Universe's End

Chapter 277: Baneful Past and Thoughtful Future

“Not quite what I was expecting,” Apostolos muttered to Irene.

“Likewise,” Irene said, the two staring down as people streamed out of the archway that had appeared within Ehkorrus. Hundreds, thousands of people were appearing, people they’d never once seen before. For a planet that only had a few tens of thousands, maybe a hundred thousand, max, even this many people appearing was rather insane.

“Leave it to the World Spirit,” Apostolos said. Apparently, throughout every Founder settlement, one of the archways had appeared, a temporary means of travel for one day only.

All to see the most anticipated fight in the history of the universe.

The arena had even been spatially expanded, something the World Spirit also handled, the first direct showing of some of her power that 99% of people had seen.

“Nervous?” Irene asked as the silence stretched for several more moments, the two of them viewing everything from a viewing floor at City Hall.

“Incredibly,” Apostolos admitted.

The sky overhead had changed; the entire planet was cast under a field of perpetual aurora, blazing between the colors often attributed to Rory, gold, red, and green, and the Spear’s monochrome black and white.

“I’m going to assume Rory isn’t being allowed to flex the power of Ehkorrus?” Irene asked.

“Not a chance,” Apostolos sighed. “This is meant to be a fair fight, within reason, as he explained it.”

“How was he feeling?”

“Hard to say,” Apostolos shrugged. “He can clam up at times, gets evasive when he doesn’t feel like sharing everything on his mind. I think he understands that this is probably going to be the hardest fought battle of his life, that isn’t outright against a superior opponent.”

“You think he will win?”

Apostolos was silent for several seconds, giving the question serious thought.

“Maybe. Without being able to flex the might of Ehkorrus like he could against the Bird, making use of the natural advantages conferred, it’s just his magic and his skill in direct combat. From what I’ve put together about the Spear, Rory would have absolutely zero shot of winning in a direct melee.”

“But that has never been his strength,” Irene pointed out.

“No, it hasn’t,” Apostolos agreed. “It’s his ability to think things through, try new things on the fly, and always be flexible.”

“Which is also why you’re worried. Because sometimes, it comes down to raw power. This is someone who beat… What? Every Founder she has come across, minus the Bird and its victims?”

“Something like that,” Apostolos begrudgingly agreed.

Again, the two remained silent for several seconds before a new voice chimed in.

“Is now a bad time?”

Turning around, the two figures found a tall woman standing with her arms crossed, her horns proudly standing.

“Roxy,” Irene inclined her head. “You decided to take the invitation?”

“Well, I already caused shit to go sideways,” Roxy muttered darkly, “Can’t really make it worse at this point.”

“No, that was my fault,” Irene said, wincing slightly. “I hadn’t considered that perhaps your racial difference might cause issues, something I should have considered. Rory himself has referenced the fact of knowing about other races, so why not the other Founders?”

It had been a mistake she’d beaten herself up over. The Varasians should have taught her that lesson; that Rory had already known of them should have planted the seed in her head to consider whether bringing an unknown variable, such as Roxy, into the equation could backfire. It was such a small consideration if one didn’t understand there was bad blood to be considered, but nonetheless, it was her failure.

And Irene did not like failing, not when it involved her city, her people.

Well, Rory’s city and people, but that’s splitting hairs when he doesn’t even know something as simple as the current credit return rate of the blood sacrifice ritual.

Shaking her head, the two of them, now joined by Roxy, watched as the twin suns approached each other from the opposite sides of the horizon for the first time in history. Apostolos, having a solar affinity, instinctively knew it was nothing more than a visual appearance and that the dual stars hadn’t actually changed their location. Whatever the specific details of how it all worked, the Apotheosized Eclipse was meant to signify the start of the battle.

“Not much longer. We should probably be making our way there soon,” Irene said.

“No need,” Yet another voice said, one that had all three of them suddenly feeling like a massive pressure was pressed upon them. A titan of a woman had appeared as if she’d always been there, one eye marked by an eight-pointed star, red, gold, and green, the other black and white. Her body was black obsidian and chalk white marble, and she was clad in blood red bark, savage green thorns, and golden world ichor streaming through ‘veins’ in her body.

