Cherreads

Chapter 41 - The Ritual

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Lucium: He squeezed Star's hand with extreme force, cracking his golden gauntlet. "I am sick of your continuous attempts to stop me. They are worthless, meaningless, and, most importantly... pathetic. The Children of Heaven put up a better fight than you..." The force of his grip cracked the gauntlet more and more, even bending it inwards, which started to crush Star's hand. 

He released his grip on Star's gauntlet, lifting his body into the air with his tightening snake-like fingers. With a sudden and strengthening pull, he slammed Star's body into the earth, shattering the ground beneath them into a small crater. "This is the supposed golden warrior?! The one who is meant to destroy all evil?!" 

Star: He bled from his mouth; his body went from being at its full strength right back down to zero. Did he run out of time? Did Aiden breathe his last breath of air and give Lucium his full strength again? Is this where his destiny ends?... It can't be; he is supposed to protect the innocent and destroy the evil within the darkness.

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Galacor: "Lucium." He appeared suddenly near the old altercation between the two of them. 

Lucium: His head shot over, immediately recognizing the person. "Galacor, the Phantom Assassin~. What brings you to meet with me today?" He laughed, his claw foot gripping over Star's body.

Galacor: He held out his fist, opening it to reveal the shard of transformation, the final piece Lucium requires to begin his true form's revival. "I know you are of corvex origin, I know that your body has already adapted to the change I created. This is the final piece that you require to bring back your true power. Give me Star as he is now, and you can have this."

Lucium: His skin ripped open, smiling at his demand, but happily kicking Star over to him. "Your pride and ego are very strong. Changing the world's continuation was extremely smart. Now, the shard." 

Galacor: He tossed the shard over toward Lucium, "You leave me to torment Star, and I will not involve myself in your little plan."

Lucium: He laughed, catching the shard as he tossed it over, "Whatever you desire, Galacor~." 

Phantom Emperor: He grabbed a hold of Star, lifting him off the floor. 

Lucium: He placed the shard into his red eye, screaming as the floor shook aggressively. The sky turned a blood red color, and life immediately began to deteriorate around him, trees dying and shriveling into dust, animals spat up their own blood and decayed rapidly. He spoke in a strange old language, symbols formed around him, spinning as his blood red aura slowly grew around him. "I shall be TRUE AGAIN!!!" The ritual has begun.

Galacor: "And we have much to do, don't we, Star?... Feel your memories returning?" He instructed the Emperor to shatter Star's legs, making him scream out in pain. 

Phantom Emperor: As he did as instructed, his head shot up. "Sire, incoming multiple narrative shifts."

Galacor: "Fucking now what!" His blade shot out from his wrist as he turned around, seeing a diamond-shaped rift open up.

Xerion: The voice of Lucium's brother echoed out of the rift, "None of you shall prevail on this day." Four shadow figures appeared from within the rift, slowly stepping out.

Radna: "Do not let Lucium complete his ritual!" He threw his chain at Lucium, knocking him out of his incantation. 

Andrews: He spun his revolver, firing multiple holy bullets at Galacor and the Phantom Emperor. 

Phantom Emperor: He rapidly caught the bullets, throwing them back at the same speeds. 

Galacor: He gritted his teeth under his mask, stabbing into Star and twisting his blade, summoning strange ghost-like chains around his body. "I'll come back for you." He dashed forward, attempting to stab Andrews in the chest, but Aiden quickly dashed to the side, moving Andrews with him. 

Phantom Emperor: He appeared beside Aiden, slashing his claws of erasure down toward the child.

Uriel: He clashed his sword into the Emperor's claws, knocking him back. The overwhelming holy power within the blade blocked off the erasure powers. "Surrender thyself, or face the power of the guardians."

Galacor: He twisted dials on his gauntlets, slamming his fists into the ground, erupting unstable power from the earth's ground, disrupting and pushing back the land. "To surrender is to give up on the defeat of Star, and I will not be defeated UNTIL HE IS DEAD." 

Uriel: He flew up into the air to dodge the disrupting attack, looking down at the two, flying down and slamming his blade down into the Emperor's arms. 

Phantom Emperor: He continued to stand his ground, blocking the force of the angel with his arms, attempting to push him back, but his body was slowly being pushed into the ground. 

Galacor: His arm transformed into the Emperor's, appearing behind Aiden. 

