Chapter 129: Jester of Order
The journey was almost instant, with Lea being flung into a withered forest of darkness and fog.
All around her, she could hear echoes of battles far and near. Before she could get another look at the vehicle, it backed up into another portal...
Where... am I?
Lea looked around; it was hard to see because of how dense the fog was.
She began to walk around, and when she passed a tree, a sense of wrongness came. Turning back, Lea realized what went wrong.
"These trees, they are... teleportation points.", she quickly deduced.
Ideation is good for picking up little details, giving her a sense of what to do next. To which Lea didn't know. But she was too exhausted anyway. She is in desperate need of rest.
"You guys... watch out for me.", she released her familiars, letting the dark spirits float around her.
They all gave their agreement, making Lea smile a little.
Leaning against a tree, her body began to change through Soul Morph, becoming a black and gold egg-like shape. With both Cloak and Silence active, nobody should find her...
=0=0=
Lea found herself in the mirror world; the weightless feeling came as she floated through this world. But today is different; aside from the mirrors showing her alternative selves, the other mirrors are erratic, disappearing and reappearing.
They only change once people get far away enough from her; that confirmed the warp maze property of this forest.
She will handle that when she gets better.
Lea can no longer go unconscious; she can only let her mental strength recover in a sleep-like state. After all, she no longer has a physical body; she is just a mind piloting a body made to resemble what she was.
Although due to memories, most of the functions are the same.
Is losing the ability to sleep bad?
It is too early for Lea to know.
"Hmm?"
The void of mirrors began to change, replaced by a circus tent, filled with balloons and flashy paper dolls. She was sitting on a bench, watching the jester in red, green, and blue dance around. Diamond-shaped eye symbols decorated their outfit, with a mask of that same symbol shifting between those three colors.
"We meet again!!", Bashie Mahzala excitedly walked forward, "You look extra gloomy! Can't you smile a little? You will get wrinkles~!"
Lea cannot smile; she doesn't have the energy anyway, even to that energetic childish voice. So she got to the point immediately.
"Can you tell me what to do next?"
"Dunno!!", they replied.
Lea widened her eyes, "Excuse me?"
"I may be a Jester of Light, but this body of mine is in jail time~ so I can only see and hear what my user sees and hears!!"
It was a light reply, enough to explain their situation.
"How can I free you?", she asked about the 'jail time' line.
"You can't do that~ only when Boss allows, which I'm pretty sure is nee~veeer~!!"
They performed a backflip, landing in the center of the stage ground before Lea could inquire more.
"Reintroducing myself, Bashie Mahzala the Shapeless Comedy of Veil, Order, and Light!! This body, the right specifically, is only one of my countless Avatars across the universe, so it doesn't mean much to me as a whole!!"
"For the goal of painting smiles and giving laughter to the Seas of Light, I became a Jester of Light!!", they held two fingers out, "There are two ways of defeating a Jester of Light; first is to be better than me at making people happy, or not enjoying my performance at all in your heart!!"
Then, memories deleted by the Ruler of the North came back; Lea remembered something crucial. Her eyes trembled...
The owner of the ring was Charlotte.
Unless Charlotte denies it, she and Sinclair are in cahoots. From the fact that she didn't deny The Shapeless Comedy's claim, the ownership of the ring, and how both of them came to her back to back. A classic carrot-and-stick tactic. That made Lea tremble with rage; she was fooled from the start!!
Auger's words proved to be true in the end, never trust Charlotte.
"How... can I kill Sinclair... how can I kill Charlotte...?", her question, filled with seething rage, came out.
Bashie Mahzala stopped their performance, "Ah, for the Nowhere Girl, she is effectively immortal. As she exists everywhere and nowhere at the same time, the only limitation is that two instances of herself cannot exist at the same location. She can only be killed by one of the three Voidborns she violated."
They came to her side, sitting down right next to her. Only then did Lea realize how big the Jester is, taller than her by the length of her entire arm.
