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Chapter 138 - Supernova
🕑 Added 2020-02-25 11:03:05 +0000 UTC
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Sliding across the ground between the behemoth devil's legs, Kamii brings up her cursed arm in a vertical swing. It hits the giant's armored jewels, but not even thick steel does him any good as the force rips his body in two from below. Everything above the waist is reduced to an explosion of red mist
The little dark elf avoids getting sullied by quickly getting up to her feet and running forward a few more steps. Without turning to look at her handiwork, she shifts her focus to the remaining devils.
Those caught in her gaze stop in shock at the realization that their most powerful member has been defeated - by the person who looked the weakest in comparison. But before any of them can react by either running away or trying to fill the gap, Hestia rains down a hail of spirit spears.
Before, most would have been able to dodge, but with them stunned from the loss of their leader, all of them are distracted. Ruthless as always, the fallen angel didn't hesitate to take that opportunity to thin their ranks considerably.
With their morale broken and their numbers diminished, the devils in the throne room begin to scream in fear. Some fight tooth and nail to get to the windows. Others look around in desperation as if hoping that whatever magic transported them here would take them back where they came from.
The gods of Adanak and the royal guard still remaining in the hall make quick work of the stragglers. A cheer rings out when the last devil falls to a spear into the eye from one of Tokomaha's clones.
That's when the entire pyramid quakes, and dust rains down from above. The royal guard brings up their shields to protect the queen from potentially falling debris, and everybody looks around in surprise. Something must have happened outside, or it's the appearance of a new massive enemy that eclipses the behemoth Kamii took down.
Whatever the case, Hestia flies over to one of the windows and peers outside. She can't determine the origin of the shaking and switches to the other side, with the same result. The windows of the throne room only face the western and eastern sides, and the walls are too thick to allow for viewing at an angle. The floating upside-down city above hasn't moved, and Kairaki hasn't changed from being on fire, so it must have been something closer.
Now that the immediate threat has been eliminated, everybody's thoughts return to the whereabouts of Chaos. Tokomaha wordlessly creates many clones to search the pyramid with, but Kamii unhesitatingly jumps down the hole into which the Crawling Chaos has disappeared earlier.
Hestia stares at the window before her in contemplation, then shakes her head as if coming to a conclusion on her own. Floating back down to the ground, she heads for the hole Kamii has jumped into moments ago, only to realize that she can't fit through there with her wings either.
"I apologize in advance for destroying your palace." With these words directed in the general direction of the elevated throne, Hestia raises a hand. Without a word, she summons an array of spirit spears with which she wants to stamp out a bigger hole in the ground.
"Wait, we can go this way!" Tokomaha quickly stops the fallen angel for doing something so rash. She knows her way around this place since she has navigated it with her clones a few times by now. The terrace leading outside is on the same floor and won't need further destruction of the royal palace.
Hestia can suppress the urge to click her tongue, as she follows the suggestion of the little goddess and walks out of the throne room without any word toward the queen or their royal guard.
"[Who are you people?]" The man in azure armor seems to come to his senses, as he calls out to Aurelia and the others. He won't forget that they came to their help, but he still needs to inquire about the identity of intruders into the palace.
"[Let me explain this.]" Mereana turns to the man with an expression that suggests he shouldn't question the intentions of these people.
"[Thank you for saving us.]" Kouratua bows to the golden queen while filling out his dents from within and returning to his full rotund glory.
"[Tell me what you know about this. What direction did the city above come from, and how long has this invasion been going on?]" Waving off the God of Gold's thanks, Aurelia gets straight to the point. In truth, she wants to follow Kamii and find Chaos as soon as possible. But learning about the situation will surely be of some use.
"[The floating city appeared right around high noon, hidden inside a dark cloud that looked like a storm front.]" The rotund god explains in a tone that speaks of his confusion at this sudden attack.
"[That would be around the time the moon started falling.]" The golden queen mutters to herself, causing those within earshot to blink in surprise.
"[What did you just say?]" Mereana comes down the steps, apparently already having finished explaining the identity of these newcomers.
"[The moon will be falling into the ocean north of here.]" Not wasting any time on beating around the bush, Aurelia states in a matter of fact tone. "[If that happens, all life in this world will end.]"
