Far from the heart of the battle, where laws clashed and divine light flared high overhead, a vast Bone Vortex silently turned through a relatively calm stretch of airspace above the sea.
Lord of the Bone Abyss Ortros compressed his presence to the utmost. His Bone Throne did not manifest physically, but instead transformed into this flow of energy composed of countless fine bone fragments and the whispers of wraiths.
Like an undercurrent in the Deep Sea, it clung to the dark edge tainted by the Night Lady's power, attempting to seep around it.
His tactical plan was to avoid a direct clash with Astaroth and the Lord of Destruction, beings of that level; avoid the two fiends known as Magma and Torment; and, above all, avoid that Lord of Lies who was deceitful to the bone.
What he needed were the nutrients scattered across the battlefield—the remains of creatures that had fallen in the aftermath of the God War, and even the shattered divine bodies of lesser gods, all to strengthen his Bone Throne.
Devour, condense, grow stronger. That was the way of survival for the one who forged the Bone Throne.
Although his previous clash with Dies Martin had been brief, Lord of the Bone Abyss still remembered it vividly.
That fellow's power was not the strongest, but his omnipresent deceit and schemes had made Ortros feel as though he were fighting a slippery shadow, constrained at every turn.
Thus, he chose the most cautious method of infiltrating from the flank.
However, Lord of the Bone Abyss had underestimated Dies Martin's desire to control this battlefield, as well as his concern for this old friend of his.
Just as the Bone Vortex was about to bypass an area completely shrouded in darkness, the will of Lord of the