Antiquity (Era, AoC Universe)/Plot

This is the entire plotline for the first Aeon of the AoC Universe - Antiquity.

Formation
The Great Slumber ends with Olyrin, who stirs the other gods from their long sleep. The gods all agree that they should expand the influence of the Cosmos into the Great Unknown, so they form the Pantheon of Ancients with Olyrin as its Highfather and leader. The Pantheon travels across the Cosmos, putting order to all the worlds they came across, with their servants, the Vanir, helping by checking each planet for signs of activity. This process is referred to as the Creation/Ordering, and during it, the greatest of the Vanir become Aesir, chosen of the Pantheon. The eight ancient Aesir are Anariel, Duterius, Lucithel, Mezarael, Umbriel, Regael, Varian and Isodael. The Aesir and Vanir venerated Irmhild, the warrior goddess. Another group of angels, the Scholari (led by the philosopher god, Meinolf) note down the events of Antiquity in the Holy Pages.

The High Heavens was the home of the gods and their angelic servants. Eventually Olyrin decided that the Heavenly Host require a civilisation to call their own, as the Vanir population was steadily increasing. Aimar traveled into the Great Unknown to find the people who will construct this magnificent civilisation. After thousands of years absent, he returned to the Pantheon with the Garor, a race of potent smiths capable of building almost anything. They constructed beautiful settlements for the gods and their servants - Aurealis, Serapheim, Vanaheim, and the legendary Silver City, the forefront of the High Heavens. At the ceremonial opening of Vanaheim, scores of angels moved into their new homes. Since the heavens were expanding rapidly, the world-tree, Mendrassil, was rooted into the plate of the Universe.

Heaven's offices and facilities were built, with the Holy Sanctuary of the Ancient Pantheon in Aurealis, Angiris Citadel in the Silver City (meeting point of the Aegis Council), and Saint's Row, where dead saints were to take up their residence at the right-hand side of the gods.

Eternal Conflict
See main article in link below.

The Burning Hells, annoyed by Heaven's expansion, launched a surprise attack against the Silver City, initiating the Eternal Conflict. Lucithel, the Lightbringer led the Angels into battle against the demon opposition. The siege was defeated and the Eastern Gate only suffered minor damage. Irmhild, the warmother, knew however that the attacks were not over.

Elva, the wife of Olyrin, was shaken by the storming of the Silver City, and demanded an ever-increasing workload be placed on the Garor. She wanted security. Thus, great bastions of steel were established in the realm. Blankets of holy mist covered Aurealis. Most importantly, the Garor themselves were continuously monitored for any suspicious activity. Meinolf passionately argued against this, but his influence had declined in the aftermath of the Silver City's besieging.

The sanctions increased, as did the attacks. Irmhild suggested a counter-raid against the demons in order to take out their offensive capabilities. Elva counterargued, stating that it would only provoke the demons further, and that safeguarding Heaven was more important. Aimar defended his decision to bring the Garor to Heaven in the first place by pointing to the glorious array of buildings overlooking the aural realm. Eventually, sick of the other gods' bickering, Olyrin announced that his wife was correct, and the Garor were to be kept a closer eye on in case they acted out of line. Meinolf despaired, believing the gods to be acting out of xenophobia, but he soon came to accept their decision and even support it. The Garor were watched over by the Aesir, Duterius in particularly being very suspicious of them and their work. He repeatedly imprisoned them in painful halos of light for interrogation purposes (a technique usually saved for demons), only to release them without charge. Isodael ordered the Scholari to document everything the smiths did, including how much magic they used, in order to prevent discrepancies. The depersonalisation of the Garor had no effect on the frequency of demonic raids, but it horrified the Garor themselves, who felt like they were being punished for helping the Pantheon.

