TU24. The Shatter of a Mortal Mind
The Demoness whispered something into Hera's ear. The goddess's darkening face soured, the corners of her eyes twitching uncontrollably. Her boopis eyes darted this way and that.
Whether it was euphoria or the sheer ecstasy of battle, Aurora's chuckle cracked.
The two figures watched her with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. Empusa was the first to step forward. "So, you knew?" she hissed, baring her teeth.
"Of course!" Aurora smiled. Then, her visage shifted to sudden solemnity. "I can't believe you forgot that."
Suddenly, powerful cyclones crashed over Empusa and Hera. While the queen of the gods managed to dodge the destructive path, Empusa was hurled backward. Her wings collapsed, shrink-wrapping around her body. The demoness tumbled over the dirt and through the woods, splinters and rocks flying in a frenzied mayhem.
"You damned, stupid beast!" Hera growled as Ventiff circled above. The legendary griffin's massive shadow cast over the forest floor, painting an intimidatingly large shade.
"Hera, have you forgotten about me already?" The voice was so close, it was like a whisper directly in her ear.
Gasping, Hera spun sharply, the air rattling like death itself. She leapt away, but the long, thin tip of the spatha had already nicked her neck. Beads of blood seeped from the shallow wound.
"Damnation!" Hera growled.
Her eyes widened in shock as her mind struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Wasn't Aurora a hundred metres away? How could she have reached her in an instant? In the blink of an eye, even? While questions clouded her mind, another blade arched at her with terrifying speed.
"Magnetos!" Hera raised her palm, and a magnetic barrier materialised to counter.
Swiftly, the flaming sword pierced the enclosure. The sphere shattered like glass. The blade went clean through Hera's shoulder, exiting through her back. Divine blood spattered across the dirt.
"Arrrrgh!" Hera howled in pain, her hands flailing wildly.
"Perish!" Aurora commanded, cleaving her weapon upward and slicing through the shoulder blade of her enemy. Hera's right arm slumped, dangling uselessly.
The mad mortal raised her blade high, ready to cleave Hera straight down the middle.
Desperation filled Hera's dark eyes. "Argus Panoptes—NOW!"
Hundreds of glowing plumes unfurled behind Hera like a magnificent panel. The peacock eyes hummed with deep, ancient intensity, vibrating the very air around her.
An intense, blinding light flashed directly into Aurora's eyes. The hands gripping her sword fell lifelessly to her sides. Her silver eyes became a vacant void, her muscles completely frozen.
Her killer instinct vanished as Hera staggered away.
"Ha! Finally!" Hera's lips spread into a wide, thin smile at the victory now within her grasp. She hissed as the grave wound began to mend itself, though the process was sluggish.
Simultaneously, Aurora's body remained petrified, and her mind was trapped in an infinite stream of visions. Eons of surveillance, gathered by the hundred eyes of Argus, were released all at once into the mortal's consciousness.
An eerie coldness kissed Aurora's skin. She saw only darkness at first, followed by titanic creatures of unimaginable horror. Dragon heads reared up, hundreds in variety. One appeared as a sea serpent, another a lion with a crimson mane, and yet another a canine with venomous fangs. They all stemmed from a single, colossal body. Planetary.
She blinked at what was supposed to be a terrifying scream. The sound rippled, designed to instil a fear that could shatter weak minds. She had heard the legends before. It was the father of all monstrosities in the world, Typhon.
"Heh, am I supposed to fear you?" she scoffed, despite her clutched fists being devoid of the spatha. Even though everything felt as real as reality itself, she surmised this had to be a vision. A trickery.
A vertical slit filled with jagged fangs and frothing saliva opened wide across the torso of the allfather of monsters.
It ate her whole.
The limbs of countless beasts lined the inside of the belly of the beast-allfather, snapping and hissing at her. Surely, such a sight would be the bane that crumbled the mind of men. But that assumption fell disastrously short in the presence of Aurora.
