Authors Notes:
Hey everyone, just wanted to apologize real quick for the late update. Like me, my beta reader is a very busy person, and there were a lot of problems with the chapter. So many in fact that I only finished making the needed corrections just minutes ago. We'll try to do better moving forward, but since a big part of the problem is that I suck at writing battles we probably won't have to try too had, as this concludes all the battle scenes. With that said, enjoy chapter 62.

Arthur's eyes shot open, leaving him staring at a tall golden ceilings with a mural Agrona giving the gift of mana to the Alacryan's.

"Why the fuck does that have to be the first thing I see?" Arthur asks in annoyance as his senses still felt dull.

"Well, we can always just blow this place up when we're done," Regis suggested.

"Not a bad idea. In fact I think a lot of their works will be destroyed after we're done here. But let's leave that to the Alacryan's."

Arthur could hear muffled voices, but not what they were saying.

"Regis, what's been going on?"

"Oh yeah, Umm so everyone has been..."

Arthur could then feel a surge of mana and turned his head to see it, and saw Agrona standing before Sylvie and Tess.

"Yeah they've been fighting while I tried to wake you up."

Agrona then slapped Sylvie down and Arthur's eyes went wide with rage.

"Oh he's fuck'd."

As Agrona reached out to Tess and Sylvie, Arthur released the aether from his core to his fate runes, and generated two swords that severed Agrona's hands then crossed in a defensive manner.

"Whoa! What the fuck? Since when could you do that?" Regis asked in excitement as Arthur began to stand up.

"That's Fate, I've become a master of aether." He replied as the knowledge of fate poured into his mind.

"Hey, it looks like the rest of your runes got an upgrade too. Is that Fate's doing?"

"No. That's Agrona's. Messing around in my head so haphazardly unlocked my memories from all my past lives. A thousand lifetimes of experiences, knowledge, and understanding."

"Shit, no wonder you're a fuck'n masochist. All that suffering for that many lives, it's like walking with your best friend for you," Regis said as he poked around.

"Focus. We have work to do."

Now standing tall, with a violet glow and every rune on his body glowing gold, his eyes fixated on Agrona with a deadly gaze that sent shivers down the Vritra's spine as he tried to get back to his feet. He didn't need to ask questions, he knew right away. His efforts to manipulate Arthur's mind failed.

Arthur's eyes shifted as he took in the battle torn area. He could see Elijah on the ground, the only movement he could see was from his shallow breathing. And he saw Tess, clinging to consciousness with Sylvie in her arms.

That sight triggered something from deep within Arthur, as he released his killing intent. Agrona and all the Vritra grabbed at their throats as they fell to their knees. They were now being exposed to a pressure greater than even Kezess', the blood lust of a man who lived through countless battlefields, who had killed more men and beasts than this world could even hold.

Without any warning Arthur's left fist burst into black flames as Regis activated gauntlet form, Arthur god stepped between his family and Agrona. Before Agrona could even process what was happening, Arthur's left fist slammed into Agrona's chest, sending him careening into the reinforced wall.

"Art," Tess said weakly as she looked up at him, tears of joy streaming from her eyes.

His expression softened as he looked at his wife and daughter. He knelt down beside them as he gave a sad smile and placed a hand on Tess' cheek and Sylvie's forehead.

"You both did great, but I'll take it from here," he said softly and his hands glowed and began healing them.

As he did so he remembered the basilisks above him and turned his head to face them. His cold eyes caused them to stumble back, but they recovered. It was clear they no longer cared about Agrona's orders, they knew Arthur needed to die for them to live.

"I'll deal with you all later," Arthur replied and erected an aether barrier to contain them on the balcony.

The Vritra banged on the barrier, but nothing happened. The barrier was too strong for them, and Arthur was constantly channeling aether to it.

"Shit, this is crazy," Regis commented.

"What?"

"All this aether. I've already siphoned more aether than I started with but it's still pouring in."

"Just keep it up. Absorb your fill and then some," Arthur replied as he used more aether than necessary to heal Tess and Sylvie.

