POV: Statera Luotian (More like a narrator's, or third person omniscient, POV though)
The thirty-something man sat in the middle of the pouring rain, rivulets of water running down his conical straw hat as he played on his flute. The tones he sent out from the hollow instrument hummed along with the rain, blending into it and matching the sound of the forest around him, from the pitter-patter of rain hitting the ground to the gentle rustling of the pine tree forest in the wind, everything flowed together in a type of harmony that is unmatched by any mortal in the entirety of the Four Realms. This was Wang Zizai, the future angel, and he was not oblivious to the life-and-death battle about to be waged above him. No, it was at the forefront of his attention, and was the reason he had fled the center of the city he had been in -so the aftershocks of said battle would not affect the mortals.
This sentiment, however, was not shared by the group of twenty cultivators dressed in black and blue robes surrounding him, malicious intent clear in their eyes. Wang Zizai could clearly see the dark, evil spirits crawling all over them, and the hands of the dark angels that were controlling them.
"Wang Zizai, you are coming with us!" One cultivator shouted over the rain, pointing dramatically at Zizai, who removed his carved flute from his lips.
"Come now, brothers, why do I need to do that? Surely I have done nothing to offend you, as I am a mere mortal." Zizai said pleasantly, fully aware of his current image. One foot was placed at the top of a dark, hardwood staff as it stood completely upright in the middle of a shallow pond, steam rolling off of the crystal clear waters as the cold rain met the warm water. His other leg was placed on his knee as he 'sat' atop his staff, looking anything like what a normal mortal should. His plain and simple blue cloak clung to his body, dripping with water from the rain from his flight to this pond. It had the best spiritual energy (meaning positive energy) for a hundred miles, and would be the best place for him to be were he to get mixed up in the battle above.
"You have offended our sect, and for that you and your...disciples must pay the price." One middle-aged cultivator said. Wang Zizai sighed and shook his head but did not move from his staff. The sect the cultivator spoke of was the ruling one of the city, and did not approve of the message Wang was spreading, or his martial temple in the mountains nearby. Wang let out a hum and shook his head, looking over the man's shoulder, his eyes glinting with a strange light.
"This is what is wrong with the world. It would be best to nip this mindset in the bud before it gets out of hand, however I do not have the patience nor the time to deal with that right now. But, before you try and kill me, you should ask the people behind you if that is really ok." Wang said simply, nodding to himself and glancing towards the sky, where his Spirit Guide, the angel, was shining like a beacon. Only he could see it, as he could see into the Spirit Realm, but that meant he could also see the three extremely dark beings flying at top speed towards him.
As Wang Zizai's attention fixated on the angels and dark angels, the cultivators that had surrounded him whirled around to find themselves besieged by over a hundred white-robed cultivators emitting a pressure unlike anything they had ever felt before. There were even a number of beings that the Fae cultivators had never seen before, from beings of pure fire and water, to five bird-like beings with wings and feathers for hair, and even three very dark people that radiated a strange and unfathomable power. Those three's eyes were fixated on Wang Zizai though. After a while the black-robed cultivators slowly bowed towards Dei's group, which had grown stronger and gathered more members over the centuries, (even gathering a few members of still-growing and scattered tribes of Elementals, Karae, and Avians) trembling in their boots as they did so.
"J-junior greets s-senior." One of the cultivators stuttered, unsure how to address the situation.
"Killing mortals is a grave sin. You should know that." One of the Karae said, frowning and crossing his arms. The twenty cultivators trembled, and one opened her mouth to provide an excuse, but a voice like thunder shut her up.
