"Now?" Darla raised her head staring up at Dr'ul, but she could tell at a glance that the goddess ant business, unlike her usual smile she was completely swept up with an air of seriousness, simply glancing her way was enough to make one feel heat as she exuded the personification of warfare and strife.
"I have waited, but with your wedding and departure drawing nigh, I am feeling uneasy; as though this chance may slip from forever." Dr'ul admitted, and Sol nodded and scrunched his nose.
"He is able to traverse the multiverse, you could have fought at any ti in the future..." Ikaris seed more bothered by it than Sol himself was, but he shook his head and stood before the goddess of war with a serious expression.
"No, Ikaris." Sol stared at Dr'ul. "I'll honour my promise and fight her, this was my original goal to begin with, it's ti I closed this chapter of my life, na your setting, na your conditions, the floor and rules as the challenger are yours."
"Very well, system, take care of this." Dr'ul held out her hand to Sol and as she did Sol's system appeared next to him, while a system window from the new system appeared at her side.
"Na your conditions." System stared at the window, and it spoke audibly for the first ti, coming through as the voice of a male.
[As the one who has liberated the gods from the demon scurge in the original universe it is quite obvious that the Godslayer is an unfair match-up, thus, he is forbidden from using said Godslayer abilities, he will instead fight using only his divine powers]
"Accepted, anything else?" System asked again, and the window made a calculative hum.
[All contention between parties have long been abolished and our statuses as allies is concrete one, this match is to be a friendly match between allies; deadly force is encouraged, lethal force is encouraged, but killing the opponent is forbidden-]
"No." Dr'ul shook her head. "I do not dare take this fight lightly, I want to fight to the fullest of my powers, I offer my opponent the chance to do the sa, currently I am suffused with enough strength to shatter this whole dinsion several tis over, I do not want to be taken lightly." Dr'ul stated, and Sol smiled at her taking her hand and initiating a binding vow using their mana.
"When did you grow this powerful?" He asked, and she humd.
"Even the gods have their ways, hero." She answered squeezing his hand, and Ikaris sighed and pressed her palm against her forehead.
"The two of them are more alike than I imagined, if we leave them alone they will fight forever." She clapped her hands with a deadpan and everyone vanished from the dining area.
Outside of the mansion, hundreds of thousands of black harpy-crows took to the skies from the shadows courtesy of the god of birds and the goddess of gossip collaborating. They spread rapidly across D'ol, to the streets and the towns, hills and valleys spreading the news.
"Hear my words, the hero Sol Vestic has returned to Arkadia, the hero has returned and has been challenged to a battle by the queen of the heavens, goddess of war Dr'ul! Prepare yourselves to witness the greatest battle of all ti, the gods will accommodate you all, be at the ready,, settle your affairs by noon today and prepare yourselves for this grand and spectacular event!"
The multitudes of crows landed on every tree, on every rooftop and every post, they visited every farmland and plateau; all of D'ol was set ablaze with the news of this legendary battle, and so at the strike of noon every sentient being was standing out in the open, and just as they had been told, after the first second they all disappeared, leaving the entire moon quiet while the gates of the heavens physically appeared for the first ti in recorded history accomodating them all into an arena the size of a small moon.
***
The great arena was like a colosseum, but so large that the people on one side could only see people on the other side as blurs and squiggly shapes, and there was no middle ground, what laid in the middle was an entirely different galaxy shrunken to the size of the empty space from an alternate dinsion where Sol and Dr'ul would not easily harm anyone, no stars, only a great expanse of connected terrains that covered the entire space, and being fed directly into their minds was the feed of said galaxy via the two systems working to maximise their reach and range effortlessly.
The feed changed to Ikaris; eight bright white wings spread behind her as she wore a white dress befitting her title of goddess finished with the crown the first wore when eting Sol, all eyes were on her as she stood between Sol and Dr'ul with her hand raised, silencing the uproar of the crowds.
