Lucium: He dragged his claws against the floor, "This really how you want things to go, Galacor?..."
Galacor: "Yeah..." The Emperor appeared at his side, staring Lucium down, waiting for anything.
Lucium: His smile widened, ripping his mouth open. "Good."
Radna: "Cmon, guys, let's get out of here." He helped Aiden up and turned to Uriel.
Aiden: "Is he going to be able to beat Lucium?..." He spoke, his voice sounding weak.
Radna: "No, something is different this time around, I can't-"
Lucium: He held Galacor up by his arms, ripping him in half, spraying blood everywhere. Red smoke collapsed over the Emperor, taking it away somewhere unknown. "Pride is such a pathetic trait." He laughed, clawing at his own body. "So you all want to prevent me from gaining my corvex origin again? Attempt to prevent the cleansing?"
Before any of them realized it, another Lucium stood behind them, looming over them. "How adorable~." He slashed Aiden in half, right before the two of them. Arms of flesh burst from the floor, pulling Uriel down into the floor.
Life itself inverts into something else, forms of grotesque flesh and blood, the sky flooded with black eyes, looking around everywhere. Life in the timeline, transformed.
Animals nearby began vomiting up their own organs, veins burst out from their skins, their bodies melting until some bone was visible, and the bits of flesh that fell reshaped every life form into abominations. Their eyes rolled back and melted, representing the strip of free will.
"GLORIOUS IT IS, NO FREE WILL TO CORRUPT THEM, NO LIFE TO GUIDE THEM. IT IS ONLY ME LEFT WITHIN THEIR MINDS, ONLY MY INFLUENCE COULD BE SO PERFECT! I AM STILL NOT YET WHOLE, AND YET I AM FAR GREATER THAN ANY OTHER!"
He clawed at his ribs and face, making himself bleed purely for sick pleasure, "THERE IS NO HATE WITHIN THEIR MINDS, NO LOVE, NO HAPPINESS, DISPAIR AND SORROW, EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD BE!" The sky began to rain blood, not a cloud in sight, yet reality dripped its blood.
"I PLAY MY OWN TRUMPETS ON THIS DAY, THE FINAL LIGHT! I AM LUCIUM, THE GOD OF THE NEW PEOPLE, WEAVER OF FEAR, AND YOU ARE NOTHING!" He laughed into the blood-lit sky, his face tearing apart and dripping black blood.
Radna: He put Aiden's two halves down, placing a rune over his body before standing up, staring blankly at Lucium.
Lucium: He slammed his claws into the ground, staring back at Radna. "Is there something you wish to say, oh great ruler of Hell? Speak while you still have free will within your system."
Radna: "Star is afraid of using the full extent of his powers, because he doesn't want to hurt life. He finds it too precious and delicate. The only part of life that I valued was taken from me a long time ago. Do you understand what that means..."
Lucium: "Oh, do tell~."
Radna: "It means I don't care for life as much as he does. I won't hold back." The runes of his body slowly stopped glowing.
"From the depths of the abyss and the chaos beyond the stars, I call upon you, Azathoth, the beast of the unseen.
O great and formless one, who stirs in the darkness, I summon your essence to rise and fill this space.
Unveil your presence, ancient chaos, and let your mad symphony resonate within me. I open my spirit to your boundless power.
As I chant your name, let the fabric of reality tremble and dissolve. So it is spoken, so let it be done."
As the summoning begins, the air thickens with tension, and a palpable electricity hums in the atmosphere. Shadows flicker and dance, creating an otherworldly ambiance. The space around shifts, warping as if reality itself is bending to accommodate the presence of the unseen. A deep, resonant sound builds, a chaotic melody echoing from the void.
It's a mad symphony, full of discordant notes that pulse and thrum, filling the air with a sense of both dread and exhilaration. As the chant rises, the darkness deepens, swirling and coiling like living tendrils, as if Azathoth's essence itself is emerging from the very fabric of the abyss.
