Hello everyone, I have returned with another chapter for you all to either enjoy or despise. Which ever works for all of you.
For this chapter, things are about to go to crap since, you know, Varolia is about to be attacked. So let's see how that's going to go shall we?
Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.
Everything belongs to their respective owners.
Chapter Thirty Three: Anthem of the Angels
A punch slammed into Acnologia's cheek as he was pushed back, getting a growl of anger and annoyance to fill his being while he looked on at the challenger before him, another member of the Custodes who had taken the dark blue haired man's challenge of a fight. Rubbing his cheek from the punch, the Dragon of Death charged once more towards his opponent.
Nearby, Observer and Izrail observed from their positions along with a few other Custodians, overlooking the sparring taking place between Observer's ally and one of the Custodians. Izrail was rather amazed over how the Dragon King was able to keep up with one of mankind's greatest warriors.
"I can't help but admit I'm impressed. The fact your ally is putting on equal grounds with one of the Custodians is no small feat." Izrail admitted to the Constellar to his left, whose gaze remained on Acnologia who was unleashing a barrage of punches towards his Custodian challenger far up ahead of them.
"Acnologia has faced against beings capable of destroying worlds and possess strength of doing the same. I should be the one surprise to see one of your own able to keep up." Observer responded back to the golden armored Captain-General. Sure if Acnologia were to power up or go all out than that would be a different story, but the living constellation was still impressed none the less with the dragon's Custodian challenger keeping up so far.
It has been a few days since Observer and Acnologia arrived in the Kingdom/Empire of Varolia, and within that short timeframe they were able to remain on good terms with the humans on this world. Izrail managed to learn more about the two visitors while Observer and Acnologia learned much about the vast cosmos expanding empire of man in return. The two still haven't really met the Emperor nor any of the Primarchs as they were all still off world, but they have managed to properly met Prince Natsu's wives while they and their pink haired lover got to learn more about the two guests from another timeline.
Currently, they were all in a large opened training ground within the Imperial Palace, while numerous other Custodians were present sharpening their skills with hand to hand combat. Thankfully though the training ground was massive which gave plenty of space for everyone present, with Acnologia and his Custodian challenger having an area within the large scaled chamber that could match the size of a stadium field. A few flying drones which were basically human skulls outfitted with mechanical components also flew around the large chamber around the edges of the battlefields present within the section of the Eternal Palace.
Observer would have to admit, the fact these mortals use the remains of their dead for such things puzzled him, but he would not question it further as when he did ask about such drones, it was seen as an honor for one's skull to be turned into these drones so they can continue to serve in death.
"We Custodians were raised and augmented to be the greatest warriors of all of mankind within Varolia, made and forged from the DNA of our glorious Emperor himself. While we may lack the destructive power or other otherworldly-like powers without our weaponry that planet busters like him possess, each Custodian has the physical strength to keep up." Izrail replied back towards Observer, after all destructive capabilities alone can only go so far. While they may not be as strong as such beings, they were capable of keeping up without being obliterated or defeated on the spot.
"I see, but I am confused about something," Observer admitted as he turned to face the Captain-General once more, "Why have some of these Custodians like the one Acnologia is facing hardly wear anything?"
Indeed, Acnologia's challenger who currently blocked a punch from the dragon in humanoid form with his arms was indeed hardly wearing anything on his body, much to the discomfort and annoyance of Acnologia when he first saw some of them being like this. There were a few others within the area who also were in similar states for reasons unknown.
Izrail merely sighed as he heard this question, figuring that something of the sorts would have come up sooner or later.
"Well…," Izrail looked around to make sure none of the other Custodians nearby were listening in before facing Observer once more, "To tell you the truth for the most part, a majority of the Custodians hardly ever leave the Palace walls as it is our duty unless told otherwise to remain vigil and guard the Imperial Palace from any threat that dares to strike at the heart of Varolia. And let's just say that uh… being cooped up within for so long might have caused some of them to go a bit uh… into the cuckoo's nest. …Oh who am I kidding, they all have completely lost their minds in different ways. I'm the sole exception." Izrail explained, as three of the certain so called fabulous Custodians coming to him, said three being off world and traveling to different worlds in different timelines at the moment.
Izrail couldn't blame the utterly puzzled expression that formed onto the Constellar's face after hearing from that. From what Observer has seen so far none of the other Custodians aside from the ones who were close to being naked didn't seem out of place or weird. Then again, he never really talked to any other one aside from the Captain-General either.
"Yeah I know that sounds weird but it's true. After millennia of what is basically isolation and the occasional murdering of any foul xenos or heretics trying to infiltrate into the Palace I'm the only one who's not bat sh*t insane." Izrail explained further.
"…I see," Observer replied, a bit confused still after hearing all of that he would admit, "Though it seems to show that you along with some of those around didn't partake into giving up their armor for showing off their mortal forms to all."
"Yeah. Or uh… not ALL the time. I went through a… phase. …Can't say I'm particularly proud of it. Those loincloths don't really leave much to the imagination you know?" Izrail trailed off as he leaned back a bit, recalling that time in his life when he almost succumbed to some sort of insanity like many of his brothers, "The way they rode… I swear I could taste the floss."
"SHUT THE F**K UP I CAN HEAR YOU ALL THE WAY OVER HERE!" Acnologia's sudden shout of both annoyance and disgust snapped Izrail from his stance, getting him and Observer to turn their gaze up ahead towards the dark blue haired man. Due to his enhance hearing he was capable of hearing the entire conversation between Observer and Izrail despite the large distance between them. Needless to say he wished he didn't considering what he just heard.
He snapped away from the two however as he sensed another attack coming as he turned to face the incoming Custodian challenger once more, raising his arms up to block the incoming punch. The force behind the attack however managed to launch Acnologia a good distance from his spot before his back hit an invisible force field that surrounded the battlefield they were in, getting him to land onto his feet.
Said force fields were thanks to the flying servo-skulls flying around, having put the force field up around the many fields of training within the large chamber in case the fighting got to intense thus to ensure it was all contain to prevent any damage or destruction from spreading to the rest of the chamber grounds.
Acnologia merely looked back up at his challenger before gaining a grin and bolting back towards the Custodian opponent, who prepared to charge also towards the dragon in humanoid form. However, as the practically naked super soldier closed in on Acnologia, the Dragon King smirked before shoving his hand outward unleashing a small but bright blast of Magic, temporary blinding the Custodian which left him open for Acnologia to swoop in from behind and deliver a strong kick to the back. This knocked the shirtless larger man down and into the ground with a loud thud. However, the Custodian managed to quickly jump back onto his feet and turned around to face Acnologia once more, not done just yet with the sparring with the dragon from another alternate reality. Acnologia himself was just fine with this as he grinned before the two engaged into close combat once more.
"…He has quite the hearing. Guess that makes sense since he is a dragon." Izrail muttered back, figuring that even while he was sparring the Dragon of Apocalypse would have heard their talk between one another.
Observer nodded in response from being this before he would turned towards the golden armored Captain-General once more.
"Izrail, if I may be allowed, there's something I've been meaning to ask of you since Acnologia and I have arrived here." Observer requested while the larger human looked at the living constellation once more.
"And what may that be Observer?" He responded with interest.
"This Va'ro being that you have mentioned before, is he the large presence of Light and Holy Magic that I have been sensing somewhere far underneath the palace?" Observer questioned, wondering if it was the same being or not giving off such a presence.
That got Izrail to be surprised, not expecting the Constellar having been able to sense Va'ro's presence far underneath the Imperial Palace where he dwelled within his own chamber. The Captain-General calmed down however before nodding in confirmation.
"Yes, he is indeed what you have been sensing. I am surprise though, as there are defenses in place that help hide his presence from any who try to detect him. Guess that's another upgrade that needs to be done I suppose." Izrail responded to Observer before muttering to himself with the last sentence.
"If I can ask, who or what is this Va'ro you have talked about? From the way you talk and mention about him you all seem to hold him in high regards as much as your Emperor." Observer asked, curious more about this being and seeing if the Captain-General would be willing to share that kind of information towards him.
Izrail was about to respond… before the palace itself suddenly shook immensely without warning, catching everyone present off guard as those who were sparring like Acnologia and his Custodian partner ceased their actions as they felt the Palace seemingly quake.
"What in the Emperor's name?!" Izrail exclaimed as everyone felt the massive palace continue to shake for a few brief moments.
Once those moment passed however the shaking stopped, allowing everyone to regain their footing while they looked around in alarm.
"What the heck was that all about?" Acnologia questioned while remaining on guard, having a bad feeling about what had just took place.
Elsewhere within the massive palace, Natsu along with Erza, Irene, Lucy, Layla, Ultear and Ur looked around in alarm from the sudden shaking that had been felt by them all. None in the group of seven knew what was behind it while the Custodians who were with them were also on edge.
"What was that?" Ultear questioned with worry as did the others, while Natsu narrowed his eyes while he looked up and around. Whatever had just took place, it wasn't normal. But what could shake the entire Imperial Palace like that?
"MY PRINCE!"
The sudden shouting from an approaching Custodian got his attention along with everyone else as they looked to see another of the golden armored super soldiers arrived before them all.
"Custodian, what is going on? Do you know what caused that quake?" Natsu asked while he remained near his pregnant wives, protective of them.
The warrior looked down at the smaller human before giving them the news that shocked the pink haired male and everyone else present to the core.
"The Palace is under siege!"
'A FEW MOMENTS AGO, OUTER PALACE'
The sky was quiet above the massive complex that was the Outer Palace, with so many billions of lives compacted into the space that was available. Each living being doing their duty as servants to the Kingdom/Empire of Varolia and their Emperor, none daring to stop them from carrying out any tasks or jobs that they have for it would bring them only shame otherwise.
But the space would abruptly end as without warning, Alvarez warships that numbered in the thousands flashed into existence, along with multiple dragons and the monstrous flying kraken-like creature that was Ulosf with emitted a monstrous roar that shook the sky itself.
Not giving any of the surrounding structures or forces of the Outer Palace time to react, the massive fleet unleashed a devastating barrage of all sorts of weaponry, most of them being Arcane in nature, that utter devastated much of the structures that covered this vast landmass, buildings, artillery and other defenses were made into ruins in seconds as any living creature caught up in the chaos perished in the process. The force behind the bombardment was so intense it was capable of shaking the very land and even the Inner Palace itself due to how much fire power was just unleashed to clear the way for their ground forces.
With that done, massive portals littered all over the devastated landscape before said ground forces appeared, armies uncountable emerged from the portals before charging into the land and the surrounding Outer Palace areas that were left unscathed from the sudden attack.
Aboard his flagship on its outside deck stood Beon along with his guards overlooking the devastation that spread for miles. Yet still he saw many miles more of structures and civilizations unlike anything in previous other Earthlands that the blonde haired dark skinned man had gone too before.
'We got the drop on them, but no doubt more defenses will soon be activated elsewhere to fire upon us. We must remain vigilant,' Beon thought to himself before placing his hand on the communicator within his ear once more, turning it one and making sure that those on the other side would be able to hear him as he spoke, "Status report."
"Sir, we managed to get the drop on this world and did severe damage to this sector. All of our forces are accounted for and are pushing deeper into enemy territory." A lieutenant on the other end of the communication responded to the dark skinned man, whose eyes turned towards the large pyramid like structure that pierced the sky itself far in the distance of where they were at.
"Don't let your guard down, we still don't know what kind of weapons or power they may unleash upon us. Ensure that defenses of our ships are most prioritized. If we lose our fleet, we will be at a severe disadvantage." Beon gave the order to all who were listening in.
"Understood sir! In the Empress's name!" The woman on the other end responded before the communication was cut, allowing Beon to remove his hand from the communicator in his ear.
"In the Empress's name." He whispered as his eyes remained on the massive structure in the distance. The massive pyramid could put a whole mountain to shame from its sheer size and height. Perhaps it is there were this world's best defenders may be?
Having his target, Beon turned around towards his guards along with the other soldiers, Mages and others aboard who were standing by for orders.
"Full speed ahead towards the pyramid! Order our ground forces that are close by to begin the march towards the structure! For Lady Marvell! And for the Empress!" Beon gave the order to all standing by.
"SIR YES SIR!" They all responded as every one of them aside from his own guards charged off to their positions or to send the order out to the selected forces on the ground.
Seeing that was done, he turned to face towards the massive golden pyramid structure in the distance once more. Whatever lied within will crumble before their might, no matter the cost.
'IN THE INNER PALACE'
Natsu and his wives were on the run as numerous Custodians along with others that were present as they made their way down the large hallway, looks of worry and disbelief on their faces from what was happening.
"This way my Prince! The Captain-General should be waiting up ahead!" One of the Custodians with him informed him as they made haste, with his wives needing to have been carried by the taller and stronger humans due to their pregnant forms keeping them slow. Plus, Natsu and them didn't want to risk anything negative happening to their yet to be born children if they pushed themselves to do so.
Still, Natsu and the women couldn't believe what was happening and what they were hearing.
"I can't believe it, who or what would be insane enough to launch a full-scale attack on Earthland?" Lucy couldn't help but question as the pregnant blonde had a concern look on her face.
"Wasn't the last time something this happened like ten thousand years ago during the Heresy of Shadow? What could be insane enough to manage to appear directly in the Outer Palace out of nowhere?" Irene questioned, as she and the others thought that the planet had a highly powerful and advance blockage to prevent sudden unfamiliar teleportation and portals not approved by Varolia. Was whoever is attacking somehow managed to bypass it like how Observer and Acnologia unintentionally did?
Natsu remained silent as he didn't know the answer to one of his lover's question. What could be crazy enough to launch a full invasion at the heart of Varolia itself? Like the older red head stated, the last and only time something like this happened was during the Heresy of Shadow.
"Prince Natsu!" The voice of Izrail got the pink haired male's attention as he and the others looked up ahead only to see the Captain-General looking their way from his location along with a few other Custodians that were present.
"Izrail!" Natsu responded as he and the others ran over right near him, stopping before the Captain-General a few feet away, "Give me a report! What is exactly happening out there?!"
"Heretical scum that's what!" Izrail responded as he looked over at the smaller human and the others once again, disbelief on his face even though none would be able to see it due to his helmet, "Humans who bare the banner of some version of that Alvarez Empire, yet it's unlike the one on this world or any other alternate Earthland we have seen! I don't even know how they managed to bypass the blockage!"
The prince and the women widened their eyes from hearing of this. The attackers were from another alternate reality? How did they manage to get pass the defenses in place of the planet?
"what of the billions that are in the Outer Palace?" Natsu asked once more, worry for his people in his tone for all to hear.
"The Guardsmen have been deployed, and the Custodians remained guarded to protect the Inner Palace. Our defenses in the Outer Palace have been damaged from the initial attack but the rest are active. I have full faith that we will be able to repel this attack." Izrail informed the pink haired male and the others with assurance, confident that despite the damage and lost of lives so far they will be able to defeat.
Despite his words, Natsu and the women still felt worried, before the prince and his wives looked around before noticing the lacking presence of the Constellar and the Dragon King.
"Wait, where did the Consteller and the dragon go?!" Erza questioned from her spot, while Izrail looked towards the red head's way to respond.
"Those two bolted off towards the carnage once we got word that we were under attack. When describe about this being some version of Alvarez, the two seemed to recognize what version of that empire it was before taking off." Izrail revealed, something that the two never told him about. With all of their years they were not aware of such a version of Alvarez being capable of traveling to other worlds seemingly attacking them. Was this a threat that just arisen recently, was that why they were unaware of such a danger?
The others looked worried still as Natsu clenched his fists in anger, knowing that the Palace was under siege while his father and brothers were away and due to the fact that Va'ro was in danger because of this attack. Not only that… but Natsu had a feeling that this wasn't the worst of it, that something far worse would soon take place. Looking back up with a determined expression, Natsu went on to speak once more.
"Izrail, you and the Custodians ensure that none of these intruders breach the Inner Palace. I will gather a force and lead the assault to push these attackers back. You are to remain here in the Inner Palace as well and keep the girls safe. Contact my father or anyone else you can and inform them on what is happening. I have a feeling this is going to only get worse." Natsu told him, shocking the Captain-General and the women from what he told them to do.
"My Prince! I can't leave you to go out into the battle on your own! And what do you mean things might become worse?" Izrail responded rather loudly. While Natsu was strong, he was still far weaker compared to that of his Primarch brothers and of his father.
"It's what I said! You are to protect the Inner Palace and keep the girls safe!" Natsu replied back, unmoved by his orders.
"I can't stand by and let you go out on your own! As your caretaker-!" Izrail was about to respond only to be cut off by Natsu.
"As your Prince I am giving you an order! Do you dare defy the task I gave you?" Natsu responded with a dark tone in his voice, catching the Captain-General and the women off guard. There were only a few times Natsu would use such a tone, showing he would not be moved.
Izrail, after a moment of silence only sighed before looking down at the smaller human.
"Understood my Prince. I shall do what you say." Izrail replied back, getting Natsu to calm down with a small smile forming on his face.
"Natsu," The voice of Ur got his attention as he turned back around to see the concern expressions on the six pregnant women's faces, each of them not wanting him to go out to fight but knew that he would not be swayed, "Just… please be safe."
Natsu smiled softly before going over to each of his girls and giving them a kiss and a hug, his gaze filled with nothing but love for the women before him.
"I promise. I'll come back for you all." Natsu assured them as he took a few steps back away, his smile remaining on his face.
With that, he turned around before bolting down the hallway to join the battle taking place in the Outer Palace, leaving the Captain-General and the pregnant women on their own alongside the few Custodians who were present with them.
'OUTSIDE IN THE OUTER PALACE'
Ulosf emitted a monstrous roar as defense artillery from the structures were fired upon the massive floating kraken, taking multiple hits as explosions rippled across the surface of its skin. Yet despite this it seemed unfazed by the weaponry unleashed as it summoned an orb of Void energy in front of its eyes before unleashing a massive beam of the dark power that tore through the buildings and landscape surrounding it for miles, destroying everything and killing any unfortunate caught in its path. The creature roared once more before it slowly moved on, continuing to devastate the highly urbanized section of the Outer Palace it was in.
The rest of the Alvarez forces meanwhile continued to push on, however despite some of the defenses put in place they were being slowed down by the resisting domestic forces and their defense weaponry. Alvarez soldiers clashed with guardsman as the soldiers of Varolia tore through the ranks of the Alvarez enemy. However, while the Varolia forces had the better attacking firepower, the Alvarez force had the greater defenses, utilizing both Magic and technology they have on hand to defend from the blasts by Varolia's defenders. The machines and beasts of war under Alvarez were also an advantage for Alvarez, being able to tank and shrug off blasts from the weapons held by the guardsmen that could blow an ordinary man's limbs off easily.
