Burnice flew through the air like a missile, fire erupting from her feet in twin jets of superheated thrust. The world blurred beneath her, buildings reduced to streaks of color as she accelerated past Mach 1.

  Too slow.

  Her eyes narrowed, pupils contracting to pinpoints as her gasoline blood ignited internally. Heat flooded her veins, her body temperature spiking to dangerous levels that would've killed anyone else.

  "Way. Too. Fucking. SLOW!"

  Her entire body erupted into flames. Not the controlled, elegant fire she usually maintained, but raw, unfiltered combustion. Orange, yellow, and red plasma wrapped around her like a second skin, her blonde twintails streaming behind her like comet tails.

  The sonic boom shattered windows three blocks down.

  Mach 2. Then Mach 2.5.

  She was a living meteor now, screaming through the sky with enough force to leave a trail of superheated air in her wake. The wind tore at her clothes, her crop top and short skirt somehow surviving the thermal assault through sheer force of will and fireproofing.

  "HAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS MUCH MUUUUUCCCCHHHH FASTER~!"

  Her laughter was manic, unhinged, the sound of someone who'd found their perfect speed and wanted more. The gasoline scent that always clung to her intensified, mixing with the smell of burning ozone and scorched atmosphere.

  Then she saw him.

  The Archbishop of Wrath. Arcturus.

  Even from this distance, she could feel it. That nuclear reactor of a man, his body containing enough raw atomic energy to level cities. His supernatural pressure washed over her like a physical wave, hot and oppressive and absolutely delicious.

  Her red eyes widened, pupils dilating with something between arousal and predatory hunger.

  "Oooo, he's a big one~" She bit her lip, pressing her thick thighs together mid-flight. "I wonder how hot those flames can get... Uhhhh, I'm getting wet just thinking about it~"

  The heat. The power. The sheer nuclear intensity radiating from him.

  She wanted to touch it. Taste it. Burn in it.

  Movement to her left. A dragon, massive and scaled, approaching the same target with wings that blotted out the sun.

  Burnice's expression shifted instantly. The playful arousal vanished, replaced by something cold and possessive.

  "Oh no, little draggy." Her voice dropped an octave, dangerous and sharp. "That nuclear reactor is MINE."

  She raised both hands, still flying at Mach 2, and raw Aura flooded into her palms. Not refined. Not controlled. Just pure, unfiltered Primordial Energy mixed with her gasoline blood and ignited.

  A massive sphere of plasma formed between her hands, growing from basketball-sized to car-sized in seconds. The temperature spiked to 5,000°C, the air around it distorting and warping from the sheer thermal output.

  "GET THE FUCK AWAY!"

  FWOOOOSH!

  The plasma blast erupted outward in a cone of destruction. The dragon didn't even have time to roar before the attack hit it square in the chest, vaporizing scales and flesh in an instant. The creature's wings crumpled, its massive body tumbling from the sky like a broken toy.

  Burnice didn't even watch it fall.

  Her eyes were locked on Arcturus now, her entire focus narrowed to that single point of nuclear heat. She extinguished the flames around her body with a thought, letting momentum carry her forward as she cocked her right fist back.

  The Archbishop looked up just in time to see a petite blonde woman, 5'3" of compact fury, flying directly at his face.

  CRACK!

  Her fist connected with his jaw with the force of a tactical nuke. Fifty kilotons of kinetic energy compressed into a single punch, delivered by someone who could deadlift 500 tons without breaking a sweat.

  Arcturus ragdolled.

  His massive frame, all muscle and scars and nuclear fire, went flying backward like he'd been hit by a freight train. He crashed into the ground with enough force to crater the street, asphalt and concrete exploding outward in a shockwave that shattered nearby windows.

  Before he could even process what happened, before his brain could register the pain, he felt pressure on his waist.

  Burnice was straddling him.

  Her thick thighs pressed against his sides, her weight settling onto his lap with casual dominance. Her red eyes stared down at him, pupils blown wide with arousal, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

  "You're the nuclear reactor, right~?" Her voice was breathy, almost reverent. She ran her hands down his chest, feeling the heat radiating from beneath his skin. "I felt your supernatural pressure from miles away... Sooooo arousing~"

  Her hips shifted slightly, grinding against him.