"Tales, Space, and Time."
Three images appeared before her, lies woven by Veil and Light.
"The Eyes beyond the Veil, the Master of Space, and the Warden of Time."
Countless eyes shimmering and vanishing. A hooded figure made out of geometric shapes. And a prismatic feline-like creature wearing a cape made of the night sky.
Lea could feel that these were the dumbed-down, simplified versions of these Cosmic Laws. Yet she could not help but be in awe at these figures... Like that hooded faceless demon, the Lord of the Abyssal Depth. It was also only a mere fragment, yet it gave her so much dread.
To offend three and still alive...
"How..."
How do you even kill something like that?
"Oh, and there is Charlotte!!", Bashie Mahzala moved to the next person, "She's perfectly mortal, the keyword being 'perfect', her body is so perfect it is functionally immortal!"
"So I can kill her?", Lea asked with a hint of disbelief.
"Yes, but trying to kill her is like finding a molecule of water in an ocean. That girl's reaction speed is near the speed of light, with the agility to boot!! And that's not the most dangerous part!!"
The speed of light...? Ideation worked on it for a few seconds, connecting other knowledge to get a better picture.
And the result horrified her.
Charlotte could react to damn near anything. Nothing Lea threw at the Argent Monarch would land. And there is still more?!
"Remember, Time is Charlotte's ally. If you can't kill her in a single surprise attack, you will lose.", their tone was more serious than usual, "Making an enemy of her, you will die."
This just made Lea more frustrated. An enemy she cannot kill and someone she couldn't even dream of touching?
"Then... what can I do?", she wanted revenge against them.
"Nothing!!", they threw their arms up, confetti exploding everywhere.
That made Lea flinch, using her hands to shield her face.
"They are not from this world; they have nothing to lose, to gain either!!"
Charlotte did come here for a 'job' after all. She would leave when everything was done, but that wouldn't satisfy Lea.
"Now, now~ before you return me to Charlotte, you can use my power as much as you like!"
Bashie Mahzala stood up, walking to the center.
"You must've known the power of Veil, right? To create falsehood so real it might as well be reality! You just need to make people believe in the lies.", they held up one finger.
"Order dictates the scale of your lies, with so little influence, you can only apply lies to your immediate area.", they held out another finger.
"And Light, being the Immaterial counterpart of Veil, further enhances your lies!", they held the third finger.
Because of Sinclair's property as the Nowhere Girl, existing everywhere and nowhere, her range of Veil is planetary at least. Yet, for Lea, the only person that need to believe those lies created by Veil is herself.
"I will... rest for a bit."
"Oh!! Of course, sleep and rest all you want!!", they waved Lea goodbye, "And remember, DO NOT mess with Time!!"
The circus broke apart, returning Lea to the mirror world...
And without a word, she began to Silence herself. Sealing her weakness, so that she may never break again.
Her hesitation, so that she may not falter against the impossible.
Her fear, making it so horrors beyond her understanding do not affect her.
To reshape her mind into something that can handle those monsters beyond the sky.
So she fully embraced her title.
The Faceless Twilight.
=0=0=
In the white world, the Mist Lord stood unbroken, facing three gods of this world.
It had tried to escape multiple times, but the relentless assault gave it no chance. Between the Corruptions of The Maker, the illumination of the Light Seeker, and the destruction of the Blood God. Even after days of fighting, it doesn't have a chance at rest.
But the most frustrating thing of all is... the Argent Monarch, the master of this white world - which constantly drains the Mist Lord's existence, slowing down its regeneration. Just sitting there, playing on a hand-held device.
It knows it needs to deal with her, yet its instincts screamed that she is the most dangerous person here.
Another forest burst forth, intercepting the movement of the Light Seeker. Giving it a chance to reposition— just in time to avoid the destructive strike of the Blood God. With its claws scratching against the greatsword, sparks flew and launched a wave of black mist that instantly turned into withered branches, impaling the Blood God.