On board one of the Alvarez ships flying high over the land, a commander of the forces who looked to be a woman oversaw the battle raging on far below. The shields around their ships remained strong as a blast from nearby artillery slammed into it, the barrier rippling from the attempted hit.
The woman, who possessed green hair tied up into a pony tail and blue colored eyes, placed her hand on the communicator within her ear as she oversaw the battle below and around her.
"Status report on our forces in this sector." She spoke into it, as a response was quickly heard by an Alvarez private fighting somewhere on the ground.
"We're pushing through their defenses and laying siege to the structures all around us. However, we're being slowed by the opposing forces. I never seen such weaponry like this before, and I have seen a number of technological advance worlds before." The private responded from the other end, getting the female to nod in understanding.
"Continue the push. We cannot give the enemy a moment of rest. No matter how advance they are, they will be defeated. Grab anything that could prove useful to turn against them as well." The commander ordered.
"Understood commander, we shall not fail. We will continue to fight until- wait… what is that…?" The voice of the private on the other end of the communicator was heard, puzzling the Alvarez commander from the sudden confusion and pause on the other end.
"Private?" She responded, hoping for an answer. Luckily, she did… but not in the way she expected.
"BLACK DRAGON INCOMING! I REPEAT! IT'S A VERSION OF THE-!" The voice was suddenly cut off as the communicator went dead on the other end, shocking the commander from the sudden cut.
"Private? What's going on? Respond!" She ordered, yet received nothing. What the heck just happened?!
She would get an answer as a distance draconic roar that did not belong to one of the dragons in their fleet grabbed her attention. Turning her gaze outward towards the distance, her eyes widened from what she saw.
Far up ahead in his dragon form, Acnologia arrived and joined the battlefield in the Outer Palace unleashing a large Dragon's Roar that decimated the ground forces imminently, causing untold destruction as around a million of Alvarez men and women died from the blast. Not done yet, the Black Dragon of Apocalypse looked up ahead and saw the many flying warships and even a few dragons, getting him to grin from seeing the opposing flying scaled beasts, loving a chance to kill more of his kind as he went higher into the air towards the fleet up ahead.
A few of the Alvarez dragons and many of the Alvarez warships spotted the approaching black dragon and didn't waste anytime to act. Many of the ships fired upon the distance while the few dragons with them unleashed their roars of their respective Magics towards Acnologia. Acnologia however easily opened his mouth before sucking in and devouring the Magic blasted at him by the other dragons while quickly maneuvering to avoid the other bombardment of missiles, Arcane blasts and other projectiles fired by the other ships. Closing the distance in a matter of moments, the Dragon King slammed into one of the large dragons before him then proceeded to bite down upon the other beast's neck, breaking through the fortified armor it wore and tore the throat out, causing blood to gush out like a fountain killing the dragon in the process. Letting go of the corpse allowing it to plummet into the ground, Acnologia opened his mouth and fired a large Dragon's Roar of his own towards the other dragons and some of the ships around him, moving his head around to claim more victims to his attack slaughtering and destroying the opposing Alvarez air forces with ease.
Seeing this taking place not to far near where the other ships and her own were at, the green haired Alvarez commander had eyes widened in shock and disbelief before she put her hand onto her ear communicator once more with frantic movement.
"A VERSION OF THE ACNOLOGIA DRAGON IS HERE! HE'S TEARING INTO OUR FLEET IN THIS AREA! WE NEED-!" She started to announce and request with a hasty and frantic manner.
*BOOM*
Only for her and the rest of the war vessel she stood upon were quickly destroyed, leaving nothing but a large explosion in its place. The wreckage of the vessel plummeting down into the ground in flames and smoke.
The cause? Members of the Custodians joining the fray, part of the force Prince Natsu gathered to aid in the defense of the Outer Palace all over. Piloting small but effective and powerful aircrafts and tank-like vehicles into the fray, they tore through the defenses of the fleet and struck at the vessels with ease. Not only that, but also on the ground groups on jet bike vehicles joined the fray and tore into the Alvarez armies before them, tearing through their defenses and armor as if they were made of paper. While the number of Custodians present in this sector of the Outer Palace was small, in the eyes of Varolia that amount was all they needed to achieve total victory.
Seeing the mighty warriors that even transcend the Space Marine Chapters themselves, the guardsmen felt more invigorated and inspired than before, charging and shouting into the battle once more to push back the enemy invaders.
Back with Acnologia who was up ahead from the Custodians and other Varolia's defenders, the black dragon slashed his claws right through the body of another armored dragon like nothing, killing the beast as it let out one final agonizing breath before it went crashing down into the land far below.
"Hah! Is that the best they got?!" Acnologia couldn't help but gloat from his victories so far. While he had no idea how the world hopping Alvarez managed to find this world with the massive armies they amassed, the black dragon was having a blast. Plus, it was nice to get some payback against this empire from the humiliation they put onto him and Observer a few days ago on that other Earthland.
The distance yet still loud roar of Ulosf grabbed the dragon's attention, getting him to turn to his left to see the massive four hundred and fifty meter height kraken-like creature that tore through any enemy fire and structures all around it. The sight of the large creature, as well as the rather large corrupted power emitting from its being got Acnologia's eyes to widened in surprise before he narrowed them towards the beast far up ahead.
'The f**k? They have something like that on their side?' Acnologia thought as his gaze lingered on the distance monstrous beast. Whatever that thing was, it gave off tremendous vile dark energy… power that resembled that of that stupid Cult and the C'Thrax they summoned back home a long while back. The similarities got him to grit his teeth in anger, 'The Void… I won't let it run amok any longer. It will die by my hand and my hand alone!'
With that in mind, the Black Dragon of Apocalypse charged towards the massive creature that continued to wreck chaos upon the structures and enemy forces around and below it.
Meanwhile, a bit away from the Inner Palace and engaged in the main armies that were marching upon the pyramid structure that was the Inner Palace of the entire nation spanning complex, Observer could be seen unleashing a powerful blast of Arcane Magic into the Alvarez armies around him, decimating the land and structures around him in the process killing tens of thousands in the matter of a second. Turning his narrowed gaze towards the enemy forces to his left before shifting to his right, he opened his palms and summoned forth two spheres of Arcane energy. Acting quickly, he jumped upon high into the air before twisting his body to his left to fire the Arcane orb in his right hand before quickly turning to his right to throw the other Arcane sphere in his left hand. Said orbs then tore through countless Alvarez soldiers, Mages, Shamans and the like before the two orbs detonated in the distance, claiming kills that numbered in the hundreds of thousands from each attack alone.
Landing on his feet, Observer took his brief moment of reprise to look up into the air forward, towards the numerous war vessels that included the massive flagship where no doubt the leader of the assault on the Eternal Palace was located.
'I must act quickly. No doubt taking their leader out will make them loose moral and make it easier to deal with the remaining forces.' Observer figured, a determined expression forming on the Constellar's expression.
And with that, knowing where to go he powered up greatly before jumping up and teleported in a flare of blue mists to get on board the flagship without delay.
On board the mighty vessel still on the outside deck overlooking the forces and fleet gathered to breech into the large pyramid structure, Beon looked at the sight of the devastation unleashed upon the ground forces, and while it was little more than a dent due to having millions marching through the Outer Palace Complex, his eyes still narrowed as he felt whatever the source of the attack vanished for a brief moment.
"Where did you go…?" Beon muttered to himself, not believing that whoever just charged through his armies on the land down below just decided to turn and flee. He had face plenty of foes in his life to know the enemy was up to something.
He would get his answer as without warning Observer reappeared onto the large spacious open deck of the flagship a bit away and behind where Beon and his guard stood. This of course grabbed the attention of the guards as they swiftly turned around in surprise from the sudden appearance of the Constellar while Beon only slowly turned to look over his shoulder with a blank and neutral expression.
"What the-? Who is this?!" One of the guards shouted as he along with the other guards to the general that served Spriggan Marvell raised their weapons up and charged up their respective Magic, prepared to defend Beon even if it cost them their lives. To them, dying in the service for the Empress was an honor, not pitiful.
Observer remained on guard as Arcane energy radiated from his body, sensing the large strength that rolled off of Beon who remained having his back turned from him yet his gaze overlooking from his shoulder to see the intruder. The sounds of fighting and bombardments from the surrounding fleet and ground forces as well as the fighting taking place for miles all around elsewhere in the Outer Palace filled the air as Observer broke the silence between him and Beon.
"You radiate strength that far surpass that of those I sense in this perimeter of the complex. You must be the leader." Observer spoke as Beon remain having his gaze over his shoulder at the living constellation.
"And what of it? Do you wish to die at my hand all alone star entity?" Beon asked, the tone in his voice showing calmness despite the enemy before him.
"I do not wish to kill you if it can be avoided, which is possible if you gather your forces and leave this planet before more lives are lost to some meaningless cause." Observer offered him the chance, something that merely got the dark skinned blonde haired man to scoff at.
"I am not afraid, and neither is every man and woman that serves under the Alvarez banner. We do what is expected of the Empress as well as Lady Marvell. To flee is cowardliness, and that is something Lady Marvell does not tolerate." Beon responded to the Constellar, turning around to fully face the living constellation.
His guard prepared to fight as Observer gained a slight look of sorrow before it changed into one of determination, also getting into position to fight against the opponents before him.
"Kill him. For the honor of Lady Marvell and for the Empress." Beon told his personal guard, as they all nodded as they powered up further, something that surprised Observer from the amount they were emitting from their bodies.
"For the Emperor/Empress!" The guards shouted at once as they charged towards Observer who narrowed his eyes seeing this was going to be harder than he thought.
'I didn't wish for this, but I must act quick and not hold back. I won't allow another world to fall to these mortal conquerors!' Observer thought, as with that he shouted aloud before emitting more power from his body, surprising the guards while Beon remained unbothered from the scene before him.
With that the living constellation charged forward towards his enemies.
Back onto the ground below, the remaining forces that were making a charge towards the Inner Palace were quick to run into more opposition. Not only against the guardsmen that were deployed but also the majority of the defending force of Custodians led by none other than Prince Natsu himself. Many on their jet bikes to rush into the many hordes of the Alvarez armies piercing through their ranks, while the rest rushed forward or on foot. A few Custodian dreadnaughts and terminators were even deployed to aid in the defense of the Palace as they tore through the enemy war machine, striking down any man and woman that stood in their way.
A armored Alvarez dragon was seen unleashing a large blast of its Magic down before the enemy forces below it, slaughtering thousands of guardsman in the span of a few seconds when out of nowhere a bright light flew through the air and tore right through the might beast's body, killing it as it went crashing down to the world below.
This was none other than Prince Natsu himself, utilizing his Holy and Light powers to unleash upon his enemies and taking flight in the form of summoned wings made of pure light. Leading the charge against the invaders, he now was out of his casual clothing and wore golden power armor like that of the Custodes. His face was still visible, his spartan-like helmet not blocking it out or covering it completely compared to the rest of the Custodians within the ranks of the bodyguards of his father. In his right hand was a power sword, which glowed with blue energy as with Power Weapons like this one.
"There's so many of them…" Natsu muttered as he looked at the Alvarez forces that stretched out for miles in the areas of the Outer Palace that were leveled to the ground, enraging him from the sights of it all. This was just in the area before him, what about elsewhere within the Outer Palace where more of the attackers were at? Just what are they even trying to accomplish here?
Shaking his head from the thought, he refocused on the task at hand. Now was not the time to ponder for why this other Alvarez from whatever Earthland they came from were doing what they were doing. They attacked Varolia, attacked his home, and they will all pay in blood for it. With that in mind he flew into the fray once more as his Custodian and guardsmen forces took the enemy armies head on below and around him.
Back with Acnologia, the Dragon King closed in onto Ulosf, the massive beast not noticing the approaching black dragon as it continued to reign destruction on everything around it. The kraken-like creature after taking more hits from distance artillery and weaponry, it roared out before charging up another sphere of Void energy before unleashing a beam of the dark power upon everything before and below it, ravaging the landscape and wiping out every living creature caught in its wake.
As he got close, Acnologia opened his mouth before firing off a large Dragon's Roar directly towards the large kraken-like airborne beast, slamming directly into an area on its head causing a large explosion to take place. The beast however seemed mostly unaffected by the attack, but its attention was drawn towards the airborne Dragon King as it slowly turned its massive body in his direction while roaring loudly.
"There we go! Now I have your attention!" Acnologia exclaimed as he powered up, his Magical draconic aura wrapping around his being.
Then not even a moment later he quickly acted, unleashing his Eternal Flare attack towards the large creature ahead, the numerous star-like blasts slamming into the flying kraken creature causing multiple large explosions to litter its skin. This caused it to roar from the attack before it went on to retaliate by summoning forth numerous large orbs of Void energy before firing them off towards the Dragon of Death. Acnologia saw the incoming attacks with wide eyes before quickly diving upward higher into the air to avoid them, each Void sphere hitting elsewhere in the Outer Palace far behind him causing untold devastation and detonations that claimed everything around them a radiance that stretched for miles. Ulosf wasn't done yet however as it summoned forth another large orb of Void energy before its eyes then firing off a barrage of much smaller yet countless in number blasts of Void energy from the large sphere towards where Acnologia was in hopes of hitting him. Acnologia however wasn't going to let himself be an easy target, quickly flying around the area avoiding each of the blasts fired at him as he dived forward towards where Ulosf was stationed to get closer to land another attack. Still dodging them he empowered one of his fists with his power before he dived towards the creature with even greater speed than before.
However before he could fully get to the massive kraken, one of its large tentacles then shot out without warning towards where he was in an instant, slamming directly into the Black Dragon of Apocalypse with enough force to emit a sonic boom and a shockwave sending him flying while he shouted in pain before crashing into a few structures a good distance away from the large airborne creature. Not wasting time, Ulosf once more summoned forth another sphere of Void energy before its eyes then unleashed a large beam of the tainted and corruptive power in the dragon's direction, consuming everything in its way in the process. Luckily though, Acnologia recovered from the previous surprise hit emerging from the wreckage he was in before noticing the incoming large beam of Void Magic, getting his eyes to widen in shock before they narrowed in both annoyance and anger. Acting quick before the beam would arrive at where he was, he stretched out his wings before taking off to his right just in time to avoid the massive Void beam, said attack continued to ravage through much of the Outer Palace complex in this region before it detonated in the distance, shaking the land and sky as a shockwave could be felt by all who were nearby.
Ignoring that however Acnologia continued his assault against Ulosf, keeping distance but unleashed yet another Eternal Flare at the airborne kraken. However, Ulosf raised up multiple tentacles to block the incoming barrage of star-like blasts, protecting its main body as it tanked the hits. Once the explosions of said attacks died down Ulosf lowered its large limbs before once again summoning forth a large Void sphere then unleashed a barrage of smaller blasts of Void Magic from said sphere in hopes of hitting its smaller draconic opponent. Acnologia once more like before saw this and flew around with in the air to avoid each of the fired Void projectiles at him. However as he flew to dodge each of them, one managed to come into contact into his right wing, causing Acnologia to roar in pain as he stumbled down towards the ground for a few moments before recovering from the blow, remaining airborne as he dived upward higher into the sky. After rising high enough, the Dragon King sucked in the surrounding air to charge himself before he proceeded to unleash another large Dragon's Roar towards Ulosf. The massive kraken, in order to counter the large incoming attack, ceased its barrage of small Void spheres before channeling its dark power into the large Void orb before its eyes to fire off yet another massive beam of Void Magic towards the incoming Dragon's Roar.
The two beams clashed together, causing a massive explosion that shook the land and sky while destroying and blowing away any structure and debris that was around them for miles all around in the section of the Outer Palace the colossal flying kraken and Acnologia were in. The resulting explosion and shockwaves emitted from it were severe enough to push and blow Acnologia back a bit before he recovered from the push.
The Black Dragon of Apocalypse gritted his teeth as he eyed the massive creature far ahead of him, the massive beast's eyes remaining having its gaze directly towards where he flew.
'Dang it, it's barely taking any damage so far from my attacks! How tough is this thing?' Acnologia thought as the dragon analyzed the kraken before he powered up further, increasing his strength much more than before. He didn't really have any other ideas than to simply hit the creature harder, so that's exactly what he's going to go.
With that Acnologia dashed towards Ulosf once more, the monstrous creature emitting another roar while preparing to engage in combat with its much smaller draconic opponent.
As this continued onward, back aboard the flagship of the Alvarez fleet attack force the last standing guard of Beon collapsed dead onto the ground, a hole through her armor and chest was present due to Observer having punch right through her chest, killing her as her body now lied with the other guards of Beon himself.
Observer had slight injuries on him though it was hard to tell due to his nonorganic body, before he looked up towards Beon who remained unmoved despite the deaths of his own personal bodyguards.
"You looked like you were struggling there. If you were having a hard time with them, what makes you think you can take me on?" The dark skinned blonde male question with a hardened gaze, his expression filled with zero amusement.
Observer didn't immediately respond as he shifted his body towards the personal guard of Spriggan Marvell in a defensive position. The living constellation prepared to fight the leader of the invasion of this world despite having drain a bit of his strength combating the guards that now lied dead around him.
"I will never know until I try. I refuse to let you conquerors ruin another world for your own selfish gains." Observer responded back, channeling his Arcane Magic into his fists to prepare for the fight before him.
Beon however, looked at the creature with more narrowed eyes.
"Selfish reasons? Is it selfish to ensure no child is left alone without a family? Is it selfish to ensure that no family suffers in poverty or homelessness? Is it selfish to ensure future generations of the worlds under our banner thrive with safety and peace? Is it selfish to want all to flourish and thrive to succeed in life, having the same opportunities and the ability to have families of their own they otherwise would be unable to achieve? I may not share the honor or beliefs that some of my colleagues and allies have, but what I do is what Lady Marvell expects of me to do. If some innocents have to die for future generations to thrive without suffering, then so be it." Beon replied back, his gaze remaining hardened on the Constellar before him, who didn't seem phased from what he just heard if the glare Observer had of his own was any indication.
"And who are you to decide what way of living is correct and what is not? Forcing your will upon your fellow mortals no matter the planet, universe, multiverse or timeline they may be in, disrupting the natural order of the worlds within the alternate timelines for a distance dream stained with blood? How can you say you're doing the right thing when your actions of destruction and slaughter speak otherwise?" Observer responded, finding how Beon was being a hypocrite considering the devastation the dark blonde haired man's empire had and currently committing.
"As if any others on any world has not committed just as equal if not more atrocious actions towards their fellow human beings for one reason or another. No matter the cause, in the name of our Empress, and for Lady Marvell, I will ensure any world I discover is conquered, no matter now much blood has to be spilled in order to do so." Beon simply finished, reaching for both of his blades on his back before drawing them out, the surface of the blades dancing with Arcane energy from the Arcane spheres present within the blades themselves.
