Gabriel tanks Shard of the True Sun

“Do you love you evil, daughter of Amaterasu?” Gabriel asked beneath the light of her celestial sphere, her power clearly climbing towards its zenith. With the light drawn away, Brynhildr could see that Galaxia was shockingly close to the Angel, an arrogant expression on her face despite the fact that the suns she’d called had all been locked away like impudent children.

[...]

Her hand glowed as if she were holding something glowing within—and the moment she opened her hand, the Sun of the Old World rose. Even the vast and ancient night Gabriel had called was torn asunder by the rising light of the Shard of the True Sun, and so was the poor ground below, turned molten in an instant and reduced to a crater by its heat. Any trace that remained of the city that once existed beneath them vanished in an instant, along with most of the geography, even as the sky above them caught fire. The nine suns broke loose from their bindings and circled the remains of their former self, before they’d been torn apart and cast down, and in an instant, the heavens were split down the middle into primordial day and night, a bygone sun and moon sharing the sky. And at the edge of day, Galaxia shone with a radiance that beggared description. Amaterasu’s child had inherited the fullness of her mother’s might, and she drew her power from the same source, the suns of the Nine Worlds—but the wonder Galaxia brought forth was an echo to match Gabriel’s, the heart of a star that had been broken long ago, and as it rose, so did she. Her eyes were a terrible sight, then, like the clouds had parted to show the sun, and her armor changed from divine gold to something caught violently between matter and energy. She smiled then and something bright shined behind her teeth.

“How pointless,” Gabriel said, dispassionately raising a hand as she stared fearlessly into the conflagration before her. “Your foundation is weak and so all you have built will crumble.”

Interlude:Rising Part 2