Chapter 1948: Cap 1944: They woke up at the sa ti...
Pov Urd:
I was facing that dark creature. His body was strange, he was utterly eternal, but he wasn’t a Soul or a Ghost, nor was he a Specter or a spirit. His condition was more than just strange; it was as if his body were ethereal in nature, a fusion of pure miasma.
He wasn’t strong; his blows and techniques did nothing to , to the point where I didn’t even need to dodge, but my blows had no effect on him either.
My physical blows rely pierced his body, but any blows that might have touched his ethereal existence were deflected or even parried using the power of Hatred. He also seed to be moving differently.
After thousands of years of observing everything the Ascended did, I’ve seen it all. He’s clearly being controlled, and yet he’s not. This ethereal body isn’t his true body, a puppet controlled by his Soul. But where could that Soul be?
"< Divine Law of the Soul: Talisman of Imprisonnt >" ()
I waited for the mont the flow of power within him intensified to attack, and only then did I use my Concept. A Rune rose from my hand, condensing Divine power into a talisman from which golden spikes erged, heading toward the enemy.
Before he could do anything, the spikes touched his body, but didn’t penetrate his ethereal body. The spikes shattered the space, sinking through the cracks, montarily disappearing from view.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!"
"I was right..." ()
Just on the other side of his body, the space shattered again, each with his back. The spikes erged, trailing a dark, inky sli where the spikes had been embedded.
"< Divine Law of the Soul: Sealing Talisman >" ()
I form another talisman by creating a Law Rune and condensing the Divine power onto rectangular paper, only then uniting the two into a single talisman, a technique the Twins helped devise to use my power not as two separate sources but as a single unit.
I throw the talisman, aiming at the thing where the stakes are stuck. I could sense sothing was happening, with presences growing stronger nearby; I didn’t have ti to deal with sothing so weak.
The talisman stops above it, dissolving into lines of energy that cover this goo, compressing it into a cube-like shape where the stakes are still stuck.
"If it weren’t for my unwillingness to destroy a Soul, I would have eradicated you here." ()
Perhaps Zenos is right. I’m too soft-hearted in my actions, I let my emotions dictate much of what I do. That’s why I showed rcy to the Ascended, that’s why I can’t bear to punish Urak as I know he deserves, and that’s why the loss of Mavor and Vecna saddened .
But I couldn’t change who I am; the most I could do was accept it and try to find a middle ground between my heart, my Authority, and what needs to be done.
I retrieve the cube while musing about these things, but my eyes already see the shape-shifting Avatar of Hatred, as well as the shadows of hands growing more defined within the miasma.
"Where is he?" ()
Wasting no more ti with the already defeated enemy, I began searching for others, and among them, the most important was Zenos, who had disappeared. But before I could continue looking, I saw Hatred, who had taken possession of his Avatar, send the woman who had been attacking him relentlessly flying away.
"(That’s the power of the Concept...)" ()
When the woman was thrown, I noticed that several runes appeared on her body. These runes seed alive as they moved, forming patterns on her body that coincided with a flow of energy circulation. It was then that she collided with a planet a little distant, which was now cracking as if it were about to be destroyed.
"Be careful, Hatred is highly destructive." (Lena)
"It seems she didn’t realize. Should she deal with the Lady of Hatred?" (Cortana)
"No, that’s better. Let Hatred deal with it when he gets back. We’ll have to hold that thing off." (Lena)
Lena and Cortana took over their Avatars’ bodies. Lena didn’t change anything in Lolth’s body, other than her eyes glowing a little brighter. Cortana retained a different form. She covered Sarazar’s body with her Anomalous Armor, taking on a more delicate and feminine form, nearly 3 ters tall.
While we were together, Hatred looked at us and the miasma, but still chose to ignore us. She threw herself at the miasma, which seed to part to allow her to pass through, sowhat forcibly.
But before she could reach it, an ethereal hand slapped her, sending Hatred flying back kiloters, while energy hands tried to attach themselves to her body.
"What’s that inside the Miasma?" ()
"Sothing that shouldn’t exist, an accumulation of madness without a Soul or Existential Spark." (Lena)
"Wait, so if it has no Soul or Existential Spark, then how are we going to defeat it..." ()
"It can’t be defeated, there’s not even a discernible core inside, no weak or vital points to hit." (Cortana)
"Then why did Sarazar release this thing? I saw it running into the miasma before and the absorption funnel that appeared afterward." ()
"Yes, Cortana... why did Sarazar have to release sothing impossible to destroy!?" (Lena)
"We’ve already talked about this, Lena, and you, Urd... we don’t have ti to talk anymore!" (Cortana)
Suddenly, the miasma clouds began to turn dark green. The shadows of hands that had previously been hidden within the miasma were now reaching out, grasping the opening that Hatred had opened as if it were their only escape. Dozens of hands grabbed the edges of that opening in the miasma and pulled it to the sides, widening it as more hands erged.
The ghostly presence from before was now 100 tis greater, and unintelligible whispers began to sound, only audible through Aura. These whispers were in all kinds of voices, a single chorus impossible to understand.
It was clear that thing was truly awakening. Lena and Cortana were serious, I was frightened, but before, Hatred seed unconcerned, launching himself once more at those hands as if to force his way through. The miasma of Hatred that had previously hidden those hands was now once again trying to push them aside to allow him passage, while the Aura around him was burning like an erupting volcano.
"Damn, look at the planet!" ()
"She’s awakened too..." (Lena)
"No, soone forced her to awaken faster, didn’t they, Callidora?" (Cortana)
What I saw and pointed to the Twins was the planet where the one they called the Lady of Hatred, the one thrown away by Hatred, was. The entire planet was lting, a hideous presence erging in a column of energy particles that made purple eyes turn.
While I didn’t know what was happening and Lena seed confused by how quickly it was happening, Cortana was the only one who turned to soone who appeared beside us before we could notice. It was Niryna, and her presence was different.
"I just gave her a little help~..." (Callidora)
"Did you do this because of your current strength?" (Lena)
"What else would it be?" (Cortana)
"She’s under the sa rules as us and Hate. We can only use the power of our Avatars. In her case, it would be the power her daughter already possesses." (Cortana)
"Niryna is very young and lacking in many ways~..." (Callidora)
"Of course, being so limited has its charm~... it’s been a while since I’ve had to push myself like this~~..." (Callidora)
She seed to be enjoying herself, and her voice was seductive, but her presence grew increasingly cold and macabre.
As they talked, they were paying close attention to their surroundings. From within the column of energy particles, the woman erged once more. This ti, her head was split open in half, forming a V shape with an inverted black triangle floating in the middle. Her body appeared half-rotted and riddled with wounds, festering like a zombie. A black, slimy liquid flowed around her, and her re presence seed to rot the space itself.
As if that weren’t enough, the miasma clouds finally parted, allowing the creature to erge. It was horrific, as if it had a woman’s body as its base, but its body was covered in countless hands. Her skirt was made of thousands of ethereal fingers that were still writhing. Her arms were thick from the dozens of hands holding her, ending in four hands clasped around the sa wrist. Her chest and torso were gripped by hundreds of hands. Even her face was covered in two hands, their fingers intertwined, hiding her entire face while thousands of arms of all sizes followed behind her.
Two horrific entities had co into existence at the sa ti and in the sa place. My body was trembling with pure fear.
The situation was horrific. Lena and Cortana looked serious, while only Callidora was laughing maniacally as if she were watching so kind of show.
I just didn’t know what to do now. I just hoped Zenos was managing to do sothing with the universal core. He must have gotten there sohow to have disappeared like that.
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