The celestial sky was fractured by Volmeryn's relentless assault. Rifts in reality were beginning to open under the feet of the dragon, crrrr-crack.
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Metatron were still standing, but their divine bodies bore the marks of fierce combat. Their bright flashes became blurred, and their celestial glow was destabilized by the influence of the chaos that Volmeryn was spreading in this sacred space, zzzzzz-fffrrr.
The end was approaching, but the archangels stood proudly in their positions. They could not afford to falter now.
Gabriel (tired): «Michael,If we continue to fight like this, we risk destroying everything we have built. We must put an end to this fight.»
He darted forward, hitting a blast of divine energy, BOOOM, but Volmeryn deflected his blow.
«You are trying to stop me with laws that do not affect me!»
Gabriel (with a short breath): «We can't let him win, Michael! But... Our attacks are ineffective.»
Raphael wiped a drop of blood from his face: «No matter how powerful we are, it seems that our attacks don't even reach its true form. He doesn't play by our rules. He has already changed the laws of this universe to his liking.»
Metatron, who was observing the situation calmly, said : «hmm... We made the mistake of believing that we could impose our will on an entity like him. He knows forces that are beyond comprehension and he has already studied us for a very long time.»
His eyes closed for a moment with a slight sigh. «We need to think about a different approach. If we want to stop it, we will need something other than brute strength.»
Volmeryn: «You keep looking for a way to defeat me. But you are already overwhelmed, My dear archangels. Your laws are your chains, Metatron. I broke them. I am what you cannot understand: Liberty.»
He advanced with his figure. His gaze fell on Metatron, who always had a calm attitude.
Volmeryn: «You talk about laws. But your real weakness, Metatron, is that you still believe that these laws have a meaning. That they are universal. They are not. They are just an illusion that you have chosen to believe. And as long as you hold on to it, you will be powerless.»
Metatron reacted despite his tormented mind by Volmeryn's words
«It's not a question of belief, Volmeryn. These are the very foundations of reality. Respect for these laws guarantees balance and harmony.»
Volmeryn: «The balance fixed? A golden cage, Metatron. And you ask me to go in?»
As the fellowship continued, the other archangels gathered around him, but Volmeryn was already on the move.
Volmeryn moved away with a supple gesture, and a rift formed under the blows of the archangels who sent them waltzing in the air like leaves in the wind, whoooosh.
«You are at my mercy. You know that.»
However, in the eyes of the other archangels, a glimmer of hope was being reborn. Michael, more determined than ever, clutched his weapon.
«Grrrr We are the guardians of the heavenly order, and we will not allow a being like you to break what we have built. Even if it has to be our last fight.»
Gabriel: «If our bodies can't do it, then it will be our souls that will fight.»
But just as the battle was ready to continue, Volmeryn made a sudden move by stopping Gabriel and Michael's assault with a simple press of his finger, click.
«Your souls? You are so confident in your purity. But let me remind you of one thing: purity never leads to victory. Purity is simply an illusion of weakness concealed under a cloak of arrogance.»
The archangels froze for a moment. It wasn't a physical attack that had hit them, but a much more subtle blow: despair, the hard truth they refused to face. Heavy silence
Metatron (calm): «You're right about one thing, Volmeryn. The heavenly order is fragile, as are the laws that support it. But the soul of an archangel is not so easily corrupted. We have a goal, a mission. You want to subjugate us, but there are things greater than your strength.»
Silence followed, but it was interrupted only by the sound of the wings of the other angels flapping in the air, flap-flap-flap. The heavenly hosts were watching the scene and didn't know how to react.
Then, finally, Michael spoke in a low voice: «If we are destined to be broken, then so be it. But there is no peace without sacrifice.»
Volmeryn: «This sacrifice... Is what I'm trying to break? You are not made to be beings of order. You were born to transcend, just like me.»
And so, in a movement of will, Volmeryn cast a final spell that encompassed the entire celestial realm that was the size of a universe. Space was warping and the archangels were being thrown into an endless void, whooooosh-CRACK.
Metatron: «We haven't lost yet, Volmeryn. We, the archangels, will always resist, but maybe it's time to see if we can adapt to a different world."»
Volmeryn: «You're going to join me. You have no other choice. This world, this kingdom, is now yours. Welcome to the kingdom of Cælora.»
The celestial universe, of ethereal beauty, was warping under the impact of Volmeryn's power. The stars, which shone so brightly, crumbled and shattered like glass, crack, crack, crack. The celestial realm, this space outside of time and matter, folded in on itself by retracting into a sphere in decay, vriiip, vrrrroooom.
The archangels did not have time to understand the extent of this distortion. Their bodies were shaken in a whirlwind that tore them away from their reality, woooosh.
In a flash, everything stopped. They had found themselves in a heavy void, it was a new atmosphere that enveloped them like an icy cloak. The world around them was indefinable at first glance. It was not a place, but a space suspended between reality and illusion. sssshhhhhh, fffsss...
The sky in this suspended space was grey and blended with the ground, then there was an endless sea of dark mists where the horizon zzzzzzz. The air was saturated with an energy that was difficult to breathe, hoistssss. It was no longer the purity of the celestial universe. It was something more... organic, malicious.