Capítulo 59: RockKnapped?(1)
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--- ??? Realm ---
"Lily, please calm down. My children, there is nothing to fear," said a serene voice. A beautiful woman, her body woven from vibrant plants and flowers, spoke gently as she tried to soothe her children. Sitting on her flower throne, she overlooked all her children, watching them argue as they sat inside a massive tree.
"Mother, how can you say that?" Lily shot back, her tone sharp with frustration. She looked much like her mother, a younger version of the same radiant plant-like beauty. "Those bastards have summoned even more heroes! They're preparing for war. Why else would they call for reinforcements?"
As Lily said that, hundreds of other plants, trees, and creatures from all sorts of species, both humanoid and animalistic, argue with their mother. All agreeing with their eldest sister about the upcoming war.
"My childr…" Mother, as everyone called her, began to speak, but her words were gently interrupted by her daughter.
"Please, Mom," Lily pleaded, golden tears welling in her emerald eyes. She knelt down and embraced her mother, moving carefully to avoid her wounds.
"Look at what they've done to you," Lily whispered, her voice trembling. "Ever since the last cataclysm, your wounds haven't healed. Each decade, they worsen, and your power fades. We can't wait any longer. We must act before those heroes grow even stronger. Please, Mother."
Lily's gaze fell on the missing pieces of her mother, her heart sinking as she watched blood-red lines of demonic energy writhing and attempting to consume her. A vibrant green energy surged to push the corruption back, but with each clash, the demonic force gained ground, creeping forward ever so slowly.
Tears streamed down her face as she spoke, her voice breaking with emotion. Though softly spoken, every word reached Mother's ears with crystal clarity. All of Mother's children, who had been arguing fiercely, fell silent and bowed their heads. Whether they sought war or peace, their devotion to their mother remained absolute.
Watching all of her rowdy children suddenly quiet down and worry for her. A single golden tear slid down Mother's cheek as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Leaning on Lily for support, she rose slowly to her feet, her movements graceful despite the pain. In a soft, steady voice, she spoke words that carried the weight of ages.
"Children," Mother began, her voice steady but tinged with sorrow. "I will not lie. My time is drawing near, I can feel my life slowly burning out."
At her words, a wave of anguished roars erupted from her children as they all tried to speak at once. But with a stern and commanding tone, she silenced them.
"SILENCE!" she thundered, her voice cutting through the chaos. "My time is ending, and I cannot allow you to waste it on endless arguments. What will become of this world when I am gone? Who will care for it then when you're all fighting each other?"
Her icy glare swept over them, forcing each to avert their gaze, too humbled to meet her eyes. "I know you are all scared," she continued, her tone softening, "but believe me, I am the most frightened of all."
Taking a deep breath, Mother straightened, her resolve hardening as she prepared to act on her final plan. "But my fear fades when I see all of you working together," Mother said, her voice softening with warmth. "Yet, I know it won't last forever. That is why, for the past century, I have been thinking about my successor."
With newfound strength, Mother stood tall, no longer leaning on Lily for support. She reached up to the simple crown of roses resting on her head, its petals glowing faintly with life. Gently, she removed it and placed it upon Lily's head, her hands trembling but resolute.
"For my final decree," Mother declared, her voice resonating with authority, "Lily Verdant Rosaceae shall take up my mantle as the Goddess of Plants and Fertility."
A profound silence followed, thick and heavy. Every eye turned to Lily, whose face had gone pale as if all color had been drained. She stood frozen, unprepared for the weight of her mother's title and the immense responsibility it carried.
Guiding the still-frozen Lily to her throne, Mother, no Iana, her true name, leaned in close and whispered softly to Lily. Lily, overwhelmed by the weight of her new role, nodded mechanically, her body moving on instinct rather than understanding. With a heavy heart, Iana turned away, teleporting herself to a sacred chamber atop a colossal tree, its immense size overshadowing even the vast world of Zielyr.
Pushing open a simple wooden door, Iana stepped into her room. The room was mostly empty but radiated divine energy, a space reserved for only her. She began her preparations for the rise of a new god, sending messages to her brothers and sisters, calling them for the birth of a new great god.
But her focus wavered as a faint prayer resonated in her mind, a plea from a human girl within a dimensional dungeon. Usually, Iana just ignores these prayers, as she receives hundreds of thousands of them each day, but something was different with this prayer. Iana's divine senses flared as she attuned herself to the prayer, tracing its source.
