The firing did not stop.
Not even for once.
Inside the protective shield manifested by Elmitrios, defending them from Juvo's fury, the IMG and the others barely made it out of the ship. They could feel the thumping of the shots in their chests, as they collided with the shield; a place that used to thump once upon a time.
Surrounding them in every direction, craters formed, bursting like monstrous firecrackers, engulfing the firmament in molten rock and ash, raining down in bits and pieces, spewing wreckage and destruction on the once peaceful purple soil.
They choked on their breath. It pained in their heads. An uncomfortable static buzzed inside their minds, non-existent in reality, yet present all the same.
It was incomprehensible how Juvo had not stopped for once. How continually he had kept at them shooting, in a hope they could not rationalise. Yet it lay in plain sight. It was simple enough. Had enough of the shots made through, Elmitrios' shield wouldn't be holding up. Once it was down, it would have taken him hardly any time to acquire what he was hunting them for. The Book of Gods. The one which was rightly opened. The one, which had all the mantras at his disposal.
"How are we going to do anything if he keeps shooting at us like this?" Radhika shouted to be heard owing to the noisy background.
Just then, the attacks stopped.
They turned around, and looked up with scrunched faces. To everyone's amazement, there seemed to be a larger version of a shield in act around a huge area around the monastery.
"Did you-" Radhika began, but the surprised look on Elmitrios' face told her he had nothing to do with it. It's source lay somewhere else.
"Get inside the building! I'm not sure how longer I'll be able to hold him."
That voice.
"Saaret?!" Radhika shrieked.
"There he is!" Sierra pointed towards athe south-west direction.
Far in the distance, above a tree, he was hovering, his hands outstretched towards the heavens, a struggle evident on his face as he groaned to keep the shield up against the attacks.
"Let's make wise use of the time he's given us," Sanduo said to everybody. "Let's go."
Elmitrios concurred withdrawing his shield.
They made a run for the monastery.
__________
"We've been instructed to hand you these weapons. They were made upon short notice but will deliver what they are meant to." One of the chefs showed the weapons, which were kept on the dining table.
The chefs were used to making meals out of their purple soil so creating weapons had been a challenge. But by the looks of them, they certainly could pass for their actual selves in their 'verse.
And each weapon was familiar.
For they were the same. The same ones they had aboard the Interstellar Traveller; the same they were planning to use against the Gods.
"H-how did you-" Jayden murmured in disbelief.
"Saaret knows his stuff," the same chef said with pride.
Elmitrios smiled. "Looks like we are prepared for a battle. I'll tell you what to do. Here," he shuffled his hand into his coat and brought the Book of Gods out. "You take this. The rest shall follow. I'll take care of Juvo."
Jayden took the book in his hands. "You sure?"
"I am. Just focus on what's to come. Your skills will matter the most in the next few moments, than ever again."
Jayden knew what he had meant. This was going to be the most important battle, ever.
It was the battle for the multiverse.
"I am ready," he said, exhaling deeply, eyes closed and a with a clear mind.
He opened them up slowly again, walked to the table and hoisted his weapon up. He touched it to his head and it synced with his system. Then he gripped tightly at the centre. Hooks came out from the ends of it. Large and daunting.
Then he slowly turned towards the others and a faint smile tugged at his cheeks.
He didn't need to ask the question.
All of them smiled back and each of the heads bobbed in affirmation. All of them were ready.
One by one they advanced towards the table. Sharlotte picked up her bag of antimatter orbs. It felt nice, holding them in her hands again. There was an enormous number of ammunition on a different table which Radhika and her friends took for themselves. Railguns and photonic matter shotguns were present en masse. The most familiar weapons in the Galactic Patrol. The others of the IMG took the same except Markus who was eager to try out the fancy staff Jayden had for himself.
"Come on, then! Let's not keep Saaret busy any longer," Sanduo proclaimed.
They rushed out of the monastery, weapons equipped and determination set in their minds for only one thing- victory.
__________
Outside, they marvelled at the myriad of mechanised entities standing together. They all turned towards them in unison as they came out of the Sanctum.
The obvious question had occurred to them, but they hadn't mouthed it while they were inside. Now that they had their weapons in hand, they marched towards the robotic crowd, stopping face to face.
In their chest displays, a static hummed which was quickly replaced by a transmission. A figure was standing before a humongous gathering.
"Admiral Zhim?!" Sanduo shouted in disbelief.
