[center]:O![/center] A flood of legionaries stood on the hills of the 13th/14th region border. The verdant road was packed tight with Anak’thas’ soldiers and he himself stood with his elite knights at the fore. It had been too long since he had stepped foot in the 13th realm, his first home, and after today, he was sure he would never have to leave it again. And why would he? It’s his. Looking up at the endless blue sky, he swallowed the vision of his paradise. “My Lord.” The voice of Anak’thas’ most trusted advisor came up from his right. He still didn’t know the man’s name, nor was he interested. The mode of light that served as the gods eye flickered over to the pragmatically armored advisor, only to find him pointing to the horizon. Following his finger, he could see a dark line form in the distance, the ranks of his enemy. “I know…” Anak’thas said, unamused by the assumption that human eyes could have seen them before he. On the other side stood two of the three great dusklander armies, the banners of Hatzur and Daga, curiously the third army, the one they had met the most, the banner of Theodoro, traitor of Node 13 and most often rival of the legion, was nowhere to be seen, an unpleasant wildcard in the great, and final, battle that was to come. Both sides knew of this, as the dusklander cards were also all on the table, for years the battles had dwindled to skirmishes of small groups, but now both sides were so numerous as to clad the horizon with their flowing flags and banners. “I don’t see her,” the advisor said. If Anak’thas had teeth, he would be gritting them. “She will come,” he answered. Raising his arms, he let golden ribbons swirl and circle them, his mighty vambraces of light pulsing with power. “She will have to come.” The magic around him crackled and popped as it grew, the swirling ribbons coming together to form a large ball of golden light that kept growing and growing. Anak’thas’ knights gulped from their powersuits, they could feel the static energy from even behind the god. Sound clapped and with a bang, the orb of destruction launched from Anak’thas and towards his enemy. The shadows grew as the overwhelming light crossed the field, then, they lunged at it, rising from the ground in a single focal point, the goddess of dusk had arrived, dashing against it and stopping its descent. The power was so immense the goddess would be pushed back as she tried to stop it, leaving a trail of dust and torn apart ground as her heels would grind against the ground. The core of her army, supposedly clad in magical unbreakable metals, was forced to open up its ranks and move aside as the simulacrum of a sun dove past them, only held back by small petals of shadow. Ultimately, despite her efforts to keep the angle upward, the sphere of destructive power dove into the ground and exploded into a pillar of flames. The goddess' attempt to stop it did give her army the possibility of avoiding it, but it also meant taking the brunt of the power upon her own body. Not even the most optimistic of Anak’Thas believers however held the hope this would be the end of the shadow witch, soon the pure bright flames, still rising, gained a taint of black as the profane sword Eclipse ate its light away, dwindling into a hellish glow as the shadows crept back on the field, giving the dust raised by the explosion a hellish had. And from that the dark figure of the goddess emerged, she walked as if unharmed, but those who could see her in detail would see that her right side had been seriously wounded, charred jade butterflies falling off in shatters as their protection had failed on that area, scars of burns creep from the arm all the way up to the now blind right eye. Her army was shocked at her state for a good moment, their morale only rising again as she picked up the Eclipse and pointed it towards Anak’Thas, declaring the battle to have started as the men roared, the bells rang and the horns blared. Anak’thas’ own troops rushed forward, peppered with mechanical knights and a few golems that shook the ground. It was a blast of sound when both lines collided, blood being ripped from either side. At the head of it all, Anak’thas commanded a devastating presence, his beams of light sawing through the enemy as he made his way to Dzallitsunya. “Sister! I see you!” His voice was drowning in anger. “It was about time, do you tire of hiding behind your people, brother?” the goddess retorted, her voice much colder. “I tire of seeing you slaughter them, usurper! You and Benea shall pay for your crimes!” The lantern god let out a howling blast of light, the crackling energy cutting above some soldiers and darting towards his new target. Waving the shadow petal, the goddess darted straight to Anak’Thas, diving under the light and rising near the god. “Your dedication to being a fool is unmatched, I gave you many chances to change your path, you wasted all of them. No more, you are blinded by the flame of your own pride and too many were burned by it, today, darkness comes, and all shall be brought under the shadow.” slicing at a few nearby legionnaires, the goddess of dusk tried to make lunge towards Anak’Thas. A golden lattice forced between the two, catching the Goddess’ attack and limiting her direct movement. The light in Anak’thas’ left hand buzzed holding the lattice like a shield, while his right formed a mighty sword. He hefted his sister off his shield of light with a shove and dove after her with his blade. Using her relic, the goddess stopped her apparent fall midway and immediately held her sword up, clasing with the striking blade of Anak’Thas, who clearly held the upper hand in that first strike, however, it