[222] Against the Heavens, Against an Old Sweetheart

Chapter 222: Against the Heavens, Against an Old Sweetheart

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“The phoenix… he's been defeated!” Galaxara found herself laughing at the realization.

Was her world free now, truly?

All the Outer Gods have been defeated, and the phoenix's remains rained down like snowflakes. When the flakes touched the earth, it fixed any damage that had been done to it.

The two exorcist girls who have their limbs broken and bent the other way around, illuminated as the snowflakes touched their bodies. Their wounds healed, and their limbs fixed themselves.

Jasmine slowly rose to her knees as the last bits of her life were amplified, the wound in her heart that was slowly killing her closing, as strength returned to her feet. She barely avoided death.

Not everyone was that lucky, however.

The bits of the phoenix touched Ranefer, but her body remained still. The severed body of Auriel and the snapped neck of Kalawarna too remained as they were. Death of such powerful beings was hard to reverse, only dead plants returned to life.

Celebrations did not bloom into full display when they looked at their losses. Fear returned when they looked back up at the sky.

[Grand Chariot, 7th Form]

[Vagabond Style, Third Form]

Above the snowflakes, two of their allies fought against one another. Mother and son clashed swords. The son's sword techniques exploded in his mother's face as she crossed her arms and blocked them. She was sent flying backward.

“The Blood Towers still stand,” Seraphina said as she observed the demonic thing in the distance. “Look at the demonic energy around the area. It has all surrounded that woman. Who is she? I've never seen someone that demonic.”

“Shouldn't we aid him in killing her? I can’t stand such evil.” Elara added, which earned a shake of the head from the Goddess.

“No, that's an ally. Without her, we'd have all died. The person you see is simply an image she has tapped into. It's like plays and theater; she has the power to tap into ‘characters’ from fiction or otherwise. What we see is not her.” Galaxara explained, which made the three wives pause.

“That's an… interesting power,” Sieran said.

“So who is it that she has tapped into right now? Such evil is nerve-wracking.” Elara asked.

Nobody here knew the answer to that. Other than Ruby, who stayed silent. Among them all, only she had seen the Venerable Immortal when he came out to deal with the fragment of Yggdrasill.

She smartly stayed silent, unwilling to destroy the image of this world's Hero.

****

Aqua wasn't winning.

The Emperor's powers were counter to chaos and disorder; demons were easier to fight for him in this state. However, the Heavenly Demon from his 9th life knew all of his abilities from his 7th life. So the current Ai knew counters to his techniques, as she was a mirror of his 9th self.

It was impossible to win this battle, for either of them.

What she threw, he could easily counter.

What he threw, she could counter too.

It was a stalemate, just a show of lights.

This was not a battle that would end quickly. It's been half an hour since they’ve been engaged against one another, and there was zero development.

I don’t want to waste too much time here, Aqua noted. Dammit.

The Blood Towers had to be shut down and destroyed, as soon as possible. He couldn't know for sure if the Demon Gods had some kind of alarm set for their death. What if their death notified the rest of their Gods on their home planet, and they came to Pangeal through the portals in the active Blood Tower?

“My, your swings don't hurt~” his demonified mother teased him with a giggle, showing no worries. A moment later, when he went to reply to her, she was behind him, her kick landing on his waist as he got sent sliding back through the air. It did not have the effect she desired, he wasn’t sent back kilometers into a mountain. She covered her mouth with a hand, blinking. “Oh, oops. Durable.”

Then, he swung his heavy sword across her chest. She vanished before it could cleave her in two.

I can't believe this, he sighed in his head. He never thought he would have to go all out against Ai, let alone that she’d be perfectly fine if he did that. She was dodging them without any issues at all.

“Come on, stop paying around,” she taunted him. “I know you're better than this. If you're so desperate to have me let go, why not show desperation?”

“Shut up,” he rushed toward her, and she vanished. He expected her to appear behind me again, but she vanished somewhere else.

She appeared before the group on the ground, making him scowl.

“Since you’re having a hard time deciding, how about I make you more desperate?” she crackled, eyes locking on with Ruby. I did not know what crossed between the two of them, Ai immediately looked at someone else instead. What, did she retain enough sense to not attack her daughter?

Unfortunately for me, her alternate targets were no better. She was looking at the three Heroines of this world, my wives. Her grin widened her lips, while the three startled girls readied for battle.

Fucking hell, Aqua cursed in his head.