The figure smiled. "It is me, my friend. The story is long and interesting of how we managed to send this army here, which we would be able to tell you if you come back victorious. For the time being, just trust me- and see? So many people have come to witness this. To put it out flatly, this transmission is being aired on the Galactic Network. Everyone's watching you. You must not fail us." He paused then he averted his eyes from Sanduo and looked at his team behind. "The IMG, you have all the fame you deserve. We are all proud of you for what you've done, for what you'll do and for your sacrifice for the greater good; for the multiverse. Now fight like all our lives depend on it! Which it does." The transmission ceased.
"I think you got what he meant by that, didn't you?" Sanduo directed the question in an authorative manner.
"Yes sir!" The IMG shouted.
"Good, now let's go as far from the Sanctum as possible to reduce the possibility of damage."
"Go to the very boundary of the shield in the opposite corner. I'll ask Saaret to retract the shield," Elmitrios directed and in mid speech, gave each of them a shield of their own. "These shields are temporary and won't be able to withstand too many attacks so try to evade them as much as possible. Your attacks will go through. No problem in that." After saying that he motioned them all to run by waving in the mentioned direction.
They ran, as fast as possible, while Elmitrios made his way up, energy streaming down his body as he turned into his pure form.
He gave Saaret the signal when they reached the boundary.
And then- anarchy followed.
Juvo's batallion shot in a coordinated formation towards the IMG.
"That boy has the book! Get him!" Juvo pointed at Jayden and was about to join the others when he was hit. It was hard. He flew a good few metres before regaining stability. And there right before him was the God that had brought him to Moruzen.
Juvo clenched his teeth and shot forward. "You're no match for me now!" He shot at him through his right hand.
"You're wrong." Elmitrios swiftly dodged all the projectiles of energised beams directed at him. "I've had this power for eons. You've only had it for moments in comparison. It takes time to perfect yourself. One doesn't become powerful only by gaining power; it needs to be learnt to control, to channel and to direct in the right way. And it takes centuries!"
He hurled his powerful hands at Juvo, concentrating on the outcome, the impact, with belief in what he was doing. Juvo tried to protect him with his electric shield but it tore through and gave him a solid hit at the jaw.
The liquid in his veins cried out of his mouth, and he spat. He hadn't felt pain in long. Not before that encounter with Valal. But it felt good. He was grateful for it. For it made him feel real. It reminded him that there were still feelings and experiences that ran against bliss, despite what he had accomplished. It brought reality back and kept him sane. It forced him to give his all, become something others would only dream for.
"YOU CAN DO IT ELMITRIOS! YOU CAN DEFEAT HIM! YOU MUST DEFEAT HIM!"
Elmitrios became distracted. He wondered where those child-like shrieks were coming from. The voice was familiar, yet the throw of it was not.
"Shut up!" Juvo aggressively remarked. "You'll just watch! You are not to disturb!"
Following Juvo's gaze, Elmitrios saw Him. At once disbelief rattled the insides of his mind, yet there He lay in plain sight. Valal. Caged.
"My Lord," he began.
Then a thunderbolt hit him and he fell to the ground.
"Focus on me." Juvo said through gritted teeth, before releasing his fury like what he had done back on Moruzen- an ever powerful and concentrated ray of electrical energy.
It was hard to keep up. The robot army seemed to be completely ineffective against the enemy as they accumulated on the ground in heaps of scrap. Juvo's followers seemed to have been powered up by his acquired energy. Their speeds were amplified, powers magnified. The ferocity in their attacks was hard to miss. Agile bodies moved with fluidity, but therein a subtle abnormality made its presence and there was a rush to how they delivered each blow.
But the worst part was that the attacks of the IMG, the robot army and the soldiers seemed to have no effect on their bodies. For they had their own shields.
The fact had become clear when the first antimatter bomb exploded to no avail. A dark storm seemed to shroud away the brightness and confidence on Sharlotte's face, as her eyes grew big with horror and the colour faded away from her cheeks. The attacks of the railguns deflected away. They were literally unscratchable.
"What do we do now?" said a scared Lily, her lips quivering.
"Just don't let them hit you, and protect Jayden," Jarka said while shooting at the approaching enemy. But the shield was strong and holding on.
"And how do I protect him if my attacks don't make it through?" she said, annoyed by the fact.
"Well there are some things you need to figure out on your own," Jarka blocked an incoming punch with his hands.