Unlocking Fate essentially turned Arthur into an aether magnet. This wasn't a problem for the Djinn as they didn't have aether cores, so the aether just flowed right through them. But Arthur did have an aether core, this meant his core was absorbing every drop of aether, which was putting his entire body through a burning pain. His aether veins felt stretched as the aether was flowing faster than he could handle. He was reminded of the time he created the second layer of his aether core. His body was flooded with aether and his core felt as though it was about to break. This time though he was using aether as freely as possible to lower the strain. The more the Vritra beat on the barrier the more aether he used, using excessive aether to heal Sylvie and Tess, and Regis feeding off his core as fast as he could, yet it was only a matter of time before he couldn't handle it anymore.

"Papa?" Sylvie said as her eyes fluttered open.

"Yeah I'm here," Arthur said with a smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen. I know you wanted to keep me out of this," she apologized.

"No sense in worrying about it now. I'm sure you only came because you knew we needed you."

Sylvie nodded as Arthur finished.

"There we go, you two are all patched up."

Sylvie immediately got off of Tess and took Arthur into a tight hug. Tess got up and did the same, turning it into a family hug.

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Meanwhile Agrona had recovered from Arthur's strike and saw Arthur's back turned to him as he healed Tess and Sylvie. He looked down at his arms, then at the ground by his severed hands. He could regrow them, but that would take time, time he didn't have. He needed to deal with Arthur quickly.

Agrona focused on his staff, making it fly to him. He then tried to form an aether blade, but to no avail. Some aether would gather, but not nearly enough. His eyes glowed purple as he focused on Arthur and widened as his mouth hung open at the sight. The aether, which normally just floated around as it pleased, only moving when someone who could use aether summoned it, and even then only for what was needed for the purpose. But now, as he looked at Arthur, the aether swirled around him harmoniously, as if it was only natural for it to be drawn to him.

"Fate," he breathed out in realization.

This settled it for him, Arthur had become too dangerous, and since he couldn't kill him he had to cripple him. Refocusing on his staff, one end twisted until it formed a tip as strong and sharp as any blade, then with a motion of his arm it rocketed towards Arthur, aiming for his core.

——————————————————————-

Arthur and his family held each other in a tight embrace as a sense of relief washed over them. However as Tess opened her eyes she saw the spear coming for them, completely ending that feeling.

"Art!"

The spear was about to hit Arthur as he held them tighter and his rune for godstep ignited. In a flash of aetheric lightning they were gone, and the spear lodged itself in the floor.

As they reappeared Tess and Sylvie released Arthur and looked around. It took only a second to see they were by Elijah.

"I'll be right back, wait here," Arthur told them, and was gone again.

Agrona was frantically searching for Arthur. He had seen him appear by Elijah, but lost him as he disappeared again. He then felt a hand pushing him from the back of his head, too hard and fast for him to resist, and found his face smashed into the floor.

"Stay quiet and heal," Arthur said in a threatening tone, then released his head. "I'll be back when I'm done to finish this."

Agrona lifted his head and glared at Arthur furiously as he walked away, but then he stopped and looked back at him over his shoulder.

"Tell me, do the Vritra believe in God?"

"God?"

"God, gods, some kind of supreme deity?"

"Of course not, there is no evidence to prove such a force even exists," Agrona replied.

"A shame. In that case, find faith in something like that quickly and start praying to it. You'll need all the help you can get." And with that Arthur god stepped back to the others.

Agrona was furious at the way he spoke to him, but he knew there was no point in losing himself to his emotions. He looked up to the other Vritra with his eyes glowing purple. They were still trapped behind the barrier beating on it furiously. It was stronger than even the one he had created to contain Arthur and the others, but the Vritra could break it down in a matter of minutes. The problem he could see was the constant stream of aether Arthur kept feeding it, with that there was no way for the barrier to collapse without Arthur's permission.

Focusing on his staff, it freed itself and collected his hands, bringing them back to him. Agrona then had it hold them in place as he shoved his arms against them and began reattaching them with black flames.

—————————————-----------——————

Arthur reappeared between Elijah and his family and knelt down looking at his friend and placed a hand on his chest while using his healing edict of Vivum.

"So are you still with us?" Arthur asked.

Elijah slowly opened his eyes and smirked. "Ready to run a marathon," he joked, then coughed up some blood.

