The core of the world.
For a while, nothing changed. I was still grinning cheerfully, while the old woman glared at me with quiet fury. But in an instant, the malevolent aura suddenly disappeared, and she removed her hood, revealing the face of a sweet old neighbor, from whom you would never expect any kind of malice.
- "Hello, Romani. I am Lasketia, protector of this world, as well as the mother of Larentia and Lorendo, whose reincarnations are Celestine and Serafina," said the old woman with a sweet smile. "But first, let's change the setting to something more pleasant."
Then a staff appeared in her hand, which had a typical cheap fantasy design, that is, a straight stick with a round pommel and two white ribbons attached to it. And after she tapped it gently on the ground, the landscape before us changed from an empty white space to a garden blooming with life and greenery, with a small wooden table and two chairs.
- "Sit down," she continued and invited me to the table, where light snacks, hot tea, and even coffee, as well as a plate of fruit, instantly appeared. "If you want anything, don't hesitate to tell me. I will gladly fulfill your every request."
- "Oh? Why are we being so friendly all of a sudden? As far as I remember, you threatened me and even tried to kill me, didn't you?" I smiled, but still sat down at the table opposite her and took a sip of the local coffee she had offered me. "Not bad, but the one I drink is still better."
- "Yes, and I hope you'll accept my apologies. At that moment, I couldn't appreciate you for who you are," Lasketia replied guiltily. "But I'm surprised you're acting so casual, considering the misunderstanding between us and what one of my rebellious children must have told you."
- "That, yes, thanks to him," I shrugged. "But I'm still curious as to why you decided to change tactics. Don't tell me you got scared, huh? And one more thing. What exactly prompted you to act? The death of a corpse or the unification of countries?"
- "A little bit of everything. You possess a frightening power, and I have come to the conclusion that a battle with you will lead to the destruction of the world, and my mission as a protector will be a failure," Lasketia sighed. "And you're right. The man named 'Vult' did indeed act on my orders, and the creation of a united country did not evoke positive emotions in me."
- "And why is that?" I raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me it's for the greater good, to save lives, or any of that nonsense. That would be too cliché, although it is justified in some cases."
- "You're right again, Romani," she said with a sad smile. "How long do you think this world has existed? Its energy is not infinite, and in order to replenish it and allow the world to continue to exist, a sacrifice is required. Souls. Many souls, and the number required with each cycle keeps growing and..."
- "Oh no, not that again, okay?" I interrupted her, making a face of absolute moral exhaustion. "Cycle and blah-blah-blah, right? That's complete nonsense."
- "And yet, that's how this world works. Haven't you ever wondered why I acted so categorically and why I look so... tired?" Lasketia sighed. "I am old, Romani, and my time is coming to an end. I can't even remember how many cycles have passed since I began my service. There have been many attempts to break out of this endless cycle, as well as many promising cycles, but each of them has failed."
Yeah, just as I thought. Such worlds have a limited lifespan, and therefore it is necessary to prolong it.
Lasketia found a way, a working one, but not a perfect one. She feeds the core of the soul, as I once said, almost the most perfect and pure source of energy, suitable in principle for everything. And since the required amount is growing, this world will eventually perish, just like Lasketia herself, and quite soon.
She was so desperate that she didn't even consider other options. That is, even with me here, a powerful otherworldly being capable of bringing about change in any case, Lasketia preferred to use a tried and tested method.
I rubbed my temples.
Hmm... Where is the great battle I've been waiting for? Instead, I'm sitting here with an old wreck who can't even decide what to do. Hello, damn it, where is my worthy opponent? And no, she wasn't lying.
Even if I draw her out into battle, nothing much will change, since it's still possible to use the Noble Phantasm here, and it's enhanced by the divinity of the local people's faith in me. However, since nothing would work, I had no choice but to...
In a brief flash of light, my appearance changed to that of Solomon, and a frenzied stream of mana and divinity burst from my body, alerting Lasketia. She immediately summoned her staff again and struck it, causing the landscape to change once more to something much more sinister.
Now we were surrounded by a featureless wasteland with blackened, dead earth and sharp, rough, tall spires of black stone, and in the sky, where the sun should have been, there was a black hole with a red, ominous rim, as if devouring all the surrounding light.
- "So, that's what you've decided, Romani?" she said with a weary sigh. "So be it."
The darkness of the sky, in the form of a gloomy and shapeless fog, began to slowly change and stretch until it formed giant blades aimed directly at me.
The ground beneath my feet did not remain unchanged either, and began to recede from under my feet, gathering and transforming into humanoid monsters of monstrous size.
