Date's deep bellow haunted the air, louder than anything they had heard anyone roar before. It was the agony of a Reiszer's magic bypassing defences, severing your nerves and causing unimaginable pain as it tore through flesh and frayed every ounce of neural and magical pathway.
As Jorunn channelled her inner anger through her blades and into Date, she drove the weapons deeper into his neck.
"This is for everyone you've hurt, you wretched stag!" Jorunn declared, her voice filled with righteous fury. "I'll sever your head, just as you did with my brother's-"
“GET OFF OF ME YOU DRUDGE!” Date bellowed with a deafening resonance. With a swift motion, he seized Jorunn by her dreaded hair and flung her to the ground with brute force. Still screaming, he hurled her over to Kiur with a savage gesture, his anger boiling over in a display of raw power.
“You think you could kill me, you miserable cur!?” Date cracked his neck. The shoulder plates slumped and broke back into position. It looked like he was physically unbothered by the attempt at his life. “Big mistake, you termagant. I'll tear you from limb to limb and make you watch as I devour your flesh.”
Jorunn gathered herself up with the help of her sword. She could barely stand with the poison still coursing through her and spit to the ground. “Try me, Stag-man. I'm running on pure spite.”
Date bellowed again. He raked at his fake hair and clothes. His massive antlers swayed violently as Jorunn brought him into a frenzy.
“Hey, golden boy,” she called out to Kiur. “I didn't wake up to find out we'll be dead soon. If I already die here, then I at least want to avenge my family. Date has to pay for how he treated my father… Hey, do you understand me?”
Kiur's hands trembled as he stretched them towards Ninda, and the others sprawled in the distance. He could feel the faint heartbeats pulsating through the earth, but suddenly, everything fell silent. Their heartbeats stilled, and Kiur's mind crumbled.
“Get a grip!” Gilgamesh shouted, futilely shaking Kiur to his senses. “Listen to me, Lotte. Don't fall back into the deep! If you do then-”
Thunder tore above them, and Gilgamesh looked up at the darkening sky. He knew it was too late. There was nothing he could do to stop them now. “Fuck. This will have repercussions. I can't stop her now.”
“I'LL PAINT THIS SITE WITH EVERYONE'S BLOOD, POLYGLOT,” Date bellowed louder than the distant thunder and clanged with his spear against the ruins. “YOU HEAR ME? EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD AND IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE FOR YOU!”
When an earthquake rumbled through the desert, the ground trembled and cracked further, fissures spreading across the surface of the Achernar. Its once-sturdy facade fractured while streaks of purple and gold lightning cracked through the sky like snapped wires over everyone’s heads. With each passing moment, the quakes intensified, breaking apart the very foundation below their feet.
Tabira winced, pressing her hand against one ear as she cradled Ninda’s closer. The tumultuous shouts of the gods reverberated through her skull, splitting it apart with pain. Those attuned to the gods, like the priests, were particularly sensitive to their emotions.
But Kiur was different. He possessed a sensitivity far beyond any other priest in their generation. His potential to connect with the divine was unparalleled. Tabira couldn't begin to fathom the overwhelming cacophony of sounds he heard as he sang his laments amidst the chaos.
“Ninda, I'm sorry. We couldn’t help you.” Tabira rubbed the blood off the child's face and gasped when she saw her opening them slowly.
Ninda’s eyes glowed in a faint blue light as fresh blood trickled from her lip. A blue flame ignited to life inside the child's chest. She turned her head and raised her hand towards Kiur to reach out to him. Before Tabira knew it, those who died by Date and the Reiszer stood back up. Fresh blood oozed from their wounds and glazed eyes. Their chests ignited and turned into a sea of blue flames.
Date laughed at the sight. Samuru tightened the grip on his sword. “My lord, something’s not right.”
“What do you mean?” Date laughed. His eyes never left the Achernar’s slow demolition. “We are reaching the height of the gods. No soft return needed. We should have smashed the Achernar earlier.”
Another boom resounded from the sky at the comment. Kiur’s laments grew. The earth split further apart, and Reiszer fell through the cracks. Tabira let go of Ninda and cried out as the yelling in her head intensified.
“She's coming. Brace yourself.”
“Who's coming!?” Tabira yelled. “Enlil, what's happening!?”
Enlil, Tabira’s patron god, appeared before her—although just his cloudy, bearded face veiled in blue light. He rarely or never appeared before anyone like this. And his grave expression barely helped.
“The Gods are in uproar. The Queen of the Great Below is stirring.”