She stood unbothered. Bored, even.
Another section of the vision led to a spiral of tentacles and large, unblinking eyes. The bloodshot irises stared at the fearless visitor with contempt, while the foul odour of fermented sea creatures was strong enough to threaten a gag reflex.
Glossy tentacles slithered nearer. She knew full well what the creature wanted. They attempted to slip into her deepest, darkest fears, yearning to consume her mind.
Human-like eyes stared at her from the fleshy walls, pulsing and throbbing with intensity.
Aurora knitted her brows, bored and annoyed.
"Stop!" she commanded firmly, raising her hand.
The unrivalled horror unfolded further, shapeshifting into gory creatures of all kinds. It eventually settled into a mass of disembodied humans melding into one another. Rib cages, limbs, and tendons were bizarrely fused into a grotesque lump that resembled a massive centipede.
The ancient cosmic horror of a perpetual scream echoed through the cavern of flesh. A pool of blood splashed over her, leaving her soaked in scarlet.
No cowering in fear, no shaking in terror, Aurora stood resolute, just as she had the first time. When her courage was fully attested, the displayed horrors froze, entirely unable to penetrate her formidable mind.
A striking silver glow erupted, illuminating the dim, monstrous chamber.
"Do not tempt me," the Astral Empress commanded, her voice cold and resonant. "My patience for your pathetic displays has expired. Strike if you must, but know this. I am the Legendary Beastslayer. For I am the one to whom your power holds no dominion!"
The flesh-centipedes coiled and cowered in what appeared to be fear. The cosmic terrifier was itself terrified when its only power failed to influence.
A sudden flash of light forced her to shield her eyes.
Rumbling thunder accompanied a rich, deep voice. She found herself standing within an eternally grandiose chamber.
"Another vision?"
The towering columns and lavish stonework were the craftsmanship of divinity, far exceeding anything she had ever seen across the seven continents. Even the finest textiles could not match this level of quality.
"Athena, you do not expect me to save a mere mortal. The very one you begged me to cast aside ten years prior."
"But, Stormfather?" The female voice replied.
Two distinct figures argued in the vast throne room, their discussion exuded with an air of commanding divinity. This was undoubtedly the grand chamber of Olympus. She was only a corner away from witnessing the Olympian gods with her eyes.
Her curiosity was overwhelming, compelling her boots to move forward on their own.
But she halted mid-stride. "Why am I seeing this?"
As she began to analyse her thought process amidst the flood of immeasurable visions, a throbbing headache grew noticeably sharper.
"I'm not here; I'm in the middle of something…" Aurora murmured, the edges of her memory blurring like smoke. She struggled to pin down the elusive thread of reality.
"I must find a way out of these visions." She spun around and squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart thundered, blood throbbing painfully against her skull until the veins on her forehead threatened to burst.
"Think, think!" she urged, clutching her temples in anguish.
"Metacognition!" The realisation hit her like a physical blow. She needed to analyse her own thought process, dissecting the very architecture of her consciousness. The flow of infinite information was a powerful stream that had drifted her away from her true reality. But that was the key: she didn't need to process the noise. She realised, with sudden, crystalline clarity, that she didn't need to consume any information outside of her immediate reality at all.
The revelation struck her like breaking free from a death grip. She understood it now.
"I'm… in Neptunion. I'm still engaging in battle with the Queen of the Gods and Empusa," Aurora blurted out. "I’ve got it now!"
While Aurora felt trapped inside the lenses of Argus Panoptes for hours, in the outside world, only a mere second had passed. Thanks to her extraordinary cognitive speed, she could process hours of mental bombardment almost instantaneously.
"No matter how strong you are, there's a limit to your feeble, mortal mind," Hera sneered, approaching the fearsome empress, who now stood no differently than a statue.
Hera studied the pathetic mortal. There was not even the rise and fall of breath.
Stolen novel; please report.