The shocking revelation leaves everybody stunned. Taking that opportunity to make her exit, the golden queen turns away to imply that she's going to do something about it. Nobody thinks to stop her and ask for details, as they all wrestle with their own thoughts. Some nervously laugh it off as impossible; others argue that they should try to summon Roamukao to avert this crisis. None of their words reach Aurelia's ears as she jumps down into the hole to join the little dark elf.
Kamii follows the path of destruction resulting from Mahkotoh fighting whatever pulled her under. The holes in the walls leading all the way outside the pyramid tell her that this is an opponent capable of surviving even that much punishment. It must have been Oinos then.
She looks down at her cursed arm. The combo counter is still going, so she should be able to catch the towering god by surprise. But judging by Mahkotoh's fighting capabilities, it will be difficult even to approach somebody who can stand toe to toe with her. She will need to be incredibly careful and have a lot of luck to find a way into the battle between two godlike beings.
"I will create an opening for you." Aurelia's voice suddenly calls out to Kamii from behind, causing the latter to flinch in surprise. She was too deep in thought to notice the golden queen approaching her.
Nodding in the affirmative, the little dark elf doesn't speak her reply. The harem under Mahkotoh has a clear divide between those that knew her from before she went to the moon and those that came after. Kamii and Hestia are friendly with each other, and Aurelia and Tokomaha have an unspoken rivalry that binds them together. But there's some seemingly insurmountable distance between the former and the latter two.
It most obviously expresses itself in their powers. Kamii understands that she's physically the weakest, and her ability to utilize the powers of the false gods lags far behind Hestia. All she has is her cursed arm; Mahkotoh implied that she could have the highest power potential among anybody in the world. But she knows best that it's difficult to utilize properly.
However, it goes beyond her usefulness in battle. She has grown beyond the point at which she would doubt the love she receives from Mahkotoh. But receiving it without being able to help the love of her life doesn't sit well with her.
"What are you brooding about?" Aurelia suddenly puts a hand on the little dark elf's head, causing the latter to look up in surprise. She can count the times the golden queen has ever touched her with one hand - and not the one that possesses five fingers.
But the gentle feeling suggests that Aurelia may be trying to bridge the distance to her. Living together for many moons while practically avoiding associating with each other isn't healthy. Everybody has been busy since Mahkotoh's coronation, but in the recent moon, they have had more free time together.
"I-" Before Kamii can reply, the ground underneath their feet jumps several inches, causing them both to nearly fall over. A massive impact must have happened outside, but the fact that the pyramid is still standing means that it didn't hit it directly.
The two exchange a glance before wordlessly heading for the hole leading outside as quickly as they can.
Chaos side
I couldn't see it.
Half of my body is gone, erased by this last attack, and so is a cone-shaped area of the city behind me. The tip of that cone lies at the ground below the sword Ame-no-Murakuma, which Oinos is now holding with both hands.
The last thing I saw was him gripping it with both his hands and raising it over his head. I instinctively dodged to the side, which is the only reason I'm still alive now. And even then, the part of me in the strike zone was disintegrated into nothingness.
Damn, I can't be losing matter now, when I have to head to the moon to potentially fight another Crawling Chaos later. I feel that in a battle between members of my species, mass is all that counts; the bigger one can simply swallow the smaller one. I've been saving up for the past half a year and gotten back to my largest size ever, but half of that has disappeared in one attack.
Steam is rising from Oinos' back, and it seems that the swing has overheated him. Or maybe it's because he lost his cool from nearly losing his eye earlier. But the fact that he isn't using that attack again means he can't do it in quick succession. I need to do something about this before his cooldown is up.
But what can I do? My mass is diminished, and even when I had all of it, I could only scrape along his skull rather than pierce it. His outside, despite looking like skin and muscle, is harder than anything organic in this world. Only Aurelia and her conceptual body could compare to it.
Suddenly, a massive lance of darkness strikes Oinos from the side, only to scatter the moment it touches his skin. Rather than some magical defense, his physical form withstood Hestia's most devastating attack.
Wait, Hestia!
"Don't come over here!" I turn to scream at the fast-approaching black angel. She has no defenses against any of Oinos' attacks. Her light barrier spell is stronger than mine, but it's also not the perfect sanctuary envisioned by Sintress. I doubt anybody but the creator of it herself can ever reach that realm.
