.."Do something? Do Something?! How dare y- I AM A GOD!"

The brief moment of chilled rationality was cast aside at the mere mention that the he, the great and powerful Lightbringer, might have to get off his butt and actually do something with his own two hands.

It immediately lit his blood aflame once more as his rage boiled to the surface, exploding outwards in volcanic eruption of vitriol that spewed forth from his mouth.

"A GOD DOES NOT NEED TO WORK HIMSELF! A GOD HAS FOLLOWERS, MEASLY AND PATHETIC MORTALS TO DO HIS BIDDING. MY BIDDING! I AM A GOD AND I DON'T NEED TO DO ANY-"

It was an eruption that was immediately cut short by the calmly raised hand of the ethereal beauty. She held her palm up, as if asking for silence and pause, and it was the world itself that obeyed that request.

The Lightbringer did not fall silent out of choice, respect or even obedience. At the calm, simplistic raise of her hand, his entire body froze solid with fear. His face, which was once completely red and twisted in rage, was now pale of a sheet and overcome with an expression of pure terror.

Every single muscle in his body simply refused to move. His mind grew still and his heart barely dared to pump blood around his body as if the simple sound of it beating could be taken as an offence to the one before him. His eyes trembled ever so slightly, locked on the hand that had froze him not just in fear, but with overwhelming pressure.

The air around him became solid and unmoving, frozen itself and allowing no movement even if he tried. Almost as if it was intentionally stopping him from running away, or simply too scared to do so itself.

Her hand shifted, her slender fingers curling until only one of them remained raised. At that same moment, the entire pressure around him shifted and increased tenfold. The air which had grown still immediately pressed down on him like a mountain.

His legs gave way, causing him to collapse to the ground and assume a begging position as he knelt before her.

When she spoke, her voice carried the same chilling yet neutral tone as it always had, although it always carried with it a clear hint of disdain.

"One. You are not a god. I have met a god. I have been allowed to gaze upon one, and you... you are nothing. You are a child. An idiotic, cocky child who is utterly deluded, simply because you got the slightest taste of Divine Energy all while eagerly suckling at the teet of a true god."

She moved forwards, her footsteps unnoticeable, as if they didn't exist at all, as she seemingly glided along the ground. When she stopped, the top of the Lightbringers head was barely brushing against the hem of her dress as he grovelled at her feet, his body twitching and struggling underneath the pressure.

Yet that pressure only doubled in strength, forcing him deeper into the ground and causing the all powerful Lightbringer to cough up a mouthful of blood, as the graceful beauty simply raised a second finger.

"Two. You are right, pathetic and miserable mortals do exist to be used by higher powers. Yet here you are, a miserable and truly worthless mortal, who refused to obey.

You seem to forget, little mortal. You are under contract. A contract that you so eagerly signed. Power, for obedience. Power you have squandered and allowed to go to your head. And yet despite that, still you show disobedience.

Do I need to remind you what happens to disobedient dogs like you?"

"N-n-no."

"No what?"

The Lightbringer grit his teeth, not just from the pressure nearly crushing his organs, but because of the utter humiliation he was going through at the moment. Blood seeped through his gritted teeth, before he finally managed to spit out,

"No Ma'am."

The overbearing gravity crushing his body to the ground and squeezing the life out of his supposedly indesctructible body finally disappeared at his response, as if it had never been there at all.

The Lightbringer let out a grumbling sigh, pulling his face from the blood spattered floor and started to rise to his feet, only for a slender hand to grab the back of his head and shove his face down again.

The force of that frail hand made the overwhelming pressure feel like a light breeze in comparison, as it rammed his face into the stone and shattered the floor behind him. With one slender, delicate hand the woman held the Lightbringer down, no matter how much he struggled to get out of her grip.

Those long, thin fingers were like the talons of a monster around his head as they squeezed his skull to the point that it started to creak.