"Scram!" The voice boomed, pressure weighing down on the twenty cultivators and making their faces go pale. They felt that, if the owner of this voice wished, with but a thought they would be dead. So they did the only thing they could do -pissed their pants and ran for their lives. It was then that Dei appeared, floating down from the sky, the clouds splitting as he did so, floating towards Wang Zizai on a ray of golden sunlight. His hair had gained a few hints of grey over the centuries, giving him a very refined look, and he was very close to achieving Immortality. He'd reach that level within the next thousand or so years, which was a very short time considering his five-thousand year lifespan at his stage of cultivation. I had, for that occasion, devised a tribulation the he would have to endure, though it needed more refining before I was satisfied with it. With his battle spear gripped in one hand and his eyes burning with the heat of a thousand suns, Dei radiated a very imposing aura, especially with the frown on his face. He could feel, just barely, that something was off and that something big was about to happen, though he was uncertain as to what.
That did not prevent him from being captivated by Wang Zizai, however. The man was very clearly mortal, but he radiated an aura unlike anything he had ever experienced (my aura much more profound than Wang Zizai's, so Die didn't make that connection.) It was soothing, relaxing, as if the man was one with the world and it was one with him. And when their eyes met, Dei felt like thunder had struck him. Wang's eyes were like (my own) eyes, though not on the same scale, Dei still felt as if Wang could see through everything about him. Very slowly Wang got up off of his staff and stretched, his back popping as he did so, eyeing Dei coolly, or more specifically, watching the fight going on behind Dei. The angel was hard pressed against three dark angels, and in this moment one of the three managed to break through the angel's defenses, hurtling towards Dei with sinister intentions. Wang Zizai tensed, unsure of what was going to happen until the dark angel latched onto Dei, feeding him dark and evil thoughts, trying to manipulate him into attacking Wang Zizai. It wouldn't be that hard, Dei was getting ready to fight Wang anyways, however...the angel underestimated Dei.
Dei shuddered, feeling the dark thoughts run through his head and furrowing his brow, wondering where these thoughts were coming from and why Wang appeared to be a lot more dangerous in his eyes all of a sudden. Dei struggled for a moment, his brows furrowed as he debated on whether or not to attack and horrifically maim Wang Zizai...and had it not been for him having spent enough time among the Karae to understand a bit more about karma, he very well might have. Dei tried to shake off those thoughts, but they continued to persist until he gave a questioning look to Celene, who was just as confused, and Wang, who simply smiled and made a 'turn around' motion with his hand. Dei fixated his gaze on Wang Zizai for a moment before turning his head to glance behind him.
Although he couldn't physically see it, he had cultivated far enough along the Fleshly Body and the Spirit Realm cultivation paths that he could sense elemental spirits...and considering the sheer power of the dark angel, once he focused his attention on them he could clearly sense them. For a moment Dei was silent as he stared at the dark angel, said being slightly surprised that Dei could sense it, before Dei growled out a warning.
"Oh fuck no. You don't control me, bitch." He ground out, gripping his battle spear and whirling it around. White light flashed as the dark angel let out a plaintive scream, shocked that Dei could even touch it, as Dei's soulpower flashed out. He had gained insights into it a year after meeting with Kei and I, and since then it had only grown stronger. His talent was truly outstanding in soulpower -he was one of the first mortals to reach the 'second stage' of soulpower, where soulpower could begin to affect both the physical and spiritual world and not just himself. "Where do you think you're running to? I ain't done whoppin' you yet, boy." Dei sneered, charging into the sky after the dark angel, brandishing his spear and heedless of the danger. Upon seeing Dei's actions, the first angel couldn't help but be both proud of Dei and frantic that things were going to end poorly. Although the first angel could command vast amounts of power, he could barely fight with two of the dark angels, and at a disadvantage at that. The Third-Eye level guide that was working with Dei had been easily overpowered and was currently completely suppressed, Dei had merely caught the dark angel by surprise and was, in truth, not a match for the dark angels, and Wang Zizai was not yet an angel. Things would end poorly for them if things stayed this way.