"How is that an answer!" She was incredulous.
Right then a shot hit her. It was looking like Jarka was right after all.
"Okay, evade and protect," she murmured to herself by nodding her head. Then she abruptly stopped. "That still doesn't make sense."
A few tens of metres away Jarka was eating blows on his hands but the same individual.
"TRAITOR!" he shouted. "How did you get out of the prison ship! It looks like Lord Juvo forgot about your petty presence and left you behind. You were to watch it all unfold before your eyes. It was to be your salvation! Like Valal, over there."
Jarka kicked him away from him as he was distracted by his own speech. "You talk too much. What Juvo is doing is wrong. And I believe in that. There was a time when I looked up to him, it was why I joined as his ship's pilot. But the times have changed. His views have become too extreme."
That evoked a roar from his enemy as he lurched forward with his fists. But a sudden idea sparked Jarka's mind. As the fist approached, he let it come... closer... and closer. And right when it was right infront of him, in that fraction of time he pulled the trigger.
The photonic beam went through his enemy's hand as he screamed in agony. But he needed to finish him as he still had weapons on him. Jarka gripped the hand and shot a beam straight through his body. He dropped on the ground, dead.
Then, he told the others about his discovery through the communication module in his blazion. At least there seemed to be a little hope shining on their side.
__________
The IMG, the ex-patrol soldiers and Juvo's followers had one thing in common- they all gave this battle their everything. Juvo's batallion recounted their time alone on that planet where Juvo had left them. He needed some time in solitude and so had, requested them to stay somewhere else for the time being, till he became ready and called for them. In that span of a few days they had practised like never before. They knew difficulties would come their way. They would have to face them head on.
But now this was unacceptable. Kids were killing off their numbers.
And it wasn't clear how they were doing it.
Because it all happened beyond their sight.
Drio had suggested upon hearing what Jarka had said that if they all started attacking the same way, the attacks would become predictable and after a certain time, cease to be effective. Lily was quick to give her input on that.
"We do it in secrecy, behind their backs, away from their sight. They won't understand how their numbers are declining." A certain evilness was present in how she had said the words, and the other hadn't missed to notice it. It was in contrast with her character. In times like these, you find out many characteristics of one, you thought you knew well enough, but the times prove against it. Because dire situations have that innate power to evoke reactions unaccounted for, or rather, change a person completely.
Now, methodically they handled Juvo's army one by one, taking them to the back of the monastery, duelling, then finishing them off, and after completion of the task, notifying the others. In the mean time the robots kept the others occupied.
But a few of them were tough to deal with. They hardly brought their appendages out of the shield and they preferred shooting to fighting. They were the ones who planned in the long term, weakening the shields of their opponents and finishing them off when they are defenceless.
The only way to handle with these type of enemies was to evade their attacks and the IMG and others inadvertently followed suit. Sanduo was distressed with the fact as he knew, this would cost them a lot when his team was fatigued and sluggish due to energy loss.
__________
It seemed to be never ending- this battle with Juvo. He was so obdurant. In spite of the multiple blows he had suffered from, he still kept on attacking Elmitrios. Wasn't it tiring? Wasn't this enough for him, to give up? How could a God get tired and lose His pace at the battle and someone so inferior gain the upper hand? Because that was what was happening. Even though Elmitrios was a force of pure energy, he felt it drain off his body- the energy itself. Maybe this was Juvo's strategy all along. To defeat them at their weakest.
"Elmitrios, you hear?" His super conscience picked up the telepathic transmission.
"Is it you Laraken?" Elmitrios shielded himself off from Juvo. He felt the blows on his shield but he would be able to hold it up for a little time.
"I saw Juvo pick on your tail soon after you left so that's a reason enough to believe he's there with you now, yes?"
Elmitrios affirmed.
"Well, the form he has transformed into defeated Valal himself and now... he's missing. I don't think you will be able to hold him off any better." The part about Valal was audibly clear to Elmitrios that it had saddened Him.
"Valal is safe. Don't worry, he's present right here and I can see him. He is not even unconscious. That would have been catastrophic." He chucked to himself.
Laraken's voice found its volume back when he heard what Elmitrios said. "That is wonderful." He paused for a moment. "The reason why I reached out to is different however, I have found out something. Something crucial. About Juvo, or rather his power."
His eyes brightened up. And when the next words, that Laraken said, hit Elmitrios' brain, it changed his demeanor completely.