One day, a demon known as Belial the Pretender appeared at the gates of the High Heavens. Belial, using an unprecedented amount of magic in order to take angel form, announced that he was 'returning' from a scouting mission in the Burning Hells, and had important information regarding the state of the demonic opposition. The Vanir allowed him to enter into Heaven even though they were extremely suspicious of his backstory, as no scouts had been ordered into the Burning Hells for any reason. After breaching the Eastern Gate, which was still recovering from the Silver City's sudden siege, Belial marked the Heavengate with his demonic essence, intending to use it a guide to direct the demons into the gate so they could destroy the city. The next thing the angels knew, there were demons inside the High Heavens, something that had never happened before, and a thought that horrified the Pantheon. Their gates had proven ineffective. What's worse is that the Aesir didn't arrive until thousands of Vanir had perished defending the Silver City because Belial had led them into the middle of nowhere with his lies about the demon's whereabouts. Olyrin blamed the Garor, citing construction failures, and, unwilling to allow them to further threaten the survival of the city he had come to love so much, imprisoned them in Ironvault, the Plane of Punishment.

The years came and went, yet there was no visible end to the crisis. The Pantheon were left deadlocked, unable to come to a conclusion on what was to happen. Olyrin was tempted to simply act on his own, but knew there was a limit to his autocracy. To this end, it was left to the Aegis Council to act. They convened at midnight in the Angiris Citadel, away from the Vanir, where it was decided that Irmhild was right all along and a pre-emptive strike against Hell was the best course of action. Duterius, Lucithel, Mezarael and Varian were dispatched into the south of Mendrassil, in order to reach the Burning Hells and locate the root source of the hellspawns. Meanwhile, Anariel and the other Aesir stayed behind to watch over Heaven in the moment. The Garor, seeing their cruel taskmasters' weakening hand, saw the chance to seize their power - and their freedom.

Garor Uprising
See main article: Garor

Rising up against the gods, the Garor decided that they would no longer serve the ungrateful Heavenly Host. Breaking free from Ironvault, one by one they charged out and set Vanaheim aflame. They had no permanent city to call their own; though they did have a village north of the Vanir city. As soon as the flames appeared, the High Heavens were thrown into discord. The fire, spurred on by the Garor's magic, quickly spread to the centre of Vanaheim and rapidly began approaching Serapheim.

The Heavenly Host had concluded yet another session in the Halls of Excellence, where the gods of the Pantheon, one by one, made their way down the aisle as the Lyres sang their praises and exhalted their holy names. No sooner had they seen the towering inferno did they sound the alarms. The panic in their voices pierced Anariel's heart, and she departed from the Angiris Citadel to see what what going on. She was left horrified. Vanaheim was in utter flames, the Vanir were running like headless ducks, and for the first time, the High Heavens knew fear. Rallying the Vanir with the Blessing of Hope, Anariel led them to do battle with the demons - or so they thought. The arsonists were formidable foes, but eventually succumbed to the might of the angels. Rounding them up for interrogation, Anariel approached the leader of the rebels, only to discover that it was the leader of the Garor - Arta'Zul - and not a demon.

As Arta'Zul explained, the demons weren't behind the Burning of Vanaheim, but rather the Garor themselves. The builders had become burners. The makers, now the takers. When Anariel asked him what kind of demonic spirit had possessed him to the point where he saw it within his rights to give and take freely, especially when his people were contractually bound to the Pantheon, Arta'Zul responded by saying that this was very rich coming from the same people who, after not so long ago soliciting their services, now seeked to imprison them within their own creations. Her heart searing with anger, Anariel drew her sword and martyred Arta'Zul on the spot. The other Garor were furious and attempted to attack her, but they were no match for an Aesir, and, with a final spell, she blasted them out of the High Heavens and into the Great Unknown. Following their defeat, the bitter Garor took on more twisted forms, turning their instruments of construction into instruments of destruction. Bending the void energies to their evil will, they became as insidious as the demons - perhaps even more so.

Lucithel later claimed that he thought he noticed some sort of shadows following him as he returned to the Heavens, but brushed them off as tricks of the light.

