The creature—an abomination of divine energy—charged with blinding speed, its form distorting as it crossed the fractured ground. Its twisted limbs crackled with golden energy, and its voice—a thousand corrupted whispers—rang in the air like a battle cry.
Eren didn't hesitate. His blade met the creature's jagged claws with a shockwave that sent ripples across the fractured earth beneath them. The impact scattered sparks of golden energy, a violent storm of magic and raw power. The collision threw him back, but Eren regained his footing instantly, his eyes locked on the thing that had once been him—a twisted, corrupted version of the vessel that was meant to be his fate.
"It's just like us," Eren muttered under his breath, trying to make sense of the chaos. The words were more for himself than anything.
Jace moved at his side, swift and precise. His blade cut through the air like lightning, but each strike barely phased the creature. The monster shifted and flickered as if it existed in multiple realities at once, each hit only slowing it for an instant before it resumed its assault.
The creature screamed—a horrible, guttural cry that scraped across their nerves. "You think you can escape what you were born for? You were made for this! You were never meant to be free!"
Eren's grip tightened on his sword, his heart pounding in his chest. "You were wrong about us!"
He lunged again, this time aiming for the creature's chest, but his sword passed straight through it, the blade seemingly cutting through nothing but a distortion of reality. A burst of golden light erupted at the point of impact, sending both him and Jace stumbling back.
The Echo's voice buzzed inside their heads, a thousand whispers like needles in their minds. "The gods are already feeding. You can't escape what you are... You can't escape them."
Jace's jaw clenched. He didn't wait for another moment. His eyes flared with cold fire as his Echoblade hummed, storing divine resonance from the collision. He slashed forward, the blade cutting through the air with devastating force. A radiant shockwave exploded from the impact, sending the creature reeling, its form momentarily disrupted.
The creature shrieked, the golden light flickering around it, but it was far from done. It surged forward again, faster than before, and Jace was forced to retreat as a tendril of golden energy whipped out, narrowly missing him.
"This isn't working," Jace gritted out, his eyes flicking to Eren. He reached out, summoning his divine power, and his arm glowed with radiant chains—Heavenbind. The glowing chains erupted from his arm, wrapping around the creature's limbs and momentarily halting its advance.
But the chains strained under the weight of the creature's power, the glow dimming with every passing second.
Eren watched as Jace's face twisted in concentration, the effort clearly draining him. "Jace, pull back!"
"I can't," Jace spat. "Not until we stop it!" His body was already beginning to tremble, the god within him fighting for control. "I'm holding it… but it's—"
Before he could finish, the creature lunged again, this time with overwhelming force. One of its golden tendrils lashed out, wrapping around Jace's torso like a vice. The moment the tendril touched him, Jace's breath hitched, his body fighting to move.
"Jace!" Eren shouted, rushing forward, but before he could reach him, the creature slammed him back with another strike, sending him crashing to the fractured ground.
Jace's body twitched as the tendril constricted, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The god within him stirred, and for a moment, Eren thought he might lose him.
"No…" Jace muttered, his voice weak. "Don't… let it win…"
Eren's heart clenched. He wasn't losing Jace—not like this. His eyes burned with fury, a cold fire igniting within him. He wasn't going to let this corrupted version of himself take what mattered.
With a roar, he released his power—Godslayer's Rage—a surge of raw strength and destructive force that cracked the sky above them. The very ground beneath them trembled as the air warped around him. His blade gleamed with the energy of shattered realms, and for a moment, time seemed to slow as he gathered his focus.
"Jace!" Eren shouted, his voice thunderous. "Get out of there!"
But the creature, sensing the power rising around them, exploded outward, tendrils of golden divine energy streaking across the sky like lightning. The chains Jace had summoned were shattered, and his body was thrown back, crashing against the fractured earth.
Jace struggled to rise, his body wracked with pain. "I… can't…" He barely managed to get his knees under him, shaking violently. The creature loomed over them, its monstrous form twisting and warping into something even darker, something more dangerous.
But Jace wasn't finished yet. As the creature closed in, Jace's eyes flashed with defiance. He released the last of his energy—Divine Surge—his body bursting with divine power. Strength surged through him, his perception sharpening as time seemed to stretch. Every movement was deliberate and flawless.
He moved faster than the creature could react. His blade cut through the air, each strike landing with precision, cutting through the creature's form with devastating force. The shockwaves of each strike left golden streaks in the air as if reality itself were splitting under the force.
But even with Jace's power in overdrive, the creature fought back, its golden light flickering violently.
Eren's heart raced. The gods were closing in. They didn't have much time.
The ground beneath them cracked wider, a fracture forming, and with one final, coordinated effort, both Eren and Jace launched everything they had into the tear in the realm. Their combined power destabilized the fracture, and as the ground trembled, they pushed through, tumbling into the new realm just as the tear closed behind them.
The golden light of the creature, and the echoes of the gods' whispers, were left behind.
As the fracture sealed, and the roar of divine energy faded, both Eren and Jace stumbled to their feet, panting, but free.
But not for long.
They could feel it—the weight of what was still coming. The gods weren't finished with them yet.
And neither were they.