Hearing my voice, Hestia stops abruptly and points both her hands at the Walker of the Wild. In the next moment, hundreds of two-dimensional-looking circles of blackness surround his limbs. It's her corrupted version of a light barrier, with a similar application to the one I tried before. However, unlike my attempt, she's directly locking down his arms and legs, not even giving him the option to swing his sword.
The fact that Oinos doesn't move while steam continues to come off his back isn't an indication that Hestia's spell has stopped him. In the first place, I somehow doubt that anything within the system of the Imagination Engine can be effective against him. Exla said that he's a godlike existence outside the system. I would think the same about members of my species, and even I can barely scratch him.
Suddenly, branches begin to sprout below Oinos' feet, breaking through the cracks in the pyramid left by our battle. They begin to ensnare his limbs but shy away from his steaming back. It must be incredibly hot, like the heat radiator in a high-powered machine.
Looking down, I see Tokomaha standing on the first terrace, raising her white spear with one hand and drawing circles into the air while pointing at Oinos. Wood won't be enough to stop his movements; even I couldn't do anything against him because of the beams he can fire from the tattoo-like lines running across his body.
As if to prove me right, the moment the steam from his body subsides, Oinos looks up at me as if not even noticing the magic and branches binding him. The wound on his temple has already healed, and the golden liquid has been reabsorbed into his skin. His expression tells me that he's completely serious now.
He casually breaks all his restraints as if they don't even exist. Raising both hands over his head, he prepares to eradicate my existence with Ame-no-Murakumo completely. In pure desperation, I shoot forward to get within his range. Maybe I can clasp onto his face and smother him? Or enter through his ears and nose to destroy him from the inside. He should be softer inside than he's outside, right?
Just then, a blob of liquid gold surrounds his blade and stops it in place. Oinos looks up in surprise, struggling to pull his weapon out from it. Aurelia has appeared on the terrace near Tokomaha and is holding out both of her hands. For the first time, I see strain on her face as she has to muster all of her willpower to hold back the strength behind the Walker of the Wild's physical strength.
This is an opening I can use!
Shooting forward, I aim for Oinos' mouth. Just then, he twists his torso slightly and lets out a beam from his chest that forces me to evade. I know for a fact that those can cut through even dragon armor, and I don't want to get split any further with my currently diminished mass.
That's when I see a person running up the remaining branches growing from the side of the pyramid, holding a dagger in one hand and drawing back the other as if ready to swing. It's Kamii, with her amethyst eyes utterly focused on the back of the Walker of the Wild.
I don't know what she's attempting to do, but her cursed arm may be the only thing in this world that could decidedly take down Oinos at this point. But the towering god will simply fire his tattoo beams to cut her apart if he notices her approach.
"Cut this!" I shout and create a wall of spirit spears to fill his entire vision. Even if he knows that Kamii is coming at him from behind, she won't be his top priority. After all, these spears are a creation by Sintress, meant to pierce through anything the Old Humans can imagine. I haven't used them against him this openly before, so he can't know whether or not I have been able to replicate the effect initially intended by their creator. I know for a fact that they can't, as the pile bunker tip I used earlier was only marginally stronger than compressed dragon armor.
His widening eyes tell me that he has taken the bait, as I make a show out of letting them spin in place before loosing them at him all at once. I can tell that this is the first time he actually fears something coming from me, as he desperately struggles to pull his sword free.
Suddenly, he seems to realize something in my eyes, and he turns his head to look back. Judging that all this was to let Kamii get closer, he lets go of his sword and turns on the spot while swinging his arm at blinding speed.
But it seems that Kamii has predicted the direction of his swing and has already twisted her upper body to the side. The air pressure from his fist cuts her cheek; if she had been only an inch off, her head would have been taken clean off her shoulders.
In the same motion, she throws her crab pincer forward in a straight punch with all her might. Compared to Oinos, her speed is laughably slow; he brings up his left hand to catch the pincer. He may be surprised at the fact that somebody this weak is attacking him so audaciously that he's lowering his guard and not killing her straight away.
With a titanic impact that shakes the very air, her strike connects with his palm. For a split second, nothing seems to happen. Then, the cursed arm pushes his hand back into his stomach, connecting with his well-defined abs.
