Present day. Nighttime.
Below the City of the Gate, in the HFH arena underground, Uriel finished pacing around Talen as the Unconquerable's fist stabbed the air. Swatting aside Amit's arm, Barron thrust his other hand—manifesting a lance between his fingers. The tip shot through Talen's aura and nicked his cheek, bloodying the Unconquerable's tan-skinned face.
Talen's sliced skin hissed steam as his aura automatically healed with a Restoration technique. He smirked at Uri.
"It's odd. Sometimes, you can penetrate the barrier. Sometimes, you can't. Why is that?" He rubbed his chin. "Wait a moment. Don't tell me. After all, you have an aura trait too. Could it be that you envelop your hand in it and spread it to the spear so it would pierce my own? That makes the most sense. Considering your Fate is boosted by the Crown and everything."
Uri nodded. "You have everything exactly correct. However…" The King opened another portal directly above Talen. What exited wasn't an army of Angels, but a stray lightning bolt.
The Unconquerable diverted all energy into his instincts. Talen's muscles, enhanced by Fate, reacted instantly. His fingers tightened around the superheated plasma and abruptly halted over his head. If it weren't for the aura protecting his palm, the lawyer's skin would've long since melted.
'I didn't even consider he could do that!'
Talen released his grip over the plasma as Uriel commanded it to vanish.
The Unconquerable grinned. "That's not fair. Your techniques have too much variety. They're impossible to go up against," he said.
"You should concede. We have to get back to the others, y'know. If we keep fighting like this—"
Uriel's blurry afterimage appeared behind Talen. The Unconquerable, weary of the King's power, threw his fist behind him in a mighty rage. The residual aura he unintentionally blasted following his strike sent debris into the crowd. Talen's eyes widened.
'A fake—!'
The King's arm crashed across the minuscule distance bordering the opponents. Talen's arms instinctively raised in an attempt to defend his skull, but Uriel's reinforced attack easily smashed through his limbs, inevitably striking the Unconquerable in the head. The result was Talen Amit's flying body falling through the stands the bystander criminals were seated on.
King Barron grinned. 'Nobody knows you like me, Talen. The Unconquerable technique isn't made for drawn-out fights and you don't have the energy to manifest any big moves using Harmony. In order words, it looks like you're finally bottoming out… Tal—'
A sudden spike in output would halt Uriel's overconfident train of thought. He stepped back, calling for two more Angels behind him.
'Seriously? You can still keep going? Even after a hit like THAT?'
Talen's output increased another time. Or rather, it seemed like it. Uriel's eyes widened at that moment. Curving his arm across the ground, the Unconquerable's fist crashed through Baron's arms, sending the King flying from the sheer impact of the blow.
The Unconquerable technique's Harmony function treats all of Fate as manipulatable. As long as Talen fulfills his conditions, he can warp reality however he pleases. Instead of using Harmony to blandly create matter from thin air, he imbued it into his aura, allowing Talen instant manipulation the moment the target attacks him.
Using Harmony, Talen can mimic any basic striking attack he's been hit with. Whether or not he can do this with Predestined Powers is unknown, but the accumulated strength etched into his knuckles after punching the King was enough. Enough to knock King Barron out for the count once and for all.
It was no surprise. Considering Talen subconsciously configured Harmony's properties into his aura while fighting, it was only logical Uriel had no counter. The victor of the rematch was none other than the Unconquerable.
The crowd roared with excitement at their winner, but Talen simply looked down, feeling the steam leak off his knuckles. The next sight Uriel saw would be Talen's extended hand. Just a glimpse of it was enough for the King to set aside their conflict and pull himself up by his partner's arm.
"I won," Tal grinned widely.
Uriel's eyes rolled. "Yeah, yeah. You just got lucky." The King rubbed his neck and tilted it, heading his bones to crack under the skin. "Ugh. What'd you hit me with?"
"New ability."
"For real…?"
"Hey!" One of the guards yelled at them. "Where the hell do you two think you're going?"
Talen didn't even bother turning around to face them. Instead, his gaze averted to Uriel, who deeply sighed before closing his eyes. Turning around slowly, the King's hand extended.
