The evil god appeared in a flash of light blue light. It was only a matter of time, as there was no hiding from his all-seeing eyes. Puritus’ corruption helped, but eventually the god would notice the disturbance in space.

Daniel drew a sword and Danielle rushed to warn those inside the castle. Ranthael made no move to stop either of them. He simply meandered towards Daniel, completely unfazed by the weapon.

“Well well, long time no see, Daniel,” Ranthael greeted. “I suppose flinging you into outer space didn’t quite work out as intended. You should be proud of your friends, it’s not easy to recover a body from that.”

“You… had I not been so careless, I could have joined the battle at The Lost Society Fortress. Then maybe Xerizero wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself!”

“Heh, that foolish boy thought he could incite a rebellion against me. The loss of the Fortress was disappointing, but I’ll be taking another one back!” A spear materialized in Ranthael’s grip, and he launched forward at Daniel. However, another god who seemingly appeared out of nowhere quickly blocked him. The god had long, grayish hair cut at an askew angle, and two white wings on his back. He held two hand swords at an X above his shoulder, safe from the assault from Ranthael’s spear.

“You!” Ranthael spat, “I thought I killed you years ago!”

“You nearly did, but I won’t give up that easily,” Puritus grinned. “It’s all thanks to Danil. In my last breath of life, my soul jumped to his body, where I waited for one hundred years to regain my power and fight you again!”

The two separated and Ranthael hesitated to strike again. It gave enough time for Puritus to address Daniel.

“Get everyone and use teleportation crystal beta. I’ve corrupted it so Ranthael won’t be able to trace your movement in space.”

Daniel nodded and ran back into the castle. Ranthael debated whether to follow him, but he figured he’d let him go for now and instead use the time to chat with his old friend.

“I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again.”

“Ranthael please, do we still have to do this?” Puritus pleaded. “Do you really want to cause another calamity?”

“I will do anything to get our world, our true world, back. Even if it means destroying this one! Everyone… they’re all my creations. They’re worth nothing!”

“No… you don’t believe that. I know you don’t. I know there’s people in this world you care about.”

“Heh, you’re soft Puritus. Unlike you, I don’t have to fall head over heels for the first woman I find attractive.”

Puritus tensed and gripped his swords tight. “If that’s the way it has to be then…” He raised his swords to fight. “This time, I won’t lose!”

Meanwhile, sitting atop the castle and watching the confrontation below, was a blonde woman in a ragged cowl.

“This alternate universe is weird,” she mumbled.