★252
ALNATH'S POV
Tick, tock… back to the war.
Alnath stood still, his gaze fixed ahead as his mentor's form began to take shape once more.
'In truth, now would be the perfect moment to use the Final Curse. It would end him here and now… but that would be too easy. Where would my vengeance be in that?'
I clenched my tattooed palm, the mark shifting faintly against my skin as I rejected the thought.
'So I'm meant to swallow everything I've carried all this time?'
For entire Classes, I had held onto that hatred. It had settled deep within me, shaping every step forward.
Achernar had taken my Azure. He had slaughtered the innocent. He had turned against his own kind without hesitation. And now, I was expected to end it all with a single move and be done with it.
"No."
I rejected that scripted outcome.
"I promised Lord Acamar and the Omins that I, the Devil Lord, Alnath, would bring you to your end. I will have to use my own power to fight back now that you are regaining your divinity."
I raised my tattooed arm towards him.
"Release."
With that one word, Alnath's body exuded a divine aura of greatness.
It was more than just his aura of curse and his aura of newly born Divinity; it was something new that combined the two and made them completely insignificant, leaving no space for transcendence. The Fragment of Divinity, Divinitrons, are pushing the Fragment of Transcendence, Ascendrons, driving him to the peak of his transformation.
He tore his sleeve off, revealing glyphs and tattoos that each emitted a black and azure glow.
Achernar let out a quiet chuckle, his fingers brushing his face as though amused by what he had seen.
"I'm not surprised you've reached that point."
"Don't get the wrong idea."
I said, my voice steady.
"I'm not using it."
The moment the words left me, the tattoo on my palm dimmed, its glow fading until it was nothing more than a mark. The surrounding glyphs dissolved with it, breaking apart like something no longer needed.
What replaced it was something else entirely. My aura surged, it rose without restraint, expanding outward with a force that reshaped the space around us. The pressure shifted, heavy and undeniable, until even Achernar's presence seemed smaller in comparison.
His demonic crown was erased by the azure halo that appeared over his head. The halo cracked and shattered, revealing the golden halo that stood between his horns.
While his left wing transformed into darkness itself, his right wing broke apart into pure golden light. His right horn shattered completely under the influence of light, while his halo snapped in half under the influence of darkness. The two forces that ought not to collide are now perfectly contained within Alnath.
"I am no longer Lucifer, the bearer of Light, nor Satan, the one cast away from it. I am both. Lusath… the Light of the Lost."
The words settled into the space between them, steady and certain, as the change took hold.
At that moment, Alnath's divinity rose to a level that rivalled Belenos at her peak, an existence shaped by Light itself. Yet his was not pure. It carried something else within it, something fractured and whole at the same time.
Light, and what had been lost to it, bound together as one.
"This really caught me off guard."
Achernar's voice lowered in surprise and confusion.
"Rather than using the curse to kill you, I discovered a way to reclaim my Divinity by observing how much azure energy it has stored."
"And you believe that you are stable?"
"Even I am unaware of that. However, I am positive that I have more than enough to exact my revenge."
"Hehehehe... tell me, show me!"
Achernar screamed, his arms still covering his face as azure orbs appeared all around him.
"Fine."
Lusath silently replied, calling forth the most powerful weapons in their classes with both palms.
A black, jagged blade with a crimson fracture that glows through it is on his left, while a long silver blade with light pulsing inside it like a living sun is on his right. Its hilts are composed of golden thread-wrapped celestial marbles.
"Behold, Serathirel the Flame of Truth and Velkran the Unmaker. Strongest angelic and demonic weapon in their class."
He introduced.
"Grab the best of all of the Existence. You won't be able to stop me!"
He roared as he fired the orbs at Alnath. Each of the blades hummed with its own energy. Serathirel split the Drops with divine light, and Velkran erased the void with an unwritten force.
"I'm not your executioner, nor am I your redeemer. I'm your reflection, what you could not become."
Perfectly holding both blades, Alnath stepped forward.
As he moves, his strikes, which alternate between divine strikes, nullification, and curses, blitz past the orbs, destroying them before landing on their intended target, Achernar.
