BOOK 2/52 - Auzule Bali

[Floor 10]

The destroyer of the last floors and her mother spawned in a wide cavern. Green and Blue eyes peeled the environment curiously and hopefully. One was eager to see what this floor would give, and the other was seeking something better than the mobs on the last floors.

"Pit!". Tora called out and marched forward.

Hildelith couldn't see anything, at least nothing beyond the life forms within the pits scattered around. It reminded her of one of the previous floors she cleared before Tora came along. "Which means...". She whispered to herself staying right where she'd spawned as Tora neared the first pits.

The pools of magma and silver fire bubbled and frothed as something rose from the depths. The girl raised her right hand to the ceiling and then brought it down. Hildelith heard and smelled the crackle of charges and the scent of Ozone. The flash came next and then the explosion.

"Typical".

The pit was still there though. Just as she expected. What she didn't expect was for Tora to move her left palm and wave over the pit. The sound of wind and the cracking of glass filled the air. The temperature plummeted and Hildelith blinked. "That works."

Indeed.

"Now she just has to do it to the rest". She knew it wouldn't be that easy for Tora. Not that the devils would give her problems but more that they wouldn't lie down and just die.

The pits began to bubble and froth announcing the mobs rising. Hildelith took a step back and sat on the throne of Ice. Watching the fight was just like the other floors boring. And here I thought the tenth floor would be nicer.

Retreating into her mind Hildelith continued the discussions with Akasha. A slight piece of her attention remained on the fight, though.

Which was probably why she noticed it. Or maybe it had to do with her Akashic essence that had slowly been filling the cavern up. It served as extra energy for Tora but also as a sixth sense for Hildelith. So when Akasha suddenly warned of the entity at the edge of the cavern she found it just as quickly.


_



"This devilings feel even more powerful than the other ones I've killed in the previous floors". Tora mutttered in disbelief or was it eagerness.

Crouched on all fours, their upper limbs ending with palms and fingers like a human but having claws and the lower limbs of a wolf. A long whipping tail with barbs, spikes, and a question mark hooked ending. Four red demonic eyes, Three pointed black horns, and a human-like mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth but having longer canines. Their skin a scarlet hell red.

"Interesting. The look nothing like Freyr's kids and they feel, weaker".

It wasn't their devil looks that caught her attention though. It was their fighting prowess. Unlike the previous monsters she'd put down , the things either struck with their weirdly colored bladed weapons like actual intelligent things or attacked with their claws, tail, fangs, and even horns. For their beastly mannerism, they were sufficiently intelligent.

CLANG
CLANG
CLANG

The screech of metal against definitely not metal echoed as Tora fought off their attacks. Holding a Spatial Lance she blocked and attacked back. The Spatial Lance faded and a golden spear took its place. Lobbing it at a far off deviling she turned her attention back to the ones closer. The explosion of the Holy Lance shook the ground and the wind rolled.

Essence flowed around her amd seeped into the ground. As she moved, forming lanced and blades that she defended and killed devilings with, a circle and symbols were drawn into the ground with Akashic essence.

A hook sliced at her gown from the side sending her jolting forward. Upfront came the claws of another devil and her body instinctively ducked down as a Holy Blade materialized and flashed up. Two screeches of pain from the afflicted devils were like music to her ears as she fell back and rolled. Tora's heart was beating harshly as she spun to face the next attacker.

Golden Fire spewed from her palms and engulfed the deviling. The sizzling and roars of pain were ignored as a thrum echoed from the ground.

"It's done."


**Transfer**


The word echoed and the Akashic essence in the air vibrated then gathered around her. With a puff she vanished and reappeared within the spell circle. All in less than a second.

"Now". Tora channeled ams pushed down the Akasha around into the spell circle watching it light up and turn a black and purple hue.


**Hex of Withering - Fate Bind - Malevolent Aura - Doomed Horizon - Seal of Silence**


An oppressive feeling descended on the devilings. Their weapons of silver fire fizzled out and their movements slouched. Tora grinned then waved her left palm.


