Far above the battlefield, nestled within the shadow of a dead moon, a colossal starship drifted silently, its sleek black hull adorned with red sigils that pulsed like heartbeats. Though distant from the immediate warzone, it hovered with intention, its observation decks turned toward the chaos unfolding below.
Inside, Ventris stood poised, dressed in regal combat attire, her eyes glowing faintly as she watched her half-broken army charge through the portals., hand on her face the area Yohan had scarred now hidden behind a half mask. Beside her, draped in flowing dark silks, Korva the Bloodmarked Goddess sipped from a slender goblet filled with shimmering red ichor, her lips curled in a smirk.
They wouldn't dirty their hands just yet. Not until they'd measured the storm.
Back on the ground, Yohan stood at the front of his army, their war banners fluttering in the storm of magic and fire. His piercing eyes locked onto the starship in the heavens, as if no distance could veil the presence he knew too well.
The wind picked up as his dark aura intensified, cloak whipping violently around him. A low hum vibrated through the air, the energy from his gauntlets rippling with that familiar violet-white pulse. His horns caught the light of the battlefield like blades forged in starlight.
A grin, cold and sharp, tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He turned slightly, addressing his soldiers without taking his eyes off the distant ship. His voice echoed through the battlefield and through the livestream beaming to every screen, shrine, and celestial broadcast across the known galaxies.
"I see you." he said, calm yet thunderous.
He lifted one hand, pointing toward the ship far beyond what his soldiers could see. Right at Ventris
"I'll give you a reason to fight, sister. You want to watch? Fine. But we're settling this here and now."
The army of ten thousand behind him roared in unison, their voices shaking the ruins and skies alike. Sparks of power ignited across the battlefield.
And in the far reaches of space, Ventris narrowed her eyes, the humiliation suffered causing her to burn with rage uncontrollably, yet she couldn't deny it.
She was afraid of him and she knew sooner or later, she knew her army would fail, she knew she would have to fight him too but sent out everyone under her to buy time to think.
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*Hey guys! Just a quick message before we continue, given that Gladius has now seen her true name Valenrya, I will still be referring to her as Gladius as she won't be using it as yet, and will still be referred to as Gladius by some characters.*
*Ight lets get back to the bloodshed*
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The war didn't just belong to the battlefield. It belonged to the stars now. Broadcasted on every frequency, projected across continents, moons, and orbital colonies. The device pulsed like a beating heart, its embedded lens capturing every breath, every step, every word of the man now standing against an empire.
In every corner of the universe, people watched.
On a rain-slicked rooftop in the Neon District of Surnis IX, a group of teenage rebels huddled around a flickering holo-screen. They'd seen the God of Ash, the betrayed king who defied gods and fate itself. To them he was a legend, they listened to his story at the start of the broadcast. Now they saw him live, towering against a force that should have crushed him.
In a grand hall beneath the surface of Caelus Prime, elders sat in robes of blue and gold, watching silently as Yohan raised his hand to the heavens, declaring war with a voice that seemed to crack the atmosphere. Their council chamber, usually silent with protocol, erupted into murmurs.
One of the elders, a woman whose third eye glowed with ancient light, leaned forward.
"This was not a prophecy," she said. "This is something older."
"He burns with the fire of a thousand lifetimes… and yet, I fear that flame will not spare the ones who warm their hands by it."
~more foreshadowing~
"We sang of his return long before his name reached the stars. Aurelius, you return a vengeful soul but the vision has changed."
"In the moment of triumph, grief shall sit at your side. The blade that breaks his enemy will not shield what he loves most."
Though I fear you will know too late. Let the temple prepare. When the sky goes silent, we will move."
In the backroom of a dive bar on the mining moon Kerev, mercenaries, smugglers, and bounty hunters leaned closer to the cracked holoscreen as Yohan's gauntlets sparked and his voice roared across the universe.
The barkeep, a grizzled ex-soldier, downed his drink and grinned.
"Crazy bastard's really gonna do it. Give em hell."