Observer remained on guard seeing how his opponent was ready to fight. Sensing how strong he was already, the living constellation knew that he had to be careful not to let his guard down. He only hoped that he alone would be enough to defeat such a foe that stood before him.
"I must apologize beforehand, as I won't allow you to walk away from this alive," Observer started to say as he powered up further, an aura of Arcane Magic wrapped around his very being from the increase of strength, "You chose this fate, and no matter the cost, I will not fall to the likes of-."
*BOOM*
A sudden bright dark green flash in the distance to their left got their attention as it appeared for just a split of a second before without warning a massive black metallic shard-like structure appeared in its place before it crashed down into the world below, destroying whatever structures or wreckage of said structures before it.
"What the-?" Beon started to say before more noises echoed throughout the air, getting both him and Observer to look all around high from the deck they stood upon to oversee the Outer Palace all around them for many miles.
More flashes of the dark green light appeared in numerous places before similar giant shard-like devices crashed into the ground, emitting shockwaves and also kicking up dust and ashes from their wake. Not too long afterwards, the sharps slowly opened up…
…And to Observer's horror and Beon's shock, millions of Mindless of the Fel Etherious begun to pour out from such structures all over the Outer Palace, the forces of the monstrous creatures flooding the land below towards anything they could get towards. The Armies of Alvarez as well as the guardsmen and Custodians that were scattered and fighting all over the urban covered landmass of Varolia were quick to see the new enemy arriving as the lesser intelligent demons swarmed all over towards their foes.
'The Fel Etherious?!' Both Observer and Beon unknowingly thought at once, seeing the familiar Mindless forces of the demonic army appearing from out of the blue.
Not even a moment later did noises of the Fel Etherious's warships teleporting into the skies above the Outer Palace complex all over the massive span of civilization, some warships already quick to engage into combat with the Alvarez fleets scattered around as well as any of the Varolia defense forces that were present near the demonic war machine.
And elsewhere above the Outer Palace did the main flagship of the demonic invasion appeared in a flash. Its massive size dwarfing that of the Alvarez flagship being the size of a small city itself. Its demonic engines could be heard humming throughout the air for miles upon miles covering the entire Outer Palace.
Standing outside of the vessel on top of its black metallic surface stood Zulris himself, the powerful general in service to Lord Baphomet himself overlooking the complex all around him. His gaze quickly shifted towards the Inner Palace up ahead, the massive small nation-sized golden pyramid towering over everything like an ever presence reminder of Varolia's might.
"So this is where that pathetic servant to the Titans and that cowardly Dragon King ended up…" Zulris muttered to himself, knowing that somewhere the two enemies of the Fel Etherious were on this planet.
His eyes slightly shifted over the landscape around and before him once more from his location on top of his mighty war vessel. In the distance in all directions, he spotted numerous fleets and armies of that one Alvarez Empire that has become a pain in the demons' side just like the Constellar, Dragon King, human Dragon Slayer and the inferior version of Lord E.N.D.
'That pathetic empire is here as well? No matter, more to die by our hand,' Zulris thought to himself as he looked towards his left, sensing the present of something massive alongside a certain Dragon of Death, getting him to be intrigue by what he felt, 'There's that pitiful dragon, but what is that massive power I'm sensing? Does it belong to this world or is it with Alvarez Empire's forces?'
Determined to find out, he stretched his wings before he bolted up into the air in an instance. Then not even a second going by did he dash through the air and sky like nothing away from his main flagship, knowing it will reign destruction on the land below and around it in his absence. No matter what, his enemies and this planet shall burn.
Meanwhile, back with Natsu who had wiped out hundreds of thousands of Alvarez soldiers that now all lied dead around him, looked up in the sky with widen eyes once more when he saw the demonic warships now spread out all over the air above the Outer Palace in all directions. It only got worse when he saw the unleashed Mindless from the massive shard-like structures that crashed into the land now swarming everywhere, attacking both Alvarez and his own forces.
"By Va'ro's light…" Natsu muttered from what he was seeing, before numerous roars grabbed his attention as he looked up ahead of him only to see hordes of Mindless charging towards his direction.
His gaze hardening, he jumped up into the air and pointed his Power Sword up above him. Not wasting a moment he channeled the power of the Light into the blade, causing it to become enlarged into one mighty blade of raw Holy Magic that towered over a skyscraper with ease. The Prince of Varolia then went on to bring it down upon the approaching horde of Mindless heading his way, not only smashing down the demons that were caught by the blade itself but also firing off a massive wave of Light into the hordes up ahead and around the attack, completely decimating the entire section of the Outer Palace they were all in as the hundreds of thousands of Mindless met their end by Natsu's hands.
With that out of the way, he summoned forth his wings of Light once more to take into the air, continuing the defense of the Palace against these invaders.
As this was happening, Acnologia who was in the air had its attention turned away from Ulosf from seeing the sudden appearance of the Fel Etherious all around him. His eyes widened in surprise at their sudden arrival then anger from seeing another foe having arrived for him to deal with.
'You got to be kidding me, the stupid demons are here now also?!' The Dragon King thought to himself in annoyance. First the world hopping Alvarez shows its ugly face once again, now the Fel Etherious show up out of the blue to screw things over also?
Far up ahead of him, Ulosf also noticed the arrival of the demons thus turning its attention away from the Black Dragon of Apocalypse for the time being. A few of the demon's flying warships were nearby as they turned towards the attention of the flying kraken beast before their front cannons of the ships charged up and fired off large beams of Fel Energy that slammed into the Void corrupted creature. This of course caused a large explosion as Ulosf roared out in rage, more furious than actually hurt from the attack. Not letting the attackers another chance to strike, Ulosf retaliated quickly by summoning forth its large Void sphere before its eyes before using it to fire off a massive beam of Void energy into the few demonic war vessels up ahead, completely overpowering their defenses and obliterating the warships in a matter of seconds.
With that done, the beast begun to move on to continue its attack on not only the Outer Palace of Varolia but also on the newly arrival demonic incursion. This didn't go unnoticed by Acnologia, who gritted his teeth as he saw the massive creature no longer focused on him.
"Oh no you don't!" Acnologia roared out as he flew off directly after the kraken, not allowing it to escape from his sight and be ignored by it like this.
At least the dragon was about too… until out of nowhere a demonic originated large Warhammer slammed directly onto his head, the resulting hit emitting a shockwave as Acnologia was sent flying downward into the ground below. Crashing into the ground, just and smoke kicked up from the resulting collision into the damage buildings in the Outer Palace.
Zulris merely looked down at the sight high in the air from the sight where Acnologia crashed, before his gaze shifted over towards the distance Ulosf who continued onward in its direction to fight all of its foes both Varolian and Fel Etherious.
'So that's the thing I was sensing.' Zulris thought as he continued to keep an eye on the creature that was slowly leaving his eyesight for it to go elsewhere within the large complex that was the Outer Palace. Feeling the large power radiating from the beast, he knew that it was a threat that must be dealt with… but not yet.
Shifting his gaze down onto the land below where he launched Acnologia, his eyes narrowed when he saw Acnologia slowly emerge from the wreckage recovering from the surprise attack. The Dragon King rubbing the top of his head, wondering what the heck had just happened.
'Ow… where the f**k did that come from?' Acnologia wondered mentally as his dragon form fully stood up from where he stood, looking up to see what might have got the drop on him like that.
When he did his eyes widened when he spotted Zulris flying high above where he was. Not only that, but the strength emitting from the demon gave the Dragon King pause. The demonic general's gaze unchanging as his sight remained on the dragon down below.
"You have a hard skull. Normally when I strike even with so little force most tend to explode in blood and gore. Then again, with now much problems you and your allies has caused my mind it's only natural that you have some toughness I suppose." Zulris stated while Acnologia narrowed his eyes at the flying demon up above him.
"You… you're the one who got the drop of me? Who do you think you are?" Acnologia demanded while Zulris remained unfazed, his uncaring and cold expression staring deep towards the Dragon King down on the ground far beneath him.
"I am Zulris, loyal general to Lord Baphomet. And the one that will kill you today for all that you've done to our kind." Zulris responded. He will not let the likes of Acnologia get away from him. He will kill the dragon himself. And once that's over with, he shall deal with the Constellar that's somewhere on this planet, no doubt close by if Acnologia was here.
'Baphomet?' Acnologia thought in confusion, that's a name he never heard of until now. Was whoever this "Baphomet" being is one of the leaders of the Fel Etherious or something? Shaking his head from that for the time being, knowing there were more pressing matters at hand, the Black Dragon merely glared up at the airborne demon hovering high above the land he stood on, "Sorry, but if you think I'm just going to lay over and die then you have another thing coming."
"Hmph!" Zulris responded while his large hammer weapon was still in hand, the dark blue haired demon looking down at the dragon with slight disgust this time, "You really think you can take me on? Surely you can feel my strength even as I suppress much of it from your senses. You are outmatched. In the name of Lord E.N.D and Lord Baphomet, you will die by my hand."
"THE ONLY ONE DYING WILL BE YOU DEMON!" Acnologia roared out in response. Despite the larger strength and power he felt emitting from Zulris, he wasn't going to run away like a coward! No, this time he wasn't going to be held back by Observer or anyone else!
With that, Acnologia roared out as he powered up immensely, even getting Zulris to be slight surprise from this before the next thing he knew, Acnologia still in his dragon from dived up into the air towards the smaller entity. Scoffing once again, Zulris merely flew downward to meet the larger dragon head on to battle.
Back aboard the deck of Beon's flagship, both the Alvarez general and Observer looked on all around them as the newly arrived Fel Etherious forces spreading out and attacking both Alvarez and Varolia forces in massive numbers beyond comprehension.
"Well this complicates things," Beon was the first to speak, his gaze unmoving as it was on the demonic armies and fleet nearby while Observer turned his attention back towards the dark blonde dark skinned servant to Spriggan Marvell, "Now those demons showed up to cause trouble. Perhaps I should finish dealing with you so I can focus on the newly arrived-."
*BOOM*
Beon didn't get a chance to finish as without warning Observer had raised his hands up unleashing a large blast of Arcane Magic which completely ravaged and destroyed the massive flagship they once stood on.
The now exploding and burning wreckage of the large ship slowly plummeting down into the damaged civilized land below, causing the land to shake from the large remains crashing as additional explosions went off leaving the ruins of the mighty ship even more in flames.
A good distance away showed Observer, having been blown away from his sudden surprise attack's resulting explosion and shockwave, crashing back first into the ground skipping over the land like a rock before he maneuvered to land onto his feet, sliding into a stop as the ground broke and crack beneath him doing so. The living constellation recovered before he looked up ahead towards the distance where the remains of the ship was. It's burning remains visible even from far away.
"He wasn't expecting that, too distracted by the newly arrival of the demons. Hopefully I managed to greatly wound him while his guard was down." Observer muttered to himself hoping it was the case. He didn't want to risk the chance of the powerful enemy having a chance to unleash his true power, so he figured it was best to strike while his guard was down and was distracted.
However, he would be drawn away from his thoughts as the roars of countless Mindless grabbed his attention. Turning his gaze behind his shoulder his eyes widened when he saw millions of Mindless in the distance charging towards his direction, the less intelligent demons uncaring for what was in their way as they seek to simply spread and destroy everything in their wake.
'I'll have to worry about where he is, I must clear the enemy forces out otherwise they will overrun everything!' Observer thought, seeing the arrival of the Fel Etherious throwing a wrench in his original plan on dealing with Beon firsthand. He needed to reduce the armies of both Alvarez and the Fel Etherious before they consume everything in their path.
With that in mind, Observer turned around and powered up as an aura of Arcane energy wrapped around his form. The Constellar charged at the approaching Mindless hordes, hoping that his surprise attack on Beon would at least injured him greatly no matter where he ended up.
Unfortunately, elsewhere within the Outer Palace away from the remains of the flagship and where Observer ended up, Observer would be wrong as the servant to Spriggan Marvell could be spotted emerging from the wreckage of whatever building once stood before it was reduced to rubble. The dark blonde male looked mostly unharmed aside from a few scratches here and there. But what stood out what the enraged expression the general had on his face.
"That f**king star thing…" Beon muttered as he fully stood up, blades once more in hand as he looked around the area he was in, hearing the distance fighting between his forces, the Fel Etherious and Varolia. In the sky from what he could see from his spot, some Alvarez warships were engaged with the demons' own war vessels while small Varolian Custodian aircrafts were engaging with both forces within the air.
His eyes narrowed as anger was still present on the man's face.
'I didn't anticipate the demons showing up, this is only going to become more complicated and a pain to deal with two enemies at once. Ulosf is still somewhere in this complex ravaging everything in its way, as long as that thing lives I have no doubt we will emerge victorious in the end,' Beon once again shifted over towards the massive golden pyramid that was the Inner Palace of the large nation spanning complex, the sight of the might structure expanding upward into the sky so high its true height could not be seen from his position on the ground, 'And there's still no telling what else this world might be hiding within that massive structure. It would be best to leave the enemy forces and that annoying star being to Ulosf and the rest of my forces. I shall see what secrets this would may hide from us.'
With that in mind, Beon closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them. Then without warning large Magical power erupted from his body shaking the damaged land all around him. Unleashing raw Arcane Magic from the bottom of his feet, he launched himself up into the air before taking off towards the Inner Palace, intending on breaking in and destroying any foe that may be dwelling within.
This however, didn't go unnoticed by Prince Natsu, the golden armored son of the Emperor having just wiped out a huge force of both Alvarez and the Fel Etherious's Mindless forces when he sensed the massive surge of Arcane Magic.
"What in my father's name is that?" Natsu muttered, sensing the large power as he turned around in the direction of the massive surge of power as fleets of both the demons and of the invading Alvarez fought one another over sections of the Outer Palace.
And despite how far away he was, Beon was spotted by the Prince heading straight towards the Inner Palace, getting his eyes to widened in horror realizing the being's target.
"NO!" Natsu shouted in worry before he summoned forth his wings of Light once more and taking off to the sky towards Beon Power Sword in hand. He wasn't going to let a single foe even attempt to get to the palace! The rest of his Custodian defense force along with the guardsman were fending off the armies to notice or pay attention towards the one individual, so he must act before Beon reaches to the pyramid!
Beon however, felt the approaching presence as he turned to his right only to see Natsu heading straight at him. Widening his eyes in slight surprise for a moment, the dark blonde haired man narrowed them once more as Natsu slammed into him, knocking him back and ceasing his path towards the Inner Palace. Beon managed to recover as Arcane energy thrust from his feet to keeping him airborne still, as he glared at the Prince of Varolia across from where he flew a few yards away.
"Another version of the Emperor before me… are you apart of this land's civilization?" Beon questioned back as Natsu glared at the Alvarez general ahead.
"I am Natsu, Prince of the Varolia Empire and son to the Emperor! And in the name of the Light I won't let you get to the Inner Palace!" Natsu responded as he drew his Power Sword and pointed it towards Beon before him. The personal guard to Spriggan Wendy didn't seem phased by this however.
"Try to stop me. You don't look like much." Beon replied back, sensing that the young man before him had power and strength that wasn't close to his own. A pathetic version of the Emperor, a tainted weak form of him will be wiped off from the face of the earth, that he will ensure.
Natsu didn't respond further as he charged towards Beon who charged back. No matter what, Natsu will not allow this foe to escape alive! He will protect everyone!
Meanwhile back down with the ground forces protecting the advancement by both enemy forces into the Inner Palace, the Custodians were easily fending off any foe that fought against them with no difficulty. The Custodian terminators and dreadnaughts were easily wiping out large swarms of both Alvarez soldiers and the Fel Etherious's Mindless. It was easier in some parts of the conflict due to both Alvarez and the demons fighting one another as well. However, their guard as still up as the three sides of this battle continue to wage war against one another.
"Forward brothers! In the Emperor's name we will not let them pass!" A Shield-Captain shouted out for the others to hear as he struck down a Mindless Brute with his Guardian Spear with no difficulty.
A large portal opening up far ahead of them grabbed his and some of the others around him attention. Looking at the large demonic gateway a good distance away, numerous Fel Etherious soldiers were quick to emerge from the portal as similar portals begun to open up all around the Outer Palace complex from their warships to battle the mortals upon the ground alongside the Mindless they unleashed.
Appearing from the portal the Shield-Captain saw up ahead, a Fel Etherious lieutenant emerged radiating Fel Energy from his physical form. Each step the demon took corrupted the land as life was drained into the demon. Standing over nine feet and three inches tall, the demonic lieutenant was cladded in black metallic armor with crimson patterns in certain parts on the armor he wore.
"Mortal filth defying their deaths… you all will suffer agonizing ends." The demon lieutenant promised as he eyed the Shield-Captain a good distance away from him, drawing out his weapon which glowed and radiated Fel Energy. The ranked Custodian however was unfazed as he glared at the foe before him.
"Foul demon, you and your kind will regret attacking this sacred ground. FOR THE EMPEROR!" The Shield-Captain roared out in defiance at the foe before continuing his charge.
Growling, the demonic lieutenant merely rushed forward as the soldiers with him poured onward into both Custodian and Alvarez forces alike all around him, all while the Fel Etherious lieutenant and Shield-Captain clashed into battle with one another.
As this happened, none among the battlefield noticed the clouds in the sky above them begun to swirl all around… and vile Fel Energy begun to appear and radiate from the slowly forming vortex high above the Imperial Palace complex.
Elsewhere within the Outer Palace complex, Acnologia who was still in his dragon form shouted out in pain as he was thrown through the air and through multiple structures including a tall statue of one of the loyal Primarchs of Varolia, bringing it all down before he crashed into a wreckage of a once standing defense artillery weapon. A bit away from this Zulris was seen, the demon general landing onto a still intact rooftop of a structure that still stood nearby.
"Is that it mortal? Is that all the fury you could muster?" Zulris questioned, unamused from the challenge from Acnologia so far. How was this dragon and his allies posing such a nuisance to them if they were this weak?
A roar was his response as Acnologia emerged from the wreckage by flying high speeds towards Zulris, whose eyes' widened in surprise before without warning the Dragon King closed in and grabbed the smaller entity by his hand. Not wasting a moment Acnologia lifted him up and slammed him into the ground before taking off full speed across the complex, smashing through everything in his way while dragging the dark blue haired Fel Etherious through the ground. After a few minutes of this at full speed, Acnologia proceeded to chuck the demonic general ahead, causing Zulris to smash through multiple large buildings and structures bringing them down upon him. Not done yet, Acnologia once more charged up another Dragon's Roar before firing it off towards where he threw Zulris, the demon slowly emerging from the wreckage with an angered expression only for him to widen his eyes seeing the approaching attack. The Dragon's Roar made contact, causing a massive explosion that shook the land around him with the resulting detonation could be seen from miles away.
