Amidst his movements through the sky, zipping as electricity, Jotham found himself constantly shing at iing bolts, deflecting multiple every second as it seemed to be an endless assault.


    It was bing increasingly harder to keep up with Sirius as the assault from every direction hindered his movements.


    ''--Everything. I have to maximize everything right now, if I hope to catch him–I can''t worry about what happens to my body afterwards,'' Jotham resolved.


    From all directions, dragons born of the storm soared at him at the behest of their god. Every muscle in his body pushed to the maximum, surpassing human limits. In a matter of a single moment, he underwent a split-second adaptation that would take one decades of training.


    He moved through the air with tenfold speed, passing by the bolts as he immediately confronted the enemy.


    The sheer quickness in which he met Sirius seemed to catch even the god by surprise as Jotham brought his de down with impunity. Still quick to react, Sirius moved his body out of the way, though Jotham immediately flickered as a bolt.


    ''A feint–?'' Sirius realized.


    With the lord''s back to him, Jotham followed up with a true strike, bringing his de forth, though, once again, Sirius spun around, only a moment toote–


    Across the chest of the God of Heroes, the sh permeated itself. In that split-second, faster than the blink of an eye, Sirius was surprised by the attacknding. That reaction allowed for the follow-up; Jotham unleashed further attacks, using sparks of electricity to empower each swing.


    ''I''ve broken through–I''ve found it!'' Jotham celebrated, not letting up.


    –However, amidst that rise of confidence, the yer found his next sh having no effect as it dragged across the scaled armor. What was once effective no more than a second prior was absolutely futile now.


    ''What? It''s not harming–?'' Jotham thought.


    Before he could figure out the strange phenomena, he was intercepted by a sh erupting against him. Sirius rocketed straight up, pushing against him as a rising thunderbolt that left Jotham no choice but to be carried along.


    Jotham could do nothing but struggle as the sheer force drove upward, carrying him through the dense, moist clouds. It was difficult to breathe; no, inhaling any oxygen was an impossible feat as the ascending god pressed his fist against his sternum.


    "Grrrh!--" Jotham struggled for a breath.


    The rapid rise came to an end as Sirius pushed him off his fist, bringing them both at the summit of the shattering world, overlooked by the shade of the cosmos.


    "You want to y as a god, do you?" Sirius challenged with an excited tone, exuding a thrilling voltage. "--Let me show you what that really looks like, then!"


    What was born from the surging confidence of the God of Heroes was a conjuration made of magenta light; a knight in the sky, taller than the greatest of giants, wielding an ethereal de that dragged through the clouds like mere puffs of smoke.


    It mimicked the movements of Sirius, who piloted the colossal construct with a swipe of his hand:


    [The de of The Sky]


    It was a sight to those below that ryed only despair, seeing the magenta sword, capable of cleaving mountains, cutting across the horizon.


    Jotham ced his arms in front of his body, forcing his skin to harden and his muscles to tighten to their utmost in an attempt to defend himself at the downfall of the sky-rending de. As the cmitous force made contact with his body, all of the wind was siphoned from his lungs.


    Immediately, it felt to Jotham as if his arms were being sundered by boundless voltage, cut into by a peerless de, struck by a million ton hammer. All of it brought his limbs to their threshold before he was batted down like a fly from the sky.


    "Nnngrh!--"


    Jotham found himself descending with vicious velocity, unable to halt his own fall as he spun around wildly.


    "Shit!--" Finn called out, watching the yer drop past the ss structure, dipping beneath the clouds.


    There was no time for the assassin to worry about the others as he was confronted himself by the ominous goblin, having to step back as wild swings of its rusty de came for him.


    –


    It was a matter of seconds, descending tens of thousands of feet with lethal momentum before crashing against the peak of a mountain did Jotham''s falle to an end. The collision with the jagged tower of stone brought it to crack at the base as a cloud of dust descended from its top.


    Jotham emerged from the crater ced into the peak with an emotionless expression, bearing wounds that looked as though he fell down a flight of stairs instead of crashing from the world''s summit.


