Story by: Rhenhwa.
Virtual God's Online
Chapter 8: "Celestial Smasher."
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, organizations, and settings depicted are entirely fictional and created for storytelling purposes.
***
Alcor knew exactly where he stood. He was the target, locked in a deadlock.
They were split against him.
One side would try clearing this game while the others would try to hold him back.
He looked around the desert plain, scanning the horizon.
The wind kicked up hot, dry sand, grating against his skin.
"They're going to hunt me."
He muttered under his breath, standing still for a moment, spacing out as he usually did.
However,
After seemingly gathering his thoughts, he threw his head low, along with a low mutter.
"Not if I get to you first!"
The silence shattered as he rocketed forward, sand exploding from the force of his movement.
For anyone watching, it was the most direct, suicidal charge imaginable.
While in motion, he exercised his authority to a wide-ranging planetary sense.
And the moment he did, two more signatures intercepted his.
"There he is! Blackstar!"
"Get him!"
From a distance, their voices rang out from atop a high sand ridge; the two deities remained above as he ran below.
Pausing for a moment to gather strength, he pressed forward with a burst.
Such an act was akin to stupidity or bravery.
As Alcor gained speed, the two flew down to intercept him.
The first cocked his fist back, a fiery orange glow coating his arm as his law of divine force surged through.
"Eat this—!"
The strike swung down at Alcor from above.
At that angle and position mid-air, he should have had a hard time blocking it or even dodging it.
But what happened next was unexpected.
A flip.
Alcor twisted midair over the deity, spun, then slammed a heel into his back, launching him downward.
"GAH—!"
THUD—!
Along with his fall, sand scattered in various directions.
"What?"
The second, mid-air, having realized what had happened, was stunned—and then he froze.
"I—I can't move!"
Slowly, his body began gravitating toward Alcor.
Alcor, meanwhile, having broken through the floor and landing cleanly on the ground, calmly corked his fist back and slammed it into the deity's gut.
"Ughk—! Cough!"
Virtual pixels spewed out. The punch being so powerful that it actually broke a few things.
[One target eliminated!]
The system. Having declared that, his entire body slowly dissolved into pixels.
He lingered in place, breathing lightly, when something caught his attention.
Something wasn't right.
"Fool! You fell right into my trap!"
The first deity, earlier knocked away by its heels, was now kneeling, palms pressed into the sand.
As it did, the ground began pulling Alcor in, shifting like a living quagmire.
"With this—!"
With all the preparations, Alcor simply stared at him unimpressed, tilting his head.
Rather, he seemed distracted.
"Uhm... what was that thing again? Ah, right. I remember now."
Suddenly, the sand stopped swirling.
As those words left his lips, the sand stopped swirling.
"Huh?"
Then—burst.
A sharp explosion erupted from beneath, repelling the sand and sending shockwaves across the area.
"Argh–!"
Virtual sound waves, dust, gusts, air—it all spread across the area, sand mercilessly blinding the deity that started it all.
"Kuh—! My vision!"
In the middle of that, he took advantage of the situation.
Alcor dashed in, grabbed the surprised deity by the arm, spun him midair, and hurled him up.
Up—out of bounds. Beyond the stratosphere, from where they had dropped.
He lowered his hand, shielding his eyes for a moment as he watched the body disappear into the sky.
Then, arms crossed, he muttered to himself.
"Jeez, what a lame opening act."
Back at one of Amaterasu's many quarters,
Watching Alcor dispatch two deities with ease on the virtual screen,
Both Amaterasu and Susanoo slowly turned their heads toward Ageha.
Still restrained in a straightjacket behind them, she had literal stars in her eyes.
"Ooooh! As expected of my counterpart! Brilliant!"
Her glee felt excessive, but they knew better.
"Sister, what do you think?"
Susanoo asked, glancing toward Amaterasu.
The sun goddess didn't answer right away.
She hesitated, perhaps reluctant to acknowledge it in front of Ageha.
But in the end, she said it.
"Fine… I was wrong about him. Still, I stand by what I said. Even if you either want to go to him—"
"Nah."
Ageha had sat up, still perfectly bound.
She could've broken free at any time—but right now, she didn't care.
Her mind was elsewhere. Her eyes weren't focused on the room or the people in it.
"I'll wait… till he comes to me himself."
That smile—!
Both Transcendental deities blinked in surprise.
It wasn't her usual manic grin.
No, this one was different. Serene, peaceful… disarmingly soft.
If she smiled like that more often—
Perhaps she really would be number one in every deity's top goddess list.
Not that she wasn't already a contender.
'Alcor Blackstar…'
As the shattered dust settled… elsewhere…
Far from the room, in another location entirely.
Lute watched the same broadcast from atop of Alcor's castle, his hand resting over his chest with a faint smile.
A relieved huff escaped him.
"You can do it. Plus, you already have that. Don't disappoint me."
And as if connected through thought, even across dimensions, Alcor seemed to respond—
'Yeah. I won't let you down.'
He thought that, now standing at a distance from a grand mausoleum.
A pyramid.
At its pointed tip sat a strange structure, from which flames continuously rose.
And from those flames, dark smoke bled into the sky.
'This…'
He gazed at the distant monument and knelt, placing both hands against the ground.
His pale white eyes flickered, glowing faintly.
And then, an image overlapped across the virtual plane before him.
A vision.
Three deities running toward the mausoleum, weaving through the sand.
– As planned, while the other two act as decoys, let's try to get there and defeat the boss.
– It can't be helped. We'll make use of this formation for now.
– Even if we lose this star, others on other stars would do the rest.
– As long as we can conquer five before them, then we win.
Talk floated amongst them as he watched the "past" while they made their way to the mausoleum.
It wasn't until after they faded that Alcor let out a soft exhale.
"That's their strategy."
Muttering that, he stood up from the ground.
"Two to patrol… and the others to handle the shadow deities."
"They've thought this through. Neither overestimating nor underestimating anyone."
If they had all rushed at him recklessly, they would've been wiped in an instant.
This formation—this was the best move.
After acquiring the key, they would regroup at the next star, join the others, and use decoys to keep him occupied.
The longer he lingered, the more the balance tipped in their favor.
It was a tight strategy. In fact, by all measures, it gave them the upper hand.
If it had been him many moments ago, nay, were it him before meeting Lute, then it would have caused him trouble.
At the very least, he would have tried rushing the game to tip it in its favor.
In the first place, this game was already rigged.
And both Lute and Alcor were not going to let this pass without one or two retaliations.
"However…"
Their solution was this. To cheat in their own way. An opening move.
One so strong that it would instantly tip the balance in their favor, not only within this game, but also outside it.
A sharp grin tugged at his lips.
"Nothing says we can't destroy the temples, right–!?"
[….?]
Only a maniac would say such a thing.
And only one would actually do it.
With that grin widening, the ground beneath him rippled—like water.
Except, the ripple was black.
From its center, a handle slowly emerged, rising until it hovered at chest level.
A sword. One shaped like a four-pointed star.
"Starbringer."
He gripped the hilt, holding the weapon upright.
From its tip, light spiraled into the sky—piercing the stratosphere, breaking past its limits.
Black.
KYREEEEEE—!
The image of ruin. A world reduced to ash. And yet, as the light pulsed upward, it didn't bring devastation…
It simply returned reality to its faded origin.
"Celestial Smasher."
The beam descended.
Black and white inverted—
And in one clean sweep, the star was sliced in two.
BOOOOOM—!