  "Tell me." She leaned closer, her gasoline-and-perfume scent overwhelming. "Do you ever want to be consumed by the energy you output? Ever wanted to feel it burning your skin up, scorching you from the inside out?" Her breath hitched. "Ngh... So hot~"

  Arcturus's skin began to glow orange, his nuclear energy responding to his rage. The temperature around them spiked, the ground beneath him starting to melt.

  "GET OFFFFFF MEMENEMENE!"

  Burnice started rocking on his waist, her movements deliberate and provocative.

  "YES! Let me feel ALL that heat~"

  WHAM!

  Arcturus's fist caught her in the cheek with enough force to shatter steel. Her head snapped to the side, her entire body ragdolling backward from the impact. She flipped mid-air, landing on her feet twenty meters away with perfect balance.

  Her cheek was busted open, blood and gasoline leaking from the wound in equal measure. The scent of petroleum filled the air, mixing with the copper tang of blood.

  Then the wound closed.

  Flesh knitted back together in seconds, stem cells flooding the injury site at fifty times the normal human rate. Within moments, her cheek was perfect again, not even a scar remaining.

  She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, grinning.

  "You're strong." She rolled her shoulders, loosening up. "Not stronger than me, of course. I'm the strongest physically in my clan~"

  Arcturus pushed himself to his feet, his massive frame radiating nuclear heat. His eyes locked onto hers, fury and confusion warring in his expression.

  Then he moved.

  BOOM!

  The ground exploded beneath him as he launched forward, closing the distance in an instant. His fist came down like a meteor, aimed directly at her skull.

  Burnice raised her left forearm.

  CRACK!

  The punch connected with her forearm, and the shockwave was catastrophic. The ground beneath her feet cratered instantly, asphalt and concrete pulverizing into dust. The force of the impact created a shockwave that shattered windows three blocks away.

  But Burnice didn't move.

  Her arm held firm, muscles tensed but not straining. She looked up at him, her red eyes gleaming with amusement.

  "Veo que no escuchas~"

  She pivoted on her right foot, using his momentum against him. Arcturus stumbled forward, his balance broken, and she capitalized instantly.

  WHAM!

  Her dropkick caught him square in the back, right between the shoulder blades. The impact sent him flying forward, his massive body crashing through the wall of a nearby building in an explosion of brick and steel.

  Burnice landed lightly, her platform heels clicking against the broken pavement. She stretched her arms above her head, arching her back in a way that emphasized her curves.

  "Come onnnn, are Archbishops really this weak~?"

  Rumbling from inside the building. Debris shifted, concrete grinding against steel.

  Then it exploded outward.

  Chunks of building material flew in every direction, and anything that approached Burnice melted instantly, reduced to molten slag by the heat radiating from her body.

  Arcturus emerged from the wreckage.

  For the first time, Burnice got a good look at him.

  He was massive. Easily seven feet tall, his body an imposing wall of muscle covered in scars that told stories of countless battles. His hair was a wild tangle of black and crimson, rippling with an aura of stormy energy that seemed to shift and move of its own accord. His eyes burned with fiery red intensity, glowing like molten steel.

  When he spoke, his voice was thunder.

  "YOU! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST PUNCH ME AND THROW ME AROUND!?"

  The air around him superheated, distorting and warping. His skin began to glow brighter, orange light bleeding through like he was a reactor on the verge of meltdown.

  "THINK AGAIN, BITCH!"

  He raised both hands, palms open, and nuclear energy flooded into them. The light was blinding, white-hot and searing.

  FWOOOOSH!

  A beam of pure nuclear fire erupted from his palms, a column of destruction three meters wide. It engulfed Burnice instantly, the heat so intense that the buildings behind her vaporized. Ten small houses ceased to exist, reduced to atomic particles in the span of a heartbeat.

  Arcturus smiled, his expression savage and satisfied.

  The beam continued for five seconds. Ten. Fifteen.

  Then he heard it.

  "AHHHHH FUCK~!"

  His smile faltered.

  "It really is what I expected it to be~" The voice was breathy, ecstatic. "So hot... I feel the flames practically groping me~"

  The nuclear beam cut off.

  For the first time in the entire war, Arcturus's face showed genuine shock.

  Burnice stood in the center of the destruction, completely unharmed. Her clothes were singed at the edges, her skin flushed from the heat, but there wasn't a single burn on her body.

  She was smiling.

  "Absolute immunity~" She ran her hands down her sides, her movements sensual and deliberate. "I'm immune to all thermal and combustion phenomena. Fire, heat, cold, plasma... None of it can touch me~"

  Before he could respond, she moved.

