Myridia, 50 light-years from Earth
If Vesta wanted to get rid of Enyo, she could just unleash her most powerful attack: by combining her own divine essence with Hell’s Blood, she can generate as much energy as a supernova… potentially enough to kill even the Goddess of War.
But she has to be very careful when using her power to its full potential: she could accidentally set fire to the entire planet. And her opponent has no such limit: one scream could break Myridia in half.
Vesta’s attempt to tackle Enyo out of orbit has failed. Even if Vesta can temporarily boost her own strength to match her, Enyo has much more experience in being a physical fighter despite being hundreds of thousands of years younger than her aunt.
She grabs Vesta and flies straight towards the ground. She even ignores the dozens of fire duplicates that have been summoned: none of them can reach the same temperature as the real Vesta, certainly not enough to get past Enyo’s invulnerability.
With this trajectory, they will crash through Null City with enough force to flatten it.
Vesta decides to change her strategy.
“Torn, follow my position!” she communicates through her Soul Relay, knowing that such a communication is untraceable by most technology.
Instead of attempting to slow down Enyo, she actually accelerates while simultaneously engulfing both in a cocoon of superheated plasma.
<Have you decided to help me destroy the planet now?> Enyo asks, not understanding her strategy.
The two goddesses don’t reach the ground at terminal velocity: they fly so fast they don’t crash at all. The plasma completely evaporates anything it touches, and Vesta’s control over her flame is so precise that the heat doesn’t extend very far from their bodies.
They essentially slice through the ground like a red-hot knife cutting through butter: rocks can’t slow them down in any meaningful way.
“Get ready to place a portal!” Vesta transmits, hoping Torn can predict her plan: communications through the Soul Relay are faster than the spoken word, but there is precious little time.
Her top speed in a vacuum is the speed of light, but solid rock is something else: she’s only flying a hundred times slower.
Still enough to reach Myridia’s core in about two seconds… and keep going.
There will be multiple earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused by the two goddesses forcing their way through the core of the planet, but that’s mild compared to what Enyo would have done.
Vesta has to put everything she has into this move: she doesn’t tolerate high pressure as well as Enyo, and controlling her fire at this level requires extreme concentration to avoid boiling the planet from the inside out.
But even if slowed down even further by the crushing weight of the planet above her, she persists.
About ten seconds after plunging into the ground, she comes out of the core dragging Enyo with her… and picking up speed again.
“Coming through!” she warns. Two seconds later, she emerges from the ground of the exact other side of the planet compared to Null City.
A flaming comet shoots out of the ground, straight into a portal of Aether.
In orbit above Myridia
As the planet where the rebellion against divine rule started, not to mention the center of the currently illegal Church of Null, the planet has been heavily guarded by several ships ever since Athena took power.
Out of the thousands of officers manning the numerous vessels, only the General in charge of the battalion is aware of Athena’s order to destroy the planet… an Aurochian with first-hand experience with the Vanguard.
General Kamos, hero of the Battle of Alpha Centauri, is the one who ordered the ships to get enough distance from Myridia to avoid getting caught in the destruction.
Sitting on the captain’s chair, he’s the one witnessing a bolt of lightning jump from control panel to officer to control panel to officer, disabling the weapons systems and knocking everyone unconscious.
The electricity is flowing in a completely unnatural way, leading the General to raise both hands.
<You can stop now, Quantum. I surrender.>
The hero looks back into his human form, staring at the large alien sitting on the chair.
<If this is a trick, buddy, I’m not in the mood for…>
<I know better than to have my men fight the Vanguard: I know from first-hand experience that it would be no fight at all.>
<Right. Sorry, do we know each other?>
<I am General Kamos. We met when I was only a Captain in the Athenian Fleet, and I fought side by side Kari Zel during the Abyss incident.>
<Yeah, I remember her mentioning you; she wasn’t really sure you survived. Look, no offense, but all you Minotaurs kind of look alike.>
<I do find that offensive.> the humanoid bull grunts.
<So what’s the deal here? Are you trying to stall me or something?> Quantum asks.
<I know that you could destroy this entire battalion if you wished. And, if what Athena says about Null and her followers is true, you would have done this already.>
<Are you questioning your goddess, Kamos?>
<I find it hard to reconcile her description of Null’s actions and the heroism I witnessed. As well as the order to destroy Myridia… I swore an oath to defend the planets of the Empire, Quantum.
>
<And now you’re wondering if that includes defending them from their empress?>
<There are others that think like me. Not a lot of officers who only served in the Athenian Fleet, but the ones that fought for the Mortal Republic? They are looking for a sign that Null will back them if they rebel against Athena.>
Reading the facial expressions and the body language of an Aurochian is difficult for a human, but everything tells Quantum that Kamos is sincere.
<Noriko will kill me if I’m wrong about this.> he sighs, turning his body partially into photons just long enough to reach for something installed inside his skull… his Soul Relay.
