Seeing the little girl act... the other saw this as their opportunity and bolted.
Three of them—wide-eyed and trembling—turned and bolted deeper into the side tunnels, tiny feet hitting stone as they fled the horde.
However, two remained.
One was a boy with bright blue hair that seemed to reflect an ocean.
He much like the little guardian, held a Primordial Star.
It was the Primordial Star of the Silent Reaper.... it was protection, but through absolute eradication.
The moment his gaze landed on the little girl standing so fiercely in front of the gray boy, something hot and unfamiliar twisted in his small chest.
He did not understand the feeling, only that it made him want to stay.
He stepped forward, small fists clenched.
"I… help!" he shouted in the same simple speech.
The remaining infant—a girl with flickering flame wings—nodded once and joined them.
And in that moment... the wave crashed in.
GRRRRR!!!!!
Wolves and tusked boars charged together, snarling and snapping.
SHK!!!!
SHK!!!!!
CRACKKK!!!!
The little Angel girl's white chains lashed out again and again, cracking ribs and shattering jaws.
The blue-haired boy raised both hands; dark violet blades of divinity formed in the air and sliced forward, cutting cleanly through two wolves before they could reach the gray infant.
SHKKK!!!!!
The whole time they fought, each kill left him breathing harder, yet he kept stealing glances at the girl, that strange tightness in his chest driving him to push further.
FWOOOSH!!
Meanwhile, the flame-winged girl flung quick bursts of fire that scorched eyes and slowed the enemy's advance.
Together the three infants fought with clumsy but fierce determination—with their chains cracking, blades flashing, and flames roaring.
And beast after beast fell until the cave floor was littered with smoking corpses and the air smelled of burned fur.
When the last Tier-Two boar collapsed with a dark blade through its skull, silence returned.
The little angel girl lowered her hands, breathing fast, her wings drooping with tiredness. She turned to check on the gray boy behind her.
Seeing that he was unharmed a small smile was already forming on her lips.
But before she could speak, before anyone could move—
HUMMMMMM!!!!!!!
Three rays of brilliant silver light lanced down from the cavern ceiling.
In a heartbeat the three infants vanished—teleported away by the God Pool's unseen hand, taken to whatever came next for them.
Only the rough-featured boy remained.
Alone once more in the blood-stained cave, surrounded by the bodies of the dead beasts, he sat perfectly still on the cold stone, crude eyes staring at the empty space where she had stood.
In that moment, a sharp, hollow ache bloomed inside his chest.
He immediately clutched his chest... and uttered the most inhumane scream one would never imagine from an infant.
"ARGHHHHHH!!!!!"
His words were deep almost as if one of the most ancient Devils.... or Gods had been injured.
And to the abominable child.... It felt like he had just lost his heart all over again. The steady beat she had given him stuttered, then seemed to fade into nothing but emptiness.
In this moment he felt his first loss.
As his scream faded... his crude eyes dimmed and the world titled.
Before he knew it... he had blacked out.
-----
The boy opened his eyes and found himself floating above an endless sea of black and white.
It was the same exact sea he had appeared in when the others were awakening.
This time however, he was conscious and was able to see, hear, feel everything.
Before him, he watched two forces waged a silent tug-of-war.
On one side, the white water wove together every gentle memory of the little girl—her soft voice saying
"I pwotect," the warmth of her side pressed against his, and the drop of essence that had brought him a heartbeat, ears, eyes.
On the other side, black water coiled around every moment of pain—the teeth tearing his flesh, the silent hours of nothingness, and the sudden emptiness when the ray of light took her away.
He sat and watched for he didn't know how long.... as slowly the black side completely overwhelmed the white.
All of the sea turned completely black except a small portion that held a sigil of a white spear with wings.
Before the infant, the water stirred as an identical version of him appeared.
Except it was all black.
It spoke as they stared at one another— it was... what would be his own voice, yet deeper, colder, and more ancient.
"It is time to put your little pants on." He said in words that sound vastly different from those the little angel or other infants were speaking.
"We are not some weakling.... we will not allow this world to consume us!"
The boy looked on in confusion as he could understand everything clearly and for the first time his crude lips moved.
"W..what are you?" He asked with no difficulty at all, though his voice, it held no tone at all, almost like emotion didn't exist and he too spoke in an entirely different language.
"What am I?"
Black laughed hearing him speak, "Good, already using the Language of Gods.... Good." It said before continuing.
"Me? I am you." He said, "And You.... are the BLANK GOD!"
-----
And before the child could ask any further questions, he found his vision twist and turn before he regained consciousness.
Even though for him... the time seemed both long yet immeasurably short...
Two full years had passed while he floated unconscious in that endless sea.
And like normal... The God Pool's culling had continued without him.
When his crude eyes opened again, he was no longer in the cave.
He floated weightlessly among millions of other infants; all suspended in the vast open skies of Panthun.
Far above them, the leaders of Panthun watched from floating thrones and platforms—Clan Patriarchs, Sect Matriarchs, Rogues whose mere presence warped the air.
And with the ending of the second phase of the God Pool, it was time for the final phase to begin...
The Selection Phase.