Coming of the Constellar
The rebellious Garor were now out of the picture, but the damage had been done. After an assessment was carried out by Isodael, he concluded that while the aural energies of Heaven would over time naturally repair the city - slowly - the damage was for the most part, permanent. The Garor had sundered the walls of Vanaheim and left ashes scattered across its roads. Duterius, upon returning from the Burning Hells, described it as a "tear" in the delicate fabric of the Heavens. But on that note, he did bear some better news: the Aesir had managed to track the location of the demonic activity and had gathered enough intelligence to prepare for an assault on the Isle of Pyre, a key demonic fortification. All they needed to do was recover from the effects of the uprising and a new army could be raised within a few years. Knowing that Vanaheim needed repairs soon, the Pantheon met again in the Holy Sanctuary, where it was decided that they would venture back into the Great Unknown to seek out a more loyal race of citysmiths. Aimar departed from the High Heavens once again, along with a few of the now-homeless Vanir in case the demons attempted to assail Aimar for angelic raids on the Burning Hells.

The resultant journey took Aimar all the way to the Orion Galactic Arm, but eventually the party stumbled across the Constellar. Composed of pure starmatter, the Constellar were capable of building without tools - all they needed were their hands. The Pantheon put them to work instantly, and within moments Vanaheim had been rebuilt. Following this process, the Burning Hells suffered a series of bitter blows to their power: first, an internal struggle for power between the Evils was causing scores of demons to kill each other, unlike in Heaven where angel-to-angel conflict was forbidden. Second, Duterius and Lucithel led a successful attack on the Isle of Pyre, assailing it first with light bombs, then storming the base and retrieving the Fire Crystal from within the Burning Caverns. The loss of the crystal sent Hell into a shutdown mode, and the frequency of demonic attacks slowed to a crawl. Irmhild's theory proved correct: proactive attacks were smarter than reactive defences. They even managed to capture a dreadlord and bring him back to hell for interrogation, where he, under pain of further torture, agreed to tell them everything he knew.

Rise of the Shadows
With the High Heavens relatively peaceful, time is given for other things. Sticking to the plan, the Aesir went on more reconissance trips to survey Hell's weakened defences. Lucithel, however, felt unease creeping into his heart. His Heavenly Perception sensed someone much more sinister than mere demons tugging at the fabric of creation. He felt that there was more than one dimension of evil, and with Hell on the brink of defeat, it was time for that evil to rear its ugly head. Wandering the unexplored mass of the Great Unknown, Lucithel noticed a mysterious figure shadowing him. When he turned around, it ran from him, as if afraid of his light. He cleaved it in two with ease, and without even being scratched, but this being interested him: there was no scream in pain when it died, unlike with demons. Deciding he had seen enough for the day, Lucithel returned to the High Heavens, without telling anyone what he had seen. He couldn't help but believe, however, that this creature reminded him of the shadows he dismissed several years ago. Lucithel continuously attempted to speak to the other Aesir about what he had seen, but they did not take him seriously - Duterius told him he was acting "strangely", Mezarel offered to "pray" for him, and Anariel took him to her Gardens of Hope for a drink of ambrosia to "medicate his mind". Eventually, Lucithel turned to the lowly Vanir, who seemed more willing to listen. Though at first they found it hard to believe, some of them shared his fears, secretly believing the Eternal Conflict was far from over, and the word 'Void' quickly became common-talk in angelic circles. Worrying that all this talk about a 'void' would distract the Vanir, the Aegis Council officially released a statement urging everyone not to get ahead of themselves (an ironic statement), further irritating Lucithel's sensibilities.