However, this had little effect as Zulris quickly emerged from the resulting smoke in the air, his swings spread out as anger still remained on his face. Fel Lighting appeared around his hands as he shot out, the thundering crack of the corrupted lighting flying through the air to hit Acnologia, who was unable to dodge in time as the attack slammed into him thus getting them to crash into the ground once more. The Dragon King slowly got back up, however Zulris appeared without warning before him as the demonic general swung his hammer up into the dragon's chin, unleashing enough force to unleash a shockwave and a sonic boom while Acnologia was launched up into the air like a rocket, appearing high over the Outer Palace complex. Luckily Acnologia recovered from the blow as he looked down at the distance land and civilization down below only to see Zulris shooting up from the ground and up in the air directly at him to continue the attack. This time, Acnologia managed to dash to the sides in time to avoid Zulris before the Dragon King turned his body in a flip-like motion getting his tail to slam into the demonic general.
At least that was the plan, however Zulris used his free hand to easily grab the draconic tail stopping in its tracks. Acnologia couldn't act in time when the dark blue haired general demon begun to swirl the Black Dragon of Apocalypse around at high speeds before letting go, the mere act of this due to how fast he was spinning the dragon around emitting another sonic boom while Acnologia went flying through the air once again. Not stopping in his assault, Zulris took off right after the airborne draconic being once again, enveloping his body with Fel Lighting once again. Acnologia meanwhile managed to recover and steady himself in the air once again only to be quickly met with Zulris slamming into his stomach with enough force to get the dragon to throw blood up from his mouth. Anger swelling within him, Acnologia acted quickly before Zulris could do anything else by emitting a large Magical explosive wave from his body, forcing Zulris back and dazing him for a moment which allowed Acnologia to rush forward before opening his mouth wide before biting down upon the Fel Etherious's upper body. Biting down harder he turned around before chucking the demon out of his mouth and through the air far from where he was currently at. Acnologia roared out before he charged up and unleashed an Eternal Flare towards the smaller demonic entity, all star-like projectiles heading straight towards Zulris who, after recovering from being bitten and thrown like a ragdoll, looked up towards the dragon only to be met with numerous powerful Magical blasts slamming into him multiple times.
Each landed blow unleashed a large explosion after another shaking the sky itself as Acnologia followed up this attack with another Dragon's Roar, but not before he sucked in more of the air to empower himself further in order to do so. With that, the large beam of Magical energy fired from the Dragon of Death's mouth towards the smoke filled section of the sky where Zulris was located in. However, as the Magical beam closed in, a demonic roar emerged as the smoke cleared from a large input of Fel Energy emitting from Zulris, who was revealed to be mostly intact aside from a few scratches here and there. Glaring in anger towards him, he spotted the incoming Dragon's Roar which only got him to narrow his eyes further towards. Charging up one of his arms with Fel Lighting once more, he shot the limb outward as a large lighting bolt of the corrupted lighting fired off directly towards the Dragon's Roar. The two attacks collided, causing a massive detonation that shook the very sky and the land below it once more.
The explosion faded away after a few moments, leaving nothing but smoke in its wake which quickly went away, allowing both Acnologia and Zulris to see and glare at one another from their respective positions a good distance away from one another.
Wiping at his mouth, the demon noticed a bit of blood now on his hand from doing the action revealing his small but still present injuries on his form. Yet the demonic general slowly grinned before looking back up towards the distance Acnologia once more, the two still high above the land and civilization below them.
"You managed to make me bleed. That's no small feat. It's been many years since a mortal was able to make me shed blood, even if it's nothing more than a drop." Zulris admitted, actually feeling a bit excitement for a moment before he clamped down on it, refusing to let his emotions get in the way of killing the enemy before him.
The sky thundered as the clouds continued to swirl around like a vortex, yet Acnologia paid no need to this as the dragon remained glaring at the smaller foe far ahead of him with hate while breathing hard due to the intense fighting so far with his opponent.
"I'm nowhere near done yet demon. I'll be sure to kill you, then I'll send all of your demon armies right behind." Acnologia responded, getting Zulris to lose his grin as a more serious yet annoyed expression formed on his face from hearing this.
"You mortals never cease to amaze me with your foolishness. You really think you can kill me? Look at you, you're breathing hard and are more injured than I, yet I'm nowhere near unleashing my full power. You won't win, you and this pitiful world and every pathetic living creature on this rock will perish by my hand. But come on, see if you can put some bite in your bark." Zulris mocked the dragon, enraging Acnologia from the mocking tone within the Fel Etherious's tone.
Acnologia was about to retaliate and continue the fight with the demonic general… before both him and Zulris suddenly heard a loud almost glass shattering crack of thunder that filled their ears.
(Cue: "The Icon of Sin" by Mick Gordon)
That got both of them to look up towards the sky, with Acnologia widening his eyes in shock when he saw, where the swirling clouds forming a vortex was being formed, a massive demonic portal opened up in the sky high above them, the clouds swirling around the opened portal that glowed and radiated unstabled Fel Energy.
"What the f**k?" Acnologia managed to get from his mouth, his eyes glued to the sight high above him as Zulris merely grinned a little, realizing what was happening.
'So… it's finally arriving. Time to see what your creation is made of Sol'gozol.' Zulris thought to himself, seeing that if it wasn't obvious that they won before, it was certainly assured now.
Then, without warning, a massive Fel Fire covered meteor like object emerged from the portal in the sky, crashing down towards the ground in a blaze of glory as it made direct impact into the land. The land itself shook from the collision as a massive explosion of Fel Fire erupted from the collision of the unknown object that emerged from the tear in time and space high above, with said portal now closing shut due to having delivered what came through.
This didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the fighting forces spread all over the Outer Palace complex, despite the collision of the unknown arrival from the portal in the sky happening so far away for many spreading out in this small nation-sized Palace, many could see and feel the impact the massive object's collision into the world.
Observer in his location, after having unleashed a large blast of Arcane Magic that obliterated over a few million of both Fel Etherious and Alvarez forces alike, widened his eyes in shock as he slowly turned towards the source of the sudden arrival of whatever had just fell from the now shut portal high in the sky.
"By the Makers… what is that?" Observer quietly spoke to no one in particular, his senses in overdrive as he felt something dark, something powerful and vile, within the smoke and ash filled devastated area where the unknown object collided into.
Worried that something dangerous had just arrived, if the large unstable Fel Energy he felt radiating from the unknown source wasn't a dead giveaway alone, the Constellar quickly bolted away from his spot and towards the crash site, increasing his power output as he did so in order to get there as quick as he can… and to prepare for the horror that was no doubt about to be unleashed.
Ulosf, who was continuing to wreak havoc on both Varolia and Fel Etherious forces alike, ceased its rampage as it saw the large collision at the distance. The flying kraken, sensing the massive and vile power emitting from whatever had just arrived emitted a roar before it begun to trek its way towards the source, intending on seeing whenever or not it was a threat or not.
While this happened, Natsu and Beon who were both airborne and still in combat with one another with Beon having the advantage so far, ceased their fight for a moment as they saw the very far away but still visible destruction emitted by whatever had just arrived and crashed. Beon was confused yet Natsu was filled with shock and worry, sensing the massive demonic and unstable power radiating from the source in the ruins.
"By all that is holy…" Natsu muttered to himself, the golden armored Prince of Varolia not moving his gaze from the sight while Beon narrowed his eyes towards the direction of the source.
'What now?' The dark blonde dark skinned man thought, his caution increasing as he felt the massive unstable demonic power coming from whatever it was that fell from the sky and into the Outer Palace complex. His grip on his blades hardened as he had a sinking feeling of what had just arrived upon this world.
There, in the source of the destruction, slowly standing up within the smoke, ashes and flames that erupted from it crashing into a section of the Outer Palace complex, showing off its one thousand meter height as it fully emerged from the burning smoke and ash filled wreckage…
The Wrath of E.N.D had finally arrived, the ginormous beast letting out a monstrous demonic roar that shook the very continent itself it stood upon.
The monstrous black armored Mindless ceased its roar, as it looked up ahead to see the Inner Palace up ahead. The massive golden pyramid building towering over all within the Outer Palace like nothing, even making the giant Fel Etherious feel so small compared to it.
This was the last thing on the monster's mind however, as without warning the towering Mindless begun to gather large amounts of Fel Energy over its forehead…
…Before firing off a massive beam of Fel Energy that ravaged through everything in its wake and shaking the entire planet itself from the sheer power output alone.
Nothing was spared as the attack barreled its way through every structure, defense and any who were unfortunate enough to be caught in its path. Those of Alvarez, fellow Mindless and Fel Etherious, not even the Custodians and their war machines weaponry that were in the attack's path were able to resist or survive as they were all obliterated instantly from the beam of demonic energy. And then… as it closed in towards the Inner Palace…
*BOOM*
It made direct impact, causing a large explosion as a now massive gaping hole was visible on the outer wall of the pyramid structure while a massive shockwave was emitted that could be felt by all. As the chaos died down a bit, any nearby Mindless and Fel Ethrious soldiers and their weapons of war, seeing the way into the Inner Palace opened, all roared out as they charged in massive numbers uncountable into the visible gaping hole on the Inner Palace's exterior walls. Many Mindless had to climb up and over structures and the wall of the pyramid itself in order to enter the breech made by the Wrath of E.N.D. But nevertheless, the armies of the Fel Etherious have now infiltrated into the Inner Palace. And they will not stop until every living creature within the massive nation-sized building is slaughtered.
Far away from his location, Natsu widened his eyes in horror when he saw the breech the Wrath created, the hordes of demons swarming within the massive golden structure he called home, where his wives and everyone else were in.
"NO!" Natsu shouted in utter worry for those within the Inner Palace's wall, started to take off towards the now breeched massive pyramid to stop the hordes of demons pouring into the large complex.
However, he was stopped as Beon, after snapping out of his own shock of what he had just witnessed and putting one of his blades away to free his hand, quickly dashed forward and grabbed Natsu by his ankle. His eyes widening in surprise, Natsu turned around to see Beon keeping him from flying off only for the Alvarez general to turn around and shuck the Prince of Varolia in the opposite direction through the ruins of once mighty and proud structures and buildings within the Outer Palace, any lives that were living in this section either fled or perished from the destruction unleashed.
"Our fight is not done yet inferior form of the Emperor!" Beon shouted aloud towards the direction he chucked the pink haired son of the Emperor of Varolia. His gaze quickly shifted over his shoulder towards the distance Wrath, the massive Mindless slowly making its way over towards the Inner Palace itself while destroying everything in its wake. Each step it took shaking the very land beneath its feet, 'I need to finish dealing with this brat first then deal with that… thing! I can feel reality itself being warped around that monstrosity!'
Beon knew that they still had Ulosf, having faith that the kraken creature they have under their control will be enough to deal with that massive Mindless demon if he can't get to it in a while. Despite this, he shall not waste any time, he will kill this weak version of the Emperor then aid the rest of his forces against this world's defenders and the demons.
Back with Natsu, the Prince slowly emerging from the wreckage of the ruins of a building he crashed into, his eyes filled with utter rage as he spotted Beon in the distance in the air, preparing to continue the fight.
'How DARE he try to prevent me from going to my home! I will not waste anymore time! I have to kill this bastard otherwise he will prevent me from saving the others! Light, give me strength!' Natsu thought to himself as he stood onto his feet.
Without warning, he let out a mighty yell before a large aura of raw Holy and Light Magic radiated from his being. The Prince's battle power having arisen dramatically compared to how he was a few moments ago and during his fight with Beon before this.
This got Beon's attention as his eyes widened from seeing the sudden large increase in strength and power, however the Alvarez general relaxed before preparing to engage in combat once more. Shouting out aloud himself, he powered up further as Arcane Energy radiated from his very being before he bolted towards Prince Natsu once more. For the Empress and Lady Marvell, he will not fail!
High in the air once more elsewhere over the Outer Palace complex, Acnologia's eyes were widened in utter disbelief from seeing the distance creature and the massive power it was emitting from its very being. Zulris meanwhile had a grin still ever so present on his face from seeing the monstrous demon making its way towards the Inner Palace alongside the rest of the forces pouring into the giant golden pyramid.
"The f**k is that thing supposed to be?!" Acnologia shouted aloud before he shifted his gaze over towards the smaller demonic entity nearby, "What is that thing? Is that a pet of yours or some sh*t?"
Zulris let out a small amused chuckle from hearing this before the winged dark blue haired Fel Etherious went on to reply to his draconic opponent.
"That… is the living embodiment of our Lord's wrath itself. With its great strength, it will destroy everything in its wake and tear reality asunder. Your feeble allies or the weak Alvarez Empire won't be able to stop it." Zulris responded back to Acnologia, who gritted his teeth from hearing this.
"I like to see it try! Once I kill you then I'll kill your stupid goat looking giant!" Acnologia roared out before powering up further, much more draconic Magical energy erupting from his body before he charged forward towards the whitish pale skinned demon before him.
Zulris merely glared in annoyance from hearing this. Won't these mortals learn that they can't win? No matter he shall destroy the dragon before him and end this annoying thorn in his kind's side for good.
Like that the demon took off through the air to meet the larger Black Dragon head on once more.
With the Wrath of E.N.D, the massive towering Mindless continued to make its way over towards the Inner Palace. The demon's only thoughts were to utterly destroy everything that stood in its way for his masters, leave nothing spared as reality itself shall be consumed by its power.
However, without warning a large Void beam of energy slammed into it from its left, causing a large explosion as it roared out in anger in response. Recovering from the surprise attack, the Wrath of E.N.D turned its gaze to its left to see its attacker, which was revealed to be none other than Ulosf itself. The large corruptive kraken roared aloud as it made its way over towards the taller giant monster in armor, sensing the danger it possessed. The Wrath in turn roared back in defiance as he begun to turn towards the direction where Ulosf was in then begun to take off towards it.
And like that, both titan sized monsters clashed, the Wrath of E.N.D against Ulosf. A weapon of the Fel Etherious against a weapon of the multiverse spanning Alvarez Empire.
A good distance away from the now colossal battle and still ways away from the breach into the Inner Palace, Observer was spotted landing on a still intact roof of a large still standing structure, allowing him to view his surroundings for miles. His eyes shifted towards the battling Wrath and Ulosf as the latter's tentacles wrapped around the former's arms and waist, yet the armored giant Mindless continued to resist as it slammed into the head of the kraken in response causing it to roar in pain from the blow.
'Such large and devastating energy radiating from that thing. Reality itself is being twisted and warped around its very presence. The kraken creature is keeping its attention, but I can feel the demon's strength growing by the second.' Observer noticed, worrying him further for while at the moment the two giant creatures were seemingly equally match, the Wrath was slowly but surely growing in strength as it fought on. Just what in the Makers' names was that thing, and how did the Fel Etherious manage to create such a monstrous beast?
Observer's eyes then shifted away from the two colossal sized monsters towards the rest of his surroundings, seeing the distant armies of Varolia, Alvarez and the Fel Etherious remaining engaged with one another all over the Outer Palace complex, the warships of the latter two also engaged while small aircrafts of Varolia flew and fired on the enemy vessels.
'Varolia's forces remain engage with both Alvarez's and the demon's armies and fleets. So far they have the advantage in strength thanks to their Custodians, but will such an advantage let them last?' The Constellar thought to himself before he turned his gaze to his right, observing the large opening made by the Wrath of E.N.D into the Inner Palace as the Fel Etherious swarmed in, no doubt doing battle with those inside and attempting to spread all over within the massive golden pyramid that towered over them all. Perhaps it was best to aid in the defense of the Inner Palace from the demons?
As he was about to have his mind made up, a large explosion was heard by the living constellation as his eyes widened in surprise. Quickly turning around, he saw a resulting detonation high up in the air far in the distance from his current location. He saw Acnologia who was still in his dragon form being launched from the smoke and through the air, with Zulris following right after his opponent to continue the assault.
'Acnologia!' Observer thought seeing his ally facing off against the distance Fel Etherious. With his attention on the far away demonic general, Observer was painfully aware of the large power radiating from the demon's being. Was that the leader of the demon forces assaulting this planet?
Observer looked back towards the distant Inner Palace as countless more demons entered though the large opening made by the Wrath of E.N.D with a worried expression, before he looked back towards where Acnologia and Zulris were facing off against one another. His mind coming to a decision as he begun to power up a bit as well as beginning to channel some of his power into his right hand with a familiar dark blue energy.
'I must have faith the mortals in the Inner Palace will be able to defend against the demon incursion in their halls.' Observer thought as he then took off from the roof of the large structure he was in and towards the direction where his ally and foe were battling one another at. Charging up his right hand still with his energy, he prepared to aid Acnologia in battle despite knowing full well the dragon won't take kindly having help.
Mortals and their pride, that's something the Constellar will probably never understand.
'WITHIN THE INNER PALACE'
"DAMN IT!" Izrail shouted in frustration as he heard the distance roars of the intruding Fel Etherious and their Mindless elsewhere within the Inner Palace. With the Captain-General were the six women still alongside a few Custodians, a couple tech-priests and even a few of the Sisters of Silence were present to aid in the protection and safety of the Prince's wives.
"I don't understand, how did they manage to breach into the Inner Palace?! Aren't our forces still guarding the main entrance in large numbers?!" Ur exclaimed loudly, fearful of the danger they were all potentially in.
"From what was reported to me, these demons summoned some kind of giant creature that blasted a large opening into our domain, allowing them to flood into the complex!" Izrail responded back, frustration in the tall golden armored man's tone from what was happening.
The Custodians and the Sisters of Silence had been deployed to aid in the defense of the Inner Palace against the onslaught of the Fel Etherious and their Mindless. Yet he couldn't help but be bothered by what was happening. First some version of that Alvarez Empire shows up our of nowhere with large fleets and armies to lay siege upon the Imperial Palace, but now some kind of demon army shows up out of nowhere too? The Captain-General knew that creation was vast, yet how did they not know about such foes like this before?
If this wasn't bad enough, while word had been sent out from the planet to the nearest Space Marine Chapters and any of the Primarchs close by, they have yet to receive word back. Not to mention that the Emperor and Primarch Domiel were on the other side of the whole universe itself at the moment, so it would take time for word to reach them even with the best methods of communication at their disposal. Three of his brothers, Michael, Adriel and Samael, were still off world also and in completely different timelines in who knows what kind of planets or universes or multiverses. While Izrail had faith they will be able to emerge victorious, as he always does, he was a bit worried that no word had yet been gotten considering the Eternal Palace itself was under attack.
"Captain-General!" A voice called out towards him, getting his and the others' attention which got them to turn their gaze over towards the approaching speaking figure, a Custodian who was cladded in black, gold trimmed Allarus Pattern Terminator Armor with all but his head which was left exposed thus allowing all to see his bald head. Along by his side were a few of the Custodian Shadowkeepers to accompany him.