  CRACK!

  Her hand gripped his face, fingers digging into his skull with enough force to crack bone. She slammed him into the ground with catastrophic force, the impact creating a crater ten meters wide.

  He tried to get up.

  Her foot pressed down on his chest, pinning him.

  "No no, you gotta stay riiight here~" She straddled his lap again, settling her weight onto him with casual dominance. "I can feel the heat emitting from just beneath your skin... You're filled with it, aren't you?" Her fingers traced down his cheek, drawing blood. "It's coursing through your fucking veins... Ngh~"

  "H-HOW!? HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT!?"

  "I told you~" She leaned closer, her breath hot against his face. "Absolute immunity. But that's besides the point..." Her red eyes gleamed with predatory hunger. "I want to show you what TRUE fire looks like~"

  She stood over him, palm open and aimed at his face.

  Then she released her flames.

  500 degrees Celsius. Not her maximum. Not even close. But enough.

  The flames engulfed his face, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air instantly. His skin blistered and charred, his screams muffled by the roar of combustion.

  "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Burnice's laughter was unhinged, manic. "YESSS! Surrender to the flames! You feel how fucking hot they are!? Ooooo fuuuck, yesss~"

  Twenty seconds.

  She maintained the flames for twenty full seconds, watching his face cook with the fascination of an artist admiring their work.

  Then she stopped.

  She wiped the drool from her mouth, her expression satisfied and dreamy.

  "Ooooookay, so now that I got that side thing done..." She turned away from his smoking, twitching body. "It's time to find Rubia and see if she's found Sutaro-kun~"

  She started walking, her platform heels clicking against the broken pavement.

  "I wonder if there will still be a club around I can go to after all of this.”

  Celeste stared down Blare and Brutus with a determination that could shake the foundations of heaven and hell itself. The air around them crackled with tension, reality itself seeming to hold its breath.

  Brutus's divine aura flared, her childlike face twisting with genuine rage. A mortal. A MORTAL dared to look at her, at HER, as if she could actually defeat them. The sheer audacity of it made her divine blood boil.

  "No... NO!!!"

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Blare turned her single violet eye toward her divine sister. "What is it, Brutus?"

  "Two of my archbishops have been killed..." Brutus's voice trembled with fury as golden blood began to seep from where she bit her lip. "By relatives of the Katsuki clan."

  The sky above them darkened instantly, as if the universe itself recoiled from her wrath. The only illumination came from the dimensional rift tearing through reality above them, casting everything in an otherworldly glow.

  "These mortals... That CLAN!!"

  Celeste's heterochromatic eyes blazed with unwavering resolve. Twin axes materialized in her hands, forged from pure divine energy that hummed with lethal purpose. The weapons radiated power that made the air shimmer around them.

  "Now then," Celeste's voice cut through the tension like a blade. "You two have a choice. Leave now and stop the merger, or I beat both of you to death and stop it myself."

  Blare felt something ignite in her chest. Not fear. Never fear. But something far more intoxicating. Her blood began to sing with anticipation, her single eye widening with barely contained excitement.

  "It's almost comforting, really," Blare said, a dangerous smile spreading across her face. "That mortals like you never change. Always so confident. Always so ready to die for your convictions."

  She extended her hand, and reality itself seemed to crack like glass. Gungnir tore through the fabric of the fourth dimension, materializing in her grip with a sound like shattering worlds. The legendary spear pulsed with power that made the ground beneath them tremble.

  "Let's kill this mortal, sister!" Blare's voice carried the weight of absolute certainty.

  Brutus's golden eyes blazed with divine fury, her childlike features twisted into something terrifying and beautiful. "Gladly!"

  The air exploded.

  BOOM!

  Both divine sisters launched forward simultaneously, their movements tearing through space itself. Blare reached Celeste first, Gungnir screaming through the air in a massive arc that could split mountains. The legendary spear carved reality apart in its wake, leaving dimensional fractures that bled otherworldly light.

  CLANG!

  Celeste's twin axes intercepted the blow, divine energy meeting divine energy in a collision that sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. Buildings trembled. Windows shattered for blocks. The ground beneath them cracked like fragile ice.

  Blare's single violet eye widened with predatory delight. Her fingers tightened around Gungnir's shaft, and the kinetic energy from the impact reversed direction. The force didn't dissipate. It multiplied.

  CRASH!