Due to the fall of Hell, the Highfather Olyrin (who was high on ambrosia cordial), proclaims that the Aesir have secured "peace for our time". An opulent ceremony is held in the aisles of the historic Silver City, though the procession started as far back as the newly-decorated Vanaheim. Elva awaited the archangels, placing medals around their necks that shone like mini-suns on their chests. The Vanir cheered on their higher-ranked brethren, feeling a sense of pride at having helped in their accomplishment. Lucithel felt differently. He didn't deserve this reward. In fact, no one did. They hadn't secured peace for this time; they hadn't even secured peace at all. This was the exact sort of complacency that would doom the Heavens - and the rest of the Cosmos - to the hands of the greater evil. Once away from the other Aesir, Lucithel destroyed his medal, seeing it as an impurity. The next time the Aegis Council convened, Anariel questioned the Lightbringer on why he was not wearing his award, to which Lucithel responded that he would not take questions. When Duterius doubled-down on Anariel's inquiry, Lucithel angrily responded by stating that it impurified him. After the conversation started getting heated, culminating in Duterius accusing Lucithel of irreverence towards the gods, the Lightbringer departed from the Angiris Citadel, frustrated with the Council's ignorance.

Lucithel continued his holy duties of vanquishing demons wherever they were found, without his brothers and sisters in the Pantheon. He grew bitter and distant towards them. They were so fixated on their servitude of the gods that they forgot to look at the bigger picture. The Eternal Conflict wasn't everything, yet it was everything to them. His resentment caused Lucithel to drift away from the mindlink and ceased responding to telepathic messages from his fellow Aesir. The argument between himself and his brothers and sisters in the Council had cooled off, and, disagreements on the fate of the Void aside, they longed for his light-bringing presence. Mezarel ordered the messenger angel, Sachael, after Lucithel, who was dealing with a torrent of demons near the planet Euratius. Turns out the Burning Hells were extremely low on forces, and were attempting to sneak attack. The demons, when they saw him, instantly attacked, but were no match for an Aesir, and he reduced the horde to cosmic ash. One thing bothered him, though - some of the demons looked different. They weren't wielding hel anymore. It wasn't the demonic magic he was used to; it was void energy. Terming them Darklings, Lucithel battled his way through their ranks until he reached Euratius itself - and was horrified by what he saw. Demons of all sorts of shapes and sizes, relishing in the dark energies of the forsaken planet. Left alone, they could number in their millions. Interrogating one of the demons, Vaa'lak, he discovered that the demons were teaching each other to wield the void's magic, and that though they were proficient, they weren't even the most power type of void creature in existence, for the most insidious of the voidwielders were the Voidmasters themselves, a race of powerful magic users who specialised in destroying cities. Their aim was to devour all of Creation and feast on the remnant energy, for if they couldn't rule it, no one would.

Flashbacks of Vanaheim were enough. Lucithel drew his sword and cleaved Vaa'lak in two, then went on a murderous rampage across Euratius, purging the planet of all life. Finishing off, he cast Final Judgement - a spell usually saved for life-threatening situations - and in an awesome display of arcane magic, the planet ruptured and tossed its energies across the Cosmos, covering Lucithel's wings with ash. The destruction of Euratius made him feel better, but gave away his location, and Sachael found him and approached him. Asking him whether he was faring well, Lucithel stated that he was not, for he had seen ugly things - and then proceeded to tell him about the Darklings and the horrible energies of the Void they utilised. He ordered Sachael back to the Pantheon to report what he had told him. Sachael persisted, saying that he had 'holy orders' to bring Lucithel back to the High Heavens. Angrily, Lucithel threatened to quarter the messenger if he didn't go away. Sachael cheekily replied, in the face of death, laughing that if he was killed Lucithel would only damage his standing in the sight of the other angels, after which he was promptly decapitated by the Lightbringer, who threw his head back into Heaven as a warning.