“World Spirit Aelia,” Apostolos dropped to one knee, Irene and Roxy copying the motion.

“Those who represent the Architect will appear there on my command.” The World Spirit said, her gaze carrying the attention of an entire world, even restrained, it was enough to crumble mountains should she please. “As will those representing the Spear.”

“W-what of after?” Roxy managed to force out a droplet of blood spilling from her nose, as a tier seven, and an early tier seven at that, the sheer presence of the World Spirit was pushing her to her limit.

“After?” The World Spirit gazed down on Roxy for several moments before her lips turned upward into a quirked expression, barely the whisper of a smile. “Rest. I will allow for no further Founders to fall.”

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And like that, the ‘presence’ of the World Spirit faded, leaving behind a literal statue that still pressed upon them, though to a much lesser degree.

“Rory wasn’t kidding about her,” Apostolos said before his eyes narrowed. “And quite the parting gift.”

Entombed Reminder of Worldly Glory (3)

Rarity: Unique

One out of a set of five, a statue representing the glory of the World Spirit Aelia, a forerunner amongst all World Spirits. While the statues have no direct usage, their very presence is enough to signify a location in space-time.

“Five, and we have one,” Irene said, mind already racing. “One for Lady Ascendress and the people of Sky Haven, and then three for former faction splits?”

“A way to make travel easier, I think,” Roxy said, her bloodied nose already forgotten as she stared at the statue with the intense scrutiny of a crafter deep in thought. “Five locations that will be easier to travel between, almost like a direct shot that doesn’t need the coordinates ‘loaded’ each time or whatnot.”

“The World Spirit is thinking of the future,” Irene added.

“Seems that way,” Apostolos sighed. “Seems that way.”

Rory sat at the table within the ‘locker’ room, staring ahead as several items lazily spun in a Ferris wheel pattern in front of him.

“You don’t seem all that focused,” a voice Rory recognized asked him, as a woman appeared nearby, towering over him before shrinking down to a more manageable size.

“Aelia,” Rory noted without moving. “Having fun with your theatrics?”

“Somewhat,” The World Spirit said, her lips quirking upward. “I very rarely put on such shows, and while it’s not cheap to go this far, I figure it is worth it.”

“Uh-huh,” Rory nodded.

The World Spirit examined the floating items before him, then tsk’ed once.

“Thinking too far into the future with such a big fight looming seems unwise,”

“Probably,” Rory agreed. Three of the four items were items he had become well familiar with: Antimatter Essence, Feather from On High, and, most recently, the Heart Strand from Cruor-Shu.

Almost most recently, the fourth item was ironically the oldest of the four, but also the most recent to change.

Skies that sundered the Earth

Grade: Unique

Within all of existence, there have only existed eight Founders, the first Enlightened beings in all of creation. Of the eight, a single one chose a life freed from leadership, leading a wandering troupe of warriors and soldiers until allying himself under yet another. Once a figure of righteous cause and hardy morale, virtues alone of heroism matter little when darkness swallows the soul. Willingly falling into the depravity of baneful hate, the hero of a forgotten world and history was extinguished. Slain, all that he was and all that he might ever be, has been warped by the final moments of baneful hatred, reforging the tool of his demise using the final remnants of his significance.

The tool that Rory had used to kill the Woodsman, the rare but otherwise ‘ordinary’ sky shard he’d retrieved decades prior, had been changed. At this point, Rory felt as if he had enough evidence to suggest that killing any Founder would reward some form of Unique grade item for the effort; the significance they each had was, well, significantly unique. It was also probably a reason why the Bird had managed to have such a warpingly powerful arsenal, the benefit of having slain two other Founders, even if they had been slain early on.

The only reason Rory had used the sky shard to kill the Woodsman was that it was the only item he had that had the sort of ‘historical’ association of being used to cut through space and stuff in general, enough to overcome the natural ‘resistances’ any living being had to something being manifested within their body without consent.