  Celeste rocketed backward, her body ragdolling through the air like a broken puppet. She tore through three buildings before momentum finally released her.

  But she wasn't alone in the sky.

  Golden light erupted behind her. Brutus materialized in a burst of divine radiance, her small hands glowing with concentrated celestial power. Divine magic flooded her muscles, enhancing her physical prowess to catastrophic levels.

  "Too slow, mortal~!" Brutus's voice carried childlike glee mixed with divine authority.

  Her fist drove upward into Celeste's gut.

  WHAM!

  The impact created a visible shockwave. Celeste's eyes went wide, blood exploding from her mouth as she was launched skyward like a missile. The force of the blow shattered the sound barrier, her body disappearing into the clouds above.

  Both sisters looked up.

  Twin streaks of white light.

  They ascended together, divine energy propelling them upward at impossible speeds. The air screamed around them. Reality bent. Space twisted.

  Above the clouds, Celeste's back erupted with grotesque, fleshy demonic wings. The appendages were massive, leathery and veined with pulsing crimson energy. They caught the air with a sound like thunder, stabilizing her flight.

  Her heterochromatic eyes locked onto the approaching threats.

  Two streaks of white light, growing larger.

  Growing closer.

  Celeste's hands moved. Both axes dissolved into particles of divine energy, reforming into new shapes. When the light faded, she gripped twin throwing axes, each one crackling with concentrated power.

  She hurled them both.

  WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

  The weapons spun through the air, trailing spirals of divine energy. Each rotation carved through space itself, leaving dimensional scars in their wake.

  Blare twisted mid-flight, her body contorting at an impossible angle. The first axe screamed past her face, close enough that she felt the heat of its divine energy singe her skin.

  Brutus saw the second axe coming.

  Her golden eyes narrowed.

  "How DARE you!" The bratty indignation in her voice was palpable.

  She kicked forward, her small foot meeting the spinning axe head-on. But instead of blocking it, she spoke. Her voice carried the weight of absolute authority, each word reshaping reality itself.

  "I declare these flames shall not touch me!"

  The Architect's Wrath activated.

  Reality obeyed.

  The divine flames coating the axe curved around her body like water flowing around stone. The weapon passed harmlessly by, its trajectory altered by divine decree. Brutus's expression twisted into a smug smile, her pride swelling.

  But Blare wasn't playing games.

  She closed the distance in an instant, Gungnir thrust forward like a lance of concentrated destruction. The legendary spear pierced through dimensional barriers, existing in seven layers of reality simultaneously.

  The spearhead drove into Celeste's shoulder blade, punching through flesh and bone with sickening ease. Blood erupted from the wound, spraying across the sky in a crimson arc.

  Blare's smile widened, anticipation flooding her features.

  This was it.

  The moment of erasure.

  The moment when Gungnir's true power activated, when the spear's reality-severing properties would unmake this mortal's existence, erasing her from every timeline, every dimension, every possible reality.

  One second passed.

  Two.

  Three.

  Celeste was still there.

  Still flying.

  Still bleeding.

  Still existing.

  "WHAT?!" Blare's voice cracked with genuine shock. Her single eye went wide, disbelief flooding her features. "HOW?! HOW ARE YOU STILL HERE?!"

  Celeste's lips curved into a pained smile, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Her heterochromatic eyes blazed with defiant fire.

  "Can't erase someone who uses the same energy as you~"

  Her hand shot out, fingers closing around Blare's cloak with iron grip. The divine sister's shock turned to alarm as Celeste spun mid-air, using the momentum to whirl Blare around like a hammer throw.

  "NO! UNHAND ME, YOU FILTHY—"

  Celeste released her grip, sending Blare hurtling directly into Brutus. The two divine sisters collided in an explosion of white and golden light, their bodies tangling together as they tumbled through the sky.

  Celeste didn't hesitate.

  Her demonic wings folded against her back, and she dove. The air screamed around her as she accelerated downward, both hands outstretched. Divine energy gathered in her palms, condensing into twin spears of pure celestial fire.

  Below her, Brutus shoved Blare aside with surprising strength for her small frame.

  "Move, sister!" Her voice carried bratty irritation. "I'll handle this insect!"

  Both of Brutus's hands shot upward, palms open. Golden light erupted from her entire body, divine authority radiating outward in visible waves. Her eyes blazed with celestial fury, her childlike features twisted into an expression of absolute command.

