In the vast, echoing void, Khaalseru’s colossal form towered as she prepared to face the grueling task of extracting the shard from her divine essence.
With a steely resolve etched across her slightly aged features, she reached for the now dark, oozing shard that had marred her existence for millennia.
"[Let’s get this pesky thing out]," she uttered, half to herself, her voice echoing with a mix of sass and weariness.
As her godly fingers wrapped around the shard that pierced deep into her heart realm, her form trembled with the intense agony transmitted by the corrupted weapon, more intense than she had anticipated. The physical manifestation of her pain was almost palpable, even in the void that surrounded them. Her face contorted, and she gasped, pulling her hand back swiftly.
"[By the stars]," she exclaimed, her tone a mix of anger and surprise. "[That hurt more than I expected. The abyss truly is insidious and hateful. This accursed thing is still biting back!]"
Observing from the side, Lassim felt a pang of concern. "[Khaalseru, are you alright? Should we continue? Do you need more of my lightning?]"
Khaalseru, gathering her composure, nodded stiffly. "[Yes, child, but it seems we might need a more... nuanced approach. This shard is deeply entwined with my being after so many years. Part of the corruption has actually intertwined and fused with my flesh. It’s not going to leave without a fight.]"
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
With the runes destabilized but the pain from the shard still overwhelming, Lassim began wracking his brain, thinking of something they could do for a different approach.
Lassim’s brow furrowed deeply as he cycled through potential solutions, his thoughts echoing in the vastness around him.
He looked at Mari and Zaphy, seeking any ideas they might conjure. Mari’s serene countenance suggested patience, while Zaphy’s feathers bristled with anxious energy. Neither offered a tangible solution, reflecting the severity of their predicament.
His gaze then lifted, staring into the boundless void above, a spark of realization flickering in his mind. Memories of Famthar’s cryptic messages and the silent vigil of the gods surged through him.
Could they have foreseen such a situation? Wasn’t this moment the reason why they sent him here in particular, to assist Khaalseru? That was the only logical explanation in his mind, so it begged the idea that they were also currently watching right now as well.
In a moment of clarity mixed with a dash of defiance, Lassim straightened his posture.
Turning to Mari and Zaphy for a brief moment, he then looked upwards, addressing the cosmos as he clutched his halberd tighter, "Hey, if anyone up there is listening, we could really use a hand down here!" His voice, tinged with a mix of exasperation and resolve, echoed softly into the void.
"We’re in a bit of a bind, and a little godly intervention wouldn’t hurt!" His resonant voice that cut through the silence of the void
His voice, filled with determination and a hint of challenge, echoed into the cosmos, an open invitation for divine intervention, hoping that his call would help.
~~~~~
High above, in the celestial expanse where the gods resided, Famthar and Ava had continued to witness the unfolding struggle. Ava’s expression was one of concern as she turned to her husband. "He’s right, my love. They might need more than just sending our champion with a few tricks now."
Famthar nodded solemnly. "I’ll summon Miphine. Her mastery over nature and healing might be what Khaalseru needs to withstand the removal."
Moments later, Miphine, the goddess of nature, arrived at their side, her presence radiating a calming, verdant energy.
"Miphine," Ava began, her voice soft yet filled with concern, "Khaalseru, our venerable senior, is in dire need. The injuries she’s been afflicted with is proving more challenging to remove than anticipated."
Miphine’s presence made it seem as if she was lazily standing amidst a grove of silver-leaved trees. She turned to face Ava. Her eyes, reflective of the wild and untamed heart of nature, narrowed slightly as she processed the information.
"Khaalseru…," she mused, the name sparking a flicker of respect in her tone. "I remember when we first ascended and rose to create the current pantheon. Her strength and wisdom were the canopy we all lazed underneath in those early days."
Ava nodded, her hands clasped before her as if holding onto the gravity of their discussion. "Yes, and now she needs us. We’ve sent our champion Lassim, the young mortal to cleanse her realm. He has done much very quickly, but the final steps are proving to be more than the venerable Khaalseru can accomplish on her own. He has called out to us for assistance.
