The citizens of Talvory City were in chaos. Some ran, hauling their belongings with them, carrying their children by the hand; others froze, stilled with fear.
"What's happening?!" Alphonso exclaimed as he ran to meet Vylet and Kitt.
"I don't know!" Vylet shouted back, her eyes on the sky. "It's like...the sky is broken!?"
"There you are!" Joseph said as he appeared from the crowd. "I was looking everywhere!" he stopped to catch his breath. "What's happening?"
"Starblood..." Kitt said. "A Starborn just awakened."
"Does that mean—?" Vylet began.
"Philos!" Joseph and Alphonso blurted out at once.
They looked at the sky above. Over the tower, the night beyond the blue day was visible through a jagged hole, as if someone had thrown a rock through glass.
Astrid watched Philos. He seemed to shimmer in the sky. Looking at his long violet hair was almost like watching the night sky itself. He was engulfed in white flame; several red lines ran up his arms and spiraled into his chest to form an odd triangular design in the center, just beside the tattooed number that marked his life as a slave.
Philos. She watched him as he descended slowly to meet them upon the top of the tower. You look like...
"So!" the Adonai boomed as red flames began to engulf his body. "You finally show yourself, Child of Vespira?!"
Philos looked around. Before him, the Adonai towered over him, his body a raging fire. He looked further. There, he could see Astrid, standing in front of the shattered remains of what was once the Juggernaut.
"So that was your weapon, huh?" Philos' voice cracked like thunder, his glinting violet eyes staring sharply forward. "That's why you hurt my friend?"
"Yes," the Adonai said as he raised a flaming fist. "But I no longer need her! She will perish, and you will..." He brought his fist down. "Submit!"
Fire spat from the large man's fist, slamming into the ground where Philos stood, fuming into a great cloud of heat.
The cloud dispersed.
Philos... Astrid thought.
"You've gotta be hotter than that..." Philos said as he held the large man's arm in place just above his head.
"You—!" the Adonai growled.
"...stopped your attack?" the young man asked, smirking. "Surprised?"
"Die!" The Adonai swung his other fist, bright flames engulfing it.
Suddenly, the huge man felt weightlessness as Philos turned, swinging the Adonai's massive body through the air.
The Adonai groaned as his back slammed onto the stone floor of the top of the tower.
Philos aimed his fist downward; his punch rocketing forward, but the Adonai was quick. The gargantuan man evaded, blasting himself out of the way with an explosion from his palm. Philos' fist hit the roof, shattering the tiles as a surge of white light ran through the crevasses. The Adonai quickly took a knee. Abrupt heat erupted from his mouth, roaring into a molten hot scream.
"Philos!" Astrid yelled as the fires consumed him.
"What?!" the Adonai gasped as the smoke cleared to reveal empty space.
"Up here!" Philos exclaimed.
"How did you—?"
Astrid felt strange as she watched Philos in the sky, just below daytime stars. You look like...
Philos, hovering just above, extended his right hand. "For the sins you have committed," he said, "for the countless people you've harmed in the way of your vengeance..."
Suddenly, light exploded from the young man's hand, calling the hilt of the Cosmic Blade Exillio to his hand.
"For my sins?!" the Adonai raged rearing back a great fist of flame. "Don't worry! You want hotter? I'll burn you to ash! You'll be an offering to my New World!"
Astrid watched as Philos raised the hilt above his head, a strange, phantom-like blade of energy pouring out of it. You look like...
"Die!" the Adoani shouted, his fist shooting forward in a massive ball of blue flame, taking the form of a cerulean dragon, hissing as it sped forth.
Philos' voice thundered as he swung his sword down in a great arc.
...A raging god of light, Astrid thought.
Flame and light exploded, sending a great wind of fume and energy across the roof of the tower as the shockwave from Philos' blade cut cleanly through the dragon fireball, severing it in two and colliding into the Adonai. The large man stood still, the heat from the light searing into his skin. He screamed in pain as the floor beneath his feet began to crumble under the immense magical forces.
Then, all was silent.
Philos slowly descended to the roof.
Astrid watched as the dust cleared. Before her, a giant hole had been blasted away. There, several floors below her, the Adonai lay upon his back, surrounded by rubble, a large cut upon his chest, his eyes rolled back into his head.
She exhaled deeply. "It's over..." she said, almost to herself.
That was when she heard Philos scream.
The dust cleared to reveal Philos, doubled over, writhing in pain as the white flames on his body seemed to eat at him.
"It burns!" he shrieked. "It burns!"
"Philos!" Astrid felt her heart sink.
There he was, on his knees, bent over as if in extreme agony. What do I do?! Her mind raced.
"What do you think you do?"
Astrid jolted as she suddenly became aware of an entity beside her. "Who...?" she asked as she saw the figure short and transparent, with stars upon its skin that seemed to collide and shift. "What are you?!"
"No time, really." The Starbreather smiled with jagged teeth, waving his hand as if dismissing her. "You see, that flame is eating him alive. He probably allowed himself to use more energy than needed, poor thing." The figure chuckled. "If this goes on much longer, say, fifteen more seconds, he'll be totally consumed and cease to exist." The figure threw up his hands, confetti rained down from nowhere. "Poof! Gone!"
"What do I do?!" Astrid said in hurried panic.
The figure smiled. "Only Transgression can cast out Innocence."
Suddenly, Astrid got it. "Right!" she said as she bolted forward.
Alright, you stupid voice! she thought, calling the darkness within her once more. You wanna destroy something? Destroy these flames on my friend!
"Astrid!" Philos' voice sounded like lightning.
Astrid stepped forward, throwing her arms around him. "Philos!"
Black flames exploded from her body. "Listen to me!" she said as light fought darkness, as Heaven fought Hell. "I don't want you to die! I"—she paused—"I care about you too much!"
Astrid, Philos thought. In his mind, he could see everyone. He could see Uri, Vylet, Joseph, Alphonso, Sir Smith...
I can't die here...
...I must persist!
Suddenly, the white-and-black flames merged into gray. Then, they were gone. Philos felt the burning leave as his body cooled. In his mind, he could hear Astrid's voice. She was calling his name. He could feel himself in her arms, held tightly, could...
He felt himself fade, then all went dark.
The sky began to close, and soon it had returned to normal. Uri and Krista had long since gone to find the others, leaving Gilliam and Sir Smith behind.
"I see now," Gilliam said after the sky had finally closed. "I see why you risked everything to find him."
Sir Smith said nothing.
"So tell me, Sir Smith," Gilliam said. "Is this it? Is this the magic that will destroy the world?"
There was a long moment of silence.
"No," the Angel finally said, his voice low and rugged. "It is the magic that will balance it."