The world of Alythoria teetered on the edge of annihilation. The sky bled crimson, the earth split open to its fiery heart, and rains of fire fell like a curse from the forgotten gods.
Amidst the ruins of the ancient city of Valmireth, one figure stood alone—Teddy, drenched in blood and dust, his breaths ragged, his spirit unbroken.
Before him towered ten beings, each one radiating an overwhelming, incomprehensible power—the last of the gods. They gazed down at the lone mortal with a disdainful arrogance, as though mocking the mere human who dared defy them.
Zeroth, the God of Destruction, stepped forward, each stride making the broken earth quake beneath him.
"Remarkable, human," Zeroth rumbled. "Even after all our brethren have fallen, you still stand... if only barely clinging to life."
Teddy tightened his grip around his battered sword, Judgment's Edge, its surface crisscrossed with glowing blue cracks, ready to shatter at the slightest touch. Blood streamed from his mangled left arm.
"Axcel..." he whispered, his gaze locking onto the burning heavens.
"It seems this is our final battle, old friend."
A soft voice stirred within him, laced with sorrow yet steadfast with loyalty.
"Then let us make this end worthy of legend."
With a roar that echoed through the crumbling city, Teddy surged forward, swinging Judgment's Edge in a desperate arc. Celestial Rend—a blazing slash of pure light—tore through the heavens.
But Morgath, the God of Darkness, merely lifted a hand. Shadows coalesced and devoured the light with ease.
"Pathetic," Morgath hissed.
Lightning flashed. Theris, the Goddess of Eternal Storms, struck like a vengeful spear. Teddy's body was flung across the ruins, bones snapping under the force, blood spraying from his lips.
"One mortal seeks to dethrone the divine?" Velyra, the Goddess of Illusions, taunted, her voice rippling from every direction.
Still, Teddy rose, trembling yet unyielding. His eyes burned with an undying fury.
With a roar, he launched himself again, his strike—Heaven's Descent—splitting the ground and casting Karthul, the Iron-Blooded God, into a molten chasm. One god had fallen, but there was no time to savor the moment.
Ireos, the God of Smoke and Poison, unleashed a suffocating miasma, drowning Teddy in a sea of death.
He coughed violently, his body faltering, his vision dimming.
"We cannot win..." came Axcel's fading voice.
"I know," Teddy rasped, standing one last time. "But they will remember us."
Channeling every shred of his fading life force into his weapon, he screamed:
"Divine Severance!"
A pillar of light erupted from him, tearing the sky apart. Even the gods recoiled from its blinding force.
Yet as the light faded, Teddy fell to his knees. His strength was gone. His vision blurred into darkness.
Judgment's Edge snapped in two.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
"Teddy..."
He turned weakly—and his heart froze.
Kale. His brother-in-arms. His dearest comrade. The one soul he had trusted beyond all others.
"Why... are you here?" Teddy croaked.
Kale approached, expressionless, the broken shard of Judgment's Edge clutched in his hand.
"I'm sorry," he said.
Without a second's hesitation, Kale drove the broken blade into Teddy's back.
The pain was more than flesh—it was betrayal made real.
Teddy cried out, his body convulsing, blood gushing from the wound.
"You... traitor..."
Kale's gaze remained cold and distant. "The gods offered me eternity. You were nothing but a stepping stone, Teddy."
Teddy collapsed, the world growing colder with every heartbeat. The winds fell silent. Even the fires of the earth seemed to dim.
But in his chest, a flame of rage burned hotter than ever before.
"If I live... I will return... and I will destroy you all!"
His body failed him. His eyelids grew heavy.
He closed his eyes with a final, agonizing thought—betrayal.
"My fight... is not over..."
And as his body fell still, Alythoria crumbled into darkness alongside him.