Chapter Title: The Weight of Titans
THE MOON BASE – LORD ARCADE DESCENDS
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
The sky above the SUHA Moon Base ruptured like glass crushed under massive weight. The vacuum of space distorted violently, folding inwards on itself as the smoke and gravitational static whipped outward like a ring of collapsing thunder.
A figure hovered in its wake Lord Arcade, resurrected through Draven's body, his cloak fluttering without wind, suspended in the lunar void like a prophet of damnation.
His silver eyes stared into his own open palm.
"It seems I have access… to a fragment of my power in this vessel," he muttered coldly, his voice vibrating with ancient disdain. "Not all. But enough."
His image blurred, vanishing,before tearing through the air like a blade ripping silk.
Far below, standing atop the outer wall of the moon base, a man grinned, basking in the approaching pressure. Clad in royal armor, golden lined robes, and a half-empty wine chalice in hand, he raised it toward the stars.
Alexander the Great.
"Heh… The air changes. Such force… a beast has arrived," he muttered, downing the last sip of his wine. "Why wasn't I told? That this terrifying bastard from Earth Arcade had returned? Damn you SUHA"
As he spoke, the ground beneath him shook. Lord Arcade descended, crashing onto the lunar surface with a massive impact, cracking the crust of the moon itself. Dust spiraled outward in a radial storm as his feet dug into the gray terrain.
Arcade said nothing.
Alexander descended slowly, stepping from the base wall as his form blurred in and out—reappearing right before his old master.
The tension was ancient, thick, as if even the moon itself remembered their past.
"You've grown… fat, traitor," Arcade said coldly, arms behind his back like a sovereign judge.
"And you look different," Alexander replied with a dry chuckle, "Or does this boy house you now? Can't return to your real form, can you?"
Arcade gave a ghost of a smirk. "Then I assume you know why I'm here?"
"Yes," Alexander's tone shifted, voice lower. "The Yggdrasil Piece of Life and Death. The one I hold. The only way you could ever return to your divine form."
Arcade nodded slowly. "I've always loved you for your brilliance."
He stepped forward.
"I gave you strength. I allowed you to conquer your kingdom. I anointed you Titan. And yet of all three… you became the failure."
Alexander's eyes narrowed. "I saw a brighter world," he barked, emotion rising. "One where we don't murder innocents over your tantrums your childish anger! You want to erase humanity because they failed to save Elena? You think you're the only man to lose someone he loves?! This world was at war. Anything could have happened."
Arcade's face darkened.
"You dare speak… her name… without reverence?"
The moon shuddered.
"I hold no anger toward you," he continued icily, "Only certainty. You'll die by my hand today."
He extended one hand outward.
"Where is it, Alexander? The Yggdrasil piece?"
Alexander stood tall.
"In my Balls. But you'll never touch it."
FWOOOM!
He vanished, sword drawn, dark violet—as he blitzed forward like a meteor with blade.
But Arcade didn't flinch.
His hand remained open and a gravitational spiral crushed into his palm, pulling the very dust of space toward it.
"You always were too eager."
BOOOOM!!!
A focused sphere of raw Shen energy fired from his palm like the breath of a dying star. Alexander didn't react in time.
CRASH!
His body was sent hurtling across the moon's surface, bouncing between jagged craters, stone walls, and reinforced towers before collapsing in a plume of shattered rock. Blood dripped from his nostrils, a line streaked down his cheek.
Arcade hovered forward slowly, regal and unforgiving.
"Why fight a battle you know you cannot win?" he asked. "Did I not teach you better?"
Alexander stood, wiping his mouth, shoulders rising with effort.
"You'll never… touch that piece."
Back on Earth.
Amid the white expanse of Greenland's mountains, Sakamoto stood at the edge of a frozen cliff, staring into his open hands, wind slicing across his face.
"That technique… Cherubim…" he muttered. "It grows stronger every time I use it. But I still can't train with it—its destructive scale is… too unpredictable."
His voice trembled, not from fear… but from knowing he held a weapon he could barely understand.
"I need to learn how to compress its power… narrow the destruction to a single point."
Behind him, Asger's voice broke the silence.
"Yeah… that's right."
She stepped forward, arms crossed, her hair whipping in the wind.
"I've seen the footage. Heard from the Association too. It's insane, Saka. But don't beat yourself up. That ability whatever it is was given to you for a reason."
Sakamoto didn't respond.
"I'm not good at this emotional crap," she added. "But you don't need to be ready for war. You just need to be there. I'll be your sun, Saka."
She smiled faintly and walked toward the entrance of the nearby base.
"Let's head in. It's cold as hell."
Inside the Greenland SUHA base, Sir Caelum Veyne stood in his quarters, staring at a ripped letter in his hand.
"Madagascar Asger, Osiris . Not bad for a team …" he muttered, deep in thought. "We're assigned to Sourtern part of Greenland National Park. SUHA suspects that's an opening… a breach point."
Knock Knock.
Caelum turned toward the door Madagascar signature presence behind it.
Meanwhile
Inside a communications room, Minister Tenzy spoke rapidly on the phone.
"We need Major General Søren Andersen. Get an invitation sent to the Pituffik Army Base—I want him here now. We must lock this ground down."
Suddenly, an officer rushed in, pale and breathless.
"Minister Tenzy! A strange Shen signature just spiked on the moon base!"
He sprinted to the display screen and pulled the feed.
A circular pulse rippled across the map of the moon—red, erratic.
"Pull it up. Let me see it," Tenzy commanded.
The screen flickered.
And then—static.
"What's happening?" Tenzy demanded.
The officer hesitated.
"Sir… the system can no longer read the Shen…"
A pause.
"It's malfunctioning."
Beep. Beep. Static.
And in space… the battle of legends had only just begun.