"I suppose I had better get going as well. If I were you, I would find a place to hide. Shit's about to go down." Wang Zizai said darkly, talking to Dei's people. The hundred or so cultivators were all very confused, with the exception of the Karae, who could sense the masses of negative karma, but Wang's words shocked them out of their stupor. None of them were about to go hide, however, and Wang respected them for that. However, this was not an enemy they could fight. The dark angels in the air above sneered, disengaging for a brief moment to pool their power and sending it hurtling out into the surroundings. Strands of black energy coalesced as they stretched further outwards, connecting to various entities within the forest and agitating them. It took a few moments, but the forest stilled, a tense silence falling over the lush greenery, a silence that Dei's people had felt far too many times before. Wang Zizai paled as he realized what was about to happen, that the dark angels were inciting a mystic beast horde, though Dei just sneered.
Like a puny mystic beast horde could pose a threat to his people. They had survived far too much for such a simple thing to pose a threat to them. Especially in this backwater.
Little did he know, however, that the dark angels were not just inciting a mystic beast horde...they were agitating all of his people as well, along with the cultivators that were against Wang Zizai, trying to instigate them to come, and therefore increasing the chances of Dei's people accumulating more negative karma. Especially if they did not have much negative karma to begin with (as some most certainly did.) Wang, however, did sense their malicious intentions, and shuddered at the thought. It didn't matter that he had just met these people, he felt a desire to protect them from this all the same. He muttered a soft prayer to me, praying for their safety, before leaping into the air, feeling divine power flowing into him from the top of his head and down to his heart, forming a blade that severed the connections the dark angels had made. Once again the dark angels were left stunned at this action, having expected that someone technically weaker than them would be incapable of such an action. I, on the other hand, was once again left satisfied knowing that Divine Love truly is the strongest force in the universe.
Wang Zizai gracefully soared through the skies amidst the pouring rain, the power granted unto him by right of karma keeping him aloft as he charged towards the dark angels, radiating a spiritual, golden light. His guardian angel muttered something like a curse as he too once more launched himself forwards to clash with one dark angel, the duo's fight less flashy than Dei's or Wang's, and more along the lines of struggling over influence. To my eyes it was two balls of light surging back and forth, one a holy white, and the other an evil grey, their 'light' struggling against one another in an attempt to gain an upper hand. Wang's was along the same lines, though was a bit more colorful.
Flashes of gold and green, all but invisible to the mortal eye, erupted from Wang's hands as he thrust them forwards, a giant gold and silver Yin-Yang symbol appearing behind his back, slowly rotating as it pulsed with power. A green blade, formed of divine love, lashed out to sever the connections his opponent was trying to make with the surroundings, while that dark angel continued to slowly suppress Wang's divine aura. Each pulse of power from Wang Zizai broke the unrelenting force that was the dark angel's will, but it was almost instantaneously repaired, not quite giving him a break. His face was pale by the second minute of battling, understanding that if this persisted he would inevitably lose. Silently he asked for my help, praying that I, the Divine Soul, would give him the power to overcome this tribulation, but I didn't help him. Do not get me wrong. I absolutely want to help him. It's just that he himself was blocking me from truly doing so. To receive my help, one must first surrender one's self to me, allow my power to embrace them, and then can I channel my power and will through them. It is not as simple as just asking. Plenty of people can just ask.
"What, is that all you've got?!" Dei roared in defiance, hurtling forwards once again after having been sent flying by a casual swing from the angel. Of the three, he was by far faring the worst. Despite all of his power in cultivation, he was all but powerless against something in the Spirit Realm, which he (due to his level of karmic attainment only being at the Solar Plexus) could sense but not see, and would only be able to truly see and interact with upon attaining immortality. Dei is not one to let that stop him, however. Soulpower poured from the tip of his spear, carving wide swaths into the dark angel's aura as he consistently advanced, the essences of fire, water, and earth swirling around him and pushing him forward, the world bending to his will as he forced himself closer and closer to the dark angel. With every step his body trembled, unable to fully withstand the raw energy of the dark angel, but still he forged onwards, circulating his cultivation base and expending his Qi to speed up his healing process. "GET OVER HERE, BITCH!" Dei roared, leaping forwards with a sudden burst of strength, his spear lashing out and striking at the dark angel. With a casual wave of its hand, as it had taken the form of a Fae in order to 'fight' with Dei, the dark angel countered Dei's soulpower-filled blow and knocked him flying backwards, blood trailing from his mouth. Wang Zizai's expression flickered as he saw this, and the first angel couldn't help but be distracted for a split-second, worrying about the traces of corruption he saw the dark angel leave within Dei.