**Spatial Rend**


An invisible slash of power cut through the air and bisected two Devilings. Another two coughed up blood and fell. "Hehe".

A deviling despite the force weighing down on it still got close. Tora could see the decay Hex of Withering was already causing. There was another beside it ready to support its kin.

I cupped my palms , then forcefully I parted them. Manifestation magic was a beautiful way of using Intent, Will, Imagination and Visualization to get the job done.


**Wind Surge**


Air whipped from my palms amd outwards, cutting through the devilings and those behind them. The wind was sharp and strong, bisecting and damaging. Then it came. One of the devilings rushed her. Silver glowed beneath its skin and looked to be struggling to escape from its eyes.

Instinctively my left hand moved out, Akashic essence converting into elemental magic that I pushed to the tips of my fingers. The devilling threw itself at her but the whipping wind didn't let it get any closer. It's body turned white. Environmental Magic pulled on the Earth. It rose with the direction of her palm to intercept the attack.

The explosion was huge, enough to send Tora flying out of her cursed circle from the force and crashing into a wall. Thr Unmduni was quick to land on her feet, green eyes moving about as she quickly marked all of them.

She weaved and ducked. Outside her circle their weakness has evaporated but it meant nothing to her. Spells flew, curses set on them and Holy punishments rained down. The devilings were getting less but Tora was noting more and more popping from the pits. Eyeing them Akashic Force flowed into her eyes.



**Liquid Silver**
**A pond of Devil's fire. Neither unholy nor holy. A flame that burns even gods.
Effect 1 - Entities connected to the Liquid Silver wield devil's flame.
Effect 2 - True death to all who bear a touch**


She turned to the silver weapons some of the devilings held.


**Devil's Fire**
**The antithesis to the divine. A god killer. Flames made by gods to kill gods]
Effect 1 - Purge of the holy and unholy.
Effect 2 - Bane of the divine
Effect 3 - Void Touch**


The first thing that registered in Tora's head was how bad this would be if she divinity. 'Fortunately, I'm not Ozai'.


**Cyclone Expell**


Wind blasted out, manifesting from around her and flowing out. Devilings were thrown back and taken off their feet. But Tora wasn't done.


**Eternal Winter**


The sound of glass cracking came with the cold, white filled her vision and then whistling.


_



Bali watched from above as his little kin harassed the divine not divine below. A conundrum. The entity was definitely not divine, the other. His gaze slipped again to the one seated behind. "That one definitely is divine and yet not" . Or more. More.

He couldn't place it. Yet it wasn't the more that bothered him. No. It was her mere presence. The divines, whether gods, deities, daemons, or divine beasts had been extinct for as long as he remembered.

The old flames and rubbles that brought a genocidal massacre of everything holy were still fresh in his mind. He couldn't forget after all it led to his current predicament. A prisoner in his home plane.

Bali spat with anger at the bitch that had made this possible. Yet he knew to direct his anger where it was meant to go.

'Jorner'.

His memory replay was halted as he noted a shift in the air. Bali for the first time in millennials felt uncomfortable. His eyes gazed down to see.

The Devils were all frozen mid-air, their eyes locked on the divine being before them. Their desire and hunger to consume and rip all that she was intensifying and egging them on as it should have.

The female was good. She had been able to cut many of his kind down. But still, it was inevitable that she would fall. After all, none could exist before the Liquid Silver.

I was a true God bane.

Yet what was this feeling? Bali looked on unsure before he saw it. His body froze his eyes widened and his lips trembled. Not from fear, no from an excitement long forgotten. For the first time in a millennial Bali saw what he desired. His hands tightened around his stone chair's armrest, a crack splitting the stone deep.


