Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

I look to the other three. The Fragment of the Universe is pretty much done for. Avalon is growling at Tiamat with its hundreds of bodies. Kalpas is more reserved, choosing to observe more than engage.

Theia is weak, she only has that Authority that protects her as a part of the world - the same Authority I pierced through with a combination of Justice, Delusion, and Ambition.

Tiamat on the other hand, can manipulate shadows and spawn unending horrors anywhere with darkness. Even my own shadow isn't exempt from this. It can even smash right through my Domination with sheer brute force.

"What will you do after consuming Theia?", I asked, gripping my lance.

"What will I do?", it mocks me with a toothy grin underneath that veil, "How the fuck should I know? I am not one to stop The Pale Court's plans, Dad may be benevolent, but you and I are the same under their view - their Children. So I won't do anything too significant~"

But the Great Game will continue. Kalpas wants to end it, not sure about Avalon but they said they wanted it to end too... as for me, I don't care.

...

Right, the Fragment... the game would be hindered if the Fragment isn't here... I have a plan.

"So, the Unified World of Conflict and Destruction...", I began to circle Tiamat, heading toward the group, "What does that mean?"

"We will finally be whole.", it began to run its mouth, "We both were planets with our own Egos, both terrible Egos mind you. But that all changed when we collided with each other."

Good... keep going...

"We began to devour each other when our bodies clashed, we are fundamentally the same— that is why we cannot stand one another."

"Right...", I nodded, going behind Kalpas and snuck into Chaos' body a bit of Reverie infused with Justice and Delusion.

I step forward, "What do you gain from this?"

"Well, I'll still be an asshole through and through. Still, my fractured mind would be fixed.", it chuckled.

I got hold of the Fragment.

"Oh, and don't you think I didn't notice.", I felt it stare at me—

A blob of nightmarish tendrils and teeth came out from our shadow, trying to consume the Fragment. Not on my watch.

I activated Malice's full power. No chanting this time.

"Escalation Level Zero: Beats of Hatred."

I burned the dragon and the tendril into nothing, then I dashed over to grab the iridescent rock. With Manifest Destiny, I broke into a sprint going as far as I could.

"Welt Ealam! I am deploying my Sanctuary!!"

The world around me stopped, time frozen in place. A screen popped up in front of me, a white one...

I took out the Feather I got from The Enigma Code, "I want to Deploy it inside this Feather."

I smiled, "Gladly."

Oh, I just have the perfect name~

"Fuck you, World."

The screen dissolved and its data was transferred into the Feather. It glowed for a bit— then time resumed.

"Escalation Level One: Melody of Destruction.", fire enveloped me, burning all the tendrils that tried to catch me.

I open the Sanctuary with a caress on the Feather, then put the Fragment inside it - forever trapping it inside this pocket dimension.

Then I pointed my lance at Tiamat.

"Bloodhunt."

And I zoomed straight at Tiamat—

BOOM!!

I crashed into it, sticking the Feather right on its chest.

The Dragon of Conflict staggered, reforming from the fire— only to get hit by a pillar of golden light from the sky... that is one beam of Judgement, penetrating the World's soul.

"That hurts, you know?", it reformed as it stepped out of the beam, tendrils and maws of shadow recreating its body, "All for what? Destroying the Fragment of the Universe?"

It got up close to me, staring me down.

"You lost your purpose, the threat to this planet is gone...", I glare up at it, "So your Game ends."

"You seem to don't understand, Akasha—"

Avalon lunged at Tiamat with Cerberus' body, trying to wrestle with the Ego of the World... only to be impaled by hundreds of spears made out of darkness.

"Can't I finish my monologue?", it threw the dog away into a wall, "As punishment, Records of Beast, your limit is that you can only take over half of all animals on my body."

Damn, revealing its secret? And one that makes it seem more hopeless for me.

"The Great Game won't end like this~", I felt a smirk under the veil, "Even if I go into slumber, it won't go away. Do you know why? Because the Life on my body needs you."

I took a step back... I can't refute it. The world needs the Records... we are supposed to be the protectors of the world.

"Akasha realized it, so all of you should know too. In the past two years you three had been active, a total of one hundred and twenty-two Eldritch Gods, Heralds, and other space fuckers had gone under. Mostly thanks to the Records of Beast. Better than the Dragons, my own spawn, who refuse to take orders from me. The ones in Asia are better as they love humans, while on the other side, lazy fuckers who decided to sleep all day."

Tiamat sunk into the shadow, appearing right next to Kalpas.

"See what I'm getting at? Your existence is needed, the Great Game is a stone that kills two birds!", it pushed Kalpas with a wave of shadow toward me.

I took a step to the side, Kalpas, unfortunately, didn't fall from the push, rather, an expression of reluctance.

"You three are concentrated singularities, everything you do shapes my body. Akasha, your existence is the Present that separates the Past and Present, the Anchor to Reality itself— that's why you can break it as you please. Pan, you represent the flowing river that is Time, you remember all from the moment Life awakens to today— that vast knowledge of yours is a recording for Earth's Template of Life. And for my own child, Shar, you are the river bank that holds us all together, your presence alone holds my body— why the Beasts of Tindalos or the Jesters of Durrey hadn't consumed Earth with how much space-time fuckery THANKS TO A CERTAIN SOMEONE."

