The battlefield erupted the instant Arthur stepped forward, nine divine auras erupted simultaneously as the Godkings abandoned any pretense of caution. Astraeus was the first to act, his form dissolving into a swirl of starlight before reappearing directly above Arthur, both hands raised as a torrent of starlight rained downward, each beam detonating with enough force to hollow out entire islands.
Arthur teleported clear of the barrage, only to find Zephyrus already waiting for him mid air, twin blades of compressed wind slashing forward in a scissoring motion that would have bisected anyone slower.
He twisted his body at the last possible instant, the Godkiller catching one blade while his shoulder took a shallow graze from the other, a thin line of blood blooming across his skin before sealing shut almost as quickly as it opened.
Erebos emerged from a pocket of shadow directly behind him, one clawed hand plunging toward his spine, and Arthur reacted on pure instinct, twisting his Spatial Manipulation just enough to displace himself half a meter sideways rather than teleporting outright, conserving energy while still avoiding the strike entirely.
The claw made out of shadow tore through empty air, and Arthur retaliated immediately, driving the Godkiller backward without even turning to look, the blade sinking into something solid despite Erebos supposedly being made of shadow and void. Erebos hissed in pain and retreated, clutching at a wound that leaked shadow instead of blood.
"He shouldn't have been able to touch me," Erebos snarled, more to himself than to anyone else, staring at the wound with genuine confusion.
Pyrrhus answered by simply attacking without comment, an enormous hammer made out of some unknown metal materializing in his grip before he swung it down in an overhead arc that Arthur barely avoided, feeling the heat radiate off the weapon even from several meters away, hot enough that the air itself warped around it.
Arthur used Elemental Manipulation in response, drawing a portion of that ambient heat directly out of the surrounding air and redirecting it back at Pyrrhus in a condensed burst, forcing the Godking to abandon his swing halfway through to shield his own face.
Arthur didn't waste the opening. He teleported directly into Pyrrhus' guard, Godkiller flashing twice in quick succession across the Godking's forearm, and though the wounds were shallow, He immediately siphoned a trickle of the heat leaking from the cuts using Energy Absorption, drawing it into himself and converting it into Aether that his own body could use.
It wasn't much, barely a fraction of what Pyrrhus actually possessed, but every small absorption added up, and he could feel his reserves steadily climbing even as the fight against nine opponents continued.
Hyperion's voice cut through the chaos, calm and commanding despite the violence surrounding him. "Coordinate your attacks, don't let him isolate any of us." Even as he spoke, brilliant sunlight condensed around his outstretched palm before launching forward as a solid beam, one that Arthur barely managed to avoid by teleporting straight through the gap between Astraeus and Zephyrus, close enough that both Godkings flinched instinctively.
The fight had transformed into something far more coordinated than his earlier clash with Gaius and Thalassor. Every time Arthur found an opening, another Godking closed it before he could fully exploit the advantage. Aethelon in particular seemed to anticipate his movements with unsettling accuracy, golden chains of pure energy materializing in the exact spot Arthur intended to teleport, forcing him to alter his trajectory mid jump on more than one occasion.
"Interesting," Aethelon murmured, watching Arthur narrowly avoid another set of binding chains. "His spatial abilities aren't limitless. There's a pattern to how he chooses his destinations." His tone carried no malice, only the detached curiosity of someone solving an equation.
Arthur gritted his teeth, feeling the accumulated strain of dodging nine separate divine authorities simultaneously begin to weigh on him. A beam of light from Theia clipped his side as he narrowly avoided a combined attack from Zephyrus and Astraeus, tearing through flesh and muscle in a wound far deeper than anything the other eight had managed collectively. He staggered mid air, blood spraying from his side, and for a fraction of a second every Godking present tensed, sensing an opportunity.
Gaius and Thalassor, despite their exhaustion, both surged forward to press the advantage, their divine auras flaring weakly compared to before but still carrying enough force to continue the fight. Pain Tolerance helped Arthur to keep the agony from overwhelming his focus, allowing him to teleport away even while grievously injured, though the jump landed him roughly against a fractured island.