"Sorry, but we're in a hurry right now."
Tal smirked. "Scum like you don't deserve mercy. I'm too nice to think up a righteous punishment for sinners like you. Uri on the other hand?" The Unconquerable chuckled. "Mercilessly slaughtering monsters is a hobby of his. Be careful."
"Tch," Uriel's teeth clicked. "I'm always careful."
"Wasn't talking to you, idiot. Come back soon!" Talen vanished into the prohibiting shadows positioned behind him.
The King squinted at the Fate using bouncers gathering before him. Raising his left hand, he cracked the index finger with the thumb, sighing longly.
"You aren't even worth my time."
The halo floating above King Barron's head inexplicably glistened. The unleashed light enveloped everything around him, to even the point of blinding the assembled criminal Fate users. Their bodies disintegrated into piles of ash. Uri scoffed.
"What a disappointment."
Reviewing the security cameras revealed the perpetrators' identities: the Unconquerable Talen Amit and Supreme King Uriel Barron. Meanwhile, across the city, three silhouettes shrouded in darkness withdrew phones from their pockets.
"Hello?" One of them asked. "Is this Atlas Amit?" they asked through the phone.
On the device's receiving end, the Progenitor approached his desk; halting once he answered the phone. "Yes, this is he. Is this Enma? What're you calling for, sweetie?" Atlas stepped onto the balcony outside his apartment, leaning forward with his arms against the railing.
Enma's feminine figure was entangled in a tight crimson dress with cleavage showing in the middle. Crossing her legs over one another, she faced the window behind her desk--staring up at the moon illuminating her dark-skinned face. She smirked, slightly opening her slit-shaped pupils. ,
"Indeed. The Arena's been destroyed. Looks to be two of the brats your pocketed news station plastered all over the City. They're Barronian like you, right? Didn't you say you had everything from the Empire covered?"
Atlas snickered. The mere sound of his chuckling made Enma's nostrils flare.
"Little girl. Who do you think you are, questioning the Founder of Progenitor's Range?" Amit's malicious grin could be heard through his deep tone.
Enma refrained from voicing her disgust. Regardless of whatever objections she had regarding the Progenitor, she kept quiet and obedient. The same could be said for her fellow rivals scattered across the City in different safe houses. They, too, were bound by Amit's grasp over them. The might of a singular man was enough to rein in three separate Fate Masters, including their organizations behind them. That was Atlas Amit--the Unconquerable Progenitor. Their insignificant Powers were utterly hopeless against him. But that would all change starting today.
After Atlas and Enma hung up, the woman didn't stop. Instead, her fingers swiped the screen, opening the messaging app. In a group chat of three people, including her, all she needed to do was send the message:
'Negotiation Breakdown ♥'
Talen walked down the empty streets in the middle of the night, holding a phone to his ear. Uriel was nowhere to be seen behind him.
"Yes. The Progenitor's Mafia. Them and those survivors from the clan massacre last month. They'll probably arrive at the worst time in the proper place when they think it is right. Atlas incarnated Monstrum for one reason and one reason only: to destroy. The Disastrous can't help but kill. It's his nature. That's what drove us here. Vengeance, after both Atlas and Monstrum. The same will be driving the clan when they inevitably ambush him. We'll use them and the Mafia to confuse Atlas. The instant even one of us spots an opening on that day, we take it. And kill him," Talen said.
Lily sat atop a skyscraper on the City's surface. Feeling her braids move with the wind, she whistled, holding the phone close to her ear. The undying lights impressed into the buildings below sparkled under her chin and brightened her face with a golden light.
Lily smiled. "Hm? Sounds like a solid plan. You confident we can pull it off?" she asked.
Tal chuckled. "I didn't pick this group of people to be my allies for no reason. I trust them."
Lily grinned. The sound of the Unconquerable's smile in tandem with his voice reached out to her. His happiness sounded like paradise to her. She couldn't explain why. All she did was deeply inhale and gaze up at the moon overlooking her figure; bathing her skin in bright white light.
"Alright," she said. "Meet me up here?"
"Sure. See you soon."