In that moment of distraction the dark angel managed to push back the first angel's aura by a large amount. The first angel muttered a curse and forcibly pushed back, halting the dark angel's advance and forcing him to remain tied down by this angel. A soft sigh echoed through me as I watched Dei struggle to get up, cursing at the dark angel as he sensed it not even give chase. Said dark angel no longer concerned itself with Dei, instead spreading out its feelers to connect to the residents of the forest, once again agitating them. They had already been on the move, the effects from their brief connection earlier still lingering and making the connection easier. Wang Zizai attempted to move his green blade to sever those connections, but he too found himself blocked by his opponent. It should be once again reiterated that dark angels are equal in power to regular angels, and that although all of this took time to describe, not even Dei's people found the time to act as it all happened in the blink of an eye.
"Dei! What's going on?!" Celene shouted, teleporting to his side. She was technically at the Heart Center level of karmic attainment, but had a much less profound cultivation base than Dei and chose to have her consciousness at a lower point than the Heart Center, so she could actually sense less than him.
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"Don't know. Something from the Spirit Realm...three things, dark, evil things are here. I don't know. One of 'em tried to control me." Dei hissed, wiping the blood from his mouth and glaring at the sky. "That other dude and some really powerful spirit's fighting the other two. Fuck! I don't have a clue what's going on." Dei muttered, looking at the surroundings and noticing that the tension in the air was ratcheting upwards.
"It feels like a beast horde is coming. Are the two connected?" Celene asked. Dei grunted and stood, twirling his spear expertly and closing his eyes, extending his senses outwards. He may not be able to sense the dark angel well enough to give it a good fight, but he can clearly sense everything physical around him. And what he sensed disturbed him. Normal mystic beast hordes were basically the lower-tier mystic beasts, only in the first to second or third stages of cultivation, running wild due to some disturbance (any higher and the beasts started to gain a sense of self, and were less susceptible to such instincts.) However, what he sensed was not only were the lower-tier mystic beasts moving, but some of the higher ones were as well. In fact...not just some.
"Shit. Why the fuck are there three Greater Beasts all the way out here?!" Dei cursed. He would've expected such a thing closer to the Life-Giving Tree, but not all the way out here, on the edges of Pangea! (Little did anyone but I know that, as soon as I had gone into true secluded meditation, the dark angels and dark forces had been aiming for this battle and many others, and had positioned forces all over this area. The mystic beasts around here were steeped in corruption and evil...which is part of what attracted Wang Zizai. He wanted to heal this area.) "Celene, get our people ready. This is not normal mystic beast horde, all the mystic beasts in the area are being driven towards us by three Greater Beasts. They're weaker than myself, but not by enough that I'd be able to take them all on with ease." Dei hissed, shaking his head. "I can't deal with them anyways. This is being caused by those damnable dark things, and I've got to figure out a way to beat at least one if we're going to survive this." Celene paled at Dei's words, understanding that if the great Dei, the single most powerful Fae cultivator that ever has been, was worried about survival, then it would be incredibly dangerous.
"I could use some help!" Wang Zizai yelled from the sky above, golden flashes of light bursting off of him, his techniques beginning to show effects in the Mortal Realm. Dei grit his teeth and roared out in defiance, a myriad of magical techniques flying from his hands and spear as he charged into the skies towards the two dark angels that were now both attacking Wang Zizai. Celene muttered a curse and began to bark out orders, and in the blink of an eye a few protective formations were formed in a circle around her people, just in time for the first wave of mystic beasts to appear. Despite common thought, normal beasts are not stupid. So in this case, the first wave did not end in a one-sided massacre, instead every single mystic beast, without fail, fled for their lives upon seeing the group of cultivators. They wouldn't even be useful cannon fodder in this case, as Celene alone could've killed most of them with two waves of her hand. I, personally, was pleased that she didn't. The mystic beasts are still my children, children of my Realms, after all. Wanton massacre is frowned upon.