And in doing so, it had changed. It no longer looked like a panel of broken glass shattered from the sky itself. Now it was murky and black, with purple ‘cracks’ running through it that pulsed ever so slightly as if the entire thing had some ugly heartbeat.

Is this really the effect of his final moments being so totally consumed by baneful hate?

What Rory understood as ‘bane’ as an emotion had been that of such complete hate it defied common sense, a depth of hatred that was impossible to grasp without having experienced it oneself. Rory had been given a lesson in that ‘emotion’ from his literal Bane, who’d taken a psychotic addiction to being the perfect Bane.

And now Rory was beginning to believe it wasn’t as simple as just being his counter. When his Bane wanted to be the perfect ‘bane,’ it meant something deeper, to inflict the wound of bane.

The Woodsman, for as much as the description seemed to extoll the badger-man as a virtuous ‘hero,’ had that bane inflicted on his heart for…. Well, since before this universe, this reality, had ever existed.

In their old universe, such a deep hatred meant squat other than an obsession-level disdain of the Sensen, understandable considering the omnicide they were attempting, and would eventually succeed in.

In their current universe, where intent, concepts, and significance mattered more than even the standard laws of physics, that had serious power. Hell, the former sky shard was a perfect example; it had never been explicitly meant for cutting through space concepts or the like, but Rory had used it as the ‘catalyst’ or the tool to do just that for so long that it naturally had changed over time to function better than anything else he had on hand for that purpose.

All of that coming together meant that without ever trying, the Woodsman had likely ‘cursed’ himself, and seeing a Sensen was just the fuse that lit it all off. If the former Founder could have overcome it, well, that was something no one would ever know now, given that Rory had put an end to him.

What mattered most to Rory was the lesson learned, the lesson of lingering hatred, of grudges never forgiven or at least forgotten, and the words of Zoey when they’d spoken shortly before.

Finally addressing the World Spirit in the room, Rory turned to face her fully.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be distracting myself with thoughts of the future,” Rory said, picking up from where they had left off. “But for that same token, I can’t afford to not look at the future. You want a good fight from the two of us? Well, I do too.”

“Excellent,” Aelia said, crossing her arms.

“But it’s not just because it will inspire people, or whatever you’re thinking about,” Rory corrected. “I need to put this to bed. Maybe no one leaves happy, but at the very least, the seeds need to be upended before they can take root.”

“How thoughtful of you,” Aelia said, arms still crossed. “I suppose that is wise. I would prefer you not all kill each other the moment you leave my supervision to walk amongst my siblings’ planets.”

“I always appreciate the reminder that you’re not human,” Rory snorted.

“Neither is your daughter,” Aelia pointed out.

“Not what I meant. You will never understand our minds, even if you might come close at times,” Rory said.

“I am what I am,” Aelia shrugged. “You should be happy that I finally deferred to your way of doing things and no longer press you nearly as much.”

“And I am,” Rory answered. “But, interpersonal stuff, it really doesn’t ‘click’ for you, at least past an academic sense.”

“It does not,” Aelia said without shame. “Are you looking to berate me right before your big fight?”

“No, just… being introspective of things. The past, the future, all that. Life comes at you fast at times.”

“Mhmm, well, as long as you aren’t distracting yourself, I will leave you to it.”

With that, as always, Aelia vanished, having had the last word.

Turning back to the floating items, there was one other thing on his mind, a thought for the future that didn’t include Allison the Spear and instead centered entirely on the concepts of ‘bane.’

In this case, his literal bane.

The former sky shard had always been a part of the ‘equation’ of his weapon to kill his bane once and for all, and now, having been changed, the calculus had also changed.

For better or worse, Rory wasn’t yet sure, the concept of ‘bane’ had become something far more complicated than he once assumed.

Sighing, all four items vanished into his inventory.

Well, she wasn’t completely wrong.

There was a time and place to think about things, and that little problem was far enough removed that it really was just a distracting thought.

Besides.

A sound echoed as twin suns overhead intersected; the Apotheosized Eclipse finally occurred.

It’s showtime.