- "Well, that's something at least," I smiled and floated between the sky and the ground while my ten rings continued to shine with a pure golden light. "Before I do something, let's have a little fun, shall we?"
...decide everything with a single action.
-0-
Some time later.
The deed was done, and the teleportation circle threw me back onto the same balcony, where I was met by four gazes: Olga's was indifferent, Serafina's was interested, King of Eldonia was predictably calm, and Celestine's demanded answers.
- "Yes, yes, you all have questions, and my answer is that I don't care," I said, stopping any further questions. "After all, no harm was done, right?"
- "That's true, but..." Celestine began. "But I have a right to know what you..."
She didn't have time to finish, as a bright flash of light suddenly appeared next to me, and a moment later, a young elf appeared in its place, dressed in a long Greek toga with a hood, from under which silky light hair peeked out, just like Celestine and Serafina's.
She blinked her emerald eyes in surprise and, looking at her hands, looked around and stopped when she noticed me.
- "What did you do?" Lasketia asked quietly. "What did you do?! Why am I still alive, and... and..."
- "Ars Almadel Solomonis isn't an attack, it's just a huge amount of magic that can be used for anything, even something very specific," I shrugged.
At first, Lasketia's eyes flashed with confusion, then they slowly widened as she realized the changes in her body and essence.
- "You..."
- "Let's say I removed you from your position and gave you a complete body and soul. The core of the world, like the space it occupies, is now completely cut off," I said, causing her to stare at me in shock.
- "But... In that case..."
- "No, it won't die," I rolled my eyes. "It was a bit of a hassle, of course, but I tied the core of the world to the concept of the unconscious will of living beings to survive. That is, now the core is fed by the very idea of survival in any form, as well as the basic instinct of self-preservation of every living being, without the need for souls. It sounds complicated, yes, but this method is extremely effective. I know that for a fact. So you can relax and so on."
Yeah. I managed to create a kind of analogue of Alaya, although I had to use knowledge from the wiki, True Magic, and experience communicating with embodied concepts.
Denial of Nothingness is a REALLY effective thing, especially if there are no restrictions, but I still had to work hard on the details and durability. It was difficult, but fun, in short. What about why I did it? Well, who would doubt that Zelretch chooses worlds at random? Heh.
- "That's impossible, you're lying! No one is capable of that, especially in such a short period of time!" Lasketia declared with disbelieving eyes and, summoning her staff, pointed it at me. "Bring me back! Return everything to the way it was! Now!"
- "No," I shrugged and deflected her attack with my index finger, angering her even more. Then a small pendant flew towards her, which she caught. "Here, you can check for yourself later. Of course, you won't be able to change anything, but you can take a look. No problem. In short, if the world perishes, it will be solely because of you, its inhabitants."
- "You..." Lasketia wanted to add something and began to gather strength for another attack, but Celestine interrupted her.
- "Excuse me, but who are you?" she asked. "Why do you feel so... familiar?"
- "Yes, I felt something similar," Serafina nodded.
- "What are you talking about?" Olga didn't understand. "Isn't she another one of your sisters?"
- "My lord, who is she?" King of Eldonia asked me.
- "I..." Lasketia began, but she was interrupted again, this time by me.
- "You'll find out," I waved her away and looked up at the sky. "I know you're watching, Zelretch. Be so kind as to show yourself."
- "Oh? You can see right through me, colleague," a familiar annoying voice sounded next to me.
Without wasting a second, I raised my hand in his direction and released a ten-story beam of energy, which, of course, missed its target and completely incinerated the mountain range in its path. This attack caused everyone present to freeze in place and stare blankly at the aftermath, with one exception, of course.
- "Very good," the bloodsucking overgrown teenager said, scratching his chin with an extremely intelligent look on his face. "You deliberately gave me time to react and dodge so that I could impress these ladies with my magnificent skills. Thank you, colleague."
- "Bastard..." I hissed very loudly through clenched teeth, my eyebrow twitching as if it were planning to fly off into space. "Tell me, my dear sir, is there anything in the entire fucking multiverse that I could use to punch you in the face? Even one thing, huh?"
- "Oh, undoubtedly, but you're unlikely to get your hands on it," he replied with a toothy grin, which made me want to shoot him again, but I restrained myself.
- "Someday, I'll do it..." I promised myself, then took a deep breath to calm down. "When are you going home?"
- "Since you're done..." he muttered thoughtfully, glancing around at everyone still standing there in a daze, except for Lasketia, whose eyes were fixed on me.
- "Right now."
And in that instant, I fell straight down into the rift that had opened beneath me, opened by Zelretch with a snap of his fingers.
Well, home sweet home, huh? I wonder how much time has passed and if I need to keep hiding? Yeah, right.
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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