Flage, god of Hunting, descended from the skies, his focus sharp as he rose to his full height.
His gaze swept forward, his left eye a deep crimson, marred by a long, jagged scar. Unlike the other gods, he wore no armor. Instead, he was clad in hunting attire: a black top that clung to his frame, outlining his muscular build. His shoulders bore a mantle of dark brown fur, and a leather pelt with intricate designs crossed his chest.
Tundra's eyes lit with amusement at the sight as a low giggle escaped him. "Flage," he called, locking eyes with the god. "Who would have thought thou wouldst show thy face here?"
Flage said nothing at first, his gaze fixed on Tundra. "It seems Siege's weapons left a worthy mark upon you," he said at last.
Tundra's smile wavered, but quickly returned. "I could say the same of thee," he replied, his eyes drifting to Flage's damaged one.
Flage remained silent, his calm demeanor stoking the irritation building in Tundra, who struggled to hide it.
"We had intended to make our way unto thee last," Tundra said. "But it seems thou hast come to us instead."
"You harmed humanity," Flage replied. "Which means both your lives are now forfeit."
Tundra blinked, then began to chuckle again. "Is that so? I had thought thou caredst not for these creatures any longer."
"Yet I still care for them more than I do the two of you," Flage said sharply.
Tundra placed a hand over his chest in mock offense. "Harsh words, sibling," he teased before shifting into a battle stance. "Though it seems swaying thee from this sin thou all proclaim is no longer an option."
Throughout the exchange, Tremor had remained silent, watching Flage at the side with curiosity. "I… am not so sure fighting him without Father's presence would be wise," he murmured to Tundra, his gaze still forward.
"Ridiculous," Tundra scoffed with a confident smile. "Among the others, the power he exudes is the weakest yet. This will be a simple task."
Extending his right hand, Tundra began to form a weapon. Slowly, an icy blade materialized in his grasp.
"Worry not, sibling," he said to Tremor. "I alone will suffice in this squabble."
Flage took note of his opponent's stance, then exhaled slowly. Soon, he stretched his hands ahead, crossing his left over his right.
"You will find I am not as patient as the others."
In an instant, two black heavy blades slowly began to materialize in his hands, their golden patterns identical to one another and reminiscent of the weapons Siege had wielded during his battle.
And after the hum of Ouroboros, Vanquisher stretched fully manifested in each of Flage's hands--the same Weapon of Imperium he had once wielded against Nekro.
Back in Under World, Nekro glanced upward, his attention clearly elsewhere.
"What troubles you, father?" Ash asked.
"Flage," Nekro replied. "He has just made his way to Earth."
"What?" Rose exclaimed.
The revelation startled the demigods so much that even X finally turned his attention toward Nekro after so long.
"But that should not have been possible," Quinn said. "Sol shattered the connection between worlds before his passing."
"That is true," Nekro said, "but the connection Sol severed focused solely on any means of teleportation between worlds. Meaning direct travel was unaffected."
"That must be why The End still reached Main World," Link pointed out.
"Correct," Nekro confirmed.
His expression then softened as his gaze returned toward Main World. "I have to help him," he muttered. "I cannot sit idly and let him perish."
His eyes dropped down for a moment--not to the floor, but to the chest of his armor--as a thought crossed his mind.
"I will go with you," Ash suddenly said, his expression neutral as always.
"I cannot allow that," Nekro objected.
"You always tell me to step up when I am needed," Ash said, his gaze on his father. "I am needed now. I cannot ignore it."
Nekro looked back at him, meeting his unwavering gaze. "Are you certain about this, my son?" he asked. "This may be your final encounter."
Ash paused briefly. "I was born with immaculate power to protect all mortals," he said calmly. "I will do so with my dying breath."
Klaus found himself unexpectedly moved by Ash's resolve, feeling a spark of motivation from his sincerity.
"What about us?" Riley asked from the side. "We can't just stay here while that villain destroys our home world."
"I agree," Tyler said. "After Lance's words, I feel like we should fight--especially since our mothers and friends are still in danger while on that planet."
"I understand how you all feel," Nekro said, cutting them off, "but you demigods are the final line of defense against The End's forces, and he does not see you as a threat. That gives you the best chance to plead for your existence. That cannot happen if you all rush in together."
Though Nekro's words clashed with their desires, they knew he was right and that it might be their only chance at survival.
"My son and I will go," Nekro continued. "If we fall… everything will be left to you all."
