“Excuse me,” Galahad said. “It’s rude to interrupt another’s conversation.”

“Aaah! You are as defiant as your little brother,” it said. “Now come to me so I can consume you, so I may show him true terror.“

“Who the fuck are you to talk about my little brother?” Galahad said, glaring at the creature.

Sozain glanced to the young man, noting the killing intent from him. ‘What is that? Is this…’

“Ahahahaha! Yes! This look! Come!”

‘This boy, he was holding back.’ Sozain looked to the dark entity which his father had managed to subdue, but at a grave cost. “Wicked creature, go back to where you came.” He reached up with a finger and the black sun began to force it’s rays down against the creature.

“Sir Sozain,” Galahad said, “we will continue our bout later.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot…” Sozain froze as he saw the symbol of an eye emerge on Galahad’s forehead. Not an eye, but the eye. Panic visibly appeared on his face. “What did I ever do to Mistress Fate to deserve such a fate?” Sozain whispered.

“Did you say, Mistress Fate?” Galahad asked.

“That’s right…”

“Let’s deal with this fucker, and then we’ll talk.”

“Very well.”

“Yes! Come! Let me consume you both! Hahahaha!”

The black sun disappeared, it’s rays disappearing with it, and Sozain clasped his hands together to call forth his mana. “Empty Graves, Emperor of Death.” The entire ground turned black as he summoned several powerful knights to assist him, and then rekindled his chains to his various worshippers.

“You were holding back against me,” Galahad said as his blade turned pure silver.

“I’m glad you returned the favour,” Sozain said.

“Come,” Galahad said as his blade turned silver-blue, “Caliburnus!” He raised a sleek blade, one which shone with divine radiance. The searing light pierced the purple creature as it flung out a tentacle. Galahad disappeared and cut the tentacle with expert precision, landing in mid-air, before disappearing again.

The creature hobbled out of it’s domain, reaching out with various tentacles and eyes. Each eye formed a spell, shooting out beams and throwing out chains. The flashes of light covered the air to see for all.

In the distance a father stood with his daughter on his shoulder. “What is that, papa?”

“The end time, sweetheart.”

“The times are ending?”

“It is so.”

“Will you come with me to the end times?”

“Of course. Papa will always be with you.”

“Okay,” she said, hugging his head.

The father stared into the horizon, seeing the flashing lights as others began to gather.

Sozain raised both of his hands as his knights were being slaughtered by the magics, his black orb shielding him from the various magics of the creature. ‘My shield has already weakened because of the fight earlier…’

Galahad’s eye allowed him to traverse through time to see the fates of each ability. Though his mind was human, his willpower was superhuman. He would have been torn apart if it weren’t for his extreme hatred of everything.

He dodged and weaved the beams and blasts with ease, his eyes closed as the eye on his forehead guided him. He let himself go, merely collecting all the realities within his mind.

He cut tentacle after tentacle, letting them fall completely dead, before they disappeared, their very soul being removed from existence.

‘Sozain! What is going on over there?’

‘Sister Elaveil, busy.’

‘Busy?’

Sozain did not reply, instead keeping his attention on the two fighting forces here. ‘Should I even be here?’ He sighed and then clapped his hands together, summoning forth his strength. As the darkness peeled between his hands, like rotten flesh from a corpse, his thrust it out.

‘What do you mean busy?’

“Chains of Sozain,” he said, using whatever might he could muster in his slightly weakened state. The chains began to wrap around the creature as he noticed how much life could see their bout. “We must take this creature elsewhere, there are too many lives here and their time is yet up.”

‘I’m coming!’

‘Don’t! I’m already the weakest link, there’s no need for you here!’

‘What… what is that thing?’

‘It’s the thing father faced and only just managed to return.’

‘No, the other one.’

‘I don’t know, but he’s on our side right now.’

