The seventh and final trumpet has sounded. From the darkness, a ray of light illuminated the entire world. It was the only thing people could see in this obscurity.

The tolls of bells echoed throughout the entire world. It was as if they were ringing to celebrate this grand occasion, to announce the coming of a new age.

“The Grand Gate of Celestia shall open and reveals the High Heavens to the realm of mortals. All will kneel before His glory. For God the Almighty will welcome his children back into His kingdom. The deads will be judged and the livings will be purified.” The God of Celestials proclaimed in a glorious speech. He was bathed in a radiant sunlight that shined upon the whole of Avant-Heim.

From the luminous cloud that appeared above the city, a gigantic golden door came out of it. Its heavy door slowly opened, revealing an intense dazzling radiance, like a sun that shined upon this pitch black world.

“The Light of Creation will now cleanse the world of all impurities. Chant in the name of the Lord, revere his Exalted and feel the long awaited jubilation as you will now return to Him once more!”

Alastor could feel the enormous concentration of mana from the door. Something huge was coming out of that door, a huge column of light. If it hit the earth, it would destroy not just Ragna but the entire world.

“Stop! If that thing comes down, you too will be dead. Do you want to kill yourself too?” shouted Alastor.

“ha….ha…..I already die the moment I use this trumpet. It feeds on my life force to activate all the sevens trumpets of Revelation. And the last one has exhausted whatever that was left in this decrepit body.

There is no need for me after that. When the world comes to an end, not even Gods will remain. Only Lord Eden and he shall recreate a new world….But I wonder if it would happen this time….

You can’t run away from it. What will you do, Alastor?” said Merkabah.

And then the light came down.

The boy tried to cast a magic circle, the same he used against Mephisto to deflect the light into the sky. However it pierced through it easily. It was expected as the energy was too powerful to be contained in such thing.

If Alastor let it touch the ground, it would mean the end of everything. He did not care for the rest of the world but he did care for his family, his loved ones. And so there was only one thing to do: he shall confront it.

Standing his ground in the middle of the plaza where the ray was shooting down, he raised his hand above his head.

“”

He tried to absorb that beam. It was basically a magical attack so it should work. However with this much concentration, he wasn’t sure that he would be able to absorb everything. The column of light struck down and was being sucked into his hands. Now it was a battle of endurance between the two: would Alastor be able to hold his ground and absorb all of it or would the light prevail and destroy the world?

Trapped inside Merkabah’s barrier, Ikarus could sense that it was weakening greatly. It was because most of his life force was already consumed and the barrier was linked to it. Now was her chance. Using her spear, Ikarus destroyed the barrier and rushed toward her beloved Alastor. The boy was doing as best he could to stop the column of light. However his body was not able to absorb everything and the excess of energy was leaking out into the ground of Avant-Heim. The entire island was crumbling into pieces. But he could not run away. He must remain here to stop it. If only there was something else to redirect all that energy into.

“Alastor, use my body!” Ikarus embraced the struggling boy from behind. If one container was not enough to store all that energy then perhaps two would do the job.

As soon as she touched him, Ikarus could feel the enormous flow of mana entering her. It was so painful and nauseating. Yet he took it all on himself. But she refused to let go. If this was to be their last moment together then she would rather die with him.

* * *

Back down on Ragna, Lilith was doing her best to sustain the spell to keep Avant-Heim from falling down. However the island was now breaking apart and debris were beginning to drop onto the demon continent.

“I can’t hold it anymore….” Lilith puffed.

“You have to! Alastor is still on that island and we are right under it!” said Azureus. Together with Maria and the demon army, they were keeping all debris from touching the small girl behind them.

“Easier said than done….But that’s not all you should worry about. When that thing breaks, I won’t be able to stop all the pieces from crashing down onto us.” Said Lilith.

“…..Alright! Maria, defend her at all cost! I will go find help!” Azureus said to the woman in black.

“You crazy? How am I supposed to do that? Where are you going anyway?” shouted Maria at the slime.

“To take our secret weapons!” answered the slime.

Azureus rushed back into the demon lord’s castle. In the hallway where Alastor fought the other demon royal guards, three bodies were lying on the ground and taken care of by a few servants, recovering from their injuries. Although the wounds have been patched, they were all too injured to go out to help.

“Azureus, what are you doing here? How is the situation outside?” Mephisto asked. He has been briefed by the servants of what was happening outside previously. It was him who has mobilized the demon army to protect Lilith and to capture all the celestials who have landed in Ragna. Running away or not, the devil would not let his enemies entering his territory that easily.

