Fwip.
Gabriel vanished from the space between the closing jaws. The Aspect's massive maw snapped shut on empty air with a thunderous clap that echoed across the Martian plains. The Aspect itself now occupied the spot where she had been, its multitude of eyes swirling with confusion. It had not anticipated her evasion. The maw retracted, plunging back into the churning pool of void on the ground.
Gabriel stood a hundred meters away, her heart pounding not from exertion, but from surprise. She could not believe the Aspect had nearly predicted the end point of her Authority. It was keeping pace.
A soft, wet pop sounded at her feet. She glanced down. The pool of void had contracted, reappearing directly beneath her. This time, she did not try to escape. She stood her ground.
A thick, flesh-like tendril, tipped with its own snapping maw, erupted from the pool. Gabriel twisted her torso, a fluid, minimal motion. The jagged teeth grazed her cheek, drawing a thin line of shimmering, golden blood.
Got you.
Before the tendril could retract, her hand shot out. Her fingers closed around the slick, muscular appendage. With a surge of divine strength that cracked the ground beneath her, she pulled.
The Aspect was yanked violently from its void pool. The tendril was revealed to be its main tongue, connected to the central maw in its torso. The creature flailed, disoriented by the sudden extraction.
Gabriel's free hand was already a blur. She drove her fist into the side of the Aspect's malformed head. The impact did not produce a sound so much as a localized annihilation of atmosphere. A shockwave of pure force radiated outwards, carving a deep, perfect crater half a kilometer wide into the Martian bedrock. Dust and debris blasted into the thin air.
Fwip.
Gabriel appeared high above, hovering in the thin atmosphere, looking down at the expanding cloud of dust. A sharp, sizzling pain flared on her palm and her cheek. She looked at her hand. Where she had gripped the tendril, her flesh was bubbling, burning away as if doused in a potent acid, revealing the radiant, glowing structures beneath. She healed it instantly with a thought, her divine energy knitting the flesh back together.
So annoying.
What is its trick?
She looked at her other fist, the one that had punched the Aspect's head. It was unharmed.
Ah. I understand now.
She waved a hand. The colossal dust cloud below simply vanished, erased from existence. It revealed the vast, smoldering crater. At its center, the pool of void bubbled furiously.
This time, three tendrils burst forth simultaneously, arcing through the air toward her with terrifying speed.
Gabriel had anticipated this. Her eyes glowed with brilliant violet light. A grin of pure satisfaction spread across her face.
Fwip.
The Aspect, still hidden within its protective void pool, was suddenly not hidden at all. It was suspended in the open air right in front of her, its torso maw agape in what could only be shock. It still could not comprehend the nature of her spatial Authority.
Her grin widened. She delivered another devastating punch, this time directly into the center of its gaping maw. Dark, viscous blood sprayed from the creature. The force of the blow sent it rocketing downward like a meteor.
Your power is in the liquid!
Before the Aspect could hit the ground and potentially reconnect with its void, Gabriel appeared at ground level. As the creature shot past her, she pivoted and delivered a powerful kick to its flank, altering its trajectory, launching it horizontally across the barren landscape.
Gabriel prepared to press her attack, to capitalize on its helpless flight.
As long as you do not make contact with the ground, you are powerless.
Her assumption was her undoing.
Unbeknownst to her, another pool of void had silently formed on the side of a distant mountain miles behind her. From it, a colossal tendril, larger than any before, launched like a harpoon. It moved with silent, impossible speed.
It caught her completely off guard.
The massive, tooth-lined maw at its tip closed around her left arm at the shoulder and severed it cleanly.
Augh!
I let my guard down!
Searing, white-hot pain lanced through her entire being. She immediately exerted her Authority.
Fwip.
She reappeared several kilometers away, clutching the bleeding stump of her shoulder. Golden ichor, her angelic blood, poured from the wound, steaming as it hit the cold regolith. Gritting her teeth, she focused. Heavenly Energy, the divine grace bestowed upon her by the Creator, flowed from her core. Unlike mortal or even most celestial healing, this was not regeneration. It was a complete, instantaneous recreation of the lost limb from the molecular level up. It was a privilege of her rank, but it was agonizing.
Tendons wove themselves from light. Bone extended. Muscle layered over it. Skin sealed the construct. Within seconds, a new, perfect arm was in place. She flexed the fingers, feeling the divine energy settle into the new limb. Her first thought was petty and human: her beautiful, expensive coat was ruined.
She looked toward the distant crater. The Aspect was there. And it was feasting on her severed arm. The concentration of pure archangelic energy in her flesh was a monumental prize. As it consumed the limb, its form swelled. The two tattered wings on its back split, multiplied, and solidified into four massive, shadowy pinions. Its power amplified exponentially.
It threw back its head and roared. The sound was a physical distortion. The ground for hundreds of kilometers shook violently. Even from her distant vantage point, Gabriel felt the tremor. Nearby mountains groaned. Cliffs sheared off, sending avalanches of rock crashing down.
Then, a tendril appeared directly in front of her face, its maw open to bite.
Gabriel's index finger twitched.
Fwip.
The space around the tendril collapsed in on itself with crushing, infinite pressure. The appendage was instantly pulped into a wet, spherical mass before it vanished. The stump retracted back to the Aspect's body with a pained shudder.
But Gabriel felt a new wrongness in the air. A creeping, invasive pressure.
Its energy is skyrocketing. Could it be…
She suddenly could not move. An unseen, cosmic force, a law of inevitability made manifest, locked her in place. She could not activate her Authority. She could not even blink.
She watched as the Aspect's form underwent another horrific evolution. Its four wings split again, becoming six vast, tattered veils of darkness, equal in number to the six magnificent wings of light now fully manifest on her own back.
A slow, genuine smile of amusement touched Gabriel's lips. The Aspect was going all out. This fight was escalating to its ultimate, destructive peak. The creature's energy had reached a critical zenith, a density of malice that warped the very light around Mars. At this level of power, there was only one kind of move that could hope to end the conflict.
For a brief, synchronized moment, on Earth, Raphael stood amidst a field of dissolving Malignant corpses. He froze, his head snapping upward. He felt it. An overwhelming, terrifying surge of energy, familiar yet corrupted, emanating from the direction of the red dot in the night sky. His face paled with profound worry.
At that same instant, stuck in traffic on a mundane city street, Cain noticed Lucifer suddenly look up through the windshield, her expression sharp and alert.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"The winds," she murmured, her voice low. "They suddenly carry the scent of extinction."
A chill ran down Cain's spine. He did not understand, but the certainty in her tone was frightening.
Back on Mars, the final act began.
The Aspect's central maw opened wide, not to bite, but to speak. Its voice was a distortion of reality itself, shaking the planet to its core. It uttered the two words Gabriel had been anticipating, the signature of ultimate celestial and void-born power.
"Phenomenal Singularity."
It drew a breath that sucked the thin atmosphere from around them.
"Inescapable Grasp of Inevitability."