Ascension of the Nephilim

The decree of Solas shocked everyone.

Branze and Mezal saw the handsome god Solas speak confidently and even smiled as if there was nothing wrong or mistaken in his statement.

"Solas! You overstep your reach! Not even your father, Soter, would have been so arrogant to say that!" A dark, malevolent voice was heard.

Total darkness took over the stage of the gods and fallen.

"Kyriachos!" Solas shouted in anger and revealed his power of Holiness.

BOOM!

A massive eruption of bright light appeared around Solas.

"Hmp. A borrowed light from the sun can't harm me. Only the first light can breach my darkness!" Kyriachos laughed as he lunged an attack at Solas.

BOOM!

But suddenly, the power of darkness met a powerful cutting force. The power of this cut was too marvelous that it severed the connection of darkness, rendering it powerless.

Hyperion Steele stood in front of Kyriachos.

"Kyriachos. Control yourself!" Hyperion boomed in anger.

"Hyperion. You better keep your little nephew in check. If he says something like that, even if Soter would be here, I would not relent until that boy is dead!" Kyriachos shouted.

"Kyriachos. His words are quite arrogant and disrespectful. But it does ring with certain truths! See your reaction! Would the former Kyriachos rush to kill this boy?" Hyperion asked.

Kyriachos stood there, and his sons and daughters stayed at the side.

"The truth is, your daughter has changed you and your family."

"The truth is, my daughter has a portion of my power. If not her, it would have been anyone or even me!"

"We can sever it! I can cut the ties of power!"

"Lord Fallen Kyriachos! There was indeed some... misunderstanding in my word. But if we want all of this selfishness to end, we have to slay your daughter. We cannot allow such power to divide the gods and fallen.

"It already has! If you did not want to divide us, why did you give birth to Agapaia? Was it not her power that made me like this? Is it not because of love that I stand in front of my daughter?!"

"And she corrupted the power my daughter bestowed! We know that the natural ways of things prohibit a god and a fallen to be together! Yet your daughter rebelled! And now, Tyrannos, who is nowhere to be found. And more gods and fallen may die!"

"Naturally. Hyperion, you severed the universe. And this is what it means to be cut off from another. Perhaps it's your power that cut us off, or my power that separates that is fueling this. But know for certain that the corruption of love was not born by mistake! My daughter is the result of all of our powers. This universe has just begun! Calaminus, the Time God has just been born! We have just started! This is just the beginning!" Kyriachos roared.

"I told you, uncle." Solas sighed. 

"Luckily... I came prepared. Kyriachos. You should understand. I am justice!" Solas shouted, and suddenly, a massive force of gods emerged at the back.

A great battle in the heavens occurred. It was known as the first conflict.

The vision was too much for Diana and Branze that they felt themselves moving through the scroll.

"Let me bring you further ahead. That battle fortified the universe as more definitions occurred. Mortals wouldn't survive even if they saw it. Even Saints will die from madness." The voice of Hysterion echoed out.

"Let me bring you to the conclusion of it..." 

The scenes that Diana and Branze saw moved forward, and they found themselves standing in the same place, where they gathered.

It was as if the conflict and battle never happened. Solas stood at the very place where he first declared the proposal to kill Katara.

Everyone had a confused expression.

"Guys! Guys! Stop the fight! You guys nearly wrecked the universe! What's wrong with you people?" A fat, young boy hovered above Solas.

"You...!" Solas was stunned.

"Calaminus?!" Hyperion shouted in surprise.

"Yes, it's me! Will you all cut it out! If not for my power, we would all be dead! You guys saw what happened!"

"What happened?" Hyperion frowned. He knew that in that timeline where he fought to the death, it was his attack that must have killed Calaminus.

"What happened? You guys killed me! I had no choice but to revert time back to this point. But that battle and your attacks were too weird that it divided time and affected it! Time is now relative! Now True Time exists differently. Time can speed up or slow down. Ugh... You guys don't know what this feels like." Calaminus complained.

"And right now, I am feeling strange things. As if the knowledge from universes far out whispers to me... What...?! Of course! That's it! That's the truth!"

"What?! What's the truth?!" Solas asked.

"The universe is telling me... Epstein didn't kill himself."

...

...

"...What?"

"Yeah. I don't know. Whatever that means, it's your fault, guys. You did this to me!" Calaminus shouted back.