"Ladies and gentlen, gods and angels, mortals and immortals, species from all walks of life, I welco you." She smiled at the visible floating eye which observed her.
"Many of you know personallly, many of you may recognise , and so of you are just being made aware of my true identity, but for the sole purpose of this special event, I will introduce myself again." She smiled as the crowds began a loud uproar upon seeing her.
"My na is Ikaris, I am Goddess of Balance and Unity and Queen across all verses, and I will be hosting the duel between our Hero, Sol Vestic the Godslayer, and the Queen of the Arkadian Heavens Dr'ul!"
"All?" Eris asked hushing her child while seated next to Dina, Arla, and then Sara in that sa order on a special platform where only gods were allowed because of their special statuses and connections, on that sa platform were several known faces, along the likes of Sorath the goddess of the sun, Renia, Adonai, Samu'el and S'mael, Ashera, and Ana'e; the goddess of love.
"When it cos to being a big deal, Her and Sol are the biggest." Arla chuckled. "She didn't ntion this but, I see no harm in telling you as her friend.
"She is the direct third and most powerful descendant of light itself which birthed the multiple dinsions, she is the only remaining true primordial god, the Queen of all gods everywhere, and if I am not mistaken, she is also Dr'ul's anscestor." Arla explained, and Eris's mouth dropped as she barely shifted her focus and started seeing Ikaris again finding the information hard to swallow but also believable at the sa ti.
After all, this had been said by Ikaris herself many tis in the past when they thought she was a crazy fangirl for Sol, she had always claid to be the strongest ever, and always had called herself a goddess as well, from the very first eting she had been very forward about who and what she was.
"Is this even a matchup at all, what can a re hero do against the gods themselves?" One spectator asked.
"Did you not see Dr'ul take a knee in thanks to him and call him the strongest on the day of Arkadia's end?" Another responded.
"Also, he is called Godslayer, and that very sa Goddess Ikaris who just said she was queen across all verses is the one who has always boldly called him her master, isn't she?!" The man shook and made comical chopping motions with his hands issuing a dosage of critical thinking to his younger counterpart.
"This sounds impossible-"
"Look at that man!" The older man grabbed the other by the back of his head and aid his face toward the middle of the colosseum and the phenona that resided within it.
"We have been invited to the heavens, the literal heavens, there are gods cheering alongside us all over the place, there is a galaxy before us and the greatest battle we will ever witness about to begin!" He shook the younger man excitedly.
"Everything today is going to be sothing you either fail to grasp or comprehend, it is all impossible, but it is happening!" He laughed, shifting his focus to Ikaris again.
[This is it, the day we have all been awaiting!] Sven; the god of goats exclaid excitedly jumping and punching the air next on the opposite side of Eris causing the healer to stare at him weirdly. [Take revenge for my queen, beat the bastard hahaha!]
"Apparently, there was a rumour amongst the gods that he was the first to suffer at sir's hands on the sa day he arrived, and I do rember him disappearing that night so it alligns quite well." Sara whispered to Arla and the elf burst out laughing.
"How did you acquire such unique knowledge?" She wiped her eyes and looked at Sara, and the maid smiled back.
"The shadows are everywhere, as long as I can perceive the person or place I can go there, I spent a lot of ti travelling throughout D'ol." She answered watching Arla's expression slowly dampen before she smiled and rested her hand on her leg with a smile.
"Never do sothing like that again." Arla warned her. "It is a miracle that you survived without going mad, unless you want to see Master worry himself to death-"
"N-no, never, I swear it!" Sara waved her hands.
"Does either party have any words before the duel begins?" Ikaris turned to Sol and Dr'ul asking.
"None." Sol answered.
"Our battle will do all the talking for us." Dr'ul responded, falling into a stance while Sol who was fully armoured as well summoned his hamr and did the sa.
"Very well, warriors." Ikaris vanished in a flash of golden divine mana.
"You may begin!"
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