Andrews: "Aiden!" He pushed him out of the way, suddenly getting impaled by Galacor, the diamond claws surrounding his heart, slowly disintegrating in Galacor's palm. His gun dropped to the floor as the holy light within his eyes left. His body, motionless.

Aiden: He stared at the one he considered a father, who died before his eyes, his body trembling. Sparks around his body grew stronger, turning bright red. The lining on his armor completely shifted, fueled by the anger within his heart. "You...bastard, you'll PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" A monstrous thunderstorm of black clouds and red lightning formed above them, and the wind erupted on the surface, tearing apart anything that didn't have the strength to hold itself down. 

Galacor: He laughed, "You are but a child, you bring no challenge-" A burst of red electricity spiked him in the chest, sending him flying against the wall of reality, keeping him on the planet. "He didn't move- What is this speed?" He attempted to stand up, but he was punched across both sides of his face at the same time, shattering his mask. 

Aiden: He appeared before Galacor, kicking him into the invisible wall, "Laws of destruction, if any form of inner reality can not regulate your force of devastation, your energy is reflected into the wall of outer reality." He grabbed Galacor's arm, and the force of energy burned straight through it, cutting it off. "That means my RAGE speaks louder than REALITY ITSELF!!" He tilted his head slightly to the side, dodging the incoming attack by the Emperor.

Phantom Emperor: He swung, barely missing him. "Impossible." His arm was grabbed by absolutely nothing, and his entire body was plunged into the Earth's core. Sparks of red lightning burst from the pit. 

Aiden: "The force of disaster bends to my will, my actions occur without my movement, before my thoughts. Death is inevitable." He grabbed hold of Galacor's face, dragging him up against the wall of reality. The lightning surging within was burning his face, but not enough to kill him. "You will not just die by my hand. I will ensure that every ounce of pain that I feel inside of me is reflected directly into you." His helmet retracted, showing his expression of pure uncontrollable rage. 

Galacor: His voice was muffled, but enough for words to be heard. "One is many....and one is not..."

Aiden: "What the hell are you talking about?" He squeezed his face harder. He heard the silence of the red lightning that kept the Emperor down, turning to face the pit.

Phantom Emperor: His claw gripped the floor, erasing a bit as he reemerged, "Here and there, it became nowhere. Phantom Power: ETERNITY ELSEWHERE." 

Ⱦħē ꝑɍꝋⱦēȼⱦīꝋꞥ ꝋӻ ᵯɏ ᵾꞩēɍ īꞩ ⱦꝋ ƀē ēꞥꞩᵾɍēđ, ꝑłⱥȼēᵯēꞥⱦ ⱦꝋ ƀēӻꝋɍē đⱥꞥꞡēɍ ꝋȼȼᵾɍēđ.

Aiden: He stared at the one he considered a father, who died before his eyes, his body trembling. Before his heart could react, he was punched to the floor by the Emperor.

Phantom Emperor: His arm became pointed, preparing to stab into Aiden. 

Uriel: He clashed his sword into the Emperor's arm, knocking him back, "Stay away from the child."

Radna: He was dragged against the ground, "I can't fucking break through Lucium's ritual ground, something this time around is making him an actual threat..." He turned back to face the others, seeing Star's unconscious body, then he suddenly had an idea. "GALACOR!"

Galacor: He stopped commanding the Emperor for a moment, turning toward Radna, "How dare you speak my name, follower of Star. Phantom Emperor, eradicate-"

Radna: "You really suck at achieving victory!"

Galacor: He halted his words, staring him down, "What did you say?"

Radna: "Look at Star, you really let Lucium do 90% of the work just to show up last minute and get all the credit?! That is such a pussy way of avenging your fallen people."

Galacor: He looked over at Star, then back at him, remaining silent.

Radna: "If you really want it all to be yours, you should eliminate the competition! Get rid of the person who can take the title as the true person to defeat Star!" 

Galacor: "..."

Lucium: The red energy in his palms grew stronger, "Yes! Soon enough, I will cleanse every single living person of their free will-"

Galacor: "Impact."

Lucium: He was blasted out of his concentration, digging his claws into the ground to keep himself steady. He looked up at Galacor and the Phantom Emperor. "Commanding a corvex entity, why didn't I think of that. Of course, your ego and pride would get in my way."

Galacor: "The only one who can claim they destroyed Star is me. If I have to kill the great Black-Eyed Beast, then so be it." 

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