Elsewhere beyond mortal sight, above any realm that dared call itself divine
stood a palace that was never meant for humans to imagine. DUWENDO the home of all of gods
Time did not move here.
It waited.
Broken marble pillars spiraled into an endless dusk sky, shards of starlight hanging like frozen tears.
The throne hall was vast and silent — yet alive, humming with ancient will older than creation myths whispered in ruined temples below.
A throne of bone and starlight rested at the center, carved from the remains of forgotten constellations.
Upon it sat Zepharos.
The All-Father.
The Sky-Warden.
The Seraph of Final Judgment.
He rested his cheek against one hand, expression soft almost bored.
Eyes like collapsing galaxies studied the horizon of eternity.
Finally, he exhaled.
"Ares has fallen."
No trumpet.
No rage.
Just a quiet truth, spoken like stating the weather.
A presence rippled across the hall and the dusk trembled.
Thirteen figures emerged from the edges of the void, each walking as though they owned creation.
They did not line up like obedient soldiers.
They took positions where they pleased like rival kings stuck in the same cage of godhood.
These were the Seal Guardians.
Thirteen calamities.
Thirteen graves waiting to be filled — someday, when the world could afford miracles again.
The space where Ares once stood was empty scarlet residue staining marble like divine blood refusing to fade.
A jagged scrap of his shattered war-helm lay at Zepharos' feet.
The first to approach was Lucifer.
White hair like moonlit silk.
Eyes both mournful and furious fallen-star grief burning behind glass beauty.
a black suit and glasses to match his Aura
He did not kneel.
He bowed only his head just enough to acknowledge hierarchy.
"So… the War God bleeds at last," Lucifer murmured. His voice sounded like a hymn sung at a funeral for an angel that died smiling. "Paradai stirs."
At the name, the dusk vibrated like reluctant memory clawing to the surface.
Lilith drifted forward next bare feet touching broken marble like a dance.
Her crimson hair flowed like spilled wine, eyes glowing with seductive malice.
A gown of living silk wrapped her like a serpent coiled in lace.
She licked blood from her thumb — not hers, never hers.
"How poetic," she purred. "Our beloved butcher of mortals, brought down by a child and a forgotten saint."
A low growl answered her.
Mammon, armored in molten gold, chains clinking like currency dropped into graves. His body was swollen with strength, each movement dripping hunger.
Eyes like polished coins glared at the empty space where Ares should have stood.
"Ares was arrogant. But useful."
His voice thundered like greed given breath. "A resource lost irritates me."
Zepharos' finger tapped the bone armrest once.
The palace temperature dropped.
Stars flickered like frightened candles.
"A resource?" Zepharos repeated softly.
Mammon stiffened.
Zepharos' smile didn't change, but space bowed around him like reality reconsidered itself.
"Speak carefully, treasure-eater," Lucifer murmured, tone gentle, blade hidden under velvet.
Mammon swallowed nothing, jaw clenched.
Lilith giggled.
A woman in pale funeral armor leaned against a broken pillar, eyes hollow sockets filled with swirling mist Morvanna, the Matron. Every breath she released sounded like a thousand whispered eulogies.
"He dies, and the world below will drown in its grief soon enough. Their mourning nourishes us. Their despair calls for us."
Next, a massive Man with hair like fur, bone armor and eyes like cold suns: Fenraxis Wolf . He sniffed the air, teeth glinting.
"The hunt resumes," he rumbled. "The prey sharpened their teeth. Good. The kill will taste sweeter."
Beside him slithered Nidhra, scaled elegance dripping venom, her tail carving symbols of ruin in marble. "Humans evolving… how exciting~"
Two armored twins spoke in synchronization Tyrith & Soriel, the Balance Breakers, one shadow-forged, one halo-lit.
"Balance shifts."
"Chaos must be harvested."
Behind them, Azraelion, swathed in funeral black feathers, sharpened a scythe that hummed like a soul begging on its knees. He said nothing, but the hall listened to his silence.
Another figure leaned lazily on a spear taller than mortal kingdoms Valgorath, the Titan. Runes burned across his skin like brands of forgotten battles. He smirked as if eager to split mountains again.