Tendrils of darkness burst through the barrier of reality, manipulating and shifting the shards into different formations, laws, and truths began to shatter and reconstruct themselves around them.
"Make your move now, Lucium." He held his arms out, as if to challenge him.
Lucium: He licked his teeth, "Oh, how Emily would be proud of you, using that creature's power..." He smiled widely, charging toward Radna.
Radna: He walked toward him, everything folding and unfolding like an infinite origami. Radna appeared to be closing in on Lucium from an infinite number of different angles. "This isn't what you expected, was it. You should have completed your ritual before challenging me.
Lucium: He slashed through the air, sparking his red energy into his hands, attempting to shift reality, but the force of the unseen was far too great and unstable. "Even if I cannot warp reality over your own, I can still infuse fear into you~."
Radna: He threw his hook at Lucium, the chain and hook shifting directions constantly, the chains overlapping over Lucium's body. Reality folded itself again, lands shifted and divided across all of existence, every existence. The straining of the chains ripped Lucium's body apart, spreading it across a bunch of destroyed timelines. "I am not afraid of you, you know this, even your brother knows not to intervene."
Lucium: He reformed himself, looking up, standing on the glass floor of reality. Then it suddenly turned into a liquid, sinking him into the grasp of the shattering abyss. He slashed into the air, breaking apart the area around himself. "Why did you hide such a power if you could combat me like this-"
Radna: A giant version of him towered above Lucium, punching him down through the glass onto what remained of Earth. "I simply just needed your ego to speak louder than your mind. You could have beaten me if you chose to complete your ritual, gaining your full power. But you didn't, and now the consequence is knocking on your door. Fall."
Lucium: He was forced down onto his knees. When he tried to stand up, he collapsed again. "How is this even real-"
Radna: "All of it is real, all of it is because I make it so." He appeared before Lucium, kicking him through a breaking gateway, making him fall, then left, now right, now up, undeterminable.
"But you will never hold the final truth, you will never have any of it." Black tendrils rip from the floor, grabbing onto Lucium, slowly dragging him down into the unknown abyss. He stared blankly down at him as he was forced to the floor, "Make peace with your mind now, you will never see anything ever again."
Lucium: "I shall come back, you know I will, I saw deep within your brain. Mark my words, death will come for you all~." He didn't scream, he didn't beg, he smiled as he was dragged into the nothingness.
Radna: He stared down at the floor, using all of his strength to pull Azathoth back into his body. The changes made by himself and Lucium slowly began to revert, fixing the damage. "Damn it...I swore to her I would never use that power."
Aiden: He gasped for air, feeling himself to make sure he wasn't still cut in half. "What- what happened? I'm alive?"
Radna: "I placed a fix rune over you, you had enough life energy within yourself not to be corrupted by it and simply just healed."
Uriel: He shook his head, grabbing his sword immediately, "Where is Lucium?"
Radna: "He is dealt with..." He knelt, using some healing magic on Star.
Aiden: He noticed that Andrew's body was gone, confused as to where it could have gone, "Huh?..." He couldn't focus on it, the death was already clawing at his insides.
Uriel: He placed his hand on Aiden's shoulder, holding out Andrew's Bible for him to keep. "He was a noble man."
Aiden: He took the book slowly, hugging it to his chest before crying into the angel's cloak.
Star: He sat up, shaking his head slowly. "Galacor's changes should have been reverted by now...We can all head back to Availion for the time being." He turned to face Radna, noticing his expression, "Do you truly think Lucium is gone?"
Radna: "No, he will find some way to return. We got lucky, incredibly lucky."
Star: He stared up into the sky, "We are going to need more help."
Radna: "Give it time, we will find our guardians. Cmon, let's get back." Uriel took both Star and Aiden back to the home base. Radna stayed behind for just a short bit, looking up into the sky. "If you two are out there, I will find you. Alex, brother...I'll see you soon. If I am going to find you...I am going to need to find the prince for his help. He could help."
The End of Volume 1-