I smirked. Yeah, I fuck things over a lot.

"Anyway, with you three, the Life on my body accelerates at a rapid pace. Well, Neferima's lifeforms were even faster but that's beside the point. All I want to say is the Great Game is a ploy to develop Life, and entertainment for me."

It spread its arms out in a prayer position, looking up toward the sky.

"All for The Pale Court of Order and Judgment."

... shit, this psychotic Dragon of a planet is making a lot of sense. Still, I want to punch it in the face...

And it hinders my plan, my Dream. And no one cannot get in my way, not even the World itself.

I put my lance down and summoned Anima Lacero to my hands, and I ripped a chord— Malice Flame enveloped the entire place, burning it all to ashes, only the gold coins of the Legacy remained.

With one stroke, the entire temple, including all the beasts and Cthulhu, was gone. I look up at the sky, the siphonophore is still casting its light. Only Kalpas witstood my power.

"That was uncalled for, Akasha—"

I put the butt of the guitar to their stomach, ripping another cord. Concentrated blue flame eradicated their body in an instant.

"I act in my own way...", I spoke with a hushed tone, "I don't give a fuck about the plans you all made."

I picked up Quirinus, "Hah... this is only the beginning."

From the edge of where the temple once stood, Tiamat reformed... with Theia gripped in shadow tendrils.

"Let's see how you deal with this...", I connected my lance and the golden guitar, "This Great Game is in my way, and you too... are in my way."

"What are you going to do?", it mocked me, then brought Theia closer to it.

"Escalation Encore: Requiem of the Trailblazing Flame."

My blue flame burst out once more, boiling the abyss and creating an air bubble around me. As I had activated all of the Escalations, my heat alone rendered this world dry....

I began to play the guitar, adding more and more power to Quirinus. Like what I did against Londinium.

Tiamat realized what I was trying to do, and it immediately went and killed the siphonophore with hundreds of shadow tendrils— sinking this world in darkness, with me being its only light source.

Then thousands of nightmarish tendrils and maws of shadow came rushing at me from all sides. To that, I only smile wider.

"I shall tell you a story.", I detached the lance from the guitar, throwing Anima Lacero into my Gate of Akasha.

"A tale of the beginning.", my glowing lance began to focus on a single point - spawning a white miniature sun that incinerates all that opposes humanity.

And I had judged that the World is Humanity's enemy.

"Heaven and Earth split, the Void congratulated Infinity.", I pointed my lance up to the sky, crackling it with electricity as it pulses like a heart.

"Stop it!!", I heard Tiamat panicking. Yes, you should panic you reptile. It desperately tried to overwhelm me with its tendrils, maws acting as shade before disintegrating.

But compared to my ability to calculate the world... this is useless. I weaved and dodged, never being touched by them.

"My Blade of Destruction shall cleave the world."

This is my pettiness made manifest. To you, Tiamat Abzu, I will send you into a slumber...

"Mortar of the Souls, Divinity's Hell is the Eve of Humanity!"

...by destroying the world.

The ball of pure destructive energy enveloped the lance once more. And I stabbed it into the ground.

—pak!!

—huh...? I looked down, a spear of shadow and crimson light pierced my chest. Then I looked up, seeing Tiamat consuming Theia...

They merged, crimson veins glow as they fuse together into one. Then it opened its eyes, glowing crimson eyes full of disdain for me. But it is too late for it.

"Do you think a mere lethal wound would kill me?", I sneered in the face of the World.

"Enuma Elis!!!!"

"NOOOO!!!", it rushed towards me— impaling me with all of its claws. Blood gushed out from my chest, being stabbed in both my lungs, my heart, stomach, and my throat.

I merely smile.

"Come forth... my World of Chalk."

The world was consumed by a white light, but before it reached me— I entered my own world, only I was teleported into my Inner World...

Now I remained in my World of Chalk, it is a bit different. The infinite plain of grey is no more, instead, a field of buildings formed around me.

Complexes made of chalk, rising and collapsing at the same time. A world of endless entropy and reformation.

Hah...

There is only me here.

...

It is creeping up to me again, the stress I'm feeling... the whole fate of humanity in my hands. And I just have to be fucking petty about it.

It is uncomfortable... I hate it...

I just want to lie down and cry, this is... all too much for a single person. And the bleeding too, Tiamat hit me with some kind of curse... even Hope can't do anything.

But I have to stay strong... I can't allow a moment of weakness...

"I am Charlotte Silvi..."

"I am the princess clad in silver..."

"..."

I slumped down, hugging my knees in a fetal position.

"I dream... of a Starless World..."

My eyes burned a bright silver color

"I shall rule the world..."

A halo faintly formed behind me in the shape of a Rose Compass.

"Create a world of chaos and order."

I began to cry as I desperately confirmed my existence. Speech is the strongest ability of any creature, if I just keep saying things... I can remain resolute.

