RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

4:16 v3 The Grand Finale

“It’s about time for me to go,” I muttered, handing off Amari Ren to Inesa, whose body still hummed with power. The little one wiggled their little fingers at me, chubby cheeks flushed red from me tickling them. I’d needed to fill my ears with the laughter of a child before I witnessed what was to come. Inesa accepted them with a solemn expression, little Sequoia clinging to her dress and watching me with eyes that saw too much emotion. I smiled at her, and blew a raspberry. She smiled, and blew one back. “Take good care of them, Inesa. I’ll be back soon, with your husband in tow.”And I teleported, aiming for the Capital of Art. It would take me a few teleports to get there – such was the size of the One World, and Yueya’s Authority was still fighting me – but I should get there in time for the taking of the city itself. In fact, one of my incarnations could already see it, floating in the sky above the Four Realms’ armies. I’d sent it ahead as a runner, to make sure nothing was going to stop me.

Only, I appeared just outside the Four Realms, nowhere close to where I’d wanted to go. I frowned, not used to misjudging things like that. Was I still injured? I shook my head, and tried again – only, this time I didn’t go anywhere. The teleport happened, but it felt like running in place. Everything was sluggish, slow, and –

My incarnation vanished. Crushed, in an instant, by a bolt of energy that radiated Yueya and Rot and Authority, piercing through the, admittedly weak, construct without warning. A scream of rage tore its way out of my mouth as I pumped all my power, what power I could spare, anyways, into flying at maximum speed, desperation fueling me as I realized what had happened. Why I had felt so relaxed. Why my kids had been able to exert more power than expected on the way over. And I hadn’t seen it, because it had only chosen to act now.

The rot was clever, and had neutralized me in a way that hurt me more than any physical pain.

The entire third of the One World's Authority, the Will, that was not under the control of the Four Realms was entirely focused on suppressing my movement, preventing me from teleporting directly there. It would take me hours to pass the distance between the Four Realms and the One World, hours that we no longer had. I was supposed to be there for the final assault. I was supposed to protect them from whatever trap Yueya had laid out.

Yueya, or the Rot that controlled her, had played her hand, and neutralized my greatest strength – that I was everywhere. I grit my teeth and dug into the authority I possessed, pushing hard against it, shoving it out into the world. There was only so little I could do, though, from this distance. All her power was put into keeping me at a distance.

I could only hope my children were strong enough to hold out until I got there.

***

Xing Wu knew they were walking into a trap. This was it. This was the finale. They had walked right into the heart of enemy territory, blitzing the capital before the One World could rebuild itself into something even more dangerous, intent on breaking their will to fight. The rest of the One World’s armies had yet to collapse upon the city, despite the bloodbath that had been the battle outside the walls.

Atreum was nowhere to be found. Curie's SystemGuardians were nervous - they were machines, yet somehow still nervous. Despite the surrender of the city, it was far from over.

Xing Wu leaned against his spear as he stood beside Alanna, watching the gods work on bringing the barrier down. Every second that passed was another second for the trap to be sprung. The Four Realms had already won this war, in his opinion. The One World was fractured. Two of the three pieces of the Origin Deity had been subdued or allied. It was only a matter of time now.

That made this last battle all the more dangerous. He could feel it in his bones. They were cornered, desperate, and some last-ditched effort is expected.

The last-ditch effort of an Origin Deity and their shadow was not something that could be ignored. Especially since a significant portion of the Four Realms' military strength was here, right now. Yueya may not be able to win, but she could certainly cripple the Four Realms if she were to somehow manage to take out everyone here. He glanced over at Alanna, not voicing his concerns quite yet.

The Celestial Empress was a brilliant leader. Charismatic, kind, always with the best interests of her people in mind even when they didn't know it. Her Dao was her nation and her people; her Divine Domain simply that of the Empress. But she lacked cruelty. She lacked the mentality to make the choice to flip the board - she was always looking for a way out, never to just sacrifice everything to make sure the opponent did not win.

Keilan and Alexander were much the same. That was why the Shadow had managed to be so devastating in the Sun War. They had principles. It made them excellent at their job. Morgan had not, and did everything they could to win. Hell, even Xing Wu had principles that blinded him at times.

But he could at least see that within himself, which was why he needed to play the villain. he wondered, thoughts immediately going to turning the entire city into a bomb and blowing everyone to kingdom come. But that wouldn't kill Alexander and Keilan - and if he wanted to do the absolute most damage to the Four Realms, that needed to be his target. Two of the big four, and the three Pillars that were here - himself, Kei, and Solana. Their deaths alone would be a destabilizing blow.

he wondered. He knew what he would do; charge in without thinking, attack first questions later. he trailed off, frowning. Maybe the bomb idea wasn't bad. But instead of an actual bomb, it spreads spores?