was not enough to overpower the goddess, who parried the blade and took a more ready stance. What followed was a clash of the blades of light and darkness as the two traded blows. Over time, Anak’thas managed to pour more of his magic into his weapon, adding fuel to his impressive strikes. Each clash against Eclipse sent shockwaves around the fighting pair, shaking the ground and knocking away any immediate fighters. The battle that raged rang them, not daring to get too close to their heated exchange. As hard as Anak’thas was hitting though, Dzallitsunya was faster and managed to dip and dive between his strikes with grace and ease, only further enraging the lantern god. His powerful strokes started to miss more often, renting the ground and sending shards of rock to the sky. [hr] The battle was truly chaotic as both sides involved had developed much that they had not shown in the skirmishes. Mages of Anak’Thas had grown more powerful and focused, with a wider variety of spells far more adapted to the battle field, their suits too had been adapted and refined, some made bigger and bulkier while others were made light and agile. On the dusklander side, alchemical materials and devices controlled the field, the shower of maelite glass tipped bolts denied the legion the possibility of using lighter troops while the sparkdriver rifles cracked many of the less prepared heavier troops. By now the legion had noticed Mithril in play, and started to single out such soldiers with their magical heavy troops, though the typical tactics of smashing or grabbing and throwing the soldiers far off were ineffective thanks to the impact retardant property of the alchemical material, the legion soon found themselves taking spears of magical ice or halberds from fallen dusklands to instead attack the mithril troops and with them finding better results. This focus of the heavier troops around the dusklander’s elite opened the previously unbroken metal wall of the legion, typically the dusklanders were a slow moving force, so the legion felt safe in such a situation, the mithril clad swordsmen were the main threat. Furthermore, the lighter troops and mages were protected by resonating faith barriers and thus neither crossbow, spark drivers nor silver cannons would be able to harm them. But, under the influence of an eclipse, the field had been dark, the main source of light being the increasing fury of the lantern god and the faint glow of the eclipsed sun, and in that shadowy world a mass of darkness had been waiting, and now it charged towards the light of the legion. As it approached, the first suspicious eyes of footmen clad in boiled leather started to be drawn towards the enemy side, the only hint of it being the dark banners flowing against the purple of the twilight sky. Then the sound of hooves attracted even the most distracted soldiers, and all gasped in shock as fires were lit in the weapons of the enemy, finally revealing what was coming for them. Dark riders in dark horses and raptors, stellasteel morning stars now lit in alchemical fire, the meteor hammer as it would be called, swinging rapidly before clashing against the soft barrier in a barrage of steel and flame. In that chaos, raven masked warriors from node 19 started to dash into battle, dark knives and arrows aiming for none but the forward mages of Anak’Thas. Avian screechs and hoots echoed among the screams of man, as Sally’s Selected, a group of Daman Landers, dove into battle, aiming for the back line of Anak’s faithful, armed with their claws and iron needles in their wings, they expected a quick annihilation of their worst enemies, as the mages’ craft could break apart troop of orichalk and mithril alike, yet soon found themselves countered as guards and archers had been carefully placed among the chanting mages, protecting and countering the harpy’s strike. The breaking of the light troops was the sign the legion needed to no longer hold back either. A loud ring of brass silenced the field for a moment as the three sentinels rose up, ambrosian armors of unequal power, two with flails and the central one with a hammer of war, bringing strikes of such power no armor could hold back, and with a protection so thick the cracks of lightning against the brass did little beyond negligible scarring. Meanwhile, the broken apart mage groups the dusklanders foolishly considered finished proved their zeal one final time, starting to rush against the dusklander troops chanting their final prayers, bringing with them great spells that could freeze the warm blood of man or break the ground apart into flowing lava. [hr] In the heart of the carnage and chaos, the battle had continued, an impasse as the light did not find the speed to cast off the shadows, but the darkness did not find enough strength to blot out the blazing lamp. After one such clash, Anak’thas floated backwards and pushed his lattice outward to cover him. His sword dissolved for a moment as a great orb started to grow in his right hand. A frustrated hum vibrated from his form. “This will be the end.” Having already lost an eye to such a thing, the goddess did not have faith in surviving a second strike, but to move away was to let her own people die, and that she could not do. Her mind raced for a solution, and the first priority was to make sure that should this be her end, then it might as well be the end of her enemy as well. Striking the earth with Eclipse and charging it with her godly power, the goddess summoned from the blade’s own shadow a rose bush, of smoky quartz petals and obsidian thorns. It quickly followed the light of Anak’Thas and clashed with the lattice, a battle