"Enough of that. Kyriachos. You saw what happened. It would have all been over. We have to kill your daughter." Hyperion spoke once more.

Kyriachos was silent. But he knew Hyperion was right. He had fought and seen the future. It would have ended.

But in Kyriachos's hesitation, Katara stepped forward.

"Father. Brothers, Sisters... I guess I have to die." She smiled.

"In the course of that battle, I understood what I am. I am Despair. I am the cause of pain and suffering. I am the fruit of Separation and the root of all curses. This is my burden. And I have been passing this on to everyone. I cannot pass on Despair to all. I have to die..." Katara answered.

The Fallens were silent.

Even Kyriachos wanted to say something. But he could not. While he loved Katara as her daughter, he saw a time when he lost almost all of his sons and daughters.

"If only... I bound her to something before her Corruption of Despair spread to many..." Kyriachos cursed. 

"Father. It's ok. Even if you tried, who will you bind Despair too? No one would be willing. And even now, it's too late. Unless I am killed, the Corruption of Despair will spread. And in that timeline, I saw how it did. My brothers, my sisters, we're all dying in front of me. I was left to bear the guilt and pain. I wish not to see that again. I wish to bear the guilt and pain and die now." She smiled.

"And so it shall be. Gods and Fallen. I, Solas, son of Soter, present before you, Katara Kyriachos. First of the Curse. Within her is the power that has brought this universe to pain. The Gods and the Fallen have slain and killed each other. That future that we saw will happen again as long as she lives! For her despair will affect us all! Killing her is the best option!" Solas declared.

Katara moved closer.

"Lord Hyperion. Please sever me and cut me off from this world. Lest my Despair affects more."

"I thank you, Katara." Hyperion smiled as he raised his sword.

"No!" A powerful force stood before Katara.

Katara was shocked at his appearance. 

"No! Gannaios! This is my choice!"

"Son! Stop this foolishness! You already warred against me before! Do not force my hand!" Hyperion shouted angrily.

"Gannaios! Stop this foolishness! Her love for you is a curse! You do not need to fight for it!" Solas shouted.

"I have to fight for it! If her love for me is the curse, I now realize that I did not war against you and my own kin because I pity her! It is because I love her!" Gannaios declared.

Katara's heart stopped as she heard this.

"Wha... what? He actually loved her?" Calaminus was brokenhearted at the revelation and began to cry.

"Stupid son! Stop this!"

"Don't you see, father? I am bound to her. If you kill her, I would be better of dead."

"You fool! You would put the entire universe at risk for her?"

"No! I am not putting the entire universe at risk. As Kyriachos said... hers is a power that springs from him. One way or the other, our universe will face Separation. But while Separation exists, so that Unity. Is that not the power of Soter? But for that to happen, one must have the courage to push themselves forward."

"Gods and Fallens will die if you defend her!"

"Then kill her. But prepare to kill me, father!"

"She is the Curse of this Universe! She will bring terrifying things to this world!" Hyperion shouted.

"Then I will become the Courage of this Universe. If she is the Curse that brings destruction, then I shall be the Vow to restore things to order!" 

"Gannaios! Stop! I love you! This is my burden to bear!" Katara wept.

"Then carry your burden! But let me be the shield to protect you and prevent more burdens from falling on you!" The power of Gannaios exploded out.

Hyperion frowned, and then a strange voice erupted as a woman and a man began to speak.

But the voices were too terrifying that Branze and Diana were thrown out of the scroll.

"What?!" Diana was stunned.

"What happened?" Branze was also confused. They were at a critical part of the story, and yet they were suddenly ejected out of the scroll.

"This is as far as you go," Histerion spoke.

"The last two who spoke were Fate and Destiny. The invoking of Gannaios was so strong it created a new Code. And so, those two had no choice but to intervene. When those two speak, they become true. Hearing their words will kill you. This is the truth of your past. But as to how you two came to be again... it will remain a mystery."

"What? God Histerion... Not even you know?" Diana asked.

"The shroud of darkness covers what happens next. The power to Hide covered it. Only the one who has Mysterion can unveil it. For his power is the revelation of secrets hidden from long ago."

"Mysterion? Is that a Code? Which God has it?"

Histerion smiled.

"Your son has it. Goodbye, Branze and Diana. May your vows ring true, and may the Curse and the Courage bear each other's burdens."

Darkness shrouded their sight, and nothing could be seen.

And then, Diana and Branze woke up.