Meeting Fate With a Smile: The Final Moments of the First Archpriestess
Embers danced in the air. Heat-scorched rubble crashed to the ground as the world came tumbling down. The rush of wind from their impact only fanned the flames higher, sending more sparks fluttering forth. And there was the sound, a high-pitched keening that rang on ceaselessly. A storm of steel raged through the fiery maelstrom, hundreds, thousands, millions of strokes.
“Hah!”
In the heart of that hell danced a solitary figure. The first archpriestess traced a streak of light through air heavy with malice, unleashing a barrage of blows upon her foe at extraordinary speed.
“You’re fast for a pretender,” her enemy said. “I see why no zlosta could best you.”
He foiled her attacks with ease, dodging this, parrying that. Not once did his composure falter. A tempest swirled forth from his weapon, a buffeting gale that sought to lock her in place. Levelheaded to the last, she leaped back, putting some distance between them.
“A Lord is a fearsome foe indeed,” she said.
Despite the calmness in her voice, her face was beginning to show signs of strain. The Lord had not moved a single step since his arrival. She raised her blade in a fighting guard, straining her senses to their limit as she stared him down.
“What is it that you cling to, Demiurgos? The age of the zlosta is over. You cannot hope to—”
Abruptly, she stiffened as though she had been locked in iron fetters. An uncanny pressure had issued from the Demiurgos. She sensed no anger from him, however, nor malice, nor hatred neither. He possessed no emotions at all. It was the sheer weight of his gaze that bored into her soul, filling her with a dread that made sweat break out across her brow.
“You would presume to know my designs? The designs of a Lord? What insolence.”
At last, he took one step forward. That simple motion caused the air to groan. Space shuddered beneath the weight of his passage. His every footfall landed with crushing force that wore down her spirit.
Rey tensed her legs and breathed a small sigh. “Come, Excalibur. It’s time to end this.”
As the words left her lips, a brilliant light drowned out the glow of the flames. Radiance filled the chamber, astounding in its purity. Rents appeared in the air behind her—one, four, six, expanding without bound. Blades issued forth, formed from the remnants of spirits—innumerable spirit weapons manifested at her command. Yet the Demiurgos showed not a hint of concern. If anything, he seemed amused by the sight.
“You transcend the domain of mortals...just like your false Lord.”
Rey hardly heard him. She turned the glittering sword around in her grip and raised it before her eyes, setting her left hand against the blade. A ripple spread out from the point of contact and she brought her lips to it.
“All is nothingness, light’s rightful claim.”
And she unleashed Liegegrazalt—Divine Lightning.
In an instant, she vanished, along with her entourage of blades. Streaks of light split the air, a blistering assault unleashed at supersonic speed. Hundreds of strikes bore down on the Demiurgos, thousands, millions, a storm of violence that left him with no choice but to defend...or so anybody would have thought.
“A futile effort.”
The battle ended in one stroke. A single spear thrust, precise and merciless, exposed the width of the gulf between them as the Demiurgos’s weapon ran her through. He wrenched the spear back out. She stared, stunned, at the blood that poured forth.
“I could not even land...a single blow...”
“And so you die. Writhe in pain and wail in terror, for you have earned a Lord’s wrath.”
Even as she crumpled, she bit her lip against the pain, but blood burst from her mouth. The spirit weapons surrounding her began to disappear. A silver blizzard swirled around her, motes of light falling to the floor like powder snow.
Forgive me, Lord Hiro. It seems my path ends here.
It would be a lie to say she had no regrets. She had left him no parting words. But that was all she had left undone.
But I know... I have faith...that my soul will wait...
She had failed to seize the future she had planned, but she had glimpsed the one she had dreamed of. That knowledge—the knowledge that her truest wish would be granted—lifted her above the fear of death.
I will wait for you, Lord Hiro. For ages, for aeons, until the end of time.
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