Klaus stayed quiet, his eyes revealing that there was something he wanted to do. But for now, he kept it to himself, waiting until it was necessary.
"Wait!" a voice suddenly called out. "I want to go as well."
Everyone turned to Mia, the source of the statement.
Nekro was about to object, but she quickly continued. "I know you don't want us to go in abundance, but what I care about right now is my father."
Her gaze dimmed, the weight in her words evident. "If he isn't going to make it, I want to meet him at least once," she said. "I want to know what he's like, even if he abandoned me as a child. This feels important to me, regardless of the risks involved."
Nekro was silent for a moment, understanding the nature of her plea. He didn't want to put any of them in danger, but her yearning for answers was valid, and he respected it.
"Alright," he conceded softly.
"I'll go too," X said suddenly from the side, his words shocking the demigods as he stepped closer. "I don't have to explain why."
Similarly, Nekro could not deny his choice. "You both understand the risks involved in this departure, correct?" he asked.
X stayed silent, while Mia nodded.
"Then we best get going," Nekro said.
After his words, Nekro's massive white wings unfurled. He instructed the demigods joining him to gather close and make contact with him, which X, Mia, and Ash did shortly after.
"Good luck," Siren whispered to Mia from the side.
Mia smiled and nodded before a beam of light shone through the ceiling and consumed them, signaling Nekro's departure as he flapped his wings and took the accompanying demigods with him.
On Earth, Flage and Tundra clashed weapons, their battle spilling through a suburban neighborhood. Most of the humans in the area had already been evacuated, making it a suitable location for Flage to fight without restraint.
Tundra's earlier smirk had faded into a mix of focus and frustration, as not a single one of his strikes landed.
Meanwhile, Flage moved effortlessly, swaying past every attack. In a swift motion, he lifted Vanquisher in his left hand and brought it down with brutal force.
Tundra crossed his blade in front of him, barely stopping the strike. But the impact forced him to brace with both hands, despite his opponent wielding the weapon with only one hand. He struggled desperately, slowly being forced to his knees under the overwhelming strength.
Flage raised his right hand, stretching the second half of Vanquisher in an attempt to finish Tundra. But from the sidelines, Tremor noticed this immediately. He sighed, then rushed into the fray, stone growing around his clenched fist as he charged.
Flage caught sight of Tremor approaching and lunged back before the god could land a blow.
With the space gained, Tremor took his place beside Tundra, his gaze fixed on their opponent.
"I did not ask for thy help," Tundra said between heavy breaths as he rose to his feet.
"Clearly," Tremor retorted without looking away from Flage.
Flage's expression remained unchanged, and without hesitation, he advanced.
Even with their advantage in numbers, Tremor and Tundra were being overwhelmed. Flage's precision and speed allowed him to control the fight, his strikes finding their mark while the other gods failed to land a single telling blow.
Realizing the tide of the battle, Tremor slammed his palm to the ground. Swiftly, a massive, thick wall of stone erupted between Flage and his opponents, splitting the entire battlefield in half and giving them a chance to retreat and regroup.
"What in Father's name is going on?" Tundra demanded in disbelief. "How is he so--"
Before he could finish, Flage smashed through the stone wall and charged without pause.
Tremor and Tundra braced themselves, but as Flage inched closer, he abruptly stopped before hurling both variants of Vanquisher toward them with incredible force.
The weapons rocketed toward the two gods. They managed to catch them, but the sheer momentum hurled them through several houses before they could stop.
"Why are all these damned weapons so burdensome?" Tundra spat, recalling his clash with Siege.
As the two gods managed to halt the momentum of Vanquisher, Tremor and Tundra watched Flage rush back toward them. Suddenly, a strange force began pulling them toward the god as they saw Flage draw closer, his hands stretched toward them.
Looking down, the gods saw Vanquisher returning toward Flage while still in their grasp, which caused them to let go of the weapons to prevent the unwanted motion.
Vanquisher swiftly returned to Flage's grasp, and he swung his left hand after rejoining the battle. Tundra used his ice weapon to block Flage's initial strike, but Vanquisher shattered through it with ease.
Seizing the opportunity, Flage delivered a devastating slash across Tundra's torso, breaking his armor and sending him flying a great distance.
Tremor rushed back into the fray, determined not to give Flage a moment to slow down.
After a brief clash, Flage raised both weapons and brought them down toward Tremor.
Tremor formed a stone shield before him, intercepting Vanquisher before it could strike. He used all his strength to hold the shield in place, but he soon noticed something strange after a moment. Though the force still pressed down on his shield, Flage had released Vanquisher, leaving the weapons suspended in place as they maintained their pressure without his touch.