He knew what she meant by ‘show desperation’, he wasn’t blind. Although he just said earlier that he was going ‘all out’, he actually was not doing that. He had yet to bring out the one side that could easily match and overpower her bratty self. She was insanely curious to see how she’d match off against the real deal. But he didn’t want to. He was the Hero of Pangeal, he didn’t want to ruin his image; to his wives, his Goddess, and his people.

So, she had chosen to push him into a corner. She had flanked those three women, those for whom he had been holding back at all. There was nobody down on the ground who could match against her, if someone tried they’d end up dead. As she had planned, he had been pushed to a corner.

He sighed.

That really did make him desperate.

“If that's what you want, fine,” he blitzed between her and the group of girls, standing above the group like a protective wall. “I'll show you what you want to see.”

His [Sword Icon] dipped into the flux of space-time, and a new Icon replaced it. Something that would show her what she wanted to see. Hexagon shimmered, a blurry image beginning to grow clearer.

…At least, it was about to. It didn't get the chance. The space between them split, and a figure formed in there. His heart grew heavy as he feared the worst; had the other Outer Gods already come here?

When his eyes properly processed the person, however, his heavy heart skipped. Something tugged on his ancient heart as a familiar white fluttered before his eyes. His will wavered, and the Icon vanished. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to care as he observed her.

Her sword was different, but it was shaped the same way. The leaf symbol on the hilt of her sword was the same as always. Her clothes were different, but her hairstyle was the same. The one he remembered fixing for her every morning. As shock submerged into his heart, the invisible Icon in the sky began to sing.

What the…

“I don't know how you know the Vagabond Style swordsmanship,” even her voice was familiar as she spoke, blindfolded eyes turning to take a look at him. “But leave this to me. I am the master of the Icy Blooded Sword Sect, and I shall take care of this personification of evil.”

What the fuck?

****

Earlier.

“Incredible,” from the high skies, blended in the limbo dimension, the blind swordswoman observed the ongoing battle.

She had just reached this world, and the first thing she saw was this incredible sight. A human clashed against the Demonic Phoenix, and he was doing so incredibly well. While it was odd that a personification of pure evil fought alongside him, it must be because of a common enemy, the Dark Phoenix. She observed as the feathered tyrant spoke.

“Seems like you two are together,” the Phoenix grumbled. “Then die!” his feet exploded and he rushed toward the man in golden. The golden heroic man turned to him slowly, sword moving through the air currents.

[Grand Chariot, 7th Form.]

[Vagabond Style, Third Form.]

The result of the technique was incredible. However, her eyes weren't on that anymore.

A scowl had spread across her features just when he performed that technique. “That… was that not Vagabond Style, just now?”

Was she seeing things? There was something else along with that technique that was similar to the Vagabond Style. So perhaps she had indeed seen wrong. There was no other explanation.

Just in case, she kept an eye out for the man in golden’s swordsmanship. It looked familiar… and yet far from so. It was a mix of something she knew and something she had never seen.

“[Grand Chariot, 7th Form],” at one point, he began to shout his technique names, putting his divine authority into them. “[Vagabond Style, Third Form]!” Her eyes snapped wide behind her blindfolds. She did not even hear the third name that he shouted.

What the hell was going on here?

As far as she knew, her master only took her in as his disciple. How could there be someone else, in another world, using his techniques?

Could this be proof of the infamous multiverse theory? That infinite possibility existed; anything that you could think has already happened….? So in one such world, someone had figured out the same exact technique that her Master used, and even named it the same name?

Was that possible?

Because otherwise, how could this be?

For the next half an hour, as the battle grew, the phoenix died, and the man in gold began to clash with the demoness, her mind remained busy.

She did not reach any conclusions even after thinking for so long.

Her forehead was sweaty, her chest thrumming with a wild possibility. The wildest of possibilities. No. That is not possible. Let's not fill myself with foolish hopes.

In the end, she sighed. It was meaningless to waste time like this.

She had come to this world to check up on the Outer Gods. If possible, she'd have eliminated them and stopped them from destroying this innocent world.

Thankfully, this world had a Hero that already did that for her. Although weird that this Hero knew her master's swordsmanship, she could always learn the secrets behind that by asking him.

Before that, she should go help him with what he was having so much trouble with. While he had won against the phoenix, he was having trouble against the Demoness he had been fighting alongside all this time.

Perhaps it was because he was low on energy, or that he wasn't giving his all in the battle due to some emotional reason, but he was really dragging this battle. At this rate, the other Outer Gods might cross over from Atlanton. She couldn't wait for that long.

So, she decided to finally show herself. Although her powers were greatly suppressed, she'd be able to deal with a demoness like that without much issue.

