Orb was now shaking physically, as the Demon Sovereign duked it out with the Sentinel of Space. It wasn’t anything new — the world had been shaking and jerking for the past few hours — but this time felt…different. For some reason, Aziz truly felt that the entire world was trembling, from the clash between the two godlike beings, and a sense of trepidation began to grip his heart.

He saw the reason a moment later.

At the point where black and gold met grey, a set of cracks were forming, cracks that resembled the ones that had afflicted the Great Divide in the hours before its collapse.

“The sun…” Marie’s words were now stilted. “It’s…being affected.”

Aziz blinked. He didn’t quite understand what the marshal had said, and his head jerked to look at the glowing sphere that had been a constant in their entire life.

Cracks were running across it.

The two gods continued to fight in a way Aziz couldn’t understand, but for every tremor that followed, the sun continued to darken, to the point that he could now look at it directly and behold the huge cracks that had afflicted it.

The two skies began to gather and coalesce as one, as if both sides had agreed on doing the same thing together. On one side, an enormous black-gold lance had appeared, one that absolutely dwarfed the earlier lance. It was far less elaborate…and from the fear Aziz felt just by looking at it, infinitely more devastating.

On the Stabiliser’s side, the sea of grey fog had gathered into a small sphere. It was nothing much, but the colonel found it equally terrifying, as if a huge amount of power had been bandied up into that tiny space.

The black web of cracks that had already tore through the skies deepened and extended as both items smashed into each other at blinding speeds. There was no light, no explosion.

Just a shockwave that even Aziz could see.

The shimmering screen that had absorbed the aftershocks from the two gods’ duel shattered as the shockwave tore through it, and Aziz’s eardrums ruptured as a deafening thunderclap whipped through the skies. The skies let out a dying cry, and the world darkened as the sun and the skies, both of which were ridden with cracks, crumbled away into nothingness.

Darkness fell once more, but unlike the normal, dark nights, Aziz could still see. The ground he was lying on had been illuminated by pinpricks of lights, pinpricks that numbered into thousands and millions.

Aziz stared at it in awe, as the battle between the Demon Sovereign and the Sentinel of Space ground to a halt.

Someone poked his shoulder, and the colonel turned to look at Marie, who was mouthing something. In reply, Aziz pointed at his ears and made an X with his arms, trying to convey to his overly-excited marshal that he couldn’t hear anything. Besides, there was still a war going on. There was no point in waxing and waning about such a development…

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Alright, maybe there was.

Struggling to his feet, Aziz looked around. Everyone, from the demons to the lofty dignitaries atop the Heaven-cleaving Fortress, had been floored by that final attack. Small cracks were running through the fortress itself, while the earth around it were now uneven terrain. Walls, furniture…all sorts of things had been upended and messed-up, but that was nothing compared to the fact that the sun had been destroyed.

It was a ludicrous notion, when he thought about it.

“Mortals, do not be alarmed.”

A voice echoed in his head, and Aziz looked up at the source, who was now standing as motionlessly as the Demon Sovereign.

“Our battle has destroyed the Bounded Presences formed by the fusion of Tiadall and Pabar — the sun, the moon and the sky,” said Hereward. “Daytime will come in another three hours for this place. The world is not coming to an end today.”

Aziz didn’t quite know if it was something appropriate to bring up in the middle of a freaking war, but gods were gods. Pulling Marie onto her feet, the colonel smacked his ears a few times, squeezing out blood from them. He had been deafened by that final explosion, but after doing that, his hearing had partially returned.

Of course, he couldn’t say the same for the non-Squires…or Knights. Making a mental note to check on the troops in general, Aziz and Marie went to help the others up. Most of the soldiers here were disorientated or even unconscious from that stupendous clash, but since the same thing happened towards the demons, they were still safe…for now.

“The sky…” Aziz looked up at it. Night had fallen once more, but it was a night he wasn’t used to, and a river of lights stared back down at him in silence. “What are these lights?”

“They’re…” Marie gulped audibly. “I’ve heard of them before. They’re called…stars.”

“Stars?” Aziz asked. “Like the…Lost Star and the Last Star?”

Puzzled, he turned to Marie. “Okay, but what are stars?”

“These things,” Marie replied, pointing up.

Aziz had a feeling that a circular question-and-answer segment would be the only result if he pressed on, so he gave up on that topic. Knowing Marie, she would probably do her own research on these stars, and then flaunt her newfound knowledge in front of him.

Returning his gaze to the two gods — by now, even a fool would call the Demon Sovereign one — Aziz was startled to see how they were just looking at each other in silence.

What were they doing?

His confusion only deepened as the two gods vanished from view, leaving the battlefield behind.

“Seems like they’ve decided further fighting is useless for now,” said Marie.

“The demons definitely don’t think that way, though.”

The cannons of the Heaven-cleaving Fortress began to fire once more, as the newly-recovered demons swarmed forward. Gunfire continued to thin out their ranks, but their assault was one of opportunity. Within minutes, the rest of the horde had fled back to their fortifications, a sight that made Aziz sigh in relief.

“Looks like today’s really over.”

“Mm.” Marie nodded.

“But there’s a lot we don’t know,” Aziz lamented. “So many things.”

“In that case,” said a voice, “why not ask?”

Aziz, Marie and everyone else looked up, and saw a radiant, grey shadow.

Hereward, the Sentinel of Space.