?


    The woman''s robe fluttered, blown aside by the powerful chime of the bell, revealing arge portion of the naked body thaty underneath. An unexpected consequence that did not appear bothered her. She was a goddess, after all. Her full form was for others to adore, and to her system, lust was as fair a mean of devotion as love and fear were, for that was her system. The devotion system.


    As theyer of divine light brushed past Roley, his mind went nk. His worry and natural enmity towards the woman had dissipated, like the me of a candle being killed by a kid''s inexperienced breath. In their ce, deep and real feelings of love and adoration had emerged, deeper than any feeling Roley had felt in his mortal life. Like many mes would in such cases, however, his true emotion did not remain repressed for long. Shielded byyer uponyer of primordial elemental essences, his true feelings soon emerged like a tsunami, wiping out the forced and unnatural emotions the woman''s control had instilled in his mind and heart.


    Suddenly awake, Roley tried to regain his bearings. His eyes, now of a more visible golden hue than ever, had quickly locked onto the uncountable figures that surrounded him. Only one of whom was not staring at him with a hate so pure, that it made him feel like the literal antagonist of a sacred text, the source of all evils and thest being to die, deservedly, at the end of a book everyone was supposed to keep in their bedside table.


    Der, too powerful of mind to be controlled, was staring at his surroundings with just as much confusion, and alertness.


    "Snap out of it!" the warrior bellowed with a deep andmanding voice. One which flushed through space at the speed of sound, and expanded forward in a way simr to the power created by the woman''s bell, only iparably slower. As Der''s authority came in contact with the ones closest to him, their eyes regained focus, and a semnce of


    individuality re-emerged.


    A relieved sigh shed against the inner part of Der''s metallic helmet. Seeing his gift seed against the mysterious and often ridiculous powers of a champion of destiny had reassured him, or at least, until the bell chimed once more. *DONG* A second wave of golden power washed past him and his army, erasing any of his efforts.


    With a heavy breath and a heavier heart, Der quirked his head at the woman, who wasfortably standing in a sea of her devotees. Her healthy red lips were curved into an arrogant smile, one that broke her divine act, and reminded both Roley and Der that the entity they were dealing with was not a goddess, but a proud warmonger with a thirst for power that few could hope to match.


    She too had been surprised by Der''s unique powers, and its ability to counter the strength of her system''s gift.. but what he could do she could erase in an instant, and far more times than he could. Of that, she was sure of. Her gloating, however, did notst long, as her attention was soon grabbed by the menacing ray of primordial elements aimed at her now quiet bell, which lingered in the air several miles above her head. In it, the graceful woman felt a threat very few entities had managed to make her feel. Bost of them beings she would rather submit to, than fight.


    The ray of multicolored light pierced the very fabric of space, ripping it with the same ease a bullet would a stack of toilet paper, and leaving behind uncountable little cracks that, if left alone, would develop into a source of the universe''s untimely copse.


    With the power he controlled, Roley could have easily destroyed the-sized temple, as well as erased the woman''s existence in the blink of an eye. However, as he looked at the trillions of entities that surrounded her, all staring at him with a zealous hate, he could not bring himself to do it. They were not enemies, they were hostages. There was only one enemy in his eyes, and that was the woman who reveled in their envement.


    The attack he had unleashed was extremely menacing, and while not as fast as the wave created by the woman''s bell, thetter''s stationary behavior made it an easy target for his attack.


    Several cracks formed on the bell''s surface, hammered by the sheer pressure of Roley''s attack. There was no doubt in his mind that that single strike would be enough to shatter the bell into shards of whatever metal the devotion system had made it out of. However, the woman did not appear worried.


    With the usual arrogant smile still present on her lips, the woman observed with satisfaction as millions of her followers leaped from the tform that held the archives and into the air. Mortals, beasts, aliens and cultivators alike, they all jumped in the path of the attack, forming a wall of white and gold power that, upon contact with Roley''s strike, caused it to splinter into its individual elements, and dissipate not long before meeting with the golden bell.


    While unable to meet its target, the split remnants of elemental powers were still enough to set aze, and strike the woman''s followers with spears of ice, molten rock, metal and sharp winds, leaving behind only burnt and shredded limbs of flesh that floated eerily around the bell they had barely managed to protect.


    The ecstatic smiles that Roley had seen on these people''s faces in the moment that preceded their deaths, impassive and evesting even when his attack had wrecked havoc into their bodies, ripping them to shreds, had sent a shiver down his spine. He now knew why the aspect of Sacrifice had decided to bear the woman''s existence, rather than eradicating her like its species was so eager to do with the other champions of Destiny. Her entire nature tied closely to the nature of sacrifice, or at least, the most drastic element of the devotion system was.


    So many people had taken their own lives, he remembered.


    He had thought them to be loyal servants of Sacrifice, eager to increase its influence as their only mean to fight off the invasion of the Immortal Armada and Elemental Army, which they never allowed to approach close enough to even initiate a conversation, let alone a conflict.. but that was not the case. The temples Roley had seen, small constructs next to which the inhabitants of the universe were quick tomit mass suicide, they felt very simr to the woman''s bell.


