Ray's expression was extremely unpleasant. As an Olympian, his power was tied to himself. No matter how good a weapon was, it wouldn't help him much. Even though he was an expert with the sword due to his ancestry, it wouldn't improve his power much. The same went for many other gods. The situation changes when a god is paired with an Attribute Artefact that shared in his attribute. But Attribute Weapons were rare. Only a few had appeared in the True Universe, and each of them was created due to luck. Cronos's Clock of Eternity for instance was created not based on skill, but on luck. For though the creators were talented, never in their wildest dreams had they envisioned a Time Attribute Weapon would be born from their hands. Ray had searched the True Universe for such a weapon after realizing that his growth was slowing down. And though he stopped his search after Alexis got pregnant, he had searched pretty much every great ruin he could find but to no avail. And now here he was, watching the Dark God holding on to a blade that shared his attribute – the Dark Sword.
"I thought the Dark Sword never allows itself to be controlled by another?" Ray thought to himself.
The Dark Sword was famous for its pride in never allowing any other god to touch it. Some stubborn gods had tried wielding the dark blade, but its darkness consumed them. At first, people speculated that it was because it was a darkness attributed weapon and that was why none could control it. But even Seth had tried and failed. In fact, the chatter on the streets was that Seth had almost lost his mind to the dark blade. Whether that was true or not, Ray didn't know. In fact, not even Butler Fin was aware of the truth behind that rumor. But one thing both mentor and disciple were certain of was that Seth had indeed tried taming the Dark Sword – and had failed. But now for some reason Seth was able to use the blade. And from their interaction he hadn't tamed the weapon, but the Dark Sword was allowing Seth to rely on it. And since both were of the same attribute, Seth's power was bound to soar.
"I don't know what he did to get the Dark Sword on his side, but this is very dangerous. That explains why he was so confident." Ray frowned whiles keeping his attention solely on Seth and the pitch black sword in his hand.
Ray took a deep breath before letting out fiery puffs from his nose. His eyes burned even brighter as he gathered his strength and fortified his domain. With the Dark Sword in Seth's hand, his domain was slowly overpowering Ray's. In order to combat this, Ray retracted most of his aura to himself, reducing its area of influence in order to strengthen himself. With a smaller area, his power was more concentrated. And without his power wreaking havoc everywhere, his Spirit returned to him. For there was no need to protect Zandorians from darkness. For it wasn't harmful.
"Here we come," Seth smiled broadly upon witnessing Ray's preparations.
To him Ray was doing the right thing. Plus it was also Ray's way of confessing that he was currently weaker than Seth. And the little bit of vanity that remained – the very same vanity that fueled his rage against his own family – was slightly sated. So great was his confidence that Seth had the audacity to remind Ray that he was attacking. And he was true to his words. His figure disappeared and reappeared right next to Ray. The Dark Sword in his hand hummed strongly as it was swung in Ray's direction. Its deadly edge sought out the neck of the father of the Supreme, and at the speed it was traveling at, there was no way Ray should be able to dodge. But he did.
With speed that he hadn't displayed before, Ray flashed out of the Dark Sword's way. He didn't dare to avoid this blow by a hair's breadth. And his decision proved to be the right one. For a large sword light that was darker than Seth's dark domain cut through the space in which Ray formerly stood and broke through both his and Seth's domain. Without losing its speed it kept travelling with great venom, and its destination was a small village on the outskirts of the Northern Empire.
"That's not good," Ray's face was extremely ugly. With his Spirit now returned to him, he couldn't protect the people from what was coming. Besides, even if his Spirit was there for them, it would have been suicidal to take this strike head on. It was one thing to curb his own power, but it was another to attempt to hold down the power of the Dark Sword, an artefact known to have the ability to cut through even souls.
The sword light quickly descended upon the small village. Even though the world was surrounded by darkness, that blade light was the king of darkness, shinning so dimly that even in the darkness it had a presence. The residents of the village looked upon the incoming disaster with tears in their eyes.
Mothers clutched their children and run inside their houses, hoping that by some miracle they would make it out alive. If not anything, they hoped that the dark aura that approached would be sated after taking their souls and leave their children alone. Fathers anxiously rushed inside to pick up shields. Those who could wield summoned the meager energy they possessed in a futile resistance. With great unity their auras merged, showing just how much they depended on each other, to form a feeble barrier.
