The heavens held their breath as wonder unfolded. The arrow resting upon the Supreme Sovereign’s bow seemed capable of ending the world itself. Every current of Aether surrounding the battlefield bent toward it.
Countless laws that Atheline could not even recognize converged into a single point. The wound through the Supreme Sovereign’s chest continued to pour golden blood. Yet the hand drawing the bowstring remained perfectly steady.
Far below, every soldier, every commander, and every Sovereign understood the same thing. If that arrow were released, something would end.
The Sovereign of Death’s pale eyes narrowed for the first time since appearing on the battlefield. Around him, oceans of Corrupted Aether gathered into massive barriers.
Thousands of corrupted beasts threw themselves into the air, sacrificing their own bodies to form living walls between their master and the approaching attack.
Even the traitorous Sovereign of Fire moved instinctively into a defensive position. Victory had seemed certain only moments before. Now, fear spread through the enemy ranks.
The Supreme Sovereign released the string. The arrow simply disappeared. For an instant, Atheline thought he had missed seeing it, then reality split.
A perfectly straight line carved itself across the battlefield. The sky divided, the clouds separated, and mountains far beyond the horizon were cut cleanly in half.
Every corrupted creature caught within that path simply ceased to exist. The barriers protecting the Sovereign of Death shattered one after another as though they had never existed.
The Sovereign of Fire barely managed to twist aside. Even then, one shoulder vanished with the passing of the arrow. There was no blood, only empty space where flesh had once been.
The Sovereign of Death crossed both arms before himself. Darkness condensed until it became almost solid. The arrow struck. The Sovereign of Death was driven backward by thousands.
The heavens cracked beneath the force of the impact. The earth below split open into an endless canyon stretching farther than Atheline could see.
The Supreme Sovereign had accomplished with a single arrow what entire armies could never dream of achieving.
Without waiting for the dust to settle, the woman cloaked in living shadows moved.
The Sovereign of Darkness.
She had remained beside the Supreme Sovereign from the beginning, defending allies while silently supporting every attack. Now her patience ended.
The shadows surrounding her unfolded into enormous black wings that covered the heavens. The darkness wrapped around the allied Sovereigns, shielding them from waves of corrupted power rushing outward from the Sovereign of Death; then she attacked.
Darkness condensed into countless black lances. Each one flew with impossible precision. Every lance sought a weakness and every strike forced the Sovereign of Death to divert attention away from the wounded Supreme Sovereign.
Her attacks alone would not have defeated him, but together...Their coordination remained flawless.
The Sovereign of Life joined them moments later. Realizing that healing the wound was impossible, she abandoned that effort entirely. Instead, she poured her immense Life Aether into the remaining Sovereigns. Their exhaustion faded, and injuries closed.
Even the armies below found renewed strength as emerald light spread across the battlefield like a second dawn. Cries of despair slowly transformed into battle cries once again.
Hope returned.
The remaining allied Sovereigns surged forward together. Lightning tore across the heavens. The seas themselves rose into towering walls before crashing down upon the Corrupted armies.
Mountains answered ancient commands, crushing countless enemies beneath them. The battlefield became a storm of impossible power. The Sovereign of Death began yielding ground once more.
Atheline could barely breathe.
"So they still won..." he whispered.
History had never recorded this battle in detail, only its outcome. Now he understood why; no words could ever describe what he was witnessing.
Then... Something impossible happened. The Supreme Sovereign slowly turned. Toward the city, toward the very wall upon which Atheline stood.
The brilliant aura still concealed nearly every feature. Only flowing white hair could be distinguished beneath the blinding radiance. Yet... Atheline felt it: those hidden eyes were looking directly at him.
His entire body froze.
Impossible.
No one should have been able to see him. He wasn’t part of this era but only witnessing it. Yet every instinct screamed the same answer. The Supreme Sovereign knew he was there.
The moment lasted no longer than a heartbeat, then the Supreme Sovereign turned away once more as though nothing had happened.
Atheline remained rooted in place. A chill ran through his entire body.
"...Did..." His voice barely escaped his lips. "...did you see me?"
There was no answer, only the distant roar of battle.
With one final coordinated assault, the allied Sovereigns forced the Sovereign of Death to retreat. The darkness covering the battlefield began withdrawing toward the horizon.
The Corrupted followed without hesitation, abandoning the endless struggle for the first time since the war had begun. Even the Sovereign of Fire disappeared alongside them, never once looking back.
The battle was over. Victory belonged to the alliance, but no one celebrated. The armies stood in stunned silence; their greatest enemy had been driven away.
Yet the Supreme Sovereign remained suspended in the heavens, one hand pressed against the unhealed wound in their chest as golden blood continued to fall upon the broken world.
The cost of victory had been far greater than anyone could have imagined. And as Atheline watched the silent figure above the battlefield, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this victory was only delaying a catastrophe that history would one day remember as... the Cataclysm.
.
.
.
Silence gradually spread across the battlefield. The deafening roar of combat that had shaken heaven and earth only moments before slowly faded into an uneasy stillness.
The Corrupted retreated beyond the horizon like an endless tide receding into darkness. The surviving allied armies remained where they stood.
Too sad and tired to do anything but look on at the figure above, paying silent respect to their saviour.
Every soldier looked toward the heavens. Toward the wounded figure that had carried the weight of the entire world upon their shoulders.