The battle timer had already restarted twice due to us being unable to come up with a coherent battle plan. It shouldn't have been unexpected. This many big personalities in one place, with gods who were used to taking eons for plans to come to full fruition, was certain to produce its own issues. It was a miracle we had come this far in the time we had; which I wasn't sure hadn't been the point.

We would need to react quickly to Void Beasts in order to minimize damage. The Paradox that had attacked the Four Realms had popped up in an instant; the rogue god attacking had given me something of a warning and because of that I had been prepared to fight, but the Paradox itself had been instantaneous. It was unbelievably kind of Mr. Boxes to give us this much warning when thought of this way. Thankfully, though, we were almost ready. Barring a few last minute complaints from the others, which I attributed to the heightened tensions between us.

"Why not let us fight a juvenile first?" the Emperor asked.

"At your power levels, juveniles would not present enough of a challenge or a proper warning for the dangers of the Void. The lesson would be missed." Mr. Boxes responded, kind enough to let me see through his favored status windows. I nodded in agreement with him – I had grown much since my first encounter with a Paradox. Would I call it easy to defeat one now? I wasn't sure, especially injured as I still was, and would trust Mr. Boxes' judgement on the matter. But with eleven of us together? That should make a juvenile relatively trivial.

"Do you have any final tips for how to defeat these beasts?" Shin questioned.

"The Void consumes. One method of calming a Void Beast involves feed it enough power that it returned to the Void, sated. You must not use this method. It is a last-ditch effort that will leave you drained or crippled; such as what happened to Statera. In their case, not even losing an arm was enough to put it down for good." Mr. Boxes replied.

"…will we be in mortal danger?" Sylphina asked, the butterfly once more confirming the answer we all already knew.

"I will protect you from death. But only once. When you are 'killed' I will teleport you away to observe the rest of the battle. If all of you perish this will be counted as failure. The Void is not to be trifled with, and it is important that you understand this." Mr. Boxes said. Oh, good. We had a safety net. That also means we can be a little more reckless and experimental in our strategies. I mused. I'd already defeated a juvenile before, of course, but at the cost of an arm and some of my power. If there was ever a time to try out new things and try to find a way around sacrificing pieces of myself to stop the Void, it would be here and now.

Suddenly, I was feeling much better about this.

"I am at a severe disadvantage here." Yueya complained. "Without my other two halves, I am far weaker than I should be."

"This is acceptable. Yueya and Rising Wind, Crashing Waves' disadvantages at being away from their home universes has been take into consideration. Are you prepared?" Mr. Boxes pressed.

I, for one, was. My role had been decided upon at the very beginning of the discussion, and had not changed since, just as Sehuyun's role had never been in doubt. At least, to the others my role had been clear. Sehuyun and I would be the among the most offensively dedicated Origin Deities, the claws and spear of this collection of beings. While I had initially wanted to argue with this, as my abilities were not solely geared toward attacking, I eventually had to concede when Yueya pointed out my injury. I was a soldier without his shield-arm. Attacking would be no problem, but defending would be far more difficult.

Yet another reason for me to resolve my injury as soon as possible once this was all said and done.

The others were far more argumentative about their positions, but we had eventually come to a conclusion.

MR-10, Sylphina, and Reilly would function as supporters, effectively switching between whatever role was needed, bolstering allies or defending them as needed. Shin, the Progenitor, and Nyxteria would act as defensive units, primarily redirecting attacks and such, while the Emperor would join Sehuyun and I on offense. The other two; Rising Wind, Crashing Waves, and Yueya would be acting as tacticians. Their primary goal was to figure out a way to put down the Paradox then act upon that information, assuming none of us figured it out first. They would, of course, be aiding the rest of us in any capacity necessary; even swapping in if we were starting to grow tired and needed a break. Or in the event that anyone 'died,' they would jump in and fill that deity's role.

It was an imperfect setup, especially considering we had no way of knowing if the Void would have anything resembling an 'attack,' but one we would have to rely on. Why am I not part of the reserves? A small part of myself wondered, knowing that my eyes would be invaluable in figuring out the Paradox's weakness. But I knew the answer to that, as well. I was the only one here with combat experience regarding Paradoxes. Of course I was put on the front lines.

"Just get on with it," Sehuyun growled, shifted beside me with wings flared. Fire burned in the depths of her chest, glowing with a fierce orange light. I took a deep breath in the silence that followed her declaration, my own power surging forth. A spear of golden light formed in my right hand, my prosthetic arm conjuring a shield.

The others settled in around me, the Emperor standing to my left side wielding a gleaming golden, gem-encrusted great sword, while Sehuyun crawled up on my right, still growling. I leveled my spear and lifted my shield, the construct feeling indescribably heavy to my false arm, my injury throbbing in anticipation of the fight to come.

Sweat beaded my brow as the seconds ticked by, time itself countable only due to my own power and those beside me. Nothingness lay before me, and –

"BRACE!" I shouted, leaping forward and bashing with my shield to meet the incoming blow.

