In a far, far away land, on a planet long forgotten by the human race, a fierce battle was waged. Countless men and women, clad in shining knight armor, clashed on a massive grassy plain. Rivers of blood flowed from the smoking swords of the warriors. The ground shook under the bombardment of arrows of fire and ice. Mages stood in the rear of both sides, waving their staffs as they cast cataclysmic spells of fire and water, causing earthquakes and gargantuan tornados. In the air, countless flying beasts warred as their riders cast spell after spell.
In the midst of all the chaos stood a single boy who seemed to be in his early teenage years, with striking cobalt hair that matched his eyes. He wore no armor; only the simple, rough clothes of a village boy. At his side, he loosely held a blade made of shining blue metal. Despite his apparent youth, he radiated a power that inspired fear in the souls of warriors on both sides of the battle. Huge plumes of dark blue vapor seeped through his sword. His every move dripped with grace as he danced through the legions of soldiers. With each step he took, the lifeblood of dozens of warriors painted the ground. He was a being who had stepped into the ranks of the Higher Deities, which meant that there were few existences in the universe that could match him.
However, close as he was, he was still not invincible.
As he slaughtered his way across the land, a lone figure stood to face him. A bulky man, with flowing golden hair that fell to his waist, finally stepped forward and caught the boy’s seemingly unstoppable sword with his bare hands. The boy’s swipe had been casual, but the collision of sword and palm still rocked the very planet to its core, knocking the powerful warriors around them to the ground.
The boy grinned as he saw the man, excitement glimmering in his eyes.
“I’ve waited long for this day, Deity of Lions. I hope you don’t disappoint me,” the boy spoke, his powerful voice resounding across the plains.
The man with golden hair mirrored the boy’s grin. “Do you really think you will win this pointless war? A single Higher Deity cannot hope to march upon these plains, to challenge the army of a Primordial Deity and make it out alive. What is the point of this futile resistance, then?”
“One does not make it to our rank without the tenacity to see a fight through to death, no matter how futile it may seem. His Majesty may have ordered my execution, but I will not bend to his will without a fight. Now come, I’ve had enough of these words. Let me see how much you’ve grown since my last lesson, Young Prince.”
A glimmer of sadness appeared in the man’s eyes as long-buried memories resurfaced at the boy’s words. Cupping his hands in front of him, the Greatest of Beasts, the King of the Wild, the Prince of a Primordial Deity, bowed his head in respect. “As you will, Teacher. Let me show you what I’ve learnt, one last time.”
With those words, the two ancient beings lunged towards each other. Claw met blade as a massive amount of Flux dispersed at their clash, traveling across the surface of the entire planet. Any other planet would have been reduced to nothing more than broken rubble from the force.
Thousands of blows were exchanged within seconds before the two finally backed up. Neither of the two suffered any injuries, but the man was clearly at a disadvantage. The force of every blow that he blocked shook his very bones. Despite that, he still bared his fang-like teeth and once again rushed at the boy.
The two fought for hours on end, their clashes shaking the heavens above them. The man was soon reduced to a bad shape, with dark blood leaking out of the corners of his mouth. The boy had, on more than one occasion, seen the opportunity to end the man’s life, but he could never bring himself to swing his sword at the crucial moment. Even then, the constant barrage of attacks had left the insides of the man damaged and bleeding, despite his otherworldly strength.
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Around them lay hundreds of thousands of bloody bodies, bent and broken. Millions more still fought on, unfazed by the death that surrounded them. However, it was clear that one army was far more disadvantaged than the other. Although they fought valiantly, the numbers stacked against them were simply too much. For every man they cut down, ten more stepped in. Slowly but surely, the invading army was being thinned out. It was a losing battle, yet not one soldier swung his sword without firm resolve, for they all knew before they had stepped onto the battlefield that retreat was never an option.
Suddenly, as the two deities were locked in a clash, the pair felt the presence of five more beings like them descend onto the planet.
“You are not going to win this battle, Young Prince,” a voice sounded out from the sky, forcing the boy and the man to stop their fight. “It would be best to let us handle things from here. Battles like these are beneath your status.”
The boy turned to face the five beings that descended from the sky with a grim expression. The five retainers of his king. Although they were still weaker than him, it was not by much. Fighting them five against one would not be easy, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there were exactly nine existences in the universe that could prevail against the combined assault of the five who had been given the moniker ‘Retainers of Hell’. And the boy was not counted among them.
“Deity of Swords. You have fought nobly, and have made it farther than any other invader has in the eons that this palace has existed. Nothing less should be expected of you, as the being closest to stepping into the ranks of the Primordial. It will be our honor to have your last battle,” the eldest of them continued, turning to the boy. His hair was a pristine white, his ancient age evident in the wrinkles that cupped his sad smile.
At his side stood a youthful woman, with flowing purple hair and sparkling golden eyes. Behind the pair stood three men, who casually eyed the fierce battle that waged around them. All five were clothed in shimmering golden armor, giving them an air of nobility.
The boy, in his simple village clothing, with his simple blue blade held at his side, finally let loose the aura that he had been holding back. With the small, kind smile that he faced the five men with, no one would guess that the sinister pressure that suddenly weighed down on every being on the planet originated from him. The war that was being waged immediately came to a halt, as every warrior on the field was forced to take a knee against the crushing weight on their shoulders. Magical beasts and their riders came crashing down to the floor. Only the old man and the woman at his side seemed unfazed by the terrifying aura of the boy. Even the three men behind them, and the prince, struggled to stay on their feet.
The boy moved his sword in front of him, pointed it at the five warriors, and uttered a single word.
“Come.”
With that began a legendary battle, the last of the epic saga of the Sword Deity. The only being in history that dared to challenge the Celestial Army; the being that reduced the planet that housed the palace of a Primordial Deity to nothing but rubble and rock. The entire planet ceased to exist after the battle, shattered to pieces by what became a legendary blade. The majestic palace of pure Soul Diamond – the home of the Primordial Deity made of a material said to be unmatched across the universe in toughness – was mutilated beyond recognition.
Of the five ‘Retainers of Hell,’ only two remained. Three perished in the battle, and the lives of the other two might have as well had not the Primordial Deity finally stepped in.
Simply being able to make a Primordial Deity rise to battle is a feat not many in history can claim, but rumor states that the Deity of Swords even managed to wound his opponent, despite the unfathomable gap in strength.
The conclusion of the battle was unsurprisingly the crushing defeat of the Sword Deity and his army, but with no remains left, it is impossible to say whether he truly perished that night.