The Reckoning, Part Twelve.

When Atlas landed on the empty crater, he looked above him, then ahead at Marie charging at him. Squinting over her shoulder, he recognized Ava's curly-haired head cradling the King in her arms.

'Four down. The rest to go,' he thought.

He aimed the tip of the Sword at the boxer rushing at him. As a beam of black Fate engulfed the space beyond him, Marie jumped into the air, cocking back her fist and smashing it into the ground. With golden lightning crackling around her arm, she summoned a pen between her fingers, throwing it at Atlas while he rolled away from her punch.

The stroke of the Progenitor's Sword swiped aside the flying utensil —simultaneously detonating the aura on the back of his feet to rocket across the ground at Marie before him. Weaving to the right, and left, and then ducking under the slash of the Sword, she uppercut him into the air and vanished after striking him. Flipping around while flying back, Atlas landed crouched on the ground, spinning the Sword around his fingers and ducking his head when Marie reappeared behind him, kicking at the back of his skull.

Atlas kicked her in the gut, sending her sliding back on the ground. The boxer's eyes widened once more blackened slashes invaded her vision. Abandoning a trail of yellow lightning like before, Marie ran past them and at the Progenitor, kicking up at his chin once she finished moving. Launched up with blood bursting from his mouth, the princess vanished from the ground and reappeared above Atlas. Her flaming knuckles dove through the air and crashed into the Progenitor's face, forming a crater under his body as he fell into the ground.

Marie stepped back as the smoke cleared. The Progenitor's unmoving body was etched into the crater below her while blood poured from his mouth. She landed a hit. But why wasn't she moving? There was something about the way her punch hit his face that bothered her. That was because she was aiming for the front of his skull. Instead, at the last second, his head moved and Fate reinforced his cheek, absorbing the impact from the strike and protecting the inside of his skull from being destroyed.

The Princess had enough time to deduce that. Unfortunately, though, that was where her luck ran out. The moment she realized what Atlas was planning from within the crater, her eyes widened at the tip of Fate's Sword aimed at her throat and the miniature beam flying from it. The sunny-bright aura around her swayed with the wind as her hand raised to deflect the blast. But she was too late. It shot through Marie's open palm and pierced through her throat.

That was the moment everything around both Atlas and Marie froze. A slice in space opened up beside the Princess, producing a purple flash that blitzed past the two fighters, specifically Atlas wielding his weapon on the ground. In the brief second of slowed time, Valentina took her chance and the Progenitor's eyes widened, staring at his open hand devoid of the Celestial's gifted Sword.

Marie fell over, holding her throat with a charred hole in the middle. Meanwhile, Atlas turned around, flying at Valentina wielding the Sword while crouched idle beside Ava healing the King. She glanced back at Atlas before handing her daughter the blade—still holding the grip.

"Touch this and pour in all your aura."

Ava didn't hesitate. Her right hand instantly grabbed hold of the Sword's handle with her mother's left. Fated aura resembling flames wavering erratically around their bodies, the Progenitor's eyes widened, glimpsing only briefly at the colorful energies brightening his face in a vibrant light until the spontaneous explosion. Everyone was thrown away from the implosion the conjoined energies caused and bordered by a smoke cloud misting around them.

Holding Uriel's scarred face close to her bust, Ava looked back and over her shoulder. Meanwhile, Valentina raised her head some feet away. When she looked up, a brown-skinned hand reached out to her from inside the mist, and, grinning widely, she took it in her own.

"What took you guys so long?" Eros asked, pulling her up to her feet.

Ava shook her head. "You seriously complainin'?"

"Of course not!" He pulled Valentina up. "I just missed you guys."

Atlas wasted no time. Skidding across the ground, the Progenitor extended his hand, calling the Sword stabbed into the ground into his palm. By the time its handle finished flying, Eros appeared beside his father—grinning cheekily while holding his wrist. With a single yank, the Unconquerable tore the Progenitor's hand from his arm.

While Atlas stepped away cradling the stump at the end of his limb, Eros stepped forward, extending his arms and splitting both legs. The empty crater ground hard below his soles started to crack from where he stood. Releasing tendrils of Fate from the aura uncontrollably blazing around him, Atlas raised his arm, replacing the missing hand at the end of it.

"It's been a while, son." The Progenitor smirked. "Did you think I was panicking because you tore off my hand?"

"Weren't you? Y'know, for such a smartass, you're a damn terrible liar," Eros replied.

Atlas slashed the air. Ducking under it easily, the Unconquerable closed the distance, appearing below his father and uppercutting him. Once the Progenitor entered the air, he vanished; only to reappear behind him.