between the light consuming petals and the light-given-form ensuing, though a stalemate was all needed for a branch to reach further, attach itself to the flowing cape of the lamp-holder and start to spread from there, obsidian tearing apart all it could touch. Yet, the spells reached its completion, as the goddess knew it would, ironic, that what she faced now was all she reviled so much, the concentration of pride and rage, of unjustified rightfulness and frustration at the world that did not turn around itself. It disgusted her to the core, but it was an old enemy, and that would be her one chance at salvation. She raised her hood over her head and took a running stance, wind starting to be cut apart as she prepared herself with the power of the shadow petal. Anak’thas’ lattice wavered as his left hand turned to a heated knife of light, hacking at the strangling vines only for them to regrow stronger with each cut. He groaned, his right hand still growing in immense power. The lack of concentration kept the light crackling, threatening release at any second. Dzallitsunya kept the power of the shadow petal growing and growing, and finally, she jumped forward, a loud bang and then complete silence as sound itself lagged behind her, her aim holding the cape over her face she dove at immense speed straight towards the very core of the faux-sun. A ball of burning plasma left on the other side, the goddess opening her cape to cast off most flames, though the lingering embers still quickly ate away at Shadow Petal. Right behind her, the orb started to turn on itself after the core damage, starting to implode. In her hand, the goddess held a blade of dark, cold steel with a faint red glow, though her relic was breaking apart, with the last bit of movement manipulation allowed to her, she twirled gracefully and threw the knife which she had used to cut apart the hell of burning light inside the orb with her aim being none other than Anak’Thas true form, the lamp being carried by the wraith. A sickening crash sounded as the blade smashed through the divine glass. Anak’thas’ mote grew wide with surprise and his power faded from his arms. The collapsing ball of energy spasmed for a moment before engulfing him in the deadly light. A loud baritone yell erupted from the god as his own power started to consume him until all at once there was a clapping explosion. The force of the blast knocked Dzallitsunya backwards and blinded onlookers. Through the pink negatives, Anak’thas was gone, all but a crater remained. Above where he stood, the sky bled a sharp red, flashing angrily. Under the angry glare of the sky, the battle started to slow — as if unsure. Murmurs mixed with the wails of the wounded, only to jump with a yell as a black crack slashed across the bleeding sky. At the edge of the crater, the surviving goddess rose up against the carmine sky, coughing and taking inventory of her body, her limbs, her equipment. She still wore the scars sustained in the beginning of the battle, her clothes were left as half-burnt tatters, more shockingly, her trustworthy Shadow Petal was fully torn, having taken most damage from the sun dive. Though she shared a solemn second to mourn the cape, her eyes quickly focused on the black slash on the scarlet sky, questions quickly filling her mind as never before had it lasted so long nor had the black rot spread across it in such a way. The armies around here were stilled by the sight and a budding realization crept up on Dzallitsunya; the lives of all Anak’thas’ surviving followers were now hers to judge. [hr] Above Benea, a crimson sky broke what would otherwise be a boring scene.She stood by the node of the 17th region, her paladins covered in the blood of its vain defenders. In the far distance, her ships crowded the shores, hauling even more soldiers of hers into the region to stabilize it against remaining holdouts. The goddess herself was just patting her own back, congratulating herself on splitting Anak’thas’ attention for her sister Dzallitsunya when the sky broke. Now she was staring up at it with a furrowed brow. Pursing her lips, she let her eyes flicker down to her hand, which was still laid upon the surface of the 17th node. Unlike how it usually was, the node was warmer to the touch — almost hot. Benea let out a long sigh. “Are you waking up already?” “What do you mean?” Jermane peered over her shoulder. Turning to meet his eye, Benea said, “the first signs of the triggering event are upon us, dear.” [hider=might summary] Dzallitsunya Initial Might: 5 3 might: Fantastic entity - The Dark Bloom, a wall of thorny rose bushes that now occupies most of the battlefield where Anak’Thas fell. 2 might: Horizon - A sharp and small throwing blade with the same light eating capabilities of Eclipse. Anak’thas: Nothing spent Benea: nothing spent [/hider] [hider=Summary]Anak’thas pulls up to node 13 for the final battle between him and Tsunya. They both bring the brunt of their armies with them. Tsunya is nowhere to be seen as the battle beings so Anak’thas unleashes a massive destructive ball of light but Tsunya shows up last second to redirect it (but not before taking major injuries, even losing an eye). From there the two gods clash and much of the battlefield is an array of death until finally Tsunya gets the upper hand and eliminates Anak’thas. After his death, the sky turns red and a black crack forms over it. At node 17, Benea just finishes capturing the region to notice the sky as well. This time it’s a permanent fixture in the sky. She remarks that the nodes are also hotter than usual and warns Jermane that the first signs of the triggering event have started. [/hider]