A dead world

Everywhere I went, I only saw death and destruction. And ice, a lot of ice. I could vaguely recognize the city I was in, but how did all this happen? Who is behind this?

More importantly, where is Arthur?

I couldn't sense his presence, could he have already been 'reincarnated?'

[No, I sense him. It's weak, but it's definitely there.]

'Where?'

[He's coming right here, in fact.]

'What?'

[He probably sensed you falling into his world.]

'...'

I sighed, it was becoming a hassle explaining and convincing people about my circumstances.

Not much later I could sense a very faint mana signature approaching us.

'This is worrying.'

[His mana signature isn't fluctuating, so he isn't close to death, but his weak signature suggests something worse.]

I silently began moving in his direction, what had happened here?

.

.

.

'Where is he?'

[He's definitely nearby…]

'He's so close I feel like he's right in front of me.'

[...?!]

'What is it Phanes?' I said, sensing his surprise.

[Fayden, enter Shadowsoul for a moment.]

'What?'

[Just do as I say.]

I sighed, 'Fine.'

Familiar silver runes adorned my body, my eyes gained a familiar black sclerae, and I could see.

"Wha-what?! How? Why are you a spectre Arthur?"

He smiled sadly, "I knew you would come, fate didn't lie."

"What are you talking about? What the hell happened here?!"

"Follow me, it's not safe here."

"Wait, Arthur-"

________________________

"I have too many questions." I said as I sat across from him, "First off, why are you like this?"

"Isn't it obvious? I died."

"How?"

"It's better if I show you." He pointed his fingers at me, glowing with aetheric energy.

I nodded slowly, "Go ahead."

3rd Person POV :

"What is the meaning of this Claire?!"

"Eliminate target." Her voice sounded hollow.

"She cannot hear you, Arthur Leywin." Agrona spoke through Sylvie. "I thought you were familiar with killing your friends?"

"Shut up Agrona. I swear I'll rip you apart for this!"

Claire appeared in front of Arthur, her sword billowing grey flames.

Dawn's Ballad crackled with aether as it countered her weapon.

"Claire! Fight back against his control! This is not you!"

"I must eliminate."

"Please Claire, I can't do it again." Arthurs raw voice cracked, he will not let what happened to Cecilia happen again.

Their swords clashed once again. The very continent shook in their battle.

"What's the matter Grey, this should be child's play to you."

Arthur ignored him, "Claire listen to me!"

.

.

.

Arthur panted in exhaustion, the area around them had been turned to molten landscape. How Claire kept up with him was beyond him.

Although he had noticed how her attacks weakened and hesitated.

"Arthur-" Claire's face changed for a split second, "Die."

Arthur dodged back, her sword cutting into his shirt, burning it away in seconds.

'No, please stop.' Claire yelled out, but her lips never moved.

"Claire, fight his control!" Arthur yelled out desperately.

"Interesting, a mere lesser resisting against my magic." Agrona rubbed his chin in thought.

'If only I can take back control for a moment, I can end this.'

Claire moved swiftly, feinting a slash and hitting Dawn's Ballad away. She pulled back her sword arm, the grey flames compressing into the confines of the blade itself.

Arthurs eyes widened, he could not survive that. He decided, he could live without his legs.

As Claire thrust, Arthurs legs vibrated with mana and her blade hit only empty air.

Blood thumped in Arthur's ears at his brush with death, but he didn't lose his composure. If anything, he looked calmer than ever.

His will told him to relinquish control, Sylvia told him to let her take control.

His hair grew longer, wilder. His runes twisted and turned, gaining a whole new layer of complexity. Purple lightning flowed through his body.

The tendrils of aether tethered to his very soul as he fell into the cold comfort of Realmheart.

Claire saw a glimmer of hope at this, maybe he could stop her now.

Her body moved, sword in hand but the purple lightning struck fast.

But Arthur didn't attack, maybe now he could sever Agrona's spell.

But 'Claire' wouldn't have it, she released the flames stored in her blade, covering the entire battlefield in grey corruption, the aether reacted in kind.

A massive explosion of aetheric lightning and decay magic rocked every corner of the planet.

Far away a certain archangel snapped his neck towards the battle.

Before the dust could settle, 'Claire' lunged, seemingly having an infinite amount of mana.

Arthur's body moved on its own, Sylvia's will in control. Funny, what happened next was in neither of their control.

Claire regained control for a split second, dropping all her defences and 'Sylvia' held Dawn's Ballad at the exact angle for it to stab through Claire's heart.

The shock of the situation made Arthur regain control, and as fate would have it, Alexander appeared at that exact moment.

"A most interesting development. I'd say this reminds me of your incident with Cecilia-"

Sylvie's body was encased in an iridescent layer of ice, a resounding snap echoed through the area and Sylvie shattered.

"SYLV!"

"You…killed her." Alexander advanced slowly, storm mana running rampant, "You killed CLAIRE!!"

