Mistress Of The Evil Forest-Case 249: Past lives.
[I've got the strangest feeling.]
[Have you noticed?]
[This isn't our first time around.]
[Perhaps this is all a dream. Perhaps... sometimes, the dream is finally waking up.]
The Heavenly Demon's voice softly rings amidst the swirling reality. Aurora stands still, taking in the words that seem to be for both of them.
Their battle has stretched for an unknown amount of time. Again and again, they clash, repeating the motions found within countless battles in other parallel realities.
How does she handle the demon in those iterations?
Aurora asks herself quietly.
Past lives, future lives, she must have faced this enemy for an eternity. Many must have succeeded, and many must have failed, but in the end, Aurora only has herself to rely on in this world.
Gradually, her grip on the Sword of Nihility tightens.
With a wide slash across the sky, the cage that has been attempting to imprison her is torn to shreds, revealing the real rivers of stars above. The Heavenly Demon unveils herself from the pulsing black sun, holding an ambiguous smile on her face.
After countless clashes, Aurora remains untouchable, while the sun has shrunk significantly. Whatever she throws at the God of Nihility is devoured whole by the unsatiable beast—helplessly so.
[...I see. The child of destiny is truly something else.]
The demon chuckles bitterly. Her pale, bony hand reaches toward the girl, whose slit eyes are as calm as a lake. They stay undisturbed even as countless arms emerge from within the sun, holding onto the Heavenly Demon's flesh. They wrap around her thin body as shackles, ravishly pulling her toward the depths of madness.
[Well, then, let's keep dancing until the end... m■̷͉̗̫̆̓͘ ■̸͍̈́̈́̒■̴͕̦̗̹͉͌̈͌̿́■̶̧̟̠̻̿̈́̆̄■̷͉̗̫̆̓͘■̶̣̻͛̋̎̀■̵͇̳̱͗͌̄͝!]
The black sun once again regains its dominance as it slowly rises into the air. With each throb, like that of a barely contained heart, the world trembles, and the sound reverberates across vast lands. Palpable masses of madness, taking the form of cloud-like, bright red smoke, pour down incessantly.
What eventually becomes of that mess is a creature straight out of someone's nightmare.
Its hideous arm pierces from within the sun, pulling itself out of the cocoon. Its limbs alone are longer than high-rise buildings, built with hastily patched flesh and bones, and with rolling, bloodshot eyes ridden across. The torso is thin, rippling with fresh blood that spurts out in waves, and the head remains featureless, save for one eye, placed vertically, that has yet to open.
The creature lets out incomprehensible noises as it falls face-first onto the ground, having just been 'born' from the cocoon of madness. Soon, it pulls itself up and finally looks at Aurora.
''So this is what you call... past lives?'' The God of Nihility sighs. ''I'd be ashamed of myself if I came out looking this hideous.''
[■̷̢̡̛͉͉̓͌̚̚■̶̢͎͕̯̹̞́͆̄̐͝■̷͓̮̒̾͐͌͌̅■̷͉̻̘̠̽̇͌͋͘ ■̴̖̹͉̥̺͒̀̌͂̆̎■̶̧͍͎̿■̴̢̡͇̰͂̈͊͑̃■̴͔͔̥̣̈́͗̀̀́■̶̢̈́■̷͎̺̫̥͎͋̽■̵̺͔̟̄ͅ ■̷̻̬̲̎̅■̶͓̪̼̪̚■̸̧̛̬̂■̵̖̱͖̙̮́͜■̴̥͇͉͖̤͝■̸̜͖̫͗͘ͅ ■̸̧̛͓͉̟̪͂́͛͛̕■̴̛̪̤̰̭̮̿͆̕■̴̥͔̱͎̟̯̆̀̔͋́̐]
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
''I guess that's true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.''
[■̷̯̰̰̾̋͠■̴̻̻̮̖̣̆̔■̵͈̫̊͑ ■̶̢̛̙̝̗͕̀̍̉̆͠■̸̣̣̖̙̔͆̈̀̌͋͜■̴̤̫͙̥̦̣̎ ■̶̩́■̸͇̲̫̟̄̄■̴̬̫͎̎͐̇̿͌■̸̨̜̃̀͠■̶̼̰̘̌̍̒̐?]