“Mephisto, Amelia, Naberius, I need your help!” said the slime.

“We told you. If we can we would have done it already. But because of these injuries we could barely move.” Said Amelia as a healer was trying to reattach her broken limbs.

“No not that. I need your authorization to activate the Destroyers!”

“WHAT? Are you out of your mind? The Destroyers are our final resort and the last line of defence of this castle. Hell, we can’t even control them properly. Do you remember last time it took all four of us and the lives of a hundred men just to stop one of them?” Naberius fumed.

“Do you think I don’t know that?  But they are the only one who can help us at this dire moment. At this rate Ragna will be history when that thing comes down. This is the last option.” Azureus tried to convince the demons.

“…..He is right. If we don’t do something, then we won’t have anything left to defend anymore. Very well, let’s go then!” Mephisto stood up clumsily with the help of a servant. Deep down, he was still unsure of this decision.

The four were now standing in front of a metallic contraption in the dungeon underground of the castle. The metal, despite having been here for hundreds of years, showed no sign of moss or erosion. It was stainless. It had the shape of a circular piece of metal which seemingly could split into two in the middle and acted like an entrance. Above it, a glass orb with a red dot that looked like an eye was scanning through everything that was in front of the contraption.

Mephisto stepped forward and spoke to the contraption.

“We invoke the spirit of Tartarus to answer our call!”

“SCANNING…..Vocal recognized…..Welcome lord Mephisto! What can I do for you?” the voice seemed to come from the orb attached to the wall above the contraption. Strangest thing was the tone. It was female and very mechanical without any emotion.

‘I hope I won’t regret this…’ thought Mephisto. “We want to activate the Destroyers”

“Authorisations from all four royal guards are required for this order. Please say the password!” the disembodied voice spoke.

Raising all their hands toward the mechanism, the fours demon spoke loudly.

“TEMPUS MACHINA”

“…..Password confirmed…..Protocol Destroyer has been activated! Please step back from the door!”

The contraption began to make a rotation before splitting in two, revealing a deep complex underground structure. Sounds of heavy footsteps marching were coming from it. The Destroyers were coming.

…..

…..

…..

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“LILITH WATCH OUT!” shouted Maria. One large rock has slipped through her defence and was coming right at Lilith. The little girl watched the coming stone as she was unable to defend herself.

Suddenly a red beam was fired above Lilith’s head and cut the stone into two parts, saving her just in time. The two turned their head back at the direction the beam came from, only to see a squadron of large armoured metallic constructs with strange weaponry and features. They were not living beings. That was for sure. Instead they looked closer to the golems but in a more humanoid form instead of the usual bulky one.

“Orders received: Destroy all incoming wreckage! Protect the target at all cost!” a mechanical voice spoke.

* * *

The column of light has begun to fade. Together with Ikarus, all its mana has been absorbed into Alastor’s hands. The sky became clear again. The gigantic door on the sky has closed. However it didn’t disappear along with the light and instead remained hovering above Ragna.

Opening her eyes, Ikarus saw that they have prevailed and the world did not end. Both her and Alastor were still safe.

“Ikarus, you can let go now!” said the boy. He was exhausted both physically and mentally due to the powerful flow of mana inside him. It was manageable but still quite a heavy burden on his body.

But the girl did not let go. She even clenched on him tighter in her arms. She was afraid. She wasn’t sure if this was reality. She wanted to confirm it with all of her senses. His smell, his touch, everything. She laid her head on his back. It felt real and soothing.

Alastor did not say anything nor did he push her away. He too almost thought he has lost her. But in the end, what was Ikarus to Alastor? Why did he want to protect her or even need her? She was certainly a powerful addition to his team but not an obligation. He was not even related to her so she was not a part of his family. Yet he felt like one. Could this be love? Alastor didn’t know. He was perhaps too young to think about such things or simply wasn’t interested.

“Look at how lovely you two are together…. *cough*”

The duo was completely taken by the atmosphere and forgot that they still had a God in front of them, a dying one.

Merkabah, having taken the spear out, was dragging his feet toward the two, holding the spear in one of his hand. Half of his body was paralyzed, the blood dripped with every step he took. He was already a dead man from the look of it.

Seeing his enemy, Alastor quickly stood up and prepared to resume battle. But something unexpected happened. Merkabah threw the spear on the ground in front of the boy and sat down on his knees.

“Finish the job will you?” he said.

“….Why did you do all these?” asked the boy.