"Pfft. You know you have a ton of internal bleeding right?"

"Well, that's where the blood is supposed to be, so I'm good," he said with a straight face.

Arthur couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. He just shook his head and continued healing him. Soon Elijah was all patched up and Arthur stood up.

"You all stay back here, I'll finish this," he said casually, as if he was talking about finishing a simple chore.

"Art," Tess said, worry in her tone.

Arthur turned and faced her with a bright smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"I know." She stepped up and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Good luck."

Arthur smiled as he caressed her cheek before turning around and walking towards Agrona. His expression changed completely as soon as he turned away. He was now wearing a focused and a steeled expression. Despite his power boost from fate Agrona was still not someone to take lightly. He could still manage to draw this battle out long enough that Arthur wouldn't be able to maintain fate, and he wasn't sure what his condition would be like afterwards.

"Think I can manage this for another ten minutes, give or take a few minutes," Arthur thought.

"Do you want me to get out and we double team him?" Regis asked.

"No, just keep doing what you're doing for now, but don't worry I'll need you for later."

As per the name of the ultimate god rune, Arthur could see the infinite possibilities before him. He had focused on the possibilities where he lost so he knew what to look for to prevent them, though there were so few it almost felt pointless.

As Arthur got closer Agrona finished reattaching his hands and was moving his fingers around to make sure they still worked properly. Once he heard Arthur's footsteps he directed his attention towards him, and prepared his staff. Even though he didn't have his artifact anymore he had already memorized every move Arthur would make, so he thought he was ready.

Arthur formed an aether sword in his right hand and, once close enough, used burst step to come into range. Agrona was ready for this, so he had positioned his staff to block Arthur's strike. However instead of Arthur's sword striking the staff, he grabbed ahold of it, swung in and kicked him in the chest while using piston stomp.

Agrona stumbled back as Arthur landed on his feet and shot forward again. Agrona was busy healing, but he was expecting a horizontal slash, so he prepared to defend accordingly. Arthur did try and slash horizontally, but instead of stopping when he was blocked he kept moving. He spun around Agrona and slashed vertically along his back.

Agrona howled in pain, but was quick to spin around and try to counter. He thrust his blade forward, but Arthur ducked down and shot forward, thrusting his blade into his abdomen, just to the left of his core, before jumping away out of his attack range.

With teeth gnashed, Agrona breathed deeply. Arthur was starting to move just as the visions predicted, but then did something completely different. He understood now that he must have seen the same visions through fate, which meant that now he had to forget everything that he had seen, and still fight him head on with everything he had. It was his only chance and he felt it was enough. After all, Arthur was still just a lesser.

Mana surged from Agrona and his shape began to shift, he was changing to his basilisk form. His legs began to fuse together and elongated, as black scales started to form all over his skin. His facial features became more reptilian as his hair was replaced with a series of black spikes and his horns grew even larger. Both of his arms remained, but like the rest of his body were now covered in black spikes with razor sharp claws.

"Kind of makes you wonder if the Djinn based some of the monsters in the relic tombs off of the Asura's other forms," Regis commented, referring to Arthur's first official assent in Alacrya in the previous timeline.

Agrona looked down at Arthur threateningly as Arthur looked back up annoyed.

"So you have a plan for this right?" Regis asked.

"Of course, and it involves you," Arthur replied then explained his plan.

"Are you sure you need me for this?" Regis asked, seeing as Arthur's aether mastery had grown so drastically.

"Yeah I'm sure. Even with my improved mastery this will still be a challenge, so two of us working on this are better than one."

"Any lassst wordsss?" Agrona asked, a forked tongue coming out as he spoke.

Arthur smirked. "Do you honestly think making yourself bigger was a smart idea?"

Before Agrona could even think of a response Arthur's body began to glow as aether gathered outside his body, taking form. The new form began raising him off the ground and started to take shape. It grew larger than Sylvie's dragon form, with four legs, a tail, feathered wings, a long neck with a flickering violet mane going down and two sets of black horns, one straight set coming from the top of his head swooping back, and the other curved, framing his jaw bone, taking aspects from both Regis and Arthur's armor.