Near the edge, a skeletal scholar bound in ancient prayer scrolls scribbled formulae into the air Orpheon, The Archivist , eyes glowing like ancient candles flickering in tombs.
"Paradai's resonance signature aligns with pre-Babel cycle." His voice cracked like parchment. "Reactivation probability: rising."
A cloaked apparition flickered beside him Noctillume, whispering like wind in dying reeds. "Threads twist. Fate rewrites itself. Isn't it lovely?"
Another floated above the ground, robes whispering in static — Sovereign, Void of Silence. "One seal breaks, thirteen possibilities fracture. Continue the decay."
The last stepped through flame Ignivar, Infernal, eyes molten, grin cruel. "Ares died loud. Beautiful. I volunteer next slaughter."
The hall pulsed thirteen monsters, thirteen crowns forged from sin, chaos, and promise.
But Zepharos stayed serene — a god among monsters, yet above them.
Lilith rolled a wrist lazily.
"So… shall we erase the boy? Before his spirit-bearer grows teeth again?"
Zepharos didn't answer immediately.
He rose instead movements slow, fluid, inevitable.
Robes fell like cosmic fog, swirling galaxies trapped in silk.
His bare feet touched cracked starlight floor, and the universe leaned closer to listen.
He touched the shattered helm of Ares with bare fingertips.
The blood sizzled, dissolved into motes of dying suns.
"Ares was not killed."
The Guardians stilled.
"He was removed."
A hum crawled across bone and void.
Lucifer's wings lowered fascination in his grief.
"Paradai," he whispered again.
Zepharos did not look at him.
"Paradai never betrayed divinity." A soft, almost fond tone. "He rebelled against stagnation."
Mammon's teeth ground.
"Semantics."
Zepharos' head tilted, smile gentle and terrifying.
"Evolution always looks like betrayal to those who refuse to evolve."
A flick stars trembled.
"And humanity has begun evolving again ,"
Lilith's smirk widened, predatory.
"So what of the boy .…?"
Zepharos waved a hand, casual as brushing dust from scripture.
"Let him grow."
Mammon roared,
"He is a flicker! Snuff him now and—"
Zepharos' finger raised.
Silence slammed down.
Not magic.
Not power.
Just inevitability.
"If a flicker can topple a god, then perhaps fire deserves worship again."
Lucifer closed his eyes, lashes trembling like mourning doves in storm wind.
"Ares' arrogance killed him," he murmured. "But Paradai's spark… that is a different sin."
Zepharos turned his back to them, gazing out across endless dusk.
"Prepare the next seal. We do not chase rats. We do not swat sparks."
His voice chilled heaven and hell alike.
"We watch. And when humanity believes itself divine again…"
He lifted his hand.
Stars rearranged themselves like puppets.
"…we burn Duwendo into their bones."
Lightning cracked across the void silent lightning, divine lightning, prophecy and doom masquerading as beauty.
The Seal Guardians bowed, in acknowledgment of the one being none could defy without ceasing to exist.
New Babel. Medical hall.
The lanterns burned low, night settling heavy.
Ren sat awake, staring at nothing.
Sweat clung to his skin. Bandages wrapped his torso but the wound inside, the fire under his ribs, burned hotter.
He remembered the dream.
Not just images memory.
Temples of obsidian and flame.
Warriors roaring prayers to stars that answered back.
A spear splitting sky.
A hand on his head — warm, proud.
A voice:
"Stand. Again."
Paradai's voice.
But not speaking now.
Not whispering.
Just waiting.
Ren pressed his palms together, breathing slowly.
His Narakan blood pulsed.
His fingers trembled — not in fear, but in awakening.
He thought of those who fell.
Of Kenta's lost arm.
Of Sakura's trembling hands.
Of Akira's silent vigil.
Of the people outside these walls, waiting for dawn that might never come.
He whispered into the dark:
"I don't know what I am yet."
His breath fogged the glass again.
"But I know what I need to become."
He closed his eyes.
Resolve settled like steel cooling after forging.
"No gods. No seals. No fate."
A spark lit in his bones — quiet, fierce, unyielding.
"I will surpass them."