Tabira gasped. Just the mention of the underworld queen struck fear in her heart. She knew all too well the power and malice associated with this feared deity. Invoking her name was considered a grave omen, capable of bringing untold misfortune upon those foolish enough to speak it out aloud. Even the gods of heaven themselves trembled at the mere mention of her, treating her emissaries with the utmost respect and deference as if she stood before them herself.
The Queen of Irkalla was infamous for her ruthlessness, sparing no one that crossed her domain—not even her own sister. The realisation dawned upon Tabira, she understood the true nature of the emotions the gods were experiencing. It was not just anger.
It was absolute terror.
Date leapt, brandishing his spear. “Keep it up, polyglot! Killing you will have more benefits than keeping you alive- Hgnh?!”
Date looked in surprise when his spear came to a sudden halt, and he was suspended in midair. Those previously deceased and returned to life grabbed hold of his spear before he could stab Kiur with it.
Ninda spoke first. Her burning eyes glowed. “Stay away from him.”
The torrent Ninda unleashed tore into Date’s clothes, but he pried his spear free and swung at Ninda. “Stay gone, child!”
The spear's tip hit the ground when Kiur redirected it with a sudden strength in his arm. Jorunn used this chance to strike the Reiszer. “I don’t know what’s happening, but the tides seem to have turned against you, Date!”
Date growled, but Jorunn never got to him as Samuru came in between with his sword to stop her.
“Samuru, deal with her,” said Date. “I’ll take care of the boy.”
The servant nodded. “Yes, Lord. Show me what you got, Ragnarsdottir.”
Date swung his long spear horizontally. He shoved away before him and swung again at Kiur, who conjured a spear from stone to block it.
“Got your fire back, didn't you? Good, use it. Destroy the gods’ testament!”
Kiur’s eyes glazed over. He couldn’t even see Date in all the blur. His head hurt; his heart couldn’t take it anymore. He let out another lament as the pain became too unbearable.
The Achernar’s facade broke off further. Clouds darkened the sky until the sun was almost gone. The shadow of downcast wings flew through the sky, reaching higher than the piercing obelisk and blocking the sun. A demon arrived.
—❂—
Ragnar's disbelief was palpable as he spoke. "What is happening?"
"Chaos," Cylia replied, her voice tinged with nervosity as she breathed out the last bits of it for the battle ahead. "But it changes nothing. It’s our only opportunity. Everyone, it's now or never!"
The Idariens standing beside Cylia erupted in angry shouts, brandishing their fists and makeshift stone weapons. Riding on the Asag, Cylia surged ahead, leading the charge followed closely by the Escapees. Xander hesitated a moment longer, lingering with the soldiers. Ragnar reached out to him, concern etched on his face.
"Sonny, you don't understand who we're up against," Ragnar cautioned.
Xander didn’t look away from the challenge ahead. He gently pulled Ragnar's hand away. "It doesn't matter. I have to do this."
Ragnar watched as Xander joined the others in their sprint towards the fray, leaving Ragnar with his uneasy soldiers. They exchanged awkward glances, unsure of their next move. Despite his misgivings, Ragnar couldn’t just join the fight. He sank to the ground, resting his fists on his knees and gazing down at the sand below.
“Ragnar, what are we supposed to do?” They asked, but Ragnar had no answer. He was too lousy for a leader to give orders now.
He was at fault for their situation. With Date back, getting everyone out was not a viable option anymore. Ragnar regretted the choices he made until now. There was no turning back in time. No bringing back the dead.
“Aren’t you gonna give them a command?”
“What the–!” Ragnar jumped back from the man sitting suddenly next to him. “Who are-” Ragnar noticed his soldiers frozen in place like time had stopped. His body—his real body—wasn’t moving. He stood beside it. “What just happened? Who are you!?”
“Relax, will you?” said Shamash, the Sun God. “I’ve temporarily removed your soul from your body. Don’t worry, it’s not harmful. At least for a while. I might need to fill out some paperwork later.”
“I- wha- huh-”
“Contain your shock; we don't have time for that,” warned Shamash as his golden hair danced in the hot wind. He reached out with his sun-kissed hand to draw Ragnar’s sword and held it before the Reiszer. “You're marching to battle, Ragnar. You're delaying too much. Take your sword and fight.”
“Stop! First, who in Helheim are you, and who are you to tell me what to do?” Ragnar tried to pry his sword free from the god's hand, but it wouldn't butch.
Shamash narrowed his eyes at him. Half his body shed like golden flakes from a wall, changing his appearance. The left side of his face became fair-skinned, his eye turned blue, and his golden hair grew and braided itself. His smile and face emitted an aura of peace and tranquillity while the right glared at Ragnar with absolute judgment.
