The moment Amy finished the prayer, silence fell.
Ethan's eyes narrowed. He could see it—the very fabric of this shadowy mirror realm shifted. The walls seemed to ripple as though reacting to a distant tremor, and some of the cracks sealing themselves up with eerie smoothness. The heavy, suffocating darkness that had clung to every corner began to recede like a tide, as though something ancient had stirred and demanded its domain back.
Then, light.
The red illumination of the ward shifted, at first subtly, then with a sudden brilliance. A pale blue glow began to radiate from the water-filled bowl at Amy's knees, delicate at first, like moonlight on still water. Then it grew—more intense, more divine. The starlight scattered across her body, casting shifting constellations on her skin, making her look almost... ethereal.
Amy gasped, breath catching in her throat as energy coursed through her like liquid fire. Her hand shot out instinctively toward Ethan, seeking something—someone—real to anchor her. But he stepped back, just out of reach, his expression unreadable.
He observed, calm and calculating, as always.
A golden aura enveloped her, searing the very air around her. Her simple clothing began to unravel, pulled apart by threads of light, rewoven by invisible hands.
This was it. The real thing.
The first time he'd seen an Avatar awaken with his own eyes. Ethan's mind sharpened, cataloging every detail. There might be insight here—something he could use later.
Amy's attire reformed into a vision of celestial power and timeless grace. In his head, Ethan almost chuckled. It reminded him, absurdly, of a Sailor Moon transformation, if Sailor Moon had been armed for divine war.
Celestial Robes wove around her frame—a golden breastplate inlaid with silver and azure accents that shimmered like the sky at dawn, etched with symbols of the stars, sun, and moon.
A flowing, star-stitched skirt unfurled, slit for movement, catching the light like nebulae. Behind her, a cape unfurled, shimmering like a velvet night sky, trailing stardust in its wake.
Golden greaves encased her legs, inscribed with sigils of protection tied to ancient constellations. Each step echoed with a silent thunder Ethan could feel more than hear.
On her arms, bracers glowed with shifting hieroglyphs, symbols of distant gods. In a flash of cerulean light, they transformed into twin khopesh blades, curved and gleaming like moonlit scythes.
A headdress formed last—framed like the Milky Way itself, five embedded stars burning for the five gods Nut had once birthed.
Then the Cape of the Heavens lifted on its own, unfolding into enormous wings woven from stardust and the breath of the void.
"Oh my," Amy breathed, but her voice was different—distant, reverent, threaded with a power not entirely her own.
Ethan's attention sharpened.
Her stance. Her tone. Her eyes.
She was changing already. Subtle, but noticeable. This—this right here—was why he'd never accept the offer to become a divine Avatar himself. It wasn't just servitude. It was erosion. Your thoughts bent, your will colored. The gods left fingerprints on the soul.
Then the silence shattered.
A guttural, inhuman roar tore through the air.
From the twisted, decaying edges of the chamber, the shadow-beasts surged forward like a living tide.
Dozens.
They crawled, skittered, oozed from the dark, their forms fluid and unstable, screaming at the light Amy now radiated. They shrieked like broken flutes and nightmares, their voices laced with madness and pain.
Amy hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then, she moved.
Her blades flashed, arcs of divine light searing through the first creature. It screamed as it fell apart in luminous ash.
She leapt, the wings lifting her into the air with impossible grace. Her movements weren't learned—they were inherited. Guided. The goddess behind her eyes pulled the strings like a marionette master.
Her wristbands shifted again, this time elongating into a double-bladed polearm, which she spun through a cluster of shrieking beasts, cleaving them in half.
As they regrouped, her weapon shimmered once more, folding itself into a cosmic bow. She nocked radiant arrows and fired, each one striking like a falling star, incinerating the beasts on impact.
Ethan stood still, watching with cool detachment.
[Ability Detected: Astral Radiance – S-Rank] {Warning: taking this ability binds the user to the 'Goddess' Nut}
[Ability Detected: Heaven's Veil – A-Rank] {Warning: taking this ability binds the user to the 'Goddess' Nut}
[Ability Detected: Mother of the Vaulted Sky– S-Rank] {Warning: taking this ability binds the user to the 'Goddess' Nut}
… the list went on as he saw multiple abilities, with the lowest at B-Rank, but all of them held the same warning.
'She doesn't even know how she's doing this,' he mused. 'It's not training. It's basically possession. Nut's divine instincts are directing her hands. Fascinating. Although it's a shame I can't use any of these abilities like I thought.'
He could see it clearly now—Amy's raw emotion fueling each strike, yet tempered by Nut's serene confidence. It was a strange dance. A human heart, beating within a divine machine.
