I still remember the days I spent with them
With mother and father, in their castle
In the land of wolves, the land of my father
Yet not the land that calls to me.
My true home, far to the east
The land of my mother, and of great Athena
Whose blood runs through my veins.
I yearn for it, for it is mine by birthright
Proof of which lies on my back
Vast wings of platinum, glimmering with light
More vibrant than all the greatest Valkyries.
Yet the land was taken from me, from my family
Stolen by the traitorous witch Hylla
The one who stood by the great queen’s side
Yet raised sword and spear against her.
When she took the throne, my kingdom was taken
From this act of treason, my spirit raged
To war it said, to war to reclaim what was lost
To war, to reclaim the land of my mother and kin.
Throughout it all, you stood beside me
You, who I cherish more than any other
You, who I fought alongside more than any other
You, who showed me the way forward
You, who made me strong.
Though you are not my flesh and blood
Still, you are my mother
Even now, with the king and queen dead
My father and mother, killed by Hylla
You remain, undying and forever more.
Even though you left to carry out your own goals
I still want you by my side
Even if my kingdom were to fall
I still want you by my side
Even if the world were to end
I still want you by my side.
Like a bonfire to keep me warm at night
Like a torch to light the way in the darkness
You are the hearth flame that warms my life
My godmother, and the only one I have left.
You said that for you to stay by my side
That I must fight you, with my sword and spear
With my soul and with my all
Yet I do not wish to harm my mother
For you mean everything to me.
Can you hope to stay your sword
For but a moment to heed my words?
Moyako…
She could not bare to watch things continue any longer those horrid sickles were used to erase her goddaughter from existence.
She turned her head away before Artemis could finish her off only to feel time stand still and the crackle of thunder rumble even from outside of the arena. Even with the skies as clear as day, thunder rumbled.
What is happening now? she thought as she turned around just in time to see a fissure in space open up above the arena and a bolt of scarlet lightning fall upon the battlefield.
The sensation that came with this power was very similar to the one that struck Nashandra in her own battle but...somehow it was far more intense and vast.
It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and her skin feel cold.
Her eyes went back to Camilla just in time to see her struck by the scarlet bolt and her spirit set aflame once more.
Artemis…
She had expected her sickles to pass through her neck and for Camilla’s entire being to vanish from reality, but instead she raised her arms and caught the blades with her bare hands.
An unusual feeling of uneasiness overcame her as she instinctively tried to pull away but Camilla held the sickles tight in her grip, which should have been impossible.
How are her hands not being erased? How is she even still alive?
Camilla then let out a painful wheezing sound as a strange light was being emitted from her eyes as her head hung low.
“I can see it…,” she muttered under her breath.
Confused as to what was happening, Artemis tried to pull her sickles free once again but still they were held firm in her grip.
She then tried to sense the phenomenon for why her sickles were not erasing her and could feel time being pushed through Camilla’s body. It was aging her at a rate that negated the power of her sickles. Her sickles shaved off time by mimicking the effect of reversing the time of its target until it no longer existed.
But I thought she could not manipulate time in such a way. Did something change within her? Has she adapted and become aware of the forth dimension?
But then, Camilla raised her head to look up at HER and said, “I can see...EVERYTHING!”
Artemis recoiled as she noticed the woman’s eyes had burst into yellow flames of insanity.
With the most minimal of movements, Camilla’s body rose up off of the air, levitating as she stared at her with madness in her eyes.
“I can see the infinite branching of your soul Artemis, and the many threads of fate you have severed, the universes you have obliterated, and all the countless lives you have snuffed out with such power,” she said, smiling wildly as she continued to speak.
Not knowing how to react to her sudden and mysterious burst of power, she tried to retreat and make some distance but felt a crushing weight fall upon her.
Something is crushing me? Even in this state? How?! What kind of power could-?!
Yet as she took a closer look into Camilla’s burning eyes, she also noticed the color of her irises had changed from emerald green to blood red.
The very same color of the Forrosans that receive the blessing of the God of Wrath.
Is this truly the Primordial of Wrath’s power?
Camilla then raised her arms slowly into the air, looking up into the sky, and let out a long audible gasp. Groaning and wheezing, with the same disturbing expression on her face before she pressed her palms firmly against her eyes.
Then, in the next moment, she raised them back into the air and the flames in her eyes burned even bright, and her voice began to overlap with the sound of crashing thunder as she spoke.
“I can see all that lies in creation. I can see the great vastness of space and the endlessly expanding branches of time. Yet still, I see beyond all of that. I can see the vastness of Erebus, Terra, Oeuvre, Kophious, Verrlassen, Kargasa, and all worlds born and yet to be born. I bear witness to the great majesty of the realms, the great walls that exist on both sides of creation, Hell and Chaos, Hestia and Apophis. Greater still is the incomprehensible sight of The Empty, the very personification of Humanity’s indomitable will, and the cage of the False God. O Lord, I submit myself to your will. I yield myself only to your might, O great God of Wrath. O great child of Lucifer, the great progenitor of creation and Father of Sin. May your followers welcome me as one of their own. May they accept the arrival of your third and mightiest king as I make use of the blessing you have bestowed upon me…”
She then turned her sights back on Artemis as she finished her speech with, “...and crush all the enemies in your path.”
