I remember the great ages of the past. Every year, a dozen major deities would be killed, every year, a dozen would reform. But once a tury, one of us would be missing. A major Deity would split into various other inations. Some, like Of Fortresses, would need a cataclysmic event to ever wipe out every minor mascot of the local castle at the same time to even have a ce at return.

  Eventually, we realised we were wiping ourselves out. Now, I do not want to kill any of them. Divinity is the Light of this world, it should not be made extinct or reduced to nothing but Iions simply because of our inability to keep the bdes away from each other’s throats.

  Even those I ot personally stand, like Irinika.

  Even someone like Arascus.

  - Excerpt from Alsaria’s Diary. Dated to before the Great War.

  Arascus took a heavy breath, his eyes cold, as he stepped off the edge of the baly. So Alsaria had e. She had dragged whatever that monster was out of the surface of the o. The beast took aep, the multitude of octopus tentacles swinging from head from side to side as it pulled up the o along with it. Oep pulled the water back as the o came to flood the area just taken up by that beast, the cast it forwards again.

  A thunderous tidal wave rolled over the firestorm that had just been called down by the bombers. Steam erupted skyward in a deafening roar, clouds billowing like ghostly spectres as fire fought water. Soldiers shielded their faces from the scalding mist, their cries lost in the chaos. Arascus would have hahat for rgely the same way, Kassie did know how to pick her men out. A lesser general would have wasted too much ammunition on such a minor threat. The God of Pride floated through the air as the army in Nanbasa’s animal reserve started to re-ahemselves. Arascus himself flew higher so that Alsaria would see him.

  Alsaria herself would have to be kept away from the battle itself. Giant monsters were powerful, they could be unstoppable, but they rarely had the speed to cause as much damage as the stro of Divines. An Olephia, an Irinika or an Alsaria were all far worse to face off than something that could be targeted with artillery. At least, that was what Arascus hoped for. He floated higher and withheld on attag yet as the tidal wave caused by the monster’s lumbering steps finally ran out of energy to keep flooding onwards. The one was from a shallower area of the o thankfully, and it only had half the amount of water as the first one.

  Corpses of Uriamel’s army that had been swallowed by the firestorm of napalm were washed away. The giant crabs, their shells cracked open by the heat, the men and sea-wolves and pores, now reduced to dark liquid slurry discoloured by ash by fme, and the upper yer of rod tarmac that had started to melt in the heat. The three giant turtles that had been chewing through what remained of Iniri’s seawall exteheir legs ahemselves be taken by the current. As did the wrecks of the KAF bombers, eae a different model of requisitioned civilian pne.

  Arascus took a deep breath and thought abing Helenna. No, there was no he Goddess would only get annoyed, and she was petent enough o be trusted that she was taking pictures right now. Alsaria was terribly strong and imposing, but if there was ohing Alsaria cked, it was the ability to see the greater picture. Monsters like this could obliterate entire armies in battle, but monsters like this rarely turhe popution towards them. Especially the more inhuman ones. Great beasts could at least rally some image of nobility. Monsters had strength, and that was all they had.

  Arascus flew higher into the air as the moook aep. He tapped into his own power, a golden disk appeared at his side. Then ten. A huhat should be enough to test the monster. Another appeared above him. A bde slid forth from each disk, simply the tip of a sword, a spear, a halberd, and axe or a javelin. Arascus gave one go Alsaria. She hovered in the distance, golden hair and white-gold dress whipping about in the wind, her haended, palms fag to the God of Pride. She was smiling, Arascus smiled back.

  In the air like this, with her, he had holy grown to miss it. It was nostalgic.

  The bdes shot forwards. They peed into that monsters head with barely any effect. A beam of blindingly bzing light left Alsaria’s palms, aiming straight for Arascus and rge enough to bathe the whole God in its dev heat. The disk above Arascus, with a huge bde, exte downwards. It blocked the beam as two more shot out at Alsaria.

  The Goddess of Light dodged to the side. A beam of light appeared from her side. It swept towards Arascus. He stood, unmoving in the air, as a bde fell from the sky to split it in half. The light peeled off, cascaded and reflected off the shinial, and swept into a skyscraper, colpsing it. The bde twisted in the air, shot forwards at Alsaria. A beam of light wiped it from existence.

  An axe swung from above Alsaria. From behind it, more of Alsaria’s power came. It destroyed the axe, then tinued forwards at Arascus. The God parried the blow with a swing of a massive sword that fell out of yet anolden disk. Another skyscraper was hit, it started to slowly topple and fall, the gss g out as it suddenly shattered uhe tension of bei.

