The Godsfall Chronicles

Book 7, Chapter 101 - War

Darkness fell upon the Southern Capital once again .

Cloudhawk’s mission into the Elysian lands was complete . He hadn’t managed to save any lives, but he had dealt a blow to the G.o.ds, even capturing a few . When word of the deed circulated through the city it bolstered his Alliance’s faltering morale .

If only they knew how insignificant it was…

Even in the depths of night the blue lights hung over everything, an ever-present reminder of Last Judgment . Anywhere outside of Southern Capital was a dead zone where relics failed, suppressed by this foul power of the G.o.ds . So far, no one knew any way to get around it .

A thousand years ago, during the Great War, nothing like this had been used . It had to be something the G.o.ds concocted fairly recently . A tool specifically crafted against rebels and betrayers . That’s why they called it ‘Last Judgment . ’

And there was nothing to be done about it . What the G.o.ds gave, they took away . Legion and Belial were as much at a loss . After all, they had never encountered Last Judgment before .

Cloudhawk sat on the roof of Greenland’s central fort with a wine pot in his hand from the old drunk’s stash . It was empty but Cloudhawk felt nothing . It was a strong vintage, but it could be ten times stronger and Trespa.s.ser would still negate the alcohol .  

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He stood with his head raised, looking out across the sky . The moon was a hazy orb behind the mist, like the eye of a demon . It was not lost on him that somewhere on that distant globe was a powerful ent.i.ty looking back . Maybe somewhere in the vast expanse between them their eyes were meeting, and they didn’t even know .

The lesson of it all, Cloudhawk determined, was how laughably inadequate humans were .

Mortal imagination couldn’t grasp what Last Judgment was, or how it worked . Cloudhawk was blindsided by it . He was on the ropes, caught in a reactionary state . If they left the capital humanity’s relics stopped working . Without any gear they were sitting ducks .

Humans were no match for the G.o.ds .

Demons needed relics, too . Even if Cloudhawk managed to convince them to help, it didn’t matter with Last Judgment looming overhead . An inevitable march toward destruction . Man and demon together couldn’t change fate .

Overhead, a green crystal dragon was tracing circles . A lithe figure in an emerald dress dropped down to the fort’s roof .

“Cloudhawk!”

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He could tell by her tonality that Autumn was the one in control .

“What’s wrong?”

“The Shepherd G.o.d absorbed the Cloud G.o.d’s consciousness . She couldn’t absorb everything at once, so she’s asleep for the process . I came to see you . ” Autumn stood in front of him . “And to talk about Last Judgment . It might not be as intractable as we thought . With the Cloud G.o.d’s powers came his memories . She thinks there might be a way forward . ”

“How?” He asked .

“Last Judgment covers the whole planet . It must require a huge amount of energy to keep it going . Obviously the energy isn’t coming from Sumeru, thousands of light-years away . There’s only one possibility, the power source is close . ”

She explained her thinking . “We saw the two Supremes ask a superior to activate Last Judgment . It’s under something’s control . Through the Cloud G.o.d’s link you were able to get a glimpse of their moon base . More than likely, whatever powers Last Judgment is there . ”

Cloudhawk paused in thought . Speculation or not, it was a good guess . But the question remained – how to break through Last Judgment?

The Abyssal G.o.d was powerful, likely more powerful than Cloudhawk . What’s more he was surrounded by a cadre of divine soldiers – thousands of them . It was a direct threat to their survival . On top of all that, his target was the moon . If Cloudhawk wanted to dispatch his armies he didn’t even have a way to get them to the battlefield . Supposing he could, the lack of atmosphere would kill everyone anyway .

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Autumn seemed to sense his concern . “No need to worry . The G.o.ds are strong, but they can’t reach us either . Belial’s defenses protect us . ”

She wasn’t wrong . Cloudhawk was only able to make his stand here because of the demon artisan . Without him they would all have evacuated to Emerald Star . Not that it was a permanent solution, eventually the G.o.ds would find him and their hideout .

“We don’t have any experience in fighting the G.o.ds . With the Cloud G.o.d fallen, we can’t learn anything else about them . There is no other option than to focus on our own defense . ” Cloudhawk had made up his mind, he had to preserve the soldiers they had .

The two entered the subs.p.a.ce cube, where the injured were being treated . Thanks to the way time was distorted, half a day in the real world was enough for most to recover . Dawn was able to move around by now and was gritting her teeth in frustration at her inadequacy . Abaddon and the remaining injured were almost back to normal .

Cloudhawk went to find Legion . He was responsible for the costly lesson they’d learned yesterday . If he had followed the Elder’s advice the Cloud G.o.d would still be alive . They wouldn’t be ignorant of the G.o.ds’ moves and would still have their link to the Matrix .

But it was never too late to fix things .

The two discussed plans; strengthen defenses, seek outside help, and most importantly master the Demon King’s Cuira.s.s . With the mantle restored he could command Gehenna to aid them . Father was another one they had to convince, for New Earth’s forces would make them stronger .

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Meanwhile the G.o.ds and their methods were inscrutable . No one could know what their next move would be . The more prepared humans were, the better .

The Abyssal G.o.d hung in the vacuum of s.p.a.ce . Behind him, a blazing light slowly faded away from within a lunar crater . Red slowly changed to blue across the earth’s northern hemisphere .

Information from the G.o.ds below filtered into their commander’s mind . It’d watched the entire exchange and now possessed a deep understanding of Cloudhawk and his allies . Strong though the Marshall was, it did not take this task lightly . Cloudhawk was a formidable enemy .

The plan to capture him had failed, but it didn’t matter . An expected result . It would have been foolish to think such a tactless attempt would succeed . After all, this human was the Demon King’s chosen successor . Where they had prevailed was in destroying the betrayer G.o.d . The humans were blind .

“Continue executing the plan . ” The order was pa.s.sed among the G.o.ds across the moon . Meanwhile the Abyssal G.o.d’s attention remained fixed on earth . At the slowly spinning spot where the Southern Capital lay . That was where humanity’s best were holed up, and where they would all die .

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