Skyfire Avenue

The Terminator himself had achieved Nirvana, but only recently. Besides him the Wine Master and Clockmaker were Reflections of Heaven and Earth. The others were still within the Realm of Protogenia.

The seven of them together, employing their full strength, were able to keep the enemy at bay. At least for now. The valley they fought in was scarred by the marks of their conflict. From overhead it looked like a jagged crater.

Roars and explosions filled the air, competing against one another as the chaos continued. A gigantic image of a man with pitch black skin, ten thousand meters tall stomped through the area. His body blazed with a blinding golden light, and every time he threw a punch hundreds of aliens were eliminated.

Scores of enemies threw themselves at him. Their blows landed, but only transient marks remained from their efforts. None of the lesser beasts could overcome his defenses. This was the Terminator’s dharmic image. The others were managing to avoid destruction because he had taken the fore.

Once they had infiltrated the planet, the Terminator had quietly lead his team toward the progenitor’s location and waited for their opportunity. But when the space battle had begun, the situation here had been less than ideal. Many aliens remained surrounding the progenitor. That was when they found the three who would give them the most worry.

When the battle was at its height the Terminator could wait no longer. They had two planets they were responsible for liberating, and seven Paragons waiting to do their part. They could not delay!

He formulated a plan; He would use his own body to shield the others while they dealt with the progenitor.

Unfortunately for them the creature was also Nirvana-level. Their plan appeared to be working at the outset, with the Terminator relying on his overpowering strength to single-handedly keep the three doppelgangers at bay.

However, although the other Paragons exclusively turned their attacks on the progenitor, they weren’t strong enough to bring it down. The best they’d managed was to injure it. Meanwhile, the doppelgangers were commanding the alien forces to surround and besiege them.

A Paragon’s protogenic recovery rate was quick, which meant their staying power in a fight was similarly impressive. However, while this planet used to be human territory it belonged to the enemy now. The progenitor’s corrupting influence acted as support for the creatures helping them to heal and replenish rapidly, while also empowering the planets’ avatars.

Mission success was tantalizingly close when they started their assault. With their target within view, how could they retreat? But as time went on the situation worsened. The Paragons had to fight harder as more aliens came to the progenitor’s aid. The air was so thick with enemies even the clouds were blotted out.

At last the Wine Master sent out a request for help. Things had spiraled out of their control, and if they fell here the cost to humanity would be immense. He used his dimensional powers to keep the enemies at bay by opening portals in front of the encroaching forces. In their headlong charge the monsters would barrel through the portals and find themselves far away.

Now, load roars filled the air. A mushroom cloud lifted debris high into the planet’s atmosphere, followed by a powerful shockwave. For a moment that section of horizon burned like a sunrise. Scores of aliens tumbled from the sky.

The fight had raged at a fever pitch for several hours with the Paragons slaying countless numbers of aliens. Unfortunately their vital crystals were swallowed up by the fungus-infested earth and returned to the enemy. Ultimately they suffered no losses.

The Terminator’s team took turns resting and pressing the attack to try and conserve energy, but continuous battle was beginning to take its toll.

An inferno of dark red fire repelled a group of aliens. Satan’s face glowered in the stark shadows his fires created. All of a sudden he rose sharply into the air, outside of their defensive formation.

“Satan, what are you doing?! Get back here!” The Keeper shouted.

Satan turned his head and peered back at the researcher. Suddenly he smiled. “Get ready to break out of the encirclement!” As he spoke his pale hands were pressed together in front of him. A sea of fire erupted in all directions with him at its center. This was enough to force the aliens around him to fall back. Simultaneously, a strange black light lingered between the King of Devil’s palms.

It grew into a pitch-black sword that was strange to behold. It was long and thin, even its handguard oddly dainty. On either end of the handguard were two identical black gemstones, complimenting a third at the base of the pommel. They glimmered with a strange and bewitching light, but the blade itself was a flat black that reflected no light whatsoever.