She was a child handed the arsenal of a god, and with every moment, she grew more comfortable wielding it.
When the last beast disintegrated into stardust and smoke, Amy dropped to her knees, panting, sweat and light clinging to her skin.
Ethan finally stepped forward. 'Time to play the part.'
He extended his hand. Now that the immediate threat was gone, he could afford to be seen as supportive. A little kindness would go a long way toward securing her loyalty.
She looked up, dazed, and took it.
"I… I did that," she said, her voice trembling with awe and disbelief.
"You did," he replied with a gentle smile, his tone measured, calm. "But it's not over yet. We still have work to do if we want to get out of here."
Her expression changed. The glow in her eyes dimmed slightly, overtaken by something more human—more urgent.
"Rachel," she said. "We have to save her."
Ethan didn't flinch, though the name sank like a stone in his stomach.
'Of course, you'd say that,' he thought grimly. 'Fine, whatever, hopefully Nisanti has fully possessed her by now.'
He nodded. "Yeah. We'll find her. Then we get out of this place together."
What he didn't say was that Rachel might already be lost. That she was likely Nisanti's final vessel if he couldn't find another body to possess. That they might need to kill her to end this, a situation he was perfectly okay with accepting.
But there was no advantage in telling Amy that now.
'Let her hold onto hope. For now.'
Amy's Abilities:
[Astral Radiance (Nut's Light of Creation) – S-Rank]
The purest expression of Nut's essence. Amy channels the light between galaxies, purging corruption, dispelling illusions, and weakening all entities born of shadow or death. Her aura reshapes reality's boundaries within a limited radius, forcing order where chaos reigns.
[Heaven's Veil (Barrier of the Firmament) – S-Rank]
A dome of condensed starlight that deflects or absorbs physical, elemental, and dark-energy attacks. Its reflective layer can rebound curses or demonic energy back at their source. Functions as both divine shield and purifying field.
[Mother of the Vaulted Sky (Cosmic Dominion) – S-Rank]
Allows Amy to invoke celestial phenomena—meteor showers, auroras, gravity distortions, or falling stars—by calling on a little of Nut's cosmic authority. Each invocation consumes immense energy but can annihilate large-scale threats or purify entire zones.
[Day & Night Duality (Solar-Lunar Shift) – A-Rank]
Her form changes with celestial cycles:
Daylight Form: Golden aura grants regenerative and defensive enhancement. Night Form: Deep-blue energy amplifies offense, defense, and astral control.
Switching forms mid-battle can reset fatigue and rebalance power output.
[Voice of the Firmament (Divine Command) – A-Rank]
Her words carry Nut's harmonic frequency. Can break enchantments or shatter demonic possession. In wrathful mode, every syllable becomes a shockwave of cosmic resonance capable of disrupting even magical constructs.
[Khopesh Blades of Dawn & Dusk (Twin Celestial Scythes) – A-Rank]
Able to manifest two khopeshes forged from compressed starlight and anchored in Nut's twin aspects—creation and destruction. Each strike cleaves matter and energy alike; when crossed, they release a cutting wave of nebular fire. When the twin khopeshes unite, they form a double-bladed staff that channels horizon-level shockwaves. Perfect for crowd control and mid-range cosmic slashes.
[Eclipse Bow (Meteoric Convergence) – A-Rank]
Converts her celestial energy into arrows of condensed supernova plasma. Each projectile explodes with purifying starlight, erasing corruption and destabilizing dimensional barriers.
[Meteor Swarm Invocation (Nut's Judgment) – S-Rank]
A large-scale celestial bombardment. By striking both bracers together, Amy is able to summon meteors infused with divine law. Each impact burns shadow entities into stardust.
[Cape of the Heavens (Wings of the Cosmos) – B-Rank]
Able to manifest wings that grant flight, celestial mobility, and spatial traversal between realms. When wrapped around allies, it functions as a temporary healing and protection cocoon.
[Astral Acceleration (Constellation Step) – B-Rank]
The constellation sigils on her greaves allow instantaneous bursts of motion that blur space-time, leaving afterimages of starlight. Enables ground-to-air combos and dodge-teleport maneuvers.
[Eyes of Eternity (Divine Perception) – A-Rank]
Grants eyes that perceive life-threads, ley-lines, and emotional auras. Enables prediction of enemy intent within milliseconds by reading cosmic harmonics.
[Divine Resonance (Echo of the Sky Mother) – B-Rank]
Her voice can emit overlapping celestial frequencies that can synchronize with another's energy, boosting or stabilizing magic.