章節 2: Battle at The Holy Temple

"The Father's reign has come to an end. The Scarlet Powers have already surrounded the Holy Temple. Yield, for The Expanse shall now be under the rule of the Morningstar!"

After saying that, the red-winged angels— the Scarlet Powers— unsheathed their swords and uncovered their true purpose; to be prepared to fight against the gods.

"Are you out of your mind, Lucifer?!" Mikael shouted at him in anger. As a warrior angel, Mikael had been closely-tied with Lucifer, the strongest Prince. He recognizes Lucifer more than any of the other princes in his way of doing things.

"As expected, you really do covet Father's Divine Throne." Gabriel sneered. For so long, several feuds had erupted between them two. Gabriel knew that, because of his power, Lucifer would covet the Highest Throne sooner or later.

"Brother, please think this through! You wouldn't be able to fight Father!" Raphiel urged his favorite brother, the one that spoiled him every time they were together.

Lucifer only looked at Raphiel for a moment before shaking his head. "I am not revoking my words. The Expanse will soon be under my rule."

"You fool!" Mikael, now enraged, flew down, unsheathing his longsword, and charged at his rebellious brother. Lucifer, expecting the attack, ducked. At the same time, his hand roughly unsheathed his sword before quickly releasing it, causing the bottom of the handle to fly straight at the stomach of the descending Mikael.

"Agh!"

"You were hit just by that, Brother?" Lucifer smirked at Mikael, "You have grown weak." He taunted mockingly while the greatsword that left his hand flew back to him.

"Enough of your hubris, Lucifer!" Gabriel shouted with authority. As the Prince that gives the will of God, his words have great authority over creation, just below that of God himself.

"Never." Lucifer spat, which shocked Gabriel. No one can disobey the words of God. For Lucifer to resist His authority, it seems that the Rebel Prince is vehement on opposing God.

"Take this!" Mikael, who was at the side, then flew to charge at the archenemy of all existence as he raised his longsword to slash at him.

Facing such an attack from a Prince of Creation, Lucifer just smirked and raised the greatsword on his right hand and swung forcefully, sending the Prince flying back.

Above, Raphiel was forced to fly down and assist in the fight against his brother, but with his wooden staff, it was to no avail. Even by combining their strengths, the Princes stood no chance against their old brother.

Seeing as how the Princes that they feared were being thrashed, a great number of lesser divinities began cheering for Lucifer, whom they have known from the ancient era as the greatest and most powerful of the Princes that was sent to the farthest borders of Existence to protect all of creation from the baneful and vile Inexistence that stands to destroy all that exists together with his most loyal compatriots.

They were sentenced there to die, as the other lesser gods of the Expanse believed it to be, but it seems that instead, he just became even more powerful.

Outside, the other Scarlet Powers have also began suppressing the angels that had not agreed to Lucifer's rule. Despite the Eldritch still not reaching the Holy Temple, chaos had already befallen unto God's Dominion. The once towering crystalline pillars soon fell, floating across the abyss of space as the battle between the two sides exploded in such a terrifying magnitude.

Inside the Holy Temple, the gods and divinities were soon split into two factions— those that supported Lucifer and those that stayed loyal to the Zenithal and the Holy Princes.

A war broke out within the Temple's sacred grounds. Lucifer was surrounded by the Princes of Creation whilst the Loyalist Faction fended off the rebels. Even some of the divinities that once were part of the Loyalists gradually sided with the Rebels.

The Scarlet Powers, having the advantage of being adept in battles, slaughtered their way at the divinities without fear of getting killed.

The Temple was embroiled in chaos, all the while the Crystal Gates stayed silent.

Soon, many of the divinities of the Loyalists perished under the joint assault of the Rebels. It seemed like the Loyalists was nearing their demise.

Suddenly…

Creak!

Everyone's souls tensed up as the sound of the opening of a gate reverberated throughout the Temple. Even the Scarlet Powers who had no fear as of now have stopped their movement.

Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!

The sound of clacking footsteps echoed all around the silent Temple. No one even dared to breathe.

No one could gaze at the opened Crystal Gate. It was as if gazing at it would kill even the most powerful of beings.

"Lucifer, my child, go back. I do not want to put any more burden upon your shoulders." A deep, resounding, profound, and authoritative voice stated slowly.

"D-Don't kid me, F-Father." Lucifer, despite his vast might, still could not fight against the true voice of God.

"Hmm…" Everyone within the room felt disappointment within that humm.

"Hear me, loyal servants." The voice beyond the Crystal Gate called, "Slaughter them all like pigs in a slaughterhouse." As expected, the cold and indifferent voice of the Zenithal declared soon enough.

The Loyalists, like crazed men injected with stimulants, charged at the rebels with an unstoppable force. Powered by God's Might, their strength has increased tenfold, maybe even more. Soon, the Scarlet Powers began to be annihilated.

Having lost their powerful "ally", the rebel gods started losing a significant amount of their forces. They gradually fell back, exiting the Temple frantically.

As for Lucifer, he was still being pinned down by the other Princes. Gabriel, armed with the Great Father's Will, became even stronger than before.

"Kraagh! This is impossible!" Lucifer screamed manically as he started to strain himself from fending off the attacks that were previously just insignificant antics for him.

With a surprising move, The Prince Mikael appeared behind Lucifer and finally dealt the last blow as he swung a great flaming sword that was now being held by him.

With a slash, the great Lucifer's flawless back now had a huge sword wound. Usually, such a wound would heal up in just seconds, but without the favor of the Zenithal, and with the sword armed with the Primordial Fire, it would be nigh impossible for it to heal.