“I'm the God of the Sun. A judge of the Underworld” said his right side. Then his left spoke, “I'm the God of Sunshine, Summer and Prosperity.”
“I'm Shamash/Freyr, and I've come to implore you. Fight, Ragnar Marcet.”
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Ragnar’s sword transmitted a warm ray of light into his fingers. He found himself back at Camp when he faced Kiur when he returned to Ragnar his sword. It was an heirloom long inherited in Ragnar’s family and last given to his deceased son. He thought it was a lost relic that brought him and his family nothing but misfortune. Giving it away to Kiur, he subconsciously thought he’d never see it again.
It got his brother killed, his nephew, then his son and almost his daughter. Yet when he touched his sword again, he felt warmth fill the weathered leather grip from where Kiur had gripped it. Ragnar found himself amidst the chaos where Kiur and Date fought.
After everything the boy and everyone else went through, they were still holding up a fight. Just like Ragnar’s daughter as she fought Date’s retainer, who killed her brother by Date’s order.
The image faded, and Ragnar found himself before the god with the two faces.
“I'm giving you a chance, Sonny,” Freyr's voice carried a tone of serene severity. “Fight like your ancestors did. Fight against your destiny while the tides are shifting everything away.”
The god vanished. Shamash spoke one last time as time returned to the world.
“Or be crushed by the unending waves of my sister's wrath.”
Ragnar blinked away his stupor and stood up. He felt the ground rumble and the Achernar crumbling. Shouts and growling encroached on them like the foretold tides. Two demons flew above their heads. The lion-headed Ugallu and the dragon-demon Usumgallu roared towards the Achernar.
Ragnar and his soldiers then realised they had to run towards the centre before it was too late. Mad Hounds and Scorpion People headed towards them in the thousands, with no intent to spare anyone in their paths.
“RUN!” Ragnar shouted, leading his soldiers into the centre of chaos.
—❂—
“Everyone,” Tabira shouted, “stop and retreat!” but none of them heard her. Those who previously lost their life to Date miraculously came back to life—albeit with glowing blue eyes and a burning lapis lazuli flame inside their chests.
Ninda was among them all and kept up the pressure against the soldiers with her wind magic. Whenever the soldiers cut into one of the reborn, their wounds healed in an instant. Even when they tried to cut off their heads, a strange force would stop the weapon, and they would return to battle. And when they targeted the others, they would return with burning flames inside their chests, wounds covered in blue flames, and join the fight with a vengeance.
It was surreal. Even in a world where magic existed, Tabira had never seen such a thing. She thought she watched the living dead, but their emotions stayed—or rather—it seemed their nature had changed. They were still alive, somehow, but driven with some otherworldly determination.
“Stay away,” warned Ninda, and summoned a gust to push back the soldiers and return their bolts at them.
“Ninda, stop, come back!” Tabira pulled the little girl into an embrace. Ninda’s body calmed down. Her eyes closed a little but kept on glowing. The wound on her neck looked nasty, making Tabira hug her tighter. “I’m here, Ninda. I’m here… I’m here.”
“She’s hearing you, but she can’t perceive you, Tabira,” said Enlil, his face floating like a cloud before Tabira. “She’s in the trance of Irkalla. Like the rest of them.”
“Trance? Are you saying they’re alive?” Tabira held a hand before Ninda’s chest. When the flame didn’t hurt her, she put her ear to listen for a heartbeat.
“It’s faint, but she’s alive. They all are,” confirmed Enlil, floating before Tabira. “Listen to me. As long as Kiur sings his laments, everyone will remain anchored to the world of the living.”
“How?” asked Tabira. “Kiur’s not a priest anymore, and that power is on par with a Gala priest. Where does he draw this kind of power from?”
“Kiur was chosen as my vessel for a reason. You cannot fully comprehend what a Gala can or cannot do. You don’t need to understand and never will,” explained Enlil. Tabira bit her lip in anger at the harsh comment. “That boy just opened up a connection to the underworld. If he keeps it up, the other Gods will notice him.”
Flabbergasted, Tabira looked up at Enlil. “The gods? Underworld? Enlil, what is happening?”
“...” Enlil’s lips remained sealed, his expression inscrutable. He motioned to the Achernar. “Head to the Achernar. Find the inscription on The Myth of Creation. If Kiur continues to unleash the fractions of the underworld… then I cannot guarantee anything anymore. This is everyone’s last chance, Tabira. Don’t make me regret replacing him.”
