SOUL DIVINE

The gentle light of the dawn slowly arose in the horizon as Thalia sat atop the high tower, looking at the field in front of the Northern Gate where Lynne had just departed from. Sighing lightly, her gaze averted back onto the city beneath her feet, eyebrows creasing slightly.

Parsia was already atop the northern walls, while three Celestial Mages had been dispatched to the other gates to keep an eye out. The city breathed in strange stillness, as seemingly no soul moved as the hours slowly passed.

Still remaining atop the high tower, she was amongst the first to notice brilliant flashes of light in the sky when the battle begun. And then the eruption of darkness some ways off, and the giant scythe opening a hole up in the sky, where a torrent of celestial lights fell from.

As she was immersed in the beauty and terror of it, she felt a slight quake beneath her feet and, alarmed, jolted atop her feet.

“Fight broke out in Sector 3!” a voice echoed inside her mind.

“And Sector 5!” another one joined a mere moment after.

“And Sector 8! Requesting assistance!”

“Thalia,” Parsia’s voice sounded out immediately after. “Go at 3 and 8 since they intersect! I’ve already sent Sir Loras to sector 5! Contain whatever the fuck it is!”

“Got it.” Thalia lowly muttered as she took in a deep breath.

Her right arm spread out, flashing in brilliant cyan, whereupon a spear appeared in her hand, nearly two meters long, as thin as one’s finger, with spearhead coated in diamond-like glitter. At the bottom of the shaft a red cloth fluttered underneath the guide of the wind, giving the spear a contrast in color.

Her eyes suddenly flashed silver as they focused towards the South-East parts of the city. She immediately spotted dozen or so figures barging out of the groups, weapons held high, as they began causing ruckus. Without delay, she slightly bent down and jumped.

As she cruised through the sky in a brilliant arc, the air around her grew cold as icicles began dripping like rain. Her slightly tanned skin stood out amongst the beauty of glistening silver and blue, and as she began descending, a condensed trail of frost was left behind her back.

Fifty… twenty… ten… she fell from the sky like an angel, directly into the group of dozen or so rampaging, black-clad figures. Icicles erupted from earth like pillars in a ring-like fashion, causing earth to crumble as the temperature of the world around dropped to freezing. The surfaces of the houses began glistening as droplets of fist-sized ice balls fell from sky like rain.

The dozen black-clad figures immediately focused onto her, sending out countless arrays of flashing Spell Arts in various arcs, all aimed directly at her. Nigh ignoring them, she swept her spear in a circle, blasting out a massive blizzard of thigh-thick crystals. Then, without pausing, she manifested a chunk of ice beneath her feet which guided her forth, forming a spiraling, frozen river in air as she navigated around the battlefield.

She pierced her spear back and forth, each stab causing a massive, frost pillar to erupt whenever it clashed with anything solid. Soon, the area of roughly fifty meters was completely covered in the land of freezing death as she easily scoped through it, as if she was born within it.

One by one, black-clad figures fell onto the floor, dyeing the beautiful frost land crimson, as corpses gathered near one another. Just as the last figure fell, the land of frost collapsed, startling her as she bolted backwards. The place where she stood just a moment ago was suddenly devoured in the heap of shadows, from which a figure of a beautiful, pale-skinned woman appeared. She wore a lavishing, black gown, seemingly entirely made out of wriggling shadows, as she stared at Thalia.

“Thalia Etherna,” the woman spoke in a cold, distant tone, as her silver eyes gazed at Thalia. “What is a devil doing here?”

“… ironic that a devil-bitch herself calls me a devil,” Thalia chuckled as she straightened up, grasping the shaft of her spear ever so tightly. “How’d you sneak in here anyway? Was hubby kind enough to let you in on some of the clan’s secrets?”

“You should leave,” the woman said calmly, as if she didn’t even hear Thalia’s words. “This isn’t a place for ignorant children to mingle.”

“Ha ha,” Thalia laughed as she slowly began walking towards the woman, her eyes growing colder than the ice storm beginning to dance around her. “I’ve long since wished to experience Shadow Devil’s techniques in person,” Thalia added as she stretched out her left, free arm sideways; just a mere moment later, another spear, identical to the one in her right arm appeared, except that the spearhead was glistening in beautiful lime. “And compare them to my own, Elemental Devil’s techniques.”