Xing Wu looked back out over the assembled army, shifting nervously as they were in their spots. Everyone knew a slog of a fight was ahead, and a few ambushes from the city's residents kept everyone on their toes. The issue with the infection plan was that they already had countermeasures. Astraea's light. Kei's freedom. Even Solana's flames could burn it away. Hell, even regular cultivators, the non-immortal kind, were starting to be able to pick it out.

They called the spores "heart demons," whatever that meant. Self-doubt, maybe? Things that destabilized their cultivation?

"You are tense," Alanna noted, expression placid as Alexander breathed out another stream of golden flame at the barrier, the entire thing rippling dramatically. He grunted, leaning against his spear heavily.

"Just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Think it will?"

"I know it will. Just look at Solana. She's tense," He gestured vaguely to the great bird of fire, where she sat atop a church steeple, glaring around at all beneath her. Golden flames licked the ground around her, harmless to all who touched it, but burning away Rot spores. "Honestly, and this is going to sound bad, but we should've brought Morgan along. Or more devil cultivators. They'd know best."

"I can probably help," the Mad Scientist said, startling Xing Wu. He had completely forgotten she was there, the avian woman's immortal aura present, but dwarfed from the rest of the divine natures floating around. "I've been watching for it, too."

"...why am I not surprised?" he muttered, shaking his head. "All my techniques are being blinded right now. When I try to channel the Eyes of Heaven, all I can see is whiteness." The eyes of Statera Luotian was still not his best technique, but it was incredibly useful. When it wasn’t being whited out by the power of another Origin Deity.

"Yes, Yueya is blinding the divine. Which is why using mortal techniques might work better. An ant can slip through holes a man cannot," the Mad Scientist muttered, pulling out a strange, blocky device and screwdriver, messing with it.

"That's not how divine power works." Alanna deadpanned.

"No, but it's a great metaphor," the Mad Scientist agreed. Xing Wu snorted again, shaking his head and glaring at the green barrier.

...no. He was thinking about this like a warrior. He needed to think about this like an animal. Something instinctual and lashing out.

If he were the rot, he'd take out the most direct threats to its existence first; Kei, and Astraea, the latter of whom was somewhere in the back of the army, her silver light spreading out like a lattice of calm. The entire city was covered with it, a halo of peace and freedom keeping everything down.

The barrier cracked, and Xing Wu tensed, grip tightening around his spear. Funny, how he now considered Atreum's old spear as his. It was a fine work of art, after all, and he'd been run through with it.

Another crack formed as Keilan laced his karmic strings into the widening hole, pulling harshly. The entire barrier trembled, shuddering and shifting beneath the weight of a God's might - not just any god, but one who can challenge, if not win against, an Origin Deity. Xing Wu braced himself, deceptively calm on the outside as the barrier trembled, shook, then shattered.

Green shards fell to the earth, dissolving in the air. The army shifted, gods and angels readying themselves for any kind of fight that would emerge - the royal guard, possessed gods, anything. Xing Wu kept his senses wide open, soaking it all up, while the Mad Scientist continued to tap away on her device.

Nothing happened for a long, long moment. No movement. The people they had seen behind the barrier when it all started were long gone, hiding or...well, Xing Wu didn’t want to think about the alternative. Especially because nothing showed up on his senses.

Alanna held her fist up, holding the line for a tense few moments. Then, wordlessly, she began to march. Xing Wu took the lead, the rhythmic stomping of booted feet rumbling against the ground. Every alley they passed brought more and more tension into Xing Wu. His shoulders were stiff. His power swirled in his chest like a storm. And every step brought him closer and closer -

It happened before he realized it. Before anyone realized it, save for the Mad Scientist. The first syllable of warning was forming on her lips - and that was all the advanced warning Xing Wu got.

It was enough.

He moved without thinking, streaks of red like angry red lightning bolts streaking through the crowd. Gods were slain. Angels speared through, skewered as the ground split and rot pierced upward in a forest of hatred, aiming for the keys to their counter-offensive; Kei, who danced around the spears as they cut through her illusions, unable to find her true body; Solana, who danced around the spears as they shot into the sky like missiles, narrowly avoiding them; and Astraea, who stood frozen in fear. And Xing Wu threw himself in front of Astraea.

The red rot pierced his flesh. Rammed straight through muscle and bone to spray out his back like an obscene tree. Astraea gasped in horror, the star goddess flinching backward as Xing Wu spread his power out, shielding her as best he could. Somewhere off to his left, Kei cackled.

