The battlefield was drowning in shadows.
Typhon, now limping, scales cracked and breath ragged, still stood—a titan of chaos weakened but not yet fallen.
Across from him floated Rin, cloaked in the shroud of Nyx, her body trembling. Her breaths were shallow, shoulders rising with strain. The sheer force of reactivating her Protocol after three dormant years was tearing at her nerves.
"Dammit," she whispered. "Just… a little longer…"
Typhon bared his fangs. "You're faltering, goddess of night. Burnout already?"
A tendril of his corrupted wind slammed into her side. Rin was flung across the sky, crashing into the broken husk of a cargo ship. Steel groaned under the impact. Her cloak flickered. Blood traced her lip.
Still, she rose.
"No… I won't back down…"
She pushed forward again, steps heavy. Her voice cracked as she repeated the ancient lines:
"From darkness all things are born…"
"To shadow… all things shall return…"
But the light in her was fading.
She dropped to one knee.
Just as Typhon raised his hand to end her—
A voice tore through the chaos like divine thunder.
"That's enough."
A golden trishula (trident) slammed into Typhon's shoulder, pinning him to the side of a ruined tower. He screamed, trying to tear it out, but it held like divine judgment.
Raj landed.
Clad in sleek black and gold armor, his cape moving with the stillness of command, the air shimmered around him with divine rhythm. The resonance of his Protocol shook the bay.
He looked at Rin, voice calm yet commanding.
"I'll take it from here, kid."
Rin tried to rise, trembling.
"No—I can still fight—"
Raj's shadow lengthened and shimmered into golden threads. A soft flash of light, and divine rope curled gently around her arms and legs, restraining her midair with care and authority.
"You've done enough."
He turned toward the battlefield.
"Illumina!"
The illusionist was already rushing forward.
"Get her out of here."
Rin weakly fought against the bindings.
"He insulted her… he insulted Ari…!"
Her voice cracked into a sob.
Raj's gaze softened for a moment. Then, firm again:
"You've honored her already. Now rest."
Rin's body slumped into Illumina's arms, finally giving in to the weight of exhaustion.
Her voice, barely audible:
"…Sleep."
The Nyx Protocol dissolved into black mist, vanishing into the wind.
Raj turned toward Typhon, who had just torn the spear from his shoulder.
The winds howled again. The sea bucked like a beast.
Typhon hissed, "So the Captain himself shows his face. Finally."
Raj didn't even flinch.
"You hurt my squad."
"You almost killed my best strategist."
"And you made a girl cry."
Golden sparks flickered along his gauntlets.
"I'm not in the mood for mercy."
Typhon growled and lunged.
Raj stepped forward.
---
The sky lit up with a
storm of golden light.
Typhon roared out;
"You think a broken god can stop a storm?"
The winds howled again, spiraling upward into a miniature hurricane.
Typhon's claws extended, his voice rising in a dark, guttural chant:
---
"Breathe, O Storm!
Shatter the mountain and devour the flame!
Let the heavens remember your name: TYPHON!"
---
Energy cracked around him—wild, violent. His breath ignited whirlwinds and lightning.
Raj cracked his neck and stretched a single hand into the air. The earth went quiet.
His voice echoed like the toll of an ancient bell:
---
"Destruction… is the first rhythm of rebirth."
"I dance upon the ashes of chaos."
"I am the Eternal Flame. The Cosmic Pulse."
"Shiva Protocol: Domain of Nataraja."
---
A glowing ring of fire bloomed beneath his feet, rotating like a divine mandala. His armor shifted—more fluid now, glowing with Sanskrit etchings. Four golden arms of energy manifested behind him, each wielding a different cosmic weapon.
He raised one leg in the air—the pose of the Dancing God, the Nataraja.
Typhon lunged.
But Raj moved like fire given form.
He spun midair, each movement a tempo. With each step, he struck a beat—each beat a divine blow.
Typhon's claw met Raj's blazing chakra—shattered.
Typhon sent a gale—Raj caught it, spun, and turned it into a slicing arc of flame.
Each of Raj's steps ignited the very air.
Every strike was both dance and destruction.
"Step One: Tandava."
He launched upward, kicked Typhon into the ocean.
"Step Two: Ananda."
He twisted in midair, slamming down with a glowing heel onto Typhon's chest, creating a crater of divine fire.
"Step Three—Descent."
A giant glowing hand of energy—Shiva's third—slammed Typhon back into the earth.
The hurricane died instantly.
Typhon gasped, broken, charred.
Raj stood above him, arms lowered, fire dissipating slowly. His voice quiet, almost mournful.
"…And thus the storm is silenced."