THE AFTERMATH OF WAR..
For the first time since the beginning of creation, the sky was empty.
The gods were gone.
No celestial presence remained. No divine whispers echoed through the air. The heavens, once ablaze with divine light, were now a vast, hollow void stretching endlessly above.
And yet, the world did not crumble.
It simply… existed
The realization settled over the land like an eerie fog. No thunderous collapse, no apocalyptic reckoning—only a quiet, lingering emptiness.
Elias stood at the center of it all, the weight of his actions pressing down on him like an iron shroud. His hands, once steady in battle, now trembled with an unease he couldn't name.
Seraphina and Varian stood nearby, watching him carefully—as if he might disappear, or worse… become something else.
And maybe they were right to be afraid.
Because deep inside, Elias could feel it.
Something was still missing.
Something unfinished.
THE REACTIONS ACROSS THE REALM...
The moment the gods fell, a ripple of energy spread across existence.
In distant kingdoms, the sacred bells of temples tolled on their own, then fell silent—never to ring again. Priests and priestesses collapsed in anguish, their connection to the divine severed like a blade through flesh.
In hidden monasteries, ancient texts burned in golden fire, their words rewriting themselves—or vanishing entirely.
In great cities, rulers awoke from restless sleep, feeling an unnatural stillness in the air. Some clutched their chests, suddenly aware that the divine protection they had always relied on… was no longer there.
And in the hearts of every being who had ever worshipped, silence settled like a tombstone.
For the first time in history, mankind was alone.
Some fell to their knees, weeping, crying out for gods who would never answer again
Others rose with new ambition, their minds already turning—if the gods were dead, then who held power now?
And some… some simply waited.
Because if the gods were truly gone—
What would take their place?
ELIAS FACES THE TRUTH...
Elias clenched his fists. His body still pulsed with power, his veins thrumming with the remnants of celestial energy.
This was what he had fought for.
Freedom.
But now that he had it…
Was the world truly better off?
Seraphina stepped beside him, her voice softer than usual. "Say something."
Elias's gaze remained fixed on the sky. "I don't know what to say."
Varian crossed his arms. His voice was sharp, cutting through the quiet. "What happens now?"
That was the question, wasn't it?
For so long, he had been fighting against fate.
Now, there was no fate left.
No prophecies.
No celestial order.
No divine justice.
Only choices.
Only consequences.
And something else.
Something lurking just beyond his reach.
Something watching.
A NEW THREAT STIRS...
Far beyond the battlefield, where time itself ran thin, something ancient shifted.
It had been waiting.
It had been watching.
And now, with the gods erased—
There was nothing left to hold it back.
Deep beneath the ruins of a forgotten temple, in a place where no light had ever touched, the air rippled.
A single whisper cut through the emptiness.
Not a voice.
Not a word.
Just a presence.
A slow, creeping hunger that had waited eons for this very moment.
ELIAS HEARS THE CALL..
A cold shiver ran down Elias's spine.
It was not the wind.
It was something else.
Seraphina saw the tension in his body and frowned. "Elias? What is it?"
He turned toward her, but for a moment—just a flicker of a second—
He wasn't looking at her.
He was looking past her.
Beyond her.
Into something far beyond mortal sight.
And then—
He smiled.
Not in relief.
Not in joy.
But in realization.
Because now, he finally understood.
The gods had never been the real war.
They had only been the beginning.
THE FIRST SIGNS OF DARKNESS...
The ground trembled—so faintly that only those attuned to the shift could feel it.
Far away, in forgotten lands, shadows moved where there should have been none.
In the depths of the oceans, ancient creatures stirred, sensing a change in the currents of fate.
And in the silent ruins of celestial temples, the very air seemed to whisper.
Something was coming.
Something older than the gods.
Something that had never been allowed to wake—
Until now.
And Elias?
He had set it free.
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA...
The war was over.
But the battle?
It had just begun.q
Seraphina and Varian exchanged a look
They saw it in Elias's eyes.
He knew something.
Something they didn't.
Something he wasn't saying.
Seraphina reached for his hand. "Elias, whatever it is, we face it together."
For a moment—just a moment—he let himself believe her.
But deep inside, he already knew the truth.
He had never been fighting the gods.
He had been fighting what came after them.
And now—
It was awake.