Flage moved to the side while Tremor struggled with the weapons, then seized the god's neck with his left hand. Vanquisher swiftly shifted from Tremor's shield to Flage's sides, hovering in place as the god of Hunting lifted his opponent into the air.
"Thou heretic!" Tundra suddenly spat, flying back into the battle as his armor mended itself. "Thou shalt suffer for that."
But as he charged, Flage deftly evaded his strike while still holding Tremor by the neck.
In one motion, Flage lunged toward Tundra, pressing his palm to the god's face. With a swift grip, he seized the god of Frost, lifted off the ground, and surged forward, his wings propelling him. While in motion, he slammed both gods through countless buildings, his grip never faltering.
Flage moved so fast that neither god could process the moment quickly enough to retaliate. After several crushing blows, he abruptly stopped, hurling Tremor skyward with a single motion of his left hand.
Immediately, he slammed Tundra into the ground, his palm still pressed against the god's face, cracking the earth beneath them.
Tundra grunted in pain. Having only just processed what had happened, he had been unable to summon his ice to counter Flage during their rapid motion. But even after regaining his focus, he was unprepared for what came next.
Flage rose and stood momentarily, stretching both hands to his sides. Vanquisher--still hovering where he had left them-- swiftly rushed back to his grasp within seconds.
Without hesitation, Flage drove the blades into Tundra's wings, piercing near the shoulders and pinning the god to the ground.
Tundra flinched in pain as Flage turned his gaze skyward. Soon, he took flight, leaving the pinned god behind.
High above, Tremor had managed to halt his ascent, stopping at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. Hovering among the clouds, he clutched his neck and exhaled heavily, still feeling the lingering effects of Flage's grip. But as he regained his strength, he suddenly felt Flage's gaze upon him.
Tremor looked around but could not see the god of Hunting. The clouds obscured his view, but that alone did not usually hinder a god's perception. What truly blinded him was Flage's deliberate suppression of his divine presence, masking himself among the clouds.
Lacking his connection to the ground also weakened Tremor's senses, dulling his awareness of his opponent's location and reducing a portion of his power.
"Come out, coward!" he shouted. "Thou dost not frighten me."
But as Tremor searched the battlefield for his opponent, Flage's gaze never left him, cold and focused, like a predator stalking prey.
In an instant, Flage lunged forward, closing the gap with blinding speed and slamming a brutal fist into Tremor's left jaw. Tremor reeled back, but Flage pressed the attack, unleashing a barrage of punishing blows before locking both hands together and driving them down onto Tremor's head.
The impact sent Tremor hurtling through the atmosphere and into the ground like a meteor. The earth split beneath him, the shockwave rattling the entire area and leaving a crater in his wake.
Flage descended soon after, landing lightly while keeping his unbroken gaze on his foe. Tremor groaned as he pushed himself up, one hand clutching his head. When he pulled it away, divine blood slowly dripped from his nose. This sight only stoked his fury exponentially.
"Thou darest…" he growled, voice rising into a roar. "Thou darest strike me?"
The ground trembled violently as he reconnected with the earth, channeling its force. Nearby buildings cracked and collapsed into heaps of rubble, yet Flage stood firm and upright, his focused expression unchanging throughout the battle.
Massive chunks of stone erupted upward, hurtling around the battlefield and toward Flage, but he weaved effortlessly between every one of them.
Tremor charged once more, his movements sharper and more aggressive than they had ever been, even in his fight with Abyss. His fists gleamed with celestial metal, each swing carrying enough force to shatter anything in its path. He pressed the offensive relentlessly, yet not a single strike found its mark.
Flage moved with uncanny precision, untouched and unmoved throughout the entire clash.
The reality of the brawl began to frustrate Tremor, but his anger did nothing to change the fight's course. In a fit of rage, he stretched out his hands and brought them down upon Flage. Yet the god of Hunting simply caught the blows, his expression unchanging as he halted Tremor's wrathful strike.
Tremor used all his might to bring his fists down, but Flage stopped him with relative ease, despite the evident difference in their physiques favoring the god of Stone.
"Flaaage!"
Both Tremor and Flage turned to see Tundra, who had risen from his pinned state.
Tundra's wings had been torn at the top where Vanquisher had pierced him--only then had he been able to pull himself free. Divine blood coated the edges of his wings, but he paid them no mind as he returned to the fray.
