Strea stood in front of the crowd of Fallen Gods, a serious expression on her face. Of those gathered here, she was the only one that had personal experience fighting the Guardian. Thus, despite Leowynn herself being in attendance, she had been the one who was asked to speak to the masses.
There were over thirty Fallen Gods in attendance, most of them having been raised by the Starry Night church over the last several years. In addition, there were a few that came in response to the summon they had put out, without being directly related to the church itself.
“Thank you everyone for coming on such short notice.” Strea said, her voice solemn. “I’m sure that everyone here has taken note that the Guardian’s armor has been shifting as of late. Today, we received confirmation that the Guardian has turned entirely against the world, and is now actively protecting the void beasts that it once sought to destroy.”
After she said that, one lycan raised his hand and questioned. “Couldn’t we have dealt with the situation before now? Like you said, its armor has been changing for a while.”
Strea looked like she was about to speak up before a soft voice echoed out. “I believe that the blame for this lies solely with myself.” Everyone turned their eyes to look at the speaker, seeing none other than Leowynn, her hair shining like gentle starlight. “I created the Guardian, and I should have investigated it more closely, rather than the cursory examinations that I gave it over the years.”
“The problem here is similar to running a program with a memory leak. You can tell that something is going on for a good while before everything suddenly changes. Only, instead of shutting down, the Guardian evolved in a way contrary to its initial programming. All of the energy that I poured into the Guardian’s creation has now been turned into a weapon aimed at our worlds.”
Silence fell over the room as Leowynn finished speaking. Nobody had it in them to openly criticize the Greater Pantheon, even when she herself admitted to her mistake. Instead, Strea cleared her throat, continuing to speak.
“I have fought the Guardian myself, which is why I have summoned everyone here. Even with all of us… I cannot say that I am entirely confident. However, I will go over the details of my battle with all of you. In actuality, the battle was incredibly short. I fired an attack at the void beasts, which the Guardian effortlessly defended against. Afterwards, I used my authority to trap it within a realm of shadows, and launched another attack.”
“Although the Guardian had been successfully imprisoned, it managed to cut its way out, blocking the attack again before it landed. That was when it attacked me personally. A single swing of its sword was enough to cleave my body in half from a considerable distance. Furthermore, the energy of my lower body was drained away, and I was unable to retrieve it.”
Leowynn nodded her head at that. “According to the revised programming I saw, it did not treat you as a threat until you personally attacked it. As long as you were only attacking the void beasts it was protecting, it wouldn’t touch you. It simply marked you as an enemy when you changed your target to imprison it.”
Strea blinked, offering a small nod. “If that is the case, we may be able to prepare a bit more, using whatever enhancement techniques are at our disposal before launching our first attack.”
“There is something I would like to contribute to that discussion, in fact.” Leowynn spoke up, her expression serious. She turned to the door. “You can come in now.”
The door opened, and the eyes of those inside shook. None other than the Keeper himself stepped into the room, his hands at his sides. “In order to best secure our victory, I have asked for the Keeper to personally get involved in this fight. This was a problem created by the Greater Pantheon, so it is only right for us to do our best to resolve it.”
“However, be warned that he will not be directly attacking the Guardian. Instead, his job in this fight is to provide a field for all of you to battle in. With this field cut off from the void, the powers of the Guardian will be greatly diminished.”
“Our own powers will be affected as well, will they not?” Another fallen asked curiously, to which Leowynn nodded her head.
“Normally, that would be the case. If the Guardian cannot access the power of the Void, then naturally neither could you. That is why I will also be participating. Once the Keeper has moved everyone to the proper field of battle, you will all have access only to the void powers present within your bodies. However, one of my domains is the Void. I can use my divinity to establish a connection between each of you and the void for the duration of this fight.”
The questioning party nodded his head, seeming content with the answer. In the end, it was none other than Strea that spoke up. “Will the Keeper’s trap be effective? I mean no disrespect, but the Guardian escaped mine as if it were nothing.”
“That is because your trap relied on the energies of the void.” The Keeper said with a small smile. “Mine will rely purely on my divinity. Additionally, all of you will be fighting it at the same time, preventing it from being able to focus on escaping. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed before we go? I’m sure that everyone understands that time is of the essence. Right now, we have no idea how many void monsters have infiltrated this world under the Guardian’s protection. For that matter, they may already be attacking every other world in full force.”
The room fell silent at that, Leowynn offering a small smile of acknowledgement. “In that case, let us be off.” After saying that, she tore open a void gate next to herself, allowing everyone to pass through it and into the void far away from the Guardian.
Each of these Fallen Gods seemed to bring some form of phenomena when they entered the void, these strange signs persisting for several moments before being restrained within their bodies. “I expect everyone here to take this seriously. Remember that your lives are very much on the line, as well as the lives of everyone that you have ever known.” The Keeper spoke, his eyes focusing on the large figure of the Guardian positioned in the distance.
With a wave of his hand, a mirror appeared beneath the feet of each of those standing around him. The moment the light of the mirrors flashed, the Fallen Gods and Leowynn disappeared, transported to a grassy meadow. The Fallen Gods looked at one another briefly, confirming that they had no access to the void, before their faces became grim. They only felt like this when they were synchronized with their Virtual selves, making them feel rather powerless.
At least, that was how it was at the start, before Leowynn clasped her hands together. “May those present wield the void through me.” She spoke up, and everyone felt that familiar connection established again, even if it did feel a bit more distant.