Next thing I knew, I was hurtling backward, golden blood leaking from between my lips and shield shattered as I crashed through the ranks of the Origin Deities, sending them scattering. My power flared, fracturing slightly at the destructive nature of the Paradox as I skidded to a halt.

"Statera!" Yueya shouted, concern laced through her voice.

"FOCUS!" Golden blood sprayed from my mouth at my bellow, digging my feet in and righting myself as I simultaneously hurled my spear forward, lacing it with all the power of creation I could muster. Sehuyun roared and the Emperor bellowed as my spear crashed into the invisible, nigh incomprehensible beast, exploding with raw power as it stalled its movements momentarily.

And in that split second, I got a good look at the being. Though look was the wrong word; it had no form. Not really. As far as I could tell the entirety of the Void before me had come alive, a massive blob of raw destructive intent. We were in the Void. And it took issue with that.

"CLEAVE!" The Emperor bellowed, swinging his massive great sword. The Void itself split, stars and nebulous gasses radiating out from where he had cut it open – only for the cut to be consumed in its entirely, a hexagonal shield of green protecting the Emperor from the Void's retaliation. The shield shattered almost immediately, but it gave the Emperor enough time to carve another slice into the Void and give himself some breathing room.

Meanwhile, Sehuyun breathed fire. The destructive orange flame howled as it streamed forth, destroying and creating in equal measure, whittling away at the Void's intent – and that was all the time for analysis I had, as I hurled myself forward with another spear in hand.

A sphere of white and black appeared before me as I touched the Void's intent, my divine definition of Balance colliding with the Void's destructive nature – only to come up short, the sphere destroyed in an instant. There was nothing to balance here. The intent of the Void was simplistic to the utmost degree, and to even call it intent was a bold-faced lie. This was what the Void did. There was no fighting it. Only accepting the inevitability of destruction.

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"Begone!" I shouted, hurling my spear once more before settling on a different tactic. MR-10's drones shot through the Void above me, bombarding the beast with missiles that detonated with the force of a supernova, rattling the beast. My hands reached out, physically grabbing the Void, my power crackling as my energy was consumed by it. Lines of golden light radiated out from me, splitting apart the Void, trying to separate out its destructive impulses –

A glittering shield of silver light formed above me in a dome, giving me just enough warning to leap away from a cascading wave that threatened to consume me. A shiver ran down my spine at the close encounter, nodding my thanks to Reilly who nodded back in turn.

"Creation is its counter!" the Progenitor commanded, forgoing his usual halting speech pattern considering the urgency of the situation. "We must transform it into something physical!"

"Elemental energies are the easiest to transform it into!" Rising Wind, Crashing Waves commanded, stepping up to take the place of Sylphina, who fell back, the chaos butterfly practically spent. She had been protecting Sehuyun this entire time, but the Dragon knew no word for retreat. Protecting her had spent the butterfly. "But more complex things are more effective!"

"Easier said than done!" The Emperor bellowed, leaping backward and slashing again with his sword.

"Watch out!" Shin barked, raising his skeletal hands. I, too, stepped forward to intervene, but was too late. The Emperor vanished in an instant, his sword cleaving one final line through the Void Being before vanishing entirely. I cursed as I darted forward again, willing power to surge through me. How in the world was one supposed to fight against Nothing? Even if I'd done it before, Mr. Boxes had specifically said not to use that method.

"Focus on calming the Void!" Yueya commanded. "Creation is only eating away at its power, it will take too much out of us! We need to still its instincts!"

I hesitated, the power I was calling forth switching from offensive to defensive in a moment, shielding Sehuyun from another blow from the Void Beast – and space warped around me, Nyxteria teleporting me to the side to avoid a death blow. I swallowed as I expanded my senses as best I could, lashing out every which way, trying to disrupt the Void's instincts, throw it in disarray. Suns burst to life only to be consumed, calm waters flowed, and even lightning crackled as I bid the Void to calm, transforming bits and pieces of itself into small creations. They were only drops in the bucket, however. Momentary injuries the Void Beast largely ignored.

Another tendril of the Beast lashed out, and I countered with a massive blast of divine power. Intricate technique were of no use here, I had to just throw power at the thing in a hope to counter it.

Stars bloomed around me as Nyxteria spread its wings, time rippling in a wave around the great bird. Space folded and stretched, bending in impossible angles as it created another new universe about itself – the Void Beast screeched, an impossible sound, as an entire chunk of its being was carved away – only for it all to vanish in an instant as its entire attention focused on the Bird.

And Nyxteria was gone in the blink of an eye.

Soft music played, radiating calmness as Yueya sung soothing words, while I wracked my brain for anything that might help.

"[SILENCE!]" The Progenitor and I called in the language of the Overgod at the same time, stillness rippling out form the two of us. Yet silence was not nothingness. Silence indicated the absence of noise, not the total lack of it – and it was shattered in a moment.

"[Void]." Sylphina was the next to speak up, the butterfly flaring its wings, chaos swirling about, transforming nothingness into everything from popcorn to nebulas – only to vanish in an instant as the Void turned against it, devouring her in her entirety. Yet I still saw something. An instant where the Void hesitated, stilling for a brief moment.

