In the plane of the endless void, countless dots of paleness stayed afloat, aimlessly drifting with the tideless emptiness. In the state of perpetual stillness, every change which occurred in the infinitesimal worlds would attract the attention of the BEING.

Like the faraway stars in the moonless night, the flickering, fading radiances illuminated the spaceless and the timeless, saturating the dull with colours too faint to detect. However, to the BEING, the darkest bloom was akin to a neon butterfly whose wings gave life to the black forest of the black sky. Its omnipresence pervaded the source of all changes and observed the event that transpired.

Its power tapped the bubble and effortlessly seeped into the interior world. Though the restrain from the world was weak, the BEING didn't intend to disrupt the fragile mechanism and stayed its advancement. As it weaved its power into ripples of resonant signal, it detected several beings tainted by its power.

...

In the room where Angelica rested, Princess suddenly spasmed, her hand gripping her heart. Her nails tore the black silk dress as she collapsed on the tea table and tripped it to the side, falling onto the ground in a muffled snap. The marble tableware shattered and flew like a swarm of sparkling fireflies, glittering in the air and drifting across the room.

Ancil sprung from her seat opposite of Princess and rushed to hold Princess in her embrace. As Princess's expression contorted, Ancil restrained her from rolling on the ground. She witnessed Princess's entire being flickering in and out of existence, fading into transparency in an instant before emerging from nothingness in the next.

"Shifting Mist, what happened to her highness?" Ancil shouted and tightened her hug.

A blue light flashed in front of her and revealed an illusionary cube. "I detected nothing of significance within the radius of ten thousand kilometres. The problem either lies within her highness herself or a force beyond my capability to perceive."

"Ancil . . . I'm all right," Princess said. Her body slowly relaxed, her breathing stabilized. "Just . . . let me rest for a while."

As if flooded with tears, Princess's vision was blurry, and the last thing she saw was the ever-expanding Originator. It descended from the sky and overlooked the world, demanding all attention and reverence. At the peak of the shapeless yet well-defined surface, Princess saw a faint silhouette of an unnamed maiden, bound by countless chains.

Though the distance between them was ever-increasing, Princess could clearly see the slight smile the maiden expressed. It was as if she used the Originator to attract Princess to communicate with her.

Before Princess could speak to the maiden, something caught her attention. At the corner of her eyes, Angelica's lifeless body softly shivered as though she was having a nightmare.

Lacking in hesitation, Princess forcefully got up from Ancil and stumbled towards Angelica. Her legs painfully limped across the room. As her strength left her, she collapsed. Ancil held Princess by the waist and supported her. With Ancil, Princess slowly made her way towards Angelica.

As soon as she arrived, Princess placed her hand on the transparent glass. Her fingers rested beside Angelica's fingers, which previously moved. With help from Ancil, Princess leant against the cold surface and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of silence.

"Angelica, wait a little bit. I've found a way to wake you up," Princess said.

Looking at her, Ancil felt a slight chill. A particular quality of the speech exuded a heavy aura that stifled her. It was an indescribable cumulation of happiness, hope, determination, and madness.

In silence, Ancil held the ring gifted to her by Princess. The madness she witnessed imprinted itself into her mind, fostering her thought and imagination.

...

Atop the peak of the world, the Originator revealed an insignificant part of its eternal structure. Its shadow cast upon reality yet also provided soft radiance which illuminated all. Though it seemed within one's reach, its enormous size remained infinitely far away from the perspective of the onlookers.

"God of Light, what is your intention?" Inemas said as he peeked at the Originator above him. "Without Lady Fate, you and your Heaven cannot control the Originator."

The Originator instilled within him the oppressive, suffocating sensation he once experienced when he first ascended. His existence was melting away like the flickering candlelight in the middle of a hurricane.

"We know our limits, but the Root Ceremony must continue. Instead of the Seven Saintesses, we shall offer the Originator the Arachna Queen and the Dragon Clan." The God of Light glanced at the Seven Saintesses at the foot of the altars.

They laid motionless, their heads detached from their bodies. Out of the Seven Saintesses, only one managed to survive. The Eyeless Saintess, the Saintess of Fate, was hanging at the last thread of her life, blind and feeble, useless and insignificant.

"In the end, all plans crumble before the absolute power," Inemas said and glanced at the Dragon Clan. "Leave and never to return. Remember: history shall know nothing of today."

"The heretics must die," the Goddess of Death said and disappeared from her spot. A rotten swarm of flies manifested in her place and assaulted the Dragon Clan. A shadowy outline of a gigantic scythe swung at Akulas, breaking space in its path and creating a distortive echo.

A delicate hand appeared in front of the scythe's trajectory and intercepted its strike. The dark purple carapace glittered in golden as the Arachna Queen shattered the blade with her might.

From the shadow hidden under her cloak, countless eyes and mannequin arms came into existence. The arms reached out to the Goddess of Death while the eyes stared at the God of Darkness, whose silhouette appeared beside the Arachna Queen and attempted to grab her neck.