In the next instant, she seemed to have vanished before instantly reappearing in front of her as if stepping out of time.
Artemis struggled to raise her head as the overwhelming aura of the Wrath God’s will flowed from Camilla’s body and enveloped everything all around them.
Is she evolving? Is that what the Wrath God’s power is? Evolution? Advancement? Is that its true nature?
“I told you that I would crush you at your strongest, and I fully intend to do so. For as many moons as there are in this world, they fail to encapsulate the full might of the universe. I will crush you with that very might and reduce you to dust,” she said as she spread out her arms and her platinum wings reappeared despite being erased, along with her leg as well.
Whatever the case, whatever the reason for her to acquire this kind of strength...it must be erased!
Through the crushing pressure of Camilla’s power, Artemis snapped her fingers once again and everything reset.
As the world around her was put back at the very start of the match, she felt an enormous weight lifted from her that was so great that it seemed to affect her very soul.
But then she realized that something was wrong as Camilla was nowhere to be seen anywhere.
This can’t be! I reset things, so she should be right here! Where did she-
Her train of thought was cut short as the spearhead of Ichor Doru exited from her chest and Camilla hair grazed her cheek as she approached her closely and said, “Where are you escaping to…?”
Artemis turned her head just enough to look behind her and saw what Camilla had appeared from.
A deep black chasm, a scar in time and space from the now dead universe that Artemis had erased.
Camilla had somehow managed to withstand fate being erased all around her and plunged her spear into Artemis’s chest as she appeared in a new timeline.
“This cannot be possible!” Artemis exclaimed as she snapped her fingers once again, destroying another timeline, hoping to see Camilla destroyed along with it and the world reset.
But as the world changed, Camilla stood there unfazed, staring at her with the flames of insanity burning brightly in her eyes and in her mind.
“I must erase such a horrible power from ALL realities, lest your existence threaten everything beyond this battlefield!” Artemis roared as she held out both arms in front of her, with her sickles in each hand, as she cut through all the threads of fate that could possibly be woven.
An endless barrage of shatterings occurred, with endless timelines being erased, and Camilla bore witness to all of it, standing unfazed and unburdened by such power as the God of Wrath’s authority transcended time, space, fate, and all that may yet divide and distinguish.
The only thing that did seem to change as all fates were unraveled around them, was the flames in her eyes as they sputtered out and all that was left was the blood red glow of Wrath.
But as her sickles came to cut the final strand, it failed to sever it as it went rigid and lightning appeared in its reality. It seemed to vibrate with such a heavy presence that no matter how many times she attempted to strike it, it would not budge.
This stubborn thread of fate that remained, pulsating with power, held with it the presence of a newly evolved sixth dimensional being, manifesting the power of Wrath.
Noticing the failed attempt to erase her, Camilla reached out her hand and grasped the thread of fate that contained her existence, ripped it free from the loom that existed within Artemis’s being and remade the world herself.
Before she could react, Camilla had grabbed her firmly by the neck and slammed her into the ground of the newly created battlefield before raising her spear high above her head and burying it deep in her chest.
“I will reach into the vastness of creation, past our solar system and even farther beyond the reaches of our galaxy and bring down their crushing weight upon you!” she roared as she held the spear with her left hand while raising her right into the sky.
Soon after the crushing weight of a star fell upon Artemis’s body as it steadily increased to include that of an entire solar system and beyond.
She tried to raise her hand up off the ground to resist but Camilla stomped on it before then stomping on her face for good measure.
Her raised hand clenched into a fist as she pointed it down at her body and roared once more as the weight that crushed her, even in her Seraphic Form, stripped away the light and cracked the stone skeleton underneath it.
“C-Camilla, I… I Yeil-” she tried to say, but before she could get the chance to finish her words, the crushing weight suddenly vanished and the red glow of Camilla’s eye, though its color remained as blood red, faded and blood began to leak profusely from them.
The sudden shock of the weight vanishing from her body, paired with the toll of maintaining a Seraphic Form for so long, exhausted Artemis past the point of her limitations as her body reverted back to normal and she could see her vision fading.
Before she blacked out, Camilla fell to her knees, overwhelmed by exerting too much of her new god’s will through her body before her face fell upon Artemis’s breast.
Azazel…
The entire arena fell silent at the result of such a battle between two beings of beyond godlike strength.
Both had exhausted themselves to the point that neither could continue any further, nor could any of them respond as the announcer tried to call out to them to see if either was still conscious.
But as no response could be heard, it was then declared that their battle would end in a draw, with both of them being eliminated from the competition.
However, none of this seemed to matter to him as he was shocked to see that the third king would appear so quickly after the second.
Could the fourth and final king’s appearance not be far off? What does it mean for all four to be assembled so quickly?
Will our lord truly be awakened into the world at last?