It only took a few more minutes, during which time Dei's people continued to set up a number of more powerful formations, for the rest of the mystic beasts to all group together rather than come at Dei's people in waves (minus the Greater Beasts, who would attack after the group had been worn down and were only marching because Wang Zizai's level of karmic attainment was absolutely terrifying to them.) Thousands of mystic beasts, their numbers making up for inferior cultivation bases, crashed through the forest, knocking over trees and causing the water on the ground to tremble. Blood flew into the air as the first of the mystic beasts clashed with the cultivators, Celene standing in the back, her eyes narrowed as she watched the ongoings. Next to her stood the reincarnation of her lover, the young man having spent the last century and a half of his lifetime trying, and meeting with rather limited success, to win her heart (even though he already technically had it.) Compared to her, he had a much weaker cultivation, but that did nothing to deter him as he was bound and determined to stay by her side this time around.
The initial clash bode well for Dei's people, as they easily repelled the mystic beasts, but the next clashes were not as successful. It pained me so to watch my children fighting like this, killing each other due to the machinations of some evil being and the chaos still resounding from the Paradox attack, but there was nothing I could do to help if they did not ask. If only one of them just one would ask...
"I suppose...there is no more putting it off." Wang Zizai said in a voice so calm one would almost be mistaken that he was currently in dire straits, falling away from the dark angel and retracting his aura. "Mr. Angel and...Dei, was it? Could you buy me some time?" The first angel glowed brightly in response, opening himself up to me and allowing just a sliver of my power to enter him, just enough to push back the dark angel he was currently engaging and distract another. Dei growled as he was flung backwards once more, blood trickling down his forehead and arms, his spear creaking and groaning but not breaking just yet. When he opened his mouth to speak he coughed up blood, looking completely miserable, but the light of defiance that flashed in his eyes, and the roaring of his cultivation base, told a different story altogether.
"You better hurry up. I'll steal all the glory for killing these fucks if you don't." Dei growled, his eyes flickering down to the fight going on below. The three Greater Beasts were beginning to close in, proof that his people were faring worse than he had hoped. Many of his original members had succumbed to the passage of time after all, in comparison to them, this next generation was weaker. (Not timeline wise, though. They'd be much stronger by the end of things than the first generation, but everything takes time.) With a frown Dei slapped his chest, coughing up black blood and the portion of life essence that had been tainted by the dark angel, burning it, anger ripping through his entire being. "I'm going to tear you to PIECES!" Dei roared, the mere sound of his voice causing innumerable mystic beasts to feel their cultivation bases tremble, acting as if they were on the verge of collapse merely from the aftereffects of his voice. They instinctively felt fear for this man, and the combat lulled as everyone watched Dei shoot forwards and clash against the invisible force of the dark angel once again, before resuming their fight. Celene herself had yet to act, and although it pained her, she needed to be in top shape for the Greater Beasts.
Wang Zizai let out a breath once he was certain he had a few moments, and for one splendid moment I thought he was going to open himself up to me and ask for my help. I was only disappointed for a split second, however, as his next action was a pleasant surprise. I had not expected him to attempt to become an angel right now, even though that's not how it works...waitaminute.
Excitement surged through me as he pushed his consciousness into the Crown Chakra, the energies of the Four Realms surging in response. No way. No freakin' way!
He was undergoing a Tribulation! Like the Immortal Tribulation! But for becoming an angel! An Angelic Tribulation! Holyshit! The tribulation I had set up for mortal immortality had bled into the trial required to become an angel! I had not expected this...and this means that there might be more than just one or two tribulations in the Four Realms -there might be one for every type of cultivation and then some! This is utterly unexpected and so exciting!
