Raizen stands alone.
The gods descend.
The immortals encircle.
And Raizen enters the battlefield without his army
The first strike didn't come from a god.
It came from the earth.
A golden spike of light exploded out of the ground beneath Raizen, shattering space, tearing apart clouds above and soil below.
He didn't move.
The spike passed through where he had been.
He stood behind it a breath later.
Already, immortals had begun their siege—skyships layered in runes, flying beasts with silver feathers, sword-wielding cultivators whose footsteps could split rivers.
They came like floodwater. Relentless. Controlled.
Above them, gods circled. They didn't fight yet. They waited. Watching. Letting their soldiers die first.
And above even them, veiled in radiance, floated twelve glowing thrones.
Godkings.
Each one capable of bending continents.
One bore a hammer that pulsed like a miniature sun.
One held a book that contained living laws.
Another simply watched, arms crossed, with lightning swirling at his feet.
Raizen exhaled.
"Twelve godkings. Hundreds of gods. Thousands of immortals."
"And I still haven't even taken a proper step in this world."
The air warped.
Five immortals blinked in at once—each attacking with different elements: flame, frost, metal, light, and shadow.
Raizen responded with silence.
He opened a single ripple of void.
Not wide.
Just enough.
Their techniques never landed.
Their bodies never hit the ground.
Gone.
Not killed.
Erased.
But more came. So many more.
Dozens. Then hundreds.
Some wielded techniques stolen from ancient dragons. Some bore spirits of divine beasts sealed in their cores. Others fought as though they believed their deaths were righteous.
Raizen moved.
And space screamed.
He folded it again and again, stepping through thousands of attacks like a dancer moving between raindrops.
He didn't unleash flashy moves. He didn't roar his name. He didn't proclaim vengeance.
He simply fought.
One palm erased an entire squad.
One step shattered a floating fortress.
One look crushed the soul of a god who underestimated him.
But slowly… the field adjusted.
The immortals began forming coordinated formations. Gods surrounded him with divine seals. Spatial barriers layered over one another like cages.
And the Godkings?
They began to descend.
Raizen's breath grew cold.
This was no longer a battle.
This was extermination.
And the void within him stirred violently.
"Not yet," he whispered. "Not until I need it."
"Not unless there's no other way."
He activated a higher-tier void thread, using only raw manipulation. The sky darkened. Winds halted. For a moment, even the divine seemed to hesitate.
But it wasn't enough.
Not with so many.
Not without his army.
Not without the missing piece.
A spear of lightning pierced his shoulder.
He turned—
—only for a massive stone fist to crush into his ribs.
Raizen flew back, coughing void-infused blood.
The battlefield shifted.
A God descended in front of him, eyes shining with celestial judgment.
"You were warned."
Raizen stood slowly.
Chest cracked. Arm numb. Breathing uneven.
But his eyes—calm.
"You should've aimed for the head."
A pulse of void exploded around him, ripping apart two gods nearby, but more replaced them instantly.
A burning chain wrapped around his waist.
Another crushed his knee.
Raizen didn't cry out.
But the pressure…
Even he couldn't hold it forever.
And then, from above, the loudest voice yet:
"This ends here."
One of the Godkings raised his hand.
The Celestial Hammer in it lit up like a dying star.
Raizen knew what was coming.
His void trembled.
He could survive it—maybe.
But barely.
"Not yet… not like this…"
As the hammer fell—
A rift opened behind him.
An invisible force yanked Raizen into the void.
And he vanished.
The strike slammed into the earth where he'd been standing—creating a crater large enough to swallow a mountain range.
Silence followed.
Gods looked at one another.
Had they won?
No.
One of them whispered.
"He didn't fall."
"He was pulled away."
"Something... someone took him."
And high above, beyond their sight, the real war had only just begun.