Act 3, Scene 7
22nd of the 4th Cycle
A cocoon of Void wrapped around the Lord of Storms, only for her to tear it apart from the inside.
Another lance of crackling electricity shot out, crashing into the Lord of Void. Paimon screamed as she was thrown into the pillar of a torii gate. Beelzebub shot forward, electricity arcing up and down her spear, killing point ready to pierce the heart of the Lord of Void.
Paimon blocked her with a subspace lance, but the momentum smashed her through the pillar. The torii gate crumbled into dust.
From his place, Aether could tell that Paimon was losing.
Every odd was against her, for every second the fight prolongs, more and more of her Authority is leeched away by Beelzebub. Furthermore, she is fighting in the enemy's home ground, in Beelzebub's personal reality, the Plane of Euthymia.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Aether could even tell she was way out of her depth fighting Beelzebub. Paimon was a ruler, a commander of men. This morning, she stayed in the back while she ordered her Void Beasts to do her bidding.
Beelzebub was a warrior, she is a master in close-range combat. While her sister ruled Inazuma, Beelzebub led her armies. She herself put it best;
"I have been killing gods since I was a Yokai, you are no match for me!"
She cut downwards, and Paimon sidestepped in the nick of time.
Aether must do something to even the odds, but he was disadvantaged as well. The Plane of Euthymia exists in an entirely different plane, and starlight does not reach here. He couldn't operate at full capacity.
Thus, Aether decided his interference in the fight will prove to be inconsequential. He must find another way. Think! How could he tilt the playing field in Paimon's favour?
He doesn't need to, Aether realised, he just needed to break the playing field. And that was much easier to do.
Every plane of creation exists in equilibrium, like a ship floating in the Sea, except reality is the ship and the cargo is everything that exists in said reality. He needed to make the cargo heavy enough that the ship could no longer hold its weight.
If I had a coin for every time I've tried to break reality using conceptual weight, I'd have two coins. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
He immediately found what he could use. The corrupted moon is easily the largest and heaviest object in the Plane of Euthymia. Aether willed starlight into his eyes, and burned through the illusion, and he saw the truth of it.
The corrupted moon was the corpse of a god. A Void God, to be exact, and everything clicked in his head. Personal realities are a hallmark of Void Gods, and Soul Gods, it is kind of in the job description. As a newborn Void God, Beelzebub shouldn't be able to sustain the Plane of Euthymia on her own, so she is using a catalyst, which is the corpse.
Aether grinned, he just hit the jackpot. After making sure Beelzebub and Paimon are still engaged in fighting one another, he leapt off the platform and flew towards the 'moon.' There, he closed his eyes and reached into himself, and kick-started his second heart.
Starlight flooded his bloodstream, veins of gold ran up and down his limbs. He gripped the 'moon,' and started pumping starlight into it, like filling a balloon. The Lord of Storms quickly noticed what he was trying to do.
She turned, and for the first time Aether could see the barest hints of shock on her face. Her distraction cost her, and Paimon wrapped her in Void chains. Just as Beelzebub was about to break free, subspace lances materialised and pinned her to the ground. Paimon met his gaze and nodded in understanding.
Paimon dematerialised, and added her efforts to his own. As Beelzebub struggled to break free, a 'moon' began to bloat, miasma poured from its crevices as he and Paimon filled it with more and more power.
The Plane of Euthymia shuddered, and began falling apart. Beelzebub tore herself free, and leapt at them, cold rage marring her features.
"NO!"
Too late.
On the streets of Inazuma City, the last fires in Hanamizaka were put out. The Void Beasts were long gone, disappearing with their mistress. As they breathed a collective sigh of relief, Inchiki Castle exploded.
Inazumans watched as a great plume of ash burst from the roof of the Raiden Shogun's seat of power. And from the ash emerged a dead moon, red and black, bleeding gold. It rose into the Sky, lifted by two individuals.
A certain astrologer palmed her face.
Meanwhile, Aether was rejoicing at being under the warmth of the Sun once more, power flooded back into him. But it was not to last. Below them, Beelzebub raced after them, lightning flashing in her eyes.
Paimon spoke to him, "This corpse is much more important than we thought. Not only does it sustain the Plane of Euthymia, it is also what's allowing Beelzebub to transition into a Void God."
Aether understood. If the moon was destroyed, Beelzebub will lose all her progress, and Paimon would recover all her lost power. As if reading his mind, Paimon spoke to him again.
"I'm not going to destroy it, I'm going to devour it."
That works too.
