Chapter 20: The God of War Arises

District Six, Cape Town

District 6 lay in ruins, a graveyard of shattered walls and hollow streets.

 The air carried the acrid bite of smoke, the silence broken only by the creak of collapsing timber and the scuttle of unseen scavengers. 

Jordan and Richard moved carefully through the rubble, their steps light, their senses muted.

 Neither dared to let their Spirit Energy spill—not here, not now. In a city this broken, even the faintest leak could be a beacon for monsters or worse.

Jordan’s eyes lingered on the crumbled row of houses ahead. Her old street. Her old home. 

Memories rose like ghosts—the heat of fire swallowing her, her mother’s scream as she was thrown by the blast, the frantic, unanswered question of where her sister had been that day.

 The edges of those memories burned, fractured, but they pressed on her chest all the same.

Richard noticed the tremor in her gaze.

 He wanted to promise her that it would all be fine, that her mother and sister were still alive. 

But that would be a child’s lie in a world like this. Instead, he reached out and took her hand, steady, grounding.

“One step at a time,” he said quietly.

Jordan turned, managed a small, fragile smile, and nodded.

They moved forward. The house was only a few paces away when the world split open.

A thunderous crack tore through the street, followed by an explosion that ripped the ground apart.

 The shockwave flung them in opposite directions, smashing them into the husks of abandoned buildings. Dust and smoke filled the air, swallowing the street in a choking haze.

From within the cloud, a figure emerged.

 Flames licked across his body—not the warm gold of fire, nor the consuming black Jordan had seen before, but a cold, unnatural blue. It burned without heat, bending the air around it, devouring the smoke.

A voice cut through the chaos, steady and ancient, heavy with recognition.

“Sol & the Witness. At last. After searching for hundreds  of years, and I finally found you.”

Jordan staggered from the wreckage, Spirit Energy igniting around her in defiance.

 Richard emerged from the opposite ruin, his own aura flaring to life.

Richard narrowed his eyes, teeth clenched. “Who the hell are you?”

The man stepped fully into the open, blue fire rippling like a crown across his shoulders. His gaze fixed on them as though they were the only things left in the world.

“Aries,” he said, his name carrying the weight of prophecy and doom.

 

 

Neither Jordan nor Richard understood why he had come for them—but Aries did. He looked at them not as strangers, but as inevitabilities.

 

And then Jordan remembered. A conversation from months ago, whispered warnings in the dark with Megumi and Mr. X.

 

If you’re ever attacked by people—it’ll be the Order of the Gnostics, Mr. X had told them. 

"They’re searching for Richard. He’s the key to breaking the seal. The one that will bring judgment itself."

 

“The Order…” Jordan muttered, the name spilling from her lips before she could stop it.

 

Richard froze. The words struck him like a blade, and his expression twisted into a nervous laugh. 

He could already feel it—the monstrous power radiating from Aries, suffocating, undeniable.

 

“So this is it, huh?” he said, voice low but steady.

Then his Spirit Energy burst outward, transforming into a shimmering silver light.

 His eyes bled into molten silver, his hair and brows shifting to the same metallic sheen, his presence magnified until the air itself seemed to bend around him.

 

Aries tilted his head, sensing the sudden surge. His lips curved into something between a smile and a smirk. “Impressive,” he said. “Let’s see if it will be enough to stop me.”

 

A golden blaze erupted beside Richard, Jordan’s Spirit Energy igniting like a living flame. She stepped forward, eyes hard, fire swirling around her fists.

 

“Don’t forget about me,” she shot back, her voice carrying above the roar of their powers.

 

Aries’ blue fire pulsed brighter in response, like the beat of a war drum.

 

Yihizo Ye Langa, Limpopo.

 

Even across the province, subtle tremors of Spiritual Essence whispered of the clash in District 6.

 The Ten felt it almost instinctively—disturbances in the currents of power that threaded through the land. Within the wide military tent, Christian’s gaze shifted to Luna, reading in her eyes the same tension that had erupted in the south.

The air was tense with the weight of prophecy and war.

 Around the stronghold, AZO troops patrolled the perimeter, rifles slung and Spirit Energy detectors humming faintly, scanning for disturbances. 

Banners marked the martial law imposed by Xulu, whose command stretched across the entire Limpopo province. The land was no longer farmland or village—it was a fortress.

Inside a wide military tent, the Ten convened. The circle felt incomplete—Miloslav absent, and Ava stripped of her seat. 

In her place sat Luna, the newest among them, though the air she carried was far from that of a novice. Cold, sharp, and unreadable, her presence filled the gap Ava had left behind.

Christian stood at the head of the gathering, his posture carrying the authority of his newly appointed rank.

 The title of Number One had once belonged to Ava, but her defiance of AZO leadership had cost her dearly. The weight now sat on his shoulders.

“Listen carefully,” Christian said, his tone even but firm.

 “Our orders are clear. We are the final line. When the Order advances—and they will—it will be us they meet first. Whatever the cost, they cannot, under any circumstance, be allowed to open the seal.”

The words hung in the air like a sentence. Every member present nodded—some with grim determination, others with silent acceptance.

His gaze shifted to Luna. She sat quietly, hands folded, expression carved from ice. Her eyes betrayed no hesitation, only the steadiness of someone who understood the price already.

“Luna,” Christian asked, breaking the silence. “Are you ready?”

She lifted her chin slightly, met his gaze, and gave a single nod. Nothing more. But for the Ten, it was enough.

 They had seen her rise, her unrelenting discipline, the terrifying power she could unleash when pushed. She wasn’t Ava—but in her own way, she was just as vital.