When the rapier appeared all light in the vicinity dimmed, swallowed into its inky surface.

“This is...” The Pontiff stared in surprise.

Satan’s demonic star was fixed on the aliens. His lips moved as a low, guttural chant slithered through the air. A pair of enormous wings burst from his back and spread wide, matched by a pair of dark red horns drilling out from his forehead. Satan’s aura rapidly swelled in power.

This dramatic transformation captured the attention of the three doppelgangers. They had continued to try and rush in to end these humans, but the Terminator’s power had so far kept them at bay. The Northern Paragon was riddled with wounds, but with the help of the Wine Master and Clockmaker they’d managed to keep their party safe – but only barely.

Satan turned his attention back toward the Keeper. “When I’m gone, give this blade to my daughter. And watch that hypocrite, make sure he doesn’t get his hands on it.”

The Dark Citadel’s former leader erupted into thunderous laughter. His body was consumed in an inferno of hellfire.

Satan’s aura intensified by several orders of magnitude. With a flourish he flipped the blade around and hugged it toward himself. The sleep blade slipped into him, right where his heart was located.

The second it pierced his heart, everything within five hundred meters of the Paragon froze in place. Suddenly they crumbled away into ash.

Satan’s body became the center of a massive black vortex. A manic surge of demonic energy whipped around it like a tempest.

The Pontiff looked on, struck dumb with amazement. He and Satan had been adversaries for decades and knew each other like brothers. He knew what this was.

“He... he’s broken the stygian seal?” He gasped.

“Stygian seal? What’s that?” The Keeper asked. The Avenue’s ultimate researcher could feel that the energy Satan was releasing far exceeded his typical capabilities, and it was still rising. The protogenia around him was solidifying, as though in anticipation of something terrible.

“The power of the Satan bloodline is derived from the King of Devils. It grants them incredible power, but corrupts their hearts and devours their souls. There is never a good end for members of their cursed bloodline. Eventually their soul comes under the command of the Devil, and they become puppets of pure animalistic evil. Only upon becoming Paragons can this possession be halted, and in turn the Adept becomes a Devil in the flesh. Satan is the only one of their ilk I’ve seen who has been able to thoroughly seal the corruption of his blood right. By piercing his heart he releases the full power latent in his blood, the only way to summon the full strength of the King of Devils. But it comes at the cost of his body and soul. The mythical King of Devils has powers even beyond the Infinite. Even a shadow of its presence would be harrowing.”

The Keeper didn’t completely understand what the Keeper was saying, but he grasped enough. Satan intended to sacrifice his own life energy to overcome the aliens. The Arcane Magnate had never held Satan or his despicable bloodline in high regard, but in this moment he looked upon the man with respect. A Paragon’s life was long and highly cherished, the Keeper knew this well. This man was willing to give up his life without complaint. That was true strength.

Satan’s eyes were a ghastly blood red. His body and aura grew before their eyes.

“I am the King of Devils – greatest of my generation. Surely you lesser creatures cannot hope to shackle me? Ha-ha-ha-ha!” His mad cackling cracked like thunder and with a vicious yank he pulled the rapier free from his chest. It, too, had grown with the rest of him, and now his demonic aura had drowned all the world around them.

Shadows coalesced around him to create a red cloak that flapped at his back. His pale face had become leathery red and monstrous. The light in his eyes was no longer human.

With a single beat of his enormous wings Satan was suddenly on the other side of the battlefield. The aliens around him only felt a sudden burning sensation, then all of a sudden an area a thousand meters in diameter was swallowed up in red light. They were cut off from the rest of the battle.

The Terminator acutely felt the power that came from the demon and knew that even his Nirvana-level abilities would not be able to contend against him.

Satan’s ice-cold features regarded the North’s Paragon defender. “Terminator. I have a request.” His voice was cold as death.

The Terminator continued to fight, but was paying close attention.