  "I DECLARE—" Her voice shook the heavens themselves. "—ALL AIR MOLECULES SHALL BECOME BULLETS AND REPEL FORWARD!"

  The Architect's Wrath activated on a massive scale.

  Reality screamed.

  Every molecule of air in front of Brutus compressed instantaneously, transformed by divine decree into microscopic projectiles. Trillions upon trillions of razor-sharp fragments, each one moving at supersonic speeds.

  The attack was invisible.

  Unavoidable.

  Absolute.

  The sound was like a million knives cutting through silk. Celeste flew directly into the molecular storm, her body shredded by countless invisible blades. Her clothes tore apart. Her skin split open in thousands of tiny cuts. Blood exploded from her body in a crimson mist.

  Her eyes went wide.

  The pain was beyond description.

  WHAM!

  The force of the compressed air blast sent her ragdolling backward, tumbling through the sky like a broken doll. Blood trailed behind her in spiraling patterns, painting the clouds red.

  But Brutus wasn't finished.

  Golden light erupted above Celeste's tumbling form. Brutus materialized instantly, her small body positioned perfectly for a devastating follow-up. Divine energy flooded her arms, her muscles swelling with celestial power.

  "LEARN YOUR PLACE, MORTAL!"

  Both hands drove downward into Celeste's gut.

  BOOM!

  The impact created a visible crater in the air itself. Celeste's body folded around the blow, more blood erupting from her mouth. The force sent her plummeting downward like a meteor, her body tearing through clouds and leaving a trail of crimson in her wake.

  She was falling.

  Accelerating.

  Helpless.

  But Blare was already moving.

  A rip in space tore open beside the falling Celeste, dimensional fabric peeling apart like torn paper. Blare emerged from the Fourth Dimension, Gungnir held at her side. Her single violet eye burned with cold calculation.

  "If I can't erase you with this spear—" Her voice was ice. "—then I'll simply tear you to shreds."

  She raised Gungnir high.

  The legendary weapon pulsed with power that made reality itself tremble. Around Blare, space fractured. Dimensional echoes of Gungnir began manifesting, each one a perfect copy existing in a different layer of reality.

  One echo.

  Ten.

  Fifty.

  One hundred.

  The number kept climbing.

  Three hundred sixty-seven dimensional echoes of Gungnir materialized in a perfect sphere around Blare, each spear pointing directly at Celeste's falling form. The sight was breathtaking and terrifying. Hundreds of legendary weapons, each one capable of piercing any defense, all aimed at a single target.

  Blare's smile was cold and absolute.

  "OMNIDIRECTIONAL ASSAULT!"

  She swung Gungnir in a wide horizontal arc.

  Every dimensional echo moved simultaneously.

  WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

  Three hundred sixty-seven spears launched as one, converging on Celeste from every possible angle. The attack was inescapable. No matter which direction she dodged, dozens of spears would pierce her body. The dimensional echoes existed in multiple layers of reality simultaneously, making conventional evasion impossible.

  Celeste's eyes blazed.

  Her body twisted mid-fall, demonic wings spreading wide. She spun through the air, weaving between the incoming spears with movements that defied human capability. Her body contorted at impossible angles, each motion calculated with perfect precision.

  SLASH!

  One spear grazed her arm, tearing through flesh.

  SLASH!

  Another carved across her back, shredding what remained of her clothes.

  SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

  More spears found their marks, each one leaving deep cuts across her body. Blood sprayed in every direction. Fabric tore away in strips. Her uniform was reduced to tatters, barely clinging to her frame.

  But she kept moving.

  Kept dodging.

  Kept surviving.

  Her heterochromatic eyes locked onto Blare through the storm of spears. Determination burned in those mismatched irises, a fire that refused to be extinguished no matter how much divine power was thrown at it.

  Celeste dove through the final wave of echoes, her body emerging on the other side bloodied but unbroken. Demonic energy erupted from her hands, coalescing into a long spear of pure infernal power. The weapon crackled with dark energy, its form writhing like living shadow.

  "You love spears so much—" Celeste's voice was raw with pain and defiance. "—let's see how much you love MINE!"

  She accelerated forward, demonic wings propelling her directly at Blare. The distance closed rapidly. Ten meters. Five. Two.

  Inches away from impact.

  Something wrapped around her waist.

  Celeste's eyes went wide. She looked down.

  A whip made of pure golden divine energy coiled around her midsection, the ethereal rope pulsing with celestial power. Her gaze followed the whip's length to its source.

