God of Nothing

Aleph stayed on guard, keeping his stance while the smoke dissipated. Wounding itself in frustration aside, he held no delusions that he had bested the herald. 

His suspicions were cleared when he saw a shape emerging from the smoke. The massive shape of the herald looked quite imposing from his outline. Aleph itched to attack, but a feeling of wrongness held him back. Oblivion's outline… It looked strange.

He elected to stay put as his adversary was revealed, more and more justified in his decision as he got a closer look at the demon.

"I sense a faint trace of divinity in you, mortal." It spoke, beating its wings once and clearing away the smoke. Aleph marveled at the change in the creature. The majestic golden mane was replaced by sleek black fur, even the lion's head replaced by an anteater's. Its feet became short and stubby, more like a reptile's than paws. It sprouted wings like a bat's, though Aleph doubted whether the demon could use them to fly.

The voice came from the tail once again, the same centipede-like appendage about the only thing that remained from the previous appearance. The face and voice, which before was clearly of a man's, were now calmer, more feminine than before.

"Hark! I am Oblivion, descended to welcome your planet in Abyss' embrace."

"We have been through this, Oblivion. I care not whether you go suckle at Erebos' teat or climb back into his womb, but do so quickly, and bring your horde with you."

Only now did the demon seem to realize where it was. It looked around at the multitude of harbingers around her, to the ruined town at Aleph's back.

"...And so we have. Tell me, how many of 'me' have you overcome to get to this?"

Aleph was puzzled, but elected not to answer. Judging from its mana signature, it was the very same herald he had been locked in battle with. These new heralds and their tricks… They weren't as absolute as Death or Plague, but in a sense, this new batch was harder to deal with. And then there's Atrophy and his cohorts. This war could immediately turn for the worse once they joined hands in earnest. 

Aleph's ruminations were cut short as the enemy interrupted him. 

"Hmph. If you won't talk, then I shall pry the answers from your lifeless hands." 

He had to focus up quickly as the anteater head spat something at him. He tried to parry it with his dagger but it was pulled along the tongue's trajectory. He struggled to keep himself upright, pulling against the unexpected motion. They were eventually locked in place, with Aleph refusing to let go of his last dagger. He kept an eye on the main body, bracing himself for additional attacks.

The centipede tail was making some complex movements, culminating in a large blast of mana headed in his direction.

Aleph calmly responded by coating his weapon with mana and wielding it regardless, slashing at the tongue a few times before it could retract.

Finally extricating himself from the enemy, he raised up his hand, meeting the attack head on. The gauntlet glowed with mana, splitting the beam where he touched it. 

The blast destroyed everything on either side of where Aleph was. It was like standing against a mighty wave, threatening to carry him away into nothingness. He stood his ground, pushing out his other hand for support.

The stream of power seemed neverending. He could feel himself slowly being pushed back, thinking that staying in this position would eventually lead to his ruin.

Forced into action, he let his other gauntlet fall from his hand to send it to the enemy in an effort to disrupt this massive attack.

Thunk!

A dull thud in the distance let him know of the attack's success, and with it, the overpowering wave of energy finally ended. Aleph breathed in deep, calmly trying to stop his arm from shaking as he regarded this new Oblivion. It fought in an entirely new way than its previous self, going for long range attacks instead of enhancing its body with mana and getting up close. 

"Godling, you look tired. Was the previous me that hard to deal with?" Oblivion spoke languidly, shaking its centipede like tail to send the gauntlet crashing into the ground. Aleph called it back without a word, hastily replenishing his artifacts' energy before they clashed once again.

"Still refusing to talk? No matter, I shall deal with you shortly." Its tail end extended fully upwards, scanning the area around them. Looking at one spot in particular, it said two words that brought chills down Aleph's spine.

"Children? Come."

A horrified Aleph watched as, on the plains where he ground them to bits, smaller centipedes began to emerge. They sprang towards Oblivion, squirming all over its new body like a coat of insects, each one receiving a kiss as Oblivion pecked them all over.

