Chapter 493


    CHAPTER 493


    PATH OF THE CREATOR


    Hannah was currently overlooking the massive mountain pass, the valley that cut between two tall peaks . It was usually enriched in green, though with thest failed invasion and today’s, none of the greenery remained . Instead, it was a destend of blood and gore, of corpses and bones . By her side, Amadeel floated with a hardened expression as the Legions began forming under and around them -- they’ve taken up the bulk of the force, over one hundred and fifty thousand souls altogether . The number was enough to douse thend beneath in the souls, so much so that individuals ceased to stand out -- it was just a sea of people .


    The other side, however, had three times their numbers at the central point of the battle -- nearly five hundred thousand souls . The colorfulbinations of armors and weapons nketed the pass and the sky above it, so much so that Amadeel began feeling rattled . It finally dawned on him that many will indeed die . Perhaps, by the end of this bloodbath, more than half their forces will have perished .


    "Keep about your head," Hannah said, ncing at him and smiling faintly . He felt a faint sense of shame creep up on him . How was it that a child yet to turn even a hundred was moreposed and readier than he was? "Protect those you can, mourn those you can’tter . "


    "Be careful out there," he said . "Aside from Lino and E, you will be in the most danger . "


    " . . . hardly," she said as Qi around her began churning rapidly . The terrifying purity startled Amadeel momentarily; nobody had seen Hannah fighting in a long time, and most had begun viewing her simply as the Empress, the closest person to the Empyrean . "Good luck . "


    Blinding-white light burst out of her in seams, shouldering her entire being as she vanished, appearing over two miles away and over ten up, right where over thirty members of the Descent were gathering . Amadeel stared momentarily, stunned; for that brief moment, he sensed it -- perhaps, in raw stats and power, she eclipsed even Lino . Shuddering, he spun around, steeling his nerves, and began calling orders . This would be a long day .


    **


    Hannah came to a halt in front of the thirty-three members of the Descent . Save for One, all other founding members were here -- Two through Seven . Her appearance had changed in that single span of her breath; though her hair remained bloody-red, fluttering in the invisible winds, her eyes had turned entirely white, adorned in graceful shine . Her one-piece dress appeared redone, cast into brilliant armor of white and silver, golden edges shining like the sun . The world about her appeared to bow, kneel, expressing its servitude .


    Her expression remained cid, a tinge of anger and fury hidden beneath the calmness, as she stared at the figures that slowly began fanning out into a crescent encirclement .


    " . . . who was it?" she asked in a voice void of imperfections -- melodic, faint, orderly .


    "Who was what, Maiden of Order?" Two stepped forth, blocking the influence of her voice from reaching the rest . "Did youe here to chat or fight?"


    "Who was it that permitted the Primes to enter the War?" Hannah asked again .


    " . . . I was," Two said, shrugging . "What of it? Would you refuse free help thates knocking at your doors?"


    " . . . you wouldn’t dare," Hannah continued . "I guess it was One . So much for remaining indifferent to our conflicts . It’s a shame he’s not here today . "


    "Ha ha ha ha," Two crackled into faintughter, shaking her head . "What if he were? You think any one of you could do anything to him?"


    "--All Creation Heed--"


    "Fan out more!!" Two called toward the rest, realizing the time for chatter was over . "Formte the Barriers, prepare the attacks! Let us kill the Order itself!!"


    "--Your Empress is Here . "


    Qi jolted, all elements bursting apart at their seams, devoured inside out from their cores, reforged within a nanosecond of the existence . The sky splintered into a slit around Hannah, wings of light spreading for ten miles on each end, shining resplendently . Above her, a silver-adorned crown stood up, billowing light backward, folding it over her being, projecting her into a spectral Avatar -- a grand creation, surmounting five miles in height, almost corporeal .


    The winds began blowing in ceremonial concert, sheering through the erected barriers; two members of the Descent were immediately killed, winds tearing through their eyes, mouths, muscles, and bones . With a cry they vanished into thin ash, incorporated into the wind itself .


    "Attack!!" Two called out as hundreds of arrays lit up asudden, the remaining thirty-one members of the Descent spread out into a strange form, in such a way that they themselves formed a gigantic Avatar -- one of the earth-colors, steaming in hazy, ash-colored Qi .


    Hannah pped her hands together, jolting back and ripping open the vestiges of space with the trace of her arms; thousands of tree-thick bolts of crimson lightning appeared, sting away at the giant Avatar opposite of her . The crown on top of her head shuddered, crying out in joy, as she spread her arms wide, Qi tangling around her, forming fanned-out formation of light-woven des . They erupted outwardly, cruising along the curve toward the Avatar that retaliated atst -- boulders formed out of Qi, superimposed over the tiny dots of Purefire, came crashing in a uniform fashion from all frontal angles .