  Brutus floated in the air behind her, one small hand gripping the whip's handle. The young goddess's expression was smug, bratty satisfaction radiating from her features.

  "Nah uh~" Brutus's voice carried childlike mockery.

  She spun mid-air, her small body rotating with impossible speed. The whip followed her motion, and Celeste was yanked along like a caught fish. The world blurred around her as Brutus spun faster and faster, building momentum.

  Celeste gritted her teeth. The demonic spear in her hands pulsed with dark energy. She swung the blade downward, severing the golden whip in a single clean cut.

  The divine energy dispersed, and Celeste was launched away by the residual momentum. Her body hurtled through the air, completely out of control.

  CRASH!

  She slammed into the side of a mountain with enough force to shake the entire peak. Rock exploded outward in a massive crater, dust and debris filling the air. The impact drove the breath from her lungs, pain exploding through every nerve.

  She tried to move.

  Couldn't.

  Her body was embedded in solid stone, the mountain's face wrapped around her like a stone coffin.

  Golden and white light erupted directly in front of her. Brutus materialized instantly, her small foot already descending. The boot slammed into Celeste's chest, pinning her against the mountain.

  "You have some NERVE!" Brutus's voice was shrill with indignation, her childlike features twisted into an expression of bratty fury. "You mortals can't help but intervene with divine matters! Has the Holy Bible taught you NOTHING about obeying gods?!"

  Celeste groaned, blood dripping from her mouth. Her heterochromatic eyes met Brutus's golden gaze with unwavering defiance.

  "I never believed in a god."

  Silence.

  Brutus's expression transformed. The bratty irritation vanished, replaced by something far more terrifying. Pure, absolute rage flooded her features. Her golden eyes blazed with divine fury so intense that the air around her began to distort.

  "HOW DARE YOU—" Her voice cracked with indignation. "—DISRESPECT MY BROTHER LIKE THAT?!"

  She grabbed Celeste by the shoulders, ripping her from the mountain's embrace. Stone crumbled away as Brutus flipped Celeste onto her stomach with shocking strength. Small hands gripped both demonic wings at their base.

  "Insolent! Arrogant! FAITHLESS MORTAL!"

  One foot pressed down on Celeste's back, pinning her in place.

  Then Brutus pulled.

  The sound was sickening. Flesh tore. Bone snapped. Celeste's demonic wings were ripped from her back in twin explosions of blood and gore. The appendages came away completely, leaving ragged wounds that gushed crimson.

  "AHHHHH!" Celeste's scream tore through the air, raw and agonized.

  Blood sprayed across the mountain's surface, painting the stone red. She spat up more blood, her body convulsing with pain. The wounds on her back were catastrophic, exposing muscle and bone.

  But her legs moved.

  Through the pain.

  Through the agony.

  Through the shock.

  Her legs wrapped around Brutus's neck in a vice grip. The young goddess's eyes went wide with surprise as Celeste twisted her entire body, using the leverage to throw Brutus backward off of her.

  "WHAT?!" Brutus tumbled through the air, shock and indignation flooding her features. "How are you still—"

  Celeste pushed herself up, blood streaming down her back. Her hand moved, and a knife materialized from pure demonic energy. The blade was black as midnight, its edge sharp enough to cut through reality itself.

  She dashed forward.

  Brutus was still recovering, still processing the fact that this mortal had dared to touch her.

  The demonic blade drove into Brutus's gut, punching through divine flesh with a wet sound. The young goddess's eyes went impossibly wide, golden irises shrinking to pinpricks.

  Celeste twisted the blade.

  "Ahhhh—" Brutus's voice cracked.

  Then Celeste dragged the knife sideways, carving through divine flesh. The blade sliced horizontally across Brutus's stomach, opening a massive wound that spilled golden ichor.

  "AHHHHH! MORTAL!" Brutus's scream was equal parts pain and outrage.

  FLASH!

  Dimensional fabric tore open. Blare emerged from the Fourth Dimension, Gungnir already in motion. The legendary spear screamed toward Celeste's head in a killing blow.

  But Celeste was ready this time.

  She ducked.

  The spear passed overhead, close enough that she felt the wind of its passage. Her leg swept out in a low kick, catching Blare's ankles.

  WHAM!

  The One-Eyed God hit the ground hard, her single eye going wide with shock. Before she could recover, Celeste's boot slammed down on her face, grinding her into the stone.