"Lockwarden!" Izrail responded back in relief as the identified Lockwarden and his Shadowkeepers remained by his side after arriving before the golden armored warrior before them, "Thank the Emperor you came! How is Va'ro?"
"Va'ro is aware of what is happening Captain-General. I've made sure that the Shadowkeepers remain guard of his chambers to ensure no foul heretic or demon can sneak by. Additional defenses and forces were also sent to ensure." The Lockwarden responded as Izrail became more at ease from hearing this.
"Thank the Light. I hope it would become unnecessary, but… it's been ten thousand years since the Palace had been attacked on a scale like this. We must, under no circumstances, let these heretics and demon scum detect and get to Va'ro!" Izrail replied back in determination.
The Lockwarden was about to response… before without warning everything begun to shake immensely catching all of them off guard. It was only for a brief few moments before it ceased, but it certainly grabbed all of their attention.
"What in the Light was that?!" Lucy exclaimed in worry, looking at the others who all were just as confused.
"I don't know! Was that from another attack by that giant demon that was summoned?" Erza replied with uncertainty, her hands on her pregnant stomach worried for her and Natsu's unborn child.
"No, something's wrong. That wasn't from a physical attack." Izrail noticed, feeling something else was amiss with the chaos that they just felt. This of course only confused and worried the six women further.
"What do you-?" Layla was about to respond wondering what the caretaker to her husband and the Emperor was talking about.
But then, her along with Lucy, Erza, Irene, Ultear, and Ur eyes widened as without warning immense pain was felt within them, causing them all to cry out collapsing onto their knees while placing their hands onto their pregnant stomachs. Izrail and the others around the six wives of Natsu were immediately alarmed as a few of the Custodians kneeled down by their side.
"Ladies! What's wrong?!" Izrail responded with concern in his voice, as the six women only cried out more as more pain felt. Irene was the only one who was able to look up towards the taller human, yet pain was clearly visible on her expression.
"T… The baby…" She couldn't get out as she once more exclaimed in pain, alarming the Custodians kneeling beside her and the other five women, making sure that they didn't fall over or suffer some kind of injury.
However, her brief but important got Izrail to be more alarmed as he realized what was happening to them.
"Really?! Now?!" Izrail couldn't stop himself from shouting. The women were going into labor?! All f**king six of them at once?! Of all the times the unborn children decided to come out it had to be now during a siege?!
Gritting his teeth and gaining a determined look albeit none could see it due to his helmet, he quickly turned towards the Lockwarden and the Custodians, tech-priests and Sisters of Silence pointing directly at them.
"Get them to the closest emergency chamber! Lockwarden, you are charged with their protection! No matter what happens, defend them with your lives!" Izrail ordered the Lockwarden, getting him to be surprise yet recovered from it and nodded in understanding.
The nearby Custodians were already getting to work, carrying the now in pain six pregnant women before they all rushed off towards the nearest emergency chapter in order to do what was needed. The Sisters of Silence alongside the few tech-priests that were around followed suit to ensure the protection or aid in the delivery of the children if needed. The latter more so for the tech-priests than the Sisters of Silence.
"What about you Captain-General?" The Lockwarden questioned as Izrail had his back turned, preparing to take off from his spot to join his brethren in the defense of the Inner and Outer Palace.
"I will aid in leading the defense of our home! No matter what, ensure that they are protected and the children are delivered safely! FOR OUR GLORIOUS EMPEROR!" Izrail informed before shouting out a battle cry, charging ahead away from the Lockwarden and his Shadowkeepers to join the defense.
The Lockwarden looked on ahead where Izrail dashed off too before giving a silent prayer to the Emperor and turning around to follow the others who already left to get the women to the closest emergency room possible. His Shadowkeepers still by his side; they will ensure that no harm comes to the wives of the Prince.
'BACK IN THE OUTER PALACE'
Acnologia roared out in pain as the Black Dragon went flying through the air once again, this time smashing through multiple structures before recovering midair afterwards. Anger clearly present on his face as he saw Zulris in the distance fast approaching towards him, Fel Lighting present over his arms. Roaring aloud, Acnologia fired another large Dragon's Roar that shot through the air towards its target yet the demonic general easily dashed to the side before continuing his approach right at the attack's side. Acnologia couldn't act in time to dodge or block as Zulris arrived and slammed his fist into the larger being's chest, unleashing large amounts of Fel Lighting shocking and damaging the Dragon of Death further causing the latter to roar in pain and rage. Gritting his teeth as the demonic lighting continued to electrify him, he fought through the pain as he quickly snatched the smaller demonic being in his claws catching Zulris by surprise. The Fel Etherious didn't have time to attempt to break from the dragon's grip when Acnologia flew at high speeds once more slightly above the ground within the large outdoor complex that was the Outer Palace before slamming the dark blue haired demon into the ground and begun to drag though the metallic and concrete ground throughout the section they were in. After a few minutes of this Acnologia then ceased moving forward before diving upward high above the complex then went on to brought his hand up, the one he had Zulris clutched in, and threw the demon with enough force to emit a shockwave as he crashed down into the far away ground causing the area around to shake while emitting a large explosion.
Not done yet, Acnologia powered up and fired off another Eternal Flare directly down towards where Zulris was thrown, each of the star-like Magical projectiles heading straight towards their location. Down below, Zulris emerged from the wreckage and ruins, looked up to see the incoming attacks before his eyes narrowed. His hammer in hand, he bolted off high into the air once more as the incoming Magical star-like blasts headed down upon him. The Fel Etherious general however managed to either maneuver around them or deflected any attack that got close to hitting him while approaching the airborne dragon. Acnologia saw this while Zulris quickly close the distance between them in seconds while Acnologia backed off a bit narrowing avoiding Zulris who tried to swing his Fel Lighting charged hammer into the larger draconic being. Acting fast Acnologia dashed forward and brought down a Dragon's Claw upon Zulris, hitting the demon easily knocking him down a bit in the air. The dark blue haired Fel Etherious recovered however as he steadied himself in the air once again before bolting towards Acnologia once more, this time dashing in front of Acnologia before immediately maneuvering around the dragon to strike him from behind and succeeding in doing so, bringing the hammer down upon the dragon's back. The result was Acnologia shouting in pain as he was launched downward towards the air once more and a bit away from where Zulris was. However, before he could crash into the ground or any standing or remains of structures or buildings Acnologia recovered midair, leaving him to merely glare at the demon once again.
Zulris glared as he was about to continue his fight once again… but then his eyes widened in surprise when he detected something quickly approaching him. Turning around a sense of shock appeared in his eyes for a moment as he saw a small black hole hurling upward through the air and directly towards him. Acting quick he put the hammer away as his hands, and before the small black hole could sucked him in grabbed the tear in time and space by the edges with his bare hands. Surviving the gravitational pull, the Fel Etherious managed to forcefully close the tear in reality with his raw strength, causing the force closing of the black hole to emit a shockwave as a result.
Puzzled, both Acnologia and Zulris looked towards the direction where the black hole came from only to see Obsever with his hand and arm stretched out in front of him facing upward from a still intact rooftop of a building, the Constellar glaring at the demon from seeing his attack failing to succeed in eliminating the demon.
"OBSERVER?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Acnologia roar from his spot as he flew higher in the air to get a better look towards the Constellar on the still standing structure a bit away from where the dragon and demon were at.
Despite the distance between them, and mainly due to how loud Acnologia was, Observer had no problem hearing his draconic ally as he responded with enough noise to be heard by the distant airborne dragon and Fel Etherious.
"I have come to aid in your fight. I saw you struggling with the demon when I spotted you." Observer responded as Acnologia gained a tick mark on his forehead from hearing this. Was Observer thinking that he was some pathetic child in need of rescuing or some crap?
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP YOU IDIOT! THIS IS MY FIGHT! F**K OFF!" Acnologia shouted back in response towards where Observer was still at, who expected this kind of response from his battle hungry draconic ally.
Zulris, seeing this exchange, couldn't help but chuckle in amusement by the talk between his two enemies. This grabbed both Observer's and Acnologia's attention as they faced the flying Fel Etherious general once again.
"What are you laughing at f**ker?" Acnologia demanded with gritted teeth while Zulris ceased his chuckle to look towards the Black Dragon of Apocalypse.
"Your arrogance is amusing to me. Even when you clearly need some aid to have even a slimmer of a chance of survival you refuse it. With this kind of thought process, it's no wonder why you mortals die so easily." Zulris responded in a mocking tone, angering Acnologia further while Observer wasn't bothered by it, only glaring at the demon.
The amusement left the demon's face however as his eyes narrowed towards his two foes before and below him.
"And yet, you have been a thorn in our side, slaughtering every demon that stands in your way and daring to get in our way of the destruction of all creation," His eyes shifted over elsewhere around him, seeing the distance Alvarez forces engaged in battle with his own and Varolia's, "And this Alvarez also dares to get in our way as well. Chasing such a foolish goal… but that ends today," Facing towards both Acnologia and Observer once again the Fel Etherious continued, "There will be no miracle of escaping nor will there be any chance of winning against me. Your feeble strength won't save you, and no bullsh*t asspulls will save your miserable hides either. By my hand and for Lord Baphomet… you will be erased."
Acnologia or Observer would have responded to such words by the demon… if the entire land and sky didn't shake immensely without warning catching them both off guard. Zulris was unaffected by it however, knowing the reason behind the quaking of the planet. The shaking quickly faded as both Acnologia and Observer were now on higher alert than they were before.
"The f**k was that?! Was that your doing demon?!" Acnologia yelled in confusion before he shifted glaring once more at Zulris when he spoke the latter question.
Observer however had another hunch as he quickly glanced at the distance titan battle between the Wrath of E.N.D and Ulosf, sensing the growing strength and reality continuing being warped around by its presence, worsening overtime if the instability he felt was any indication before he glared back towards Zulris, the demon feeling the gaze from the Constellar.
"Is your creature the cause of it?" Observer demanded as Zulris looked down towards Observer from his spot again.
"…What you see ahead… is our most powerful Mindless to date," Zulris begun to speak about the mighty beast far away from them as it continued to fight the Alvarez controlled Kraken, ripping off one of the latter's tentacles while its hands were ablaze with Fel Fire, "The physical embodiment of Lord E.N.D's wrath itself… within the mortal physical plane its strength grows the more it remains here. It's not just a powerful being in itself… its presence alone will eventually cause the universe it is in to be destroyed, tearing a hole in time and space allowing the Twisting Nether to bleed into and absorb it all. The living manifestation of our Lord's wrath against all who stand against us."
That shocked both Acnologia and Observer, the latter's eyes widening hearing the Twisting Nether mentioned. The Wrath's presence alone will be able to completely eradicate this whole universe if left uncheck? How could the Fel Etherious create such a creature?
"…And you're telling us this why?" Acnologia questioned after getting over his surprise from the danger that thing represented if they didn't do something about it soon.
"Because you're all going to die anyway, might as well inform you all of what is to come for this realm you vainly are trying to protect. While the rest of the universes and multiverses within this timeline will remain unaffected, eventually they all will meet the same fate." Zulris calmingly responded to his enemies.
"Not if we have anything to say about it demon!" Observer responded as he begun to power up further, emitting large amounts of Arcane energy from his body which grabbed Zulris's attention from seeing the empowered Constellar, "I won't allow it to destroy an entire plane of existence! I will strike you down then deal with your weapon before it can succeed in its goal!"
Zulris would have made a mocking comment about hearing this from Observer… if it weren't for the living constellation to without warning launch himself from where he stood on a structure emitting a sonic boom in the process and slamming an Arcane empowered fist into the relaxed demon's face. The result of the sudden action launched Zulris through the air like a rocket as a shockwave came to be from the sudden punch by Observer.
The Fel Etherious crashed through multiple ruins of buildings and structures before recovering from the sudden surprise blow by the Constellar. Recovering from that he looked up to glare towards him only to widen his eyes when Acnologia was spotted rushing towards him at high speeds, and before the demon could act the Dragon King unleashed another Dragon's Claw upon the smaller entity, causing Zulris to roar in pain as he was sent flying once more. Acnologia wasn't done yet however as he took off towards Zulris, who once again recovered from the surprise blow steadying himself midair. Enrage, the Fel Etherious powered up before taking off towards the Black Dragon once again, and as the two closed in one another, Zulris dived down in time to avoid another Dragon's Claw by Acnologia before charging upward and slamming into Acnologia's stomach again with enough force to get the dragon to throw up blood while also getting him to stumble back a bit. Seeing an opening, Zulris brought out his hammer once more, empowered it with Fel Lighting before dashing upward and forward towards Acnologia to swing at the dragon's head. Luckily, Acnologia recovered from the previous attack quickly and before the hammer could make contact Acnoligia lifted his head up, opened his mouth then proceeded to unleash a point-blank Dragon's Roar much to Zulris's shock. The Magical beam couldn't be avoided in time as it made direct contact with the Fel Etherious, causing a large detonation that shook the air while Zulris could be seen launching from the smoke and down towards the ground breaking through more ruins and wreckages of the sector of the Outer Palace they were in.
The demonic general managed to get back up, however he wouldn't have time to finish a whole thought as Observer then appeared delivering a kick up in the taller demon's head launching him through another wreckage of an unknown aircraft that was shot down earlier. Emerging from the other side and crashing face first into the ground, Zulris managed to get back up and turned around in time to see Observer dashing directly towards him with his fists raised. His hammer in hand he prepared to fight yet while Observer closed the distance the demon did not act. There was a reason for this however, as when Observer was about to collide into the winged dark blue haired whitish pale skin demon, he vanished before his very eyes… then Zulris quickly turned around and swung his hammer behind him as Observer reappeared to attack from behind only to be met with a hammer slamming into his side. This launched the Constellar away from where Zuilris stood and through multiple remains of once mighty and proud buildings and architects before landing on the ground feet first, dragging through the ground before coming to a complete stop. Facing towards him Observer spotted Zulris fast approaching from the direction he was launched before him, as Observer focused his power into his hands once again. When Zulris appeared and was about to strike the living constellation with his hammer, Observer quickly formed a shield before him causing the hammer to bounce off the Arcane spell's surface and pushing Zulris back, leaving him exposed.
This gave Observer an opening as he quickly dismissed the shield before placing his hands before him and unleashing a mighty blast of Arcane energy directly into Zulris, causing a large explosion and causing everything in front of Observer for miles to be completely consumed and decimated by the large and powerful attack, leaving nothing but a path of utter destruction in his wake. Zulris meanwhile was spotted having been launched through the air once again more injured than he was before while rage was clearly present on the demon's face. He managed to steady himself midair thus recovering from the attack as he faced in the direction towards where Observer was. He would have charged towards the Constellar in retaliation for the injuries he had sustained from this fight so far…
…If it weren't for Acnologia to appear once more flying right into him at high speeds with a large punch that covered the winged demon's entire body, causing a shockwave to be emitted as a result while Zulris went flying through the sky once again, this time the sudden attack causing him to drop his hammer as it plummeted down towards the decimated section of the Outer Palace their battle was taking place in. His fury growing larger, Zulris empowered himself further shaking the space around him slightly as a result before he proceeded to unleash a barrage of Fel Lighting blasts and bolts that shot through the air like a railgun at high speeds towards Acnologia who simply chose to fly directly through it all. While the dragon did ended up taking a few hits causing him to grit his teeth in pain and in anger, he managed to dodge most of them before reappearing once more before Zulris, shocking the Fel Etherious and getting him to cease his barrage attack. Not letting him react in time, Acnologia once more snatched the winged dark blue haired demon up in one of his hands before like throwing a ball chucked the demon at high velocity to the point the demon caught on fire from how fast he was thrown while another shockwave emitted from the resulting throw done by Acnologia. A moment later Zulris crashed into the ground a good distance away from where the Dragon King was at, the resulting collision causing a large explosion that once again shook the surrounding land as large amount of smoke shot up into the air due to the resulting detonation.
The dark blue haired demon quickly emerged a few moments afterwards from the rubble with his wings stretched out, bleeding from the wounds he gained yet still he stood. Spitting some blood from his mouth, the demonic general of the Fel Etherious forces felt his anger escalate within even further.
"Filthy mortals…!" Zulris muttered with utter fury in his voice, seeing how they were keeping up with him so far. He knew they would be a pain to deal with considering the trouble they have caused the Fel Etherious, but to think they were proving to be this much of a thorn. No matter, he will slaughter them in the name of Lord Baphomet, and in the name of Lord E.N.D.
His attention would be quickly drawn as from the corner of his eyes, the dark blue haired Fel Etherious spotted Observer hastily approaching from the distance, his right hand once more charged with his power to prepare another black hole, something that the demon took notice off.
"That again? It won't work." Zulris muttered as he jumped off high into the air taking flight, how high above the damaged section of the Outer Palace preparing to take off to slay the approaching Constellar…
…Only for without warning Acnologia reappeared right behind him, snatching the attention of Zulris who was too slow to turn around and prevent what transpired next. In an explosion of Magic, Acnologia shifted back into his human form before tackling the taller demon from behind, causing both of them to begin to plummet down into the land below. Not wasting time as the two struggled with one another, Acnologia reached out and grabbed a hold of the base of Zulris's wings before with a shout tore the large limbs from his back causing Zulris to roar in pain and fury as blood poured from the now present holes on his back. With that done, Acnologia using Zulris like a pad launched himself from the Fel Etherious while said demon was launched faster into the ground making a direct impact that shook the ground once again within the sector of the Outer Palace they were present in. Acnologia landed nearby on his feet, the dark blue haired man had his back before turning around as he saw Zulris quickly emerging from the wreckage he was in.
Dark green blood poured from the two wounds on his back where his wings once stood, his teeth gritted as untold fury was present within the demon's eyes. The demonic general glaring at the distant Dragon King who remained glaring back.
"How… dare you…? I will have… your hide!" Zulris struggled to speak due to the pain he was in, yet he was nowhere near done. He will keep on fighting until the mortals around him were dead.
However, sensing another presence approaching from behind him, his eyes realized as he quickly turned around and swung his arm out in hopes of hitting the incoming attacker… only to fail as Observer ducked from the attempted attack before thrusting his fully charged hand directly into the chest of the wide opened Fel Etherious.
Zulris could only widen his eyes further in shock as time seemed to slow down for him and Observer, the latter unleashing his attack directly onto the demon. And just like that, a black hole formed directly within the demon's chest as Observer unleashed it, the gravitational pull completely tearing Zulris from within as his own body imploded while he could only roar in utter anguish and agony in his final moments. Observer jumped back to avoid the resulting conclusion, both him and Acnologia from their positions managed to resist the gravitational pull as the now present small black hole went on to suck in much of the wreckage, debris and any corpses of those of human and demon who died within his area earlier within their surroundings.
Seeing that the job was done, Observer made a movement with his right hand as the black hole then closed, leaving nothing in its wake behind as it did its job. Zulris was no more.