"I'll delay her, make it quick." He responded.
Turning around, a lance formed in his hand and he launched it down. Beelzebub tried to knock it aside with her naginata, but Aether expected that. As the spear contacted the lance, it exploded, knocking the Lord of Storms off to the side, and off-balance.
Aether rushed down, eager to keep up the momentum. He crashed into the Storm God, sparks flying as naginata and sword hit each other time and time again. Aether was slowly being pushed back, Beelzebub was a much more experienced warrior, but he held on.
Behind and above him, Paimon screamed, "Benares, to me!"
Off to the side, a monstrous dragon broke into Teyvat, roaring to announce their presence. Aether realised what Paimon was trying to accomplish, and his foe did as well. The Lord of Storms immediately disengaged and headed to intercept the dragon.
"Oh no you don't!"
Only for a ball of fire to smash into her back. She swivelled around, her spear lashing out just in time to meet his sword.
They engages in a flurry of blows, culminating when Beelzebub locked his sword against her spear haft and twisted it out of his hand. Before he could recall his blade, her naginata pierced his gut, he choked. She twisted the polearm, and ripped it out of him, churning his insides to mush.
He wobbled in the air, and fell out of the sky. Again.
This time however, he was wide awake, and watched as the Void Dragon, Benares, tore into the corpse. It ripped out chunks and gulped it down, ingesting centuries of accumulated karma. The dragon died, and was reborn as a god.
Beelzebub realised the tide had turned against her, and flew back down, passing by him as she entered Inchiki Castle through its ruined roof.
Meanwhile, the dragons' newfound power bolstered Paimon's own, and she transferred Void into him. Aether landed on one of the highest floors of Inchiki Castle. He crawled to the edge, where he saw that the explosion had created an atrium in the centre of the castle.
At the bottom floor, he saw Beelzebub holding the Raiden Shogun by the neck, siphoning out the energy which powered the puppet. She is trying to recover energy, Aether realised, the puppet alone must take up tons of power to run.
The puppet's once healthy skin turned grey, and Beelzebub threw the lifeless body off to the side, now nothing more than a dried-up husk.
Aether quickly backtracked, until his back hit the wall. He began healing himself, bringing his hand to his stomach cavity and ripping out his ruined intestines. He threw them off to the side, they looked minced, to put it lightly.
If I had a coin for every time I had to replace part of my body battling a god, I'd have two. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Forming new intestines out of Void, he replaced his old ones with the faux organs, then covered it up with starlight skin. He sighed.
Aether shakily stood up, just in time to see Paimon descend through the broken roof, and Beelzebub ascend to meet her.
Footsteps were heard, multiple people were climbing the stairs. They must be the Okuzumeshuu, bodyguards of the Shogun. And they likely just saw the Shogun's corpse downstairs.
Paimon heard them, then turned to him "Handle them."
Aether got to work, the first Okuzemeshuu who reached the floor was met with a spear in the face. The second was met with a sword in his heart, and Aether began making his way downwards.
If - Aether thought as he dodged a spear thrust - I had a coin for every time - he rebounded, stabbing a man in the chest with his comrade's spear - I had to make my way down a staircase fighting a bunch of people - he leapt forward, his knee smashing into another's nose and knocking a bunch of men to the ground like dominos - I'd have two. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
As they struggled to get up, he leapt off the staircase and threw a fireball at it. The Okuzumeshuu were roasted alive in their armour.
On the other side of the floor, more Okuzumeshuu rushed into the room. There must be another staircase. Before Aether could continue killing, a voice rang out.
"Stand down."
It was Beelzebub's voice. The Okuzumeshuu were startled.
"Your Excellency?" One called, "But… but we thought…" He trailed off.
Aether mocked them, "Did you really think a god would die so easily? Do you have such little faith in your god?"
The one that spoke flinched, the others were angrier. Another man stepped forward, brandishing his sword.
"Do not make me repeat myself."
The true God of Eternity descended, followed by the Lord of Void. The Okuzumeshuu clearly recognised Paimon, but said nothing out of fear.
"We have come to an agreement. Begin rebuilding."
"Y-yes Your Excellency!" They rushed to obey her orders, vague as they were.
Aether leaned on his spear, he felt like collapsing, but still had his pride. "Are we done, then?"
Beelzebub stared at him, "Indeed. Help me end my war, and I will help search for your sister in my lands."
Good enough for him. He mock saluted, and started making his way down. Paimon really came through for him this time, he turned his head to look at her.
She gave him a smug smile.