Chapter 131: Against the End
"Some people is coming.", Solafant spoke while tending to the injured.
Because of the Void Zone created by them, no one had become Hollow. But that meant it was too late for some people, entering from the fog as vicious monsters.
Dawn's turret system was enough to destroy them, specifically targeting the energy of a Hollow.
Boom!!
One of the sides burned off entirely, doused in flame. Dawn aimed her turrets at the intruders. Her eyes widened in surprise to see the monks from the Temple of Fire.
"So the Sacred Flame is coming as well...", she whispered.
The leading sagely monk stepped forward, his eyes surveying the area, "You must be from the newly formed Church of Progress. Due to the situation at hand, I apologize for not being able to attend your church's official opening. May the Everflame bless you."
It happened a month before this whole end of the world happened. But only the delegates from the Academy of Infinity came to the Creation Rite ceremony. It might be because of Dawn's words masked as divine revelation about the way to defeat the Tome of Light, spread knowledge far and wide to render its ravings useless - like what Charlotte did.
"Yes...", Dawn was surprised by the politeness, "I'm Dawn Ryteline, the current leader of Her Lady the Chalk Princess. May Her ever-growing machinations bless you."
"You can call me Robert Zysen, the current Abbot of the Great Temple in Rohuang Citadel.", he bowed respectfully.
Rohuang Citadel is the capital of Renlou...
So the Temple of Fire is coming in full force...
Then suddenly, a wave of sleepiness hit Dawn. She staggered back, a person from her expedition caught her.
"Lady Saintess! What's wrong?!", he worriedly asked.
"N-No... I suddenly feel so tired..."
It was then that, from above, a shadow of black and gold landed. Towering over everyone was a faceless horned demon.
Lea immediately found out what one of her new powers was. Her presence alone made people sleepier; the only reason why the monks aren't affected by her is because of Fire. It burns her mental drains before she could do any real harm.
But because of that, over the course of travel, she regained more of her strength. Scraping the mental fortitude of the hundreds of monks to feed herself.
She stared at Dawn, who was slowly getting back up, staring at her without recognition. Then Lea glanced at Solafant; she couldn't read their expression... but since they hadn't spoken, it seemed there was still some anonymity to her.
I am... not ready...
She wasn't ready to face them as herself.
"This is a companion we picked up along the way; she is The Faceless Twilight.", Robert introduced her to them.
"The... assassin?", Dawn stared at Lea, trying to analyze her.
In that moment, Lea covered herself in Veil's lies, which further enhanced Cloak's Zone. The Lie that she made was...
What lay beyond Cloak was a mass of starlight, a body made of intertwined curses and light. And something more.
It was the unmistakable divinity of a Divine Domain, a glowing blue light trapped and held by claws.
"A... Star God...?", she narrowed her eyes immediately.
The Shapeless Comedy's lies had made her similar to a Guest from beyond the Sky.
"Why are you here?", the atmosphere suddenly became tense; Dawn had aimed her turrets at Lea.
"Can't I witness the coming of a new era?", she answered with a question. Her tone displayed indifference and unfamiliarity.
As if the two didn't know each other.
Dawn's eyes turned to the Abbot, "Are you so careless that you let a Star God into your mix?"
The other monks all looked to Robert for an answer. The sage gave a kind smile.
"The Sacred Flame does not discriminate; all life, no matter how big or small, be it the souls of the stars or we mortals. We are the same.", he looked to Lea, "It is inherently flawed to judge those from another world by our laws."
With the information Dawn provided, Robert now had a different view of Lea. More reverence, as well as caution toward this 'Visitor' from beyond the Sky.
"The curses she weaves for others to use may just be how she operates."
Lea just nodded along.
"Those who are innocent will not meet my blade."
Then she sensed something walking out from the opposite side of the group.
What great timing... Lea mused.
Darkness leaked out from her body and traversed along the mist-covered ground. Being affected by Lea's mind drain, Dawn couldn't react in time.
Then Lea vanished, traveling along the dark road she cast. Coming face to face with a Hollow, a pale, thin humanoid that glowed slightly, devoid of any features except the clothes it was wearing.