“I am merely doing what’s best for my family…that’s the same for you isn’t it? To endanger yourself to save her…” Merkabah answered.

“But why? Why kill them if they are your family?”

“Ignorant fool…you know nothing….this world is already dead. I am only here to make it as painless as possible for all of you. And now….you just take away that chance…. *heavy breathing”

Merkabah coughed out a lot of blood. His time was drawing near.

“Mark my words, demon lord: if you truly cherish the lives of your loved ones, if you truly want to preserve whatever good is left within them then you will take that sword and kill them while you still can!” Merkabah said.

“WHAT? What are you talking about? What do the Gods…what does Eden want with me? Tell me!!!!” screamed Alastor.

“…To save…is….to kill!” those were the final words of the God of Celestials.

Merkabah’s body started to illuminate as he slowly turned into light particles like fireflies before slowly disintegrating away.

Drawing his last breath, the God of Celestials could only think about one last person.

‘I am sorry, Fate! It seems that I can’t play any music to you anymore. I am so sorry for not being able to soothe your pain, my child!’

A light orb remained where Merkabah’s body once was. In an instant, it entered Alastor and found itself in front of a gate in the middle of a dark place before fusing with it. A light englobed the structure and a second circle appeared on it with the word: CELESTIAL.

“Two down……Four more to go” the Abyssal Knight spoke as he watched the light fading away from the gate.

Back at the world outside, the second barrier that Merkabah has cast finally broke and released a celestial. The girl, seemingly unaware of her surroundings or even what happened, could only sit there staring in nothingness.

The ground shook heavily as Avant-Heim was crumbling down. Lilith could no longer sustain the island and Merkabah has already destroyed the mechanism that kept it floating. Buildings were collapsing. The once beautiful citadel was now breaking apart.

“We need to get out of here!” Alastor said.

“Wait we need to bring that woman with us!” said Ikarus as she showed Alastor the woman Mikael entrusted to her. “I made a promise!”

“Alright then! Let’s go!” Alastor took the strange woman’s arm and cast a barrier and flew away with Ikarus.

* * *

From below, it looked like Avant-Heim has reached the end of its journey. The entire island has now broken apart and started to fall down as Lilith’ spell began to fade.

“Heavy weaponry authorised! Fire at will!” a metallic construct emitted a mechanical voice. From its hand, red beams were firing at the falling rubbles and destroyed everything on its path. With larger debris, the Destroyer shot out some kind projectile that exploded upon impact, shattering it into pieces that could be obliterated by the beams.

In a short time most of the debris has been destroyed. Fortunately, the largest pieces plunged into the ocean without touching Ragna so the demon continent did not suffer any major damages from it.

That day, the entire world of Astora almost perished. While no one knew exactly what happened or who caused it, the world was not the same as before.

Ceadric has lost its capital. The city was completely ravaged by the earthquake. However the royal family, including the king, survived the events and was now rebuilding its organisation.

Caelum, thanks to the effort of Empress Morrigan, was mostly intact despite the destruction from the undead invasion. Yet it was said that the pope Gauwyn was nowhere to be found after this tragedy.

Zagon’s capital remained, mostly thanks to their resistant structure. However many villages and small towns have been ravaged by the terrible events, leaving thousands of citizens homeless and starving. Meanwhile, their Empress was leading a conquest elsewhere. This led to a wave of discontentment against the crown and the start of a rebellion.

Malatas was the most fortunate country out of all. It did not suffer any major damage thanks to the powerful magic but unknown origin of the king Aldol. In the streets, the people hailed his name as their saviour. Some even claimed he was the next Hero sent by Gods. Yet they did not know the shadow that was lurking in their own kingdom.

The beastmans tribes lost a third of its population, mostly the smaller tribes. The remaining tribes have regrouped and were considering reuniting their nation to face the upcoming chaos.

The dwarves, being scattered around the world since years ago, shared the same fate with the city they were in.

Oros, the land of dragons, lost a tenth of its land. It was not the worst news the council of dragons has received. Rumours of a new self-proclaimed king in Oros have been propagated. It was said that this man has tamed so many dragons, enough to make an army and now was marching toward the City of Firmament Spires. The smoke of war has been lit in this ancient continent.

Finally the celestials, most unfortunate of all races. After what could only be described as a massacre, the celestials have lost most of its population with only a few thousands remained. The survivors were captured by the demon army. Talks of a new demon king started to spread around.

The onslaught of Merkabah finally came to an end. However it sparked the beginning of a series of events that would change Astora forever.