Upon noticing the myriad eyes, insane laughter echoed inside the God of Darkness's mind. A deadened tone rang in his mind as he rapidly retreated from the spot. The surrounding darkness dissipated into Divine Fons and assimilated into the Arachna Queen.

A layer of dust kicked up and covered the dome, shaking it with the air pressure of the impact. The Elder Dragons watched their treasures and spells disintegrated with the slightest touch, their power dwarfed by Divinity.

In the blurry mist, a sword cut struck the ground and dissipated the dust, sending afterimages of blazing flames towards the Arachna Queen. The gigantic pillar of heat melted the crystal dome, leaving a crimson trail behind.

In an instant, it reached the Dragon Clan.

"Fear not, Ancient Beasts," a voice echoed as an Authority pointed at the Dragon Clan.

A puff of comfy wool spread in front of the Dragon Clan and absorbed the impact of the sword strike. Its clean white texture folded onto itself and wrapped around the heat pillar, extinguishing its flame by merging into a box of presents.

A cute giant doll jumped from the ground and landed in front of the Dragon Clan, bouncing on its bottom and used its pillow-soft paw to grab them and escape from the danger zone.

"Have you no shame, God of Light? What will the world think of Heaven, when they know you are even worse than the Arachna?" Inemas said as the Authorities behind him channelled their power. Countless exotic energies and shapes pulsated and spread outwards.

"It is futile. You can't withstand the full might of Heaven," the God of Light said. "We don't want to kill you who had reached the peak of the world, but you remain stubborn."

"Even if I die, I will make sure that the Great Races will prosper with freedom, free from Heaven's restrain."

Inemas took out a bow and aimed at the God of Light. The handle glowed and absorbed the flow of time in the air, causing the surrounding space to fade to grey. As soon as he let go of the string, the magical arrow broke through the fabric of reality and entered the void.

Through the enormous Divinity it contained, the arrow reversed time. It changed the flow of causality and arrived at the moment before Inemas released the string. In a loop, the rain of arrows accumulated before its sheer number cracked the barrier between space and void. Like a meteor swarm, they shot towards the God of Light.

A freezing surge of air seeped through the ground and scattered snowflakes into the air. The Goddess of Winter danced and rippled the surrounding atmosphere with the frozen abyss, decreasing the energy of all things to absolute zero.

Upon contact, the snowflakes melted into symbols which engraved on the arrows. It drained the Divine Fons inside and ejected it outwards into a colourful spectacle. As the power of time waned, the storm of reality-distorting arrows transformed into fragile sticks. They evaporated into particles when they approached the Gods.

"Inemas, your opponent is me," the Goddess of Winter said before glancing at her sisters. "Life, Spring, let us teach them like how we used to."

The Goddess of Spring and the Goddess of Life exposed their Domains and stepped forwards, clashing with the exotic powers of the Authorities. In the wake of their impacts, sky crumbled, and earth shattered.

Their power scattered across the skyline and submerged into the sea of clouds, accelerating towards the ground. Though most of them burnt to a crisp before reaching the ground, some turned into meteors. Akin to armageddon, they rained death under the echoes of the song of ice and fire.

At the middle of the battlefield, the God of Light sheathed his blade and watched the struggle. Despite various opportunities to overpower Inemas or sneak attack the Arachna Queen, he remained solemn and stood his ground. His eyes glanced past the on-going battle to observe the surrounding.

Aside from the slowly descending Originator, everything on and surrounding the Holyground had crumbled into ruins. Nevertheless, it was a looming sense of dread that kept the God of Light on high alert.

As long as the Originator completed its descension, the ritual would finish. Once everything fell into places, Heaven would win. For so long that the unknown, unseen force remained hiding, the God of Light could only keep his eyes for any possible change.

The previous incident regarding the disappearance of the strike from the Goddess of Death burnt inside his pupils. Aside from him and the Goddess of Death herself, no one within the Holyground seemed to discern the time-reversal and reality-rewriting.

"Death, Darkness, allow me to return the favour," the Arachna Queen said as she reached skywards.

A half-black-half-white masquerade mask manifested in her palm. In an elegant dance, the Arachna Queen placed it on her face and motioned her gestures, copying the movements the Goddess of Death used to perform.

The aura of Death Domain emerged from the Arachna Queen. With a snap of her finger, a shadowy silhouette of a scythe struck the Goddess of Death. The original scythe intercepted its trajectory, creating an explosion of black mist.

As space rippled and broke into rifts, the skeleton hands from Hell restrained both scythes and dragged them towards the world of endless pain.

The God of Darkness flew towards the Arachna Queen, but a layer of darkness swarmed his location and blinded his perception. From the unknowable void, the Arachna Queen stabbed her hand at the God of Darkness, tearing his abdomen open before detonating an orb of petals inside him.

The vines of the Goddess of Nature sprung outwards and assimilated the God of Darkness, absorbing his Divinity and eating his Darkness Domain.