For the first time in his life, he felt fear in the version of this kid before him rather than in himself.
"H...how are you able to wield all at one?"
"Crucible Triune. Your curse grants me your weaknesses, my Cursed Arts, which I have honed over aeons of years, and, finally, my newly awakened Divinity. That is what Crucible Triune is."
He answered, his back to his master.
"So you're finally going to use them against me?"
"No. You don't get to choose how this ends anymore."
"You brat!"
Achernar solidified twin azure blades in his hands, each one shimmering with lethal energy. With his hands occupied, a translucent veil materialised across his face, masking expression but not intent.
Without hesitation, the two surged into the sky, their movements blurring into streaks of light and shadow.
"You're still bound by what I gave you."
Achernar spoke in annoyance.
"No, I am what you feared I'd become."
Lusath remained composed, his voice steady even as the storm of battle raged around him. Achernar, lost in his own focus, hurled azure spears that streaked through the air like shards of frozen lightning.
"Unmake them all."
At his command, every spear shattered instantly under the sweep of a single Velkran swing, fragments scattering like dust in the wind.
Serathirel lifted a hand, pointing at Achernar with lethal precision, then surged forward. Blades met with a deafening clash, sparks and energy spiralling outward.
"You can't hold both...both will tear you apart!"
"Then watch me."
He disobeyed despite the harm he was suffering. That is irrelevant as long as he can get his revenge.
After recalling Velkran, Lusath held the Flame of Truth firmly in his right hand, its light cutting through the chaos, while his left coalesced with a writhing mass of curse energy. Every motion was precise, leaving Achernar unable to anticipate his next strike.
From his left hand, the darkness of the curse began to pulse, a force capable of stripping away Achernar's defences. At the same time, the ultimate curse coiled within, a merciless power designed to consume the very core that had given Achernar life, threatening the foundation of his existence.
(Not only Essereos but Ontospheres, Mythaeon, & Eidolynths combined)
The ultimate force of Achernar erupted, a collapsing nova, a storm of thousand-fold Azure Radiance amplified by powers even Lusath could not name. The air itself trembled under its intensity.
With unflinching courage, Lusath charged the nova. At the final moment, he summoned Velkran, directing it to annihilate the Archetype of Azure.
He surged through Achernar, leaving Serathirel behind in a swirl of shattered energy, and finally came to a halt, panting but resolute.
Serathirel's form had pierced Achernar's heart, and when he glanced down, blackness was consuming his own body in a creeping, unnatural shadow. He fell to his knees, a dark chuckle escaping him despite the unease twisting his chest.
Achernar snapped his fingers, and the curse tattoo that had plagued Lusath faded into nothingness.
"I am glad everything went as planned."
He said calmly, even as his body crumpled and fell, leaving a silence thick enough to choke the remnants of the battlefield.
Lusath stood motionless, frozen. Those words felt like the end of the world for him. He could not put the pieces together, so he closed the gap and caught his mentor as he fell, causing Serathirel to fade at his command.
"What are you talking about? What went as planned?"
"Isn't it too obvious?"
Achernar inquired, his wound still bleeding and unable to heal.
"I gave my life because I could not allow Kenos to take you away. Knowing there was a chance you would follow me, I activated the curse, stealing your Divinity and rendering all of your previous hardships pointless. Funny isn't?
Anybody will be angry, so I took advantage of that to incite more hatred by murdering your peers before you and forcing you to watch your world being destroyed. They detested you, but you were unable to feel the same way, so their fate will truly harm you.
I made you believe the tattoo's sole purpose was to reveal my weakness, but I kept a lot of information from you. After telling me about your destiny, Lord Acamar and I made a little agreement. He will not interfere with my actions, regardless of what I do, and I will not reveal your destiny to anyone.
That tattoo? Well, it's just a little obstacle I set to slow you down.
With the curse controlling your body and the tattoo continuously depleting your azure reserves, you will appear to be a creature devoid of Divinity. Since mastering the curse was the most difficult aspect, I left it with you, and you used it extensively to gain the title of Curse Lord. I am overjoyed."
Achernar said with a smile.