Eros briefly brightened the luminosity of his Fate. Blinding Atlas to make him cover his eyes, the Unconquerable looked back and spun around, smashing his leg across the Progenitor's white face. Once the Progenitor flew from the kick, Eros vanished—chasing after Atlas soaring above the ground.

At that moment, the Unconquerable's eyes widened. Falling from beyond the clouds like a comet brightening the skies with golden light, the Warrior dropped his sword, landing in the fight between relatives—forming a crater under where he landed, releasing smoke from the center.

Xenos lifted Atlas by the collar of his trench coat. "I've been waiting for this…" He thrust the sword in his right hand at the Progenitor's left eye—striving to puncture his brain from the front.

"Wait a little longer," Atlas said.

The Progenitor unhinged his jaw. As the untapped darkness trapped deep within the ancient Unconquerable's throat burst forth like a volcano popping its cap, Xenos jumped back. After landing some feet away, he watched Eros blitz past him and quickly withdrew a phone from his pocket.

Atlas immediately went to retreat. Hopping away from his son and the Warrior brandishing his katana dipped in golden Fate, the Progenitor stifled a chuckle.

'Seven down.'

Then, his eyes widened. An invisible sixth sense, courtesy of the traceable vibrations in the Earth, alerted the Progenitor. To another's arrival. Emerging from beyond the smoky clouds her brother produced by quite literally falling from the heavens, Hail smirked, crossing her arms and reshaping the nails at the end of her fingers into something akin to demonic claws. She lunged at the Progenitor.

She landed on the curved and darkened steel of the Sword as its sharpness sliced the air. Atlas spun around, throwing Hail from the length so she could tumble through the air at her brother. His eyes widened. The moment Hail shot from the Sword between Amit's fingers, he spotted Xenos above him, throwing the edge of his katana into the Progenitor's neck. Atlas caught Xenos by the end of his sword and crushed it between his, letting the shards scatter on the ground while Eros dove from the sky.

Jumping aside at the last possible second to dodge the Unconquerable's fall from the clouds, Atlas glared at his son, then glanced at Xenos and Hail recovering beside him. The Progenitor grinned. He unhesitantly aimed the Sword's tip at Hail on the far right from Eros standing at the left.

Eros looked down at the Zol siblings at his side. "Who're you two supposed to be?"

Xenos was panting. He sighed, shaking his head—sweat visibly dripping down the side of his face. "I-it's… kinda hard to explain right now," he said.

"Gotcha." Eros nodded. "Try and keep up."

Atlas blasted at Hail. The energy unleashed from the Sword's tip was the same miniature beam he unleashed earlier at the Princess. Eros and Xenos only had a few seconds to react if they wished to save the helpless girl from her throat's imminent destruction. That was until another variable entered the fray; deflecting the beam flying at Hail with her sword.

She lowered it, revealing the brightness of her uniquely-colored azure pupils. Atlas chuckled.

"Alora Illustrious. If you're here then…"

Atlas dashed at Alora, slashing at her head. Sliding between his legs, Alora sliced his ankle, ending up behind Atlas as he fell to the ground with blood leaking from the slice on his leg. Seething through clenched teeth while looking up at her from the side of his eye, Lora raised her blade, lowering it just as quickly in an attempt to behead the kneeling Progenitor. His eyes closed.

Instead of relying on sight to observe the actions performed by others, Atlas refined the Fate around his ears—leaving the back of his head entirely defenseless. At that exact moment, Alora cut down at his neck and the Progenitor's eyes opened, followed immediately after by an echoing shockwave released by his hand slamming into the ground.

Xenos conjured another sword, cutting horizontally in an attempt to deprive Atlas of his fingers. He was too late. The Amit Progenitor already finished fulfilling the required conditions and, sitting upright, looked Alora dead in the eyes while her sword was falling. A single glimpse was enough for Illustrious to stop the stroke of her blade.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Xenos yelled.

Alora spun to the others. "WE HAVE TO MOVE! NOW!"

Eros blitzed past them all and, appearing behind Atlas, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into the air. He kicked his father in the crown of the skull, launching the Progenitor from the sky to send him into another one of many craters formed in the ground. The Unconquerable, towering over Atlas, appeared as a silhouette while standing before the sun.

"You won't have the chance to attack anyone. Not anymore."

The blackened aura prominent around the Progenitor unleashed a brief green gleam. "How foolish." He chuckled.

Apollo carrying Aella was sprinting with all his might at Atlas from behind. Eros towering over him was merely an inconsequential silhouette the Displacement hadn't considered. In truth, he assumed it to be Talen or Uriel. However, upon closer inspection and after running a little more, it became apparent. The Unconquerable was unsealed and standing over his former master the Progenitor was none other than Eros. Eros Amit.