Observer sighed as he felt some of his strength diminished, the fight with the demon having taken a bit of a tole on the living constellation's form. However, the Constellar knew he would regain his strength later.
"We did it, the Fel Etherious's leader has been defeated…" Observer muttered to no one in particular, although thanks to his enhanced hearing Acnologia heard it as he was quick to approach the Constellar, an annoyed look on the dark blue haired man's face.
"I could have defeated him on my own, you didn't need to get involve." Acnologia responded, still unhappy how Observer basically shove his way into what was his fight.
"Better to be safe than sorry, I couldn't risk the chance that you might have fallen against him without my aid." Observer responded back, getting a tick mark to form on the dragon in humanoid form's forehead.
"What does that mean?! You think I couldn't kill the bastard on my own?!" Acnologia responded with annoyance and anger in his voice towards his Constellar ally.
Observer would have responded to the question if the land around them didn't begun to shake immensely once again, catching their attention once again before the quake died down once more. It didn't take any time to realize the cause of the sudden quake considering what Zulris had told them before they defeated him.
Their gazes shifted over towards the far distance near the Inner Palace where the Wrath of E.N.D was seen still doing battle with Ulosf. However, it was clear that despite the damage both colossal giants received from their fight a winner was about to be declared.
The Wrath had multiple tentacles wrapped around its armored arms and a few around its waist by Ulosf who attempted to tangle the large black armored demon with its limps while firing off a point blank Void beam into the demon's upper body causing a large explosion that shook the air around them. Unlike the times before however, the Wrath's strength has grown to the point that the kraken's attacks and power proved to be minor nuisances than causing actual harm like they did before. In response to this, despite the tentacles wrapped trying to restrict its movements the massive Mindless Fel Etherious it managed to deliver a hard punch into the corrupted kraken with its right arm, causing Ulosf to stumble back a bit from the hard blow. Then roaring aloud the Wrath with its ever growing strength tore from Ulosf's grips it had on it while also simultaneously tearing off the tentacle limbs that were wrapped around its arm off of the kraken, causing it to roar in pain as dark crimson blood poured from its wounds. The Wrath of E.N.D wasn't done just yet however as it begun to use its now free arm to grab a hold and tear off the tentacles on its other arm causing more pain to the Void corrupted kraken from the loss of more limbs, which increased in its agony as the Wrath then ripped its opponents limbs around its waist, leaving only a couple still attached and intact tentacles left on Ulosf. Raising both hands up the massive Fel Etherious living weapon gripped its hands together before bringing them down into the large head of Ulosf, causing a large shockwave to emit from the attack while the Alvarez controlled kraken came crashing down into the ground shaking the land below it from the collision.
Then, deciding to finish this battle, the Wrath raised one of its legs high up before it stomped onto Ulosf with great force causing the creature's body to pop like a balloon as its blood exploded like a fountain all over the surroundings of it like a flood and getting onto the demon, getting stained by its now deceased foe's blood. The Wrath of E.N.D then once again roared aloud for all to hear in victory, while the sky begun to thunder further due to the unstable energy radiating from the monstrous thousand meter tall demon.
Still far away from the victorious demonic entity, this didn't go unnoticed by Beon as he looked over to see Ulosf slain by the monstrous Mindless with wide eyes. Prince Natsu was nearby, injuries covering him as his armor was crack and broken in certain parts of his body due to the battle with the personal guard of Spriggan Marvell. The pink haired young man's gaze remained on the dark blonde dark skinned man before him despite the escalating situation involving the Wrath whose roar could be heard by them all. Both were on the roof of a still standing albeit damaged building while the fighting between the Fel Etherious, Alvarez and Varolia forces continued to wage all around them for untold miles all within the Outer Palace.
"What?! That thing killed Ulosf?!" Beon shouted in shock seeing the sight far ahead of him. The surprise would fade before annoyance took its place, the Alvarez general gritting his teeth from this development, 'Damn it! I can't waste any more time! Kill this inferior version of the Emperor then kill that thing!'
Natsu was breathing hard as blood ran down his face, barely able to stand as he saw Beon turning back towards him with a glare on his face. Natsu only glared back at the man before him.
"I've wasted enough time with you. I will kill you before dealing with the demon's titan creature. Then the rest of the demons and your world will fall to our might in the name of Lady Marvell and for the Empress." Beon told Natsu, the Alvarez general beginning to power up further with Arcane Magic to deal the final blow to his enemy before him. It didn't matter that he had the Emperor's face, he was nothing more than a nuisance standing between him and the conquest of this planet.
That however only enraged Natsu further, knowing that he had to win or else the son of a bitch before him will continue the attack on Varolia. And who knows if word managed to reach his father or any of his older brothers or any of their other forces beyond Earthland's atmosphere. He closed his eyes as he tried to ease himself, knowing that his world was at stake, everything and everyone he cared and loved was on the line. Even if he himself perished, everyone else would live in.
'Light… give me the strength I need… to protect those I love…' Natsu thought to himself before he opened his eyes once more, a determined expression forming on his face as without warning more Holy and Light Magic radiated from his very being.
This got Beon's attention once more, surprised to see more power emerging from the pink haired golden armored man before him despite their fight so long. However his surprise faded as he then gave the Prince of Varolia an annoyed look once more.
"You still have more power left? No matter, it won't change the outcome of this fight. Make it easy for me and just let me kill you." Beon responded with narrowed eyes, getting annoyed how the Prince of Varolia was wasting his time while the Wrath was now loose from any distractions for it to cause a rampage, not to mention the rest of the Fel Etherious who were still battling his own armies and fleet and those of this planet's.
Natsu remained glaring at the dark blonde haired man in response, Holy and Light Magic still radiating from the Prince's being as he gripped his Power Sword harder, pointing towards the Alvarez general before his eyes.
"You want me dead then try asshole. No matter what, I'll keep on fighting until my final breath!" Natsu exclaimed towards his foe before he bolted towards the Alvarez general who scoffed before he met the charging Prince head on.
Meanwhile back at the large opening made by the Wrath of E.N.D on the Inner Palace, millions of Fel Etherious and their Mindless continued to pour into the large hole that led into the golden pyramid to attack those within the halls of the massive structure.
But then without warning, a large explosion was visible setting off from the opened path causing many of the demons charging into it to be blasted back with many falling and flying through the air in response as numerous jet bikes were seen emerging from it piloted by more Custodians to join the fray in hopes of slowing down the flood of demons from continuing entering the breach of defenses into the Inner Palace. Many were blasting with their hovering and flying jet bikes while also using their own weaponry on their bodies to strike at the flow of demons.
Among those who emerged from the hole to aid in slowing down the flood of Fel Etherious was Izrail himself, the Captain-General on his own personal jet bike while observing the countless hordes of demons trying to climb and charge into the hole made by the Wrath while observing the distance clashing armies of Alvarez and of Varolia's own against the former and the demons at once for miles all around them in different directions within the Outer Palace.
"Emperor's Light, there's so many of them…" Izrail trailed off as he continued to fly through the air on his jet bike over the complex that was the Outer Palace, seeing a few flying Fel Etherious charging at him only for him to either blast them with his vehicles equipped bolters and launches to blast them out of the sky before they got close. And for the demons that did were met with a quick strike by the Captain-General's own guardian sphere.
As the golden armored caretaker of the Prince and Emperor looked outward into the distance, his eyes widened in surprise despite his helmet making it unable to be seen by anyone.
The reason? The Wrath of E.N.D, having defeated Ulosf, begun to make its way over towards the Inner Palace. Each step the monstrous armored beast took shook the very earth it walked, having a goal in its mind that it seeks to accomplish. To destroy everything around it… yet there was another reason. It sensed something from within the Inner Palace. Far beneath the surface of the colossal golden pyramid that gave off something Holy… something that irritated the demonic being. Whatever it was, it would destroy it.
'THAT'S the thing that blasted a way into the Inner Palace?!' Izrail thought to himself in utter shock, not expecting the armored Mindless giant to be so big. While it wasn't the largest thing he had seen or heard of he will admit, the fact such a creature was unleashed upon the Eternal Palace troubled him. He could even sense the raw power and strength emitted from the beast, and how it was slowly growing with each passing second, 'I feel reality around it being twisted and warped! Was this thing the cause of those quakes? If this thing isn't destroyed soon… it might cause a tear in time and space that will consume the entirety of the universe!'
He narrowed his eyes as the group of Custodians that were accompanying him on their respective jet bikes or other forms of flight and transportation remained flying by him, all seeing the distant yet slowly approaching giant armored Mindless and coming to the same conclusion as their Captain-General did.
"CUSTODES! WE MUST STOP THAT THING BEFORE IT CAN GET TO THE INNER PALACE! THROW AWAY YOUR LIVES IF YOU MUST, WE HAVE TO STOP IT BEFORE IT REACHES THE COMPLEX! BEFORE IT REACHES VA'RO! FOR OUR HOLY EMPEROR!" Izrail yelled aloud for all of his companied fellow Custodians to hear.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!" The other accompanied Custodians yelled out in response, as the group of Varolia's greatest warriors took off towards the Wrath of E.N.D.
The armored living weapon continued to make its way over towards the Inner Palace as the flying group of Custodes arrived, flying around it and towards it as they fired their respective weaponry towards the monstrous demon. Each bolter, missiles and launchers they had available hitting the Wrath directly, however the demon didn't seem phase by the sudden attacks as it continued to move towards its target location as if it didn't even registered that it was being attacked. A few of the Custodians flew higher up before firing their weaponry directly at the Wrath's head, each one making a successful hit yet still the Wrath of E.N.D was unfazed and unharmed, the armor it wore on its body not even scratched by the attacks.
These blasts did however manage to finally get Custodians to gain the Wrath's attention, seeing the small flying augmented warriors moving around its being. Roaring aloud it attempted to swing at a few of them with one of its arms but luckily the Custodians managed to avoid being hit by the large limb. Maneuvering around the ginormous demon, the Captain-General and the Custodians fired their weaponry once more directly into the demon's head, yet still it remained unharmed with its armor still undamaged. However, it had the desired effect as the Wrath's full attention was now on the flying group of golden armored super soldiers as it tried to swing one of its arm at them to hit them to no valid.
"We have it's attention! Now lure it away from the Inner Palace!" Izrail ordered his men, who all were quick to obey the order as they begun to fly in the opposite direction of the massive golden pyramid in order to get the gigantic Mindless to follow them.
The Wrath, still having its attention on them, took the bait as it turned around away from the golden pyramid that towered over everything and towards the flying group of Custodians before moving right after them, the steps it took continued to shake the very land it stood upon. A few of the riding Custodians would make maneuvers around the monstrous armored demon to fire upon it more with their weapons, which still didn't really faze it or even scratch the armor it covered itself completely in while it only roared out in annoyance from the small gnats moving all around the air surrounding it.
So, in retaliations, the demon raised its arms up high above its head as thunder boomed across the more distorted and twisted sky due to its every growing strength catching the attention of Izrail and his accompanied Custodians in the process, wondering what the ginormous creature of demonic origin was doing now.
They would get their answers as without warning large meteors wrapped in Fel Fire begun to rain down from the dark thundering sky high above them all, not just around itself but all around the Outer Palace for miles and miles. The large Fel Fire burning meteors would make impact all over, smashing into the armies and fleets of Alvarez, Varolia and even the demon's own fellow Fel Etherious killing tens if not hundreds of millions in a blink of an eye all while the colliding meteors caused untold damage to their surrounding impact zones. A few of the Custodian riders that were with Izrail didn't have a chance to dodge them all as they were hit by the large falling burning rocks causing them to plummet far to the ground below in the damaged complex of the Outer Palace.
One of the large burning meteors would have collided into where Izrail was… if a large Dragon's Roar slamming into it causing it to burst into a large explosion didn't suddenly take place without warning.
Widening his eyes in surprise, Izrail turned his head to his left only to see Acnologia, once again in his dragon form, and Observer who was standing on the back of the Black Dragon of Apocalypse arriving onto the scene flying high up in the air like the Captain-General and the other Custodians were.
"Observer, Acnologia! You both still live!" Izrail exclaimed in surprise, glad to see that their guests were still alive throughout this invasion.
"I see you have joined the fight! How is the Inner Palace?" Observer replied back towards the taller golden armored super soldier who remained on his jet bike. The two sides remaining near one another for a moment while the remaining Custodians around them continued to keep the Wrath's attention on them as the meteor attacks ceased.
"We managed to clear out a good portion of the demonic scum as we fought our way through the hordes, I have to have faith in the Emperor that the rest will be able to push those foul creatures back without me being there," Izrail responded as he looked over to see the Wrath a bit up ahead of them trying to wrack the attacking Custodians from the sky with its arms to no valid so far thankfully. At least the giant creature was somewhat slow, "What about Prince Natsu? Do you know of his whereabouts?"
"I do not know. I simply assume he's fighting elsewhere against the invading forces of both Alvarez and the Fel Etherious." Observer responded back towards the golden armored Captain-General, who became a bit worried from hearing this. He hoped that the Prince was alright.
"Enough chit chatting! We have to focus and strike at this demon hard before it grows even more powerful!" Acnologia shouted out, putting an end to the conversation, though both Izrail and Observer knew that the dragon was correct. They needed to focus on taking the Wrath of E.N.D down before it could too power and consume the universe itself.
With that, Acnologia took off towards the Wrath once more with Observer still on the dragon's back, prepared to fight as Izrail piloted his jet bike to join them and the rest of his Custodians once again to face off against the unholy thousand meter tall demon before them all.
And they did indeed hit hard, with Acnologia both firing off another Dragon's Roar along with Observer unleashing a large beam of Arcane Magic towards the armored giant Mindless before them all, both attacks slamming directly into where the demon's left ribs were at. However, it didn't do anything other than getting the Wrath's attention, seeing the two new gnats flying all around it. The demon in response roared while swiping its left arm towards them and any of the Custodians who were nearby, unleashing a large wave of Fel Fire from the action. Eyes widening from the technique unleashed, Izrail, Observer and Acnologia alongside the other Custodians near them managed to either dived upward or downward in the air to avoid the large demonic flame attack. A few Custodians however were unable to maneuver out of the way as they were hit, their bodies becoming nothing more than smoldering ashes blown in the wind upon impact, enraging Izrail from the lost of more of the Emperor's finest and his brothers. Increasing in speed, Izrail flew his jet bike higher up into the air directly towards the head of the demonic beast firing the weaponry his vehicle had on hand directly into the face of the armor covered Mindless. However like previously it seemed to only annoy the creature than actually hurting it; the Fel Etherious trying to knock the Captain-General out of the way with one of its hands once again only for Izrail to fly out of range before it could get to him.
As the Wrath of E.N.D had its gaze upon the very high up Captain-General, Acnologia and Observer swooped in near the giant demon's lower back as the former powered up and unleashed an Eternal Flare directly towards his enemy, each of the star-like projectiles making directly impact on their target. Following up this Observer charged his hands up with his power before rapidly firing off a barrage of Arcane blasts directly all around the Wrath's lower back and sides as Acnologia flew around the monstrous enemy. However like before the attacks didn't even leave a scratch onto the Mindless's armor, but the attacks did cause it to snatch its attention away from Izrail and a few other Custodians who were aiding their Captain-General before twisting to its right to see the Dragon King and Constellar duo before it flung its right arm high up then bringing it down to knock them out of the sky. Luckily Acnologia managed to outmaneuver the incoming armored limb before it could hit him and Observer as they flew higher up into the sky above the thousand meter tall demon, who looked up towards its enemies refusing to move its gaze elsewhere even as Izrail and the other Custodians were continuing to fire their weaponry on the large demon elsewhere on its body. High above it, Observer once more powered up further as he could before unleashing yet another barrage of Arcane blasts simultaneously down upon the Wrath's face, causing numerous explosions after explosions to erupt over the monster's surface.
But like before, no real damage was done to it or its armor as it only became more pissed off than anything else. Roaring aloud once more, the Wrath of E.N.D begun to form and fire off a concentrated beam of Fel Energy towards the high airborne due of Acnologia and Observer. While not as large nor as chaotic as the one it fired off earlier when it attacked the Inner Palace, it was still dangerous enough for both Acnologia and Observer to dash to the sides as they begun to dive downward to avoid the beam as it shot upward and pierce through the dark and thundering sky for a moment before the unstable sky quickly covered the hole shortly afterwards. As Acnologia and Observer did this, Izrail and his Custodians took further action to draw the Wrath's attention away from the two once again by firing off the launchers and missiles of their jet bikes into the back of the demon's right shoulder, once again not hurting it or its armor but enough to achieve getting it to focus on them once again. The Wrath roared out as it turned towards and looked down at their direction before it raised one of its fists up and bringing it down with rather quick motion that caught Izrail and the other Custodians off guard. Luckily the Captain-General and a few of his remaining Custodians managed to quickly flew out of the way in time, but a few other of the super soldiers weren't as lucky as the fist collided into them causing them to be launched down into the damaged complex of the Outer Palace far down below then in the time a second passed.
The Wrath's attention was quickly refocused onto the remaining flying gnats around it, while Acnologia gritted his teeth as he continued to fly around the massive armored demonic entity to continue the attack with Observer still on his back doing the same thing.
'This is getting nowhere! Everything we're doing isn't hurting it in the slightest! Not even the armor it wears is being scratched!' Acnologia thought in frustration as he charged up a large amount of his Dragon Slayer Magic into one of his hands before chucking it directly into the Wrath of E.N.D's upper back once more causing a large explosion to take place from the impact. Yet like shown plenty of times during this fight it didn't do any real damage to it as it remained focus on knocking Izrail and the few remaining Custodians with him out of the way at the moment, 'If it did feel any damage previously, its growing strength practically makes it more resilient if not immune to any damage we do to it! There has to be a way for us to kill this f**king demon before everything goes into further sh*t!'
While they remain focusing on the Wrath, a far away but still visible large explosion of both Arcane and Light grabbed Izrail's attention as his gaze quickly shifted over towards the source of the detonation far away from where he was currently at with surprise yet worried.
"What the…?" The Captain-General muttered to himself as he felt the two presences that caused the sudden large detonation of raw Arcane and Holy Magic clashing into one another. One he didn't recognize, but the other one he did… and the slowly diminishing life energy that he felt alarmed him greatly, 'Prince Natsu! His life force… it's dwindling! He's in danger!'
His priority changed instantly from the alarming thing he was sensing and feeling, seeing that the Prince was in danger of perishing to an unknown assailant, the Captain-General immediately piloted his jet bike and bolted down towards the distant direction where the Prince and his attacker was at. He had to get there in time before it was too late!
This didn't go unnoticed by both Acnologia and Observer as they saw the Captain-General quickly flying away from the fight with the Wrath towards elsewhere, confusing and surprising the both of them while angering Acnologia. If the other Custodians acknowledge their Captain-General's sudden leave they didn't comment on it, as they knew that whatever it was that got Izrail's attention had to be important.
