Lord of Myths: I Can Summon and Fuse Divine Powers.-Chapter 74: The Weaver of Stories and the Tyrant of the Abyss. (4)
"I won’t lose this battle, because I’m not alone," Anansi announced with an almost tangible coldness.
Her lilac hair waved elegantly in that crystallized reality.
Anansi had never liked using the Lwa to combat.
She didn’t want to lose them, didn’t want them to die or be destroyed, after all they were important to her.
They were her only company during entire eras.
That’s why she didn’t want to lose them, it was something simple to understand.
However, Anansi understood one thing.
She couldn’t keep being prudent, holding back to not go overboard, or keep keeping the Lwa inside her pocket dimension, when most surely they were anxious to fight.
The reason for all of them was simple, if the demon goddess of tyranny killed her now, her Lwa would be in danger, and surely would also perish.
Then would follow all those who were in that city, Aurudil.
After, all of Caelestia would fall.
Subsequently, the entire planet would end up being destroyed.
Even Alioth, her precious student, would end up being murdered by the demon goddess of tyranny.
All the time and effort she had dedicated to repairing and purifying the planet’s Azoth would be in vain.
All the sacrifice and suffering her father and creator had to suffer would be in vain.
In other words, if she lost now, no matter what she had done, everything would be destroyed, everything would be in vain.
So, if she didn’t fight with everything now, she would be renouncing all her previous sacrifice.
Anansi couldn’t allow something like that.
That revelation had made it clear to her.
Everything was at stake in that combat, losing at that moment meant renouncing everything she had fought for.
Why not give it everything then?
Hundreds of Lwa began to escape, from her pockets, from under her hat, from her sleeves.
They were tales her master had told her, woven with her threads to give them life.
The Lwa.
Each one came out with emotion, occupying a space in that crystallized reality, which at that same instant fragmented into different shards.
Fragments of that crystallized reality, which now formed a shell around them to protect them from that reality trying to murder them.
That infinite darkness the goddess of tyranny had created.
Each one was expelled far away, to a specific place in the abyssal reality they were in, thus covering much more ground.
Then, the Lwa abandoned their puppet forms adopting their true form.
Beasts, animals or imposing creatures of all kinds and great size.
The reality crystallization that served as their protection also grew along with their bodies, to be able to continue protecting them.
Some had more humanoid forms than bestial, though that didn’t make them weaker.
At that instant winds of legends made reality had spread surrounded by a reality crystallization built specifically to counteract the properties of the very properties and laws of the environment they occupied.
But not only that, the crystallized reality surrounding them was growing little by little, as if they had become a nucleus that allowed the extension of that mosaic reality network.
"Ohhh, what a cheesy phrase, it’s not at all like you," the Ashura assured calmly with a certain sarcastic and mocking tone. "But you’re right, I don’t need anyone to win, I suppose you do, but if you think those dolls will make a difference in our confrontation, you’re being too delusional, Anansi."
The demon goddess of tyranny assured as she floated in that ocean of darkness, while her hair waved fluidly.
"But you know, it’s fine for you to have that hope, if you gave up too soon it would be too easy for me to defeat you," the Ashura assured again, though this time from another body.
She had merged with the reality she had created, therefore, all that reality was Caligo.
Thanks to that, the demon goddess of tyranny had managed to create multiple copies of herself throughout that void of innocuous darkness.
Hundreds of copies of herself floated in that void calmly around the witch.
"I see you’re very proud, but I don’t see any achievement that supports that arrogance," Anansi responded, serious as always, almost indifferent, though inside the reality was very different.
Anansi felt how a mix of rage but also of courage burned with force in her chest, something that could only be perceived in the slight glow of her eyes.
The demon goddess of tyranny on the other hand wasn’t altered at all, as if this were just a game.
"Oh come on, do you really think that? It’s obvious at first glance that I far surpass you in power," another of the various Caligos floating around the witch responded.