Then came the poison. It burned through his veins, not just trying to destroy every divine cell in his body, but actively trying to infect his mind. It was beautiful, the way he could see it working. Just as they had been studying the Rot, it was studying them. This was a poison designed for cultivators. For the Four Realms.

To drive itself as a wedge between the Heavens and the Earth was a very, very bold idea. Just as the Rot had been studied by Gilles and the Four Realms, they had been studied by the Rot. And for a brief moment, Xing Wu did admire it. It pressed against not only every insecurity he had, but every moment of rage, every moment of joy, searching for that weak spot. It had evolved beyond obsession. It sought to run Statera Luotian's children against them.

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The rot hadn't given up. It was searching for a new army. It was trying to take theirs.

Above him, Alexander roared, Keilan shouting obscenities as Xing Wu struggled against the rot. Astraea panicked behind him, her silver light making the Rot's advance stutter, but ultimately didn't do much. She was too unfocused - and in his moment of distraction, he felt the rot dig deeper. Toward Inesa and Sequoia.

Their memories burned in his mind, Inesa's laughter. Sequoia's outrageous giggles as he tickled her. The Rot brought all those memories to the forefront, the pain of leaving home, the desire to return, to hang up his spear and let it all just...go. He wanted to watch Sequoia grow up. Maybe terrorize whatever poor sap she brought home when she got old enough. Live with Inesa.

For the first time in his life, his mind gave voice to his innermost thoughts, the deepest of secrets at the heart of his warrior pride. ' It was a sobering realization, because he didn't. He was a warrior. He'd always be a warrior. But that didn't mean he wanted to go fight anymore. He wasn't a child. He didn't need to fight every schoolyard bully. He didn't -

His rage was quiet. For one such as him, everyone expected his rage to be loud and visible, and in many ways it was. But the worst of it was the quiet anger. The kind that festered and rotted and grew until it burst out of him. This time, for the first time since the Sun War itself, he let it out instead of controlling it. He let the rot take hold, and twisted its manipulation to his own ends with a few choice thoughts - how dare it? How dare it touch Inesa and Sequoia's memories? How dare it try to change him?

No amount of wishing would protect his wife and daughter, or take him back home. No amount of dreaming would let him lay down his spear and live quietly - not yet. So long as the rot existed in this capacity, he could not rest. It wanted to make him obsessed? For now, in this moment, that would be his obsession. The obliteration of danger to his wife and daughter.

Only then, did he let his rage burst out. Only then did he show the Rot the height of the heavens. For he was the one who dared, and stars were untouchable when it came to the common concerns of man.

As he burned through the poison, divine power finding it and flushing it out, Solana shrieked. Her wings flared as three gods of the One World descended upon her, eye filled with a mad light and murder in their aura. Words, war cries, were half formed on their lips as they struck - the first one’s whip clipped Solana’s wing, sending her reeling, a net cast over her made of ice that steamed against her fires - and then Xing Wu was there, the moment of hesitation gone, cutting through it, silver light of the stars flaring as he laid into the three with savage fury.

Golden fire raced past him as Solana lent her aid, his clones engaging with more two other gods that struck at Astraea and Kei, all while Keilan and Alexander roared in the skies above.

"Gather! Mortals, behind the immortals! Watch your feet!" Alanna commanded, bleeding from the forehead at the front of the army as she tried to rally the breaking formation.

The gods of the One World snarled, their divine light radiating brightly, building up - Xing Wu's eyes widened. He should have expected martyrdom.

"Shields!" He roared, divine power flaring outward, forming a hexagonal barrier angled below the exploding divinities. The technique snapped into place with a roar of power, tapping into the divine domain of Statera Luotian themself. "Balance of the All Heaven!" The enemy detonations stuttered, their rapidly worsening divinity forcibly balancing itself for a brief moment. Solana shot down to the ground as Xing Wu grit his teeth, holding their self-detonation back for one moment, two, just enough for the gods of the Four Realms to get their defenses up -

He saw fire and death. The peak of the capital shook as he was sent hurtling down into an opening chasm, the entire mountaintop shaking, people screaming, consciousness fading. Divine power ran amok as the skies shattered, shards of blue sky falling to the ground like broken glass.

Xing Wu hissed through his teeth, forcing himself to focus through the blackening of his vision, letting his main body fall while his clones continued their work in protecting everyone.

Why was it always martyrdom? Just once, he wanted a straight fight against a serious opponent without people suiciding around them.

