A palpable silence covered the battlefield as Yck's blood sprayed from his throat like a fountain. Even the children, who had been screaming from intense betrayal and fear just a mont ago, were now more quiet than the night.
Overhead, for as far as the sky could extend, demon squires were extinguished from existence.
Even Elise, who had finally caught up to Nick and was trying to warn him about the 2 commanders who ca to slaughter the kids, stopped in her tracks.
The first seal of Annihilation was broken.
Now wasn't the ti for fear or battle. The outco had already been decided.
Therefore, now was solely the ti for reverence.
Even the dead gods who have long sunk back into the depths of nothingness bowed their heads.
The first Progenitor, the King of the Cosmos, was finally reborn.
...
Darkness surrounded Nick once again. This ti, it was a darkness he was more than familiar with.
Candlelight danced along the walls and altars, as bright and vibrant as ever. In fact, they were even more bright now as Nick could clearly see the throne up ahead.
A throne that would remain empty until he broke all 9 seals of Annihilation.
[Congratulations! The task: Kill a party mber has been fulfilled, and now the first seal of Annihilation has been broken!]
Nick pushed aside the system ssage as if it were so annoying fan who was seeking attention. He already knew what was going on. The only real question was how much power he would receive.
Ignoring everything else, Nick began his trip to the first altar. When he had first been introduced to this place it had been filled with the blood of Alia, Juliana, and Yck. That should've changed now.
'This place is larger than I rembered...'
Confusion washed over Nick, who was sure that he should've reached the altar by now. However, when he looked up, he found that he seemingly hadn't moved at all, even though he had been walking for 10 minutes straight.
Taking in a deep and steely breath, Nick looked around as if there was so clue to be found. His eyes lingered between the loose and dark bricks jutting from the ground like spikes to the few candles that lit the otherwise completely dark landscape.
Everything looked just the sa as he knew. The composition of the room still scread old, decrepit, and bloody. Tattered flags of forgotten kingdoms lined up the left side of the wall where the windows should be. He couldn't tell what kingdom any of the flags represented as they didn't bear any resemblance to the ones he knew from Aether Babes.
Whatever they originated from, Nick knew it didn't change much though. Just as Ugyr said, most of the world now belonged to the Forgotten Quadrant. It was dying, hanging on just a thread known as the Tower of Eternity.
For all he knew, the kingdoms those tattered flags resembled were the strongest ones to have ever existed. If that was true, what did their unparalleled might add up to?
'Nothing.' Nick thought as he tried walking toward the first altar again. He could see it just ahead of him, its welcoming embrace tantalizing and yet unattainable all the sa.
The endless power brimming under its surface was beyond compare. All he had to do was reach it.
Yet even if he took a million steps, he would never be able to. There was sothing keeping him from making any progress toward the altar. Sothing he needed to eradicate, to destroy.
[Dear Progenitor, do not be hasty]
Nick jumped as the system chid, but not exactly due to it suddenly speaking. Not like it did when giving him a tutorial or marker, but actually speaking. With a real, human voice. A female's voice.
That wasn't the reason he jumped either!
It was because he knew the voice. It was one that accompanied the player for much of his journey.
'Hesta?' Nick silently prodded as mories of the ga flooded his mind. In Aether Babes, she was basically just any other god except for the fact that she was far more helpful. However, in this world...
She could be the only god left. If his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, anyway.
A few seconds of silent eternities passed as Nick fidgeted with his Fang, tapping it repeatedly with his forefinger. He almost started to think he had just imagined her voice when she spoke again.
[Progenitor... the Blood Knight is near. There will be a ti that he is inconsequential, where he would just be one of your many footsoldiers in the war against... OTHKERS]
That last word was pronounced forcefully with a heavy dose of fear. Also, it didn't sound exactly like she wanted to say others. It felt like there was so other word she had wanted to use.
'Hesta?' Nick thought, as he went over the other things she had said.
The Blood Knight... Khaic... was here. In this throne room? More than that though...
She all but said a war was coming. He already knew that, but now he knew just how devastating it would be.
If Khaic was rely a footsoldier, yet his squires easily shredded through an entire city like it was butter...
Then that war couldn't co about at all. It would literally be the end of everything.
Was that why he was brought here, to this new life? Maybe he was so kind of last-ditch effort for Hesta after all the gods had been killed.
There were too many questions, and now wasn't exactly the ti to be asking them. Not only did he have nobody to answer them after Hesta mysteriously disappeared again, but he had to get out of here. If he didn't, an unimaginable amount of people would die.
He had killed Yck to break the first seal of Annihilation and claim its powers, not to sit here and worry about a distant future. After he did whatever he needed to do at the first altar, he would try and contact Hesta again... assuming she didn't revert back to being just so system.
'Another thing that doesn't make sense...'
Nick clutched his fist against the fang, his knuckles pure white with small cracks forming and causing blood to pour from the wounds. The entire throne room was off.
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