Arthur's runes cracked, the golden hue lost into a sea of primal purple engraved into his very being. His mind was split between trying to bring his bond back and annihilating Alexander. And so, his godrune responded in kind, moulding itself to fit his needs.

Alexander stumbled, he could feel his divinity fizzling out. He felt betrayed, both by his sworn brother and his god.

"So that's how it is huh?"

He received no answer.

Arthur charged at Alexander, enraged to irrationality. But his body couldn't take much more.

Alexander sidestepped him easily, grabbing his arm in the process, ripping it clean off.

Arthur didn't react, he went right back to attacking, even as his remaining fist crumbled to dust.

"You will not die before I'm done with you." Alexander grabbed ahold of Arthur's head, lifting him up with ease. That was a mistake.

Arthurs purple runes pulsed, disintegrating Alexander's hand to pure nothingness.

His face cracked, revealing what looked like an entire universe inside of him. He gave Alexander no chance to heal and punched him immediately. White claws grew from his fingers, and he rendered Alexander's torso to shreds.

An explosion of stasis knocked him away, completely frozen in time. Alexander got up, grey soulfire dripping from his wounds, "You are nothing more than a beast now."

The space around Arthur bent and shattered, he snarled at the former archangel, growing wings as his face elongated to a snout. He had already lost his other arm. He opened his maw, and primal aether coalesced in it. Space, time, existence, fate, all edicts of Aether responded to his call.

Alexander's eyes widened, he knew he had no hope of dodging it, it would hit instantly, it didn't matter if he escaped to a different plane, it would destroy his entire being.

He had to take Arthur down before that happened. As his luck would have hit, Arthur's lower body disintegrated at that moment, and he fell. And his own spell exploded on him, leaving nothing behind.

Alexander stood silently at the absurdity of it all.

.

.

.

"..."

"Why do I fell like you're ready to commit genocide?"

"You wouldn't be wrong."

He shook his head, "Before I died I saw something, a vision of the future."

"That's how you knew I would be coming."

He nodded, "It showed me the future, it showed me how you would arrive and end Agronas's rule."

"Agrona won?"

"With Alexander on his side, the asuras never stood a chance."

"Why would he ally himself with them?" Fayden asked, confused.

"Agrona reanimated Claire's body with someone else's soul and managed to convince him that its Claire. As a result, he swore allegiance to him."

Fayden nodded solemnly, "Where can I find him?"

"At Taegrin Caelum, but before that," he stood up, "there is only one thing I can give you, and I can only hope you are able to use it."

"What do you-" He was cut off suddenly as Arthur released Realmheart.

"I was never really able to use this, I hope it serves you better than it did me." He placed his index finger over Fayden's sternum, and his runes flowed out as if they were liquid.

Knowledge of the rune was forcefully inserted into his brain and his body screamed with power. Shadowsoul activated in response to the rune, bleaching them a bright silver.

[This rune…it has power beyond comprehension.]

"Succeed where I failed, my brother from a different world."

"What will happen to you after this?"

He only smiled sadly at him, "Don't let this happen to your world too Fayden."

"Wait! Don't go-"

But he had already moved on.

Fayden stood there in silence, he had kept his composure before but now he wanted nothing more than ripping Alexander apart.

[Calm down, going in blindly won't do you any good.]

But then a cold presence loomed over him, time itself froze around him as a deity descended, "I'm surprised you were even able to bypass the lock."

Fayden swirled around, coming face to face with a middle aged man with short white hair and upturned royal blue eyes, "Who are you?"

"I have many titles, but I'm known by most as Boreas, The God of Ice and Storms, and you are an intruder."

"Another Asura." Fayden sighed exasperatedly.

"I am not an Asura boy, do not regard me as one." Boreas said sternly, he never liked being compared to those fake gods.

"You expect me to believe there's a god out there who isn't an egoistical asura?"

"Multiple actually, but yes."

Fayden shook his head, "Moving on, what did you mean by lock?"

"You did not notice it when you entered?"

Fayden looked confused, "No? Was I supposed to?"

Boreas rubbed his chin, "Strange…the seal works as intended, yet you completely bypassed it."

Another presence made itself known out of the blue, much similar to mine. Hell, the sky even darkened slightly.

He seemed to be conversing with Boreas.

"He is? I see." Boreas nodded sagely, and the other presence retreated, "I assume you are aware of the situation."

"As a matter of fact, I was about to leave for Alacrya."

"Overconfidence will only cost you your life."

"..."

"Master your new godrune before rushing off, you will need it if you want to live."

[I hate to admit it but he has a point.]

I nodded, "Very well."

"Know that Alexander is far beyond you right now, he is strong enough to be a God candidate."

"You seem to know a lot about him."

"Of course, I was once his patron."

[?!]

"I assume you severed ties with him?"

"That I did." He nodded.

He turned away, "We will be watching you closely, Fayden Leywin. Do us a favor and end this madness."

"And what do I get out of it?"

"...One favor from the gods."

"Acceptable."

[So, what do we do now?]

Silver runes burst into existence over Fayden's body as he relished in the feeling of his new power.