1 The Fall

In the beginning, there was nothing.

The world was without form, and void, and existence was yet to be born.

And so, from the depths of this abyss, newness sprang forth: in the form of the deities known as The Monarchs.

The Monarchs set the foundation of the world through their authority, and as the world birthed itself into existence, so too did other divine beings slowly manifest from the depths of nonexistence.

Gods. Demons. Divine Creatures that burst with newness and life.

… All of them from the initial state of nothing.

The Monarchs ruled the universe as the supreme ones, with the Gods as their subordinates, and with them, they made countless worlds and realms.

They designed the cosmos and set up the foundations of what we know to be reality.

And perhaps their most glorious creations yet… were the living sentient beings that would eventually bow to worship the Monarchs and Gods as the ultimate ones.

Yes… it was all perfect.

A world ruled by the strong, occupied by the weak, and perfectly in sync.

… That is, until it wasn't.

******

WAR!

That was the only word to describe this grave occurrence.

There were tremors and destructive blasts of wrath. The onlookers—a constellation of Gods—could do nothing but cower in fear and helplessness as the Old Ones were engaged in deadly combat.

This had transcended a battle between even the Divine.

It was between the Monarchs—or more specifically, one Monarch against the rest.

… This was WAR!

"Haa… haa…"

The Monarchs gazed upon their enemy with keen eyes and breathtaking silence.

The so-called strongest of them had now been severely wounded by their assault on him, yet he would not relent.

His body was coated in darkness, like an obsidian black mist that threatened to consume even the greatest of light. He had armor-like skin covering his entire form, and his eyes shone brilliantly with crimson.

Two horns protruded from his head, though one was broken beyond repair. His body, previously deemed an impenetrable fortress, now had several cracks and slashes that made it clear he was not as invincible as previously assumed.

This Monarch was far from invincible now.

"Stop your foolishness, Elish. A single Monarch can not hope to defeat eight," Enuma, leader of the Great Ones stated.

Her form was similar to his: with an armor-like body that covered every single portion of her skin. She, however, wasn't coated with disgustingly black mist, but rather light.

Her pure white form, like untainted crystals, manifested as sheer beauty, and her brilliant eyes, shimmering like great stars in the cosmos, were fixed on her foe.

As for the other seven Monarchs on her side, they all seemed similar, albeit with different colors and build that made them distinct from one another.

"..."

Rather than respond to the words spouted at him, Elish remained silent.

"Tch, let's just end him. The realms are suffering from the aftershock of our conflict. The time it will take to properly repair them is considerable. All because of your foolish tantrum!" Einvald growled in annoyance.

The once beautiful Divine Realm was in shambles, and if you could peek beyond it and observe the vast universe that existed beyond, only then would the extent of the damage wrought be clear to anyone.

"You've really gone too far, Elish." Even the Monarch of Evil, Illur, recognized the severity of their comrade's actions.

This… this was too much!

The other Monarchs didn't even bother speaking or reasoning with Elish. Clearly, the moment for talk had long passed after he had massacred a massive number of gods and devastated the Divine Realm.

There was only one solution to the conflict at hand.

The Monarch's destruction.

"How bold…" Elish finally spoke, his tone causing the very atmosphere to tremble under the weight of his power.

"What makes you so certain that you are able to achieve that?"

Leaking out a crooked smile, he rested a relaxed gaze on his siblings.

Since no Monarch had ever been destroyed in the past, no one could be sure of whether even they could kill Elish.

Enuma, however, was certain of what to do.

"No matter what farce you may come up with or what doubt you seek to plant, there is no question about it, your foolishness ends here," The Monarch of Creation stated with composure.

Elish's smile slowly disappeared. It was just like Enuma to see through his guise.

"It is true that as long as you possess a Primordial Authority we are unable to kill you since it controls an essential part of this world's existence. Without it, the entire universe will fall out of balance. The same applies to the rest of ours as well."

For the sake of order, and the survival of the cosmos… they could not afford to rid existence of Elish's Authority.

"Then, " Gera protested. "Is there really no way to permanently get rid of the bastard?"

As the Monarch of Good, watching this much catastrophe must have gotten her more enraged than her comrades.

The faces of the other Monarch could be seen to contain various expressions. Some had frustrated demeanors, while others were stoic.

But… none of them were sad.

How could they be? The entity before them deserved no mercy or compassion.

He was a monster!

"There is a solution. We will take your Authority from you, you are unworthy of possessing it. And thereafter, your destruction will be inevitable." Enuma stated with authority.

Her glorious golden and white form contrasted his dark and corrupt self.

"Heh, and how do you plan on doing that?" Elish asked, already feeling cornered but refusing to show even a glimpse of it.

"I possess the Authority of Creation! Every Monarch here possesses powers to control distinct parts of existence. With our combined might, even your power will not be enough."

An instant thought was transmitted to the minds of all the Monarchs, and they instantly realized just what to do.

It was at this point that Elish's facade finally began to experience a meltdown.

"No… " He growled, dreading what was coming.

He wanted to move, but his body was too damaged to do so. He could feel the culmination of so many Authorities restricting him from any action.

Enuma was right, after all! Against the combined might of all eight of them, it seemed even he was rendered powerless.

