Words could not begin to describe the current feelings of the paragons who had chosen to stay out of the battle.
Stopping a battle of this magnitude wasn't possible. It would only cause more chaos and would probably end up with even more paragons dying.
"Jenera, this has gone too far…"
Oren, the Regenerari Paragon, said sharply to the Evolari Paragon, who was looking at the unfolding battle with a serious expression.
But even a blind person couldn't miss it, the excited gleam in her eyes as she looked at Atticus and Ozeroth battles.
"Jenera!" Oren's voice rose, causing Jenera's head to snap toward him.
Her voice was cold. "What?"
Oren hesitated for a moment, taken aback by her tone. "I said we have to stop them. We've already lost too much!"
Jenera's gaze returned to the battlefield. "Then go stop it."
Oren's eyes narrowed. "Do you even realize what we just lost? Two leaders, gone! And for what? Only we can stand against those Zorvan Colonels, whose numbers we don't even fully know. And now we've lost two of us! We need to stop this madness before the damage becomes truly irreparable."
Jenera didn't look at him. "Two are already dead. Two more are about to die. How much more irreparable can it get?"
The other paragons remained silent, watching the exchange unfold. They all had different thoughts about the unfolding events, but it didn't change the fact that stepping up now was utterly risky.
Oren clenched his fists. "Exactly! That's what we need to stop!"
"Then go. No one's stopping you. But I don't know if I speak for everyone here, Oren, I have no intention of interfering in that fight. The Human Apex made his stance very clear. He won't hesitate to strike down anyone who gets in his way."
"So we're going to be led by the whims of a child now?"
Jenera finally turned to face him again.
"If that child is capable of killing two of our strongest, then yes, perhaps it's time we listened. We could gang up and try to kill him, sure. But it'll cost more lives. And frankly… he's in the right. They're in the wrong. I don't see how that's worth dying over."
Oren's face twisted in frustration. He turned toward the other paragons, voice rising.
"Are you all just going to stand there and do nothing? There's no going back from this! After he's done with them, do you honestly think he won't come for us next?"
At that, the gazes of the other paragons shifted. His words struck a chord.
Oren had a point, what would happen after this battle? Would the Human Apex truly walk away as a friend? They had all pressured him to sign a mana contract binding him to the Alliance. If anything, Atticus had every reason to see them as enemies too.
Then, finally, the Demon Paragon spoke.
"Regardless of the aftermath… it will all be chaos."
No one responded, not because they disagreed, but because it was the truth. A storm was coming. War and chaos were about to descend upon Eldoralth.
As they each fell into thought, the air suddenly shifted.
A cold, suffocating pressure leaked into the atmosphere, turning every head. The paragons turned toward the source, and froze.
Youn, the Nullite Paragon, was standing still, yet his presence was anything but. His body was bleeding bloodlust so thick it felt like a storm pressing against their skin.
"Youn?" Oren called out.
But it was too late.
A violent, darkened brown aura erupted from Youn, exploding outward and spreading across kilometers, distorting the very air.
The eyes of the paragons widened in alarm. Without hesitation, they darted to the sides, retreating from the epicenter.
"YOUN!" Oren shouted, but before anyone could act, a massive hammer appeared in Youn's hand, so heavy it bent the air and intensified gravity across the area.
His lifeless eyes flashed with eerie focus. In that moment, the world around him disappeared. There was only one thing he could see.
One target.
And then he moved.
A trail of brown streaked through the skies like a meteor, and Youn appeared directly above the cocoon that held Carius, his hammer descending with a force that tore the sky apart.
Expressions shifted violently.
The recruits.
The paragons.
Atticus…
A crack. A streak of black-crimson.
Then, katana met hammer.
The collision erupted, a burst of titanic force. Black-crimson aura and dark brown clashed, detonating into a concussive shockwave that rippled through the air, splitting the ground and scattering dust like a storm.
A series of rapid shockwaves pulsed out, clearing the haze.
Atticus and Youn locked eyes.
Youn's face was twisted in anguish and seething rage. He wanted nothing more than to tear apart the bastard who killed his grandson.
But Atticus's eyes remained still, like twin voids of ice.
He didn't care what the Nullite felt.
He didn't care that Youn had every reason to kill Carius.
But one thing was clear:
No one would take this kill from him.
One moment, metal scraped metal, sparks flew.
The next, Atticus vanished.
Youn's eyes widened. His instinct took over as he sent out a pulse, negating every trace of mana within kilometers. But…
Crack!
His eyes snapped down to see a fist hurtling toward his chin with terrifying force.
'How?!' his mind screamed. He shouldn't be able to use the elements without mana—!
But it was too late.
The punch landed, force detonating through his skull, snapping his head back, launching his body like a missile into the sky.
Just then;
Crack!
The atmosphere fractured from multiple directions as the skies above split open and airships burst out of warp speed, appearing in droves.
Each vessel bore different designs, sigils, and banners, emblems of the many races of Eldoralth. The leaders of the Alliance had been the first responders… but now, their armies had arrived.
And by army, their paragons.
From the hulls of the ships, multiple radiant streaks tore through the skies, each one radiating paragon-level power, descending like a meteor shower toward the battlefield below.
As they came to a stop mid-air, hovering above the devastated earth…
A wave of sheer pressure slammed into them.
What were they seeing?
The headless corpse of Velkarion Ignisyth, sprawled across scorched earth, lifeless and still.
The split remains of Azrakan Velarius, his blood and entrails falling from the skies.
The body of Youn, launched like a ragdoll into the heavens.
Jezeneth of the Vampyros, barely holding her ground, battered and bloodied.
And amidst the chaos, Eletantron, mightiest of the Dimensari race, hovering mid-air… his face twisted in dread and disbelief, sweat marring his face.
And then, all eyes turned.
To him.
Hovering above the battlefield like a harbinger of calamity, Atticus.
The air around him was still, eerily calm, but his presence felt as though the weight of the world pressed down upon every soul present.