"WHERE THE F**K ARE YOU GOING?!" Acnologia roared out towards the now distant Captain-General, the words of the Dragon King falling on deaf ears however as Observer was wondering what caused the taller golden armored man to suddenly take off like that before his focus returned onto the Wrath itself, seeing it about to swing one of its arms at them once again.
"ACNOLOGIA WATCH OUT!" Observer shouted out, getting the dragon's attention who quickly looked back up to the Wrath of E.N.D to see the incoming massive limb that was coming down at them.
Luckily the dragon was able to fly out of the way in time before the giant demonic limb of the Wrath could hit both him and Observer, the two once more refocusing on their fight against the monstrous giant demonic entity with the aid of the few Custodians that were still left from Izrail's original group that took to do battle against the Wrath of E.N.D.
Far away from this conflict, on a large damaged bridge which towered over the land and other structures below it, the construction leading towards the main Inner Palace's gates, Natsu was spotted lying onto the ground near a ledge that overlook much of the other battles between the three armies of different backgrounds all over the Outer Palace. The pink haired young man was greatly injured, blood going down his body with his hair coated much with his own crimson blood, his armor broken and shattered in different areas exposing his skin underneath it all. His weapon was cast aside elsewhere, having been shattered by his foe earlier in their battle.
Natsu cough up blood as he was in unimaginable pain all throughout his body, struggling to get back up as footsteps in front of him could be heard approaching him. This of course was none other than Beon himself, the personal guard to the Spriggan Marvell, the dark blonde dark skinned man while having sustained slight injuries himself was still way better condition with plenty of strength and power to spare at his disposal. The Alvarez general looked down at the pathetic state this other version of his Emperor was in, disgusted at the sight.
"Pitiful," Beon started to speak as he reached down and grabbed Natsu by his neck, lifting him up bringing the Prince of Varolia to his face, "You tried so hard and struggle so much, and for what? This? To think such a version of the Emperor exists in such a pathetic manner. Are you ready to accept your death? To accept that you failed Any final words you wish to say?"
Natsu only glared in response with utter hate and defiance towards the Alvarez general before him, despite his greatly injured state he was able to grit his teeth while his gaze never leaving the enemy right in front of him. Flashes of his life went through his mind, from the day he was found by his father to meeting the women he would grow to love with all he had to everything else that he had done and others he met through his life. If he was going to die, he would ensure that his killer knew that he would remain defiant in the end.
"…For Varolia." Natsu merely replied back in response through gritted teeth, getting Beon to narrow his eyes at his defeated opponent he held by the neck.
Far away yet hastily approaching, Izrail on his jet bike quickly approached the energy signatures of both his Prince and whoever the other entity was that the son of the Emperor was facing. Quickly flying though the air high above the battles taking place between the other forces of Varolia, Alvarez and the Fel Etherious throughout the Outer Palace, the Captain-General hoped that he wouldn't be too late.
'Come on, where is he?!' Izrail thought in worry and distress as he closed in on the energies he sensed, yet the powers being unleashed by all the other forces all over the complex was also throwing his senses off. He knew that the Prince was close by, but where exactly?
He would get his answer as he looked downward towards his left, only to widen his eyes when he laid his sight upon the bridge that went across the entire Outer Palace towards the Inner Palace's main gates. And near a ledge that formed through damage the bridge sustain from the erupting conflict all around the complex, stood Beon with Prince Natsu before him by the neck.
"PRINCE NATSU!" Izrail shouted out as he bolted through the air on his jet bike in hopes of getting close to the two in time to join the fray and get in range with his weapons to fire upon the Alvarez general that had the Prince in his grasps.
However… it would be too late as back on the bridge, Beon used his free hand which held one of his Arcane empowered blades…
…Before piercing right through Natsu's chest and through his heart.
Time seemed to slow down all around as Izrail watched in horror from the blow, Natsu's eyes having widened from the piercing blade through his body before a few seconds later did his form went limp, his hands now dangling from his sides. Beon all the while raised one of his feet up before kicking the Prince off of his blade and off the damaged ledge of the bridge.
"PRINCE NATSUUUUU!"
'WITH THE EMPEROR'
He felt it.
Like a cord snapping, something went off in his very soul as the Emperor ceased his movement. His helmet blocking out the frozen expression that appeared on his face. This didn't go unnoticed by the others around him, including his Custodian escorts and his son Domiel, who looked at his father in confusion from seeing his sudden stillness.
"Father, is something wrong?" Domiel asked the Emperor, a small almost unnoticeable look of concern flashing on the white haired Primarch's normally stoic face.
The Emperor didn't respond towards the Primarch, remaining still as he felt the life force and the connection he had towards his youngest son vanish… before without warning extended his wings before immediately bolting off into the planet's atmosphere with enough force to get Domiel and the others around him to cover their eyes from the resulting shockwave that emitted from the sudden departure of the mighty ruler of all of humanity of Varolia.
Once the sudden shockwave faded away, they removed the arms they had over their eyes and looked up high into sky which showed off the nearby planets and the darkness of space only to see the Emperor was already long gone.
"The Emperor left? Where is he going?" One of the Custodian escorts questioned with utter confusion by the mighty being that was their father.
"Father…?" Domiel questioned with a small quiet tone, looking up to where God-like entity had taken off too without warning. Had something happened?
'BACK ON EARTHLAND 3MP3202'
Natsu's lifeless body went on to plummet down towards the distant ground far from the bridge where Beon stood, while Izrail only watched in utter shock and disbelief from seeing his Prince's lifeless form fall through the air from the ruined ledge of the damaged bridge.
Beon himself looked down at the plummeting body with a small smirk… which went away before something grabbed his attention along with Izrail as the two looked up towards the sky with confusion and surprise.
"What in the Empress's name…?" Beon muttered out in confusion, sensing something quickly approaching as the sky above the Outer and Inner Palace begun to shift, swirls of raw Light glowed and shined through the dark clouds and the demonic energies that radiated from them large enough to almost cover a whole section of the massive complex that was the Imperial Palace.
This also grabbed the attention of almost every living creature all over the entirety of the Outer Palace. From the Fel Etherious to the Alvarez armies and to Varolia's own inhabitants, they all ceased their fighting as they all noticed the sudden quickly approaching source of raw Holy and Light energy. Even the Wrath of E.N.D took notice as it ceased attempting to knock those flying around it from the sky and looked up to see the approaching source of Light seeping through the demonic energy chocking filled dark and thundering sky.
Both Observer and Acnologia were among the others to notice this, becoming confused and alarmed by the sudden presence of raw Light and Holy Magic that shed through the sky above them all.
"The f**k is going on now?" Acnologia questioned aloud, looking up to see the Light piercing through the dark and thundering sky high above them all. Observer meanwhile remained silent, just as puzzled as his draconic ally was thus unable to give a proper response or answer to the Dragon King's confusion.
Everyone would get an answer as without warning a blur of an unknown entity came crashing through the atmosphere and through the dark and thundering clouds tainted with demonic energy before going down and snatching Natsu's falling body way before it could hit the ground as the new arrival crashed into the ground causing the continent itself to shake from the sudden landing of this powerful arrival.
There, crouching and bending down slightly was none other than the Emperor himself, holding the deceased body of his youngest child within his arm. In the span of a few seconds, the God-like entity flew from one side of the whole universe itself to the other.
Those who could see the Emperor in the flesh widened their eyes in disbelief from the sight of the tall and mighty entity, feeling the large power of raw Holy Magic radiating from his very being. Izrail was still in disbelief as he remained in the air aboard his jet bike, shocked yet at the same time relieved to see the Emperor Himself arriving… yet the Captain-General's heart ache from the sight of the Emperor holding onto the body that was his youngest.
Beon, Observer, Acnologia, and those not of Varolia looked on from their respective positions in utter surprise and shock. Who the heck was the winged giant man? Where did he come from? Observer however, albeit still filled with surprise and disbelief due to the energies emitting from the mighty winged deity-like being, managed to make the connection as his gaze remained filled with shock yet curiosity.
'Is… is that the Emperor Izrail told us about?' Observer thought to himself, his gaze not leaving the distant Emperor down on the land below him and Acnologia and the rest who remained airborne.
The Emperor's helmeted expression couldn't be seen due to his current position, yet it was obvious he was looking down at his child in his arms, who remained unmoving with lifeless eyes still opened. The essence of life already having left his body the moment Beon pierced his blade through his body.
His helmeted expression still unseen, the mighty winged entity raised a finger from one of his hands before moving over Natsu's face, closing the Prince's eyes giving him form more at peace than previously before. A moment of utter silent passed as the Emperor remained holding his youngest in his arms for a few more moments before slowly laying the still form of the Prince down on the ground before him.
Then, the Emperor fully stood up and looked up… revealing the utter rage through his crimson eyes of his helmet that betrayed the pain of loss he was feeling at this very moment. Everyone remained watching from their spots all over and around him, wondering what would happen next.
"…You dare attack my home…," The Emperor begun to speak, his voice echoing throughout the entirety of the Outer Palace for all armies of all sides to hear as his aura of Holy and Light power begun to glow and become more frantic, "Attacking the heart of my Empire while I was away… you dare to strike as vile demons and traitors to humanity… and you dared… to take away my youngest… my cherished and beloved child away from me… away from mankind…"
Despite the every flowing power radiating from the Emperor which begun to shake the very planet itself much to the shock of the Fel Etherious and Alvarez and to the awe of Varolia, the Wrath of E.N.D roared in defiance as it ignored Observer, Acnologia and the airborne Custodians that were around it before it begun to make its way over towards where the Emperor stood, smashing its way through any unfortunate structures and living creature that was unfortunate enough to be caught in the way of the thousand meter tall armored Mindless.
Slowly, the Emperor begun to hover off the ground as his power begun to radiate more from his very being, the planet continuing to shake as raw Holy and Light energies ever struck from his body all around him while his wings spanned out completely.
Beon from his spot felt his blood run cold, feeling the massive raw power radiating from the Emperor of Varolia as fear gripped his heart. This power… this strength he felt from the Emperor… it even rivaled and surpassed a few of the Spriggans themselves!
The Wrath of E.N.D meanwhile quickly approached where the Emperor and the body of Prince Natsu was at, the monstrous armored Mindless roared out when it begun to reach out and down towards the winged God-like human far down below its behemoth's size. The Emperor meanwhile brought his body inward like he was clutching into his chest, Holy and Light energies building up as he prepared to make his verdict on the foes of Varolia.
"Pay with your lives… and be purified by the Light!" The Emperor roared out for all to hear.
And with that, a massive burst of raw Light and Holy energy exploded from his very being, completely consuming everything in its path as Light overtook everything in its wake. Many like Izrail, Observer, Acnologia, the Custodians and every other inhabitant of Varolia had to shield their eyes as they were overcome by the power yet remained unharmed and spared.
The forces of the Fel Etherious and of the Alvarez Empire weren't given the same treatment, as every single demon and Alvarez human were obliterated in an instance along with their foul machines of war like their warships which were also consumed and reduced to ashes in less then a second. Beon himself met his end as he could only scream out an agonizing final cry of pain before being erased from the spot, the blast of Light rendering him apart molecule by molecule before even they were obliterated from existence.
The Wrath of E.N.D, its ever growing strength and its reality warping presence that would have brought the end of this universe if given more time, could not withstand the massive powerful Light attack as it roared in utter agonizing pain. Its armor was destroyed instantly followed up by its flesh then its bones, bringing an end to the manifestation of E.N.D's wrath thus saving the universe before it could be consumed by the giant Mindless's presence for the Twisting Nether to bleed into and consume.
The light emitted from this Holy blast was so bright it covered not only the whole planet of Earthland itself but it also was bright enough to be seen from the galaxy itself, like a shining beacon of hope that washed away all evils that dared to pose a threat to Varolia and its inhabitants that stretched out across the stars of the cosmos.
And then, the battle over Varolia and the very universe itself ended. The Defenders of Varolia victorious due to the arrival and aid of the Emperor himself.
'DEEP UNDERNEATH THE INNER PALACE'
Far down underground beneath the main structure of the Inner Palace within a large chamber, multiple Custodian Wardenss remained on guard as a bright light shined brightly behind them all from the center of the room. However, their attention was quickly drawn as they all felt the large scale power of Holy Magic unleashed on the surface of the world above them all as well as feeling the world itself shake from its raw might.
"Was that the Emperor Himself? Wasn't he off world?" One of the Custodian Wardens questioned, surprise to sense their majesty up above them all.
"Word must have reached him. You know no distant is too great for his Greatness." Another Custodian Warden responded to the other, his guardian spear in hand as they remained guarding the chamber and the surrounding other rooms and corridors connected on this layer of the Imperial Palace.
"Then the fight is over then. Victory is achieved." One Custodian Warden spoke up as the others nodded with pride. With the Emperor here, the enemies that were striking at the Palace were no doubt just wiped out from the face of the planet.
Before any of them could speak up again, the light behind them all in the center of the chamber started to shine a bit more brighter than before, grabbing the attention of the Custodian Wardens who all turned to look at the source in slight surprise and confusion.
"Va'ro? Is something the matter?" One of them questioned with confusion and worry seeing the light emitting from the entity before them increase a bit.
They wouldn't get an answer as without warning the source of the bright warm light flashed once more before the source condense itself into a small orb of light. Then without warning it bolted right out of the massive doors of its chamber before taking off away from them all, catching them all off guard.
"What in the Emperor's will?" One of the Custodian Wardens questioned once more, seeing how the being of light just took off without warning.
Where was Va'ro heading too?
'BACK ON THE SURFACE WITHIN THE OUTER PALACE'
The light died down allowing everything to be seen once more. The land and structures of the Eternal Palace remained standing, as everyone else who were spared by the destructive power that was unleashed by their master. Observer and Acnologia too were spared and left unharmed by the attack, as they moved their arms from their eyes to allow themselves to see the Outer Palace free from any Fel Etherious or Alvarez presence, showing that nothing of them truly remained.
"By the Makers… he wiped them all out…" Observer muttered in disbelief, yet seeing how despite the large scale attack the surrounding complex that was the Eternal Palace and themselves were left unaffected, truly showing the full and exact control that the Emperor had over his power.
Acnologia didn't respond, too shock from what had just took place to reply to his Constellar ally. Despite the victory, the Dragon King couldn't help but feel frustrated, seeing that they had to rely on the Emperor of Varolia's sudden arrival to win against the demons and humans of Alvarez. The fact that they had to rely on another to win, he hated that with all his being.
'Humiliated again…' He thought to himself with bitterness, hating how they had to practically be saved by another to survive and win to defeat the Wrath of E.N.D before it could carry out its task to tear a hole in time and space to consume the universe itself.
Shaking his thoughts away for the time being, he quickly flew down towards the ground a bit away from where the Emperor stood with Observer on his back. They landed on the ground as Observer jumped off the Dragon of Death before landing nearby, while Acnologia shifted back into his human form once again. In different directions, Custodians, guardsmen and others of Varolia within the section of the complex were present, looking onward to where the Emperor and the fallen Prince were at with a mix of shock, disbelief and sorrowful expressions.
Up ahead of the, they saw Izrail having arrived onto the scene also removing himself from his jet bike with his feet hitting the ground shortly afterwards. The Captain-General looked in with sorrow as he saw the Emperor cease his hovering, his feet touching the damaged ground once more before the tall winged God-like entity fell onto his knees, taking a hold of Natsu's body once more before holding it tightly into his chest.
While not seen or noticeable due to his helmet, the Emperor had begun to shed tears as the anger faded away, only leaving the pain of loss of his youngest behind within the winged being's soul.
"I… I'm sorry Natsu … if I had felt something amiss sooner… if I had known… I could have saved you…," The Emperor spoke softly heard by no one but himself, clutching onto the bloodied body of Natsu closer into himself, "Forgive me… my son…"
As the Emperor silently mourned over the loss of the pink haired young man, a faint and gentle ringing was then heard by not only him but by everyone who was all around the area causing Observer and Acnologia to be confused, while those of Varolia were quick to recognize what it was.
"What is that sound…?" Acnologia muttered in confusion as he looked around for the source of the sound, while Observer looked around for it also. There was also a faint warmth that filled the area as well coming from an unknown source.
They would get their answer as without warning a flash of bright Light appeared before the Emperor and everyone else, who had to cover their eyes for a brief moment before recovering from the sudden flash. When they did, those of Varolia looked on in surprise and awe while Observer and Acnologia became shocked from what they were witnessing.
Hovering high above the ground before the kneeling Emperor and the body of his youngest child, was a being that seemed to be an entity of living sentient energy made up of shards of fractured light that hovered around a single central core at the heart of its body. The being's body of shard light gave off a light bluish color, as warmth and comfort seemingly radiating from the entity's very being.
This was none other than Va'ro, and he was none other than a Naaru, a race known to be the purest living expression of the Holy Light itself of the Great Dark Beyond.
The sight of Va'ro's sudden arrival took the Emperor and everyone else by surprise, as Observer's own eyes widened as the realization of what was before them all was.
'A… Naaru? Here?' Observer thought with complete shock. He did not know much about these being of pure Holy Light, but he was made aware of their existence long ago before he was assigned to the Earthland that he was now resided from, and the Makers too knew of their existence. But never did he thought he would be seeing one in the flesh, on an alternate version of Earthland within a lesser realm no less. Was this Naaru the source of the Holy and Light presence he had detected far underneath the Inner Palace previously during the past few days?
He pushed these thoughts to the side however, as he, Acnologia and everyone else remained silent as the Naaru hovered before the Emperor, who looked surprise to see the being of Light having left his chamber to appear before them all.
"Va'ro?" The Emperor spoke in slight surprise, not expecting the Naaru to leave its chamber to be before them all.
No one else could say anything as a telepathic yet gentle and soothing voice filled the minds of all who were nearby from Va'ro.
"Fear not young one… the Light does not abandon its champions," Va'ro's voice rang through the minds of everyone all around them within himself and the Emperor as the Naaru went on, "In life, Natsu was a selfless soul who always seek to do the right thing no matter the cost. He has inspired countless others in pursuit of a life filled with selflessness, brought hope to all who needed it and fought to save the innocence from those who seek to cause harm and spread evil. A true bearer of great deeds and a living embodiment of a pure life."
Then without warning, light begun to envelope the resting body of Natsu catching the Emperor and everyone else by surprise. The young Prince's body lifted up into the air as light continued to cover and envelope him before the Naaru himself.
"In his passing, he shall know no anguish, worry, despair or the cold grip of death. Instead, he shall taste only paradise…" Va'ro had declared, the warmth of the Light continuing to cover the hovering body of Natsu before the being of Holy Light.
With those words spoken, Natsu's body glowed one final time by the Light that enveloped him before his body begun to fade away… leaving only faint particles of Holy Light as they blew into the wind before slowly fading away themselves.