"Group up!" MR-10 commanded. "Sehuyun, we have need of your power! Come!"

I latched onto the command, using a series of quick teleports to appear beside the machine god alongside the others. The Void Beast writhed as Sehuyun clawed her way through it, missing multiple scales as she fought her way back to the growing huddle of origin deities.

"What now?" Shin asked, standing beside me.

"Guard myself and Yueya. Send power to us, we will twist it into the desired shape." MR-10 said. Sehuyun growled, blood seeping out from between her teeth, but even she did as was asked, bits of smoke and flame slowly flowing toward MR-10. I focused half of my power toward Yueya and MR-10, the two humming as they began to vibrate, the sheer amount of power within them setting the Void to shuddering. The rest I directed outward, twining together with Shin's power to create a dome-like shield.

It shuddered and groaned beneath the weight of the Void's blows, Shin linking his skeletal fingers together, eyes glowing.

"I think I know what they're doing." He whispered, gesturing to Yueya and MR-10. I grit my teeth as the others began adding their own energy to the shield, only Sehuyun opting to breath out fire, the flames arcing through the dome to burn into the Void.

"What are they doing?"

"Brace yourself. The shield will not last." He warned instead of answering, cracks already forming.

It shattered an instant later, and my instincts screamed at me to dodge, to move, to run. But my heart yelled at me to rise up, to protect, to shield.

And I always followed my heart.

I leapt directly in front of the wave of Void that threatened to crash down upon MR-10 and Yueya, the former losing an entire half of its mechanical body to the attacking Void. My hands gripped the Void, blood seeping down my palms as it ate away at my skin, struggling to keep things under control for just a few more moments. Reilly rose up behind me, the god of luck placing his hands upon my back and channeling even more power into me, to keep me from falling.

"I've got you, Statera. You keep fighting." He promised. Rising Wind, Crashing Waves struggled to my right, bellowing as he was consumed by the Void entirely – followed quickly by the Progenitor, who winked out of existence.

Even I could feel myself fading, moments away from death despite Reilly's aid; and then, with a scream from Yueya and a burst of electricity from MR-10, there was light.

And I vanished into Mr. Boxes' embrace.

***

The Overgod of the Multiverse was satisfied as it teleported Statera Luotian to safety, placing the young god of balance beside the other Origin Deities who had 'died' in the test, simultaneously healing the wounds of all combatants. MR-10's machine body was fixed in an instant, all of its power returned to the machine god.

Of the eleven gods, only Shin, Yueya, Reilly, and MR-10 survived; which had been a better showing than expected. Projections had initially estimated either an entirely catastrophic first run, in which case the test would be retaken until satisfactory results were achieved, or only a single survivor was most likely. For that to have been proven wrong was a pleasant surprise.

As was Yueya and MR-10 figuring out one of the more esoteric ways to counter a Void Beast.

It was no accident that "Let There Be Light" was required of all origin deities to say, after all.

An enormous ball of light burned in the Void below the Overgod's incarnation, Shin and Reilly both caught in the very center. A single burst of power dismantled the chaotic creation; the power of nearly a dozen Origin Gods fighting each other while struggling to maintain the banishing light.

Creation was the direct opposite to the Void, but the Light of Creation was what truly banished it. And such a concept was not to be confused with mere light.

"Congratulations," the Overgod's incarnation said, teleporting the deities back together again. The Emperor sulked, pinching the bridge of his nose as Nyxteria comforted the God-King, patting him on the back with a wing. All eyes focused on the Envoys of the Overgod's message despite their varying moods, however, the message boxes appearing before their eyes. "You have completed the test. Though many of you died, that is within acceptable parameters. More importantly, you collectively learned various methods in countering the Void – be it raw power, the Light of Creation, or stillness of heart and mind – as well as that invoking the Void itself is dangerous, as Sylphina discovered."

The chaos butterfly twitched her antennas, embarrassment setting her wings to fluttering. It was a foolish emotion to feel, in the Overgod's experience. Babies should not feel embarrassed for their actions.

"In the following moments, I will teleport you all back to the meeting room. From there, bid each other farewell and return to your respective universes. Some time will be given to discuss what you learned here, but please note that the meeting room will close in a single year. [Stage 3] will begin shortly thereafter.

Experimentation with the Void is encouraged in this stage. Find out what works and what doesn't work, and the best way for your universes to make larger expansions into the Void without triggering apocalyptic Void events. In this [Stage], your Realms should be growing large enough to cause disturbances. Certain protections will be rolled back as well, to give you more experience in handling the Void.

Good luck!"

And with that, all the origin deities were promptly teleported back to the meeting room. That finalized, the Overgod turned its attention to the diagrams and data that perpetually surrounded it, checking the probability of a void-related disaster once again.

If anything, that percentage had gone up. However, the damage amount probability had gone down, indicating that even if the catastrophe did come to pass, it would likely not be as bad as it once might have. The Overgod nodded to itself. There were still other countermeasures to attempt, but for now this would have to do.

With the meeting over, now it could turn its attention to other matters.

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