⑄ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚠'𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 ⑄

『 Act XVI: the end? 』

"now

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ｆａｌｌ."

a blinding light flooded the immediate vicinity, hundreds of parchment scrolls, inscribed with forgotten prayers, erupted from beneath the platform, shattering stone like glass. all at once, the scrolls cast themselves into the glowing pit where the Core lay, wrapping around stolen hearts and souls and dead magic alike: eating the Core from the inside.

the faceless leaped back, jumping just behind her ally, who raised his axe.

"now!"

the overseer certainly did not have to tell the antlered being twice. he abruptly slammed the heavyblade down, sending another powerful surge of electricity through the ground.

he then whirled on his heel, dismissing the weapon, chirping a quick, "meet you at the battlefield!" before teleporting out of the Core's domain.

the faceless followed suit before the grove could erupt, quickly breaking the barriers and zipping into the thicket in a burst of ice.

' let's hope we're not too late.. '

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the harvestman kicked the body of a god-eater off his spear, stumbling back - nearly into his brother. the guardian of the afterlife kind of just stepped to the side, dismissing his own weapon. meanwhile, the white lioness ran back into the clearing, pale green eyes lit up with a sort of sadistic excitement.

the guardian blinked. "w -"

he didn't have the chance to speak, before the earth nearly shattered beneath him with a jarring roar.

the harvestman startled, before grabbing him by the arm, pulling him away.

"...we should leave."

the lioness began to back off to run away. "YEAH YOU DON'T SA Y -"

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it seemed to have calmed down at the battlefield, for now.

the white wolf leaned on her axe, panting, trying to steady her breath - she was almost starting to get tired, after fighting so long into the evening.

even after the chaos of the god-eaters attacking had subsided for the time being, she...couldn't help but get a bad feeling.

the faceless and the lantern-holder had been gone for a long while...they weren't injured, were they?

the angel inhaled a bit, closing her eyes, before standing straight, hand on her axe - just in case.

the sound of rapid footfalls from the east and from behind caught her attention.

well, that - and the strong smell of blood mixing with the familiar scent of the god-eating twins.

she perked, ears twitching, as the trio of siblings bolted from the thicket and straight onto the battlefield. the harvestman dug his heels into the bloodied dirt, stumbling, before digging the head of his spear into the ground to keep from falling.

"...didn't we tell you to stay -"

the guardian teleported next to the harvestman, quickly shedding his bloodied coat. "yes but also something's blowing up -"

"wait wh -"

the angel quickly jumped away from the lioness as she ran past, before turning in confusion, ears flattened.

the golden-eyed promptly collapsed into her older sister's arms upon contact, mumbling something incoherent about the city. the lioness just. picked her up. like she weighed nothing.

she then whirled around, speed-walking back to the group, wordlessly shoved the golden-eyed into the guardian's arms, then ran off to go find her parents.

nobody could get a word in before the sudden shockwave of an explosion rattled the earth, causing a chain reaction of yelps and short screams across the battlefield.

"oh. guess that's my cue," sighed the wolf, tugging her axe from the dirt. she calmly walked to the frontlines - nearest to the grove - before abruptly plunging her blade into the ground. and so the force-field began to form, freezing waves of ice rippling through bloody grass and dust, icicles like daggers dancing coolly around the wolf's warblade.

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and so, the grove began to destroy itself from the inside out.

first the ground began to crack and break and uproot itself, sending chunks of dirt and rock flying - and then came the flora and the foliage, attacking blindly at everything that moved, trees bending and breaking and destroying paths and underground caves -

and the faceless ran amidst the thick of it all, not too far behind the sadistic lantern-holder; electricity still lay fresh against the rotten ground, where he had teleported. enraged clan members attempted to give chase, only to be crushed by the falling trees and rocks, or ripped apart by feral flora.

the lantern-holder was the first to burst from the thicket, getting inside the forcefield with no issue [as a ball of lightning], before collapsing onto the ground in his physical form with a short yelp.

the faceless didn't follow at first.

the wolf almost began to think she had gotten trapped, somehow.

at least, before she teleported out from the chaos of the grove -

only to be intercepted by a weak, but enraged, god-eater, who promptly tore her veil from her face - who was then turned to stone upon catching a glimpse of the overseer's eyes.

but she made it through - albeit blind, covering her face with her sleeves, so as to not kill anyone by mistake - and collapsed onto her knees just inside the barrier, just as it finished forming.

then came that brutal wave of destruction following afterwards.

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"...it's over."