The Emperor only looked upward to where his youngest son's body was once was, before while still on his knees bended over towards Va'ro as tears spilled from his eyes, though his helmet made it impossible for all to see this.
"Va'ro… thank you…" Was all the Emperor muttered out towards the Naaru before him. The knowledge that his youngest child will know only peace in the next life brought him comfort and security within his soul.
Observer and Acnologia continued watching this scene as Izrail stood before them all, he too looking onward at the sight of Va'ro ensuring that Natsu's soul knew only paradise as the Naaru promised. Knowing that the two Multiverses' travelers were a bit behind him, the nine feet tall golden armored human spoke up grabbing the two's attention.
"Observer… Acnologia… it's best that you two take your leave now. Varolia thanks you for all you done, and we won't forget the effort you put in to save our world." Izrail trailed off, his back still turned to both the Dragon King and Constellar.
That surprise the two of them, not expecting to hear those words to come from the Captain-General. However, Acnologia saw reason in the taller super soldier's words as to the dragon in humanoid form there was now very little reason to stick around any longer. Acnologia turned to face Observer, who felt his draconic companion's gaze upon his form.
"He's right. There's no real reason to stick around any longer. Let them rebuild and mourn over their Prince and fallen in peace." Acnologia told Observer in a rather rare soft tone in his voice.
Observer turned to face Acnologia before nodded in agreement, knowing that their presence here was no longer needed or wanted. Turning behind him, the living constellation opened a blue colored portal with his power a few feet behind where they stood.
The two then begun to make their way over through it, but Observer stopped and turned to face Izrail once again with the latter also overlooking his shoulder to see the Constellar facing back towards him.
"Thank you for your hospitality these past few days… and I with you well on your future. May the Makers watch over you all." Observer told the Captain-General, who nodded back slowly.
"And may the Emperor watch over you both… until the day we meet again." Izrail replied back to both Observer and Acnologia.
With that done, Acnologia entered the portal as Observer lingered for a few moments with his eyes on Izrail before shifting over towards where the Emperor and Va'ro were at for a few extra seconds then turning around and making his way through the portal he had made.
And with that, the portal closed leaving this Earthland and Varolia behind.
'SHORTLY AFTERWARDS WITHIN THE INNER PALACE'
Shouts of the wives of Natsu could be heard even far down the other rooms and corridors as they all lied within the closest infirmary they were delivered too, as doctors and tech-priests were at work to ensure the delivery of the children succeeded while the health of the mothers were watched over and cared for as well. Lucy, Layla, Erza, Irene, Ultear and Ur were all crying out in pain as they were told to push further by the men and women around them helping them deliver the babies. The Lockwarden was outside of these chambers to ensure no unwanted being or potential distractions could enter.
How long this lasted the six women didn't know, but eventually from what liked seemed forever, the cries of newborns filled their ears and the air. The six wives of the Prince all breathing extremely hard as they all lied back in their beds, exhausted and felt like they had just gone through the worst pain imaginable.
"Quick, get the newborn fleshings checked for any potential errors and unwanted circumstances." A tech-priest was heard speaking in a rather mechanical distorted voice to the others around him. An order that was quickly followed as the children were placed in blanket covered hovering pods to be escorted elsewhere for checkups to ensure that no problems arisen within the newborn children of the Prince and his wives.
Erza, Lucy, Ultear, Irene, Layla and Ur all lied within their beds breathing hard as the past while of time caught up to them all. While the latter three women were familiar with the pain of giving birth, it still wasn't any better the second time to go through such a process.
"Rest now to recover your strength. We will ensure your children are vetted quickly to ensure no malfunctions plague their fragile small forms." The tech-priest informed the six women from his position before making his way out of the room along with a few servo-skulls and a couple of other doctors and other tech-priests left the room, leaving them along with a couple of doctors and servo-skulls for the time being.
As the wives of the Prince were left alone in their beds aside from the couple of doctors and servo-skulls that were remaining by their side, they were given moments of silent aside from the beeping and other noises emitting from the machines and devices all around them. The quietness would end as one of the doctors who were checking on Ultear begun to speak up.
"Don't worry, I'm sure no problems will be detected within the children." The doctor assured the dark purple haired woman as well as the other five women resting within their beds, while Ultear turned her head from the pillow her head rested on to look at the doctor.
"Can… can we see them…?" Ultear asked in a soft tone, still quite out of it due to the pain of giving birth.
"Once we ensure no problems are present and they are thoroughly cleaned. You all did well, I'm sure the Prince will be overjoyed once he sees them." The doctor responded with a smile on her face, as the six tired wives also gained smiles on their faces while leaning their heads back into their pillows.
"I'm… I'm a mother…" Ultear whispered as a few tears of joy formed in her eyes, finding it hard to imagine that she was officially a mother as Erza and Lucy also went through similar emotions. Ur, Layla and Irene all smiled from hearing this, knowing the joy they felt when the first time they have given birth to them and the joy they now have for their new children.
The doctors all smiled as they begun to speak once more to the wives of the Prince of Varolia… before the steps of someone grabbed their attention getting them to turn towards the main entrance into their room.
Entering the chamber was Izrail, the Captain-General awfully quiet as he slowly entered into the rather small mechanical infirmary room. The sight of the nine feet tall golden armored man surprised the tired women and the others, yet couldn't speak as the golden armored man beat them to it first.
"Excuse me, could you give me a moment with them alone?" Izrail requested of the doctors, his voice soft and quiet compared to how he normally sounded.
This surprised the doctors, but none the less complied as they all exited the room leaving the Captain-General with the six mothers. Though the servo-skulls were still present as they floated around the room to make sure nothing went wrong with the machinery and devices all around them.
"Izrail… you're here…" Lucy managed to speak up, seeing that last they saw him he took off to aid in the defense of the Imperial Palace.
"Does that mean… the attack's over?" Ur asked from her bed.
Izrail looked up towards them as he nodded in confirmation.
"Yes… the invaders were wiped out. Our glorious Emperor had arrived and cleanse the Palace from their foul taint." Izrail responded, his voice still rather soft and quiet which to be honest puzzled the two blondes, two red heads and two dark purple haired women.
"Natsu's dad is back? That's… good to hear." Irene managed to reply back, still tired from giving birth to her new child she had with Natsu.
"Is Natsu on his way then? I imagine he would want to see… our children." Erza asked with a soft smile forming on her face, having no doubt that the pink haired young man would probably cry out of joy once he sees his newborn children.
They all smiled from the thought… before they grew confuse when they saw Izrail was being rather silent from being asked that while remaining still as a statue. Due to his helmet, none of them could see his expression, the pain in his eyes.
"Izrail… where's Natsu? He's on his way here… right?" Layla asked with concern in her exhausted voice.
Izrail didn't response, which only confused and worried the tired six women further.
"Why are you being so silent?" Lucy questioned, growing more unsettled from the silent she and the other five women were receiving from the nine feet tall golden armored man before them in the room.
"Where's Natsu? He's not hurt… is he?" Ultear couldn't help but ask growing more worried with each passing second from the silent they got from the Captain-General of the Custodes.
Izrail made movement as he looked up slightly towards the resting six women, who all looked more worried as their eyes showed their slowly growing frantic concern.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" Izrail begun to say… before he went onto inform them of what had transpired while they were in labor, his voice remaining soft and gentle while breaking the news to them all.
Outside of their room, the Lockwarden who was informed by Izrail of what had happened and many others remained silent as the heart breaking cries of Erza, Irene, Lucy, Layla, Ultear and Ur could be heard slightly echoing within the other rooms and corridors. Their painful mourns from learning the loss of their beloved tore at them all.
'A COUPLE WEEKS LATER, THE OUTER PALACE'
(Cue: "Anthem of the Angels" by Breaking Benjamin)
The sky was dark as clouds gathered, thunder could be heard occasionally as a drizzle of rain fell throughout the entire nation sized Palace, as if the sky itself was mourning for the occasion that was taking place.
Reconstructing had begun shortly after the invasion a couple weeks ago by the Fel Etherious and the multiverse spanning Alvarez Empire, with the job being done mainly by the servitors and those part of the Mechanicus, though others like the ordinary humans have taken part with the aid of construction. Eventually when some among the Imperial Fist Space Marines managed to arrive onto the scene a few days after the attack they too aided in the rebuilding of the complex that was the Eternal Palace.
Now though… as the weather continued onward billions have gathered throughout the Palace for this sad day, the official funeral for the Prince of Varolia, Natsu.
In an opened space of land between mountains that were within the Imperial Palace's domain, an area had been cleared out as a large statue of the Prince was constructed in his honor. Surrounding the large metallic elevated platform hordes of people stood that stretched out all throughout the Palace. Not only that, but this event was being broadcasted live to the millions and millions of planets and worlds under Varolia's flag, not to mention to space fleets and space stations of Varolia that are scattered across the cosmos as well.
In front of the large statue of the Prince hovering high was Va'ro himself, the Naaru present for the somber event of the loss of one of Varolia's champions. Standing next to the hovering entity of Holy Light stood the Primarchs themselves each of them keeping themselves a few yards away from one another, or at least those who were physically present. Few among them like Domiel were too far away from Earthland to arrive in time for the funeral, instead they were attending through the use of holograms, their images present among the other present Primarchs.
One of the Primarchs that were present was Dacarli, the Void Caller looking out into the endless oceans of humans before and around them all. His eyes darted over towards the other physically presented Primarchs who were also able to make it in time for this event. Those being his brothers, Vulartes, Corvun and, much to his annoyance and anger, Wulfhere.
Vulartes was tall even compared to his fellow Primarch brothers. Standing over sixteen feet and three inches tall, the Primarch's wore bulky dark greenish power armor with golden edges while also having dark brown leathery strips dangling from his belt and shoulderpads. Both shoulderpads he wore had a more darker almost blackish color compared to the rest of his armor, though on his right shoulderpad was a large skull of an unknown creature that was suited for the Primarch's attire. On his chest piece up front was a small skull of another unknown creature with black wings on both of its side to act like a symbol of sorts. He also wore a large green scale-like cape. His head was completely exposed, allowing his baldness to be seen along with his charred black like coal skin and crimson colored eyes. The giant of a man also wielded a large hammer with the top of it shaped to resemble the head of a golden dragon with its jaw open revealing the silvery metallic weaponry within.
Corvun was around Dacarli's current height, being that of thirteen feet and seven inches in height. His bulky suit of power armor that was mostly black with silver edges and lines while also plated with silver colored symbols that resembled ravens. On his back was a jump pack that possessed two large silver wings that resembled giant blades more than actual normal wings. On his hands were sharp Lighting Claws that are always on him to the eyes of others. Compared to Dacarli's greyish skin and Vulartes's charred black skin, Corvun's skin was extremely pale, and he also had long somewhat messy black hair and a thick shaggy black full beard. What stood out the most however if anyone were to see him, aside from his power armor and sheer height, were his pitch-black eyes that some would compare to black holes.
Then the other remaining Primarch who could arrive to attend the funeral of their youngest brother personally, Wulfhere, was just as tall as his brothers being around fourteen feet and six inches in height. He had long blonde and white colored hair that was put up in the form of a long ponytail, and had a thick pure white full beard that covered most of his lower face. He had blue colored eyes also. Like his brothers, he wore rather bulky light bluish greyish power armor that covered his whole body aside from his head which was left exposed for all to see, with a greyish fury coated cloth was visible at the frost of his waist. His right shoulderpad, unlike the rest of his armor, seemed to be covered and made out of a dark bluish purple carapace from a dangerous foe he had struck down millennia ago, being his trophy from the C'thrax he and his brother Vulartes killed during the Heresy of Shadow. He also wore a dark brown fuzzy cloak that went down his back nearly touching the ground behind his feet. On his waist was a large Frost Blade he wielded to strike down any foe that dared to stand in his ways.
Out of the remaining Primarchs, it was only these four who were able to arrive to Earthland in time to be present physically for this sad day for all of Varolia.
Izrail was at the front of the large seemingly unending crowds before the elevated platform and the large state of the fallen Prince, the Captain-General looking around him to see some others who were up front of the large mass of humans. This included Lucy, Erza, Ultear, Layla, Irene and Ur, the six now widows to the pink haired young man all had silent tears as their faces were devoid of any emotion aside from heartbreak. Their newborn children were being watched over back within the Inner Palace, believing that it was best that they weren't in this weather and in such a massive crowd.
Also, in the front of the streams of people were plenty of Custodians, three including Michael, Adriel and Samael who all were somber even if their helmets didn't show it. The nearly naked Custodians had returned a few days after the invasion, and after being informed of what had happened, they were furious and shocked by what had transpired. The three weren't even posing like they normally were always doing, showing their sorrow to the loss of their Prince.
And there, standing before the statue itself below Va'ro was the Emperor himself, his form relaxed and calm despite the sadness that dwelled all within and around him. The five-meter-tall winged God-like human was facing the massive unending crowds before him and those who were watching elsewhere within the cosmos.
The silence that has plague everyone would be broken as the might entity begun to speak for all to hear.
"Natsu was the youngest of my children, and some would argue the most naïve. But like his brothers and every man, woman and child of Varolia, he always believed and fought for what was right. In the face of our adversaries, he never backed down, never relenting, always pushed forward to protect those he cherished. And pushing back and destroying the evils that sought to corrupt and destroy humanity. He was a faithful servant to the Light and to Varolia, always seeking what he believed was the best plan of action to ensure total victory no matter the cost. He was a warrior fierce on the battlefield to his foes, yet also had a heart filled with love and compassion to all who knew him." The Emperor went on to tell for all throughout Varolia listening and watching across the universe.
The winged deity-like being turned around as walked towards the large statue of his youngest now deceased son, placing a hand upon the smooth surface of the large golden commemorative plaque connected to the large base of the statue. His voice still heard by all as he continued onward with his small speech to the massive crowds present and those watching from elsewhere.
"May we never forget this brave soul for the contributions he has made for mankind and for Varolia. His honor and sacrifice will always be remembered. And may be always be remembered as a man who truly cared and loved his people, a caring husband, a great defender of Varolia, a mighty warrior and the Prince that sacrifice his own life for the well being of all of Varolia." The Emperor told them all once more, his hand still present on the plaque on the statue before him.
Leaning slightly forward, he closed his eyes as the God-like entity had memories of his youngest child flash through his mind. From the day of discovering his existence to bringing him to Earthland and all the years seeing him grow up to become the man that he was.
"Rest in paradise… my son…" The Emperor softly whispered once more, removing his hand from the plaque and standing up straight once again.
Everyone remained silent as they simply took this moment to remain just that, many still couldn't believe that their Prince was gone, having died to protect the Imperial Palace from such threats that they weren't away of existing until the fateful day of their attack. Erza, Irene, Ultear, Ur, Lucy and Layla cried a bit more loudly than they wanted too as a few Custodians nearby stood by the smaller human females in support, though there wasn't much they could really do.
(Cue: "Until It's Time" by Project Theory)
The silence would be broken once more as the Emperor could be heard speaking again in a soft tone but still enough volume for all to hear.
"Natsu had been taken from us… by such foes that dared to strike at the heart of our very Empire… by those who believe in nothing but utter destruction and flawed ways of life…" He was heard beginning to speak for all.
The Emperor slowly turned around to face the seemingly endless crowds of humans that stretched beyond the ordinary eye could see, standing straight as he looked outward within the distance. All eyes were on him with anticipation for what he would say next.
"Who among you… will help me avenge him?" The Emperor of Varolia's voice was heard, a simple question that carried much.
And like a switch being turned on, all present within the Outer Palace roared out, their voices reaching the skies as many cried out and shouted for their Emperor as their answer. Like a thundering cry of thunder, their voices were heard filling the air throughout the entirety of the Outer Palace before their Emperor, Va'ro and the Primarchs. Izrail, being at the front of the massive unending crowds raised his fist up filled with vengeance, determination and pride from hearing the simply question by his great majesty.
"FOR THE PRINCE!" The Captain-General yelled out, which quickly gained traction as more and more begun to repeat the simple phrase.
"FOR THE PRINCE! FOR THE PRINCE! FOR THE PRINCE! FOR THE PRINCE!" All voices in the billions chanted aloud in union over and over again on repeat in their support.
The Emperor, Va'ro and the Primarchs, who all gained smiles or expressions of their own emotions, all stood in place as they watched as the voice of humanity was heard in union throughout the continent. And it wasn't just here on Earthland, throughout the millions upon millions of worlds Varolia has under its banner, all who were watching and heard the Emperor's words too cheered out and chanted out the same words that the Captain-General of the Custodes started.
Those who struck at the heart of Varolia have made a grave mistake in doing so. Varolia stands united against all who threatened the Empire of humanity. The Fel Etherious, the multiverse spanning Alvarez Empire, Draconus, the world destroying robot they learned about a while back, and any other that dared to show their face or get in their way will know the error of standing against the Empire of Varolia. No matter how long it takes, their enemies and anyone that stand in their way will crumble by the hands of mankind itself.
Their enemies wanted a war… and war is what they will have.
And there we have it. The Kingdom/Empire of Varolia officially enters as a major player in the story. So expect to see more of this Imperium of Man rip-off throughout the story no longer standing on the sidelines and letting things run amok anymore. It's going to be interesting considering their beliefs and methods of how they get things done… might cause them to make more enemies than allies, but who knows. Only time will tell for that.
But yeah, finally this chapter is done. Honestly, I probably could have gotten it done sooner, but there were times when I had time to work on the chapter I just wasn't motivated and was just lazy to work. That and I struggled a bit since while I had certain parts and events in the chapter already planned out forever, there were also filling the blanks between these segments that were a pain to do. But now it's done… and holy crap I did not expect this chapter to be this long. Why is it every time I think a chapter is going to be a certain length it always ends up being either shorter or longer than I originally thought?
Anyway, what did you all think? Good? Bad? Want me to kill myself? Let me know.
See you all next time, whenever that will be.
The Mindless:
The Wrath of E.N.D: The newest and currently most powerful and dangerous of all Mindless as of date. This gigantic thousand metered behemoth is stated to be the physical manifestation of E.N.D's wrath itself towards the foes of the Fel Etherious. It is covered in a full body suit of armor crafted by the Fel Etherious, made out of unknown metal and machinery to better enforce, empower and protect the giant demon from any attacks. It is capable of numerous abilities such as wielding Fel Fire, firing beams of Fel Energy from its forehead and summoning forth meteors that range in size. When in the mortal physical plane, its strength grows at an alarming rate becoming more of a danger to all who face it. The Wrath's mere presence warps and twists reality and if left alone would eventually tear a hole in time and space that would destroy the entire universe it's in and have it be pulled into the Twisting Nether, allowing the astral plane to absorb it all. Its appearance bears a striking resemblance to the Icon of Sin from Hell.