Galahad heard the words, and he opened his eyes. He slashed another of the countless tentacles and then dropped down, burying the blade into the ground. “I’ll make an opening,” Galahad said calmly as the earth around him began to shine and then shot upwards towards the creature, piercing it with a number of beams. He disappeared as a tentacle almost crushed him, appearing right in front of the creature as the tear in the world tried to suck him in.

“Come to me!” The screeches echoed within Galahad’s mind, but they remained just slight annoyances.

“You little bastard,” Galahad grunted. He created a rune, and then six others immediately afterwards, and a beam shot out before chains and magic bombs floated out.

Galahad was doing his utmost in order to not bring this world to its knees, but it was getting a little difficult. “Are you able to take it to another realm?” he asked Sozain.

“I’m doing my best, but I’m approaching my limit just trying to contain all the damage from spilling out.”

‘This little shit is protecting me and the world, and he’s looking rough. Annoying!’ Galahad then slammed back into the ground, and remained still as a tentacle struck his back. The strength was that of an otherworldly being, that was for sure.

“Bind me with a chain and I will bring him to a realm of your choosing,” Galahad said. “Make it quick, if you don’t mind!”

“I will be unable to follow you, for it will not be my domain.” Sozain remained with his hands clasped together, trying to not allow any of their excess mana to leak out. His sister was going to get mad at him if he allowed the balance of the world to mess up.

“Good, I’m sick of trying to protect you. I’ll deal with this thing myself!”

Sozain grimaced, but he could not muster all of his strength in this world. “I’ll send you to a place where you’ll be relatively alone.” Sozain wrapped a chain around the young man, whose eyes flashed with blue and the creature and it disappeared. ‘Perhaps he’ll be able to help you too.’

Sozain stared at where they had just disappeared and realised what was about to happen. With what power he could bring, he contained the blast as best as he could, sending it up towards the sky. He sighed and then collapsed, disappearing from the realm, and the blast exploded out.

‘This fucking shit! It’s so cold!’

The snow whipped all around Galahad as he fell with the creature’s tentacles. It tried to tear open the world to allow more of itself in, but he grabbed his sword and then inhaled deeply.

“I’m sorry, Sir Lancelot, but I’m going to borrow your technique,” he said, looking up to the tear as he fell through the snow and wind. He pointed his blade up and within a single moment of time, the blade shot out the tiniest beam of light, and then hit the tear, freezing its expansion.

“Ah! This scent!” The eyes turned to look elsewhere, giving Galahad a moment to gather his strength. He raised two fingers, pointing them as though cursing at the creature, and then brought them in to his palm.

“Impeding Death, Hidden Star,” he whispered as his entire body shook with pain. The creature howled and screamed as it shuddered, and Galahad managed to teleport to a nearby area, where he found a dragon and two wyrms. ‘Whoa! A mother fucking dragon! They’re real!’

He noticed other life forms nearby, but paid them no heed, except… His eyes fell back to the building and he felt the same strength of that boy god on two of them, but then… there was something familiar about one of them.

The creature fell silent and Galahad fell cold again, his eyes flashing up towards the heavens. There, a giant form appeared. It wasn’t giant, it was beyond giant. The eldritch creature was the size of a mountain, but the shape of a head through the fog was even larger. It was a woman, a being of pure nature, one which did not belong in this world.

The snow around them stopped falling as blue eyes pierced through, and froze the eldritch being. Galahad frowned. ‘That was my prey…’

‘You have brought an unruly guest within my domain,’ the womanly voice in his mind said.

Galahad froze as it spoke within his mind. He took off his hat and bowed his head. “Excuse me, my lady. I apologise for the inconvenience. Would you mind giving me a realm to take it to?”

A blue light tickled his forehead. ‘We will need to deal with it for now.’

“Very well, I will ask for your assistance then.”

‘This is all I can do for you at this time,’ she said, her voice trailing off as the blue eyes disappeared. Then behind him he felt someone shoot upwards towards him.

‘Did she just send me two children?’