The end draws near

Another 2 years.

Which makes it a total of 5 years I've been on this war-torn planet. I will admit, I've had quite a bit of fun. But now with the workload of governing new settlers into The Lands Between, and dealing with the other races. It's getting a bit tiring. Not all the humans wanted to move towards The Lands Between and I didn't force them. Only left them with the option, so there were still many colonies spread out across the continent.

I finished getting everything I needed from this world. But just leaving now would leave a bad taste in my mouth. I'd like to see the end of this war, but honestly don't have the ability to bring the end myself. Sucks to be inadequate when the competition are literal gods.

Luckily the end is coming soon, I remember from the movie that Riku Dola ended it and he's currently the right age now. You would think that messing around with the timeline had screwed something up, but naw. I can still see the fate of the endbringer in the sky. If I didn't have knowledge from the movie, I wouldn't have been able to know who exactly would end this war.

You see when it comes to reading the destiny of those in the stars, you don't look at the brightest ones first. You search for the ones who are barely able to be seen. Because they will only shine their brightest when the end is near.

"My Lord, the Flugel is back again..."

I turned to the fallen scout who had just informed me of something that's been annoying me for the past 2 years.

"Again?"

I deadpanned at him. Honestly speechless, it's only been a week since the last time.

"Yes, she appeared on the southern outskirts and began attacking some of our scouts." He explained without much urgency.

The Lands Between didn't spread towards the whole continent, only the upper portion of it. Which means that enemies could still remain outside the range of the Fallen sky.

"I'll deal with it." I sighed, standing up and stretched my body.

∞

Stopping outside the southern outskirts of The Lands Between. Zieg took stock of his surroundings. Some of the land was destroyed and scorched. That wouldn't be an odd sight in the world, but the damage looked recent.

"Well now~ Are you out here by yourself on this lovely day?"

Zieg turned his gaze above to the girl he had been seeing for the past 2 years. Jibril had continued to launch random attacks on the Fallen scouts to draw Zieg out for a fight. This had been going on every now and then for the past 2 years. No one else in the Legion could actually match up to her outside the territory of The Lands Between, besides Zieg using his Elden Lord's strength.

"Of course I am. We don't exactly have manpower to spare on your antics."

He blandly told her, being used to her presence by now.

"Oya~ Antics? Well I guess that's all it seems like to you, considering I can't take any of those crow's heads."

She was actually annoyed about that. Flugel generally collected the heads of those they killed. But whenever she killed anyone from Zieg's legion, they would disappear into white ash.

"Don't you get bored of this? How long have you been at this? You could fight any of the other races. I recall the Gigants and Dragonians are pretty tough."

"Funny thing, I already collected their heads for myself last year. I even went on a campaign against one of those lizards by myself!"

She actually seemed proud about that as she puffed up her chest at him.

"Hoh? Well congratz." He clapped his hands with a wry smile. "But don't you get bored of just getting your ass kicked by me over and over? I know you think I'm weak because Artosh beat me, but this is honestly getting tiring for me."

As much as he loved battle and war. He was still human, he also enjoyed rest and relaxation. Also he was pretty sure that the girl was getting stronger every time they clashed. It was actually beginning to frighten him.

"It may be crass of me to say, but even if your race are not much different than insects to us. I have long deemed you a threat that needs to be eliminated. And not only that..." The pink haired flugel stated, dark power coalescing around her wings. The seriousness of her tone was nothing short of cold harsh truth.

"I don't know why I feel that way, so I'm curious to learn!" She earnestly admitted with sparkles around her, the oppressive aura from before disappearing as if it were never there. "And I really want your head!"

Zieg was legitimately speechless at her earnest confession. He concluded that all Flugels were batshit insane and that's coming from him.

"Whatever, do as you like. As you know by now, I am the Elden Lord." Zieg sighed while declaring his station. The Elden Ring shined through his eyes before he charged straight for the Flugel. He was going to quickly send her flying all the way back to Artosh again.

If he were to be honest, this had basically become an average Tuesday for him.

∞

"Welcome back, you look like you've been put through the wringer as they say."

Kokabiel commented as Zieg was currently incapacitated on the bed. After punting Jibril all the way back to Ariena. He was currently incapacitated, but was healing quickly as he was near the Erdtree.

"Yeah, well what can I say. Flugels are broken, especially a Flugel that can learn." He said with a strained smile.

Zieg shakily stood up, the exterior damage was gone. However to Kokabiel's surprise, Zieg began coughing out some blood.

"Woah! Did she really hurt you that much!? No wait this doesn't seem like a recent injury." Kokabiel noted clinically as he examined the dark blood on the ground. "You... you haven't replaced your heart yet!?"

He exclaimed after contemplating the reason for his current condition.

"Heh, well I see you're observant as ever. Apparently while I won't die immediately from not having a heart. Being devoid of one for years is beginning to take it's toll on me."

Zieg admitted weakly with a chuckle. His body felt fragile at the moment, and his vision was a bit blurry.

"Sit back down. Why haven't you replaced your heart yet?! You've had plenty of time!"