"You see that?"

"Hm? What?" She glanced up at Apollo, then turned to stare ahead at Eros standing over Atlas. "Looks like we're converging on Atlas's signature. But… who's that standing over him?"

"Talen's dad."

"The sealed one?" Raven tilted her head, still gazing straight at Eros and Atlas.

Apolo nodded. "The sealed one."

"So… does that mean we won?"

"No idea," Moloch said. "We should steer clear of being around him until we're sure. It's too risky."

"Cuz we're Displacements?"

"Cuz we're Displacements."

As the siblings debated while converging on Atlas, just a tad high above the base clouds of the sky, Lily was soaring with Talen on her back. His sleepy grumbles were intruded on by fluttering eyelids gradually opening. The Celestial glanced back, then returned her gaze to the ground far below her.

"You're awake?" She smiled. "I'm surprised you healed so quickly. I thought it would've taken a few more hours at least."

Talen, on her back, tightened her arms around Lily's waist. "Was I supposed to stay sleeping there for three hours? Wouldn't you have already been dead by then?" He sighed. "Where'd you even put me anyway?"

"My home realm: Dimension of Light."

Talen's head tilted. "Right."

"I'm serious!" Liliana frowned. "Don't you remember it from when I showed you I was part of the First? The Nebulaic whirlwind around us—that was my home."

"I vaguely remember…" Tal groaned, rubbing his temples. "What happened before I got here? Is Monstrum dead or not?"

"Yeah. You killed him."

"I did, huh?" Talen asked with a hand on his face. "Weird. It doesn't feel like the world's any different now that he's dead."

"That's usually how it is with revenge," Lily said. "It's not fulfilling in the slightest. I mean, just ask yourself. Anthony and Archer, along with the countless others Monstrum's killed; does his death make it better? Does it mean anything other than another Monster being extinguished from this world before he can hurt anyone else?"

The lawyer was reluctant to remove the palm from his face. Sighing, he shook his head. "No. Not at all."

Lily decided to keep quiet for the rest of their flight. After all, this wasn't the type of conversation you have when about to enter another fight for your life. Then, the clouds cleared below her, revealing Atlas embedded in the empty crater surface in a crater filled with his blood. And towering over him? Unmistakably, Liliana's bright-white eyes reflected the original Unconquerable's long gray hair. It couldn't be anyone else other than him: Eros Amit.

"Looks like your dad's back," she said.

Tal peered over her shoulder. "Yeah…" He looked away, inhaled sharply, then turned back down to Eros—his father, reflected in dark-green eyes behind spherical glasses. "Let's go."

Talen dropped from Liliana's rear to dive through the sky. The wind of the Earth swayed the dropping Unconquerable's all-black clothing as he fell through the top of a cloud. Extended both arms after falling through the top of it, his head tilted down, staring specifically at Eros standing over the bleeding Amit Progenitor. A fragment of the past echoed through his mind.

'Get up, boy! You've yet to knock me down; we're not done yet!'

Talen landed. Unlike Xenos and Alora who came in with flashy entrances, the scrape of the bottom of his sole touching the ground was extremely gentle. Even so, Eros noticed it; head-turning at the sound of another's appearance. There he stood—like no time passed at all. His son.

For the first time in what seemed like years, they were seeing one another again. At the quick realization it'd only been a few months, they averted their eyes until the father slowly looked back at the shape of his child's face.

Eros smiled. "S'been a while," he said.

"I guess." Tal shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "He dead yet?" The Unconquerable pointed down at Atlas floored by his father's foot on his chest.

"No, he—"

Atlas vanished. Eros and Talen looked down, then up. The father and son instinctively knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Amit Progenitor would reappear above them. Perhaps it was the thread of Destiny binding them? Regardless, they stared at him, wary of whatever the schemer's next move would be.

That was when Eros started thinking. Thinking back. To what Atlas said when they believed to have had him trapped.

'You won't have the chance to attack. Not anymore.'

Atlas replied with a singular phrase: 'How foolish.'

It made sense. The Progenitor wasn't simply insulting his son's intelligence like usual—it was a ploy! When he vanished, he could've slaughtered every last one of them with the Sword he got from the Celestials, but he vanished instead. Why?

"Someone shoot him down!" Valentina yelled.

Atlas looked back at Apollo, holding Aella, still sprinting at him from behind. He shrugged, chuckling, then aimed the Sword down at them all.

"Every last one of you. Come at me."

Atlas angled the curved and darkened steel of the Sword over his face's right half, grinning widely at the fighters paralyzed with fear below him.

"I'll show you the epitome of true Fate's might."