In the abandoned city. An explosion resounded and was followed by buildings crumbling. Sora popped up on top of an apartment complex. He vanished the next second. The building exploded. Renatus appeared on the rubble.

“Tsk. This guy is faster than I expected. Could he be as fast as Rin?... There’s no way, right?”

He snapped his fingers and alchemic sigils appeared on the rubble. The rubble floated around him. Meanwhile, Sora reappeared on a building hundreds of meters away. His ear twitched as a particular sound reached it.

“Fuck!”

He turned and ran. A deafening sound reverberated. A giant spear pierced through buildings and chased after him. Sora increased his speed to create some distance. He glanced behind him. There he saw Renatus on top of the spear.

“If he’s fast, then I’ll use alchemy to be faster.”

He spread his arms. Alchemic sigils appeared on the rubble around him. The rubble rose in the air and formed gigantic weapons like hammers, clubs, and swords.

“The fuck?!”

Sora’s eyes were popping out of his head. Renatus clasped his hands and the giant weapons flew at him. Sora increased his speed again but the weapons were hot on his tail. Unable to outrun them he chose to evade. He zigzagged and avoided them and the destruction they caused. He leaped and spun in the air, facing Renatus while upside down.

“Sonic Cannon!”

He released a concentrated blast of sound and destroyed the spear Renatus was riding. His body flickered. He reappeared in front of the falling Renatus. He thrust his palm out. Renatus did the same. A thunderclap formed between them and blasted them away. Sora twisted in the air and landed on the ground. The earth liquified and he sunk.

“?!”

Renatus appeared above him. He swung his hand down and lightning bolts fell from the sky and hit Sora. Renatus moved his hands and gathered dust around him. The air became thin.

“Did you know? Under the right conditions, dust particles can combust.”

He snapped his fingers. Explosions erupted and swallowed the area Sora was in. The destruction spread for hundreds of meters before stopping. When it faded, a crater that size was left behind.

“I should’ve at least destroyed his emblem with that.”

Yet, the announcement never came. A shadow rose out of the crater.

“What the?”

Something flew out of the shadow and landed on a rooftop. His skin and hair were ash-gray, his eyes were black, he was surrounded by a gloomy aura, and had black tear stains on his face. This was Sora who had activated his Requiem De Orpheus.

“What a strange form.”

(To think I would be forced to enter this form already. His firepower and techniques are insane for a guy who doesn’t train…Miko’s generation really is no joke.)

“What kind of form is that? It’s pretty sinister-looking.”

“Requiem De Orpheus. It’s something Sora created after being inspired by Orpheus’ tale. It uses the properties of sound and darkness. Sora loses his speed but he gains a wide variety of attacks in exchange.”

Momo answered Karim’s question.

“So he opted firepower for speed against Renatus, who pretty much can manipulate the world around him. Not a bad decision. Let’s see how it plays out.”

“Death Orchestra!”

Dozens of giant black instruments suddenly appeared behind Sora and set up like an orchestra.

“Trumpets!”

Responding to Sora's call, several trumpets appeared in front of him.

“Play for me!”

The trumpets released a deafening blast of sound as if they were being played by invisible Giants. Renatus was hit by this blast and forced away along with the debris. A sigil appeared behind his back and stabilized him. He snapped his fingers and debris halted in the air. He waved his hand to the right. All concrete was stripped leaving metal behind. The metal morphed into bullets and started spinning. Sora appeared above him with a tuba behind him.

“Tuba!”

An overwhelming burst of sound fell on Renatus. He waved his hand above him and concrete formed a wall above him. The ground liquified and swallowed him. The concrete wall was instantly obliterated. A hole opened up in the earth creating an abyss.

“Whew~! Talk about firepower. He leveled up again.”

Alec smirked.

“But is that enough?”

The earth became animated. It formed into giant hands and rushed at Sora.

“Cello!”

Dozens of cello appeared around him. They moved and a sharp sound resounded. The hands were sliced to pieces.

“So different instrument types have different abilities. But…”

Renatus fell out of one of the earth pieces. The bullets floating around him. He snapped his finger with a swing. The bullets flew and pierced through Sora.