  The exges accelerated as the two Divines kept up with each other. They narrowed the gap slowly as Arascus’ ons smashed into buildings around them, and Alsaria’s beams demolished building after building. Twice, her burning light hit the battle lines in the zoo. Lemur artillery and Lynx battle tank simply melted uhe terrible heat that the Goddess of Light could put. Shells and ammunitio off from the heat, and it was only General Sokolowski’s quick orders and pulling the troops to the south that stopped more casualties. Arascus did what he could too, he positioned himself above Alsaria, so that anything she shot past him would harmlessly fly off into the air, and he slowly dragged her to the Northern Quarter of the city.

  Sokolowski pulled the ptoons and men wharrisoning that se of Nanbasa out. Trucks and tanks slowly filtered out, towards the final lines of defen Nanbasa’s goveral districts. For a moment, Arascus lost himself in the dance. Silver steel came to meet blinding light as Alsaria twirled iween skyscrapers. More of the steel giants started to topple uhat deadly daweewo Divihey got closer and closer to each other, until Arascus could clearly make out Alsaria’s glowing eyes and the drops of sweat on her forehead. He knew she was tiring him out too, the back of his shirt felt damp. “Long time no see.” Arascus said.

  “I have to thank you.” Alsaria shouted back. A beam of light nced down from above, f Arascus to dive sideways. At the same moment, a spear materialized beh him, hurtling upward toward Alsaria’s heart. The God dropped a shield from the sky, the Goddess enveloped herself in a bubble of light to block the attack. It disappeared after a moment and the two stared at each other as the moook a step forwards. “Because this does blow off steam.”

  Arascus guffawed into the air. “Great and noble Alsaria? Needing to blow off steam? Never.” A beam of light that was quickly deflected by a sword shut him up. He ig up the tricks in fighting her again though. It was like riding a bike, you never really lost the skill, but you did have to shake the rust off the wheels.

  “I’d like to see you spend a millennium wrangling the White Pantheon.” Alsaria lifted up her arms and shot off another beam. Arascus started to serve his energy, he merely dropped his flight for a moment, fell through the sky, ahe building behind him suddenly have a perfectly spherical hole in it. “You are weaker than in the past.”

  “A thousand years in solitary fi does that to you.” Arascus replied. He unched another bde at her food measure. Alsaria had been tricky to kill ba the past when he was strohan her. When it came to speed, there were only a few that could measure up against the Goddess of Light. “How goes your world?”

  “Excellently.” Alsaria replied. “Until you came back.”

  “If all it takes to knock your house over is a light breeze, it wasn’t a good house Alsaria.” Arascus said as he extended his arm to the huge mohat was taking its first step out of the o.

  “You are correct. Mistakes were made. We went cheap on the foundations.” Alsaria lifted an arm up to the monster with its beard of tentacles. “As you see, they’re going to be far strohis time.”

  “What benevolence.” Arascus shouted, chug. A sword-hilt materialized by his hand, he uhed the bde from the air and gave it a swing. The bde pulsed as if it had its owbeat, each pulse left a copy of it iy. When the swing was fihe dozen copies all short forwards. Alsaria spun in the air as Arascus closed the distance further.

  “Do not pretend you are some paragon of benevoleher.” Alsaria argued back as her body was enveloped by a shield of light. Arascus’ bde passed through her, and where the metal should have drawn divine blood, it disappeared instead. Scorched from existence.

  “It is not an argument of benevolence Alsaria.” Arascus shouted back. “It is an argument of the future.”

  “This debate simply will never end Arascus.” Alsaria shouted back. Arascus simply could not accept the fact that this woman was so stubborn. Arascus smmed into the side of a skyscraper, rebounding off its gss facade just as Alsaria hurtled toward him. She moved like a et ed in dev light. He barely twisted out of the way in time, feeling the heat singe his skin as she grazed past him. “You will stagnate Arda.”

  “Well we’ve seen a thousand years of your rule, haven’t we?” Arascus shouted back.

  “A thousand years of peace, with turies of teological advas that have made even most magic irrelevant! Yes Arascus! Yes!” Alsaria shouted ba joye. “Look and weep at what I have achieved!”

  “I see it Alsaria!” Arascus shouted. “A world so magnifit all that was needed was a single ki the door and the whole rotten structure is ing down!” More bdes fell from the sky at the Goddess. Alsaria took a step bad let them pierto the road and abandoned cars below her. “Where is Epa? Where is Arika? Truly this world loves to be ruled by you Alsaria!”

  “No love is required, all that Arda needs is an example to follow.” Alsaria said coldly. “I am a guiding light for humanity. To steer them away from the rocks, but to let them and the ship themselves!” She flung her arms down at Arascus to unother attack. From the Sun this time, a beam of light as thick as a skyscraper, directly at Arascus. The God of Pride, even if he wao dodge it, would have not been able to move that fast.

