and extending her hands.
[Ikaris I should have thought of this myself, but I panicked in the face of this terrible destruction.] She admitted dimming her light and looking down at the girl, and then turning to everyone else, every living being outside of demons, every species, birds critters, beasts and all, with the exemption of creatures of the seas, rivers and oceans had been summoned to the first moon by Ikaris.
"Who are you?" Misty stared shocked, of course she knew who it was, she was just so surprised that her brain was not braining.
[Little perverted queen, I am Dr'ul, Queen of the gods and ruler of the heavens] The goddess of war responded staring toward Arkadia again as another being of light appeared next to her and extended his hands, and as he did, the moon began shaking as the rock fragments that had been blasted off by Sol and Sitri's fight earlier began slowly returning and reforming.
At the same time that this was happening fresh growth appeared beneath their feet, trees and plants, springs sprouted and rivers began to form along with lakes causing multitudes of water-beasts and fish to appear through Ikaris's summoning.
[With this they will not feel too alienated] Adonai; the god of creation looked to his older sister and nodded.
[Thank you] Dr'ul looked ahead again just as Sol and the others appeared before her, crashlanding before he and Ikaris sprung to their feet in a ready stance.
"How much have you recovered?" Ikaris looked at Sol immediately and he narrowed his eyes.
"It's hard to say, the system has stopped responding to me." He admitted and Adonai intervened clearing his throat.
[That is because you committed a taboo against it and nearly broke it, I understand that you had no choice at the time, but the system is beyond your reach as it is for a lot of others currently, during your fight it was damaged severely] the god of creation explained, and Sol hummed.
"Well... In that case I'll go with my gut like I used to, my regular mana is still pretty high, but my divine mana just recovered a tiny bit, it's a little, but it's more than enough to finish this fight now that she's exhausted herself to this degree." Sol looked at Ikaris, and she hummed. MVLeMpYr-unofficial-chapter
Having morphed his Atlan mana into divine mana with the laws of Arkadia through the system she had lost the ability to grant him mana from her home dimension, at most she had been backseated to the role of divine healer, but while he no longer needed her to grant him power she still relied on him for hers.
"Are you sure it is enough?" Dina asked, and Sol nodded.
"All I need is one strike, just one, I'll turn her into dust." He balled his fists. "I just need help getting there again.
"If I transport you above her you will lose momentum because of the force of that cataclysm." Ikaris looked at Arkadia and the ball of fire that continued spreading across the surface, by now it had consumed most of northern Argom and was boiling the seas as it raced toward the much larger continent's.
"Just throw me," Sol stared at the flames. "If I have the initial speed I can figure out the rest-"
"Sol, you might die..." Ikaris held on to his hands. "If we just let her expend everything she will die eventually, right?"
"No," Sol shook his head. "If Sitri is left alone she will recover, and then there will be hell to pay, we've only made it this far because I caught her off-guard, it won't happen again, even with ten percent of her power restored she will have an edge above all of us here, she could potentially One-shot everyone with frightening ease." He released her hands and took her cheeks in his palms.
"She has taken everything from us, from you, I can't forgive her, help me get revenge, Ikaris."
"Let me come with you, if I could hit her with a supercharged pulsar-"
"Absolutely not." Sol looked at dina. "Let me be clear, that firestorm is divine magic at its most potent, your cosmic magic is of no use against it, your Arkadian mana would evaporate in the face of it, in that state only I have the power to fight Sitri properly with the demigod mana I have left, if I fail here it's goodbye to everything and everyone, do you understand?"
Dina lowered her gaze.
"Dina-"
"Yeah, I get it." She rushed over to him and grabbed him in a hug. "Don't... Don't die, please."
"I don't plan to." Sol pet her head with a smile and then turned to Ikaris again. "Are you ready?"
"I am, Master." Ikaris placed her hand on the ground and began growing in size as her true form tore through her half-human appearance, she grew even larger than Dr'ul, supersising and staring down at him as he smiled up at her. "Come."
Sol stepped in the palm of her hand and she raised him like a delicate flower casting blessings on him and embracing him gently before taking off toward Arkadia, building momentum.
[After this, we should retire for real dear, haha.] Ikaris joked as her and Sol stared at the epicenter of the flames, but Sol didn't respond, instead he summoned a set of armour over his body and closed his eyes, fully suppressing his divine mana and utilizing his Arkadian mana for protection when the vaccum started freezing his hair and seeping into his skin.
[Then...] Ikaris looked down at him, stopping her flight and staring at Sitri's presence. [Fly true, warrior!] She held Sol in one hand again and aimed for her target like a pitcher before yeeting him toward Arkadia like a comet.
The goddess held a sad expression as she placed her faith in her beloved, one misstep, one mishap; all it would take was a single mistake and his light would vanish forever, without his soul she would be trapped, without his light, she would lose herself again.
[Off he goes; that radiant man] Dr'ul stared intently, not just her but the rest of the gods, the entire pantheon appeared in person to watch this deciding blow, failure would spell the end, it was an all-or-nothing moment and they all paid their respects to him.
"Flame magic: stream." Sol cast wordless magic as a steadily growing stream of fire ejected from the souls of his feet stabilizing him while he did the same with small bursts of fire from his hands, his armour was similar to the one he had seen Union use, though the god was flawed he did indeed have great inventions, and an armour with this much aerodynamic and friction resistant properties was perfect when Sol entered the atmosphere and caught aflame from the heat below.
Pushing the clouds aside in giant rings Sol vanished into the fires that had almost completely escaped the atmosphere, his hair turned white, and his eyes inverted and a shield manifested around his body made of divine mana, protecting him as he dove deeper into the blaze, slowing down and landing when he came face to face with Sitri who was still pushing out mass amounts of her power and burning her life essence at the same time.
Just as he had expected, his divine mana ran out right after landing and his body began burning immediately, no shield would work when everywhere was on fire so he bore the brunt of the destructive flames and focused entirely on offence instead.
"Forbidden magic: -" Sol's entire presence changed and a black sythe appeared in his grasp, turning red from the flames as he began swinging it.
"-Reaper's calling!"