“… ah, how passion-driven the youth these days is,” the woman sighed as her slender, long fingers began weaving through her gown. “Very well, child. Let me teach you a lesson, if you want it so badly.”

The entire gown suddenly burst outward, manifesting thousands of looming shadows that expanded and contorted seemingly at will, as they weaved through the world, some hiding beneath the ground, some scorching openly towards Thalia.

The latter suddenly jumped into the air, spreading her arms wide; at the side of her diamond-glistening spear, a gigantic icicle began forming as snowstorm rampaged, while on the other side a vine was born, coiling around itself like a dragon, spread similarly to the shadows.

She suddenly descended from the sky as she bolted towards the woman, two spears pointed forward, as a world of frost and lush nature gushed into existence at each of her sides. Shadows wriggled over through the air as the woman leapt backwards, clasping her hands together.

“Deform!” she shouted coldly. “Assemble!”

As if jolted by her words, the shadows suddenly began spewing more shadows into existence, until the entirety of the street was doused in complete darkness, with the only light source being Thalia herself.

“Elements, Gather!” Thalia shouted; the two spears suddenly disappeared from her hands, as five appeared hovering above her head, each exact same save for the spearhead. “Elemental Implosion!”

The spears began dancing circularly, each doused in one element of the nature: water, fire, earth, wind and nature. The five lights were born, descending onto the earth like pillars, and Thalia appeared to be trapped in a cage of life itself as she hovered in the midst of the pillars.

They suddenly exploded outwardly, carrying with themselves a scent of soul itself as they clashed against the diving shadows. Explosion after explosion resounded, shockwaves toppling over the nearby houses and streets down to mere dust.

Thalia’s body appeared from the blinding explosion, her clothes slightly tattered and her hair disheveled. Yet, her lips were curled up in a strange, seemingly self-mocking smirk, as she looked at the distance where the shadows suddenly gathered together, forming the woman herself.

“Looks like I can’t play any longer,” Thalia said as she closed her eyes. “Law of Water,” a geyser flared up from beneath the earth itself, as thick as a sentry tower, blasting off into the sky like a pillar of light. “Law of Life,” a single sphere of beautiful, silver light appeared above her; the sphere itself was completely translucent, and within it swam two fish, in seemingly a circle of eternity. “Law of Light~” her entire body was immediately doused in beautiful, golden sheen as she brilliantly shone away the darkness of shadows. “And… Law of Supremacy…”

The gigantic pillar of water suddenly contorted down to a head-sized sphere, as the smaller one dove into it, forming the heart, while the golden sheen emitting from Thalia’s skin transformed into arc of light surrounding the sphere. The small, round ball emitted such potent aura, everyone within the fifty mile radius felt it; pure, calm, the aura of Life itself – yet, still equally terrifying.

“Shadows, Darkness, Death,” the woman didn’t lag behind either, her eyebrows furrowed as a tinge of worry and dread flashed in her eyes. “Devil’s Child~ SEVER!!”

Shadows exploded from behind her, forming a gigantic, edgeless figure in the sky, without any discernible features. The figure towered at nearly half a mile into the sky, covering nearly half the city in its shadow.

“Guide me,” Thalia whispered, her expression somewhat solemn as she stretched out her right arm; the beautiful sphere of Laws deformed gently and slowly as it transformed into a simple and crude spear. The shaft was wholly silver, with spearhead glistening gold, and a short cloth tied to the bottom dyed cyan. “To wherever I may go.”

The gigantic figure in the sky rained blade-shaped shadows from the sky at Thalia, as latter looked up, her expression relaxed, and suddenly flew up directly into the rain itself. She swept her spear left and right, as each of her movement seemed slow and incomparably quick at the same time. She danced, round and round, in the middle of the sky, as she battled off the raining blades, and finally clashed against the figure itself.

The shockwaves strong enough to eradicate the entire city were instead compressed into the small area, causing explosions akin to the fall of mankind to sound out. A small, faint figure in the sky emitted the purest of auras of life, while the towering giant reeked of death.