    The des ignored them, thousands of them bursting from nothing into reality, winding about in a long curve before striking at the Avatar’s sides; the perceived skin cracked temporarily, a single cry jolting the sky as a member of descent fell into the oblivion .


    In the meantime, Hannah exhaled a deep breath, the chill manifesting into a circr sigil in front of her . Touching the center with her index figure, she infused it with a storm of Qi, expanding it until it blocked her entire Avatar -- it ate away at the boulders, one by one, as tendrils of smoke arose in their wake, arms breaking out toward her . She spun in ce, raising her arms over her as space beneath her ripped open, a rectangr pir of pure light consuming her, rising up like a curtain, swallowing the smoky arms .


    "Order in Destion," she mumbled lowly as her eyes began shining even brighter, the glow turning into wisps of smoke that folded back over her, forming anotheryer to her crown -- the trail of smoke appeared like the fully carved antlers of a deer . "Sever the Lithe Binds of Creation . "


    The light that ceased being defined by color erupted out of her like the rays of the sun, washing over the surrounding world . The beams weaved about into a loop, converging into a behemoth of a de that sliced over a thousand times in rapid session, cutting through the Avatar, felling five members of the Descent in the process .


    "WHAT IS THIS?!!" Five cried out suddenly, barely managing to evade the de . "Two, we can’t defeat her!! We have to retreat!!"


    "IF WE RETREAT, EVERYONE BEHIND US WILL DIE!!" Two "GO ALL OUT!! WE AT LEAST HAVE TO CONTAIN HER!!"


    Two sucked in a mass of Qi, letting it trail through her body until time around her slowed down to a crawl . She sped her hands together, a process that appeared tost a whole eternity to her, yet itsted less than a second to the observers, sending an ever-weaving shockwave around her that wrapped around the Avatar . The dtion allowed them to easily dodged the strikes as Four stepped slightly out, doused in thick shadows, spreading his fingers wide and belting Qi out in droves .


    Thousands upon thousands of zombified, winged corpses came to, rapidly pping the rotting wings as they dove toward Hannah .


    Thetter, still indifferent, pped her right arm in front of her, causing the space to the left side of the Descent’s Avatar to rip open -- a beam of ever-devouring Light trounced it, burning like the fires of destion .


    Just as she was preparing to continue the attack, Hannah frowned, withdrawing backward in a single sh of light . Space, where she stood, ripped unto itself, exploding into a shockwave, while her beam -- and the rip it wasing from -- vanished from the sky . She had managed to kill six more members of the Descent, though none of the core members .


    Her gaze sharpened, she looked upward, toward the head of the Avatar, where a new figure joined -- ’1’ carved into his forehead .


    " . . . " rather than growing frustrated, however, Hannah smiled rather wickedly, aplete contrast to her ethereal pure figure . "Atst . I was wondering whether you’ll truly let them die . . . "


    " . . . you seem rather confident," Adin said, smiling faintly . "You shouldn’t . "


    "Confident? No," Hannah shook her head, taking a deep breath and taking to the high-sky once more, her Avatar following her . "Angry? Yes . Whatever you may be, you should not have done this, One . Trust me . . . you cannot afford the price you will have to pay . "


    "--I’ve paid my dues already, Elysian" he said, shaking his head . "I did what had to be done . Were you of clear mind, you too would see that the world can’t continue down this path . "


    " . . . Song of the Beginning," Hannah sang in a low tune, spreading her arms wide, as Qi melded into the warm winds that gracefully entangled her . "Of Light, Night, Dawn and Dusk -- Elements of Creation, Manifest . "


    "Spacetime Lock," Adin extended his hand, his palm open, fingers spread, as Two joined him, mimicking his posture . "Pocket of Nothingness . "


    As the elements swelled into an ever-devouring symphony, the two massive Avatars temporarily vanished from everyone’s eyes .


    Though Hannah found herself in apletely different dimension, she appeared unperturbed . Even realizing she couldn’t locate the Descent’s Avatar, rather than confused, she smiled .


    " . . . thank you," she mumbled, bringing her fingers up to her lips, blowing at them gently . "Eternity in a Song; Now, Tomorrow, Forever -- Imand All . "


    The dimension suddenly came alive, like apletely new world sprouting out over the course of billions of years . Oceans,ndmasses, rivers, mountains, hills, trees,kes, living, all seemed to conjoin in the creation of everything thatsted a few breaths . The Descent’s Avatar stood in the distance, both One and Two bearing the expressions of confusion that swiftly turned into anxiety . This wasn’t an illusion, that they immediately ascertained -- Hannah hadposed a whole world, one as diverse and as massive as Noterra -- in the span of a few breaths .


    "All of Creation Heed," they could hear her melodic voice trickle into their ears, one that almost caused them to walk over to her and surrender . "Your Maker is Here . . . "