***

The peak of the Capital of Art shook. Not because of the dozen or so divinities that had detonated their godhood - or at least portions of it, for the entire mountain was not wiped off the map by the detonation of multiple gods - but because of something far, far worse.

It shook rhythmically. A heartbeat.

Alexander bared his teeth, a few of his scales cracked where some of the enemy gods had blown up some of their power, sacrificing pieces but not totality, to damage him. Keilan, on the other hand, was unscathed. He had always considered himself the smartest of the siblings - where as Alexander and Elvira wanted to tank damage, he preferred to just not be in a position to receive an injury at all.

"We need to get our forces off the mountain," he said, incarnations already doing exactly that. He and the other gods teleported their people off the peak by the billions, the allied forces of the One World fleeing, SystemGuardians evacuating the city. Xing Wu had fallen into one of the cracks forming in the peak, though his clones still did their work.

"The rot is infecting our troops. It wants to build itself a new army through us," Alexander growled out, curling himself up into an S-shape in the air, glaring down at the mountain's peak. More cracks formed, and Keilan recalled all his incarnations.

"Astraea is working on countering it as we speak -"

Whatever else he had to say was cut off by an explosion of power. Not literally - the smoking forms of the gods who had detonated themselves did not blow the cap off the mountain, or dig a hole into the core of the planet, but it was unmistakably a statement.

Worse, it felt less like an intentional display, and more like a great beast sighing.

"Hold, brother," Alexander snarled. "Whatever comes out next, we are the only ones who can face it."

Neither of them understood how true those words were until that next moment. A heartbeat later.

Alanna ferried her soldiers onto the airships, letting even civilians of the One World, innocents, on.

Kei teleported next to them, for once her face grim.

Solana shrieked, golden fires flaring.

Curie's System delivered a final message:

{[Alert! Evacuate! Alert! Yueya has -]}

The message cut off in a string of static and unintelligible symbols. And the mountain moved.

Stone crumbled, the entire mountain falling in on itself. The ground rumbled, the plains the city had been situated on rising leagues higher as something beneath the surface began to move. The Airships rose into the air, the Mad Scientist's modifications proving their worth as they shot skyward, out of immediate danger.

And mountain ranges began to crumble. With a horrible groaning sound, the giant beneath the city rose, miles of stone and dirt crumbling as the great being opened its eyes - each the size of a sun, brilliant and beautiful in all the colors of the rainbow. Keilan and Alexander stood in the air, awestruck, as the being began to rise to a sitting position, towering over them, mountains falling off her shoulders to crumble to pieces upon her legs, arms shoving off eons of debris that had been built up on top of her.

{[Alert!

You are looking at the Oshun's true body. It is - $*%&@eeeeee - it is not fully awake. New Quest: Survive until Statera Luotian arrives. ETA: 2 hours, 34 minutes.

[It should have been impossible to awakEEE without the BOdy and MinDdddd present. It should have been impossible to reformmmM without the Body and Mind present. It is not at full power.]}

"Brother," Alexander rumbled, ignoring the messages. "Shall we?"

"Unlike you and Elvira, I am not a fighter." Keilan mused, looking up at the great being as it blinked its eyes, weaving. So tall was it, even the sun, pulled across the sky by an unmanned chariot of fire, had to weave around her great head. The facial features were blurred, almost as if it was only half-carved from stone, but unmistakably one of the Oshun. "But the longer we wait, the more of our people die. Besides, Xing Wu has already made the decision for us. Are you going to let him steal all the glory?"

True to Keilan's words, Xing Wu was not dead yet. A roar of laughter tore its way out of his throat as he clung to the giant's arm, a speck of silver against the granite, bashing away with rage-fueled power. Alexander rumbled out a grim laugh.

"All it's got going for it, is its size." His body began to glow a brilliant white, light seeping out from between his scales as his form expanded, popping and cracking as, for the first time in Keilan's memory since the dawn of creation, Alexander began to revert to his true size. There was grand explosion of power. No great burst of light or anything of the like. He simply was, and became as large as he had always meant to be.

His body stretched for miles, snaking through the sky like a river of white scales and righteous fury. His teeth were mountains, his claws as wide as any canyon, each scale the size of a city. He roared, and the heavens shook, the airships rattling in their frames as the great dragon shot forward, slamming into the giant Oshun body horns first.

It groaned, reeling, blinking sleep from its eyes. Keilan stepped forward, wings flaring, tail thrashing, threads of karma winding out of his fingers to lash at the great beast. Its own karma was nearly non-existent, this being both Yueya and not. But that didn’t' mean it wasn't sewing karma right now, nor that karma of the world couldn't be used against it, binding its arms down to the ground and wrapping around its joints in an effort to limit its movement.