When they were complete an aetheric dragon stood proudly. At first Arthur intended to use Sylvia's dragon form, but as he worked on the head he changed his mind. This was his fight now, not hers. She might have set him on this path, but he was fighting now for his own reasons. He had always honored her, and probably always will, but it was now time for him to walk out from her shadow and stand as he was.

Agrona glared at the aetheric dragon as he trembled, not in fear, but rage. Arthur had a theory, that thanks to Kezess he now hated the Indrath clan with passion. And now as Arthur appeared as a dragon, he was pretty sure he was right.

Agrona sprang forward, swiping his claws. With a flap of his wings Arthur jumped back while unleashing a blast of aether. The attack connected with Agrona's shoulder, causing him to hold back before continuing his attack. When Agrona did attack he quickly slithered along the ground and tried to attack him from the side, but Arthur spun and hit the basilisk with his aetheric tail, sending him into the air before landing safely back on the ground.

"Ok, so he's got agility, scratch, and let's say tackle too. We on the other hand have dragon tail, dragon claw, and dragon breath. As long as he isn't actually a fairy or knows any ice moves we're good," Regis said.

"What the fuck are you..."

"Quick Art, dodge and dragon claw!" Regis called out as he noticed Agrona charging in.

Without thinking Arthur jumped to the side and he spun and slashed his claws along Agrona's back.

"Wait a second! Are you..."

"Hey, I'm the trainer now!"

"Regis, I'm going to kick your ass later."

"Who's the one that followed my command?"

"...."

"That's what I thought."

The battle between Agrona and Arthur raged, and Agrona was managing to hang in there, though that was quickly changing. Arthur understood the reason for not dominating the fight, he wasn't used to battling as a dragon. He knew he could have beaten him without this, but a bit of arrogance came when he gained the memories of his past lives. To him Agrona was no longer this god-like being, but instead a child throwing a tantrum that things weren't going his way.

Agrona stood there still in his basilisk form, burned, bleeding, and breathing heavily. Across from him the aetheric dragon, still pristine and majestic looking, as if it hadn't even been in battle. At a certain point Agrona was so blinded by his rage he stopped caring about healing, and came at Arthur relentlessly. Arthur on the other hand never actually took a hit, only the aetheric body, which just filled any gashes with more aether.

Agrona rushed forward, Arthur slashed at him but he dodged, and wrapped himself around the dragon body.

"You may be imitating a dragon, but you will never be more than you are."

"That's fine, because I like what I am..." The dragon grabbed Agrona's horns and the head pulled back. "A god slayer." He then head-butted him with such force that the horns snapped off his head.

He released Arthur and fell to the ground as he returned to his original form. As that happened the dragon form dissipated like mist, leaving Arthur and Regis where it once stood, each of them holding a horn. Arthur looked up at his, surprisingly it did return to its original state, staying nearly as tall as him. He then stored it in his rune and looked to Regis.

"Can I take it, or would you like to bury that somewhere?" Arthur teased.

Regis dropped the horn between them. "Fuck you old man."

The two then laughed as Arthur stored the horn, then walked over to Agrona, who was forcing himself back to his feet.

"How?" Agrona forced out. "How could I lose to a lesser."

"Simple," Arthur formed a sword of destruction. "You saw me as less, not an equal." He then slashed him down from top to bottom.

Agrona's body fell in half as it was being consumed by destruction.

"It's over," Arthur said in relief as he finally released fate. Even though his aether core was full his body felt as if it was being held down by massive weights.

"Art!" Tess called out as she and the others ran to him.

Once close enough she wrapped her arms around him with happy tears. "We won, it's over!"

"Yes," a voice said from behind them. "It definitely is over."

Arthur and the others looked back to see the rest of the Vritra, looking ready for a fight. Arthur gently freed himself from Tess and stepped towards them.

"You saw how I defeated Argona, and you really think you want to take a shot?" Arthur threatened.

"You may try to hide it, but we can see it. Your body is at its limit, you can't continue fighting," said confidently.

"Who said anything about me fighting?" Arthur questioned with a smirk.

Immediately portals began opening all around the room. The Virita looked around in panic as armored Asura of all races began to walk out with weapons drawn. Behind Arthur and the others a another portal opened, first came Windsom, then Aldir, and lastly Kezess.