It is too late... Lea thought. This was a Hollow.
She reached her hand into its face before it could attack her. The Hollow staggered in place, frozen like a statue.
Her fingers didn't penetrate it, not physically. She had reached into its mind, or what's left of it.
With her fingers in a spiritual form, she ripped out the residual energy and absorb into herself. The Hollow fell to the ground, turning into ash.
"Shall we continue?", she turned back, travelling along the shadow road. Now that she's disguised as a Star God, she needs to act a bit more insane.
The Star Gods she knew, which were only three, are all incomprehensible in their own way. The Steam Bat cares only about profit and wealth; The Demise Ground trapped people in an endless trial of chase and hunt; The Shapeless Comedy wants to make people smile despite having the most power.
To embrace my Paths to the most extreme.
"No...", Dawn shook her head, "We need to rest first."
"Then we bid you good luck on your journey.", Robert bowed, "May the Everflame bless you."
"You are continuing?", she asked in surprise.
"Yes, as Retribution waits for no one. Judgement is inevitable. And Fire shall burn a path forward.", he replied resolutely.
After giving away some supplies, food, and medication, the Temple monks continued forward. Some wanted to go home after facing the horrors of the Fog Wall; Dawn also knew it. But she herself wanted to go forward with the path opened by the Temple of Fire.
To witness the new era... who could resist?
However, there is a more pressing matter.
"Did you sense anything?", Dawn asked Solafant, who was observing the whole thing.
They nodded, "It was the Divine Domain of the Unconscious. The Faceless Twilight has it."
Dawn frowned, looking at Lea, who was staying in the back, her shadow retreating into the mist.
"So Lea is in danger... to ascend further, she needs to defeat a Star God as a Fourth Step."
Star Gods are generally weaker due to the distance from their Star, but the most severe cases are at minimum comparable to Sixth Step Pathstriders. One owning a Divine Domain, it couldn't be anything less than a true god.
As for why a Star God came here. Dawn doesn't want to imagine the thought process of these cosmic beings...
But more importantly, Lea's safety is a priority.
Dawn asked with concern, "Solafant, can you go with them to keep an eye on The Faceless Twilight? Making sure she doesn't do anything dangerous for us... and protect Lea if she is here."
They nodded, "I will follow them."
=0=0=
"Charlotte, major situation here.", Astrelnoia's mechanical voice came through.
"What is it?"
Charlotte is currently drinking tea with Jim, who is scared to go against her.
"The Plague Garden is coming.", that was all he said.
"Plague... Garden?", Jim was alarmed hearing just that name.
But Charlotte was still casual about it, "Oh? Who is bringing her here?"
"The Golden Order. And The Stellar Express is a hundred light year from here.", he responded.
Charlotte nodded, then she turned to Jim, "You are lucky that Cernnunos cannot maintain its Divine Erasure, or else your head would've exploded."
He turned to the battle, explosions coming every minute or so. He could get why it cannot maintain its power.
In Earth's slang, the Mist Lord was getting jumped.
"Uh... Lady Charlotte... do you know where Rasputin is?", he switched topics.
Running around the continent, he had seen various people. Yet he never saw Eric.
"I don't know.", she shrugged, "Maybe he had found a refuge or something."
=0=0=
"■■■■■■!!!!"
The skriek nearly knocked Eric unconscious. For days he had been fighting this hooded insectoid creature; its face was smooth like a warped mirror to another reality.
His regeneration was keeping up with it, even if each strike took a large chunk of his body. Ash was working overtime, while Madness and Transfiguration transformed his body into a more beastial form.
Unknown to Eric, the thing he was fighting was the Mist Lord. The true Mist Lord, splitting a significant part of its power to escape since the start.
As of now, its power is only comparable to a Fourth Step Pathstrider.
And it cannot let Eric live...
No...
It had wasted so much time with him standing guard, stopping its way of escape.
The Mist Lord can hide for a time, and eventually, it will be forgotten once again. Save for the Light Seeker, its opposite and mortal enemy.
And Charlotte... she is completely immune to any and all mental manipulation. It cannot kill her; she is like a cockroach that refuses to be hit or die.