"These creatures.. I've already destroyed them!" He shouted incredulously as more of the centipedes arrived from other parts of the battlefield. There was no denying reality now, as soon he was staring down an army of thirdy odd centipedes, led by a mostly fresh herald.

"Huhuhuhu, the godling speaks! But hush, I need to see to my children."

Aleph scrambled, drawing upon all his reserve crystals. There's no point in conserving his strength if the enemy will keep regenerating like this. Not knowing the limits of this strange ability, he could no longer afford to hold back… Not that he has been, of course.

I can no longer afford to stay passive, he decided. Relearning this 'new' Oblivion's tendencies could be the death of him if it was able to pull out any more forms.

The herald paid him no mind as it fussed over its offspring, which had been rapidly crawling all over her like a grotesque suit of armor. Aleph gallantly stepped forward, filled to the brim with mana for the final time unless he could gather more crystals.

Step.

Oblivion's sharp eyes darted towards him in irritation as soon as he made his move. The anteater hissed at him threateningly, signaling the continuation of their clash.

__________________________________

Rayse just witnessed a strange event. He and his team stared in shock as the glowing enemies covered themselves in their own destructive juices. Their convulsions ceased immediately as they did so, as if the acid had healed their unknown affliction. They flopped to the ground soon afterwards, squirming in a somehow non threatening way.

"H-hey, don't they look different to you?" Sonia pointed out as one of the centipedes put its head up to scan its surroundings. The trio kept their guard up as the strange creature's eyes stared at them, before moving on to the rest of the plains. The gaze wasn't like the hostile ones they had when they arrived, but more innocent, curious, as if–

"They're… babies?" Luna said from beside him. It was a strange thing to say out loud, but he found himself agreeing.

"There. M-mother." The one looking around spoke, in a halting, high pitched cadence. He sprang forward at once, completely ignoring them. The other emissaries followed suit, moving in the direction of the blinding light from earlier.

Sensing that he shouldn't let these things get away, Rayse aimed his spear at a fleeing centipede's back and let it fly.

Fwip!

"Oh, no you don't!" He called after it as he charged, not even waiting for his spear to find its mark. It hit one of them in the back, locking it into place just as Rayse's logic caught up with his intuition.

"They're converging onto where master and the herald are fighting! We have to stop them!" He shouted after his companions who were lagging behind. He finished off the centipede that was pinned to the floor, allowing his friend to take care of the other two. 

""Ackkk!""

He was digging out the beast's heart when he heard two separate cries in the distance. The welcome sound told him his companions had succeeded. He nodded to himself as he unearthed the fist sized gem, briefly admiring it before he went after Luna and Sonia. He ran towards the two, who he found standing over their respective opponents, one skewered in earth spikes, and the other smashed into a pulp. Rayse flashed them each a relieved smile, waving his loot at them when he heard a chilling voice.

"Children. Come."

He saw another vicious glow emanate from the dead emissaries, but his friends were too on guard against their surroundings to notice. Rayse hastily summoned his mana, pulling the two away from the acid shower that he knew would come.

"Pull!" He forcefully took over the metal bits he found on Luna and Sonia's armor, pulling them towards him before they got hit by the acid. Rayse took that momentum to catapault himself among the 'newborn' centipedes, quickly dispatching them before they could follow Oblivion's orders. He was frantically looking for the spot where he killed the other one when Luna caught back up to him, still looking serious, but this time, a tinge of gratitude shone through.

"Good work, Rayse. It was almost a disaster for us."

"Don't mention it. Listen, did you see the other one I killed? I didn't see where it went…"

As if to answer him, a dark object landed right in their midst, followed by an apologetic Sonia.

"This guy's still dead, but I brought 'im here just in case.", She said.

"Hmm." A puzzled Rayse pondered this briefly. The other two had revived, but not the one he killed. There was an obvious reason why though, and he held it in his hand. The orange gemstone sparkled in the faint moonlight, giving him the first moment of clarity in the past half hour.