"W...hey what are you talking about?"
Lusath was sceptical, refusing to believe that his entire life was predetermined.
"Both the tattoos and the glyphs are hidden parts of your abilities that contain pieces of your actual powers."
Nonetheless, Achernar continued.
"You will eventually fall for the signal once it has been cracked. You figured out I was going to let you kill me, but in the last frame, you thought you could restore your Divinity and used your own powers to kill me; isn't it funny how you followed my scripts?"
He inquired, the veil fading to reveal the real Achernar smiling.
Alnath experienced an extraordinary sensation, but he was too overwhelmed to speak.
"You finally regained your Divinity while carrying your curse, revealing your true self. Not Lucifer, not Satan but both. You would not believe me if I told you I expected you to say those cool lines. I was constantly hiding my actual feelings and emotions by covering my face. I am incredibly proud of you, Alnath."
"S...sensei. Why? "Why take this turn when we could have done it together?"
"I apologise that it had to come to this, but this was the only place I would have preferred. I will never be able to forgive myself if the Dark Stars took you. I never want to face you in a battle where we'll fight to the death."
He gave him an earnest response, his existence unravelling.
"But now you did. You made us fight to the death."
"Remember when I asked you who you would choose in a life-or-death situation?
Alnath flinched, remembering the answer he gave back then.
"I'll choose you no matter what the situation is. Saving my worthless ass isn't going to help the future but you have the power and mind to do that. So I won't bother risking my life to save you."
"Exactly. As you have stated, you are something I will never be. Your presence is what shattered my awakening to the Omni Tier. Why should I live when you are more valuable to the world than I am?"
He asked, his smile unwavering, etched into his face even as his very existence began to fade, dissolving into the nothingness around him.
He raised his palm and an orb materialised.
"Even though I killed them, their forms remain. Your abilities extend beyond the realm of Concepts; resurrecting them will not be difficult."
After Achernar placed the orb in his possession, Alnath let it hover gently by his shoulder.
"Y..you didn't kill them?"
"I only destroyed their physical bodies."
"You mean everything was meticulously planned and carried out in your mind? That's smart."
"You grew up before me so I know how you think & behave."
"Isn't there a way to stop this decomposition? Can't you heal yourself?"
"With your current powers, once I fade, absolutely everything of me will be erased, completely unwritten, as if I had never existed."
(Narrative death = the story ends for them, their identity, role and impact vanish along with it. Existence death = deep erasures affecting Fragment from records like Codexons and mostly, Akasharytes. Narrative death < Existential death.)
Slowly, inexorably, Achernar's form was succumbing to its narrative erasure. His name, his memories, even the echo of his existence blurred and faded into nothingness.
"Elara was defeated, and now I am next. This restores the balance in the War. I'm glad… everything is going as planned."
He said, calm as ever, untroubled even as ultimate erasure approached.
As Phoenix had once said, when everything unfolds as planned, it is the greatest feeling in the world. Lusath found himself understanding that now.
"Win the war, save the Star Realm, and continue your journey. I may be gone, but I'll be watching beyond the veil. I'm so proud of you, Alnath."
Achernar's voice dissolved with the final remnants of Mythaeon's erasure. From this moment forward, no Star ever carried the name Achernar, no Dark Star bore the title Diavolos. He was gone, utterly forgotten by the Fragments.
The Shadows materialised silently behind Lusath.
"What remains of the Vhaegons have retreated."
One of them reported.
"We've eliminated the majority, including those who reached the universe. The lower worlds saw no casualties among the Stars. Thanks to Atlas, of course."
Umbra added, equally obedient.
Lusath rose, his gaze sweeping across the expanse of the Pond before settling on the Divine Land, a realm that stretched far beyond the limits of the Pond itself.
"Good. Elyvra has fallen. Go, protect it—its Goddess can wait."
He commanded, his eyes never leaving the scared land.
Without hesitation, the Shadows and Fallen Angels ascended, soaring together toward Elyvra under his directive.
Lusath stood whete he was, unable to recall who or what he had just fought. He has transformed mid-battle but, the evidence of the enemy can't be detected.
To be continued...