"To remain like this for eternity, or until your body withers away... I wouldn't normally wish such a fate. But you left me no choice, really." Hera clasped Aurora's hot cheek, her sharp nails drawing a trickle of blood.
There was no reaction.
"My Queen of Heaven, your radiant eminence outshines all," Empusa knelt, her eyes studying her master's handiwork.
She had succeeded in returning after surviving the griffin's wild assault. Ventiff's massive body had dissolved into black mist right in the middle of their clash. Seeing its owner petrified like stone, Empusa finally understood why.
Hera nodded, acknowledging her presence, before turning her gaze back to Aurora. "Child of mortal, I hope they hold you in their remembrance. When I massacre them like livestock, Argus Panoptes will serve as your eyes. I wonder how it will feel when all you can do is watch."
A fit of laughter burst from Hera's lips. She clasped her stomach as the sound escalated into a maniacal cackle.
As Hera turned away, her lips forming the words for their next stage of the plan, she stopped. Whether it was her peripheral vision or her divine cognition, she didn't know. But she caught a faint, unmistakable movement from the frozen mortal empress.
"Did you see that?" Hera blurted, eyeing Aurora questioningly.
There was something deeply ominous in that blank stare. A biting chill that raised the goosebumps on Hera's arms.
"What did you see, my queen?" Empusa asked, frowning.
In the blink of an eye, Aurora darted forward, her stare still utterly blank. Her grasp came with terrifying swiftness. As pure instinct took hold, Hera desperately raised her hands to guard.
"It can't be! Impossible!" Hera breathed out, her words hitching in her throat.
Empusa, on the other hand, collapsed to the ground, shaking and screaming in pure terror.
The mute empress stared directly into the soul of the goddess. The void in Aurora's eyes remained prominent; she was barely conscious, yet something dark and deep twirled within her like an unseen undercurrent.
Aurora effortlessly overpowered the queen of the gods, yanking Hera's flailing hands aside.
An iron claw clutched at Hera's throat, compressing it to the point that it stifled her low, pleading squeak.
Hera watched in absolute horror as her life was squeezed away. She saw a trail of blood trickle down Aurora's nose, a sign of her immense mental strain. But the agony of her crushing windpipe sent a prickling numbness radiating down to the very tips of Hera's fingers.
A goddess felt her consciousness begin to drift away.
Eyes bulging wide, lips foaming, Hera clawed frantically at the invincible hand around her neck. It was immovable.
In utter desperation, her swimming eyes sought out her trusted minion. Her blue lips stammered out a final command. "Help! Kill… her… nooow!"
Empusa snapped out of a fearful trance. Her fangs hissed as she finally managed to form words. "Cursed soul! Hear me now, one… billions!" she screamed with the force of a thunderclap.
A powerful rush of D'Arcane energy surged through every part of her body. Her muscles enlarged, her senses heightened; every millimetre of her being was empowered. Blood pumped furiously. Her eyes grew sharp. The wave of ecstasy and frenzy took hold, and she felt like the master of the world.
The bubbling power of this scale was something she had never tasted before. The ghastly D'Arcane engulfed her like a thick mist.
Knees coiling, she bolted forward and tackled Aurora brutally by the waist. Aurora heaved, coughing up saliva as the sheer force deformed her gut.
To her delightful surprise, Empusa had finally managed to move the immovable figure. She laughed at the epiphany of her power.
"Oh! My strength must have now surpassed even the combined might of the Olympic gods!" Her lustful lips moaned. "O', I am truly invincible."
Euphoria and adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her wings flapped, producing a sky-shattering boom.
Her eyes fixed on Helios; she could look directly at the sun with no fear. A wicked plan formed in her mind. "Let the light burn you, you cursed bitch!"
Aurora's eyes blinked, finally returning to normal. Her consciousness was snapping back into place as she hastily raised her arms to guard.
"Witness your demise!" Empusa shouted, flinging Aurora high into the atmosphere.
The resulting boom was so loud, its shockwave scattered the clouds and travelled over the entire continent.
