Following the meeting at the summit, word spread like wildfire both among Awakeners and regular civilians. Noah Blackwell's declaration of war sparked immediate reactions of fear and outrage.
Very quickly, the remaining Saint-Supremes gathered themselves, aligning themselves in one of the three factions that had formed as a result.
The Opposition, a collection of twenty Saint-Supremes who do not wish to be ruled under the Harbinger. Their numbers are slightly smaller compared to the others, though they were gathered by Saint Gideon, as well as led by Saint Elizabeth.
Considered the Saintess of the Light, Elizabeth is an Elementalist of the light element, and considered the strongest living Saint-Supreme, given her extensive experience and control over her power.
Then there was the Allied, a group of twenty eight Saint-Supremes that have openly aligned themselves with the Harbinger. These Saint-Supremes quickly gathered their forces, preparing for a larger battle ahead.
At last, the remaining Saint-Supremes gathered loosely into a neutral alliance, led primarily by Saint Nicolas who wished to stay out of the conflict as much as possible. Of course, some are leaning more towards the Harbinger, while others wish to oppose him, leading to a great deal of tension.
In the midst of this chaos, Noah paid the Saint-Supremes no heed, instead going about the continents to mortal governments. His body moved wherever there were shadows, traversing thousands of miles in an instant.
Awakeners were once human, and while the Harbinger was an existence that existed outside of this world's laws and sense of order, Noah did not wish for the total destruction of humankind, even with all their flaws.
After all, Awakeners have a hard time having children, for their constitutions have been greatly affected by the presence of star cores. Weaker Awakeners might be able to, but it is virtually impossible for a Saint-Supreme to have descendants, much less him, the Harbinger.
As such, the only way for this battle ridden world to sustain life is to keep non Awakeners alive and thriving.
At last, Noah reached his last destination. His incorporeal body condensed, shadows gathering to form his skeleton, muscles, and clothes as he appeared inside a grandly decorated office, shaped in an oval.
The white marble lined the walls, with intricately carved pillars segmenting the office into parts, allowing ornate paintings to be framed on the walls. One light skinned man, dressed in a fine suit and looking to be in his fifties, gripped the armrests of his oak seat as he witnessed Noah appearing in the center of the room.
The man frowned slightly, the large red blue and white flag behind him looming.
He cleared his throat, "Ahem! To what do I owe the pleasure of incurring a visit from the Harbinger himself?"
Noah smiled, "No need to worry, Union President, I'm merely hear to inform you of the ongoing Awakener conflicts"
He walked straight up to the president's mahogany desk, taking out a thick folder from within his trench coat, and set it down.
"I have some... methods that will keep your country safe..."
The man's frown deepened as his gaze fell onto the folder, its contents unknown to him. And yet, his entire being felt repulsed by the idea of pursuing its papers, his senses screaming that something isn't right. He tore his gaze away and looked at the almighty being standing before him.
"What could you possibly want from me and my country's people? We are but regular people, ants in the eyes of you beings-"
"Faith," Noah said, cutting off the man, "The Holy Sanctuary's faith has become tainted"
There was a moment of silence, before Noah straightened himself, "The Saint-Supremes won't make any moves for at least a year. Do with that information, and the folder, as you please"
And with that, he disappeared as quietly as he arrived, melting into the shadows like a phantom in the night.
Without warning, alarms blared in the oval shaped office, to which half a dozen security guards, all armed in tactical gear, barreled into the room. They were followed closely by a suited young man, worry etched into his face.
"Mr. President!!"
He ran towards the president, still seated with a pensive expression on his face as the guards scanned the room, their special firearms designed for Awakeners in mind pointed at every corner. However, they found nothing amiss despite the constant roaring of the alarms.
The President held up one hand, "Everything is fine, there is no need for all this commotion"
Hearing this, the guards reluctantly retreated outside the office, closing the large wooden doors as they left and leaving the secretary with the president.
The young man looked at the president, sweat drenching his gray suit as he bowed deeply.
"Forgive me for the lack of security! Our systems only detected a large anomaly just now and-"
"No need to worry," the President cut him off, "Even if you had detected Him, no one on this planet could have done anything anyway"
Hearing this, the secretary felt his neck hairs bristle with fear at the prospects of the president's words. Everyone knew that there can only be one person who fit this criteria, and if he truly wished, not a single person in this country would be alive right now.
The President made a shushing gesture, putting a finger to his lips, before forcing the man out of the room. The doors clicked again, and the president was left once again in the cold suffocating silence of his office, the only difference now being the heavy weight that pressed down on his shoulders like a boulder.
Hesitating briefly, he took in a deep breath and opened the folder that had been placed on his desk.
-
BOOM!
"Eclipse, take the left flank, as for Night Weavers, distract it while Nightfall prepares a frontal assault," commanded the young woman from the Void Reapers.
At her behest, dozens of people moved in unison to their respective posts, quickly surrounding a monster of unimaginable horror.
A mass of serpentine heads connected to an almost humanoid torso, connected into the depths of the void as it struggled to climb through the crack. Each head alone, numbering over a hundred, were nearly mountainous, with each scale as large as skyscrapers and eyes as wide as mountains.
From its torso were bony protrusions that pierced and dug valleys into the ground, along with six abnormally long arms, all without skin holding the searing muscles together. Two arms wrapped around the edge of the crack in space, tearing apart a wider hole to reveal part of its lower body, one resembling a python's if it were covered in leathery skin rather than scales.
The young woman pointed a rectangular device at the abomination that her vision could not see in full, her chains rattling in the wind. The device beeped five times consecutively, and the tiny screen turned a deep green color.
She turned around, looking calmly at her nine companions, all members of the Void Reapers.
"Are we ready?"
Each of them nodded, their auras blazing, ready to fight with all their power against the monstrosity.
She grinned, her chains dropping so only one of the ends of each metal chain was attached to her clothes.
"Green Devil Subjugation, begin!"