It shook itself, breaking the threat as Keilan drifted forward, watching for an opening as Alexander and Xing Wu engaged. His brother roared defiantly, breathing golden flames at the things' face and melting great patches of stone. His claws and teeth gouged great canyons into its form, canyons it barely seemed to notice, lifting one arm and batting him aside. That one, simple movement cleared the entire atmosphere for miles in an instant, nearly blowing Keilan back as its hand passed inches from his face.

Alexander was sent hurtling to the ground, bleeding, his crash creating a canyon in the crust deeper than the Four Realms were tall.

Xing Wu was next.

He cackled, bleeding from the face as his aura surged upward in defiance of what this being represented. Silver starlight formed around him in a technique, a constellation appearing about his body.

"Constellation: Aspect of the Warrior!" He howled to the heavens, a thousand-food-tall avatar of starlight, clad in silver armor and wielding a spear, appearing around him. He drove the tip of it into a crack in the giant's chest, for the first time eliciting a flicker of emotion from it. Not fear, but notice.

Keilan did not miss it.

"There! Aim for the crack!" he barked, psychic energy swirling about him, delivering the command to all who could hear. Divine power pooled into weapons on the airships, the Mad Scientist’s cannons blasting great beams of raw power at the thing’s chest. Explosions shook the air, elemental gods adding their own attacks, Solana rising into the air and hurling great, golden balls of fire at the Oshun giant’s face.

Kei dove straight through it all. Her form elongated as she raced through the air, illusion magic swirling about her before becoming corporeal and real. Nine swishing fox tails burned with divinity and elements, reality warping as she drove herself against Xing Wu’s spear of starlight, driving the weapon deeper. This time the Oshun giant groaned, a great huff of air sending everyone reeling save for Keilan and Alexander – Alexander, who charged forth once more, golden flames spilling from between his teeth as he roared his Truth at the giant’s chest.

He was a Dragon. And his Treasure was his People. They would harm it no more.

In the haze of the heat, Keilan saw his chance. He ignored the rising threat as the giant recognized the danger it was in, instinct driving it to act, one hand raising high in the air to swat at the gnats harassing it – and he shot forward, chasing the connection he found; a single string amidst a haystack.

The one that tied the Rot and Yueya to the giant form. His entire body turned into mist, shooting through the body like a nerve ending firing, darting up through cracked stone slowly returning to flesh, running along karmic threads that grew denser the deeper he went, circling back, cutting through, freezing in place as Rot reached out to snag at him.

The deeper he went, the more dangerous it became. A thick miasma filled the interior of the giant, Rot spores as thick as mist clinging to his skin, trying to find purchase…but he was protected. He didn’t know how or why, but he could feel Mother’s influence upon him, a thin sheen coating his form, sloughing off the spores and preventing him from becoming infected. He was grateful for it, as he paused for a split second, uncertain which way to go, the rhythmic thumping of the giant’s heart rattling him down to his bones, the raw power of this being greater than anything he’d ever seen save for Mother Herself.

A small light glinted to his left, slightly up, and Keilan vanished once again; a string, weaving through flesh and bone, following the light until finally – he did not pause when he burst into the heart-chamber. A dense ball of clinging red rot covered the entire organ, forcing it to beat unnaturally. His strings lashed out, red strings of fate slicing through the fungus like a surgeon’s blade. Spears of rot lanced out at him, seeking to stop him, but he was too fast, too ethereal. Mental power surged from him, freezing everything in place for a single moment, a single moment that was enough for him to lance straight forward, into the heart itself. One hand reached out, snagging Yueya’s curled, unconscious body by the throat, and hurling himself out the way he’d come with a burst of psychic energy.

Stone-flesh split before him like the Valley itself, carving a path as he burst out of the giant’s chest holding Yueya, severing the connection she had with the giant with a single, forceful chop of his hand. It was dense and thick, closer to fate than anything else, and the backlash had him coughing blood – but the deed was done. With another groan the giant closed its eyes, the body crumbling back to stone and dirt as it fell backward with a resounding crash.

Blood dripped down Keilan’s face from a wound he’d sustained in the rush through the giant’s body. Karma bound Yueya tightly, her entire body covered in the foul fungus of obsession, and he stored her in a jar designed specifically for her – layered with magic techniques from all the gods, and Mother Herself.

He looked at Alexander, his brother’s face bloody, missing teeth with cracked scales, and a broken horn. And relief flooded through him. It had worked.

The war, was over.

***