Though her guard remained intact, the sheer momentum still hurled her mercilessly into the sky. Her peripheral vision caught a faint glimpse of the planet's curvature, and beyond it, the outer void of space.
"I'll be damned! Am I at the edge of the sky?" Aurora spun in mid-air, desperately attempting to reposition herself.
Then, an ember light shone over her sweat-drenched face. She gasped at the sight of a terrifying comet arching directly toward her location.
Quickly, she manoeuvred herself upward, raising her hand. "Thanatos-spatha!"
In a split second, Empusa launched a devastating kick that threw Aurora completely out of the atmosphere and into space. The zweihänder was knocked from her grip and dissipated into stardust.
Aurora's whipping hair straightened into fine silver strands, trailing in the opposite direction of her violent motion. She could no longer hear her own ragged breath. She could no longer hear any sound at all.
The terrain and shorelines blurred into erratic lines below. The blue oceans of the world, once so colossal, rapidly faded into nothing more than a distant orb.
"Aurora!" Empusa screamed a soundless cry, ferocious flames cladding her body.
"Empusa!" Aurora roared, her jaws snapping wide.
The demoness collided with Aurora, tackling her by the torso. Her claws dug deep into Aurora's skin, droplets of blood forming dotted lines of crimson that drifted in the zero-gravity void. Aurora grunted as the sight of the Neptunion orb flashed into the darkness, becoming ever more distant.
Aurora stared into the savage fangs and jaws of the demoness. She thrashed about, trying to shake loose of her attacker. But Empusa planted her sharp nails and wings tight, and together, they surged forward.
"What's she planning to do?!" Aurora groaned, feeling the sharp jabs digging into her flesh.
The determination in those red eyes kept staring back at her, Empusa's flaming tail and wings propelling them further and further away. The frictionless vacuum did nothing to slow their terrifying acceleration.
They spiralled into deep space, only the flame of the demoness shining bright, aimless at first.
Then, Aurora saw the light. Her back felt a prickling sensation, quickly followed by a seething heat as the brilliant glow engulfed her whole.
"Ugh!" Aurora groaned at the crushing pressure. A gasp escaped her lips as they crashed into a hard, invisible wall — a dense barrier of immeasurable plasma.
It was no different to being shoved into a cauldron of molten lava. The heat devoured her, the agonising sensation becoming unbearable. She didn't want to feel it, but her skin began to sear and rip away.
"Iasis!" Aurora howled, feeling the soothing light erupt within her.
It became a brutal clash between destruction and restoration. Her mana seeped out from every pore of her body, her skin burning away only to instantly regenerate.
"DIE ALREADY, DIE, DIE, DIE!" Empusa's scream distorted, echoing through the sea of plasma. Her burning claws wrapped tightly around Aurora's neck, crushing it with all her might.
Aurora's silver eyes eventually glanced down at the fierce creature, seeing the demoness fuming with smoke. Such an intense scowl marked that ugly face. But even the strongest demoness was built to withstand the core of the star. It wasn't long until Empusa's fiery hair muffled into bald, scorched scales. Her wide wings became tattered tarps, the patagium burnt away to expose charring bones.
Empusa was losing it, the vigour withering at an alarming rate. Her limbs withered and fractured into pieces.
Yet, in that intense moment, there was a strange serenity in them. With the absence of her scream, Empusa looked at Aurora with hollow eyes until they melted into empty sockets. The last muscle fibres burnt away. Her bones turned white, crushed into ashes.
Then, nothing.
The Supreme Arc Demoness was atomised, joining the pool of fission particles.
Aurora's breath hitched. She soon realised she was bound to fall to the same fate as her enemy. Unimaginable forces prevented her from moving even her fingers. Judging from the density alone, they must have plummeted directly into the core of the star.
For the first time in ages, she could feel her own death seeping closer.
"I shall not lose…" Her words were a rasping, hoarse whisper.