The war had taught them that the Mortal Realm was nothing but the underbelly of the Wielding world. And even with their insufficient understanding, they could tell that the power that was approaching was far greater than anything they could hope to combat. The darkness that filled the world was strange. Yet it was calm before, so many didn't think of it as the end of the world. But for this village the end was now.
Of course the power of the Dark Sword was overwhelming. Something that could keep even gods at bay wasn't going to be daunted by the currently weakened Zandor. The blade light easily pierced through the people's barrier like it was a tofu cake. And soon it was upon them. The eyes of the men and women who stood in resistance were filled with despair. They gritted their teeth as they prayed for salvation. And in answer to their prayer, salvation did come.
Suddenly a bright light emerged from within the Northern Empire. There were several runes within the light, and Asgard's signature could be felt all over it. The golden light of Asgard surrounded the entire Northern Empire and its surroundings. From within the light, the loud battle cry of a goddess resounded, and a woman decked in battle armor appeared. Her eyes were as bright as the afternoon sun, and her hair just as colorful. In her hand was a long spear, and with the weapon of kings she struck the blade light that was eager to destroy.
*Boom*
The power of the Dark Sword was swept away and sent back to the one who released it. Seth's face was extremely unpleasant seeing the power of his accomplice being returned. While it wasn't dangerous for him – for though the power of the Dark Sword was threatening, the Dark Sword was on his side – it was embarrassing. Indeed, when the blade light was close enough, it was absorbed into the hilt of the deadly weapon. Seth's sword wielding arm jolted just a little from the power since he was grabbing on to the hilt. But he wasn't largely affected.
"People of Zandor!" Suddenly the golden image opened its mouth and spoke. Its blazing eyes were like a beacon of hope for the citizens of this world who didn't know what was happening. Each and every one came out. Every man and woman; mothers and daughters; father and sons. It didn't matter whether they were from the Eastern Empire that threatened the world only a few months before, or the other empires. For everyone was afraid. Everyone who had breathe looked at the bright light with hope. Those who couldn't move were carried out and the blind heard what the deaf could only see. The golden goddess was their light in the darkness. And in such circumstances, this couldn't be more apt.
"I am Thrud, Warrior Queen of the Valkyries. I may look uncommon to you now, but many years ago I schooled here, in Zandor."
"I knew that you wouldn't just leave," Ray smiled faintly at the shinning image of his wife. The goddess was Alexis as you may already guessed. She didn't tell anyone, not even Ray, that she had done something like this. If he knew that she had left her soul imprint on Zandor, he wouldn't have bothered protecting the people with his Spirit.
"This world has faced chaos and war in the past few months. And though it isn't something uncommon in your history, it must be said that this is not a war of your choosing." Alexis's monologue continued with no interruption.
"I must destroy that imprint," Seth was the first to panic at the change of events. He was one who worked best in the shadows. He knew what Alexis was going to do, and he couldn't let her do it. He pushed forward with great ferocity, with the Dark Sword in his hand vibrating strongly as it readied itself for another strike.
"Invictum," Ray cast his Emperor Lease on himself swiftly. As a socketed Lease, he didn't have to spend too much time on its casting time. All he had to do was activate it. Strength filled the Olympian Fire King's bones as he sped forward. With his fingers curled into a mighty fist he struck the distracted Seth.
*Bang*
Seth was knocked several hundreds of meters away by the blow. The fiery power of the Brute King would have consumed him if not for the protection of the Dark Sword. For the dastardly weapon had switched from offense to defense in a fraction of a millisecond, preserving Seth's life.
"You shall listen to what she has to say, Dark One," Ray smiled brightly as he mocked the Dark God.
With his confidence restored his Spiritual Pressure was unleashed and it joined his Fire Energy. Together the two merged to create Ray's second Emperor Lease as a huge fiery apparition was born. This apparition wore no armor, only wielding a giant claymore. The claymore's hilt was made of fire, but its blade was made out of lava. With mockery dominating his expression, Ray cackled and swore for the first time in a long while.
"Ignis Dei Iram"
"Let's dance, a**h*le"