On the distant battlefield, the realization hit the Dark Gods like a physical blow.
"We were played." A high-ranking god hissed, his face flushing with shame, "The Light Empire used us as a shield to hold back the Great Aetherium. And we fell for it because we didn't check for a heart."
The impersonation had been flawless. The wings, the holy flame, the golden swords, even the slogans. Only the missing Angel Heart gave it away, a detail they had ignored in their rush for vengeance.
"Retreat! Pull the legions back!" The commanders roared, "And send an envoy to the Great Aetherium. Explain the trap. Tell them we will compensate them for every loss. This war must end before it erupts properly!"
A diplomatic team, led by a powerful High God and flanked by dozens of subordinates, tore through the void toward the Great Aetherium's headquarters. They moved at speeds that blurred reality, desperate to stop the slaughter before it became irreversible.
…
They never reached the headquarters though. As the envoy crossed into Great Aetherium's territory, the sky didn't just darken, it solidified. A suffocating Divine Aura slammed into the team. The Intermediate and Lower True Gods were extinguished before they could even scream, their divine bodies fracturing into stardust.
The lone survivor, a High God of the Dark Empire, gasped for breath as a Sixteen-Winged Angel descended.
"Stop! We are not enemies!" He shouted, his voice cracking. He could feel the purity of her law, the genuine, searing light of the Great Aetherium. This wasn't a fake from the Light Empire, "Angel, listen! We were fooled! It was a Light Empire conspiracy!"
The Angel, Auriel, didn't pause. Her golden sword, wreathed in celestial fire, cleaved through the air. Behind her, a second figure emerged from the void: a beautiful woman with a serpent's tail and eyes that promised a cold, stony death.
"Christine?" The Dark God stammered, "Why are you here? Aren't you the leader of the Beast God Pan—"
"There is nothing to explain." Auriel said coldly, "You betrayed the cooperation agreement. You attacked our troops. Now, you pay."
"It was a mistake!" The Dark God wailed, desperately parrying a strike that shattered his arm.
"A mistake we intend to profit from." Christine added with a lethal smile.
The battle was brief. Two Peak High Goddesses against an intermediate-stage High God Tier opponent was not a duel; it was an execution. When the Dark God's soul was finally sealed within Christine's grasp, a surge of mysterious energy flooded her.
Christine mused, her cheeks flushing with the thrill of the hunt, "A few more High Gods and I'll ascend to the Supreme God Tier."
Auriel cleaned her blade, indifferent to the loot scattered across the void, "Lady Lysandra has summoned us. The Dark Empire's Gods are being encircled. Let's not keep her waiting."
…
Across the Light Empire core, the story was the same. The Dark Empire tried to explain, but the Angels weren't listening.
The Great Aetherium had known about the Light Empire's trick long before the first assassination because of Caelith, the Angel of Fate. They had simply waited. They needed a reason to wipe the Dark Empire off the map and harvest the 'exp' required for their own ascensions.
The Light Empire had started the fire, but the Great Aetherium was the one pouring the oil. By the time the Blood Moon reached its zenith, 600,000 True Gods of the Great Aetherium had gathered.
Led by four Supreme Gods, the 'defensive counterattack' began. It wasn't a war of misunderstanding, it was a systematic harvest. The Dark Empire would provide the energy, and the Light Empire would provide the stage.
The slaughter had only just begun and its scale was staggering. Over 900,000 Gods had gathered under the Great Aetherium's banner.
The vanguard consisted of 600,000 True Gods from the empire, 500,000 of whom were Angels, and the other 300,000 Intermediate Gods were from the Castle Faction. The weaker Lower True Gods were excluded; against the Dark Empire's elites, they would be nothing more than fodder.
For the Great Aetherium, death was merely a temporary setback. Guardian Angels like Ariel and Dina, now at the peak of the High God Tier, accompanied the army. Their presence ensured that any fallen Imperial God could be resurrected immediately. With the battlefield suppressed by four Supreme Gods, Lysandra, Eveline, Yvonne and Amelie, the Dark Empire's fate was sealed before the first blow was struck.
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