In the next moment, his hand disintegrates against his own skin, followed by an impact traveling through his entire body. Then his back explodes outward, spraying golden liquid out so quickly that it hits me in the face like a solid wall before I even realize it. All the spirit spears still flying at him have been dissipated without my input, as a cone-shaped explosion of gold expands from Oinos. A second shockwave evaporates the gold and turns it into a fine mist that obscures my vision.
I summon winds to make the mist clear faster, to find that the Walker in the Wild is standing where he met Kamii's strike. A massive hole has been blown into his back, exposing his black spine and ribs, which have withstood even this impact. His left hand, having had everything but the same black bones removed, has fallen apart into its individual pieces, leaving only the stump of his wrist.
"... what is your name, little one?" Oinos asks in a calm voice as he looks down at Kamii. His body is still and unmoving, standing tall like a stopped piece of construction machinery.
"Kamii." The little dark elf draws back her extended crab arm and replies in a neutral tone.
"Oh, I see." As if coming to a realization, Oinos smiles to himself wryly. "I guess everybody underestimated you."
It would seem that Alverost was aware of Kamii's existence but didn't know that she possessed such a power. Everybody seeing her regular abilities compared to those of the other girls in my harem would consider her inconsequential. That's why he didn't inform Oinos to be careful of her. And sure enough, if not for everything coming together perfectly, she would have never landed a hit on him.
"Oh, well." Lowering his right arm, the Walker of the Wild looks down at the hole in his stomach. "I've achieved what I came here for."
"And what is that?" Kamii asks with a suspicious glare into her opposite's white eyes.
"I was only a diversion." Oinos looks like he wants to shrug, but can't even muster that much strength. His body doesn't seem to be healing from this wound. "The real target... was Arkheim."
"What?" I approach the dying god and feel the urge to punch him, knowing that I won't be able to do any damage with my diminished weight. "Is your master so petty that he would want to destroy my people before letting the moon do it?"
"He believes... that Zenlith can do something about it." Golden blood flows from Oinos' lips as he reveals that they know about Zenlith's whereabouts. Only Exla and I should know that he's in the vaults of Arkaim, as I haven't even told my girls about it. To them, the Lord of the Sky is dead, as he should be to everybody else in the world at this point if the bard has been doing his job well.
"So Alverost is at his wit's end, too." With a sneer, I ridicule the Mage of the Beginning, who prides himself in his technological knowledge. The fact that he isn't doing anything about it himself means that he has no means to do so.
"It doesn't matter anymore." Finally, Oinos raises a hand, and I jump between him and Kamii. He looks up toward Ame-no-Murakumo, which Aurelia is still levitating using her gold. I wonder why she hasn't moved it away, but that doesn't seem to be his target. Instead, I watch wide-eyed as he reaches into his wound and rummages around it for a moment. "This is the end for all of us."
Then he pulls out a metal-looking sphere that glowing cables still connect to his body. There's a glass window on it, revealing a brightly-shining light inside. Judging by the fact that this is his heart, I assume that's some kind of fusion reaction. He wants to blow himself up!
"FLANN!" I scream while reaching out for the sphere before Oinos can do anything with it.
In the next instant, we're on the dark side of the moon, the star-studded sky above sparsely illuminating our surroundings. Flann is floating above the ground next to me, holding out a hand toward me, which I take without hesitation.
"So, you had this up your sleeve." The voice of the Walker in the Wild echoes in my head just as Juzual's did when I was last here. He sounds wry, the tone of somebody who understands that his last-ditch effort was useless.
Light fills my vision; then, I'm back on the branches in front of Kamii. I instinctively turn my head toward the east, just past a curtain of smoke rising to the floating city above. There, the sickle moon is visible just over the horizon. I remain unblinking to witness the dying star that Oinos turned into, as a corona grows from behind the moon like the sun during an eclipse.
The spreading light slowly fades away, leaving only the silhouette of the moon against the darkening sky. For a moment, he was brighter than the sun itself.
But this isn't the time to be staring at the last moments of a true god; Arkaim is in danger. We have to get back and defend it before we can do something about the falling moon. Maybe leaving Tokomaha here and letting her do her job while I take the others back would be the best course of action.
"The moon is falling faster now." Flann suddenly states in her usual unconcerned tone while looking up into the sky. "We do not have 9 hours left."
