The Rising

Aurora ran behind Kou, and they arrived before the podium, where the weather appeared more sinister than elsewhere, bringing possible disorder.

"Chiaki! There you are!" Aurora shouted, seeing her standing motionlessly. They hurried beside her and witnessed true terror.

An earthquake occurred, and the terrain ahead of the podium started cracking and breaking. The earth lifted itself in the air as a creature rose from underneath.

It wasn't of human size but a tall, muscular, and enormous body. It was a titan covered by moss and dirt. The rocks rolled down the titan's body, raining over the dead zone.

Aurora had never witnessed a creature large as the one before them. Seeing its massive physique terrified her, standing behind her friends.

"I-I knew the path with you guys would be dangerous. But I never imagined seeing a titan! You mean, there are these massive creatures around the entire Vast Expanse?! How do people withstand such disasters?"

Aurora was in disbelief, stunned. She never imagined normal-sized people would need to face the Titans and decided to hide behind her crew.

Chiaki's eyes trembled, losing their silver-white colors and converting to pink while the luminous ethereal flames, flaring from her limbs, dispersed into the air.

They heard laughter and traded looks with Hywel, who awoke. He lacked his sanity and idolized Yerachmiel's awakening.

"Finally! Finally, it happened! The ancient rejuvenated! Yerachmiel! I summoned you to live for another decade! I am your lord, and you shall obey my orders! So lend me your power and crush those fools!"

Yerachmiel stood still, peering down underneath his feet. "Do you hear me, Yerachmiel? These people ransacked your land and planned to contain your resurrection! You're supposed to guard your world, so show them what a divine entity of the seraph blood can really do! If we exterminate these peasants, we can finally be free and overhaul the Sanctum Islands into a utopia!"

Yerachmiel didn't speak and gazed into the distant land, spotting the celestial tree. He walked forward without obeying Hywel's orders, tremoring the earth with each heavy step.

Hywel froze in stupefaction, unable to comprehend Yerachmiel's reasoning for disregarding his orders. Yerachmiel continued heading in the direction of the celestial tree, harming no one.

Hywel despised Yerachmiel for ignoring his commands, complaining, and yelling behind the titan's back. "Yerachmiel! Do you not hear me?! I'm here! I want you to crush those children!"

Yerachmiel didn't budge and continued heading in one direction. Chiaki, Kou, and Aurora dwelled away from Yerachmiel's path before getting squashed like bugs and observing the confusion.

"That's Yerachmiell? That giant? Wasn't he once a human? How did he become a titan?" Kou inquired as Chiaki tried to find a solution — the one that would be the most fitting for Yerachmiel's abnormal growth.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the seraph's bloodline. It might be because of the ritual Hywel used to resurrect him..."

"...It could indicate that Yerachmiel's soul never left his body and simply rested, meaning he grew beyond average size. You'll have to ask Kyora about this topic. She might have read something on the chip regarding Yerachmiel's oversized physique."

Chiaki's deduction seemed viable, but she couldn't understand the entire definition. Kou somewhat understood the purpose but knew they needed to stop him from wreaking destruction across the Sanctum nations.

They ran after Yerachmiel as Chiaki reached into her pocket and dragged out a whistle representing a lightning bolt. "Tim, I might need to use it..." She inserted the whistle into her pouch and chased Yerachmiel, followed by Kou and Aurora.

"Something about that overgrown tree drew his attention. Let's try to stop him before he reaches it."

Kou and Aurora obeyed Chiaki's commands and prepared for a complicated challenge. They left Hywel behind, alone, who tried to escape the lasso Chiaki tied around him.

"Y-You idiots! Come back!"

-

Timothy's black and white flames continued burning drastically. He was grinning, revealing his sharp teeth. "I have a favor from you, divine emperor..."

"Dance with me..."

Timothy skittered and shimmered forward in a flash. While in the air, he kicked onward with a curving leg and hammered it into Ivione's head, knocking him a step back.

He continued, turning over his body to balance his left palm on the ground, and sprung from it into a frontal roll, slamming his soles in Ivione's chest.

Ivione maneuvered his body and glissaded rearward, stretching his right arm behind him to collect wind energy. "You won't prove you're worthy of Photine's power by caving into fury."

Ivione didn't finish his sentence and felt Timothy grab his wrist, standing behind him with a confident expression and a grinning mouth.

"Exactly... I won't... Just like you won't help your citizens. I'm gonna kick your ass and save them myself."

Timothy yanked Ivione rearward, near his chest, and kneed him into his hip. Timothy clutched the back of Ivione's skull and slammed him into the ground, exerting intense, overheated black flames throughout the citadel.

Ivione was strangled and pinned to the floor, unable to break Timothy's grip. "You call yourselves gods..." Timothy pressed Ivione's head harder into the ground without the usual restraint, "But you can't withstand a single man's power? You might be the worst so-called god to have ever existed!"

Timothy began pounding Ivione's face into the solid floor, cracking them with each move. He pulled Ivione's head back and neared it beside his.

"I hope the holy light ruins your reputation herself!" He smashed Ivione into the ground harder and caused the airship to tremble from the shockwave he formed. The black fire girded the two and seared, scorching Ivione's skin.

Timothy's assault immobilized Ivione and prevented him from standing back up. Timothy backed away and peered down at him, grinning with black and white fire rapidly singeing around his arms.

"Timothy, that's enough!" Phalris ordered and earned his sinister attention. He opened his palms, grinned creepily, and stepped over Ivione's fallen body.

"Stop? Maybe you're right. I don't have time to deal with you two. My friends are in trouble, and the god of wind forces me to prove my worth..." His eyes returned the blue hues, and his hair whitened, "Put some sense in your subordinate, Phalris. I'm going to catch up to the others."

He sprinted outside of the citadel and soared over the airship's edge. He used orange flames as a rocket boost and dove below the celestial tree, leaving the two gods by themselves.

Ivione picked himself up and gazed into Phalris' eyes, recovering the wounds he suffered from Timothy's attacks. "Seems like he's got some self-control... Fine, I'll admit it. He *does* have the potential to be Photine's successor. I'll leave him be for now and help them out with Yerachmiel..."

To be continued...