Unknown orb dust popped and sizzled as Peacock countered the overwhelming power of Zenith’s attack.

The ground beneath Peacock gave way. Peacock snapped his wings out on reflex, flapping wildly. His fall slowed, then stopped as ash and smoke sprang from nothing and coated Peacock’s throat in a thick layer of acrid soot. He blinked the grit from his eyes, swinging his head in wide arcs as he tried to catch sight of Zenith or Nex.

The cave vanished. The place which replaced it seemed to have no walls, or boundaries of any sort, only empty, smoke-filled space. Zenith had teleported him somewhere, Peacock was sure of it. So where was Zenith?

He didn’t have to wait long.

It started slow. A red glow in the distance refracting through the ashen clouds in a bloody blur. It grew with unnerving speed, closing in on Peacock a second before he realized what was happening.

The red cloud split. As massive as Zenith had been in the cave, he seemed to have grown larger still, his wings clearing large swathes of smoke and ash even as his volcanic body emanated more. Zenith lashed out, wrapping Peacock in a boiling hot grip. “You dare to challenge me, Little Death?”

More orbs popped off Peacock’s necklace as he struggled to remember how many he had left. He hastily equipped new ones.

“Who do you think created the orbs sustaining your life? I did!” Zenith’s tone shifted from the sound of mountains moving to a full-on avalanche. “Who awoke the survivor in you? I did!”

With a flick of Zenith’s wrist, Peacock hurtled through the air. He lost all sense of direction as he spun, head-over-tail into the sharp edges of an obsidian wall. He twisted on reflex, catching the grooves with his claws and hanging on for dear life.

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Peacock giggled. His mind struggled to comprehend what was going on as he oscillated between Near Death and healed, explosions of pain and blessed relief. He’d expected Zenith Flight’s leader to be strong. He hadn’t expected him to be this far out of his league. If only Haven’s orb had worked as she’d promised.

Haven… Alainn….

The two characters super-imposed over each other in Peacock’s head. He’d started all of this to avenge her, hadn’t he?

“Every skill you’ve earned is because of my influence!”

Zenith’s roars brought Peacock’s surroundings back into focus. Haven had betrayed him, yet he persisted. For what? The world he’d only ever known through a filter of pain? He launched off the wall, pivoting around to look the dragon god in the face.

Nex stared back.

Peacock’s wingbeats stuttered as he searched for the colossal form of Zenith.

“Everything you are is because of me!”

Confusion welled up. Zenith’s voice echoed through the haze, but he was nowhere to be found.

Nex grinned at Peacock, razor-sharp teeth glinting bright white.

“For I am this world’s god, and you are a mere shade of what I am.”

Peacock’s stomach dropped as Nex jerked, slowly at first, then faster and faster, his form growing and changing before his eyes. His body expanded, elongated into a serpentine creature, his quills morphing into blades, striking one another as he thrashed. Silver scales melted, merged, solidifying into true metal. His teeth stretched out of his lips until they hid his maw behind a nest of needles.

“I see your modifications, Little Death. Perhaps if you’d accepted my offer, I would have shown you how a god creates. However, I am not without mercy. Although you will never know the secrets of this world, you shall spend your last moments knowing the beauty of my work.”

By this time, Nex had grown into a bristling metallic serpent capable of swallowing Peacock whole. Its liquid sapphire eyes locked onto its target. It struck.

Peacock dodged toward the wall, the serpent’s quills missing his wingtip by inches. He waited for a collision that didn’t come. The obsidian wall had vanished, as had the smoke and heat, replaced by an empty, cold void.

The Nex serpent coiled in on itself. It unwound faster than Peacock could react. A hundred needles pierced his flesh. Raw agony exploded in a second of eternity before all faded away.