MILA'S CHAMBERS
Milani stood at the center of the room, her silver-edged robes pooling around her like liquid mercury, fingers tracing the hilt of the dagger sheathed at her waist.
Leviam leaned against the marble pillar, his battle-worn gauntlets crossed over his chest. "Yeah," he said, voice gravelly with exhaustion and resolve. "After the war, we will tell them all."
Milani turned sharply, the jewels woven into her braids catching the light. "One more thing, Leviam."
He raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Mila?"
Her lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes—cold, calculating, the look of a predator scenting blood. "I want to be Queen."
Leviam's breath hitched. The torchlight flickered as if the very room recoiled from her words. He straightened, his armor clinking. "What? That's impossible. You know that, don't you?"
"Impossible?" She laughed, a sound like shattering glass. "Nothing is impossible. All we need is to carefully strategize our plans."
Leviam dragged a hand down his face, his calloused fingers catching on the stubble of his jaw. He exhaled slowly, the weight of her ambition pressing against his shoulders. "It's not going to be easy, Mila."
"I know," she whispered, stepping closer. The shadows deepened around them, swallowing the edges of the room. "But we can make it happen."
For a long moment, Leviam studied her—the fire in her gaze, the unyielding set of her shoulders. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. Let's plan it out."
Milani's grin widened, sharp as a blade. "Agreed." She turned back to the window, where the distant spires of the Celestial Citadel pierced the sky. "Just you watch, Sted. Krelious." Her voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "I will bring you both down… and rule over everything."
ON THE STARVERSE
The Meeting Of The God's.
The Meeting of Gods was not held in any mortal hall, but in the void between realms—a shifting expanse of nebulae and dying stars, where time itself frayed at the edges. Kazima, the God of Shattered Horizons, stood atop a floating fragment of a dead world, his cloak billowing like a storm.
"We will put an end to the reign of the Rulers," he declared, his voice echoing across the infinite dark. "And take the throne for ourselves."
Hendi, materialized from the shadows, his skeletal fingers clutching a tome bound in weeping runes. "You know that is madness," he rasped. "We don't have the strength—nor the power—to go up against the Rulers."
Kazima smiled, a slow, terrible thing. "I know. But we are not alone." He raised a hand, and the void rippled. "The Angels will fight with us… as will the Forbidden Race."
Dai, the youngest of the gods, materialized in a burst of ember-light, his golden eyes wide. "What? The Forbidden Race? Seriously—how are they still alive?" His voice cracked. "What the fuck is happening in the verses?"
Shisi, cloaked in her mantle of living smoke, coalesced beside him. "I'm confused as well," she murmured. "The Forbidden Race was said to have died out during the Great War and the Search."
Kazima's laughter was a blade scraping bone. "That's what they wanted everyone to think." He clenched his fist, and the void shattered momentarily, revealing a glimpse of a hidden world—a place of twisted spires and bleeding skies. "In truth, they simply went into hiding… outside of the verses. They hid in Stara, where they multiplied… and became even stronger than they were during the Great War."
Hendi's hollow eyes gleamed. "Hmmm. If they've grown stronger… then we might just defeat the Rulers. Once and for all."
"Exactly," Kazima purred. "But don't think the war will be that easy."
Dai scoffed, sparks dancing at his fingertips. "Yeah, we know it won't be. Even the Rulers have gotten stronger."
Kazima threw his head back and laughed—a sound that made the stars tremble. "No, Dai. The Rulers have grown weak. Their centuries of peace have made them soft."
Shisi's smoke-form flickered uncertainly. "What do you mean?"
Kazima's grin turned feral. "At the Meeting of All, I exchanged a single blow with a Ruler. You all saw it." He flexed his hand, where a faint scar glowed. "If he'd struck with his full power, I should be dead. Even if he held back." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But I'm not. Which means only one thing… they are weakening."
Hendi's grin mirrored Kazima's, a crescent of teeth in the dark. "I see. But we cannot assume the same for Krelious."
Silent fell on the hall's.
Kazima's voice, deep and resonant, broke the silence.
"Hmm… That's true. He appears to be the only one who still possesses the true might of a Ruler. He might have even surpassed the First Rulers."
