The Fifth God

"What are YOU doing here?!" shouted the male of the two giant bird riders, stepping even closer to the man in the center of the square.

"DO NOT BOW TO THIS TRASH! RAISE YOUR HEADS AND LOWER THEM ONLY IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ONE TRUE RULER!"

Annoyed, the woman stepped forward and pressed a knife against the man's throat. With a piercing glare she said, "Shut your mouth already—or do you want to die?" A silence spread, broken only by the folk song still playing.

Suddenly, the man began to laugh. "Ha...hah...AHAHAHAH! LOOK AT THEM! THEY FEAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF TRUTH!"

Furious, the woman grabbed his throat and ripped it out with her bare hand, causing him to collapse. "You asked for it..." the male said mockingly and turned to return to his giant bird.

"Don't forget, we're dealing with a demigod here—even if he's of the lower class unlike us," the woman paused. "OBEY US—THE DEMIGOD DUO OF GREED!"

The folk song grew louder and the people bowed as low as possible. The man who had his throat ripped out rose again. He picked up his bloody throat and pressed it firmly back against his neck. It reattached itself and after a short cough, he continued speaking: "You faithless sheep!"

The demigoddess wasted no time and hurled him with a single strike across half the settlement. Like a ragdoll, he flew through buildings and slammed into the cliff where the bird was preening its feathers. With a loud jump, the male demigod of greed followed and landed with a massive impact on top of the man. He rained blows on him—the impacts could be heard throughout the settlement.

"Should we fall back or what?" whispered B-Day, still bowing like the others. "No, so far we've only been able to observe the fight. According to the intel Nyra gave me—" Ashfall paused as the other two stared at him wide-eyed. "The ISD soldier I spoke with before the mission..." he tried to clarify. "So you do know her personally?" Ashfall realized what they were thinking. "She's my friend's wife..." he added, finally clarifying things. "Ohhhh! I seeee!" both exclaimed as if a light had just switched on.

"Back to the point: she told me odd behavior had been observed among the locals—always in the direction the pointer indicated." He gestured to the people around them, some of whom had stopped moving and singing.

"My possessions! See what happens when you try to rise as a demigod against us!" the demigoddess shouted, arms spread wide as she presented her partner, who had reduced the lower demigod to mere fragments.

"AHAHAHA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO TAKE WHAT'S MINE, DEMIGOD ORVAK!" screamed the male with a crazed grin. She leapt to him and stopped his rage by holding his arms tight. "That's enough. You've made it clear to Orvak—don't take what belongs to us," she embraced him as if to show he belonged to her.

"YOU UNWORTHY FOOLS!" suddenly shouted one of the villagers, stepping into the center of the square. "BELIEVE ME! THE DAY WILL COME WHEN THE ONE TRUE RULER ACTS—AND YOU WILL BE THE ONES BEGGING FOR MERCY!" he cried, pointing at everyone around.

"Tsk... him and his annoying ability—like a *Turritopsis dohrnii, but with a defined limit..." the demigoddess muttered, releasing her partner.

"DEMIGOD ORVAK!" she called. "I know your new ability and its limits—if no one believes your words, you won't have a body to possess anymore... am I wrong?" Orvak grew quiet, pausing his speech.

"From what I know, he only has extreme credibility—which is why he's considered one of the weakest lower demigods..." Ashfall murmured. Lira and B-Day knew him too. His weakness was the reason some didn't even consider him a real demigod. "So if someone believes his words, he can possess their body after death?! That ability would put him on par with an upper demigod!" B-Day noted, shocked.

"That could explain the imbalance, right?" Lira asked. Ashfall nodded. "The situation's escalating—we need to retreat before we get dragged in." The three of them slowly backed away from the singing crowd.

"If you know my ability—what was that whole show for?" Orvak finally asked after a long pause. "Pure display of dominance—despite your ability, you're still weak and can't defend—" Orvak suddenly appeared before her and kicked her straight in the stomach. She was slammed into the cliff wall, embedding into it.

"NOOOOO!" shouted the male demigod of greed and tried to pull his unconscious partner from the deep hole.

"That's dominance," Orvak corrected, examining the thin fur-covered shoe on his mangled foot. His leg was twisted, the body unable to handle the force. Soon, the body collapsed, and a different villager approached the demigod duo—he had changed hosts.

"This is for earlier—" he grabbed the male's head and smashed it against the hole his partner was buried in, then dragged it down to the ground. Orvak examined the unrecognizable face and the deep, bloody groove from wall to earth.

"This is now MY territory—submit while you still can... the true ruler still accepts new followers," he threatened and dropped the head.

The singing had stopped. Everyone stood upright again. Suddenly, pebbles rained on Orvak. He looked up. The giant bird had moved. It beat its wings with such force that it devastated the settlement. Most inhabitants were either crushed by debris or blown away.

In the chaos, Ashfall, Lira, and B-Day tried to climb out of the crater—but were caught in the gust. Using their armor, which shifted into climbing gear, they clung to granite rock with all their strength.

The bird let out a terrifying screech and landed in the crater. It lashed out wildly, destroying buildings in seconds. The villagers stood no chance. Only Orvak remained, watching.

Once the bird calmed slightly, Orvak spoke: "The legendary Majestic One submits to those two weaklings? Join me instead—become a loyal servant of the true ruler—" The bird snapped its stork-like beak and ate the body Orvak was using.

Silence returned, broken only by the animal's pained sounds.

Ashfall and the others had survived thanks to their armor.

"Did that thing just wipe out a settlement with thousands of people in seconds?! And eat a demigod?!" B-Day asked, trembling.

Lira seemed more impressed than shocked—her face resembling the moment she saw the Great Clock. Ashfall, however, was unmoved—he'd seen worse during his time as a Time Agent.

"Did we just see the same thing?! He ATE him! E A T E N!" B-Day stared at the others.

"Sadly, not my worst experience. Out there are dangers far worse than that creature..." Ashfall thought, touching the left side of his face in pain. Lira noticed but said nothing.

To distract himself, Ashfall looked at his wristwatch—now just a regular watch as their gear had changed.

"Less than 15 minutes left—let's reach the extraction point," he ordered and climbed the rest of the cliff, followed by the others.

Just earlier on Aethra Prime

Two Death Squad members remained behind to await ISD arrival while both ships departed in different directions. The terrorist commander slowly raised his head. His eyes had rolled back, as if his corpse was now controlled.

The two Death Squad members noticed the sudden motion and opened fire on the already riddled body. They approached cautiously, weapons ready to fire again at the slightest movement.

Suddenly, the left soldier was lifted into the air—impaled by Thalrion's black greatsword, though wielded by someone else. He tried to resist, but the blade slowly and painfully sliced him from abdomen to chest.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" the other yelled, opening fire toward the invisible threat.

His eyes blinked involuntarily. Then he saw his comrade lying dead—killed by his own bullets. Shocked, he dropped his guard.

"Know this—YOU and you ALONE killed him," whispered a sweet, female voice in his ear. He turned, trying to locate the source—but in vain.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" his distorted voice rang out. The room darkened as if the light had been switched off.

"Now join him—your comrade," the voice whispered again as his throat was slit cleanly with his own combat knife. He collapsed, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

The voice vanished, leaving behind all bodies rigged with explosive traps set to detonate upon approach.

When ISD troops arrived shortly after with two transports, the unwitting soldiers triggered the traps, causing a massive explosion. Debris struck one transport, sending it crashing into a pristine meadow. The other tried to flee, but was pulled down by the Great Clock atop the now unstable tower.

The only entrance and exit was thus destroyed—something that had never before happened in this universe's history.