Mana twirled around her, fluttering against the pool of aggressive solar energy. Blinding white light pressed in, but iridescent mana wrapped wildly around her core.
For hundreds of years, she had been fascinated by the cosmic giants in the night sky. The power that spanned over the minds of mortals, a size that transcended any measurable unit ever created. She had studied them, researched them, and theorised them, much like any diligent scholar.
That led her to grasp the core concept, the intricate relationship between mass and energy.
However, this was an arte she dared not unleash.
A massive gamble with an unfathomable risk.
Risk it or die. Those were the only choices left to her.
"So be it—Chaos!" Aurora mustered the last of her strength. Her fingers snapped and contorted as she fought against the crushing density of the plasma. It felt like lifting the weight of mountains, the mass converging into a single, agonising point.
Slowly, with a desperate, guttural grit, she forced her trembling fingers into a pinch.
"Clasma!"
A surge of mana radiated from her body, her silver light eclipsing even the lumination of the star's core.
"I summon thee, the devourer of light!"
When the flash subsided into the dark void, a humming orb formed above her palms. A black hole, warping and spinning with a monstrous intensity she had never wrestled with before.
Aurora thrust her palms outward, unleashing it.
The black hole exploded in size at a terrifying rate, expanding from a palm-sized ball into the mass of a star core. The very fabric of space curved inward into its singularity. Starlight dimmed, siphoned away to feed its growing hunger.
Like a sentient devourer of gluttony, the void sphere swallowed everything whole. It pulled the carpet of space itself, dragging the demon-infested world of Neptunion into its inescapable event horizon. The planet crumbled into pieces, fuelling a bottomless greed that could never be filled.
"Stop it!" Aurora commanded, her voice faltering. Her open claws tumbled uncontrollably.
Yet, the entity remained deaf to her plea, or perhaps it was simply incapable of empathy. A chain reaction ensued. Space and time rippled around it, the very canvas of the universe tearing and folding inward toward its hungry core. The more it consumed, the more violently it pulled the world into the encroaching void.
Aurora watched with unblinking eyes at the dying universe. The gluttonous black hole consumed reality at an exponential rate. Stars, galaxies, nebulae, and even other black holes she hadn't known existed flew past her in the blink of an eye.
The end of the universe reached its climax in a terrifying instant. A finale. Aurora was the only soul left, suspended in a darkness that seemed to stare back at her.
"What… What have I done?" She clasped a hand over her lips, a single tear streaking down her cheek. She felt an enormous lump in her chest. For the first time in her long existence, she felt utterly terrified of her power.
"To witness the end of the universe…" Thanatos's voice was remarkably unbothered. Aurora snapped her attention toward the source.
The fine figure stood with his hands and wings tucked neatly behind his back. He looked calmly into the dark void. Even in the total absence of light, she could sense his presence.
How could he be so calm? Aurora's mind failed to comprehend it. It had all happened too fast.
"I'm sorry," Aurora's words rang out, using the same telepathic communication they had grown accustomed to.
"Don't be," he said honestly. There was no hint of regret in his voice. For a long moment, Thanatos didn't move.
"I didn't mean to—"
He waved a palm dismissively. "Hypnos shall remain as the god of sleep and dream. He's not here… This reality is neither a remnant nor a reminder of him."
It was as if he knew exactly what she wanted to ask, sparing her the questions. Aurora rose to stand, only to find that they weren't floating or standing on anything physical, yet their feet were firmly fixed in place. Space was occupied everywhere she moved.
How utterly jarring and bizarre was that? It was nothing like the frictionless vacuum she had felt earlier. This was a profound sense of spacelessness.
Aurora studied her red palms; her skin was an angry, blistered red. Her dark armour was long lost, leaving her naked against the nothingness.
Thanatos stood facing away, his stiff posture appearing as though he were reminiscing over the eons. Silence loomed between them. And eventually, she found a strange glimpse of comfort in his company.
Death came at last.
"So, are you going to take my soul now?"
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