Golden light rained down onto Wang Zizai, forming a barrier of power between him and the rest of the world as divine power flooded down towards him, distorting time itself with the massive quantities flooding towards him. His body trembled slightly as a stream of images flooded his mind, following the rules I had set in place, and introducing him to all the pains of the Universe. It all happened in a series of minutes, what should've taken years was condensed into a few minutes of time...though that time was closer to six or so months of constant tribulation due to time distortion (at least for Wang Zizai.) During that time the entire world seemed to be frozen, even Dei, who normally would've taken this opportunity to attack his opponents, was watching with glittering eyes, knowing that he, too, would most likely have to undergo something similar. It was something his subconscious told him, that there would be a tribulation to face before achieving the ever-so-elusive immortality.
Wang Zizai's body started to smoke and steam, the sheer amount of power a little too much for his physical form to handle, and his eyes snapped open. Yet another surge of light rained down on him, nourishing his body and transforming it into something capable of withstanding much stronger energies. The light nourished his flesh and altered it, turning him into a half-spiritual being that was capable of becoming both physical and purely spiritual. The amount of power he could now wield increased a hundredfold, he now radiated a divine aura, and a ring of pure, divine energy appeared behind his back, imitating my own six balls of Chaos. There were no wings on my angels, unlike the stereotypical image from Earth. A warm feeling, a feeling of pride for my child, welled up inside of me, and I felt a rumble of discontent from the one who controlled the dark angels.
"So this is what it means to be an angel." Wang Zizai said with a smile, his eyes peering into fate itself. Looking around, suddenly he smiled upon seeing Celene standing right next to her lover, both of them gawking up at him. "The seeds..." He muttered, and once again pride bloomed in my heart. To think that he could see that seeds I had planted even though Alexander, Elvira, Reika, nor Keilan could not, it was yet another pleasant surprise in a line of pleasant surprises that had revealed themselves to me this day. "Now, let us resume, hmm? Dei, go help your people. The First and I should be enough to stall until you get done." He said, waving his hand and causing the three dark angels and the first angel to become visible to the mortal eye. Without waiting for an answer Wang Zizai charged forwards, emitting just that much more power than the First and beating back his opponent. Together they managed to tie down all three dark angels, though they were still at a disadvantage. That thought amused me. With me here, no one was truly at a disadvantage. Not even the dark angels...oh, how disappointed I felt in both them and the one who caused their corruption. If they would ask, of course I would forgive and help them...just not in this foolish endeavor.
Dei frowned and glared at his once-opponent. "You better not go running away. Once I'm done down there, I'm coming back for you." Dei ground out, pointing one shaking finger at the angel before hurtling off towards one of the approaching Greater Beasts, signaling the start of the battle once again. Dei's people surged with newfound life in response to their leader turning to come help them, even if he did merely shoot off into the distance. They all understood his reasons though, as they could all feel the incoming auras. It pleased them greatly that one of said auras, despite it being the weakest of the trio, almost immediately disappeared in response to Dei utterly obliterating it, having been plenty frustrated at having struggled so against the dark angel. Although a little bit of negative karma flowed into him as a result of his malicious strike, it was only a little. This was a true 'kill or be killed' type situation here. There were ways around it, however, which is also why there was negative karma in the first place...along with the Greater Beast being technically sentient at this point.
"GROAAAAH!" The two remaining Greater Beasts roared in unison, charging forwards and clashing with Dei at the exact same time. One had taken a Fae-like form, with four arms and six heads, modeled much like the Outsider spirit, while the other was a giant bat-like creature that radiated malice and bloodlust and hatred. Dei's body shook as they clashed, a tiny speck compared to the now mountain-sized Greater Beasts, but no less powerful than the both of them. His only disadvantage was his injuries, and that the two beasts were skilled at working together.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" Celene roared, thrusting her sword into the air as she battled with six of the more powerful mystic beasts that were attempting to tie her down. She would help their people before going to aid Dei, as those were the instructions Dei had mentally sent her, but hadn't expected these six to prove so troublesome. The tides of battle had changed nevertheless, and although they were outnumbered, the side of the true angels were holding their ground, refusing to give an inch. That is, until a seeming 'disaster' struck. It was not in the form of Dei falling, nor in the form of the first angel or Wang Zizai becoming injured, nay, it was due to an illusion beast leaping forwards, stabbing towards Celene with a bladed tail. It was her lover, the one she had been trying to ignore, the one tied to her by a red string of fate, that once again chose to do the same thing he had done all those years ago -sacrifice himself for his love.
