The first thing Sarive noticed was the cold.
Not the cold of winter or frost—but the cold of emptiness. The kind that settles in places where time has broken and stars have died. He stood on a floating fragment of land, suspended in a sky that swirled with molten gold and deep violet clouds. The air shimmered with raw energy. Reality itself pulsed like it was holding its breath.
Sarive had left Earth only seconds ago.
Now he stood in a realm far beyond understanding.
"This place..." he whispered, scanning the horizon.
"...is the Veil," Diana said beside him, stepping lightly across the cracked stone. "The space between realities. It's where Theonix watches, and where Hope is kept—for now."
Her voice, smooth and resolute, cut through the strange stillness. She wore her battle armor again—white woven with black and gold, a shimmering lasso at her side, the golden skull on her shoulder glinting in the dim light. Beside her, Sarive looked every bit the warrior she had forged.
His new suit clung to him like starlight—black with white and gold seams, a regal design glowing along the chest: a stylized black panther's face outlined in radiant gold. On his right shoulder sat a sculpted skull—symbol not of death, but of resolve, an unspoken promise: No one would harm the girl. Not while he stood.
"Why me?" he asked her, still reeling."There are better heroes. Stronger ones. Superman. Shazam. Hell—Batman's smarter than me. Why would Theonix choose someone like—"
She turned sharply, eyes glowing.
"Because you still believe."
He met her gaze, struck silent.
"You believe in people. In redemption. In hope. That's not weakness, Sarive. That's your strength."
There was no warmth in her expression—only purpose. She had seen too many wars to speak in comfort. But in her words, he felt steadied.
He nodded, exhaling. "Where is she?"
Before Diana could answer, the sky above them tore open like wet cloth.
From it poured a host of wings and flame—angels, not of Heaven, but of something older. Their armor shimmered with divine metal, each face hidden behind expressionless masks. At their front flew a giant of a god with flaming red eyes and a spiked golden spear.
"Zeus's vanguard," Diana muttered, drawing her sword. "He moves faster than I expected."
Sarive's fists clenched, and the air around him pulsed.
"They want Hope?""No," Diana said grimly. "They want to destroy her."
The angels descended like a divine storm. Their war cries shattered the silence. And in that instant, Sarive moved.
One blink—and he was airborne, faster than lightning.
He slammed into the first angel with bone-breaking force, sending it crashing into a jagged cliff below. He spun mid-air, dodging spears, blasting forward with a shockwave of cosmic energy. Diana followed, a blur of light and steel, cutting through wings with precision honed by centuries of battle.
The sky became a battlefield.
Below, in a chamber hidden deep within the Veil, Hope watched the battle from a floating mirror. Her eyes, wide and golden, flickered with awe.
She saw him—Sarive.
He wasn't just fighting. He was protecting.
Not out of duty. Not out of power.
But because she mattered.
She placed her hand against the mirror, and the surface shimmered.
"You're here," she whispered.
And with those words, her body pulsed with light.
The ground beneath her cracked. The mirror shattered. Energy poured from her like a sun waking from slumber. Her eyes flared bright, and symbols older than gods appeared in the air around her.
The Energy of Gods—wild, ancient, and infinite—awakened.
Above, the sky ruptured again—this time not with angels.
But with thunder.
Sarive and Diana landed as the battle momentarily paused. A deep rumble rolled through the Veil.
And then he stepped through.
Zeus.
Clad in armor of lightning and starlight, his beard crackling with energy, his eyes like storms bound in flesh. He raised his hand, and silence fell.
"The girl is an abomination," he said, voice echoing across dimensions."Give her to me. Or be struck from the memory of existence."
Diana stepped forward, defiant. "She's a child. You'll have to go through us."
Sarive said nothing. He stood still, watching the god.
Then his chest began to glow.
A soft hum grew louder, and golden tendrils of light danced across his skin. Something new was waking inside him. A power deeper than strength or speed.
A power he had no name for.
Yet.
"Then let this be your first war, Champion," Zeus growled.
And in a flash of lightning, the sky tore once more.