Gareth fell.
His body descended through the air cutting through the rain, piercing the wind, crashing into a ship wreck below. The impact shattered the wood, scattered the debris, shook the vessel to its core. He lay there for a moment, his breath heavy, his heart pounding, his mind reeling.
He said to himself, his inner voice quiet, almost tired.
I need to finish things up. He pushed himself up, his body aching, his muscles screaming, his will flickering. I'm feeling somehow. Right now, I think it's another side effect of malice.
He looked at his hands at the darkness that still clung to them, the power that still flowed through them.
It's giving me the feeling of throwing up. He pressed a hand to his stomach. And my entire body is slowing down. I think this power burns something for it to continue to grow.
Darlington heard him and smiled.
Burns something. He thought, his inner voice sharp with understanding. Oh, I think I know what that is.
He paused.
It's probably the same reason why that fool Lancelot could not control it.
He spoke to Gareth, his voice smooth and calculating.
"Okay, but I want to do it in a way that will create more impact of you into the people." He paused. "People do not like an all-powerful figure that they cannot touch."
His voice hardened.
"It's the reason why most do not believe in certain religions." He paused. "They want a god that they can touch, and something that can touch them."
He raised his hand.
"To make this so, you must fall into their hands." He smiled. "And at that moment, a bond greater than that of brotherhood can be formed."
He clenched his fist hard.
"When such a bond is formed, they can lay their lives for you." His voice dropped. "They can become allies on a level where they can even betray their nation just for you."
Gareth said to himself, his inner voice quiet, almost amused.
This god he's similar to me.
He smiled.
Huh. I love that. If it was any different, working together would have been hard.
Darlington spoke again.
"I need you to create an attack." His voice hardened. "Like a flying star that will crash into the world, clearing away all the enemies from our sight."
He paused.
"The darkness that devours all that is not in the presence of the sun."
Gareth understood.
He ran back to the crater on the sea that he had created. His feet pounded against the water, his body moving with a speed that defied physics, his will absolute. He jumped into it, descending into the depths, falling toward the darkness below.
He saw the man marked with the X on his face on top of a rock, his body bloodied, his face determined. He ignored them because it was not yet time. He used the monster with multiple tentacles, cutting it into two, and then used the energy that came from that explosion to launch himself into the sky, boosting his speed even more.
It felt like he was burning.
The air screamed past him. The rain lashed against him. The heat built inside him, threatening to consume him. He held the spear in his hand its shaft glowing, its blade blazing, its power absolute.
He saw a greater horizon.
He put his entire power into the spear.
And he launched it with full force.
The spear shot through the sky streaking like a star, shining like a sun, falling like a judgment. The entire battle in the sea was stopped as he threw it. He released a wave of pure intent across the entire sea, breaking the will of every single person who felt it.
One of the British navy generals who was holding a pirate by the neck stuttered. His mouth opened, but no words came. His eyes widened. His heart stopped.
He could not say anything apart from one word.
"God."
The spear landed.
BOOM!
The impact created a great explosion more than ever a blast of darkness and light that devoured everything in its path. It boiled the sea, killed all the monsters in that area, wiped out both navy men and pirates, along with the Aztec warriors.
The attack wiped out 200,000 pirate and navy vessels.
The sea shook. The sky cracked. The world seemed to end.
And then, after landing the attack, he fell from that height.
His body dropped from the sky a broken, broken form, falling toward the water below. The weight of carrying Lancelot on his back was now something he felt more than ever. It dragged him down, pulled him under, consumed him.
He crashed into a vessel.
His body slammed against the wood shattering the deck, scattering the debris, shaking the ship. He lay there, his eyes closing, his breath slowing, his heart calming.
For the very first time in a long time, Gareth felt something he had not felt in life and even in death.
He felt rest.
He closed his eyes.
And he slept.
in the space between the exhaustion and the peace, between the darkness that had consumed him and the rest that awaited him.
Gareth slept.
The sea quieted.
And the storm began to fade.