Where the worlds of the aetheric and physical collided, few could stand in the presence of the world core.

Six did more than just stand.

Six fought for the fate of everyone and everything they held dear.

Agarius stood defiant against the storm. A dwarf with skin like the finest emerald wielded his oversized axe as if it were nothing more than morning mist as he decapitated another line of drones.

Marina directed the fury of nature as the merfolk danced through the air without water, manifesting her element and sending even more of their foes into the abyss between realities.

Sigil, a seven-foot, seven-tailed kitsune harnessed the elements to rewrite reality and stop waves of attacks before they began as her mistress, a beast master of no more than fifteen rode her back, doing what she could among the force of nature.

Electrum, a woman wreathed in fire melted skin and metal alike raged as the storm surged. Twin fists of fire ripped and tore at her opponents, leaving burned and melted husks in her wake.

Kess, the hooded figure clad in starlight and shadow held the line as the last resort. Tapping into the powers of time and space itself, he forged a well of gravity and accelerated time so dense that the world core of their home even began to slow in his presence.

But even with all their power, It made no difference.

The Starfallen’s minions continued to come.

They came clad in elemental armors of blues and reds, greens and browns, whites and yellows, metal and flesh. They were the minions of a monster greater than all that had come before, corrupting all that dared reach for power and devouring them like a child offered endless sweets.

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Like a never-ending swarm of locus, they poured into reality unabated by time and space, spending themselves like water against a bursting dam, always confident in the next wave to come, and come they did.

The battle raged.

Countless minions were slain, but step by step, the line was pushed back.

There were no more gods to help them as that line was drawn long ago. Without champions, they were powerless. All but Eventide could only sit back and wait.

The Outsiders refused to directly interfere with a lesser world. Even if it may become a pan-dimensional threat, they could not act until then.

The world’s soul flared and fought with all it had.

Despite all their power, despite being able to tap into the power of the world itself to fuel their spells, their loss was as good as etched in steel.

Their world was inching slowly from attrition to destruction.

Once a world core was tainted, taken, or broken, the world’s patterns, magics, and physical structure were quick to follow. Like a body without a soul as a guide for healing, there was nothing left to save.

It wouldn’t be a pretty end, but even so, there was always time for banter.

“You son of a thrice damned sket, you’ve damned us all!” Kess screamed, knowing it could hear. “Come here so I can punch you in the face!”

The darkness of the nexus rumbled with what could only be described as boulders crashing into the earth at terminal velocity, and the line of opponents grew.

“Oh, why don’t you come out here and say that to my face!”

It was a weak ploy, and he knew it.

Form the endless maw of shadows, the fractured rainbow of power marched forward, and the defenders fell back behind Kess’s line.

“What, too good for to see…”

The world core’s realm fell silent, and a man...

No.

He was no longer a man.

A monster emerged from the darkness. The body of the creature was cracked and repositioned like a broken pane of glass put back together against the will of reality.

His edges were sharp, his features distorted, but the greed was clear in his eyes as he looked over the remaining defenders, the last step between him and the power he so desperately sought.

“Oh, my dear child, I’m never too good to teach you a lesson or two.” With each step, reality shattered into facets of itself, joining the chaos of the monster’s form. In his wake, his minions warped and melted back into mana as reached the front line. “Where should I begin?”

Through the shadows, Kess smirked.

“Gotcha.”

With a snap and exertion of power, Overseer enacted his failsafe, and the world within a world came to a screamingly silent halt.