What she found chilled her.
Spreading her divine awareness through the dungeon, through the girl, she sensed a foreign soul, a grotesque abomination. It was a patchwork of writhing, mismatched soul fragments, a grotesque amalgamation of countless beings. She felt the remnants of wolves, elementals, elves, humans, and other creatures she could not immediately identify, all fused together in unnatural torment. Inside this mass, she saw its true self, a small pitch-black soul that no matter how much she looked inside of, it felt endless.
Thats when she remember something. This was the same soul that had torn through Zielyr's dimensional barrier a month prior, though it was way smaller, this soul was so destructive when it came, it had thrown all the gods and goddesses into chaos. The once-impenetrable shield that protected Zielyr from foreign gods and invaders now bore a wound, a vulnerability that had not existed in eons. Thanks to that soul tearing through the barrier.
Though the gods of war had acted swiftly, deploying troops to guard the breach, the damage was done. Some invaders had slipped through, sowing chaos and preying on Zielyr's inhabitants, hiding somewhere. And now, she found the soul that caused, quite literally, the second cataclysm for the world.
Closing her eyes, Iana focused her divine power, using the human girl as a conduit to channel it. While only saints were meant to bear the weight of her divine energy, Iana knew this girl would not survive the process. The sheer force of her essence was too much for a mortal to withstand, yet the urgency of the moment left no other choice.
SHE HAD TO ELIMINATE THIS ABOMINATION
— Aiwin POV
"Nera, Cecilia, focus on offensive spells. I'll handle the defense," I commanded, my voice sharp and focused. I drew my daggers just as a massive snake-man slammed through my mana barrier, charging at me.
Before he could reach me, Rab intercepted him, shoving the serpent aside. But I didn't have time to relax—just as I rolled out of the way, a bright blue snake-woman lunged, her blade aimed to cleave me in two.
Instinctively, I formed another mana barrier around Nera and Cecilia, giving them the space they needed to focus on their spells. I dashed toward the blue snake-woman, but before I could reach her, an arrow zipped through the air, aimed straight at my head. Without thinking, I spun and used my daggers to deflect it, the impact sending a shockwave through my arms.
Whatever bow they were using, it packed a serious punch, I thought, as the arrow's impact still stung my arms. But I didn't have time to dwell on it. Using the momentum, I charged forward, slashing at the snake-woman. My daggers cut deep into her side, but before I could press my attack, a massive halberd swung in to block my path. I had no choice but to back off quickly, narrowly avoiding its deadly reach.
"NERA, WHERE'S YOUR SUP—" I started to shout, but before I could finish, a blinding, golden light erupted around Nera and Cecilia. The brilliance was so intense that it momentarily robbed me of my vision. I stumbled, trying to push closer to the girls, but my sight faded as the light enveloped us all.
— ??? POV
Just as quickly as the golden light had flared to life, it vanished in an instant, leaving only an eerie silence in its wake.
Then, without warning, the ground trembled, and massive trees began to sprout from the earth, their roots twisting and sprawling. The roots tore through the ground with terrifying force, obliterating everything in their path. There was no escape from the fury of a great goddess.
The dungeon floor, as vast as the island of Maui and stretching over 20 miles high, was now consumed by the rapid growth of trees and plants. The once bright surroundings were swallowed by a massive canopy formed from many trees, plunging the entire space into utter darkness.
Soon, the silence that followed with it was shattered by deafening roars as the newly-formed plants and trees began to twist and deform.
From the depths of the forest's growth, hundreds of thousands of creatures emerged, each one crafted from wood, leaves, and vines. They converged to a single point and at the heart of it all, a colossal wooden serpent coiled tightly around a stone creature, its tail wrapped around the figure as it absorbed the stone beast's mana.
The moment the serpent's grip tightened, the stone creature began to change. Its once rigid, rocky form softened, and black fur sprouted from its surface, revealing its true form.
This black creature, was Alex, who was helpless, as he felt his bones crack and pop with every movement, the serpent's grip tightening around him. No matter how hard he struggled, his strength was nothing for the wooden creature's hold. He didn't even bother summoning his summons as they could only do nothing against whatever the fuck caused this.