Lily's grip on the phone loosened. Lowering it from her ear, she sighed--swiping through her Home Screen in an attempt to reach a game. The screen's low brightness reflected in her glasses however briefly.
"Did you have a lighter?" Talen's voice asked from behind her.
Her gaze followed the direction of his footsteps as he circled her figure. Eventually, he reached the space beside her and plummeted. Legs dangling off the edge, Talen placed a spliff between his lips and raised a lighter, quickly igniting it for it to spark the idle joint ablaze. He plucked it out his mouth with two fingers after the first pull.
"Y'know--" He inhaled sharply. Holding his breath, he looked down at the joint. "--It's weird."
"What is?" Lily leaned back, tilting her head at the Unconquerable.
He took another pull from the joint. Dropping it from his lips, he sighed. "Just a few months ago, I was alone in my apartment. With nobody but myself. Staring at my living room in pity as I thought back on how fun everything used to be when I was younger. I'd gotten my peace, but at what cost? Being alone? For how long? Forever?" He shook his head and stifled a chuckle. "It's so frustrating. I can never have things my way. I've always been pushed along... by something other than me."
She stumbled over her words.
"Y-you--" Then, something stopped her.
'Should I say this?' Lily asked herself.
In this rare moment, Talen was being vulnerable and sharing how he felt with her. If she asked a question like the one that spontaneously formed in her mind, perhaps the Unconquerable would fall even deeper into despair. Then again, what other choice did she have? It was now or never.
"Tal. You're the one who chose to seclude himself. We tried reaching out to you as much as possible--you never answered! I..." She sighed through her nose, looking down before averting her gaze. "Nevermind. Forget it."
"Huh?" Then, Talen's eyes rolled. He turned away from her. "I know you all tried contacting me. It's not your fault, I'm blaming myself. I should've known better than to abandon my sister and family like that. Especially Lora, considering what she was going through around that time." Talen's eyes closed with a big huff. "If you were going to say something about how you tried calling me more than anyone else, I know. I saw. But you're my ex. We broke up for a reason," he said.
"Really? Cuz I heard from Tony before he died that you broke up with me cuz you wanted to, 'play the field' when you were younger. Got anything to say for yourself?"
Talen shrugged. "No. I had fun and I don't regret it. Besides, you probably did worse stuff than me. You're the one who stopped messaging six weeks into the relationship," he said.
"I already told you why I didn't answer!" Lily cried.
"Yes. I know." Talen sighed a second time. "Look. All this bickering we're doing is so reminiscent of the past that it made the weed go out. I'll make you pay for this someday..."
Lily looked down at Talen. "Did Uri tell you? About how I knew that he was Amit's puppet and didn't tell you?" she asked.
Tal glanced at her, letting the joint smoke as it sat between his lips. "Yeah. Why didn't you say something sooner anyway?"
"I don't know. I think... I know how you felt. It sucks being alone with nobody to love you. When you were with Uri, it was like things were normal again. Like you were happy again. I thought that if I ensure things kept going that path, you wouldn't have to be hurt again. Aella and I would figure out a solution behind the scenes to rid Atlas of Uri's body and that'd be it." Lily laughed. "What a stupid plan that was."
Talen glanced at Lily, then blinked, scanning her aura. His head tilted. "How would you know how I felt? Have you ever been alone like that before?"
"Sort of," she said.
"Hm? And what's that mean?"
The woman stared down at her ex. She unhurriedly pushed her bottom from the platform to stand tall on both feet, letting her snowy-braided locks move with the wind. The stars across her cheeks shone under the luminous moonlight. She could only smile at the air's chilly feeling.
Her fingers unbuttoned the top covering her bust. Under normal circumstances, Talen would've looked away, but it made no sense to. After she finished undoing her shirt, it was pulled down to show the space above the bosom, where an ankh lay impressed between her bust.
"What the—?"
Lily smiled at the Unconquerable. "Celestial Epitome Embodiment. My Predestined Power allows the Celestial dormant within me to incarnate using my human soul and vessel. The result is the way I am right now."
"The Celestial dormant within you? What does that—?" Amit stopped.
"I'm one of the First and part of the group who made Fate's Crown: Liliana the Warlord. Be happy I graced you with my presence… Talen."