The Fusion Staff
See main article: Fusion Staff

The Aesir continued to lead the charge against the Burning Hells, who were by now seriously waning in power having lost the Fire Crystal thousands of years ago. The Aegis Council however, decided that Lucithel's absence is long-term, and thus they begin to scout a replacement for him. Knowing none of the Vanir to be qualified enough, Meinolf designed the Fusion Staff concept - a supermagical weapon capable of delivering high profile arcane blasts in any direction. The amulets given to the Aesir by Elva contained immense power, but they could be fused to create supermagic - a form of magic that surpassed any other possible combination of magical elements. The Aegis Council re-convened in the Angiris Citadel of the Silver City, without Lucithel, and they agreed to donate their amulets to the cause. The faithful Constellar return to their lab to synthesise the pieces, and the Pantheon approve of the operation retrospectively (as they were now at the point where the governing of Heaven was mostly done by the Aesir; they took a backstage role). The Staff is eventually formed and, with an almighty heave, Olyrin disintegrated the Hellish Horde, bringing hundreds of thousands of demons to their deaths in a single strike. Aiming at the mouth of Hell itself, he fired, causing an arcane explosion that created the Screeching Abyss, named so due to the noise made by demons who had fallen inside.

For the next epoch, there were no demonic attacks on Heaven. Expeditionary forces led by Duterius and Mezarel (who had, de facto, taken up Lucithel's position as one of the Big Three Aesir) entered the twisted caverns and hollowed hallways of the Burning Hells, yet found nothing. No demons to torment them. No dreadlords to strike from the shadows. No wandering hellspirits. The ruins of the Isle of Pyre - obviously not rebuilt - acted as an unofficial mass grave. The Hells also, pretty much, ceased burning. The Eternal Conflict, it seemed, had finally come to an end, and Lucithel's fears were completely unfounded. It was time to bring their brother home, and remind him why he was on the right side...

In the Dock
The severed head of Sachael brought an end to such plans. No sooner had Isodael and Regael volunteered to go and bring him back did they see the messenger's capital flying through the gates of heaven and into the Crystal Arch. Knowing this was Lucithel's doing, they heeded Sachael's dying breaths, following a trail of scattered ash to the planet Euratius, where Lucithel had been grounded since destroying the planet many years ago. The ash had collected on his wings and prevented him from flying, so when the Aesir approached him, he was in no position to resist. Lucithel explained that he had told Sachael to leave before killing him, but neither Isodael nor Regael were prepared to accept any excuses for this behaviour. They took the renegade angel back to the High Heavens and into Mezarel's Courts of Justice to be tried for his misdeed. The spirit of Sachael taunted him as he entered the dock, which he ignored. At the trial, Mezarel (ceremonially blindfolded) asked Lucithel what came upon him to do what he just did. He refused to answer the Aesir's question three times. Anariel then offered to speak to Lucithel outside, and promised Lucithel that there was nothing to worry about, and that he could be taken seriously. Lucithel accepted this and came clean about what he had seen. Expecting a decent explanation, the Court was disappointed when the Lightbringer brought up age-old stories about the Void and how dangerous they were, but were disgusted when Lucithel confessed to using Final Judgement on a planet full of potential innocents. For Duterius, this was pretty much the last straw. The Archangel of Valour interrupted Lucithel from the side, stating that he was talking nonsense, and even raised the idea that Lucithel was going mad.

Lucithel furiously defended himself, and even challenged Anariel to testify before the Court, as she was the only one of the Big Three Aesir who had seen the Garor Uprising firsthand and even dealt with the Garor Chieftain, Arta'Zul. In a rare moment of consensus, however, Anariel sided with Duterius, and made it seem as if the Garor had been killed when she expelled them from Heaven, rather than merely banished and plotting their revenge with the caustic energies of the Void at their disposal. Shocked at how everyone was against him, Lucithel's true emotions poured out. He went on a diatribe against his brothers and sisters in the Aegis Council, accusing Duterius of ignorance and Anariel of hypocrisy, and also of displaying the same pompous attitude that led to the expulsion of the Garor; in effect accusing everyone of creating their own problem. Infuriated, Duterius declared that Lucithel had "insulted" the Council and, drawing his sword, attempted to subdue him. The two archangels became locked in conflict, despite Anariel's attempts to pacify them and Mezarel's furious calls for order. They were acting just like demons, arguing among one another. Duterius summoned a halo, intending to imprison the renegade angel within it, but Lucithel slashed it in half. The Courts of Justice rocked back and forth under the stress of their conflict, and Anariel, realising they would destroy everything if left alone, summoned her holy magic and locked them both inside halos of light. The casting left her exhausted, so Varian converted some of his light into life force for her, which she thanked him earnestly for. Despite Anariel's intervention, the noise of their conflict had reached the Holy Sanctuary, and Olyrin entered the Courts of Justice demanding an explanation.