“Ugh?!”

He fell out of the sky and hit the ground. He rolled on the ground and avoided bullets that rained down from above. He sprung to his feet. The holes in his body were sealed by darkness. Renatus clasped his hand in front of him. A giant sigil appeared above him. The temperature fell. Frost appeared on the buildings and ground. Sora’s eyes widened as something emerge from the sigil. It was an iceberg. It cast a shadow that stretched for at least a kilometer.

“Son of a-”

The iceberg fell from the sky like a meteor. A tuba appeared in front of him.

“Play!”

A burst of sound blast him away. The iceberg hit the ground and shook the city to its core. Sora ended up just outside of its range. While he was flying through the air-

“Not yet.”

Renatus snapped his fingers. Sora noticed movements in the dust. Giant shards of ice flew out chasing after him. He clicked his tongue as his feet skid on the ground. He pulled a metal orb and squeezed it. A spear appeared in his hand.

(I can’t keep spamming Death Orchestra. I’ll end up using all my power and become vulnerable.)

He spun the spear and destroyed the shards. A shadow cast over him again. He looked up and his jaw hit the ground. There was another, no three icebergs the same size as the one before. All falling towards him.

“Oh, come on!”

He broke out in a sprint. The icebergs fell one after the other causing catastrophic destruction. Buildings crumbled and craters opened up in the earth.

“….Damn, a serious Renatus is terrifying.”

“Is that Sora kid gonna be okay?”

“Does he even stand a chance?”

A thump resounded through the stadium. This heavy but sharp sound drew everyone’s attention. Another thump resounded. It was followed by more thumps. The rate of thumps increased. These thumps reached Renatus’s ears.

“Are those drums?”

Sora popped up beside him. Renatus turned his head to him. A kick forced that head back in the opposite direction. His body twisted in the air. Several cellos surrounded him. A sharp sound reverberated. Cuts appeared all over Renatus’s body.

“Ugh?!”

Sora lunged at him and thrust his spear. Renatus blinked and sigils appeared in his eyes. The space between them exploded. Sora was blown back. Renatus lifted his hand overhead and swung it down. Icebergs half the sizes of the ones before rained down on him. Drums appeared behind Sora. The thumping sped up. His body flickered. The icebergs shattered in instant.

“Wha—?!”

A sharp pain appeared in Renatus’s stomach. He looked down and Sora’s spear was piercing him.

(How?!)

Sound exploded inside his body causing it to dance on the spear. Blood flowed out of his mouth, nose, and eyes.

“He made comeback?!”

“The sounds of those drums seemed to increased his power and made him stronger.”

“An adrenaline rush.”

Alec smiled despite his brother’s situation.

“He used the power of music to his advantage….What are you going to do, Ren?”

Renatus grabbed the spear and locked eyes with Sora.

“Don’t underestimate alchemy, punk!”

His eyes turned into sigils. They spun. Sigils appeared on Sora’s spear and arms.

“?!”

Renatus smirked.

“Kaboom.”

An explosion erupted. Sora’s spear burst into pieces. His arms were burnt, twisted, and dangling at his side. He fell out of the sky but glared at Renatus as he did.

“You bastard…!”

Sora gritted his teeth. Renatus laughed as fragments of the spear slid out of his body and fell to the ground along with Sora. Renatus stayed afloat on a sigil.

“Unfortunately for you, this body was built to be able to repair itself. So all your hard work was wasted.”

He snapped his fingers. Dozens of sigils surrounded Sora as he fell.

“Sayonara.”

An enormous explosion erupted. It devoured Sora and three buildings close by.

“That should do it…Huh?”

A shadow cast over Renatus causing him to look up. His eyes widened at the sight of a giant organ above him. On the ground, Sora smirked while laying in a crater.

“Get rekt, bitch!”

The organ released a thundering blast of sound. It hit Renatus and flung him towards the earth. He crashed into a building. That building was instantly flattened. Renatus was embedded into the ground. His organs and bones screamed out in pain. His brain rattled in his skull. His vision was dyed red as blood flowed from his eyes. He opened his mouth to scream but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the earth imploding.