*****


In a dark space resembling a cavern, a white triangle with runes of three colors at its three points twinkled with light.
Yet it was the first rune which was of eight dark blue tentacles that lit up brighter than a star. A line of ethereal energy manifested out of it and rushed up into the darkness.
Its environment remained dark, yet its destination came to light. A colossal figure forged from the constellation of stars depicting a female floating in the dark. The line ran straight to the upper abdomen of the constellation. There another rune of a similar design lit up. If the first glowed brightly like a distant star then this one was as a full moon's glow.


The constellations that formed the colossal being lit in the glow of the rune like a series of lights getting activated all the way to its eyes which glowed blue like two pricks of a distant star.


*****


I didn't have any idea what I did, but it was a certainty that it was effective. My left arm was outstretched as the energy that built within me from my anger rushed out.

I detected what insight it was before it appeared.

Mellifluent.

But, it was nothing like the calm ebb and flow I had been practicing with.

No.

What showed itself was a wave. A white flood of raging water that sought to drown all who threatened me. The water was like a sentient being acting on its whim. And all it sought was a destruction that fire would be jealous of. To bring the wreckage to any in its path and to devour that which would defy its natural existence.

The Devils could only stare as the waters rose above them. It was a sight to behold. A huge tsunami of proportions originating from a little hand.

A grating screech broke the shocked silence as a deviling dove straight for me. His aim was obviously to take me out before my wave dropped.

The wave had different ideas. Like retribution from the enraged goddess, the wave descended. Faster than even the deviling was moving. The ground rumbled and the devilings screeched as water flooded the room. Sizzles and steam filled the room as everything was pushed back.

The water took everything away while kill notifications flooded my mail.

I stood there untouched as I cast my gaze across the room. The water was gone, settling into various crevices and cracks in the floor.

What was surprising though was the pond which once bore the liquid silver.

Gone was the Devil's fire. In its place splashed clear blue water. A simple appraisal got me one quick answer.

[Source Water]
Primordial waters. Pond containing water from the origin.

"That's it?" Shaking my head at the lack of information I turned to look around when a low wolf whistle accompanies by a screech of air from behind me had me rolling to my right.

A thud sounded like something hit the ground. Halting in a crouch I glared at the attacker before I hesitated.

Before me stood an 8ft devil. Draconic batlike wings covered in devil fire stretched out in all their glory behind him, his four tails lashing out in different directions. Red skin that rippled with lean muscles, only a loin cloth held by a belt covering his hips down to his thighs. His eyes unlike the feral ones of the now-dead devils gave off a feeling of intelligence. Black tongue exited his mouth to lick his lips as he strolled around me in circles.

Unlike the others, he stood straight on his wolf paws, claws that made me shudder as they reflected the glow of the devil's fire stretched from both paws and fingers. Something had me quickly activate my stream. I had a feeling about this. I just didn't know what.

"Fascinating," he whispered. His eyes twinkled as he looked me over like a foreign specimen.

"How long has it been since I saw a Creator god or goddess?". He continued bringing his claw to tap his really weird nose.

"Millennials now. " he cackled. "A good omen I say or is it a bad one?" he seemed genuinely puzzled before shrugging.

"Regardless. What brings you here.? I doubt it easy for you to access a separate plane from yours." he tilted his head in a very familiar way.

" No matter. A shame you had to meet me. Rest assured your existence will be known through all the Nether realms. Now, before you kindly die do tell. What is your name Creator goddess?"

I remained silent as I watched him thoroughly unsure of what to do. It was a certainty that he saw the wave yet he acts like it was nothing. Which meant only one thing.

He saw me as weak.

"Of course. How rude of me. Father always did say to never expect to be looked at favorably while remaining a mystery?" His lips stretched in a macabre manner.

"I Auzule Bali, Son of Ozdane the Sixth, Harbinger of the Nether realms, First guard of the Accursed gates greet thee." He made a splendid bow. "How, my dearest do you wish to meet your delightful end?"

Atleast now I knew what or who the lair got named after. I wasn't liking him one bit though.


_


A spear shot through the room, silver and sharp. Hildelith didn't need to check twice to figure out the target.