    As Roley came to this realization, the beautiful woman had came to one of her own.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her gracious smile had grown shallower, and the divine behavior that characterized her had now disappeared, reced by the alertness of abatant facing a deadly enemy. The creatures that had gone to protect her bell also happened to be some of the strongest followers at her disposal, all cultivators at various levels of the godhood stage, and yet all turned into minced meat. It became painfully clear that the young schrly looking man that stood pensive in front of her was far more powerful than she had imagined. More powerful than she was.


    Yet, she was not yet out of moves.


    In the youth''s gaze she had seen a hint of disgust. One that was different whenpared to that of other champions of Destiny, and that felt more personal. That was to say that he did not dislike her for being a champion of Destiny, as much as he disliked her for using and discarding people''s lives on a whim.


    The Woman''s bright bluish eyes were still locked onto Roley, unbothered by the presence of the older warrior who, at some point, had joined the former. In her mind, scenarios yed out of how she could face the this terrifying foe, or at least, how to better put into action the few cards she had left to y.


    Any attempt of creating a system mission were of course made pointless, but attempts that she made nheless. The two men were engaging in a conversation, more bothered by the well being of their own brainwashed followers than by her own presence. A hit to her ego, that was for sure, but also a chance to think things through, take a few breaths in, and swallow her pointless pride so that a more natural side of her existence could take over. The part that many a time had allowed her to survive a deadly encounter.


    In an attempt to calm down, the stunning woman allowed the two crowns of goldenshes to once again brush over her bluish eyes, but when her eyes opened once more, she realized that Roley had disappeared, and was now standing on top of the stone tform, just a few steps away from the cathedral''s entrance. His movement had been instantaneous. One moment he was there, barely visible to her senses, and the next, he was upying the corner of her eyes, causing the hair at the back of her neck to stand on end, and her blood to flow slowly, and cold.


    "Don''te any closer." She blurted out in a state of shock.


    The panic the woman had shown had struck a chord within Roley. He could not tell whether it was the part of him that made him a champion of Destiny, or whether it was the part of him that had stepped into the path to be a pseudo aspect of existence, but he had enjoyed the woman''s reaction. His rational and human mind had tried to convince him that he was just a human, enjoying striking a mental blow at the viin, but deep down, he too did not believe that to be the case.


    Regardless of the cause of his tion, he did not let it show on his face. Instead, he remained calm andposed. Like the woman in front of him had realized him to be a being of a superior level, he was aware of it too. "Do you think your followers would be able to shield you, were I to strike you from this distance?" Roley asked calmly. The primordial elemental essences within his body drifted outward, putting a nauseating pressure onto the woman''s shoulders.


    While Roley''s words and presence were aimed at dealing another blow at the woman''s psyche, however, they seemed to calm her down instead, give her reassurance. A gentle smile had, at some point, returned on her striking features, moving Roley''s inexperienced heart on a primordial level. "Likely not. But I rather not think of the suffering my followers would feel, witnessing the death of their goddess. Knowing they had failed to prevent it."


    "Would they even care?" Roley retorted. He did not believe her system''s powers to survive its wielder''s death.


    The smile on the woman''s face grew wider, and more enchanting. "No, they would not. But that does not mean they will not act on it." She assured as her eyes, a mixture of light blue and gold, shifted to the tens of millions of entities Roley had left behind. Cultivators of the Immortal Armada, and elementals of the Elemental Army.


    Roley ignored the woman''s gaze. His attention had been drawn to the small temple thaty on top of her smooth and pale palm. A small construct he was very familiar with, for he had seen many of its replicas in every single his army had tried to approach. Shaped like the unnatural child of a bell tower and a marble carved fountain, the construct, barely big enough to cover the woman''s palm, shone of gold, with rings of the woman''s blood that orbited it quietly. What had caught Roley''s attention, however, was not the small temple itself, but its uncountable connections to the temples that had yet to be activated across the universe. Some of which, he had only now noticed, were hidden on his, as well as the biggest vessels within the armada.


    Unsure of when the woman had had a chance to install these temples, or how they had escape his attention until now, of one thing he was sure. The entirety of his and Der''s armies were under their ray of influence.


    "I have read your eyes, odd brother. You felt pain when my followers died." She sung with a matter of fact tone, tapping gently with her bare feet as she walked rounds around Roley. "Kill me here, and my little temples will activate. Kill me here, and your people will die too.. Kill me here, and you will have more blood on your hands than any other mortal to ever exist."


    This is a bluff, he thought-But was it a risk he was willing to take? A system''s treasure was an item, after all. Not a function. Its existence was not tied to the system''s existence, and just like Daniel''s, they could survive the destruction of the system which had created them. If what she said was true, the moment he would struck her down, the temples would activate, and not only the members of the Armada and the Elemental army, but many other civilizations across the universe would fall under the temple''s universe, andmit mass suicide.


    He would not allow that to happen. He couldn''t.


    His mind started to spin with worry and urgency, trying to concoct an optimal solution out of this mess, yet distracted by the now familiar melodic voice which, along with the gentle touch of the woman''s palm that gently cupped onto his jaw, spoke. "Let us talk for a bit."