"You are hereby..." Enuma's voice echoed in his ears as he struggled against the tides of numerous Authorities colliding and merging.

"Stop this!" Elish roared in appeal.

His words fell on deaf ears, though, almost as if he was screaming to the void.

"... Stripped of your Authority."

~VWUUUUUUUUMMMMMM!!!~

And just like that…

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Elish bellowed as his entire body throbbed, and from within him, a dark orb began to emerge.

Within the orb was a purplish dark whirlpool, which swirled within the orb like a black hole. The orb slowly continued to separate from him, and he could do nothing but groan.

His entire body was paralyzed, wounded, and deprived of every last drop of essence. Then finally, the orb separated completely from him, leaving Elish's face drained and pale.

"H-haa… haaa…"

Now stripped of power, Elish could barely react as he hopelessly watched the orb resonate before him.

The warbling sphere began to draw closer to Elish again, seeking its owner once more, however, the Monarchs wouldn't have it.

By combining their powers, they made a constraint and restrained the orb. Its golden cage glowed and chains of pure light enveloped it.

This sealed its power and slowly it drifted away from its owner.

The constrained orb floated and finally found its place beside the eight Monarchs who now stared at Elish's frail body and pale face.

"And now, to end this." Enuma declared.

The eight all assembled once more, gathering their powers.

"You all, you all know that I'm right," Elish muttered weakly.

It seemed like he wanted to say more, but it was too hopeless to try.

"You are only foolish. Your wish will never be actualized. For the sake of order, this world will not be destroyed." Enuma responded curtly, her eyes narrowing in genuine disdain.

"I was foolish, wasn't I?" Elish chuckled slightly, as much as his weakness would allow him.

No matter how hard he tried, though, his tone was hollow at best.

"I trusted you all enough to reveal these things, and you stabbed me in the back… haha"

That was it. The reality he faced.

"It was you who betrayed us!" Dauoi finally spoke up, as he couldn't contain his displeasure.

He glared at Elish so intensely that a stab in the heart would be considered child's play. He was the Monarch of Death, and of all the other Monarchs… he could perhaps have been considered the closest to Elish.

But that was all in the past now.

The other Monarchs could also be seen clearly depicting their wrath at the words of their once-called brother.

None of them were on his side.

"I see. It was my mistake then. And you all think it's over, huh…?" Elish whispered with a weak smile.

"Of course it is. This is the end of the line for you. Older Brother." Enuma murmured.

It was a natural thing for older siblings to pick on their younger ones. While it wasn't morally acceptable to mortals, the Gods lived by different standards.

However, even this was a shocking sight in the Divine Realm; one that defied the natural order of everything within it.

All eight younger siblings overwhelming the oldest.

The eight Monarchs stretched out their hands, and respectively used their Authorities.

Their powers glowed in the already damaged heavens, bathing the entire Divine Realm in raw power.

Their Authorities:

Evil

Good

Creation

Life

Death

Power

Space

Time

The combined use of these Authorities blinded the gods who were watching the fight from below, and the light spread throughout the heavens and even the other realms.

The powers of the Authorities converged together and poured down on the emaciated Elish in a kaleidoscope of brilliance, overwhelming he who was too weak to fight back.

"Your end is now. Farewell, our older brother..." Enuma , as well as the other seven, looked down at Elish as he slowly disintegrated.

And as he was erased from all of existence, he uttered what could be considered his final words, though none were audible enough to be perceived by his towering siblings.

"We'll see about that..."

With a final chuckle and a pained smile, the final vestiges of the Monarch faded away.

… All of him, gone for good.

"Haa… It is done." Enuma sighed.

The Monarchs looked around them, witnessing for the first time, the chaos that had been wrought.

Suddenly, one by one, they began falling from the heights which they were on and crashed to the ground.

"Looks like we used up too much power," Gera whispered as she winced.

"Yeah. I have never felt this drained." Einvald, the Monarch of Power itself, muttered in unimaginable exhaustion.

Timi, Mellom, Dauoi, Lif, and Illur also wheezed and throbbed as they lay on the ground, something they had never done before.

"Any less, and we would not have been able to vanquish him. He wasn't the oldest for nothing." Enuma stated, looking the most composed out of all of them, but still plenty tired.

It was a steep price they had paid, but thankfully… the work was one.

They won.

Slowly, the gods began to gather and render their applause and cheer to the Monarchs for performing what no one could, destroying the one who would have ended everything.

"All hail the great Monarchs!!!" They all roared in cheer and relief.

The worst was over, after all.

"Hail!"

"Hail!"

"Hail!"

They praised and worshipped even more.

The Monarchs smiled at all of this.

Finally, the only one who could stand in their way was gone, and even though they now possessed his Authority, they couldn't do anything but keep it sealed.

However, this much could be regarded as a victory, considering who they had just gone up against.

Not only had he stirred the most destructive conflict among them, but he had caused this much damage to existence. Things might have even ended differently if they had not struck first and caught him off guard.

They had won… but at what cost?

Nearly half of the heavens had been destroyed, one-third of the gods had died, and even the other realms had suffered damage.

Such was his power; The Monarch of the oldest Authority, one that predated the world itself.

The Primordial Authority of the VOID.

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[A/N]

Thank you all for reading.

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