Boom!
Over the Storm Sea, prismatic radiance erupted and blasted outward, carving hundreds upon hundreds of radiant fissures that stretched for tens of thousands of miles.
In the violent Ether shockwaves, a shadowy figure was flung down toward the water. His Golden Cloths shattered, half his body collapsing into mangled flesh as stark white bone was laid bare. For a moment, he looked like a morning star streaking across the sky before crashing toward the sea.
The white giant god stood in the world once more, holding the God of War's Sword upright. Stellar patterns pulsed and rang with a cold tremor, while the golden-blue star nuclei at his wrists and abdomen blazed together.
In an instant, the kaleidoscopic colors were drawn in by the sword and fused into one, surging straight up into the heavens. Around him, the shattered star rings gathered again, spinning with a sinister, obscure rhythm.
A cold vibration echoed from Sefar's chest. Her indifferent gaze looked down on a mortal world burning itself out.
"World Egg Corrosion Rate: 99.75%..."
Across the Oceanus, thunderstorm clouds churned as space itself began to split apart. The waters were filled with aberrations and giant soldiers, and one island after another fell.
On the Greek mainland, Mount Etna was completely swallowed by magma. Olympus broke apart. Countless monsters tore through the obsession and hatred left behind by the dead, smashed through the last black bastion, and flooded into Athens.
"World Wall Hollowification: 99.97%..."
High above, the tear-shaped star had already neared the final jump point. The spatial wormhole linking that sea of stars to Earth was being forced wider with every passing second.
No chance…
This world… has no chance…
Samael, protected by the ocean's blessing, floated on the surface and stared numbly at the Star Lord of Doom that was about to descend. A dull gray swallowed his eyes.
And yet, the world did not fall quiet. Instead, the noise grew louder, the cries more frantic, rising from the land, from the sea, and from the sky.
Athens had fallen. Before the Areopagus resettlement site—
Figures who could barely hold a weapon upright stumbled forward, supporting one another as they silently gathered at the mouth of the valley. Women. Elders. Children.
"No mercy! No prisoners!"
An old Spartan refugee hammered on his shield, roaring until his voice turned raw, passing on what he knew about forming a phalanx. Women stepped to the front. Children surged forward without fear.
Their eyes, burning with hatred and resolve, fixed on the black tide on the horizon that had swallowed their sons, their husbands, their fathers.
Yes, the warriors were gone, but the war wasn't over.
Women could give birth to warriors. Elders could teach warriors. Children could grow into warriors.
The world was never only a stage for men.
This place was never only a field for heroes.
And the moment women, elders, and children walked onto the battlefield of their own will, there was nothing left to say about courage or morale.
That silent call had more pull than any treasure or glory, and it struck deeper than any rousing speech ever could.
Gods, heroes, monsters, warriors… one after another, they rushed toward the fight.
The strong had already given everything they had.
So now, let the world hear the voices of the weak.
...
Storm Sea.
The Underworld Goddess, transformed into a colossal skeletal form, thrust her spear wheel forward. Red-black light patterns surged as the bones of fallen warriors answered her call, gathering into thousands of Gallû Spirits that formed a protective host around Ere and drove forward through the waves.
At the same time, a hundred streaks of light cut across the sky.
Zeus swung his scepter. Artemis drew her hunting bow…
Medusa opened her Mystic Eyes. Athena raised her divine shield. Themis turned her scales…
Ishtar hurled her gems. Gilgamesh opened the Gates of Babylon…
Gods and heroes alike charged at Sefar without exception.
We can't win. So why are we still clinging to this?
"Aaaaa!"
As the ancient serpent's thoughts twisted into knots, a soaring hymn rang out. Gentle currents lifted him, and a vast force of creation sealed his wounds in an instant. Ahead, Tiamat, the Goddess of Beginning, was already beating her wings and surging forward.
Ha. I almost forgot.
In history, Greece's Age of Gods was always destined to be destroyed by the white giant god Sefar… and yet we still schemed this hard for a war we were bound to lose.