Children pointed to the screens as they walked through cities. Pilgrims stopped in the middle of sacred rites. Monks paused their chants. Soldiers, watching from trenches and bunkers across distant colonies, their wars dragged to a halt sat in silence as the man with dragon horns and eyes like burning stars stood before an army fifty times his size and smiled.
The God of Ash's name was spreading.
He was declaring war to the universe itself.
And in a small, quiet corner of a forgotten world, a young girl with golden hair, her memories foggy but her heart stirred reached out to the screen. Her fingers traced the image of the man cloaked in violet and white.
"Brother...."
Romex Prime – Slums of Sector 9
A drunken man stumbled out of a rust-covered bar, the neon signs flickering against his worn coat. He wiped his mouth, muttering to himself until a glint of movement drew his eyes upward. Every holoscreen in the sector had shifted.
Yohan's face.
Broadcasted live, cloaked in shadow and flame.
The man froze mid-step. His eyes widened, bloodshot haze vanishing like smoke. "Holy shit… it's already time? This wasn't supposed to start till next week." He staggered to the nearest fountain and splashed water across his face, slicking his silver-streaked hair back.
"Gods dammit, this boy's moving too fast…"
With a groan and a half-laugh, he tapped the worn device on his wrist. Somewhere on the outskirts of the city, an old, humming starship began to power up.
"Guess I'm not retired after all…"
He cracked his neck and took off toward the docks heading straight for the war Yohan had just set ablaze.
Yohan looked out at the approaching enemies, his hands shaking a bit, this is far from what he had planned originally, never expecting Zervas to present him with an army. He looked over at him, still embedded into the wall, unconscious, placing a field of violet flame around him, wanting to keep him alive till after the fight where they would settle things.
The sky split with the roar of the white beasts, their thunderous cries shaking the bones of even the most seasoned warriors. Cavalry thundered in behind them, and the crimson-cloaked soldiers surged like a red tide, arrows blotting out the light as they soared toward Yohan's forces.
But he didn't move.
Hand raised calmly, his long black hair swayed in the wind. His sapphire eyes, now glowing an ominous red, scanned the chaos with eerie stillness. His army, the Order of Ash, screamed their defiance, but held fast. Trusting him.
Then-
With a single stomp, the very earth beneath the charging beasts split open. A deep, guttural crack echoed as jagged rocks parted like the jaws of some ancient predator. The front line of monstrous creatures and their riders plummeted into the chasm, swallowed whole, their bellows silenced as they disappeared into the spikes.
Gasps rippled through the battlefield.
Before the enemy could recover, Yohan flicked his wrist. Shattered fragments of stone shot upward into the air, caught in the current of his dark energy. As they hung suspended for a breathless moment, they suddenly turned into sharp jagged spikes of earth that spun with surgical precision.
Then he sent them flying.
The sky screamed as the hail of stone tore through the crimson ranks. Men, beasts, and weapons alike were shredded. Screams rose, only to be buried under the thundering collapse of bodies and broken steel. Entire squadrons evaporated beneath the assault hundreds of thousands gone in a heartbeat.
Only then did Yohan lower his hand.
"Now," he said coldly, his voice carrying through the smoke and carnage, "Ashes…let them know your steel".
His men surged forward with a feral roar, crashing into what was left of the enemy lines. Armed with blades crafted by Yohan himself, made of his energy, only able to be used by those chosen by him, they also allow him to monitor them
Above them, the livestream continued and countless eyes bore witness to a god of war descending. Some wanted to join him but we're unable to find the black zone. Its barrier allowing no energy to escape except Yohan's, he realized if he wanted to have a real audience he would have to destroy the forcefield, however before he could make his next move a large explosion swept across the battlefield.
Yohan now behind a majority of his forces created a forcefield of his own to protect the men. Just then, two more portals opened their red hue bleeding into reality as two towering angels stepped forward, Yohan immediately recognizing the two.
"Well this just keeps getting better! Arlos, Cadero, my two generals, how I've missed you!" Yohan smiled as he opened his arms, stepping out of his forcefield.
"You should have stayed dead Aurelius, now you'll have to die again." Arlos teased.
