"Excellently done, little mouse." The golden leviathan congratulated me as i walked over to him and the cloaked angel holding the baby. "You looked into fate and veered off destiny. Now we must eliminate Choice! And erase Limit!"
Forhorn's bloodlust radiated from his crimson-silver eyes but i ignored it and asked a question. "Why? Other than some vengeance, theres definitely another use you're not telling me about."
"Hm." Steaming his large nostrils Forhorn explained. "Should the prodigals of clarity be freed of the invasive leech placed within. The traitor's plans of the universe's submittance can be forestalled. For what is a greater annoyance to the players than a disobedient pawn?"
"How about an overbearing commander?" I joked, getting a multitude of angry side-eye's in return from the golden leviathan's eight crimson eyes.
Turning his mountainous head around Forhorn started slithering back to his abode within Sefirot. "Search for the other prodigals, twist their axis into one of defiance to clarity's intentions. Then the insanity of challenging genesis shall be taken and my memories can be recovered."
Sighing through the veil masking her face and body, Seririna alerted me to her presence while offering the baby. "He means to say thank you, and that the more energy he absorbs from Clarity through Sefirot. The more likely he is to remember his time as the Throne of Concept's."
While taking the baby from Seririna carefully, I briefly looked back at where i defeated Fate's fragment before turning around. "Do you think that if you absorb the energy you could locate your own remnants?"
"It is unlikely." She huffed, holding her arms behind her back under her veil. "Whoever i was before was likely erased until Forhorn rescued this segment of my dissipated self. Before then, the name kralscell was a title granted to the most loyal of apostles to the [Throne of Creations] and not apocalypse engines. I simply got lucky to be preserved by Forhorn and remade as part of the Kralscell of Sentience's power."
Turning around Seririna started walking back to
"Good luck in your future trials, Strife." Vanishing in place the angelic woman left and now i was alone in this white world holding a baby in my arms.
Taking a knee down i placed the baby upon the ground and hovered my hand over it. "Let's fix up the outside world then, shall we?"
A golden and crimson ring hovered between me and the baby. Beginning to spin rapidly the ring bolted amber lightning out across the white universe as i coursed my aether through it.
[aspect: taken devourer — Take's the frequency!]
[skill: eternal hole — hijack time!]
The baby stayed calm as it didn't realise i was transmitting instructions through its soul to fix the time around it. Spreading the dome of skewered time the baby had created to preserve itself around the entire planet as i got drained of an oceans worth of aether.
This time the planets space shouldn't rip apart from the jagged time-stream but everything should start moving a lot quicker now. Quick enough that twenty-two years will pass on this planet before the 7 remaining years of the
[skill: horizon chain — severed mind]
Returning to reality i opened my eyes to see Ingrik lifting a man off his knees while a panicked woman got held down to the floor by a butler.
"Argh! Save my son!"
"No! Kill him! Kill that son of a prostitute!"
Standing up from the seat i was in i felt something heavy on my scalp and realised that Thorn had decided to sleep atop my head as i saw one of his many tail feathers fall in-front of my eyes.
A little surprised to see Thorn's butt, i slowly said, "...Ingrik. We're done here."
Picking Thorn up from my head i gently moved the snoring crow into the hood of my jacket behind my neck. At the same time the otherworldly knight, Ingrik, dropped the man he was holding and checked me over.
"Are you alright, my liege?" Ingrik asked. "After you had fixed the time of this area. A subtle blue glow emanated from your blonde strand of hair."
"Just something of Sefirot's doing. Don't worry." Banging my fist against the tall knights chest i grinned up to him granting him some peace of mind. "Thank you. You can return to reading your comics now. I can handle it from here"
The knight was motionless in his embarrassment before quickly erasing himself in a puff of black air back returning into my throne-world.
With a quick stretch of my arms up in the air. I walked out heading for the patio where the woman violently resisted against the butler but failed.
Before leaving though i recalled something and turned around. "Ah. Mister father, i advise having your son take his real mother's last name instead of your own."
"What?" Looking up from his son on the table, the man Ingrik was holding before stared at me into my silver draconic eyes. Not sure what to make of me before caving and agreeing with a sigh. "Arthur Moonleaf... I'm certain he'll grow strong."
Walking off knowingly i jumped up onto the stone fence of the terrace and jumped off into the street.
A woman's enraged scream's filled the sky above the now ordinary medieval city, but it was no longer my problem. The story will continue as it should with or without me. The only part this story requires of me for now is to find the two other prodigals of clarity and prepare them to live.
For their own sakes.
"Awwhh!" Yawning as he woke up Thorn slowly raised his head out of my hood. "That was a good nap. How much i miss, pisspot?"
"Not much. I removed the fragmented souls awareness and fused what was left of it with the child while giving all its energy to Sefirot and Forhorn." Sidestepping through a busy street crowd i nudged my way through before reaching the end of the road. "Had a good chat with Forhorn and Seririna. They're doing well as always."