All he could do was pray for a swift death as he watched a human girl approach through the creatures. Strangely, none of the creatures attacked her. In fact, they parted to make way, even bowing to her as she walked.
Her figure was hard to make out through the chaos, but as she drew closer, her presence became undeniable, and an eerie calmness followed her. Alex recognized this human girl as she was one of the invaders, but her flesh was slowly melting off as roots and flowers started to take their place. There was even a large pink flower growing on her back.
The serpent, even its entire monstrous form, bowed to the girl. Her? Could she truly be human? Alex's mind raced as confusion and fear gripped him. Before he could process the sight, he was roughly thrown to the ground, the world spinning around him.
The girl stepped forward, and with a simple gesture, she extended her hand. Thick vines erupted from her palm, twisting and writhing like serpents themselves. They lashed out and coiled around Alex's body, pinning him to the earth.
"For the crimes of invading and desecrating the World of Zielyr" the girl's voice echoed, cold and commanding, "I sentence this abomination to death. May your soul burn, wherever it may come from."
With a swift motion, she grasped Alex's head, her fingers glowing with a golden light. A surge of divine energy coursed through her, filling the air with a suffocating pressure. It tore through Alex's body, incinerating everything in its path. Flesh, bone, and even the very essence of his being. His body writhed in agony, but it was all in vain, as everything burned away in an unrelenting inferno of divine fire.
But what Iana thought would be the end didn't come to pass. The abomination's body burned away, disintegrating into nothingness, reduced to ash, and was gone in an instant. There was no trace left, no remnants, no marks. It was as if the creature had never existed.
Yet, amidst the golden fire, something remained. On the ground in front of her, a blue core gleamed, shining brightly as if untouched by the flames that had eradicated everything else. And there, she could see clearly, the core was also its soul.
Even the souls that were made the amalgamation of soul flesh over the pitch-black soul were still there. The black soul was still writhing around, untouched by her divine power. It was completely fine, the very power she used right now, the power she used to kill even great demon gods, did nothing.
Iana, sensing the lingering presence of the black soul and its blue core, gritted her teeth in frustration. She poured more power into her grip, her divine energy surging with even greater intensity. The air around her crackled as she unleashed waves of destructive force, determined to erase it once and for all.
Yet, nothing changed.
The blue core remained unharmed, no cracks, no scratches, not even a hint of damage. And alongside it, the amalgamation of souls, still bound together in their dark, twisted form, persisted, immune to her onslaught. Despite the full weight of her power, the abomination's soul and its core stood untouched.
Determined not to let the abomination's soul slip through her grasp, Iana decided on the next best course of action: sealing it away. But before she could act, she issued a command to her creatures, her voice cutting through the chaos.
"Destroy everything. Leave nothing behind."
Her order was absolute, and the creatures under her command surged forward, tearing through the dungeon, obliterating everything in their path. The very floor seemed to tremble as they moved to erase any trace of the black soul's presence, every stone, every root, every last remnant of the dungeon was to be wiped out.
But even as the destruction raged, Iana stood still, the serpent coiled protectively around her. Her gaze remained fixed on the blue core and the twisted amalgamation of souls, and for a moment, she hesitated. She knew what she had to do, but the weight of the decision gnawed at her.
Drawing a small, dense cube from a pocket of space, Iana felt a brief flash of revulsion. She loathed summoning heroes, it always felt like a desperate measure, a sign of weakness. But she could no longer afford hesitation. The humans had already begun summoning their own champions, heroes from other worlds, and that meant time was running out.
Her mind flashed back to the grim reality: every hero summoned from another world altered the world around them. The world shifted, changed, warped under the weight of their presence. If she didn't act swiftly, the imbalance would tip too far, and her forces would be at a disadvantage. It is like the world itself is shaping itself for the heroes. She didn't understand why that happened.
That is why she had wounds from the first cataclysm, a hero from the demon race almost managed to kill her, but she was only left with unhealing wounds that worsened ever century.
If she wanted to fight fire with fire, she needed her own summoned heroes. Heroes to fight against the champions her brother summoned. Only by summoning champions of her own could she hold her ground.
Taking a deep breath, Iana steeled herself for the inevitable. It was time to tip the scales in her favor.
—
Damn, Alex got an unlucky roll.
Well thanks for reading, and adios
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