  Celeste's hand shot down, fingers closing around Blare's throat. She lifted the divine sister up with one hand, her heterochromatic eyes blazing with determination.

  Then she started punching.

  WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

  Each blow landed with devastating force. Celeste's fist drove into Blare's face again and again, divine blood spraying with each impact. The One-Eyed God's head snapped back with every punch, her single eye struggling to focus.

  "How—" WHAM! "—dare—" WHAM! "—you—" WHAM!

  Behind them, golden light erupted. Brutus rose to her feet, one hand pressed against her stomach wound. Divine energy flooded the injury, sealing it with celestial power. Her golden eyes blazed with fury and humiliation.

  "I DECLARE THIS MORTAL TO BE BLOWN INTO THE AIR!"

  The Architect's Wrath activated.

  Reality obeyed.

  BOOM!

  An invisible force slammed into Celeste from every direction simultaneously. Her body was launched away like a cannonball, ragdolling through multiple buildings. Glass shattered. Concrete exploded. Steel beams bent and twisted.

  She tumbled through five buildings before finally crashing to a stop in the ruins of a shopping center.

  But Blare was already there.

  The One-Eyed God materialized behind Celeste, Gungnir thrust forward. The legendary spear pierced through Celeste's forearm, divine metal punching through flesh and bone.

  Blood erupted from the wound, spraying across the rubble. Celeste's eyes went wide, pain exploding through her arm.

  But she didn't stop.

  Her other hand shot out, fingers closing around Blare's throat. The divine sister's single eye widened in shock as Celeste lifted her up and slammed her head into the concrete with bone-shattering force.

  CRACK!

  Blare's skull bounced off the ground, blood spraying from her nose. Before she could recover, Celeste was on top of her. A dagger materialized in her hand, forged from pure demonic energy.

  Then she started stabbing.

  The blade drove into Blare's upper body again and again. Shoulders. Chest. Arms. Neck. Each strike was precise, calculated, devastating. Divine blood pooled beneath them, spreading across the concrete in a crimson lake.

  "Nooo—" Blare thrashed with each stab, her voice cracking. "Nooo, you can't do thissss! I'm a GOD! You can't—"

  STAB! STAB! STAB!

  "I DECLARE MYSELF RIGHT NEXT TO CELESTE!"

  FLASH!

  Brutus materialized instantly, her small fist already swinging. The punch was aimed at Celeste's head, divine power concentrated into a killing blow.

  Celeste's leg shot out.

  WHAM!

  Her dropkick caught Brutus square in the chest, sending the young goddess hurtling backward. Brutus crashed through a building's wall, disappearing into the structure in an explosion of brick and mortar.

  Blare took advantage of the distraction. She raised Gungnir with trembling hands, the legendary spear glowing with concentrated power. Pure repulsion energy gathered at the spearhead, reality itself warping around the weapon.

  "GET! OFF! ME!"

  BOOM!

  The blast of repulsion energy exploded outward, catching Celeste directly. Her body was launched backward with catastrophic force, tumbling through the air before crashing into a train station. The entire structure collapsed around her, steel and concrete burying her beneath tons of rubble.

  Silence fell over the battlefield.

  Dust settled.

  Then Blare rose to her feet, divine blood streaming from dozens of wounds. Her single violet eye was wide, not with pain, but with something far more dangerous.

  Realization.

  "That's it." Her voice was cold. Absolute. "If I can't kill this mortal, I'll kill what's most important to mortals."

  She looked up at the sky, her gaze focusing on something distant.

  "Their. Offspring."

  Divine energy erupted around her body, propelling her into the air. She accelerated rapidly, her form becoming a streak of white light. Mach 1. Mach 2. Mach 3. Mach 4.

  She was heading somewhere specific.

  Somewhere with children.

  In the ruins of the train station, rubble exploded outward. Celeste emerged from the debris, blood streaming down her face. Her heterochromatic eyes went wide as Blare's words registered in her mind.

  "She's gonna..."

  The realization hit like a physical blow.

  "NO!"

  Wings of pure divine energy erupted from her back, replacing the demonic ones that had been torn away. The new appendages blazed with celestial light, their form more radiant and powerful than before.

  Celeste launched into the sky, divine energy propelling her forward at impossible speeds. The air screamed around her as she accelerated, chasing after the white streak that was Blare.

  The hunt was on.

  Created by Figures

  ? 2026 Veilbound Press

  A Veilbound Productions Division