“Renatus!”

Kirika stood up and held onto the railing in front of her.

“Hahahaha!”

For some reason, Sora’s laugh could be heard despite the deafening sound the organ produced. This laugh along with the scene of Renatus being forced deeper and deeper into the earth sent a chill up everyone’s spine.

“Shit, Sora’s lost it.”

Momo held her head.

“In a lot of ways, an outta control Sora is worse than an outta control Miko.”

“Y-You son of a bitch!”

Renatus lifted his fingers and snapped them. They were crushed an instant later. However, that was enough. The ground liquified and he sunk into the earth. He reappeared outside of the organ range after crawling out of the quicksand-like earth like a worm.

“That...That fucker!”

“Dammit. Renatus snapped too.”

Renatus dragged himself to his feet.

“I’m going to kill him!”

Sigils appeared all over his body. He looked up and saw Sora standing some distance away from him.

“Oh, you’re still alive.”

Sora grinned.

“Good. Then, I can kill you myself.”

“Yup. He’s snapped.”

Renatus burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry. I’ll smash that delusion of yours as brutally as possible.”

“Ren definitely snapped.”

The two looked at each other and laughed. They then glared at each other in silence. The sigils on Renatus’s body lit up and started to spin. Sora’s eyes became red and a white musical note appeared in them. Renatus took a step forward.

“Alchemic Overdrive.”

His clothes burst apart. His skin lit up and he turned into a white silhouette. His hair rose and turned a luminous white. The sigils turned red and appeared on his skin one by one. The air trembled and the earth shook as debris floated in the air. Buildings were uprooted as well.

“I’m going to destroy you.”

Sora returned to his normal form. The Apostle Crest on his busted-up hand lit up.

“Guess I finally get to use the second form I developed with Aeon.”

He started illuminating. His golden hair grew and flowed down to his back. His body grew taller and muscular. His clothes disappeared and were replaced with a gold and white toga with his torso bare. Golden sandals appeared on his feet. Golden armlets on his arms. A sun tattoo appeared on his back while twin revolvers appeared over his chest.

“……..”

Sora took a step forward and a sun opened up behind him.

“?!”

Many people sprung to their feet. This included the leaders of the three clans and their guardians.

“What the hell…Did that kid just become a godkin?!”

Sophia turned to Alec for answers. Her eyes widened. Alec stood there with a dumbfounded expression. His lips trembled and his eyes quivered.

“I don’t sense a single human presence from him….It’s like I’m looking at a pureblood godkin…How?”

He placed his hand on his chin.

“Even if he used Tiamat’s powers that shouldn’t be possible. And yet…”

He turned to Momo.

“Even if you look at me…”

“You can’t tell you don’t know. He’s an Apostle like you. Miko’s Apostle.”

“….Alright. Ace, Sora, and Hina seem to be linked to New Era. In fact, we believe that they were raised by one of its leaders.”

Everyone except Alec and Kirika showed shock.

“You knew.”

Alec nodded.

“Aeon told…me….Aeon, that bastard knew about this.”

Alec sunk into deep thought.

(This explains why New Era wants those 3. It seems that they all possess some unique makeup we’re unaware of.)

While everyone was freaked out, Renatus remained calm.

“So you changed your race? It’s not like you became a true god or anything.”

The audience also calmed down after hearing this. Sora became a godkin but it wasn’t like he jumped to the Divine Realm or anything. Sora ignored Renatus and continued to approach him.

“Just as the sun will rise in the morning…”

Flaming footprints were left behind with every step.

“My victory is assured.”

His eyes burned with a musical note in his eyes.

“La canzone di Apollo (Apollo’s Song).”

“Apollo? You really take yourself to be a god?”

Renatus approached as well.

“Great. Alchemy was made to spit in the face of gods.”

The two walked until they stopped in front of each other. A heavenly being faced off against the Alchemic phenomenon. Who will be the winner?

The two smirked and spoke in unison.

“There can only be one.”