Like a small soldier and colossus, the two fought relentlessly; the spearhead clashed against the sea of shadows diving in and out of the figure, reflecting each and every one with seeming perfection. As if guided by the will of something ethereal – something which exists beyond the reality itself – Thalia evaded each strike she couldn’t parry, while her spear shot beams of shimmering light back at the figure.

Pillars of light and darkness descended from the sky as they clashed, scattering any and all clouds nearby, as Thalia relentlessly threw herself directly at the figure, with nothing but a crude spear in her hand. Wound after wound sharpened her resolve, causing her eyes to glisten ever so brightly and ever so coldly.

In the distance, standing atop the wall, Parsia observed the battle with solemn eyes. Scattering winds reached even him, and he couldn’t imagine what would happen if Thalia didn’t compress the shockwaves. There was nothing but admiration and awe in his eyes, and complete certainty that she would win.

“… there’s only one reason someone so young would be so proficient at Laws so profound. Who would have thought I’d find a Soul Divine in this distant realm?” he muttered lightly, smiling. “Looks like my turn has come as well.” his senses picked up several figures sneaking at the sides, approaching the city walls. “Eran,” he muttered. “Come.”

The belt around his waist wriggled lightly as it suddenly flew into the sky, imploding in a brilliant flash of light as seven coiling dragons appeared like thunderbolts in the sky.

“Tear.” he said lightly.

Seven vortexes in space suddenly appeared before each of the coiling dragons, whereupon all of them entered through it, appearing at seven different locations from which screams of agony echoed out. Parsia tapped his feet lightly onto the ground beneath as he leapt off the wall and landed right in front of the gate, standing stoically like an eternal guardian, closing his eyes. The seven coiling dragons returned, hovering above him like gigantic, one hundred meters long deterrents for anyone who dared to cross the hill. Quickly, hundreds upon hundreds of figures began crossing the border and approaching him slowly, all cautious of the dragons above him.

**

Lynne hovered in the distant sky, his expression calm as he stared at the High Lord who had finally joined him in the sky. The two looked at each other for a moment as all those around went away, while the battle beneath still raged on.

“Lynne Hyorn…” the High Lord muttered, laughing suddenly. “You keep on fucking everything up for me. First the Ancient City, then the Holy Paradise, and now even here?!! If I don’t tear your skin by my own hands, I will be too ashamed to breathe this same air!!”

“You are irrelevant, old fart,” Lynne said, lifting his head up as he glanced into the repairing space above him. “Yet, you’ve caused me to become wayward. Today, I end the bond between the two of us. I can’t have a constant reminder of dreaded past live in a land distant. Come, call your God. Summon everything and everyone under your thumb. Today’s the day you’ll learn what having strength truly means… and that no God can bridge the gap even your mind can’t comprehend.”

“Damned brat!!!” the High Lord roared atop his lungs as his eyes grew bloodshot red. “START THE CEREMONY!!!!”

“Finally,” Lynne chuckled lightly, as if a heavy burden fell from his shoulders. “Reaping, second to last,” Lynne muttered softly as he rose his head and looked at the High Lord. “Darkness…” as his whisper echoed out into the world, the giant scythe above him shook gently as it tore itself apart, with three identical ones appearing right next to each other. Then the three tore apart, causing nine in total to appear. The scythes grew and grew, higher and higher, until they bloated out the sky itself, exuding aura of absolute, undisputed dominance. “Eternal Twilight!”

The world seemingly froze as the nine scythes grew silent. The sky toppled over itself, as the brilliant blue was replaced by eternal abyss. Stars flashed in and out of existence by second, and the entire universe seemed to appear atop Lynne’s palm. The scythes slowly moved circularly, around Lynne, starting straight up and ending in a horizontal position. They spun around him like a whirlwind causing all life beneath to bow. The battle on the ground halted, as all men and women alike were brought to their knees in desperate awe and plea for salvation.

Lynne’s face grew paler and blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth as he swallowed it back down his throat. He fought back the backlash the best he could, as the strange hum of the scythes swallowed the world. The chains rattled in the distance, and a distant, morbid and coarse voice spoke out into the sky, finally startling the High Lord awake.

“Empyrean Scything…” the False God spoke from the depths of the abyss. “What an utter mockery of the greatest scripture since the Desolate Times!”

“If it’s so terrible,” Lynne replied, laughing. “Come and taste it you foreboding whore!!”