War of the Gods.
A battle between the Sun God and Stardus, the proxy of the Star God, ended in Stardus' favor.
Stardus, who awakened three times during the battle, finally defeated the Sun God with the power of the stars, and the Sun God, exhausted, fell into slumber.
The battle was over, and the story should have ended.
…Surely, it should have.
"Why would I?"
"….!"
Sun God was kneeling in a deep pit in the torn plains.
Surely, the battle should be over.
Stardus had been relieved that it was all over when the god had fallen, and had spoken as if he would flee as he was, as Egostic had said.…Even if she had awakened the Godhead, her body was not unharmed.
Now she could finally rest, she thought.
…until his next words, when she felt an instinctive sense of danger.
And in that moment the earth vibrated.
"Ugh…"
While Stardus panicked in the face of it.
-Hmph.
Suddenly, Sun God Helios, who had clearly fallen, began to rise into the sky once more.
White smoke billowed around him….and new, sticky, black smoke.
Rising up through the black and white smoke, Helios began to mutter in a low voice.
"…Yes. If I fight any longer, my body will be destroyed. No, I will surely cease to exist."
"What does that mean?"
“…Then, as a god, you are telling me to run away like this, even after suffering such humiliation from my own creation?”
"No. No."
The sun was setting, the orange sky glowing with twilight.
The sun god, rising from beneath it, now shrouded in the smoke of black and white clouds, looked down upon Stardus with golden eyes.
And…Stardus looked up, wide-eyed, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
He smiled a wicked grin, then hardened his face and looked away, raising his head and waving a hand.
…in front of him, staring off into the distance.
"Children of the Stars, you bastards…"
All my plans.
All my holy relics.
"To see my daughter, my manifestation, my saint, all taken, all destroyed… I can't, I can't. I cannot forgive you."
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
With a tremendous roar and a flash of light, the Sun God unleashed his power.
Stardus gritted her teeth and braced herself against the wind.
The sun god was once again clothed in white, floating in the scarlet sky.
…Behind him.
[…………]
A grayish Godhead giant stood high in the sky, a mixture of dreary silver and slimy black, as if risen from the dead.
The sun god himself, bleeding black, as if he's letting go of everything, seemingly untouchable, yet clearly menacing…Unknowable, exuding a different kind of menace that only a god can exert.
As if closer to death than ever before.
"Humans, I declare here."
The Sun God, for all the humans of the world to hear.
In the voice of a god of a different order, a voice so different that some would lose their minds just hearing it.
"Even if my existence were to cease today, in this place…I will kill you humans. I will kill you, all of you."
With those words, a scythe black as the night sky, forged by a divine giant of silver and black, came into being.
The Sun God, risking his very existence, is single-minded in his quest to kill the humans.
Then, he looked down at Stardus before him.
He spoke in a quiet voice, so only she could hear.
“Child of the stars, I’ll kill you first.”
…Stardus clenched her fists, her face grim, as she took in the murderous intent.
Instinctively, she realized a single fact.
‘…Not in my power.’
She knew she could never defeat the god who had staked his life.
***
A sunset, a twilight orange sky.
Beneath that premiere landscape, as if the world were coming to an end….on a plain that stretched to the horizon, where a symphony of death could be heard, a hero stood, facing the living dead.
[kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]
Chiang quang quang kwaaang quang chiaaang quang chiaaang quang
"Kaaaahhhhh…"
Just a moment ago, the spot where Stardus was, the gray sun deity had closed the distance in an instant, unleashing a thousand strikes in the space of a few seconds, as if cutting through space itself.
In its place, the sky was now scarred with black galaxies, like a giant scar, as if the sky had been sliced open but Stardus' dodging was not the end of the story.
-Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Toward the place she had traveled to, the power of the sun, pure gray light, struck without pause.
…All the while, Stardus could barely dodge the blows, her blonde hair whipping around as she parried them with the power of the stars.
It was an overwhelming disparity in power.
In exchange for pouring his being into it, he gained enough power to nearly destroy the world at once….only to finish off the one Stardus that had the power of stars.
Under such a fierce attack from the evil Sun God, Stardus rolled around in the sky, exhausted, even though it was only a matter of time.
"……"
The gray power of the sun struck her again.
The golden giant she had summoned with her godhead had used up most of its power defending her, leading a giant that glowed a dull golden color.
Stardus gazed at the gray-enveloped sun god with clouded eyes, tasting the taste of blood in her mouth.
‘…What is wrong?’
In truth, there was nothing wrong.
It was just that no one expected the Sun God to come out like that, and her power was too weak.
The only thing she could hear were the comms from the control tower.
[We're in trouble!!! It's raining gray light all over the world right now… Ugh!]
…and then, there was no more communication.
Somehow, it feels like a dream.
She hadn't expected things to go so wrong, so badly.
Stardus was just…flying through the air, bleeding and struggling.
Or, at least, tried to take advantage of an opening.
"Haha. Did you think that was possible?"
The Sun God's light gesture blocked her attack.
…Of course, the Sun God didn't look too good either. His silver hair had faded to gray, and his golden eyes were being consumed by blackness.