"What?" I stare at the blonde girl for a moment. It's my fault for telling her to bring him to the dark side of the moon when I formulated the initial plan for getting rid of Oinos. There wasn't enough time to change the destination of this emergency teleportation.
I try to stare at the moon to discern the number on it, but it can't be seen because of the still bright sky. If it's true that the moon has started accelerating because of the explosion on its dark side, then the impact point might have moved too. I'll need Senka to find out the new location.
"Let's go back to Arkaim." Letting my gaze linger on the moon a second longer as I think about the consequences of this explosion, I turn to Flann.
"Understood." Nodding, she peers at the other girls approaching our position. She's waiting for them to gather around so we can teleport.
"[Are you leaving already?]" Mereana's voice calls out to me from below, and I turn my head. She's standing on the second terrace, which is closer to our position than the first one. She must have run up the stairs, as she looks out of breath.
"[I'll be back.]" I wave at her with a confident smile.
"What about Asoko?" Hestia suddenly asks, and I blink at her in bafflement. Over the battle against Oinos and the revelation that Arkaim is in danger, I completely forgot about that. Also, the fact that the upside-down city above is still floating in place means that Kairaki isn't safe yet. There's just too much to be done.
I switch on my Chaos senses and expand it to encompass the entire pyramid. The fact that she hasn't come out even in all this commotion means that she must be busy with a powerful opponent of her own. But aside from another Old Human, I doubt anything could put up a proper fight against us at this point. So what is she doing?
"Asoko is in the dungeon. I don't know what she's doing there, but she's alone." I glance at Flann. She said that due to the interference, she couldn't transport us directly to where my other half was located. But why would she stay in the basement if she's all alone? There's no way she was locked up there. "Wait here."
With these words, I fly down toward Mereana while leaving my girls where they stand. Oinos is no more, and they can clearly handle the devils on their own, so I'm not worried about them. Asoko's presence feels off, but it's undoubtedly a Crawling Chaos. The only other options would be Mataku or my children, but I doubt that the former would be here right now, or that any of the latter would be alone.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Flann suddenly appears next to me the moment I land on the terrace next to Mereana. I'm prepared this time, so I'm not surprised.
"You feel?" I look at her in exaggerated skepticism, but she doesn't react to my joke at all. "You're no fun."
"[I heard about the moon falling from the golden queen.]" Mereana remarks with a grim expression.
"[Let's talk while moving. I need to get into the dungeon.]" I state while walking ahead. Mereana quickly passes me and gestures for me to follow her, leading the way into the pyramid. It seems she understands that time is of the essence right now.
"[What can be done?]" She asks while waving at the royal guard to open the gates of the terrace.
"[We have to trust the God of Growth.]" I try to sound confident while following my former comrade in arms. Flann is trailing behind us, her shorter legs forcing her to jog to keep up with our brisk walk. "[She said that she can catch the moon and hold it back.]"
"[... I shall believe in that.]" Nodding grimly, Mereana puts the fate of the world into our hands without hesitation. In truth, she most likely understands that neither she nor any of the minor gods of Adanak now in the employ of the new queen could ever hope to do something about the moonfall.
We make our way into the bowels of the pyramid, walking past mountains of devil corpses. The fighting in the city is still ongoing, but Tokomaha's clones have cleared most of the palace's interior. We don't encounter any enemies throughout our short journey into the dungeon, where Asoko has been slowly moving in circles. Something feels off.
"[What are we doing here?]" Mereana asks with a sideways glance at me. I doubt she thinks I came here to break out the alcohol to celebrate our victory over Oinos.
"[Have you seen or heard of anybody looking like me come through Kairaki in the past half a year?]" Before pushing open the door in front of me, I inquire about any sightings of Asoko in Adanak.
"[I have not.]" Shaking her head with a skeptical expression, Mereana confirms my suspicions that whatever is beyond this door isn't my other half. After all, if she were in the dungeon of the royal palace, people would know about it; she has no reason to sneak in here during a catastrophic battle outside.
"[Then stay back.]" I gesture at the wall next to the door, and she complies with a confused expression. From traveling with me in the past, she can tell when I'm serious and understands to follow my orders even if they may seem strange at first.
With a glance at Flann behind me, I ready myself for another dangerous encounter. Then I push open the heavy wooden door.