Betrayed
Dissatisfied with Lucithel's version of events, the Highfather ordered the Lightbringer to cease all talk of the Void, lest he pollute Heaven with senseless lies. Despite the Aesir's pleas to be heard out, the arguments of Duterius and Mezarel proved more pervasive. Meinolf even chipped in (desperately trying to salvage the theory Irmhild proved wrong - that Hell "couldn't exist"), saying that if the Void were so powerful they would have acted by now. Irmhild herself secretly knew this was fallacious reasoning, but kept silent out of loyalty, only to have her thoughts echoed by Lucithel, who charged that the Void didn't have to throw all they had now to be powerful. His arguing back with heavenly authority did not go well for him. Saddened by how events had seemingly conspired against him, Lucithel abandoned the Aesir, shattering his sword and exiting the High Heavens for good. It was the last time they'd see him as their brother. Elva and the other gods called out to him, but their voices were drowned out by the movement of large swathes of Vanir, who followed the fallen archangel into the Great Unknown. Once they were out of sight and reach of the Pantheon, Lucithel's Crown of Flames - which signified his rank of Aesir - disappeared, having progressively lost its fire the further from the mindlink he drifted. Severing all ties to Heaven, his wings turned grey and cold. He became a Fallen Aesir, and, in his solitude, pondered the fate of the Universe. He was surprised to see that many of the Vanir had followed him, believing his cause to be just and right. Although they followed with conviction, they missed the kingdom they enjoyed back at Heaven. Lucithel was convinced that he had to build his followers a new kingdom, and thus was proclaimed First Lord of the Outlands.

Establishing the Grey Temple, Lucithel could spectate affairs of both Heaven and Hell, while having a base from which he could give orders to his Vanir (now known as Urori). With the Urori at his back, Lucithel was able to continue his crusades against demons, committed to defeating them wherever they were found, though no longer in the service of angels - and no longer beholden to them. He had no compunctions about killing any angels that got in his way, nor about destroying entire planets if he saw it fit. He was, essentially, free to sin as he pleased.

Over the years, Lucithel grew more and more resentful towards the Heavens for casting him out, and he started ordering the Urori to openly attack Vanir and demons alike. Some had compunctions about attacking their own kind, only for Lucithel to snap that they were no longer angels anyway. The Lord of the Outlands captured messenger angels, who often worse little armour, and had their wings ripped off to stop them from flying before throwing them into the abyss of space and watching them fall endlessly. The torture only got worse as his heart grew darker. Reaching Pandemonium, the epicenter of Creation, Lucithel took up its eponymous Fortress for himself. He believed there was some sort of link between it and the Void, and he wanted to investigate the link as much as possible. Knowing Creation involved both Light and Shadow, Lucithel dispatched several Urori into the Pandemonium Tunnel to scout for clues.

As his forces grew in number, and the wild beasts native to Pandemonium were bent to Lucithel's will, his dissatisfaction with the Universe as it was grew insufferable. Then, one of the Urori scouts showed him a vision: the armies of Hell were scattered and leaderless. As long as they remained so, the High Heavens would be the dominant power of Creation, and continue to endanger everyone with their overconfidence. Lucithel continued the vision, knowing that without the demons to keep the angels on their toes, the Void would continue to grow in the background, waiting to strike both of them dead in an instant.

The angels were supposed to be the guardians of Order and the Light, yet they would not do their duty...they would not go after the Void. And if they wouldn't do it, he'd do it for them, in his own way.