As the meeting adjourned and the Ten stepped into the cool Limpopo dusk, Luna tilted her head to the heavens. The eclipse remained frozen in place, a black wound in the sky that had refused to heal. It was a reminder: time was running short.

A soft hand touched her shoulder. Maya. Her warmth was a small comfort amid the cold reality of war.

“Come on,” Maya said with a gentle smile. “Let’s get some food.”

Luna’s lips curved into the faintest smirk. “I need protein.”

Maya giggled, her laugh light in the heavy night. “You sound like a man when you say that.”

Luna shrugged, eyes still drawn to the shadowed sky. “Then I guess I’ll eat like one too.”

 

The streets of District Six burned with the echo of collapsing buildings. Dust clouded the air, but inside that chaos, Jordan and Richard moved like blades forged from the same fire.

Richard struck first—sharp, direct. Aries tilted his head, letting the punch cut past him like wind.

 Jordan was already there on his blind side, foot arcing in a clean strike toward his ribs. Aries twisted, slipping between them as though their coordination were predictable, inevitable.

“Good,” he muttered, weaving through their rhythm like a predator humouring prey. “But not enough.”

Jordan grit her teeth and lunged again. Richard followed in perfect sync. Strike, pivot, blindside. Aries flowed through their assault, each dodge effortless, his blue flames trailing like mocking afterimages.

Then, with a leap, Aries broke their tempo. He soared above the ruins, blue fire gathering into the shape of a colossal dragon. Its eyes burned, its maw opening wide as the air warped from the heat.

“Blue Flame: Dragon Bomb!” Aries roared.

The dragon descended, shrieking as its form compressed into a blazing warhead.

Jordan froze for a fraction of a second, the sheer heat pressing against her chest—then Richard moved.

“Jordan!” he shouted, throwing himself forward.

 Silver Spirit Energy wrapped him as he planted his feet and spread his arms wide. 

The dragon collided with him, fire clawing, teeth snapping, the world igniting in blue. He absorbed the brunt of it, the shockwave tearing the street apart and throwing Jordan back.

Through the smoke, Jordan’s eyes burned gold. She refused to falter.

Launching upward, she streaked into the air toward Aries. Golden fire wrapped her, her body flaring like a miniature sun.

“Try this!” she shouted.

The blaze erupted in a burst of blinding brilliance. Aries flinched, his vision seared white. He opened his eyes just as he realized—Jordan was gone.

His dragon technique, redirected, surged back toward him.

The explosion that followed swallowed three city blocks, the shockwave flattening ruins into dust.

Silence pressed down after the roar, smoke curling skyward in thick plumes. Out of the haze, Aries’ laughter rumbled. His silhouette emerged, cloak torn but his presence unshaken.

“Well done,” he said, voice rich with approval. “Your teamwork is sharper than most I’ve faced in centuries.”

He raised his hand, blue fire still dancing calmly across his skin. His eyes glowed like molten stars.

“But make no mistake—” His smile was grim, almost pitying. “—you are still hundreds of years away from standing as my equals.”

 

Aries stepped forward- The air thickened, every motion radiating raw killing intent.

He struck first. A jab—simple, unadorned—yet it cracked the street as it landed near Richard, the shockwave sending dust spiralling.

 Jordan darted in, countering, but Aries’ palm caught her strike like it was nothing. He twisted and flung her aside, then was already on Richard.

Each blow fell harder than the last. Richard blocked once, twice, before Aries’ fist slammed into his ribs.

He gasped, silver Spirit Energy shattering like glass. Aries drove a second strike into his gut, and the impact roared like an earthquake. 

Richard was launched like a ragdoll, his body tearing through three buildings before skidding to a bloody halt in the twisted wreckage of the N2 interchange.

“Richard!” Jordan screamed, charging.

But Aries was faster. He caught her mid-sprint, his massive hand wrapping around her throat.

Jordan’s feet kicked uselessly as he lifted her off the ground, squeezing tighter. Her nails dug into his arm, her SE flaring weakly in panic. Her vision blurred, edges blackening, lungs clawing for air.

Her vision blurred, edges blackening, lungs clawing for air. She could hear it again—her mother’s scream, raw and fractured, as the fire swallowed everything. She shouldn’t still remember it. She couldn’t let herself feel it. Not now.

Aries grinned, cruel and calm. His fingers pressed harder, savouring her struggle.

Her eyes fluttered, consciousness slipping—when suddenly, a whisper echoed inside her skull.

Remember.

The word resonated, not from outside, but deep within. Her body convulsed, then ignited.

A surge of pure golden light erupted from her core, consuming her form until she blazed like a living sun.  The radiance blinded Aries, forcing him to recoil. 

She thought of her sister, lost in the chaos of that day, of every unanswered question, every fear that had clung to her like smoke.

 She wouldn’t fail them again—not if this fire was what it took. The radiance blinded Aries, forcing him to recoil.

Then agony.

Her body stood on instinct. Golden light coursed over her skin like armour, her eyes glowing as if they no longer belonged to a mortal girl.

The hand clutching her throat burned away, dissolving in the holy fire as if his flesh had been denied existence itself. Aries stumbled back, clutching the smouldering stump of his wrist, his face twisted not in rage—but in shock.

“You—” His voice wavered, disbelief cracking through his composure. “Impossible… this power…!”

Jordan fell to the ground, coughing violently, but her body stood on instinct. Golden light coursed over her skin like armour, her eyes glowing as if they no longer belonged to a mortal girl.

Aries’ lips curled into something between fear and fascination. For the first time in centuries, the god of war hesitated.