If Eric survives, its pursuers would continue to hunt it down to the very end of the world. Then, as it began to charge its claws once more. It got a brilliant idea.
Distorted illusions formed in front of it, monstrous forms of itself, lunge forward. With it following behind.
With its current power, the Mist Lord cannot kill Eric...
But the power of its Divinity is still with its main body. It just so happened to have lost something equally important...
With fists of smoldering ash, Eric punched the lies away. Shattering them. But it was already too late for him.
Its insectoid hands grabbed his face... and it activated its own divinity.
It "erased" his memories, "erased" his sense of self, "erased" his waking mind.
The Mist Lord pushed itself even further.
It "erased" his existence from the world, "erased" everyone's knowledge about him.
So that he would become a person with no memories of his past, with no one to remember him. Thus... he would only be remembered as one of the Fog Wall's victims...
Even if the Light Seeker or Charlotte claim it is still alive, the Mist Lord would've been long gone from this place.
It vanished into the mist, regrowing the forest back to its original form... gone with no trace behind.
...
"What do we have here?", a pleasing voice echoed through the forest.
Prestine black boots stepped through the mist, the glint of gold belonging only to one person. A woman in a formal black suit, with gold decorations across her steampunk outfit, a top hat full of mysteries.
Her golden eyes with red X marks in them looked down at ■■■■. The Steam Bat had found its next business venture.
"What do we have here?", she looked at the being in her arms, "Should we bring him with us?"
In her arms was a green slime blob, jiggling with every step she took.
"Mm...", the slime vocalized.
"Alright~", she responded with a smile.
From behind her, out of the mist, was a giant golden bat covered in gold pipes; its five pairs of eyes looked down on ■■■■'s body. Then it picked him up with its mouth, threw him upward—
And consumed him.
"Nm...?"
"Is having a giant version of my True Form necessary?", Qaeidat tilted her head, "Of course~ just like using the lesser gender of species gets people's guard down for better business, using a giant version of myself for marketing is the same!"
The two continue onward, deeper into the forest with no fear.
Because why should they feel fear?
Out of all Star Gods, only another Great Old One, or a Lord of Annihilation, can go against them evenly.
The greedy bat who is the closest to the Scale of Equivalent Exchange.
And one who can wipe out all life on the planet in a few minutes.
=0=0=
Hanging upside down on a bookshelf, Sinclair was reading a book, one that the mystical side of the world is all too familiar with.
The Tome of Light, now owned, was displaying its full power.
Anything Sinclair wants to see, or in this case - read, she can do it through the Tome of Light. And she was smiling.
"Hey now, smiling doesn't mean I am up to no good all the time!!", she complained to nobody in particular, "I know you can hear me, Nathan!!"
What was she about to monologue about again?
"Ah... right~ I just want to say how severely outclass the people from this planet are~! And I think only Sularao remembers the actual name of the world..."
She waved her hand, manifesting a pen.
"Well, I should make things a bit more interesting."
Grabbing hold of the Tome of Light, she began to write down a change to how the "God of Stories" operate.
"As the Divine Domain of Tales' owner, I decree!!"
Divine texts flood out of the book, reaching out to the sky, letting the ravings of half-truths and forbidden knowledge escape.
"Anyone who can resist the Tome of Light, even if they don't own the Divine Domain of Tales— shall be able to use it!!"
And she began to write more.
"O' Tome of Light, Recorder of Stories - Vision's Light, I command you as the God of Stories— scatter and become Sagas!! Spread all your knowledge, let this world remember what it had lost!!"
Along with the divine text, the glowing pages of the books flutter out. Like flocks of birds, they scatter in different directions.
"As I command, Let There Be Light!!"
Some come to land, stealthily transforming into daily objects, or merging with books. Some join schools of fish, before the looming light of the incomprehensible swallowed it whole. A single branch on a tree, the eyeball of a critter, a random rock in the Great Desert.
The pages that contain the history of the world, broken information and truth. Now all exist everywhere.
To what end is Sinclair doing this?
"Because it is fun~ not everything needs to be meaningful~"