So, she revealed her form in the sky between the two of them, turning slightly to look at the man in golden from under her blindfold. “I don't know how you know the Vagabond Style, but leave this to me. I am the master of the Icy Blooded Sword Sect, and I shall take care of this personification of evil.”

Then, she turned toward the Demoness.

She kicked the ground, and her sword flew towards her neck.

****

[First Person Point of View]

My brain refused to accept the situation, but my heart was thumping already. My spirit had already scanned her soul, so internally I was sure this was not an illusion. What the hell was going on here…?

No matter how you look, that’s her. That girl… that has to be her. How is she here? What the hell?!

“Vagabond Style, Fourth Form,” she raised her blade toward the Heavenly Demon. “Sword that Beheads the Supernova.”

Fourth Form?

Has she truly improved the Vagabond Style beyond the initial three moves I created?

A sense of pride mixed with my shock, although true acceptance was yet to be achieved.

Then, I realized who the sword pointed to. My mother. She crossed her arms as a technique far more lethal than my two sword styles combined, although weaker than the three styles that slayed the Phoenix, rushed toward her. She was shocked, and her earlier smile was gone. The technique exploded against her crossed forearms, sending her flying backward.

When she regained her footing, coming to a spinning stop in the sky, much of her flesh had gone missing. To clash a Supernova, one had to have the explosive power to match. This technique surely managed to put that into perspective. Flesh clung and fell from her forearms, burning much of her outfit. Her torso showed ribs, and bones, as meat above it had been blasted off. The technique’s damage output was incredible.

I’d have celebrated more had my disciple managed to make such a technique, but I didn’t. After all, that was my mother right there.

“Tch, what a nasty suppression,” the blind swordswoman said as she looked at the effect of her technique. “To think it suppressed a real supernova slayer technique to mere fireworks.”

“So it can truly cut a supernova? Impressive,” I spoke from behind, making her turn toward me. “However, I suggest you stop fighting her. She’s an ally, just temporarily demonified.”

She slowly looked at me, her lips perused. “…There is no such thing as a temporary demon. Certainly not something of that caliber, there isn’t. Once you’re a demon of that degree, you can’t be reversed to normal. It pains me to say this, as that is probably someone important to you, but it’s too late. It’ll be wisest to allow me to exorcize her via my sword. At least her soul would rest properly.”

“Don’t meddle in other people’s business, outsider lady!” Ruby yelled from the ground. We were close enough for the group below to listen in to our conversation, after all. “That’s my mother, you’ll be hurt if you do anything to her!”

“I see. Your mother, eh,” she slowly looked at the woman who was healing her wounds slowly. “Unfortunately you have to see her like that. I shall ease your pain by killing her faster than I initially planned to.”

It seems she’s been a lot more demon crazy after she lost the person who guided her, I noted as I looked at what my disciple had become. Hypocritical though. I parted my lips, “You’re talking a lot for someone who is also a demon, no?” I said, and she turned to me. “Don’t look at me like that, you’re hiding it well, but you reek.”

“….” She smiled. “What I have is a gift from someone precious. What she has is a curse that has eaten her mind. Won’t you agree? Otherwise, why would she attack her own people? Please, I understand that it hurts, but you can’t be defending a Demon like this. Allow me to free her from her misery… Well, even if you stop me,” a blue light shone from behind her blindfolds, “I shall force my way into salvation.”

Then, she blitzed toward Ai.

The Heavenly Demoness grinned as a blood sword formed on her hand, and the two clashed.

I teleported between the two of them after their first clash. They both stopped, as I raised two hands towards both of them. “Stop.”

“Please step aside, Hero,” my old disciple said.

“My, look at you try so hard to protect me,” my demonic mother said with a glitter in her eyes.

I sighed and blitzed behind her. My hand moved to clutch her neck from behind, and I whispered to her ears.

“Give in,” I said. “...I'll take over.”

Although she opened her mouth to counter, her sword ready to attack, both stopped when I added the last line. She blinked… and her grin widened. It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but the situation made it that this was the best choice. The demon would return to its source.

“Kiss me,” she asked, and I raised her chin from behind. I leaned in, and our lips locked.

My disciple frowned, but she did not intervene.

Ai's veins lit up red. An influx of demonic energy rushed through her blood and energy vessels, all of it rushing into me through her mouth.

The doppelganger Heavenly Demon’s energy flowed into me, where the clone became real.

The three blurry Icons in the sky moved towards my single, clear one. One of the blurs overlapped over my Crown Icon, and I closed my eyes.