No more games.

Fall of the Pantheon
See main article: Fall of the Pantheon

Tearing his darkest thoughts out of his body and allowing them to manifest in the physical realm, Lucithel gave in to his hate, growing into a monstrous, two-horned demon. Dazzling the Urori with his power, he corrupted all of them and brought them under his thrall. Announcing their time was nigh, he entered the depths Burning Hells via Pandemonium with an army of Urori demons at his side, as if they were escorting a King. Millions of demons suddenly rematerialised, drawn to emissions of Lucithel's hel like never before. He gave his new converts a choice: join his unholy crusade, or be destroyed. There were no two ways about this one, and thus, the baleful dark god Sargamon was born. His coronation as Ruler of the Underworld took place the next day, in which he was crowned on the Seat of Flames while basking in the hel-filled cheers of the demons present. With his dark magic he forged an army of Hellspawns with which he would challenge the Aesir, and put an end to their hypocritical games.

The skies turned blood red on the day of the invasion. Easily slaughtering the Vanir garrison with their new - and improved - hel magic, the demons besieged the walls. Sargamon, who was so involved in the building process, knew all of Heavens ins and outs. The gates of Heaven broke apart, and the demons ran inside like schoolkids on the last day of term.

Distressed, the Pantheon sent Anariel, Duterius and Mezarel, their greatest remaining warriors, to defeat the demons while the Fusion Staff recharged. Fools. Perfect opportunity. While the Big Three led the loyalist Vanir into the fray, Sargamon snuck round the back of the Silver City and made his way across the Aural Plains to the city of Aurealis, where the Holy Sanctuary was located. Entering it, he demanded control of the Fusion Staff. Olyrin ordered Sargamon to leave, accusing him of defiling the Sanctuary with his evil presence. Sargamon refused to leave, so Olyrin simply gripped it tighter and would not let go. In response, the fallen Aesir summoned his hel and threw a crest of flames at Elva, bringing the goddess tumbling to her knees. Laughing at her misfortune, Sargamon added more and more crests, leaving her writhing in pain. Outraged, Olyrin ordered an all-out attack against Sargamon, with the gods blasting spells at him. All the while they called out for the help, screaming the names of the Aesir, who had never once failed them...until now. Sargamon seared their bodies until he broke their will to fight, reducing them to nothing but piles of matter. Irmhild was the last to go down, fighting Sargamon until the very end. She blocked his pyrobursts and firestreaks, and even turned some of his attacks onto him. Finally, with an almighty heave, she cleaved him and took his chest off, only for it to reveal a burning furnace of endless hate. Paralysed, Sargamon recovered, and taking advantage of Irmhild's paralysis, destroyed her.

By destroying their corporeal forms Sargamon believed he had won, but in reality, had allowed the gods' souls to escape. They coalesced into the Fusion Staff, rendering it useless to Sargamon's grasp (the soul of a god is incorruptible). Annoyed, he blasted at the staff, attempting to rid the staff's keystones of their presence in order to corrupt the stones, and then use their power to obliterate the souls of the gods. His resulting helblast not only forced them to hold on tighter, but also knocked the stones out of the High Heavens and into the blackness of the galaxy below. Roaring in disappointment at having been foiled, Sargamon ordered his Demonic Legion to assemble and attack all corners of Creation in search of the stones.

Seeing the massive figure of their lost brother emerge from the Pantheon, the Aesir knew what had happened. The Pantheon was destroyed, and the Light had lost. Duterius sounded his the Horn of Triumph (as it was so inappropriately-named) and ordered the remaining Aesir to fall back, and that they would live to fight another day. Regael, taking one last look back at his now ruined homeland, wept when he saw the once-illustrious cities of the High Heavens burning away. His sister Anariel comforted him, reminding everyone that while weeping may endureth for a night, surely, joy would come in the morning - and one day, by means of sheer will, it will be morning again.