He knelt there for a moment, one hand pressed against the wound at his side which was rapidly closing, and felt something shift within his body. Reactive Evolution activated in response to the severity of the injury, working faster and more aggressively than it does for shallow cuts.
He could feel subtle changes rippling through his body, minor reinforcements settling throughout his cells, as though his very physiology was slowly becoming impervious against that particular vulnerability. A few more hits and he would be immune to this level of light attacks.
"His healing ability is absurd," Thalassor said, disbelief coloring his exhausted voice. "That wound should have taken him out of this fight for at least some seconds."
Theia's golden eyes narrowed slightly as she studied Arthur from a distance, her expression unreadable. "It's not simply healing," she said slowly, piecing something together. "Look closer. Every time he takes damage, his aura changes subtly. His body isn't just recovering, it's becoming stronger. We should finish this fight quickly…"
Arthur rose back to his feet, and raised the Godkiller once more; Aether flooded back into his limbs, as he vanished. This time when he reappeared, it was directly in Zephyrus' blind spot, the God of Winds having drifted slightly out of position while focusing on maintaining the pressure gusts meant to slow Arthur's movements.
The Godkiller sank deep into Zephyrus' shoulder before a spear of Judgement detonated against the god's chest, the combined force of the strike sending the wind god tumbling backward through the air, howling in pain as chunks of his ethereal form scattered like leaves in a hurricane.
Astraeus retaliated instantly, starlight converging into a single devastating orb that he hurled toward Arthur with both hands. Arthur used Telekinesis, and rather than dodging it, he seized the orb mid-flight with invisible force, straining against its immense gravitational pull for a fraction of a second before redirecting it entirely, sending the collapsing star hurtling back toward its creator.
Astraeus barely managed to shatter it apart before it hit him, fragments of the attack scattering harmlessly across the battlefield, though the effort clearly cost him, as his usually composed expression tightened with strain.
"His control over spatial and kinetic forces are also noteworthy," Astraeus said, his voice tense as he studied Arthur warily. "Whatever he is, this isn't something we've encountered before."
Erebos attempted another ambush from the shadows, this time joined by Pyrrhus, who launched a wave of projectiles meant to force Arthur into the exact patch of darkness where Erebos waited. Arthur sensed the trap forming only due to Animakinesis, he wasn't able to sense where Erebos was through his divine sense as if he was in another dimension. It was only by sensing the presence of a soul he was able to figure out his location, and rather than avoiding the trap entirely, he teleported directly into it, catching Erebos completely off guard.
His fist connected with Erebos' jaw before the shadow god could react, his strength augmented by Aether sending him crashing through three separate floating islands before finally skidding to a halt against a jagged outcropping of stone. Pyrrhus' projectiles arrived a heartbeat later, forcing Arthur to abandon his position entirely, teleporting clear just as the barrage detonated across where he had been standing.
Gaius seized the momentary opening, slamming both fists into a floating island and sending a shockwave of hardened stone spikes erupting toward Arthur from below. Arthur used Matter Manipulation and Density Manipulation together, changing the properties of the stone spikes directly beneath his feet just enough to phase through it, avoiding the spikes by dropping several meters before solidifying the ground again to catch himself, using the brief moment of cover to catch his breath.
Theia finally moved from her position, gliding forward with an almost serene grace despite the chaos surrounding her, another beam of condensed light forming at her palm. Arthur's Divine Domain caught her attack forming, and an invisible field of Density Manipulation and Spatial Manipulation spread outward from his body, subtly increasing the mass and resistance of the air surrounding him and distorting the space.
Theia's beam, upon entering that altered space, lost nearly half of its momentum, just enough for Arthur to gain another hole on his forearm instead of losing the arm entirely; the light beam continued to curve a long furrow across his ribs.
Blood started welling from the wound immediately, and he felt there was something else with the attack. The light seemed to be glued to his wounds and restricting his regeneration, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he pushed forward, teleporting directly toward Theia despite eight other Godkings converging from every direction, the Godkiller raised high as Aether roared through every fiber of his being, and he slashed.
***
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