Seemingly satisfied with having laid Exter low, the figure turned their attention back to the remaining offenders, catching sight of the Astranagant as it began winding up to unleash the most devastating weapon in its arsenal. The figure's brow creased momentarily, sensing... A shift, as it were, in the cosmic winds.
"
Ein Sof... !" He chuckled in recognition;
"
I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!"
https://soundcloud.com/zach-alvarez-6%2Fmick-gordon-inferno
The figure squared their feet, his voice turning to a low, steady roar as a deep, resonating rumble began to spread across the Lunar landscape. Bolts of emerald lightning lashed down from the world-tears above, and from the ZONE below, concentrating on his person, placing it at the heart of growing maelstrom. They rose high into the air, creating a churning, blistering vortex of dimensional energy, with the figure at its center. Forked tendrils of power erupted from its innards, lashing at the surroundings, pulverizing chunks of Lunar rock into atomic dust as deep cracks began to form, the very Lunar landscape shifting beneath the feet of the assembled warriors, giving ways to glowing channels of power that leaked from the growing cracks in the exterior of the ZONE.
As the Sapphiard began to sink, its progress was arrested by the timely arrival of the
Notus - and as it did so, its one remaining arm suddenly reached out, seizing the GunLeon and the Axio both as the ground beneath them caved away into a churning, verdant Hell below. Its features - warped, yet still somehow noble, regarded the two, solemnly. The speakers on the two machines would have crackled to life, and a voice that was only barely recognizable as that of William Exeter's spoke, wetly.
"
Fix... it... Hurry..."
His words... Were slow, halting, and agonizing... Yet, no less full of pride than they had ever been, fueled by a sense of urgency that seeped into his voice, overcoming whatever pain was currently wracking his body:
"
A vision... The Arbiter... ! Grk-! ...In danger...!"
Meanwhile overhead, the stalwart, venerable form of the Giganscudo came driving down towards the figure's mount, bringing one anchor-like arm down with crushing force that would have laid low even the most powerful of Lunar Knights. Its twin-hammer-like blow came down, smashing into the rear of the thing's "chair" - and impacted pure, Dimensional Force, as the thing's D-Fault Barrier struggled briefly against the mighty Super Robot. Eventually... the Gigan's might managed to win out, tearing through to bludgeon away a chunk of the creature's mane, causing it to give a threatening screech in response - yet, there was no further time to contemplate, as the force of the gathering gale would have slung the Giganscudo away from the center of the ZONE like a toy boat in a tempest, not even its gigant form able to anchor it against the gathering storm.
Whatever teams of the
Fenossa remained within the ZONE, they would have found their senses assailed as the entire structure shuddered and groaned, as more power than it was ever designed for was dragged forth from its depths. Readouts flickered crazily, and safety switches blew apart into shattered sparks one after another in a cacophony of destruction.
So it was, in the midst of the storm, the
Infinity Cylinder burst forth... a weapon of such unspeakable power that it was spoken of in hushed tones as the Lunarian's ultimate trump card. A device of such immense, arcane power that blended ancient, kabbalistic ritual and modern tech-science that bordered on soul-rending heresies... That it possessed the ability to outright
erase whatever it touched from the very fabric of reality.
Now having gathered the might of the infinite about himself, the one known as Vynatea brought his palms forward flat, willing the aether to his bidding, with a roar that sent shockwaves traveling across the entire battlefield:
"HAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
In that moment, the god-destroying glimmer of light collided with the emerald barrier - a wall of pure Dimensional Force, drawn from the infinite beyond, manifestation of creation, possibility, and indeed -
will itself. Not for nothing had the scholars of the age noted a similarity between the vaunted powers of the Psychodriver, and the so-called "Sphere Reactors", for both drew from the same well of inner strength that was the essence of the purest power.
The unstoppable force met the immovable wall-
And the effects were both immediate... and dire.
Power of unspeakable magnitude slammed down into the ZONE - and consequently, into the Lunar soil. Whatever safety measures had been in place snapped like brittle toothpicks, helpless before the awe-inspiring tidal wave of pure might that surged through them. Even from Lunar Orbit, it could be seen - veins of green power, spreading out from the ZONE, only to concentrate...
...Where it had all began.
Deep within the darkest, most secretive depths of Luna, a pallid pool sat untouched, its surface silvery and reflective - like a sea of mercury.
Here, the Lunarian Royal Family would make its annual trek, to pray and fast, seeking guidance from the Alabaster Lady.
In it, one could see refracted images of places that had once been, of stories yet untold...
Fragments of "possibility".
How long had it rested there, untouched by the eons, only to be freed when the ES Wave had struck the planetoid?
Had they sought it out... Or had it called out to them?
Regardless - the cave was a place of immense spiritual and cultural import to the people of Luna - one of peace, and tranquility, nestled in the very lowest depths of the Scar...
Until now.
Slowly, the walls began to shake, and veins of green began to appear, shining and shimmering, casting manic light on its tranquil surface. The cracks spread through the rock, through the metal rim, and in the instant that the first of them brushed the lip of the pool...
Its surface suddenly shone with a brilliant, terrible brightness, growing in strength and volume, until it could be contained no longer... Not even by the face of the solemn Goddess overlooking it.
In the distance, in the direction of the Lunar Scar, the prized excavation site of the Kingdom, source of its wealth and prosperity... There came a great radiance, a blinding light. A pillar of energy crested up, over the landscape - impossibly vast, impossibly huge, stretching all the way to the Earth above. In seconds... It was over... Yet the ominousness of the act remained, hanging over the assembled Knights like a dark omen of things to come.
As the smoldering, crackling smoke began to fade, what remained...
Was difficult to describe, by any measure - as each who
perceived the "tear" would do so differently. It lingered, a deeper - more severe cut in the forces that made up the known world, etched into the stars, like a slice of an alien sunrise, a distant, eternal supernova that dangled precariously on the edge of reality. As the power of the
Ein Sof had ground away a chunk of the Dimensional Power, its might had not left the world unscathed.
The Astranagant hovered ahead of the tear, looming over it like a dark angel of annihilation. What had it wrought, by turning the weapons of the Gods on the enemies of man?
...Yet for Derek, the relative harmoniousness of the moment would have been interrupted by a voice in his ear.
"
Surely even you, slave, can appreciate the boundless horizons of the infinite."
There was a sudden flash of light, as
something materialized immediately behind him. Its features curled into a jeweled, menacing grin, lit by the soft daylight of the "tear".