But, of course, he was far better than Stardus, who was already pushed to the limit.
Right now, she felt like her insides were all twisted up.
Or maybe it was actually twisted.
"Kuluk."
Red blood trickled from her mouth, the result of a poorly dodged attack.
The God of Creation, glowing grayish silver in the twilight… No. Helios, the sun god, now the god of destruction, was relentless. He came in with the sole intention of killing the child of the stars.
"…Ugh."
Stardust's Godhead, at the height of her power, was completely shattered.
With that, she crashed to the ground.
She stood on the ground, wobbling on her legs, clutching her left arm, which seemed to be completely broken, and looking up, bleeding.
"Now, it's over. Child of the Stars."
The Sun God was expressionless, his hands clasped together as he gathered the power of the sun to end it all.
Looking at him like that.
‘…This is it, the end?’
Stardus thought, blurry-eyed and breathing harshly.
…If she falls, that's fine but if she dies what will become of this world, of the Association, of Da-in, of all of them.
She couldn't let herself fall.
There were too many people to protect.
"…No."
Stardus reached out, her hands shaking with effort.
She gathered the last of her strength into her hands in an inaudible prayer.
"Please, God…
One last miracle.
"Go away, child of the stars."
And then, just before the Sun God's attack.
She released the power in her hands and in that moment a tremendous glow spread out from her hand,
Kuung-.
…..
Everything stopped, even the Sun God, who seemed to be about to strike at any moment.
The wind, which was blowing, the dust that was scattering, all of it.
"Huh…?"
And just like that, in the graying of time.
Stardus questioned, alone and weary.
And then…realized.
"…Time has stopped?"
Yes, it had.
Face to face with the Sun God himself, Stardus opening herself completely to the power of the stars.
Time had stopped.
"What the…?"
She froze, bewildered by the incomprehensible situation.
Stardus quickly realized what was happening.
‘The American Ex Machina, the time-turner, the one with the power of the Star God…’
Stardus recalled the information that Egostic had given her earlier.
The God of the Stars controls time, the God of the Moon controls space. The Sun God presides over existence.
If so, that would explain why she had suddenly stopped time.
If so, then…
‘Now is the time, the opportunity.’
She realized instinctively that this was her first and last chance to strike a blow against the Sun God.
She didn't know exactly how long she could stop time, but somehow she could feel it in her gut that in a few minutes, this ability would be at its limit.
So, before then.
"Hhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
With that, she powered up her right hand, which floated in the air.
-Haaaaaaaaaah!
The stars shone brighter than ever in her fist.
With a concentration that made her eyes bleed, her lips clenched, she pushed the starlight to her limits to strike down the Sun God with a single blow.
‘Wait, Helios.’
With that, she gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and glared at Helios.
…..
"…Huh?"
There was a moment when the Sun God's eyes seemed to move as he floated in the sky and stopped to look down.
Then, in the next moment his fingers twitched, as if they had moved.
Before she had time to do anything the Sun God roared.
The next moment, black and white time shattered like a panel of glass and the next, before Stardus could brace herself.
"Ugh…!"
A gray, solar-powered energy cannon blasted down at her.
Stardust was caught off guard, and sent flying.
In the rush of time that followed, the Sun God wiped his mouth and muttered to himself.
"Five times over, you've surpassed your own powers and awakened the ability to control time….You're her daughter after all, but whatever."
With nothing but hatred in her eyes he summoned a gray scythe in his hand, Helios looked at Stardus, who was still on the ground in shock, and muttered quietly to himself.
"Now, return to your mother's arms."
And with those words, a massive gray energy cannon blasted toward her.
BANG-!
Stardust stood there, helpless to move a finger, watching the massive, straight line of ore fly toward her, and thinking, "Oh, that's it.”
…Ah. So this is it.
This is where it all ends.
In truth, even in death, she had no regrets about living, for she had done her best.
But when she thought about it… She wondered what would happen to those left behind after she was gone. That was the only thing she worried about. It wasn't really a worry. Fear, anxiety, confusion, guilt, sadness, despair, all of them weighed heavily on her, and so, until the moment she left, she could only pray. Please. Now that the Sun God's power is more exhausted than before because of her…Please. May those who remain be able to defeat him.
‘Haha…'
It wasn't the first time she'd been in a situation like this, where all hope seems lost.
It's always been there and in those situations, it was always him who came to her rescue.
It was always him, Egostic.
…Haha. He's coming again.
With a bitter smile, she thought that until the very end.
Just before she closed her eyes to see the beam of destruction that came right in front of her…suddenly, she jerked her eyes open.
‘Wait.’
Not this time.
He shouldn't have come.
He shouldn't be here, against something like that…and as soon as the thought was over, the next moment came.
Suddenly, a jet black light flashed in front of her eyes.
With a loud crash, something blocked the silver beam of light as it flew towards her.
She frowned for a moment, feeling her heart pound in her chest. When she opened her eyes again, trembling.
What she saw was.
"…Kuluk. Hello, Stardus."
Black blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Standing in front of her, facing straight ahead, surrounded by black light was Egostic, blocking the god's attack with his entire body but with a hole in his body.
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