What did it matter that David now faced a god? Yaldabaoth had all this power and for what? He had left the world once before and for so long. Surely his power had waned. Surely his body was no better than David’s own. And with Zorvilon, a god of fire capable once of defeating he himself, it was quite clear Yaldabaoth would be unable to immediately defeat them. More than that, David’s own power was at its zenith while Yaldabaoth had just materialized. His manifestation and apotheosis would surely be similar to what David had experienced, and so there was a window where no matter the strength of the occupying god, its vessel would not yet be acclimated to wielding the strength available to it. It would not yet have accepted its fate as the hand of something greater than itself.
Amanda would be in control, and Amanda for all her years of wisdom and strength was ultimately a child longing for love she could never have. David stepped forward, an aura of light bent away from him to reveal nothing but a silhouette of a man as Zorvilon began to flare himself to the heights of power he had once achieved in the Covenant’s war against God from so long ago.
Amanda’s breath flowed evenly as the body achieved a strength it had never known. She found peace within herself to destroy the blight spreading across her world. She found power from the sky to defend this only world she had ever known. David’s putrid exploitation of her want to love would see no more victims. This would be the last of his bodies to fall.
Zorvilon allowed his eyes to roll back in his head as fire bubbled up within his core. It was an experience he hadn’t had in a thousand years, and a risk he hated to take, but here in this moment it had become necessary. There was always a risk to allowing a god to take hold of mortal flesh, not just of destroying the body but of losing the self. It was assuaged by a will to hold on to life and who you were and are, but moments of weakness were easy to find in a pitched battle, and he had seen the close calls before.
But it wouldn’t be so bad to lose himself if it meant stopping Yaldabaoth’s stagnant will from choking out the world again. The earth began to melt below Zorvilon’s feet as his flesh gave way to fire. He retained the shape and general color of a man but burned red, alight with the passion of a will to die. The ground became black and molten red, grass evaporated past the point of ash.
David rocketed towards Yaldabaoth who placed an outstretched hand upon his fist.
David smiled, “So you can be killed.”
Amanda snapped back her outstretched hand as Yaldabaoth’s will forced her to obey His divine commands. She yielded her body to His distant voice coming from the base of her skull and realized immediately that David could not be touched. She grew stronger in her connection to Him in every moment, and yet it would take but a moment to sever His divine light.
Zorvilon knew from before the moment the words left David’s lips that the fight was winnable. Yaldabaoth had recoiled his hand far faster than the sound could reach Zorvilon’s own ears, but the outcome was clear— Yaldabaoth could be killed, and that meant they had a chance of taking this fight, so long as David could press the attack while they retained the initiative.
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Master Anderson began rising from his kneeled position from before the first blow could connect, and only allowed David’s strike to land in an effort to determine how dangerous he was. It seemed his power worked even on Yaldabaoth Himself, and so Chad would need to defend Him from behind to allow the Lord of Light’s divine focus to remain squarely on evading David long enough to fully manifest in the world.
Above all, David knew that even as Yaldabaoth gained strength so long as he landed a few knicks here and there he would be able to grow at an equal rate. So long as Yaldabaoth failed to defeat him prior to His full manifestation… the fight would already be over.
Master Anderson knew he wasn’t strong enough to match David in his current form. Even if he was, a single mistake would allow David’s strikes to reach their true target, so instead of allowing for his humanity to err he placed himself between Yaldabaoth and Zorvilon to defend his God from at least one of the undeserving claimants to divinity. Both sides were almost blinding, but his divine technique「shade of a thousand suns」was more than capable of rendering the star in front manageable, even if Yaldabaoth’s radiance could still blind him.
Zorvilon had no such issue. He did not need sight when heat was more than sufficient to land a killing blow. And though Anderson had once stood at his side, he had been cast aside in the Covenant War and unable to stop their ascent to dominion over the world. Zorvilon had reigned at the top for nearly a thousand years, so while today he stood no longer as the strongest of all champions, Anderson had played house for hundreds of years. His stagnancy could not compare to Zorvilon’s might.
Indevlyn and Dagon shared a look only known to worms cowering on the ground— fear. They knew the techniques about to fly could kill either of them without intent. They knew so many who had died during the Covenant War, and though it had been worth the strife it was also clear their risk of death was far higher now than it had been even then. They had allies then, and only one foe. Now they stood with two on either side, each easily as strong as the other and soon as Yaldabaoth had ever been.
What was even to be gained here? For all their consolidation of power undertaken over a thousand years of preparation and a thousand more of undisputed power, the four here now were relics of a bygone era. Zorvilon had been among those to lead them to the top, but in the wake of The Great Scourge had been powerless to stop the other gods from taking what had once been theirs. Anderson had never been strong enough of will or might to pose a threat. Though he was now standing toe to toe with gods, he did not have their strength. Though he had fought themselves and Zorvilon to a standstill, he did not have their former power. He led one city. What was to be gained even if he came out unscathed? The city was gone and with it his everything.
If Yaldabaoth won, He could forget or even forgive them. It wasn’t like they had been major players. But if He lost and they opposed David… their fate would not be so kind. Yaldabaoth, at least, was known for occasional mercy. On the one side was certain death if they lost, and at most certainty of forgiveness and ten thousand years of a still life— likely until past their own deaths— if they didn’t. On the other was an unknown outcome with all the same risk of death they had once faced. Was it 60%? 70? They didn’t know, but so many comrades had fallen then as to make it not worth the risk. So they ran.
Until, at least, David’s hands found their way to the necks of the two cowards stupid enough to make a show of their decision to flee. Yaldabaoth took the opportunity to laser through his chest to disintegrate David’s entire torso, but it didn’t matter. David didn’t care about the flesh but it didn’t seem Amanda understood this yet. His hands had found their mark, and with terror in their eyes the mark became his own flesh and his own flesh returned to stand just above the soil.