Samael tapped his temple and rose into the air. Flames roared back to life along his cross spear, throwing wild light over that handsome face—madness and arrogance pushed to their absolute limit.
So what if Athens fell? So what if the Argonauts were wiped out? So what if the gods die? So what if the ending is written?
Until the very last second, we haven't lost.
And if I'm going to die, I'll choose how. I'll fall on the road of the charge.
Samael's expression twisted. He crossed both hands and brought them down, ripping space apart and forcing his way past the limit. Gripping the cross spear tight, he moved after—and arrived first—bearing enormous wings of light as he pierced forward.
"…0…"
But just as the spearpoint was about to reach Sefar, the Alien finished the prelude. The wormhole he had opened stabilized, fully formed.
The Tear Star forced its way inside. The outline projected over Greece grew clearer and clearer, while spiderweb cracks split the sky into a shattered mirror.
"Pfft!"
At the last possible second, the prismatic pillar of light that had risen from the Storm Sea, guided by Sefar to link the Greek World with the Starry Sea of Mystery, suddenly guttered out and shattered.
Humm!
At the same time, a golden-blue halo burst from Sefar's chest. The God of War's Sword broke apart into motes of light, and a terrifying Ether tide swept out in every direction. Heaven and earth trembled in resonance as the seven stellar rings disintegrated in an instant.
The aftershock didn't stop there. It surged upward and tore apart the inverted river of stars.
And the pillar-shaped vortex that connected the Greek World to the Starry Sea of Mystery, after collapsing to its absolute limit, exploded with a deafening roar. Velber's reflection shattered into fragments, and the tear-shaped celestial body at its center was flung away by the twisted jump point, vanishing to some unknown destination.
Shh!
In the instant the anomaly erupted, Samael tightened his grip on the cross spear and lunged forward at blinding speed, driving the tip straight through Sefar's chest core and leaving behind a ragged hole several meters wide.
That damage showed no sign of regenerating. Instead, the stellar patterns all over Sefar's body dimmed, her movements turning sluggish, like a puppet that had lost its soul.
It worked. It really worked!
Understanding hit the gods all at once. Wild ecstasy flooded their eyes, and grim, feral smiles spread across their faces.
"Full power! Destroy her!"
Samael, closest to her, reacted first. He raised his cross spear, now blazing with a pillar of light-flame, and roared.
Forced Seal, Temple of Ten Thousand Demons!
Starry Sky Judgment, Sword of Judgment!
An Gal Ta Ki Gal Šè: Kindling of Venus that Shook the Mountains!
Kur Kigal Irkalla: The Bellows of Kur that Tramples upon Ekur!
Enuma Elish: The Star of Creation!
I am the Thunder that Rips Stars!
I am the Gold that Pierces Stars!
Nega-Genesis!
…
In that instant, the gods mercilessly wrung out what remained of themselves. Unmatched Authorities erupted from every direction and slammed into Sefar.
Already missing one core, the Alien vanguard was thrown into chaos, unable to defend on all fronts. In the blink of an eye, she was swallowed by the raging torrent. The remaining two cores were shattered without exception. The towering giant god's body, now completely inert, came apart like a collapsing building, chunks breaking free and plunging into the Oceanus, splashing up bursts of foam.
Boom!
As Sefar fell apart, a chain of explosions rumbled from within the Eye of the Tidal Sea. The deep waters surged upward without end, and the sea surface shook violently.
Moments later, the scarred, ruined continent of Atlantis rose slowly from the ocean.
But with whatever had been supporting it now gone, the Interstellar Mountainous City suspended above began to crack apart. Buildings collapsed. Fragments drifted down toward the Titan Ocean and the Mu Continent below.
Finally… we can rest for a moment…
Slumped in a corner, the blond youth looked out the window at the familiar sea, the familiar sky, and those familiar figures. Relief washed through him. He leaned back against the wall, murmured softly as his eyes fell shut, and as the collapsing structure tilted and gave way, he slid with it, falling toward the sea.