When the God Strikes Back

The waiting did not last long.

The Watchers had barely turned their eyes away when the world screamed again.

Not softly.

Not slowly.

But all at once.

The sky tore open like a wound ripped wide by unseen claws. Clouds were shredded into nothing. The air burned. The ground shook so violently that people were thrown from their feet across the land.

Ayon fell hard, gasping.

Ayon:
“No…”
(panicked)
“This feeling…!”

Ajmal’s eyes widened in terror.

Ajmal:
“…He’s back.”

Darkness poured from the裂 sky—not like smoke, not like shadow, but like a living flood. The light of the world bent away from it, afraid to touch it.

A familiar presence crushed down on everything.

Heavy.

Cold.

Merciless.

Narkaal had returned.

But this time—

He was not observing.

He was furious.

The sky split wider, and Narkaal’s true form pushed through violently. No hesitation. No restraint. The massive shape of void and shadow forced itself into reality, tearing the world’s fabric apart.

Mountains cracked instantly.

Oceans roared.

The planet itself cried out.

Narkaal’s voice echoed everywhere, shaking minds and souls.

Narkaal:
“You were spared…”
(pause, filled with rage)
“…and you defied me again.”

The land began to collapse under his presence.

Entire regions started breaking apart, drifting upward like broken pieces of a dying world.

Ajmal shouted.

Ajmal:
“He’s not retreating this time!”
(pause)
“He’s trying to erase the planet itself!”

Alir grabbed her bow, her hands shaking but steady.

Alir:
“Then we stop him.”

Sumit stepped forward, flames bursting violently around him.

Sumit:
“No gods.”
(pause)
“No Watchers.”
(pause)
“No one takes our world.”

Jirsong slammed his fists together, lightning screaming back into his body as if answering his rage.

Jirsong:
“Let him try.”

The Serdihun sisters stood beside Kemp.

Serdihun 1:
“Our healing will not be enough…”

Serdihun 2:
“But our faith will.”

Kemp stepped forward slowly.

The air bent around him again.

Not divine.

Not monstrous.

Human.

Kemp:
“Narkaal.”

The god turned.

The massive dark eye focused fully on Kemp.

Narkaal:
“You persist.”
(pause)
“Then you will end with this world.”

Narkaal raised his hands.

Darkness condensed instantly into massive spheres of void, each one large enough to erase cities.

The planet shook violently.

Ajmal screamed.

Ajmal:
“IF THOSE FALL—!”

They didn’t wait.

Ayon unleashed every remaining ounce of wind he had, forming violent storms that slammed into the dark spheres.

Sumit launched himself upward, flames exploding like a star as he punched through one sphere—only for darkness to swallow his fire.

Sumit screamed in pain.

Jirsong hurled lightning like spears, ripping through the sky.

Alir fired arrows of pure light, each one burning through shadow.

The Serdihun sisters poured everything they had into Kemp.

Serdihun 1:
“Stand!”

Serdihun 2:
“Endure!”

Golden light surged around Kemp—not bright, not overwhelming—focused.

Controlled.

Kemp ran forward.

Straight toward Narkaal.

Every step tore at his body.

Reality screamed with him.

Kemp:
“You tried to end us.”
(pause)
“You failed.”

Narkaal roared.

Narkaal:
“I AM THE END!”

He struck.

A massive wave of void slammed into Kemp, breaking the ground and throwing the heroes back.

Alir hit the ground hard, coughing blood.

Ayon was buried beneath debris.

Jirsong was thrown into a mountain, cracking it apart.

But Kemp—

Kemp kept moving.

He pushed through the darkness, blood streaming from his face.

Kemp:
“This world…”
(pause)
“…chose to live!”

He reached Narkaal.

For the first time—

A human stood within arm’s reach of a god.

Kemp raised his spear.

Golden cracks spread through the sky.

Alir forced herself up.

Alir:
“KEMP—WAIT—!”

She ran.

The Serdihun sisters ran with her.

Serdihun 1:
“If you strike alone—!”

Serdihun 2:
“You will die!”

They reached him.

Alir placed her hand on the spear.

Serdihun 1 placed her hands on Kemp’s chest.

Serdihun 2 placed her hands on the ground.

Their magic connected.

Not power.

Not strength.

Connection.

Kemp felt it.

Kemp:
“…Together.”

Golden light flared—not violently—but deeply.

Narkaal’s eye widened.

Narkaal:
“Impossible—!”

Kemp drove the spear forward.

Straight into Narkaal’s core.

The void screamed.

Reality shattered.

Narkaal roared in agony.

Narkaal:
“YOU DARE—!”

Darkness exploded outward.

The god reacted instinctively.

He reached out—not to attack—

But to escape.

The space around Kemp, Alir, and the Serdihun sisters collapsed inward.

Ajmal screamed.

Ajmal:
“NO—!”

Narkaal’s voice echoed one last time.

Narkaal:
“IF I FALL—”
(pause)
“YOU FALL WITH ME!”

The world folded.

Light vanished.

Sound disappeared.

And Kemp, Alir, Serdihun 1, and Serdihun 2 were torn away from reality.

They fell.

Not downward.

Not upward.

Sideways through existence.

Colors they could not name rushed past them. Worlds flickered and vanished like broken reflections.

Alir screamed.

Serdihun 1 held her hand tightly.

Serdihun 2 screamed prayers through tears.

Kemp tried to reach them.

Kemp:
“HOLD ON—!”

Then—

They hit the ground.

Hard.

Silence followed.

Kemp groaned and opened his eyes.

The sky above him was not his sky.

Two suns burned overhead.

The air felt heavier.

Stranger.

The land was unfamiliar—twisted trees, floating rocks, glowing rivers.

Alir lay nearby, unconscious.

The Serdihun sisters were breathing—but barely.

Kemp forced himself up, pain screaming through his body.

Kemp (whispering):
“…Another world…”

Far away—

Darkness stirred.

Narkaal’s presence still existed here.

Wounded.

But alive.

And this world—

This world was now in danger.

Kemp clenched his fists.

Bleeding.

Broken.

But standing.

Kemp:
“…Then we save this one too.”

Above them, unseen—

The Watchers turned their eyes again.

And this time—

They were no longer neutral.