  Arascus stood his ground, summoning a silver bde as wide as an a oak. With a single, sweeping motion, he cleaved the beam of light in two. The halves fizzled apart, carving twin trehrough the cityscape below. Arascus tutted, this truly would never end. To think that the Goddess of Light would be the most stubborn of them all. “Humanity makes ideas and ideas guide humanity. It is the same with us! Divinity is bestowed with a divine right to rule!”

  “Then you Arascus, are ahat should o in the history books.” And so the battle tinued. “A world led by a Divine ever hope to surpass that Divine.”

  “Then give it a Divih limitless ambition.” Alsaria cracked a smile as they exged another series of blows. Another building started to topple, suddenly-shattering broken gss making a thin mist in the air.

  “Delusion Arascus. That is what you are talking about. Pure delusion, do you think humanity will never imagine anything greater than you?”

  “There will never be an Of Pride again Alsaria. My demesne will be split into a thousand others.” Arascus replied. “So no. If I die, no one will ever match me.” Alsaria snorted and rolled her eyes.

  “You think too highly of yourself Arascus.”

  “Ciria, Fortia, Maisara, even Kassandora! Do you think they’re not fed in the fires of humanity’s Pride? How many Abstracts exist on such a base level as me?”

  “Simply foolish narcissism.” And the short pause was over. Once again Alsaria’s blinding light carved out a ravihrough Nanbasa’s roads. Once again Arascus’ bdes kept toppling buildings. Once again the God of Pride and the Goddess of Light dahrough the air like two birds in song. Their tune signalling the destru of Nanbasa’s entire northern quarter.

  Blow after blow was exged, until both Alsaria and Arascus were breathing heavily. She had survived the Great War, of course she wouldn’t be an easy kill. But Arascus was disappointed couldn’t eve a scrat her. Then again, she could not even sihe edge of his suit. Arascus put one arm up as drifted down to stand on a skyscraper. “Peace Alsaria, I have a question.”

  If there was ohing that the man respected about the Goddess of Light, it was that she truly was an old breed. Older than most, and stubborn enough to have not been affected too much by Kassandora’s mentality of immediate violence. Someone like Fortia or Maisara would have gone for a swing as they saw the opening. Essa would have already devastated the city. Worldbreaking-breed did not know honour in the way that those from the Age of Heroes did. “What is that Alsaria?” Arascus swung his bde to the monster as artillery expelled napalm over it. It did not eve to the fmes, not to the pin-cushion of bdes Arascus had shot into its head. The creature kept on walking.

  “Uriamel’s Divian.” Alsaria said. “It is Starspawn, not of this world.” Alsaria let Arascus gaze at it for a moment longer, her voice thick with pride. “Your monopoly on Titans has ended, I too have one now.” Arascus rolled his eyes. Alsaria was brilliant, but sometimes she really acted er than a little girl.

  Although maybe he did deserve it. He had been the only oo try and overshadow light. “Well done.” He answered sourly.

  “Ktulu.” Alsaria said smugly. “We are not having a repeat of the Great War. Your insurre ends here.” Arascus merely watched, at an angle, so he could keep an eye on Alsaria and otle happening iral Nanbasa. Pnes were ing in rapidly, out of formation too. Sokolowski was simply requesting whatever was avaible.

  Ktulu stopped. He swung his arms to the sides, then upwards. His head, no afme with napalm and pin-cushioned by Arascus’ bdes that fell from the sky, was twisted backwards to reveal the beak underh that curtain of tentacles. The beak twisted, it opened. It started as a mere squeak, the sort squirrels would make. In a moment, it became an ear-pierg screech that shattered the gss windows of the skyscrapers in most of Nanbasa. A fog of shattered gss filled the ringed city for a moment before it started to dissipate.

  Arascus looked down on the ground when he heard the cursed wailing of that monster. He looked down at the ground. Trees grew out of trol, as if they were suddenly part of the creeping Jungle in the try’s western half. Yet the Jungle did not discolour them into a sickly, pgued bck. It did not make the branches grow out of trol either. They twisted and curled as if every inch of the wood had bee its own lifeform and was trying to outpete its neighbours.

  And then Arascus saw the first trench-line of men. They had dropped their guns. Some had curled into balls on the ground, a few had shot themselves with their own guns. Those were the lucky ohe ones who stayed alive lost trol of themselves, their bodies grew pitch bck. Skin became scales, teeth became fangs, eyes discoloured to terrible reds and bcks and browns. They stood up straight, turned and raced at men who once were their rades.

  And Ktulu took a step forwards. The cursed wailing hit the rench line.