"Anyone who dares to interfere with the battle between the Titans and the outer gods at this time will be my enemy. I will use all my power to ensure their downfall, with no chance of resurrection," declared the Lord of Dawn, Lathander, his stance firm. Faced with a major conflict between gods and epic beings, he was willing to set aside past grievances and rivalries.
After all, no matter how one looked at it, the Titans were native to the world of Erathia. They were a legendary race that had ventured beyond their world, serving as a symbol of Erathia to other realms.
Lathander could not imagine what would happen if the Titans were not there to guard their world. Without them, how many outer gods would turn their greedy eyes toward Erathia? Worlds as rich as theirs were few in the vast expanse of the void.
"Hmph, are you threatening me?" The Storm Lord, Talos, glanced around and noticed that many gods who had previously shared his eagerness for action were now silent.
"If that's what you think, then yes."
"Since when did the mighty Lord of Dawn become a lapdog for the Titans? I must have missed that," Talos sneered.
"Do you really want to become my sworn enemy, Talos?"
"Hmph!" Talos snorted angrily at Lathander's threat, turning his head away. While he had a deep-seated grudge against the Titans and craved revenge, that didn't mean he wanted to make an eternal enemy out of a god like Lathander, who was on the verge of becoming a Great Divine Power.
Following Lathander's bold declaration, other gods in the Pantheon also made their positions clear. The God of Justice, Tyr, along with two major powers from the elven pantheon, Angharradh and Corellon, as well as the dwarven chief god Moradin, all spoke out in favor of the Titans.
...
"Wow! That King of the Undead is incredibly strong!" Muria, trapped within a water sphere and unable to move, gazed in amazement at the distant battlefield. The King of the Undead, who had shown the greatest power so far, once again transformed into his most fearsome undead form, charging headfirst into the densest area of evil gods, slaughtering them mercilessly.
So far, he had shattered the bodies of more than a dozen evil gods. Some gods had been struck down by him multiple times, and they had become so terrified that they were now hesitant to even approach him.
"What got into him? Why is he suddenly so berserk?" Muria marveled at the scene. Compared to the other epic Titans, whose battle styles were already fierce, the King of the Undead fought with even greater brutality and ferocity, as if he had no regard for his own life. His terrifying strength only added to the carnage.
This reckless fighting had caused his Titan skeleton body to be shattered by concentrated attacks from the evil gods. But before they could do anything to his broken remains, he had instantly regenerated.
The void battle continued to rage, and Muria remained on the sidelines, stuck in the care of the Azure Tide Dragon King, who had him securely in his grasp. In reality, even the Dragon King was barely "participating." Muria was merely a bystander, a mascot of sorts, trapped in a massive water sphere, utterly helpless.
This sense of weakness, of being treated as a mere token, made Muria deeply uncomfortable. But there was nothing he could do. Weakness was weakness. He had no right to interfere in battles of this scale.
Without the Dragon King's protection, he would have been killed countless times already, just like his hot-tempered father, Ansol, who had refused to remain a bystander and had thrown himself into the fray, fighting the evil god's minions.
From his vantage point, Muria could still see his father's figure moving across the void battlefield. It wasn't because Ansol was exceptionally strong. Among the evil god minions, there were plenty who were far more powerful than him, almost too many to count.
The only reason Ansol was still alive was because he was a Titan. Other epic Titans had instinctively gathered their armies around him, forming a protective circle that kept him safe. As a result, he rarely even had the chance to face off against the minions himself, as they were intercepted by the surrounding Titan forces.
So, despite his father's efforts, he had been reduced to the role of a bystander as well. Muria could see his father's frustration, along with the burning determination in his eyes. Not only was Muria feeling the sting of weakness, but his father was also deeply affected by it.
"One day, I will be strong enough to fight in battles of this scale and emerge victorious as a leader." The more powerless Muria felt, the stronger his desire to grow. The thought of achieving epic status became a firm conviction in his heart.
...
"The Titans are rapidly losing their advantage. There are just too many evil gods." After ten days of fighting, Muria was growing worried. While the epic Titans were formidable, they were outnumbered. And this was the evil gods' territory. Their numbers seemed endless. By now, there were over thirty evil gods, with more closing in on forty.
The sheer number of evil gods was staggering, almost unbelievable. What could this world cluster possibly contain to produce so many evil gods? Or was it that this cluster had somehow become a gathering point for them?
Boom! A familiar ripple in the void reverberated, and Muria looked up. A portal had formed in the chaotic void, and through it, part of a city, radiating divine light, appeared and slowly flew out.
As soon as the portal formed, the evil god minions in the area received orders and began rushing toward it. But before they could get close, the light radiating from the city incinerated the weaker minions to ash.
Still, some of the stronger evil god minions managed to approach. They lashed out with tentacles, spat out corrosive fluids, or unleashed terror-inducing auras and mental attacks, all in an attempt to prevent the city from emerging fully through the portal.
But beams of light from the city annihilated many of these minions. Cloud City, in times of peace, was a haven for living, but in times of war, it was a powerful fortress.
Alongside the city's defenses, numerous angels, armed with swords and spears, flew out, engaging the twisted evil god minions and preventing them from nearing the city.
"More outer gods? Damn it," one of the evil gods cursed. They were already weary of fighting the Titans, but now this? Yet there was little they could do to stop the war from expanding further. It had grown to such a scale that without a powerful leader with absolute authority, it was impossible to end it.
Despite their grumbling, many evil gods still rushed toward the newly arrived enemies, seeking to strike first. After all, they held the numerical advantage. They could always divert some of their forces to disrupt other battlefields.
"What filthy, disgusting creatures! How could the void produce such monsters?" A booming voice resounded from within Cloud City as a colossal hand of light emerged, grabbing one of the leading evil gods and crushing it to pieces. The foul blood splattered across the void, forming a sea of floating flesh, tentacles, and unspeakable horrors.
"It's Cloud City of the Celestial Flames!" Muria exclaimed in delight, watching as the massive hand from the city crushed an evil god, demonstrating a force comparable to the ancient Warden.
"Why did it stop moving?" Muria wondered as he observed Cloud City, now fully emerged from the portal but not yet joining the battle.
His question was soon answered. He saw another portal open, and from it emerged a second, slightly smaller Cloud City.
"It's not just one Celestial Flame," Muria murmured, his excitement growing as a third Cloud City appeared. The sight of these reinforcements moved him deeply.
In total, nine Cloud Cities emerged from the void. The Celestial Flame in the largest city, who had crushed the evil god, was by far the strongest of them all.
"Huh? The portal hasn't closed yet. Could there be more Celestial Flames coming?" Muria's eyes sparkled with hope as he watched the still-expanding portal. He wanted nothing more than to see the epic forces on their side outnumber the evil gods, so they could reverse the tide of battle.
Suddenly, from the portal, a massive dragon head, radiating intense cold, emerged with a deafening roar.
"It's not a Celestial Flame. It's the Dragon King!"
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