The [Crown Icon] in the sky began to change color.

The golden became black, the divine hope turned into bleak horror.

Another Emperor descended on my body.

My past self reflected himself through my current eyes, as they reopened. My golden eyes changed color. My hair grew longer, my eyes redder, and my golden armor vanished. My overgrown size returned to normal….

The music around the world stopped.

A bright, blood lotus formed on my forehead.

The  [Demon Icon] unraveled itself, and the sky turned bleak, as if the dimension of the underworld descended upon this planet. The blood of the slain monsters across the battlefield, across an entire continent-wide area, started to bubble into little demons, and even the injuries on my Wives and sister began to burn, a few of them shouted in shock and panic.

The only other Icon that remained was the blurry [Blood Icon]; it nudged to enter reality. I suppressed it, I didn’t want it. I didn't want to match her perfectly, no. She was very limited in that form, the Heavenly Demon was formed with limited knowledge, but I was not. I was the real deal.

My 9th life was long. I ruled the first world, the planet I was born into, as the Heavenly Demon after a couple of centuries of cultivation.

However, after reaching the peak of that world, I stumbled upon an ancient treasure. It was a book depicting a [Path] type martial art, my first path.

The Path of the Hollow King.

It was a Pure Qi path. My Qi was demonic. I had to abandon all my Qi, reform my body, start from the basics again, and raise my power to learn this Path. I did just that. It was all worth it, the Path was exploding with endless powers.

I had stopped being the ‘heavenly demon’ since that day. The doppelgänger from earlier was forged with only the memory of the Heavenly Demon until the day I stumbled upon the Path. I myself was naturally above that identity. So I would naturally move one step above.

The blur over the [Blood Icon] began to shimmer and change, another Icon came into existence. The twisting world calmed.

It was an Icon that I've used before in Hawaii when I gave a false idea to Quetzalcoatl that the Venerable One was a whole other person.

Back then, I'd said that particular Icon wasn't an offensive one. It's true, but that's only true when it's on its own.

That Icon, unique to me, when coupled with the other two, would allow me to call forth ‘myself’ properly. I closed my eyes and breathed in… then, I let it out.

Everything that I had been suppressing, bloomed like a lotus over the skies. Clouds danced, and they painted themselves golden and floated overhead. A ‘Venerable’ was a title granted to a master of a particular field of power. Such as the Star Immortal Venerable, the Sky Immortal Venerable, and so on…

I gained the ‘Venerable’ title after mastering the concept of ‘Dao’, ‘the Way’...

The Heavens.

The Immortal Venerable Over Heavens, was such my title.

A loud voice boomed from the lotus clouds, representing Buddha, and spread across the entirety of Pangeal, reaching the other side of the world.

[Throughout Heavens and Earth,] the Icon overhead announced in my voice, recorded words that I had spoken a millennia ago. [I alone am the Honored one.]

Red eyes shone, and the sky turned bloody as an Icon fully revealed itself. The [Heaven Icon] bloomed overhead.

The entire Pangeal trembled before the Venerable’s true presence, even when it was far from the multiverse-crushing depth that it once had.

I had only told Ai about that far; that she was spared of the gruesome details of the future. So Ai as the Heavenly Demoness was far from my truest self in my 9th life. If anything, that version of me was a young fool who laughed a bit too much.

The Venerable One did not laugh. I simply smiled at my enemies, a cold lifeless smile that used to make even my allies shiver. I showed such a smile right now, that made my disciple shiver on her spot.

“W, what the hell?”

To clear any misunderstandings, after shedding my skin as the Heavenly Demon by abandoning Demonic Qi, I did not suddenly become a pure entity. No, far from it.

As the Heavenly Demon, my demonic nature was from my Demonic Qi, but after shedding that Qi, later in my life, I became a ‘demon’ through more than just Qi. Master of ‘The Ruthless Heavens’, I owned a demonic heaven that covered a few trillion universes at its prime.

At one point, my [Presence] itself had become the symbol of a demon.

That's why the aura around me, the air itself, burst into the faces of demons—the clouds, the heavens, transformed into faces of monsters. I was a Deific Overlord, a Demonic Meister more powerful than God.

Reality morphed in my image. The people on the ground, those who I was supposed to protect, spewed blood on the floor. Their eyes shook, their mouths blabbering shocked sentences, while I approached my disciple from another world.

“You have forced me to show a side I did not want to,” I looked at my disciple and said, carrying Ai in my arms. “It has been far too long, Sangha. How’ve you been?”

Her eyes widened as I spoke her name, the grip around her sword wavering.

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