But true to His name, the Boar King shrugged the attack off with a grin. Throwing a punch through the branches, connecting with the Mist Lord, creating an earthquake that flattened all trees around them.
"ERUPTION!!!"
Crimson blood flames erupted, using His Divine Authority over Destruction to bury the Mist Lord. Forcing the Mist Lord to turn into its mist form to avoid most of the damage—
"O' Light, Reveal all Darkness!!"
A chorus came from the Light Seeker, using the Divine Authority of Curiosity to force the Mist Lord back into its true form.
"■■■■■■!!!!!!"
It let out a deafening scream, releasing its raw power - a shockwave that paints darkness and stars. Forcing the gods to back away.
Using this momentary respite, it turned the opposite way—
But Charlotte was already there, blocking its path. She held her cane, Walpurgis Festival, tapping the white chalk ground beneath her. The shadow cast by the cane expanded. She also tapped the silver compass on her waist, activating it - casting an azure dome around it, leaving her and the others on the outside, trapping it.
"Zhulong (Scorch Candle)"
From the darkness emerged a serpentine Dragon, a Loong as it was called from her World. It coiled around the Mist Lord. In turn, the Mist Lord created another forest around itself for protection.
Yet against the might of the most dangerous planet...
"Detonate."
The Loong erupted into flame, with the force equal to an atomic bomb. All contained in a dome that held on. But that was not enough to destroy the Mist Lord, as it covered itself in multiple layers of withered trees.
It walked out as the dome collapsed, covered in still-burning flames.
And it had begun healing, recovering its form almost instantly.
Charlotte did not care, as if she had seen this before, "Xiang Yu (Unrivaled Overlord)."
From the darkness, the Construct of a great general and warrior came like a storm, clashing once with the Mist Lord, staggering it before vanishing.
"Lu Bu (Equal Across Heaven and Earth)"
The Construct of the greatest warrior of an era appeared next to Charlotte, pulling back his bow— firing an arrow that pierced through the Mist Lord, creating a gaping hole.
"Miyamoto no Musashi (Twin Sword Saint)."
Then a swordsman dashed forward, swinging his twin blades— decapitating the Mist Lord. Yet it regenerated again; this time, it tried to run away in a different direction.
"El Cid (King of Knights)"
A great knight stood in its path, clashing his blade against its claw— overpowering it and knocking it back before vanishing.
"Ragna Lothbrok (Storm Herald)"
From behind, a great Viking warrior tackled it down and stabbed it in the back, pinning it to the ground as it kicked him away.
"Average London citizen— ah, I mean Jack the Ripper (London Terror)."
The serial killer, cloaked in a gentleman's form, jumped on the Mist Lord, then he began to stab the Mist Lord repeatedly. Though the damage done was minor, it caused more pain than it should've.
"■■■■■!!!"
It let out another burst of energy, destroying the Construct. It clutched its bleeding chest, though with no eyes it stared at Charlotte with clear hatred.
"Analyze enough?", she continued to ignore it, glancing beside her, "Ada Lovelace (Mother of Technology)?"
Beside her formed another Construct, a great female scientist carrying a tablet.
The Construct spoke in an ethereal voice, "Veil, Shade, and Distortion are confirmed. High possibility of having Oblivion or Decimation."
"Thanks.", Charlotte smiled.
The Mist Lord lunged at her— only for the Blood God's greatsword to crash down on it, pinning it in place.
"Don't you dare to run from me!!", his voice boomed, with the temper of a volcano.
The other two gods followed, returning the fight to them.
"Well then...", Charlotte smiled, taking out a hard-light phone, "Astrelnoia, you got that, right?"
"Yes, I'm sending in my drones.", the mechanical voice on the other side replied, "Also, Novala and Kahelzar are coming."
"Good... the cavalry is here."
Above the battlefield was the silver moon, its crimson dot began to glow brighter and brighter.