A splash of blood alerted Celene to the action, and she whirled around to expect another enemy only to find him, a fatal wound through his chest, clutching the illusion beast so that it wouldn't be able to attack Celene again. Silence reigned in her mind as she stared in shock, a scream ripping itself out of her mouth unbidden, her sword slaying the illusion beast in the same moment she tore him away from it and activated a healing magic. A slight burst of power from Wang Zizai made the Red String visible to Celene for just a second, and tears appeared in Celene's eyes. They even share the same name... She realized.
Dei turned his attention from his fight in response to Celene's heartrending scream. His gaze fell upon Celene as knelt over the fallen boy, her heart clenching in agony as she realized just who it was she held in her arms, who it was that was whispering the same words -I love you -as her former husband had, nay, her husband, her sweet Leo, who had once again found her in another life. Dei's eyes flashed in recognition, understanding that if he did not believe in reincarnation before, he did now. Such a love that those two shared was not something he had ever once come across in all of his years of travel...it was truly unique in the entirety of the Four Realms. Only two souls were bound by a Red String. His heart clenched as he paused his fight to say a silent prayer, understanding his own powerlessness for once in his life, at the same time that Celene began to cry.
"If you're up there," Dei said, closing his eyes. "No, it doesn't matter if you are or aren't, I suppose."
"Not again, please, not again." Celene sobbed, her magic failing to keep her Leo alive. "Help, please. Somebody!"
"Just...do not let these two be torn apart again." Dei prayed, releasing control over himself. It was a selfless desire, this wish of his.
"Please." Celene begged, turning to the skies as all six of her previous opponents pounced on her.
"Help." Dei and Celene said in unison, asking for me, for my help, from the bottom of their hearts and allowing me directly into their souls.
The power that flooded through them in response, my heart surging alongside theirs, filled with divine love, blinded the entire battlefield.
"The seeds bloom this day." Wang said as he watched, a smile spreading across his face.
POV CHANGE: Alexander
"Once again we are reminded that He has never truly left us, and we are never truly alone." I muttered, my heart filled with a strange, but wonderful, feeling at watching Father work His magic even in a purely meditative state. The battle had ended the moment He had touched the two mortals, Dei and Celene, as everyone stood about in the pouring rain, staring at each other with no desire to fight left in their hearts afterwards. The blood that had been shed was washed away with the Father's tears as they fell from the sky, the souls of the fallen being accepted by Him with open arms and placed into my river. Leo, one of the Two Lovers, had his lifeblood returned to him, the dark angels were thoroughly suppressed, though only one fled back to its master. The other two asked for forgiveness from Father, and were sent back into the cycle of reincarnation to burn off negative karma. The mystic beast hordes all returned to their dens, returning to their own families feeling cleansed and full of a profound, boundless love, while Dei's people set about licking their wounds, mourning the few dead and basking in the feeling of Father's embrace. Everyone could feel it, the moment that Dei and Celene called down Father's love, and it had ended any and all enmities.
It had removed the Sword from everyone's heart, even if just for this moment. They had all been touched by the Divine Soul...even those in the city miles away, they felt it too.
"Cheating..." The Voice complained, before fading away altogether in fear that Father had truly awoken. But no, this was just His discarnate will. I smiled.
"We are never truly alone. Father is always watching over us, ready to forgive our mistakes and welcome us into His embrace with open arms." I repeated, closing my eyes. "All we need to do is ask."