Enlil’s cloudy face dissolved, leaving Tabira with a pit of spite lathering inside her. She hugged Ninda tighter and turned her face away from the fights. “Ninda, we’ve got to reach the Gods’ Monument. Can you help me?”
The girl’s listless face turned back to the fights. Tabira pulled it back with more desperation. “Ninda, listen to me. Can you help me?”
Ninda’s lips trembled. She tried struggled to speak. Instead, she nodded and assisted Tabira up to her feet. Together, they manoeuvred through the battles towards the Achernar. Tabira glanced over at Kiur one last time.
“No one can replace him.”
Enlil’s words rang in her head.
After Kiur was released from his duties, Enlil, the Gala priest, communed with the other priests on what to do now. They needed a replacement, but none of the candidates were sufficient. Not even she was good enough. She knew it, too, but it still hurt.
She was a poor replacement. Despite that, she had a duty to uphold. She had to bring Ninda and the others back. Enlil and Kiur provided her with such an opportunity, and she needed to make the most of it.
“You better hold on, Kiur,” Tabira muttered, frustrated. “We better make it out of here. All of us.”
—❂—
“This is it, Artor-san! This is the height of goodness!” Date cheered, brandishing his spear through Kiur’s flames and fanning them. They roared back with much more ferocity. “You’re an example for everyone. Destroy the foundation of the gods with me so I can take their place with you as my servant!”
Date pierced with his long Yari spear through the stonewall Kiur conjured. The Reiszer Magic sent a shockwave back and threw Kiur with a scream. The pain he felt from his straining veins shocked his brain further.
The earth absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the aftereffects destabilised Kiur’s control of magic further. His surroundings protected him as far as they could, but they didn't appreciate the pain they had to endure. The elements were like living beings—prone to emotional outbursts. The earth was unsure how much longer it was willing to protect Kiur. However, when Kiur sang his laments, the earth obeyed and kept shielding him.
Layers upon layers shifted around him to converge into a protective layer—like many hands hovering over someone to protect them from harm. But it was useless before Date. He kept breaking through them with endless endeavour, hacking and slashing through them like melted cheese. The tall Reiszer loomed over Kiur with his monstrous stag mask, similar to how Tomoe did months ago. He adjusted his grip and held the tip of his spear overhead for another strike.
“I can see a god's shadow, Artor-san,” Date said. “Show me their form when I pierce you!”
Kiur couldn’t flee fast enough and instinctively held up his hands in front of him. “I will lose my hands!”
“Don't hesitate now! Take it head-on!” yelled Gilgamesh from behind, reinforcing Kiur’s resolve and catching the spear’s shaft with his palms.
“That was stupid,” commented Date, and the brunt of his magic travelled freely through Kiur’s body. His whole body screamed in agony. “Not even a single cry. I burst at least half of your nervous system. Yet it's still not enough to break you.”
Kiur was tongue-tied. Pain radiated from his hands to his core as if he’d been caught in a car accident and something was pressing against his chest. He wanted to whimper, but nothing escaped his throat except the searing fire swelling in his chest.
The flames leapt from his mouth and hands and danced over the spear, enveloping Date. Surprised, he reeled backwards from being caught on fire. The layers of earth convulsed below the sands and entombed Date with black smoke billowing from the cracks.
The ground was like a cushion to Kiur’s collapsing knees. He clasped his mouth with his numb hands and cried as bile mixed with blood escaped his fingers.
“Stand up. He's not dead yet,” ordered Gilgamesh, pulling Kiur by the arm. “You're not getting out of this so easily. You’re not a fighter, but you’ve got to keep going.”
Gilgamesh pulled Kiur back up on his feet and pointed at the stone dome. “The moment he breaks out, you’ll burn him to ashes. Do not hesitate, you hear me?”
Gilgamesh’s hand tightened on Kiur’s arm, but he could barely perceive Gilgamesh. The former king only noticed now that Kiur’s ears bled and that his lungs wheezed laboriously to keep him from suffocating.
“He’s not holding it together,” thought Gilgamesh. He noticed Lotte’s soul flickering and barely keeping up with Kiur’s body. His eyes glimpsed to the massive shadow following Kiur’s. “We're running out of time, Queen. We need a solution before-”
“Bleurgh!”
Gilgamesh failed to notify Kiur when Date broke out of the dome. The Reiszer's cloth smoked; his fake hair and beard caught fire. The spear clawed right over Kiur’s chest and threw him over the dunes and ruins.
Pieces of blue fabric drifted in the wind. Gilgamesh rushed to Kiur’s side, who struggled to stand back up without immense difficulty.