He was a huge warrior, his blood red hair making him easily recognized by the viewers as Arlos the red another well known general of Ventris, standing at six feet nine inches he was an intimidating sight to behold, sporting a white and gold sleeveless cloak that showed off his scars and muscles.
The other angel, Cadero gave off a different demeanor.
A figure in pale silver armor laced with subtle red veins, the plates shifting like the hide of some ancient serpent. A long, curved blade hung at his side, not yet drawn, as if unsheathing it for Yohan would be a personal ceremony.
Cadero's eyes, slitted and golden locked on him instantly. His smile wasn't warm; it was the sharp, cruel curl of someone who knows exactly which scars to press.
"Aurelius," he said, dragging the old name across his tongue like venom. "I almost didn't recognize you under all that… drama. The cloak, the horns… the moody eyes. Very intimidating. I suppose you've been busy since I handed your kingdom to Ventris."
He stepped closer, tilting his head as though admiring a piece of art.
"Funny, isn't it? Without me, none of this would've happened. You'd still be sitting on your little throne, sipping wine, safe and adored. I should be charging you for the opportunity to be interesting again."
Cadero's voice dripped with amusement, but his stance never relaxed, his hand hovering casually near his weapon. The enemy troops behind him grinned like jackals watching their alpha bait the lion.
Yohan didn't move at first. His crimson gaze held Cadero in place like a spear, silent long enough that the battlefield's noise seemed to fade. The only sound was the faint hiss of the wind through the cracks in the earth he'd split moments ago.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, the kind of quiet that forced everyone to lean in, danger disguised as calm.
"Cadero…"
The old name Aurelius lingered between them like an insult, but Yohan didn't flinch. Instead, he took one slow step forward, the ground under his bare feet darkening as his energy seeped into it.
"You didn't just betray a kingdom. You didn't just hand my people over to Ventris. You betrayed me. You were the first. The one who showed the rest that I could be wounded."
His gauntleted fingers flexed, and in the air around him, razor-sharp black daggers shimmered into being like teeth glinting in the dark.
"And for that…"
Another step, the space between them collapsing, his voice dipping into something colder than the void.
"I have a special death in store for you."
The daggers spun slowly in the air now, orbiting him like a predator circling its prey. Behind him, a wall of energy now separated his army from the fray, ensuring no one else could interfere.
"You took my home. You won't take my vengeance."
The air between them vibrated with tension. Cadero's mocking grin never faltered, but the instant he drew breath to speak again, Yohan moved.
It wasn't a step. It was vanishing.
In less than a heartbeat, Yohan was in front of him. His fist crashed into the side of Cadero's temple with the force of a meteor strike, the ground beneath them cracking like glass under the impact. Cadero's body slammed into the dirt so hard the shockwave rippled through the battlefield, dust pluming upward.
Yohan didn't give him a chance to recover. He crouched beside the dazed angel, one clawed gauntlet gripping his jaw tight as he leaned close enough for only Cadero to hear.
"Remember who you're fighting and wait your turn."
A second blow followed immediately, this one straight to Cadero's Jaw launching him through the air like a ragdoll.
Arlos was already on him. The giant angel charged, his bulk a wall of muscle and steel, swinging a warhammer the size of a man's torso.
Yohan caught the motion in his peripheral vision, and instead of retreating, he spun, dodging the blow, his heel connecting with Arlos' armored chest in a thundering impact, the sheer momentum sending the behemoth skidding backward across the field, carving trenches in the ground.
Now both angels were recovering, on opposite ends of the field. Yohan stood between them, dark energy bleeding from his skin like smoke, the cracked earth beneath him glowing faintly violet-white from the pressure of his power.
He raised one hand, daggers of black energy bursting into the air around him like a swarm of hungry predators.
"Two against one?" His smirk was razor-thin. "I like those odds."
The camera locked on as Yohan launched forward, splitting his assault in two directions, teleporting between Cadero and Arlos in flashes of shadow, his strikes so fast they blurred, small sparks as metal struck metal, each impact sending shockwaves that rattled even the distant armies.
It wasn't just a fight. It was a spectacle.