Tania and Heshuka leapt at each other. Heshuka held his solar club high in his right hand, while Tania came at him with her claws spread wide. The two gods collided, the hawk god smashing Tania across the face with his club even as the goddess drove her claws into the sides of his abdomen.
They recovered from the clash at once and began exchanging blows while flying above the sun’s surface. Every impact sent out enormous shockwaves that tore holes through the star’s sea of fire.
Then Heshuka gripped his club with both hands and struck Tania’s side with all his might, splitting her body in two. At the very same moment, Tania fired a powerful beam of fire from her mouth, erasing Heshuka’s head with the blast. Their bodies were hurled away from each other and crashed down upon the surface of the sun.
Tania began to recover, but slowly, while Heshuka’s body regenerated much faster, allowing him to rise to his feet with far greater ease.
Seeing his overwhelming advantage, with himself standing while Tania was still recovering, the hawk god dismissed his flaming club and stretched both arms toward her, his palms open.
“You know, Tannit? I did not wish to attack you with my full power, because I had hoped to keep you alive as a prisoner in Cahokia. But I did not expect you to be such a troublesome opponent,” the hawk god said.
“But I shall hesitate no longer. With this attack, I shall wipe you from the face of the universe, and your ashes shall become part of this sun,” he warned.
At once, waves of fire began swirling around Heshuka, rising from the solar surface itself. Then a phenomenon never before seen took place: half the sun went dark as its flames gathered around the body of Cahokia’s king, while all that fire condensed into his palms.
“Sakuúru kuriítuʾraawiʾat (Solar fire wave)!” the hawk god shouted.
The waves of fire merged into a spherical form, then unleashed a gigantic blazing beam from his hands. The attack was so immense it could have been seen from thousands of light-years away, a vast lance of fire escaping the sun. The colossal blast destroyed several nearby planets before vanishing into the endless void.
The star itself shrank considerably, and then its flames spread once more to cover its surface. Heshuka breathed deeply, but smiled, certain he had finished the goddess.
“If that bitch Anat comes here, I shall kill her in the same manner,” he said, beginning to laugh.
But his smile did not last long. Looking up, he saw Tania’s severed body floating above him. The goddess had both hands raised overhead and had created an immense sphere of fire. She glared down at him with burning wrath.
Come on, body of mine. Surpass all your limits! the Punic goddess thought, her body trembling in agony as she continued making the fire sphere larger and larger. Its brilliance was so intense it could be seen from light-years away.
When Heshuka saw the enormous star Tania had created, he once again gathered waves of fire around his body and aimed both palms at her.
“Do not imagine I shall simply let you throw that at me!” the god shouted.
“Souls within my body, I beg you as your servant—help me create a more peaceful world, one where people do not meet the same fate you did!” Tania cried out.
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At that moment, an immense torrent of energy erupted from the goddess’s body and poured into the gigantic sphere above her. Its size became massive, nearly that of a moon. Though enormous compared to Tania herself, it was still insignificant beside the great sun where Heshuka stood gathering his power.
Again, the giant sun dimmed—yet this time it was three quarters of its body that went dark, while all its blazing might revolved around Heshuka.
“Tannit! With this attack, I shall destroy this entire planetary system. I hope you are pleased that you shall become part of the remnants left behind by this dying star!” Heshuka shouted just as he finished preparing the tremendous wave of fire.
“This is my maximum power!” Tania roared as she brought her hands down to release the gigantic sphere of flame.
“Sakuúru kuriítuʾraawiʾat!” Heshuka screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Galad esh resh (Fire Sphere Number 500)!” Tania shouted in fury.
Heshuka’s immense wave of fire crashed against Tania’s burning sphere. Both gods strained with all their might, struggling to control the colossal power in their hands, while red lightning burst from the clash of such overwhelming energy. Space itself twisted in terrible ripples, causing cataclysms on the nearby planets.
Then Heshuka’s body began to burst apart from within. His bones, organs, and muscles all started exploding and evaporating in the unbearable heat.
“It... cannot be... I am... stronger... than you...” Heshuka gasped in shock as he saw his body failing to endure the collision of their techniques.
“You are,” Tania answered, “but you are using power that is not truly yours, and you have not trained yourself to control it... You are nothing but a pipe bursting from too much water inside it!”
Then Tania’s gigantic sphere of fire began driving back Heshuka’s enormous solar wave with frightening speed, until it slammed into the god at full force as he screamed in terror.
Everything lit up at once. The giant sun imploded and annihilated the entire planetary system around it in seconds. Tania shielded herself as best she could from the monstrous explosion, but she felt certain she would not survive, for she had no reserve ichor left.
The vast shockwave hurled the goddess’s mutilated body millions of kilometers away. Half-conscious, she gazed upon the majestic universe around her and smiled.
Then she felt an immense gravitational pull dragging her in. The goddess no longer had the means to avoid being pulverized by the black hole created by the dead sun.
But at that exact moment, Tania vanished.
Her body reappeared inside the temple where Heshuka had once been seated. There, Susanoo and Tul, both covered in wounds, were trying to activate the portal to Ckaárus. They had managed to trigger the teleportation at just the right time... or perhaps not?
“Ch’úupal!” Tul cried out joyfully and threw her arms around the goddess, not noticing how terribly injured she was.
“Am... bro... sia...” Tania whispered in a voice that was almost gone.
When Susanoo saw that Tania’s body had been severed in half, he cried out in horror.
“I shall fetch Anpiel! Pray do not perish, Tania-san!” the eastern god shouted in fright before rushing away.
“Ch’úupal, did you beat him? Did you defeat the hawk man?” Tul asked.
“Yes... Tul...” Tania answered in a ragged voice, but with a satisfied smile as she saw the rabbit goddess crying while still embracing her.
Tul then pulled a small jar of water from her bag and held it to Tania’s mouth.
“This will make you feel better, ch’úupal,” she said.
Tania drank it and made a face of utter disgust.
“This tastes horrible!” she complained.
But immediately afterward, she began to feel her body slowly starting to rebuild itself. Her ichor had increased a little, and because of that, she was able to recover the lower half of her body.
Tania then rose and sat up. She had not recovered her ichor completely, but it had saved her from death. Once more, the rabbit goddess gave her that look, clearly hoping the Punic goddess would praise her. But instead of patting her on the head, Tania embraced her again.
“You saved my life, Tul! Thank you!” she said.
“It was nothing, ch’úupal. You saved me from prison and gave me food,” Tul replied, tears still in her eyes.
“And you saved me from being swallowed by a black hole when you teleported me back here,” Tania added.
“About that... the truth is, we couldn’t activate the portal, because none of us were gods of this civilization,” the rabbit goddess said apologetically.
At that moment, Tania understood. With his final breath, Heshuka had pulled her away from certain death.
Even my enemies have to save my life. I must have either the worst luck in the world or the very best, she thought.