“You don't look so good, Artor-san!” shouted Date, resting his spear over his shoulders. His eyes widened behind his slits when he saw Kiur’s chest. “That’s not a wound I caused. How are you even alive?”
Kiur's tremble worsened. He fell back. His broken stone spear provided him with little to no support. His eyes glazed over, and blood-tinged spit drooped from his mouth. He looked worse than the reanimated.
Date stared at the claw scar encompassing a large part of Kiur’s left chest, which mirrored at his back. It looked like he was shredded open in the past and barely knit together.
“My shawl,” Kiur mumbled. He clasped the remains of his shawl that clung to his clothes and picked out the remains fluttering in the air. “No, mom, your gift. Brother, help, please.”
“Great, he lost it,” groaned Date, and rolled his eyes. Flexing his shoulder blades, Date stroked his smoking fake beard with a crouch. “I can’t have a broken tool as a priest. Better get rid of him for good-”
Date deflected the flaming spikes erupting from the earth, but one tore into his sleeve and cut his arm. He jumped sideways as more spikes shot out wherever he landed, keeping him on his toes.
Kiur’s laments intensified. The flame in his chest glowed brighter, enveloping his left chest entirely like a cloak. A blue flame popped out near his heart. His stone spear burst with a thunderous cracking of lightning. In Kiur’s hands, the broken spear revealed a new and much larger spear sparking with some kind of red magic that the Reiszer had never seen before.
Date now clearly saw the shadow of a large, winged woman below Kiur's shadow. Her golden, twisted crown gleamed with omnipotence and emanated a sense of primal terror. Immediately, Date brandished his spear and closed the distance to go for the kill. It wasn’t for the pressure of death the goddess instilled in him. Date was simply thrilled to kill a plaything of the gods.
“Die, polyglot. Let your essence nourish the desert.” Date shoved the spear through Kiur’s body, or so he thought. He didn’t see how Kiur deflected the spear with Gilgamesh’s help by guiding Kiur’s hands. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of Gilgamesh’s form and felt his body smoke from the sparks. He relished the feeling. “You surprise me, Artor-san. How many gods are you hiding?”
Date twirled his Yari spear. With a single thrust, Date broke Kiur's new spear like a glowing stick and hit him back with the butt of his weapon. Kiur flew back against the Achernar and lay there collapsed.
“That's all, Artor-san?” Date asked in disappointment. It was over way too quickly. “Where’s your vigour? Where’s your passion? Should I kill more of your people until you finally set your potential free for me?”
“Snap out of it!” Gilgamesh shook Kiur, who lay limp against the black obelisk. “Wake up, Lotte, before that man kills you!”
“He won’t wake up,” Date said, looking Gilgamesh dead in the eye. His expression glimmered with curiosity. “You’re a god. Aren’t you?”
Gilgamesh put his body between Date and Kiur. “Don’t touch them,” Gilgamesh commanded with wavering confidence over their predicament. “Don’t you dare hurt them any further.”
Date crouched before the god-king and hefted his spear. “You can’t do anything, can you? Don’t worry. I’m far more capable than you old deity.” The Reiszer speared Gilgamesh. The god-king held onto his spear to push him back. “Persistent, aren’t we? Why are you protecting him?”
Gilgamesh smiled. A trickle of gold blood ran down the corner of his mouth. “Want the corny answer? It’s love. Something you’ve never received from your mother. I protect this child because they are like me.” Gilgamesh steeled his dark eyes at Date. “Broken for love.”
The Reiszer blinked, confused. “You’re right. I don’t understand.” Driving the spear further into the god, he tickled out another groan. Date laughed. “As a god, there’s no need for love. Goodbye, unknown deity, nice chatting with you.”
Gilgamesh bit his lip. He wanted to protect Kiur as much as he could, but he was not tangible in the realm of the living. Date could only hurt him because of his magic and because Gilgamesh interfered more than he should have.
“If this continues, I’ll need to break a taboo, my queen.”
The shadow below their feet regarded Gilgamesh and contemplated the idea. She gave her consent. But before Gilgamesh could do something foolish, he heard another cry.
“Stay away from him!”
The god-king watched how an Asag bulldozed Date, carrying away and crashing into a pile of ruins. Gilgamesh fell to his side and glimpsed how Cylia and Xander rushed to Kiur’s side.
“Guess you’ve more friends at your side than I did.” Gilgamesh laughed melancholically and fell to his side. His body slowly dissipated back into the earth. “You don’t know it, but you’re more gifted than others. Please live, Lotte. Survive, Kiur.”