“Everyone, get into position!” Leowynn’s voice called out, snapping everyone out of their thoughts. “Spread out to prevent it from taking you all at once!”
At her words, the Fallen Gods began to move, spreading themselves out while they began enhancing themselves with their various abilities. They didn’t dare summon their sanctuaries for fear that the Guardian could use it as a connection to the void, but they still had other ways to fight.
Roughly five minutes later, a massive circle appeared in the sky above the meadow, a flash of light emerging before it vanished. In its place, the Guardian now stood, its body towering high above any of the Fallen Gods. Leowynn bit her lip nervously, able to properly assess how much power the Guardian possessed.
In the worst case scenario… you may need to shatter this portal and everyone in it, dad. Leowynn said, knowing that she would be the only one capable of surviving an event like that. The majority of the power from her church was present, but she was still unsure if that would be enough.
That won’t happen. The Keeper’s voice echoed back to Leowynn, making her eyes go wide. Everyone there is important for this world. If you truly can’t do it, I’ll think of another way. For now, we go with your plan. Have faith in yourself, my little star.
Leowynn blinked at that, before a wide smile filled her face. Right!
For her part, Leowynn had to act as a relay station to allow the other Fallen Gods to activate their own powers. They used these powers to sling fire and ice, cut space itself, or even conjure the image of a great moon within the sky. In the meantime, the Guardian seemed to have recognized the situation it was in, lashing out and swinging its sword against some of the attacks used against it.
Leowynn continued to analyze the pattern of the Guardian, noticing that it only parried those attacks which contained enough power to cause it any damage. Otherwise, it would simply allow the attacks to hit its body without any sign of concern. It’s smart… that’s no surprise, but it seems like it has grown even beyond what I gave it.
“Are we late to the party?” A voice spoke up from behind Leowynn, causing her to blink and look back. Standing behind her were a pair of identical twins, smiling at her. “The big girl upstairs said that you needed us.”
Leowynn’s eyes went wide as she recognized the identity of the Terra twins. “Please, if there is anything that you can do…”
The two grinned at each other, nodding their heads. “We haven’t tried to combine for a battle yet, but this sounds like it’d be important.”
“Right? What better time to test the true power of fate?” The one that had spoken summoned a black book in her hand, the other calling forth a golden book. The two placed their backs together, their books against their chests.
“I am the story that has come to pass.” The sister with the black book said, her eyes closing as the other spoke.
“And I am the inspiration that is to come.” After her voice faded, the bodies of the two sisters seemed to merge into each other, becoming a singular existence. When this single felyn opened her eyes, they revealed pools of endless darkness, a soft smile adorning her face.
“I am the fate of the world. What do you wish of me?” The figure asked, Leowynn thinking it over for a moment.
“Is there anything that you can do to turn the tides of this battle?” She asked, turning to look at the battlefield behind her. With the Fallen Gods unable to summon their Sanctuaries, they weren’t able to inflict any true damage on the Guardian. In fact, they were only barely keeping it from stabbing at the sky in a bid to escape. The thought of trying to rewrite or erase him was all but impossible if they couldn’t do more.
“You wish for the fate of this creature to be severed?” The merged form of Terra asked, raising a hand to aim it at the Guardian. “In that case, it shall be done. All fates shall lead this creature to its doom.” A deep echo spread out from Terra as she said that, with even the Guardian noticing.
It turned its head to look at her, before jumping back quickly, foregoing its normal defensive strategies as if attempting to run away. It seemed to have sensed some deep danger from Terra, who simply smiled as she watched it go.
“The power of Fate cannot be escaped by foot or by flight. It is everywhere, both before and behind. Your fate has been cut. Now… I must sleep.” Terra said, her eyelids growing heavy. “This body is not fit to use my power for long.” As she said that, her body became blurred, before splitting open and falling to either side as the two individual Terra twins. Both twins had their eyes closed, as if they had fallen into a deep slumber.
Seeing this, Leowynn bit her lip, hoping that the power of an Origin was really as strong as Terra had claimed. When she turned to look at the Guardian, she saw that it was still desperately running away, jumping over mountains and forests as it sought to flee from where she was standing. At the same time, the Fallen Gods behind it gave chase, forgetting their earlier concerns.
Eventually, one of them summoned their sanctuary, causing Leowynn’s eyes to go wide in shock. She was just about to call out for them to stop when more and more sanctuaries began to appear, surrounding the Guardian on all sides. It continued to charge ahead, as if aiming to smash through the sanctuary before it without trying to borrow any of its power.
Is this… Fate? Leowynn asked in confusion, watching the sanctuaries overlapping and trapping the Guardian in a looping region of space. Their attacks grew stronger and stronger, while the Guardian seemed unable to resist. Even when it realized that running was futile, and turned to brandish its sword against the Fallen Gods, they did not waver.
It began to borrow the power of the sanctuaries, enhancing its strikes enough that it slew two Fallen Gods with a single slash, but it was as if the others didn’t see. Their attacks grew more frenzied, pushing the Guardian back again and again and causing cracks to appear in its armor.
This is my chance! Leowynn thought, or rather, it felt like a voice inside her said. She took a step forward, instantly traversing the space between her and the battlefield, and shoved her arm into the crack of the Guardian’s armor. She wasn’t sure how, but she could feel the core of the Guardian directly in front of her arm. With her domain of Void, she wrapped her energy around that core and shattered it.