''Sorry, but I only have myself here.''
Taking a deep breath, Aurora's power swells. An invisible flame seems to have been lit along the edge of her sword as she whirls herself at the Heavenly Demon.
In response, all eyes on the anomalous creature peer wide open, gleaming with a dense fog of madness within the pupils. They follow the little human's nimble movement, noticing and recording every little spread of her white wings and the dancing arcs of that sword.
Around the two vastly lopsided figures, a dozen black sun descends, from which countless dark bolts pull themselves toward Aurora, dense enough to fill an empty sea. The bullets persistently pursue the little white silhouette, undeterred despite Aurora's rapid blinks and teleports.
Silently observing the behaviour of the suns, Aurora continues to dodge the incoming attacks while dealing her own damage to the main body. The slashes of nihility count properly, as the beasts within are still able to gnaw at the creature's flesh. Yet, every wound they cause seems to regenerate instantly, even faster than when the demon uses her human body.
'Where does she get the energy from?'
Aurora quietly ponders.
A fight between gods is a fight of energy. Whoever runs out of energy first loses. Before committing to any strategy, Aurora has to determine the opponent's supply.
''...''
After thinking for a brief moment, she lowers her sword. Her eyes point at the far and vast sky, at which point her silent will ascends toward.
''...Leviathan.'' Aurora softly calls.
In an instant, the world lets out painful screeches as it trembles. For a moment, even the very foundation of the planet seems to cower in fear, as if expecting a terrifying entity to descend.
And indeed, not long afterward, a vast rift opening can be observed right above the battlefield. Bit by bit, the cracks eat further into the fabric of space, louder, and with a bellowing growl sounding from the other side.
With a deafening explosion, a pitch-black serpent bursts out of the rift. Its size, too colossal to comprehend, covers the sky whole, falling onto the helpless earth. Its jaw opens wide, clamping down with thousands of teeth.
Before the Heavenly Demon can react, its entire upper body is cleanly severed, leaving two stumps of legs swaying.
Since maintaining the massive rift for Leviathan to arrive from the void costs an exorbitant amount of power, the cosmic beast is promptly returned.
Aurora spreads her wings wide, a speck of white blazing across the darkness, leaving behind the pursuing bolts. Her eyes stare intently at the demon's body as it regenerates to form within a mere second.
'Got it.'
While finding the source of the demon's energy is difficult, she can now confirm that it has a limit. Though very faintly, she has detected a slight decrease in its healing speed when the final parts of the body are constructed.
Aurora channels power to her sword, blazing a white flame along its spine. Her arm dances as countless cuts are made around the demon, which soon turn into rifts. Familiar growls fill the area, making it apparent that there are still those who can devour within the God of Nihility's void.
Meanwhile, the attacks continue to rain on Aurora, though they are actively being neutralized, directed straight to the Backrooms by pitch-black portals formed around her body.
In a matter of minutes, the fight's dynamic has been changed, and it seems as though it will stay this way for the remainder of it.
An endless rain of attacks pours onto Aurora's little figure, fuelled by the increasingly unstable black suns, threatening to burn her divine body whole should a speck of it touch her skin. At the same time, furious claws and maws flood from the dense formation of space rifts, tearing the Heavenly Demon's body continuously.
For the whole duration of this exchange, the two stare intently at one another.
A fight between gods is a fight of energy. Before long, one of them will succumb to defeat first. The longest seconds dreadfully pass. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, and after a period felt longer than an eternity, one of the two finally falters.
''Hah... hah...''
Heaving two deep breaths, Aurora slowly descends as the bolts quiet down. On the tattered ground, traces of a once huge creature remain—blood, flesh, bones, and a thick fog of madness that lowers visibility.
In the very center sits a bloodied heart, barely throbbing.
''...''
Aurora wordlessly raises her sword, preparing to strike the last of the demon's vitality. Yet, she feels someone's embrace from behind at the very last moment.
[Not so soon, my dear.]
''...!''
The Heavenly Demon puts her grinning mouth closer to Aurora's ear, whispering sweetly,
[Let's do it again. This time... in reverse.]
A blinding light covers their silhouettes.