The indesctrucible god let out cries of pain as the fragile appearing woman nearly crushed his skull with the same amount of effort as crushing a grape between your fingers.

Warm breath tickled his neck, her silkly hair draping down beside his head as she leaned close and whispered in his ear. Her voice, for the first time, was not cold or neutral. Instead it was filled with contained rage and dripping with venom as she hissed in his ear.

"Third. If you ever speak to me like that again, I will kill you. This is not a threat, it is a promise. I will kill you and think nothing of it, like crushing an ant beneath my boot.

Remember this little boy. You are not special. You are not a god. You are a pawn. Replaceable and disposable. I gave you power, and I can take it away to give to someone else if you prove to be too much trouble.

All I would lose is time, an insignificant amount of time. But some time nonetheless.

Your life continues because it is convenient for me. So do yourself a favour, and don't be an inconvenience. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes Ma'am."

The muffled voice came from the destroyed floor, before the tyrannical and delicate hand released its death grip on the Lightbringers skull and finally allowed him to stand.

The tall woman glided back over to her original spot, as if she had never moved at all, and began to idly play with the hair of the young girl that was standing next to her, who actually had not moved.

The girl remained glued to the spot, shivering and trembling in fear. She flinched when the woman brushed and played with her hair, letting out silent whimpers and weeping softly to herself, not that the woman seemed to care.

"You are going to go down there, and sort this out. I don't care how. I was told this miserable country would be subjugated, but you can't seem to manage one small cities resistence. Show me the power of this so called 'God' and wipe out all those heretics like a good boy."

"Yes Ma'am... but I don't know if I will have enough power. With all of my followers dying in the conquest, I am losing power, I will need to create more of the solution to empower myself. And... I don't know how quickly I can arrive on the battle.

Perhaps it would be best to bide our time until the next battle, one we can win."

The Lightbringer, despite being released from her grasp and the pressure pressing down onto him, remained on his knees. He had removed his head from the hole in the floor, but he didn't dare to rise.

His voice was weak and quivering, as he eminated an aura of pathetic subservience. Very unbecoming for a god.

"Hmm... But it seems like your little juice box here is all tapped out for now. However, I have a very simple solution to your problem.

One little thing that will let you take control of all that Divine Energy swirling around you for a few minutes. More than enough time to take care of any issues."

She waved her hand, producing a pure golden feather. It was larger than those that littered the floor around her, as it measured more than a foot in length. One could only imagine the bird that it came from.

"Y-you're offering this to me, for free?"

The Lightbringer raised his head, his eyes widening at the sight of the golden feather. It was a dazzling sight that burned itself into his brain and reflected in his awestruck eyes. He wanted nothing more than to lunge forwards and snatch it.

"Power for obedience, that was our deal. This little gift will cost you however, but there's no need to concern yourself with the details of its cost. All you need to do, is say yes."

***

The fractured blade of Astra's sword clicked back into one solid form as the whip fully retracted. The statue crumbled to the ground, leaving nothing but rubble and broken stone limbs.

The decapitated head of the statue rolled across the floor towards her, only to be completely crushed under her boot.

Nodding softly, she stuck her sword to her hip and turned to return to the battle. The believers in the room were of little concern or danger to her. All she had to do now was a little clean up on the battlefield and then-

BWOOOOM!

Her thought process was cut short as the wall in front of Astra suddenly became bathed in a pure white, blinding light broken up only by the deep, dancing shadows of the figures in the room, including herself.

The light only lasted for a second before it dimmed down, mixing with the light of glowing crystals and creating an entire audience of shadows.

Turning her head with a frown, Astra looked over her shoulder at where the statue now stood tall and proud once again, its hands lowered gracefully as it accepted the muttered, jubilant prayers of the followers at its feet.

A tender smile brushed across its lips as it gazed down at them, before the statue raised its head and narrowed its bright eyes at Astra. It wasn't a statue... the Lightbringer himself had finally descended onto the battlefield.