    ''Only because of Zeus did that attack not blow my body away. Shrouding myself in lightning reduced the effectiveness of his own element, though…I am not unscathed. That took a lot out of my body,'' Jotham analyzed his own state.


    Looking up towards the sky, it was almost too high to see, though he could make out through the emergence of storming clouds the magenta lightning that fulminated. While it was his top priority to get back into the action, the yer considered the peculiar phenomena he experienced against the deity.


    ''My de…I cut him before, but a few secondster, my shes had no effect. It wasn''t the result of his armor toughening up–I would''ve felt my sword be rejected. Rather, the sensation was as if my de didn''t even register to him,'' Jotham considered.


    –


    At the world''s summit atop the vast structure of ss as a kingdom of clouds shaped into towers and pces around them, Finn moved himself as the goblin pressured him with relentless attacks. It had be utter chaos; the cmities unleashed by Sirius ruined any unity from the survivors, splitting all of them up as fire and lightning rained down.


    Nheless, Finn found himself pressed by what appeared to be no more than a simple goblin. That, however, was only at a nce. Its rapid strikes and matching agility kept the assassin on his toes, with each movement of its deteriorated weapon causing the air to hiss.


    ''In terms of physical abilities, it''s realms above an average goblin. Its level definitely isn''t a lie–a direct hit to the vitals, and I''ll be done for. But, that''s not the problem here…'' Finn considered.


    While he found many openings he could counter with, he hesitated from doing so for one good reason: scattered through the battlefield of ss and clouds, multiple clones of the goblin attacked other survivors.


    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman with brte hair, dual-wielding longswords as she dodged a strike from one of the doppelganger fiends and retaliated–


    [Name: Hanna] [Designated ss: Twinde] [Level: 45]


    "Don''t attack it!" Finn shouted.


    –It was toote as the dual wielder cut the right hand of the green-skinned monster off easily, though it only spurred an ear-to-ear grin from the fiend. From the hand that was sliced off, the flesh bubbled and extended, sprouting another goblin from the amputated body part.


    Just like that, another had entered the battlefield–


    [BOSS Identified: "Goblin"] [Level: 76]


    It was an increasingly worrisome foe as the number became increasingly more overwhelming. As one of the goblin copies pressed him with wild strikes, the best he could do in response was deliver a kick to the short fiend''s chest–


    "Bruuah!--" The goblin spat out, being knocked back before flipping around onto its feet.


    It was quick to immediately lunge at him with rapid swings of its de. He sidestepped it, only to find the goblin jumping up as it snapped its teeth for his neck.


    The jaws came close, though he leaned away, responding with a quick kick, only for the goblin to duck beneath.


    A quick sh of its de forced the assassin to flip back, avoiding the smiling fiend''s weapon.


    ''It''s a real pain in the ass. Not only is it virtually unkible, it''s way too aggressive. I''d like to focus on Sirius, but this thing won''t let me,'' Finn thought.


    For the others, it was proving just as troublesome—


    A man of golden-brown skin and wild, dark hair waved his ming sword around to deter the wild goblin that came at him, though it hardly helped.


    "I''d like to take this thing''s head off, right about now!" Paoloined.


    [Name: Paolo] [Designated ss: Spellde] [Level: 42]


    Shooting off arrows to keep one goblin at bay, the hectic archer called out, "Don''t think about it! I''m not dealing with anymore of these things—!"


    [Name: Orion] [Designated ss: Archer] [Level: 43]


    It was bing a clear issue to Finn that the stress of the goblins might force others to attack, even if they know it''s a bad choice. Once again, the sky trembled as the fractures etched into it stretched further–the time left for the world was expiring further.


    Amidst Finn''s game of evasion with the goblin, he witnessed a bolt of magenta lightning crash in the near distance, finding Sirius returning to the ss structure. With the limited time on his mind, the assassin delivered a kick to the unkible goblin to move it out of the way, immediately stepping towards the God of Heroes.


    However, somebody else confronted Sirius before he could reach him–


    "Yo! Are you done ying chicken in the sky and ready to fight like a man?"