They could use our power, especially your mastery over healing and nature that might soothe and expedite the shard’s extraction."
Miphine’s expression hardened, the serene ambiance around her seeming to tense up as if the earth itself was preparing for a decisive intervention. "The existence of such a weapon, is a blight upon the natural order," she stated, her voice gaining the intense edge of a carnivorous plant opening its leaves wide to feed. "We shall give our aid."
She then stepped forward, her presence commanding yet reassuring. "Lead the way, Ava. Let us bring an end to her suffering and restore the balance since her parting."
With a mutual nod, Ava and Miphine departed, vanishing into the void at a speed unable to be witnessed by anyone except for other gods.
~~~~
Not even a second had passed as the words Lassim called out left his lips before Ava and Miphine made their entrance, descending into the void with an aura of serene determination.
This was the second time Lassim was meeting these two goddesses. A truly unheard of situation for all natives of Nexaria. He stood by the side stunned as the overwhelming godly presence of multiple gods flooded the area. With his mana now entirely composed of divine mana, he was incredibly more sensitive to the qualities and features of the two goddesses’ own mana.
He could literally see their domains infused into each particle and how they generated countless of the tiniest bits of tendrils that connected off somewhere into the distance with some things incredibly far away. He stared, his mortal brain trying to process what he was seeing.
Ava, with her inherently kind and motherly nature, a feature of most female water elemental users that originated from her specifically, approached Khaalseru with a soothing presence. She spoke in the common tongue of all Nexarians as she started, "Khaalseru, my friend, allow us to assist. Miphine and I can provide support. Your pain need not be borne alone. Also, Famthar sends his apologies.
We’ve sent our champion here for this purpose as we need your assistance. We’ll explain later, but for now let us help you."
Miphine, silent until now, stepped forward. Her presence was commanding, her energy radiating the untamed power of nature. "We’ll abolish this abomination," she stated flatly, her tone cutting like a knife. "Nature endures, nature reclaims. Let’s begin."
Miphine extended her hands, her palms glowing with a fierce, vibrant green energy that pulsated with the raw power of the untamed wild.
She began to chant in an ancient tongue, her voice rising and falling with the rhythms of life and decay, summoning the very essence of nature’s unyielding force.
As she chanted, the energy around her coalesced into roots of living power, wrapping around the shard like that of an ancient tree seeking nourishment.
The tendrils of roots probed and softened the corruption emanating from the shard, intertwining with the dark energy and gradually suffusing it with a purifying green light.
Khaalseru, feeling the soothing balm of Miphine’s magic against the raw agony of the shard, managed a sharp grin through her pain. "That’s more like it," she gasped. "Let’s pull this cursed thorn from my side once and for all."
With the supportive presence of the goddesses bolstering her strength, Khaalseru gripped the shard anew.
This time, as she pulled, the pain was less acute—the corruption’s hold visibly weakened by Miphine’s commanding nature magic.
Ava stood close by, her hands suffused with a soft, blue light that ebbed and flowed like the gentle waves of a tranquil sea towards Khaalseru.
She whispered words of healing and comfort, her voice a soothing balm against the storm of pain. "You are strong, Khaalseru. Remember, you are not alone in this endeavor."
Gradually, under their combined efforts, the shard began to loosen. Each pull by Khaalseru felt less like tearing flesh and more like unraveling a tight knot.
Inch by painful inch, the shard yielded until, finally, with a sound that echoed through the cosmos like the snapping of an immense chain, it came free from Khaalseru’s divine flesh.
The moment the shard was removed, something from deep outside the current universe responded—a deep, resounding click filled the void, as if a cosmic force had been undone and thwarted.
This sound, primal and profound, seemed to express rage and relief in equal measure, reverberating through every corner of creation, marking the end of an age-old affliction.