The half-formed god shrieked, its many faces contorted in agony and rage. It was losing control.
Jace staggered forward, his breathing ragged. Divine energy still crackled in his veins, but now, he wielded it. His fingers twitched as if trying to hold onto something slipping away, but he clenched his fist, locking it in place.
The entity lashed out in desperation, its skeletal limbs elongating unnaturally. A jagged, spectral blade formed in one of its shifting hands, slicing toward Eren—
Jace blocked it with his bare arm.
A shockwave exploded outward. The force sent ice shards and broken stone flying, but Jace held firm. The divine weapon burned against his skin, yet he didn't let go.
Eren moved in.
Jace twisted the god's arm just enough to leave an opening, and in that instant, Eren struck.
His sword cleaved into the god's unstable form. More divine ichor sprayed from the wound, sizzling as it touched the frozen ground.
The entity recoiled, its skeletal body shaking violently. More cracks spread across its structure. It was unraveling.
But it wasn't finished.
"You think yourself gods?" the voices hissed, overlapping, merging, separating. The entity's torso split open like a ribcage tearing apart, and from within, something began to form.
A second set of arms, covered in blackened divine script, emerged from the shifting mass. A desperate transformation.
The ice beneath them trembled.
The air itself warped under the pressure.
Eren's grip tightened on his sword. "It's changing."
Jace wiped blood from his mouth and gave a weak grin. "So do we."
The half-formed god let out an inhuman roar. It was falling apart, but it refused to die.
With its new limbs, it slammed the ground—and the entire battlefield fractured. The ice cracked apart like glass, revealing a chasm beneath, a void of swirling darkness.
It was trying to take them with it.
Eren barely leaped onto stable ground as one of the cracks widened beneath his feet. He whipped his head around—Jace was still standing on unstable ice.
The god lunged at him.
Jace lifted his arm—and vanished.
A streak of blue light shot across the battlefield. Jace reappeared behind the god, divine energy still flickering around him. He had moved too fast to see.
He blinked down at his hands, eyes wide. "Huh. Didn't know I could do that."
Eren had no time to process that. The entity twisted toward Jace, skeletal jaws gaping open.
"YOU CANNOT UNMAKE WHAT IS ALREADY WRITTEN."
It lunged.
Eren sprinted forward, his sword burning with determination. If this thing refused to die, he would carve its name out of existence himself.
Jace joined him, divine light still flickering through his body.
The final strike was coming.
And this time, they weren't fighting for survival.
They were fighting to end the cycle.