However, Anansi didn’t let herself be affected by that comment, quite the opposite, she seemed to feed on her enemy’s insults.
"You say that but if it weren’t because you cowardly merged with your environment, you would have already died," Anansi reminded her, who had already managed to destroy one of the demon goddess’s bodies.
In fact, technically she had destroyed her original avatar, and if it weren’t because the Ashura had merged with the environment with Azoth, Anansi would have already won.
That comment did draw a grimace on the Ashura’s face, but that grimace would quickly become a smile.
Yes, that was true, but Anansi couldn’t reproach anything to the demon goddess of tyranny.
"Ha! You say that, but you had to use a similar trick at the beginning of the combat, if it weren’t for that measure, you would have died from the first blow," the Ashura responded. "I think in that sense, you’re more pathetic than me."
Anansi felt a slight pang in her chest.
What the demon goddess of tyranny had just said was unfortunately very true.
She herself depended on a system that sustained her life to survive. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
However, the witch wasn’t too worried about that.
Her objective wasn’t to win the discussion, she didn’t care much about that.
Anansi was just buying time, so that the reality crystals she had spread throughout the infinite void of innocuous darkness would begin to grow.
Each exchange of words with her enemy was actually a way to buy time to better spread her network.
"I suppose so, but at least I made you admit you’re pathetic," the witch responded intelligently.
If Anansi was more pathetic than the demon goddess of tyranny, the latter must therefore be at least minimally pathetic.
That move seemed to definitely annoy the Ashura, whose face was no longer smiling or with a mocking expression.
Her brow was furrowed and her gaze had intensified.
"You... You’re a bi—"
But before she could finish her sentence, the head of the Caligo who was speaking at that moment was torn off.
A lion with golden skin and mane had quickly crossed the void and torn off that Caligo’s head with a bite.
"Y-you... Shit, now you’ll see," another of Caligo’s copies growled, noticing what had happened.
The demon goddess of tyranny was quite easy to distract, her arrogance made it very easy.
However, it didn’t mean the Ashura was stupid, as soon as she realized Anansi was using that conversation to buy time, she got serious.
The Ashura’s clones shot out among laughter going to intercept the Lwa, who were spreading the crystallized reality around them.
The demon goddess of tyranny’s copies and the Lwa surrounded by reality crystallization began to clash with each other.
The Ashura couldn’t use her authority directly on the Lwa because the network protected them, therefore she had to be creative.
For example, the Ashura used the command [manifest] to invoke elements or attacks.
Though what she was really doing was manifesting elements of unreality or fantasy.
She imagined an object, element or phenomenon in a determined state or with specific characteristics and manifested it in the "real" world.
With that, she could make all kinds of attacks, from energy swords, fireballs, a meteor rain.
All kinds of diverse and varied attacks.
Though of course, the Lwa were also versatile.
They had powers inspired by the tales Anansi’s creator told Anansi herself.
Which in turn, had been inspired by or related stories from his world.
In a way, they were entities very similar to the legends Alioth could manifest.
Their powers ranged from creating elements or manipulating them, to controlling the weather or using the power of the sun or moon.
Due to the variety of attacks and powers clashing with each other, that void of innocuous darkness had become quite a spectacle.
Lwa adopting monstrous forms to devour Caligo’s copies, or Caligo creating incredibly destructive phenomena to finish off some Lwa.
The demon goddess of tyranny began to weaken, but also several Lwa were falling.
Anansi knew it, but didn’t let herself be distracted by it, nor by the spectacle surrounding her.
She knew Lwa would most surely end up dying if she released them.
But even so she did it, because she trusted in their strength, and knew their sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.
Therefore, she couldn’t let herself be distracted, she had to make an effort and show she was worthy of such sacrifice.
Therefore, Anansi concentrated, she was weaving, having a reality, or perhaps a fantasy.
Under her control thousands of threads intertwined, while she felt how all the crystallized reality spread throughout the infinite void of innocuous darkness.
It was time to turn the board around.