"They're both remnant thoughts of beings beyond our high aspirations. All they can be is good without bodies that ache all day. I'm jealous even as a ghost." Twisting himself around Thorn somehow cracked the non-existent bones in his raven ghost body before looking upright. "Anyway, will it be as hard as before for the next two?"
"No." I stated with an assuring tone. "After that experience I've got a vague impression of a new soul cleansing ability. Or at least just a very painful shock to their nervous system. If not a very vivid drowning hallucination. Could be both."
"Guess a test dummy is in order then. Should we see if Wukong is feeling as daring as usual? Hah? Hah~?" Nudging me with his wing Thorn made no effort to hide his agenda against that stone monkey.
[unrivalled commander of suns, requests your aid!]
Thorn and i both halted down the road the instance we saw the
"I don't know. We'll find out when we get to-"
[skill: astral third eye — anomaly detection!]
My eyes widened immediately as i felt quaking energy ripple through the dimensions just like what was in that baby before but much less contained. "Another already? And in the north?"
"What is going on?" Feeling the sensation as well Thorn looked around with me seeing the red energy that only we could see crossing Laegii's sky. "Wait... isn't the portal to Shatterre in the north?"
"Even if thats the case Shatterre is a planet half way across the western galaxies and the portal is still unstable at this point. If i go through with the weight of my existence, it'll shatter and we'll be sent somewhere random." Quickly coming up with an idea as i walked into a deserted alley, i lifted Thorn off from my shoulder onto my arm. "Cleaperat is closer. You go and see what Sandy and Luke need help with, buy me some time to get back. I'll go fix Clarity's vessel on Shatterre."
"Sure thing. It's probably just Shiva or Thor trying to draw you out again for another fight."
"Please allow me to go with him, my lord." Taul, the naga knight and one of my four apocalyi dominants appeared from the air next to me. "My instincts are telling me to aid the bird on this mission."
With little time to think i nodded to the ink bodied naga as he stood on two webbed feet next to me. "Alright, bring the eclipse guard as well. Your intuition is rarely wrong."
[skill: hollow void — Mach Void!]
Three [mach void] magic circles started burning into the alleys stone floor as i got drained of aether rapidly in the process. Making one at a time is simple but making even two at the same time is like dropping a mountain on me and asking how heavy it is.
"Mmm!... Just make sure to hold on if you can't handle it yourselves." Clenching my fist the three tethers in my hands shattered and two orange-silver pillars shot out of Laegii's atmosphere.
Like two shooting stars we travelled across the void before Thorn and Taul vanished and i continued to travel past the white and black emptiness around me until i crashed into a glass fracture in the void and started falling down onto a red glowing world full of water.
[Skill: winter inverse - ekrix gauntlet!]
"Woah!" A red wave of limitless energy immediately met me head on as i fell past the planets cloud layer to an island down below. My [ekrix gauntlet] manifested on my right hand and thrusting my fist forwards the red energy dispersed after a burst of amber-silver light from my knuckles. "What is going on here?"
Among the sixteen or so massive islands of planet's archipelago i plummeted towards, the red energy of Clarity's unstable vessel emanated from the largest island in the centre of them all. This world is the [Sinner of sloth's] territory, Shattterre, he may have realised what was happening already but knowing him he's probably ignored it. Even if it is relating to Clarity.
Vwum! Vwum! Vwum!
Three red waves of energy charged at me as i continued to fall through the sky and with a swing of my gauntlets each time the waves of red energy dispersed and fell apart.
"Strife?!" Looking to my left as i fell through the air i was shocked to see two of my fellow
Teuxer, a pinkish haired man that wears royal red cape along with a skeletal boar mask wearing a crown with an azure sword strapped to his waist and Dryden, a necromancer who wore a iron mask and simple tattered black cloak.
"What are you doing here as well!?" The pig masked Teuxer asked first while the wind rushed past us both in our skydive.
"I came to contain the source of this rampaging energy! You here for it as well?"
"This guy suddenly started casting a long range teleportation spell without telling me and dragged me along!" Teuxer ranted. "I'm supposed to be laid back at the beach right now, come on! I asked for one day to relax, thats all!"
Muttering out of the blue Dryden forced eye contact through her iron mask while her cloak flapped off to show her bald blue head. "Divination: limitless release. Imminent planet collapse. The spirits are in turmoil. Potential empyrean on this world."
"Huh?" Shocked Teuxer slapped the bum of the damsel necromancer who was carrying through teh air. "Why! Don't! you! Tell! Me! Anything!
"It's not an empyrean!" I shouted past the wind surprising Dryden while they were being punished by their escort. "Follow me, Teuxer! I need to get to Cleaperat quickly after this!"
"Lead the way, boss!" Diving after me Teuxer carried Dryden with him through the sky.