A ripple of unease passed through the group. Shisi, ever the pragmatist, clenched her fists.
"If what you say is true, then how do we kill him?"
Kazima's lips curled into a knowing smile, though his eyes remained dark with grim certainty.
"It's impossible to kill him. The only thing we can do is seal him away—in Hell's darkest domain, for all eternity."
Dai, the strategist, frowned. His golden armor gleamed faintly as he shifted his weight.
"Are you saying that even with the help of the Angels and the Forbidden Race, we will still not be able to kill Krelious?"
Kazima's nod was slow, deliberate.
"Yes. And even if the Void's forces join our war, we will still be outmatched by the power of Krelious. That's how powerful he truly is. And I understood that the moment he held me—and almost killed me."
Hendi, the warrior-god, bristled at the admission. His massive frame tensed, muscles coiling like serpents beneath his battle-worn skin.
"I did not even see him leave his throne. I only saw the aftermath of it."
Kazima exhaled, his breath stirring the embers in the nearest brazier.
"Even I did not see him."
Shisi's voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of a death sentence.
"To be honest with you all… this war is a lost one."
Dai's shoulders sagged slightly, his usual confidence dimmed.
"I agree with her on this."
But Kazima's gaze sharpened, a spark of defiance cutting through the gloom.
"No, it's not. Krelious is not going to join the war. He's going to just sit down on his throne… and watch."
Shisi's eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure about that?"
Kazima's smile returned, wider this time, edged with something almost like amusement.
"I'm not just sure about it. I'm certain of it. Krelious doesn't love to fight weaklings—according to the past wars that I have seen him fight."
The word struck like a blade.
"Weaklings?" Hendi roared, his voice shaking the pillars of the chamber. "Us? Weaklings?" His fists ignited with divine fire, casting jagged shadows across the walls. "On the battlefield, I'm going to prove to the other races that we gods are not weaklings! I'm going to show them all the true power of a god!"
Dai nodded in agreement, his own resolve hardening.
Kazima's voice rose, commanding, infused with the promise of vengeance.
"We will show them all. And once we win this war, we shall rule over everything… and everyone."
Shisi's fingers twitched toward the hilt of her blade.
"Then what are we waiting for? Assemble everyone, and let's begin the war on the Rulers!"
But Kazima raised a hand, halting her.
"Hold. Relax, Shisi. We have not seen the Forbidden Race yet. Besides, we are still gathering forces from all over the verses… and it's proving difficult."
Dai sighed, frustration lacing his words.
"Yeah. The Universe refuses to join our war, and the Domainverse Kings remain neutral. Only we of the Starverse—and the gods of the Domainverse—are joining."
Hendi's scowl deepened.
"Carel also refuses to join our war."
Kazima's laughter was sharp, echoing through the hall like the crack of thunder.
"You mean the fool who challenged me at the Meeting of All?"
Hendi nodded.
Dai folded his arms.
"Carel just fought a great war against the Unknown Chaos. And we did not help him during that war. So I believe… that's why he refuses to join our cause."
Kazima's laughter faded into a dark chuckle.
"You mean a war that was made by one of the Rulers."
Hendi nodded again, his expression grim.
Kazima's voice dropped to a whisper, yet it carried the weight of revelation.
"This is the true nature of those Rulers. They make us fight others—ourselves—or they create creatures to do their work for them. Then they emerge to 'defend' us, making us believe they are good… that they are on our side."
Dai's jaw tightened.
"Yeah. They make us pawns in their games."
Shisi's eyes burned with newfound determination.
"Once we win this war, we will no longer be anyone's pawn. Ever again."
Kazima straightened, his presence expanding to fill the chamber. The time for words was over.
"Alright, everyone. Let's go and prepare for the war. Because once we set foot on that battlefield… we are going to raise Hell on them all."
A chorus of voices, united in fury and purpose, roared back:
"YEAH!"
And with that, the gods of the Starverse dispersed—into the night, into the stars, into the coming storm of fire and blood.
The war for eternity had begun.
NEXT CHAPTER ✓
ACT 23: LOVE, LOYALTY AND SUSPICIOUS.