Kokabiel just couldn't understand why he hadn't replaced it yet. It wouldn't be that difficult for Zieg, considering his capabilities. It had been years, he could have created a replacement easily by now.

"Because, the end is near." Zieg breathed out deeply.

"The end?"

"Yes, the end of this war. During this whole war, I've felt it. This helplessness. My ultimate goal is to punch that beard right off that Odin's face. But how can I do that when I can't even compete with all these other gods?"

Zieg chuckled depreciatingly. He just wanted to get one good slug on that god's face. But if he can't even match up to the gods of this world, then how can he expect to fulfill his goal.

"My body has reached it's limit. The next obvious path is generally divinity. But I refuse to become a god, I must remain human."

Zieg stubbornly stated. It was why he had no intention of taking the Suniaster, which was the reward for winning this war.

"Cultivation isn't an option for me either since it sometimes runs side by side on the path of divinity."

Although he said that, he had another reason for refusing cultivation to break his limits. He felt like he wouldn't be himself anymore if he stepped on that path. He would be something else.

The image of that hand holding the Primeval Current briefly appeared in his mind, causing him to frown. He wouldn't resort to cultivation or divinity.

"I need another path. The end is near. My body is becoming desperate. The clock of fate is ticking. Either I can break my current limit, or I'll die trying."

Kokabiel stood stoically by him. He wouldn't say anything more. He decided to once again observe the human's resolve to struggle. He had seen the same thing over the years in his time watching over humanity. Whether this bright star would flicker and die out, or break it's exterior and shine even further. He would wait and see.

"Let's go. Time is running short, and we've got some things to do."

Zieg stood up after stabilizing his body again.

∞

"Artosh, creator of the Flugels. Kainas, creator of the Elves. Okein, creator of the Dwarves." They were the ones who were most likely to win the war now.

"The Gigants and Dragonians are weakened. The Demonians intellect are not enough without their Demon King. The Fairys cannot rely on only themselves, so they will most likely join with the Elves. The Ex Machina have no desire for the war beyond gathering information and the rest are of no threat." Emiya added as he was in charge of reconnaissance.

"Slane, head to the dwarves and inform us if they make contact with either the Dragonians or Gigants. Emiya, keep watch over the Warbeasts in case they make any sudden moves. Kokabiel, you and I will look into the Elves. Send scouts to keep an eye on the Flugels at all times. Be ready to mobilize at any moment." The final battle was drawing near. But I wasn't sure when.

The group split up and I was left with Kokabiel.

"Weren't we supposed to look into the Elves?" Kokabiel asked as we flew through the air.

"The Elves were forced to move their capital in a hurry after we took control. Now even the Warbeasts have backed off, so I'm betting the Elves left some information in the ruins of their old base." At least, that was what I was hoping for.

Before the Final battle, we needed information. We were sorely lacking it. All we knew at the moment was that the Dwarves had created some weapon called the E-bomb. I don't know how it matches up to nukes but considering how insane battles become. I would imagine it'd be worst.

"Would the Elves really be foolish enough to just leave important information behind?"

"The Elves, maybe not. Kainas on the other hand might be arrogant enough to do so. If the information we have on Think Nirvalen is correct anyway." While the God Kainas praised the upper echelons of Elves and Think Nirvalen for her contributions. I have heard that Think believes her god to be an arrogant idiot. Which makes sense, because gods are generally arrogant.

We landed at the open stairway leading down to the ruins.

"Oh? I didn't expect to see people here."

Kokabiel and I glanced at the two who were seated in the middle of the stairway with a chessboard between them. Most likely waiting out the storm.

"Yes, well we became stuck here when the black ash picked up." The White haired teen said, pulling the smaller girl in a hoodie behind him.

"Really? I seem to recall Ex Machina being capable of traversing through storms like these with ease." I stated nonchalantly.

It was an amusing sight to see them flinch at that.

"Relax, I don't care much about other races as long as they aren't hostile. Nice to see you again, kid." I chuckled, smirking at the two.

"It's quite an honor that you would remember someone like myself, Elden Lord." Riku bowed, quickly getting his bearings together.

"Well I won't bother you two any longer. I have business further down." I waved at them, continuing down the stairs with Kokabiel.

"Ah, there seems to be a security system down there!" He hurriedly informed me.

"Really? Thanks for the warning." I'll have to be careful then. Elven magic, while I'm familiar with it's complexity. It can be difficult for me to read due to our primary magical languages differing.

We reached the bottom, there was a human sized hole at the center of the large gate. Looks like that girl blasted a hole right through. Convenient.

"I didn't imagine I would be meeting one led by fate today." Kokabiel spoke up after a moment when we were out of earshot of the other two. "Is this why you came here?"

"So you saw it too? But no it was coincidence."

I shook my head at that. I didn't expect to see the protagonist and the heroine here today.

"It's truly a wondrous sight, to be able to see the hands of fate in motion with my own two eyes." Kokabiel remarked.

"Wondrous? I'd say it's more cruel. While that kid will become brighter than all of us, it will only be for a moment."

Fate is cruel. I knew that best.