The sphere of light turned into a gateway, which apparently led to another dimension full of stars and planets floating in the middle of space.
A monstrous creature emerged from the portal on top of a fiery beast, turning the joy of the worshippers into terror.
The rider stood slightly over two meters tall and was covered in thick curved black scales. Both his hands and feet ended in razor sharp claws enveloped in black flames. A set of upside down membranous wings protruded out of his back, producing a gust of wind strong enough to rival with the outside storm with each flap.
His face was a black slate with no nose nor ears, but his seven eyes made everyone recognize him on the spot. Each one of the six eyes on his face burned with a different color of mana which emphasized his pitch black vertical pupils.
The seventh one on his forehead was deep blue and without a pupil.
“Isn’t that the All-Father?” Everyone asked while staring in horror as the scales over his mouth opened, revealing a mouth full of fangs and blue fire. The killing intent the rider and his mount emanated made them unable to move or even to avert their gaze.
Shivers went down their spines and the warm air inside the church became so cold that they could see their own breath steaming.
“Silence! You have relinquished your gifts, your free will, and your life. You have no right to say my name. Food doesn’t get to talk, it only gets digested!” The portal behind the All-Father closed, and all the shadows in the room came to life, overwhelming their owners.
The worshippers were soon pinned to the ground by a distorted version of themselves. The dark forms had their faces twisted by an insatiable hunger, bright yellow eyes, and a white maw instead of a mouth.
“Fenrir, devour them!” He ordered his steed, a huge beast that resembled a divine wolf.
Its shoulder height reached two and a half meters (8’3″), making its rider’s head almost touch the ceiling. Its whole body was covered by a flaming red fur and enveloped in a deep blue flame. It erupted with greater intensity from its neck, making it look like a mane.
The monster had two curved horns coming out of its forehead, right in front of its ears, eagle-like feathered wing coming out from its back, and its tail was made out of dancing blue flames.
Fenrir’s howl made the ground quake and cracked the church’s walls like they were just made of sand. All those trapped by their own shadows felt their strength being sapped as small spheres of light came out of their bodies and moved towards the All-Father.
Ailia and Pelion were watching the show from a surveillance mirror. They recognized the spell as a variation of spirit magic that they had never seen before, Deraniel had called it “Demons of Darkness”.
They had yet to make a move because their minds were frozen in stupor.
Everything had happened too fast and at the worst possible moment. They had no spell at the ready, and facing an Emperor Beast one on one wasn’t a nice perspective. Yet they had no choice but to act.
If the Church of the Six collapsed, people would let themselves be healed, making it impossible for them to trigger the Third Eye array.
“He’s not the All-Father, but just a pretender. We know it well because we are the Sovereigns!” Ailia and Pelion appeared from a Warp Steps. They unleashed a blinding light which dispersed the shadows and freed all of those present.
“Really? Wasn’t that just a spell? Didn’t you just come from a common room?” The All-Lith laughed unleashing a tier five spell while Protector did the same. The two Awakened had nothing to counter such a sudden and powerful move, so they Blinked to safety.
“Where the heck are you guys? We need help!” Ailia yelled into her communication amulet.
Everyone was now free to look around. Nothing in her demeanor or looks was very god-like. She sounded afraid and she was using a pricey yet common tool. Pelion quickly cast a tier three stream of lightning bolts while emitting a powerful blue aura.
“Air magic? This is insulting.” Protector sighed. Even when he was still an evolved monster, air and fire were his natural elements. Manipulating them came as easy as breathing to him.
He had over than thirty years of experience with it and five more since he had evolved into an Emperor Beast. By combining his will with Lith’s, they didn’t need to make a single move.
The closer the lightning bolts came to them, the smaller they got, until they disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Nice trick! Do you work at birthday parties too? I’ll show you what a real god can do! Fenrir, attack!” The All-Lith said making Protector snarl.
He hated corny speeches and getting kicked in the sides by Lith’s clawed feet even more. Yet he didn’t complain and directed his fury against the two Awakened by unleashing the tier four spell Flaming Tornado.
Using its light as a cover, Lith gave Protector the predetermined signal and breathed a burst of Origin Flames into it. Thanks to his elemental mastery, Protector made it so that the Origin Flames were stuck in the eye of his tornado without allowing them to damage the surroundings.
The air element amplified the power of Lith’s flames whereas the fire element of Flaming Tornado was sacrificed to prevent them from spreading outwards. The resulting effect was akin to a fire pillar produced by a Balor, but entirely made of Origin Flames.
The blue pillar destroyed everything in its path, making stone evaporate and turning wood into ash. Ailia and Pelion used their defensive amulets, conjuring a barrier made of pure mana to shield themselves from the attack.
Yet no matter how much energy they poured into them, the boosted and focused Origin Flames were eating at it with a speed visible to the naked eye. The amulets became hot due to the stress their pseudo core was under.
Lith and Protector were doing their best to make it look easy, but neither breathing Origin Flames non stop nor keeping them under control was a simple feat.
“We need to get away!” Pelion yelled as the flames started to get past the barrier and ate at his enchanted clothes.
“How do you propose to do that? If we lose our focus, we are dead!” Ailia’s prayers were answered by two Warp Steps opened by their companions, who pulled them back to the safety of their room.
“Damn!” Lith said. According to his plan, the other two Awakened were supposed to try and attack him from behind, where Friya was ready to ambush them. Unluckily, even the most perfect plan doesn’t survive contact with the enemy.
“Cowards! Show yourself!” He said while both he and Protector used Invigoration to restore their strength.
‘Plan B it is.’ Friya Warped outside and then walked through the main door, enveloped in a golden light like a hero from the legends. With each of her strides, the shadows which had just started to come to life again screamed and died.
