Ezekiel, weakened by the onslaught, defended himself. The raw power of the gods momentarily overwhelmed him, his Abyssal Energy faltering under the weight of their collective strength. With each strike, his form flickered, his once formidable presence waning.
As the battle neared its conclusion, Ardyn, his body still infused with the essence of time, approached Ezekiel. His eyes bore into Ezekiel's, filled with a mixture of determination and compassion. "Today, your death shall provide peace to the spirits of all those whose lives you took!"
Ezekiel's gaze was cold and emotionless. The gods watched with bated breath, hoping that their foe would beg for forgiveness.
However, the darkness within him prevailed. With a scornful laugh, Ezekiel spat, "Are you expecting me to apologize? To you all? Redemption is for the weak. I embrace the Abyss. You think this can stop me?!"
Ardyn's expression hardened, mingling with determination.
"So be it. This is the end," he declared, his voice resonating with finality. The gods unleashed their remaining strength, a final assault that shattered the barriers of reality. The ensuing explosion engulfed Ezekiel, engulfing and his malevolent presence from the realm.
Silence fell upon the battlefield as the gods caught their breath. The realm was scarred, the fabric of time and space disrupted by the cataclysmic battle. The gods mourned the loss of their fellow gods, but they were also happy that the battle was over.
Unfortunately, they soon received the shock of their lives as the destructive forces that had shrouded Ezekiel stopped.
Strangely enough, he was still there! His body still existed. Moreover, something was different about him!
Two demon-like wings came out from his back, which were larger than before. His horns also grew longer. His eyes were still pitch black, but instead of his aura weakening, it strengthened.
His torn clothes had disappeared, replacing them with clothes made purely from dark and destructive energy. His figure also appeared somewhat larger.
"This is not the end. This is just the beginning!"
Ezekiel's voice boomed through the air, resonating with a newfound power. The gods watched in shock and disbelief as he rose from the wreckage, transformed into a being of darkness and chaos.
The once-defeated Ezekiel had returned, reborn with a sinister aura that surpassed their wildest imaginations.
They always wondered why Chaos had sealed Ezekiel, instead of just directly killing him last time. They thought he grew soft or was merciful at that time, in his early years.
However, they didn't realize that the reason Chaos didn't kill Ezekiel wasn't because he was merciful. It was because it was actually impossible to kill Ezekiel! He was a being which couldn't be killed. He was born from hatred, and that hatred was inextinguishable.
Ardyn stepped forward, his expression filled with concern and caution.
"What have you become?" he asked, his voice laced with both curiosity and apprehension. "How can a mortal gain so much power?"
Ezekiel's lips curled into a wicked smile, revealing his sharp, fanged teeth.
"I have embraced the true depths of the Abyss," he replied, his voice dripping with malevolence. "The shackles that once bound me have been shattered, and now, I stand as the embodiment of destruction."
The gods exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of how to respond to this newfound threat. It was like Ezekiel was actually the God of Destruction!
Ezekiel's transformation had elevated him to a level beyond their comprehension, and they realized that defeating him would require even greater sacrifices.
As the gods prepared for another confrontation, Ezekiel unleashed a devastating wave of dark energy, obliterating everything in its path. The gods scattered, desperately trying to evade the destructive force. The realm shook under the impact, and cracks formed in the fabric of reality.
Ardyn, his determination unyielding, stepped forward once again. He knew that defeating Ezekiel in this form would be a monumental task, but he couldn't stand idly by while darkness consumed everything he held dear.
He didn't care about the battle of the throne or the benefits. He only cared about protecting the place that he called home, at least until Caen or Janus could return! They had to stop this monster until then, if they wanted their homes to be protected!
"You have become a Demon!" Ardyn called out, his voice resolute. "I implore you to remember who you truly are. Your path doesn't have to be one of destruction and despair. Stop this!"
Ezekiel's gaze flickered for a moment, a hint of amusement mingling with his malevolence. But then, his sinister grin returned, and he raised his hand, summoning dark shackles that coiled around Ardyn, binding him in place.
"You speak of a path?" Ezekiel sneered. "Which path? The path that your people took to destroy my home? The path that your people took to bring my dead family back to life, so they could kill them before my eyes?! The path that made you ruin the lives of millions of innocent people?"
"You call me a Demon?! But in my eyes, you are the Demons! And you shall always be the demons! You are the beasts who only understand one language! And that's the only path for me to follow until I raze this entire place to the ground!"
"There is only one path worth following—the path of power. And I have embraced it fully!"
He gazed at his hand, shrouded in the darkness of the abyss. "If I had this power before... If I had this strength... I could've protected them... They wouldn't have to die... They wouldn't have to suffer."
In his cold and emotionless eyes, finally a flicker of emotions flashed. However, those emotions soon disappeared as he remembered his cause.
With a swift motion of his hand, Ezekiel unleashed a torrent of dark energy toward Ardyn. The trapped god struggled against his restraints, his determination fueling a last-ditch effort to resist.
But just as the darkness was about to consume Ardyn, a blinding light burst forth, dispelling the shadows.
"He's not fighting alone!" One of the gods shouted, his voice infused with a newfound strength.
