The battlefield trembled as if the earth itself feared what was coming.
Selene's vow—I'll break the sky—was not just words. It was a pulse, a shockwave, a defiance that rippled through the chains overhead.
The divine links rattled like serpents struck by fire, each one pulsing with celestial wrath. From them descended more monstrosities, each larger, heavier, and hungrier than the last. Wolf-shapes with wings of flame. Serpents woven from moonlight. Giants whose steps crushed the ground into craters.
But Selene did not retreat. Her body was breaking—blood streamed from her nose, her eyes bled white light, her skin tore with every movement—but she rose.
Kael's hand slipped from hers as he collapsed to one knee, coughing blood. "Selene—don't—"
Her glare silenced him. Her voice was hoarse but unshakable.
"They'll never stop. Not until they've bound me. Not until they've silenced us. But I… was never born to be silenced."
The nearest beast lunged—a wolf with three heads, its fangs dripping molten silver. Selene moved faster than thought, her sword a blur of violet fire as it cleaved through two of its necks in a single strike. Blood that wasn't blood splashed the ground, sizzling like acid.
The pack roared, renewed. If their Alpha could slay gods' children, then so could they. Wolves in human and half-shifted form hurled themselves into the swarm, teeth and steel flashing. Each howl was a declaration: they would not bow.
The chains shrieked louder.
A voice thundered down, shaking the bones of all who heard:
"YOU CANNOT WIN. YOU WERE CHOSEN TO FALL."
Selene threw her head back and howled, the sound ripping the clouds themselves. Her howl wasn't submission—it was defiance, hunger, fury. It collided with the godvoice, splitting it into echoes.
Her body glowed, the blood in her veins becoming silver fire, veins bursting under the pressure. But instead of collapsing, she drove her sword into the ground. Cracks spiderwebbed outward, glowing violet.
"Then let the sky fall with me."
The battlefield split. Chasms tore open, swallowing beasts whole. The air itself warped, as though reality struggled to contain her will.
Kael staggered back to his feet, staring at her with awe and terror. "Selene… you're tearing the world apart."
Her smile was feral, teeth bloodstained. "Good."
She ripped her sword free.
The chains above convulsed. Some snapped—clean, ringing like bells of war. From their broken ends, silver sparks rained like stars. Each snap shook the heavens, forcing the divine beasts to hesitate, falter, fear.
For the first time, the gods' creations looked uncertain.
Selene strode forward, every step shaking the ground. A serpent made of pure moonlight reared to strike her, its jaws wider than a house. She didn't dodge. She drove her blade upward, splitting its head in half, bathing herself in a torrent of white fire that scorched her flesh raw.
She didn't stop.
Kael dragged himself to her side again, his body a ruin of blood and broken bones. His hand touched her back, steadying himself as much as steadying her. His whisper was cracked, almost reverent.
"Don't burn yourself out, Selene…"
Her voice was steel. "If fire is what it takes to burn the gods, then let me be the inferno."
The horned beast she'd slain earlier began to rise again, its shattered skull reforming, divine power forcing it back into existence. But Selene turned, eyes blazing with violet fury, and screamed. The sound wasn't human—it was something older, wilder, a howl that belonged to the first wolf who had ever defied the night.
The beast froze.
The chains faltered.
And then—snap.
One of the largest links shattered completely, the sound echoing across the battlefield like the toll of a funeral bell.
The gods screamed in unison, their voice a chorus of rage.
"ENOUGH."
The sky itself split open. Not clouds—the sky. A tear in the fabric of heaven widened above them, blinding light pouring through. Figures stirred in that light, silhouettes of giants crowned in fire, wings spanning continents. The true gods were stirring.
Selene raised her sword, her body trembling, on the edge of collapse. But her eyes never wavered.
"Then come down here yourselves."
The battlefield went silent. The pack looked up with wide eyes. Kael's chest heaved, his breath ragged, but his smile was savage.
"Selene…" he whispered, "…you just declared war on the heavens."
And Selene lifted her blade higher, pointing it at the rift in the sky.
"Let them bleed like we do."
The gods roared. The chains writhed. And the heavens began to descend.