"Thou darest undermine me?" he shouted, closing in on Flage as he conjured a frozen blade in his right hand. "I shall see thy corpse shattered when I am through with--"
But before he could finish or reach his opponent, a massive force fell upon him.
Tundra froze in place, unable to swing his weapon. "W-What?" he stammered, his eyes locking with Flage's piercing gaze.
Suddenly, his knees weakened. In a single motion, he dropped to one knee, his hands at his sides as the ice blade slipped from his grasp.
"I-Impossible," Tundra muttered, feeling an overwhelming force pressing him down. "How... can this be?"
With Tundra immobilized, Flage turned back to Tremor and shoved the god away with raw force. He then glanced once more at the god of Frost before driving his right foot into Tundra's jaw, launching him at immense speed into the skies. Without pause, he faced Tremor again, stretching his arms to the sides as Vanquisher returned to his hands.
Throughout the battle, Flage prioritized separating the gods from one another, recognizing it as the better approach for him. Even though they failed to put up much of a fight against him, he never underestimated them and always focused solely on his goal. With that in mind, he marked Tremor as his first prey.
Tremor watched Flage walk toward him, and anger at the action drove him to rush back into the fight. But Flage swayed with ease, landing multiple cuts on his opponent through his armor.
Tremor's lack of a weapon made it difficult for him to clash with Flage, forcing him to maintain a defensive stance for most of the fight. Soon, Flage used Vanquisher to cut the right side of his face.
Tremor retreated briefly, placing a palm on the wound. "Coward," he spat. "Rather than hide behind that divine artifact, why not face me as the god thou art?"
Flage glanced at Tremor for a moment before adjusting his stance. Swiftly, he hurled Vanquisher to his sides, tossing the weapons to the ground. They stabbed into the earth and remained in place, causing a mild shake upon impact. Immediately after, he clenched his fists and moved closer to Tremor.
Tremor recognized the opportunity he had just gained. But despite the apparent disadvantage, Flage still outclassed him in hand-to-hand combat.
Flage parried every strike, using his forearms to block and push away all of Tremor's swings. Noticing an opening, he rushed a left punch forward, landing it squarely on Tremor's chest and breaking through the god's armor in one hit.
Tremor flinched, and before he could even return his gaze, Flage struck him in the face. Another punch followed, then another, both from the same fist, sending Tremor stumbling. But choosing not to yield, the god rose immediately and rushed back in.
Flage swayed to the side as Tremor swung, then stepped forward to trip him. As Tremor fell to his knees, Flage planted his foot on the god's back, pressing down with force.
With his hands on the ground to keep from falling flat, Tremor lashed out with his wings. But Flage simply caught them, one in each hand.
Keeping his foot on Tremor's back, Flage began to pull. Tremor growled in agony as Flage continued until he ripped the god's wings clean off.
Tremor collapsed, teeth clenched in excruciating pain. But he refused to remain down. He refused to accept defeat against a third-generation god, one he had deemed inferior to him.
Finally rising, Tremor took a stance, his hands at his sides as his voice rose in anger. Slowly, a crystal-like substance began to grow around his body--the same kind he had used in his fight against Abyss when they had clashed fists.
But before he could finish, Flage rushed in and smacked him away, cutting the transformation short.
Tremor stumbled but quickly regained his footing. Understanding his opponent would not allow him to coat his entire body in this crystal, he instead covered only his arm before charging again.
"Drop dead!" he roared, lunging his crystallized fist toward Flage, who stood silently.
But as Tremor closed in, Flage sidestepped, his right hand outstretched. Vanquisher swiftly flew back into his grasp, and with a single upward swing, he cut Tremor's crystallized hand clean off.
In the same instant, as Tremor continued forward, Flage turned his body, the second variant of Vanquisher snapping back into his left hand. He drove both variants of the weapon into Tremor's back, the force slamming the god of Stone to the ground.
Tremor lay flat, both parts of Vanquisher impaling his chest from behind while Flage's weight pinned him down. His gaze turned hazy, and his strength began to fade.
"T-Thou... trickster," he muttered, never expecting Flage to recall Vanquisher.
And moments later, his struggling slowly ceased.
Flage rose from his crouch, leaving Vanquisher in Tremor's back. He stared for a moment before slowly turning his gaze over his shoulder. With a menacing glare, he locked eyes with Tundra, who had just returned to the fray.
Tundra's eyes were wide in terror, awestruck as Tremor's body petrified into a golden state.
"What… is this power?"