"A land of quiet discord..."

Remus said it, my conviction is strong... my love for this flawed species...

I stood up, wiping away my tears.

"My name is Charlotte Silvi..."

"And I shall bring humanity to a beautiful future..."

I open my hand... a small glowing eight-pointed star, each petal bearing a color of my power... I clasped it.

"...Even if I can't witness it myself..."

=0=0=

Tiamat was trying its best to contain the explosion that threatened to reach its Core - destroying all life along with it. It was pissed, rightfully so.

And Charlotte just had to escape into her Inner World.

"Once she gets out... I am going to fucking kill that cunt...", it grumbled as hundreds of tendrils forms to take the brunt of the attack.

Losing a few means nothing, but to contain a world-ending bomb, it had to reinforce the tendrils and maws to chip away the destruction. Expending tons of energy to remain conscious, and it is not gaining any energy back from this - as Enuma Elis inherently rejects and destroys everything in its path, violently wrecking its power as the vortex burns away the shadow.

And the deep sea creatures possessed by Avalon watch on with interest. They want to witness the fate of the world, would Tiamat prevail and fall into slumber or fail and the world blows up?

The result does not matter to the hivemind, as they had witnessed extinction before many times over. Even if this is the end, they will accept it.

As for Kalpas, now appeared in person to help mend the cracks in the earth. As this is their duty to protect nature.

The Flower of Life expands, roots and vines touch the world, taking on the task of connecting the world against the tide of destruction caused by Charlotte.

Even if they hate how Tiamat operates, it is still the World. To protect it all... they would use as much of their power as necessary.

The roots and vines glow white, countering and siphoning the power of Enuma Elis into many vortexes spiraling opposite of each other, in order to have them nullify each other.

This is their duty.

After what seemed like hours, but only thirty minutes had passed. The explosion was successfully nullified but at a great cost. Both Tiamat who did the heavy lifting were exhausted, as proven by the twitching humanoid shadow dragon, its connection to its puppet was greatly weakened, and the Lord of Samsara was fading away as all the energy they used could not return to the cycle of life.

Taking the opportunity, Avalon swarmed both of them, the deep sea creatures attacked relentlessly. Tiamat did not even bother to defend, sinking itself into the darkness. That leaves only Kalpas to be mauled by the Records of Beast.

To take the prey down when it is weakened, it is only logical.

Yet Kalpas was still holding on, for each chunk Avalon took out hundreds of beasts perished. Putting up a valiant fight like the fervent nature of life to struggle against all odds. No matter how fruitless this all was.

But everything stopped when a crack in reality opened as Charlotte exited her Inner World, wearing a Rose Compass halo behind her head, each point bearing a color of the Akasha, of Humanity. Her eyes shone a bright silver, there was only emptiness inside them. On her chest, nine stab wounds continuously bleed out.

"Listen to me—", she coughed out blood, "—I seek to finalize our Contract, Qaeidat Dhahabia the Golden Order, the Closest to the Slumbering Ruler."

Shadows once again extended from the ground—

—Clank!

Only to be blocked by a mechanical arm, Utopia returned to his Princess' side, as that is the duty of a knight.. no, he never left in the first place.

A golden storm formed around her as she landed on her knight's palm.

"For the final Alchemy you lend me...", she touched her chest, pushing her hand as more blood gushed out.

"I shall Deconstruct my Body, Soul, and Mind."

White cracks began to appear on her body, then the golden storm turned into a biomechanical bat, its wings covering her form to protect the Silver Princess from the tendrils of the World.

"And Reconstruct it..."

"For I am the Anchor of the Present,
To split time into Past and Future."

Her form broke apart and reconstructed. The weight of her Soul and Mind escaped, the pressure of the Silver Soul and Golden Mind crushed Tiamat's shadow body, turned the beasts of Avalon into a paste, and made Kalpas kneel.

"The Torch of Instinct that Lights the Way."

Her Soul and Mind condensed, but not fully. Her vessel glows brightly into the shape of a human.

"On the Path of Pain and Despair."

Sparks of electricity covered her body, and her hair formed, sparkling white like the finest silver, long flowing like a river of pure water.

"For the Passion within my Heart."

Her body fully formed, a maiden of purity in a fetal position, as if she had just been born.

"In the Madness that is my Mind."

She stood there, her eyes closed as if in deep thought. The reformation of her form is yet to be completed.

"Let the Illusions become Reality."

Energy burst through her chest, where her crystal was originally, shining a brilliant silvery blue color like a star...

"Walking the Path of Human..."

Ars Goetia reformed, her trench coat became longer like a dress, bearing the color of purity while sparkling a rainbow shine.

"I shall grant the World my Judgement..."

She smiled, opening her eyes - revealing a gaze of azure white, a gaze that sees through all. To judge all that is evil - all that is against humanity - against herself. And a light erupted, shooting toward the sky, beyond the sea, beyond the atmosphere, beyond the moon, beyond the planets, and... piercing the Oort Cloud.

"Agentum Overdrive..."