<Take this thing and put it in your ear. Don’t tell anyone we’ve had this conversation and wait for us to call you.> he says to Kamos, while handing over the device.
<You will not regret trusting me, Quantum.>
<You realize I have to zap you now, right? Otherwise, it’ll look suspicious.>
<I understand. Use a high voltage, my people are… well. I am quite large.>
Quantum follows through with the deal, channeling enough electricity into Kamos to quite literally knock out a large bull.
Earth’s solar system
The Destiny-One is flying away from the Sun, already fifty million miles behind it. Even at this distance it should be blindingly bright, but the gigantic body of Cerberus blocks most of its light.
<That is one persistent dog.> Noriko Null comments, staring at the viewscreen that is projecting a view from behind the starship.
<Legendarily so.> Prometheus confirms.
<Surely, we can fly faster than that monster.> Gilgamesh points out.
<Probably, but I want it to chase us… if he can’t hunt us down, he could go back to eating the Sun. Or even Earth itself.>
<We can’t run away forever either. Could this be why Athena unleashed Cerberus? Get you away from Earth for an ambush?> Gilgamesh suggests.
<I don’t think so, not while simultaneously throwing Enyo at Myridia. It’s more likely that her plan is to divide the Vanguard’s attention.>
<If so, her plan is working.> Prometheus admits.
<Yes, but that sounds too much of a short-term plan for Athena’s liking. She prefers all of her plans to have more than a single goal. Which might come to our advantage.>
<How so?>
<Because it leads her to making her plans unnecessarily complicated. I’d rather go straight to the point.> Noriko answers, taking control of the ship’s trajectory.
Making a sharp U-turn, piloting the ship directly towards one of the many open mouths of Cerberus.
Nyktelios, above the galactic plane
This planet has been dead for much longer than any mortal remembers. Isolated from most of the Galaxy by its unusual position, the local Eris cult died off in obscurity.
So there is nobody to witness the cataclysm created by the goddess exiting an Aether portal at incredible speed and crashing into the ground.
Vesta catches her breath in the dust surrounding the impact. Not that she actually needs to breathe… something she can’t do anyway since there is no atmosphere left on Nyktelios… but bringing Enyo here, not to mention changing course at the last second to avoid joining her in the crash, took a considerable amount of effort.
<Good strategy.> Torn congratulates her, coming out of a new portal and speaking through his Soul Relay. Quantum takes human form next to him, breathing thanks to the Survival Field emitted by his belt.
<Guys, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to protect Myridia from…>
<I took care of it. I’ll explain later.> Quantum interrupts her.
Enyo now crawls out of the crater, slowly levitating. Her armor is still completely intact and there isn’t a single scratch on her face.
<You accomplished nothing. You are not strong enough to defeat me.> the Goddess of War boasts.
<Perhaps not alone. But all three? When we’re not holding back?> Vesta asks, with flames surrounding her body. Just like Torn’s is enveloped by an aura of Aether and Quantum’s fists are shining with electricity and high-energy photons.
Enyo hesitates. Vesta is much stronger than she thought, the Demon is wielding energies alien to her, and she knows by personal experience how dangerous Quantum can be.
<I have nothing against you three specifically.> she admits.
<You tried to annihilate our friend’s planet!!!> Vesta reminds her.
<I could have destroyed it with one word. Why do you think your friend had the time to call for help?> Enyo says.
<Then what was this, a trap? You wanted to take us away from Earth?>
<I wanted Null to face me. She owes me one last fight.>
<Why, because she gave you a second chance? She could have killed you like she did with so many others, but she restored your voice! And she gave you a job where you could use your powers for good. Like she did for me!>
<Did she also warp your mind, like she did with mine? Athena told me how Null used her Golden Eyes to rearrange my soul to better serve her.>
<She would never…> Vesta instinctively defends her friend, but pauses to give a look to her teammates. Quantum just shrugs, while Torn solemnly nods.
<Still, that is no reason for you to kill Null!>
<Kill? I need her to fight at my side!> Enyo corrects her.
<Say what?> Quantum exclaims.
<I’m the Goddess of War, but I took an oath to protect the mortals of the Empire. If that means declaring war on the current Empress, so be it.>
<Why couldn’t you say that from the beginning!?>
<Athena has spies everywhere. If she knew what I’m planning to do, she would…>
Enyo suddenly pauses when something traveling too fast even for her reflexes hits her from behind… and a spear of Neutral Matter emerges from her throat.
The Vanguard is shocked to see the weapon fly back to its owner, as Enyo drops on her knees while trying to stop the blood gushing from her severed throat.
<I liked her better when she could barely speak. But if any of you have any suggestions of what fate is deserved by traitors, by all means…>
Athena pauses to wipe the blood of the goddess away from the spear, making sure it doesn’t stain her battle armor.
<… give me some ideas.> she concludes, her eyes burning with divine power.