Chapter 9

Unyielding as the Earth

As I walked into a strange jungle, I felt an acute sense of pain. Clutching my head, I then saw a large blue gas well up. Fighting my way through the pain, I walked through the gas only to see it strangely disappear. "Weird.", I thought. I then felt my demonic left arm seize up, unleashing a giant storm of red electricity. Screaming out in pain, I than ran forward, propelled to a very inhuman speed. As I ran, I felt my anger and frustration peak only to strangely subside with the pain. Slowing down, I then noticed that the various plants and trees were growing to a very dangerous size. "What do you think?", Alvis asked. "Well, I think the Earth Crystal is oversupplying the plants here with mana; if it continues, the crystal could easily cause the Sunleth Waterscape to drain away all the water in the area. Eventually, it would drain water from the whole of Aionios.", I replied. "Indeed.", Alvis said. "Also, the mana drain would adversely affect the natural ecosystem, causing animals to grow aggressive and violent and cause them to attack innocent people in search of food.", I continued. "That is correct. And this was of course caused by YHVH's invasion draining the world of its mana; this caused the Crystals to work overtime by generating more mana and thus adversely affecting the environment.", Alvis said. Looking at my right hand, I then said, "Well, if that's the case, then I need to hurry and stop the Crystals from dangerously saturating Aionios with mana.".

While I hurried, Iori watched from a distance. "He's arrived, Aoko. Now, let's see if he's up to the test.", he said. Sensing a sinister presence behind him, Iori drew his swords and prepared to attack. And his response was sound, as the person he sensed was Kazuto himself, glowing with a nauseously radiant light. "Kazuto, why?", Iori asked. "Come on, you know my Mom wanted me to get some experience in by hunting some monsters here.", Kazuto replied. "Kazuto, she's not your mother. No matter how much she says she is, she isn't. Especially not after she kidnapped and brainwashed you into thinking you were her son.", Iori said. "You're lying.", Kazuto said. "As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is delusion to the delusional.", Iori said before rushing forward, slashing with his swords. Kazuto easily dodged like a baller, promptly drawing his own swords and attacking Iori in turn. As the two swordsmen clashed, Iori unleashed a fast flurry of attacks- so fast in fact that Iori looked like he was blinking in and out of existence. Just managing to guard against the flurry of attacks, Kazuto then performed a brutal slash only for Iori to easily parry it as if was nothing, promptly following up with a burst of flame from the gems in his possession. Kazuto easily dodged the fire, only to see the burst of flame cause the shrubbery to catch fire. "Oh crapbaskets.", Kazuto said as he narrowly dodged another burst of fire.

Rushing to a deep part of the jungle, I then saw another vision- this time of Odin fighting against Phoenix, Garuda, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut and Shiva as well as giant sea monster and a giant walking castle. This vision led to another- this time of a hyper-advanced starship with an alternate me wearing paladin armour and armed with a rapier and shield fighting, well, me and badly losing. The vision faded, greatly confusing me. "Wait, was that-?", I asked myself before a loud voice said, "Why, yes it was! The 9 Eikons- Phoenix, Garuda, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut, Shiva, Odin, Leviathan and Alexander. Though why Odin was fighting against his kind I do not know. But maybe it was the will of God.". I looked closer at the figure, seeing a cat with black and white fur, red wings and yellow eyes wearing a black top hat and black trousers with suspenders. "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Husk.", the cat said. "Husk, do you know where the Earth Crystal is?", I asked. "Well, I know, but do you want to know?", Husk replied. "Stop being cryptic and tell me!", I said, forming Zantetsuken in my right hand. "My, aren't we impatient?", Husk said, surrounding himself with a red and black aura composed of hellfire. "Let me guess, you're a demon too.", I said. "Exactamundo.", Husk said as the hellfire aura grew higher before shockingly turning into a nauseously radiant aura. Feeling a strong feeling of fear, I rushed directly at Husk, slashing forward with Zantetsuken, only for a strange explosion to cover us.

Coming to, I found myself in a posh dining room. "Wait, where am I?", I asked. "Don't you remember? You were accompanying us and got awakened as one of us.", Juniper said next to me. "But I was exposed to the Infinity Core, or so I was told.", I said. "Well, you chose to redeem yourself and expunge the light from your soul. And for that, we are thankful.", Aoko said. I then found myself in front of the Happy Hotel again, only for the door to open automatically. Walking inside, I then looked behind me only for the entrance to disappear. Terrified, I turned back around and walked further inside, finding myself in a very posh lounge. I looked at the portraits, only to get the feeling that they were looking back at me. Then, I touched the mirror on one of the tables, only to see the glass ripple like water in a puddle. I then found myself in an underground shrine with a tapestry depicting 8 beings. Walking over, I examined the tapestry feverishly, noticing that there was a very blatant omission. "Garuda, Ramuh, Shiva, Bahamut, Titan, Leviathan and Odin are depicted, so where's the Phoenix?", I thought. Suddenly, I then found myself back where I met Husk, seeing a path leading to a leafy maze. Steeling myself, I entered the maze.

Walking through the maze, I saw a strange symbol on the ground depicting a mountain range; following it, I found myself at the centre of the maze where I saw a giant golden brown crystal expelling a ludicrous amount of energy. "Isn't it wonderful?", I heard Cu ask behind me. Turning around, I said, "Cu, be honest with me. How long have you known about the Earth Crystal's issues?". "Why, from the beginning of the Seven Crusades.", Cu replied. "You mean from the beginning of the War of the Celestials?", I asked. "Exactly.", Cu replied. Feeling a strange surge of energy, I then found myself covered by a pillar of golden brown energy. As I watched the maze warp and twist into a circular arena, I saw Cu summon a crimson spear to his hand. "It's time to begin your training now.", Cu said. I then felt my whole body seize up; in response to this, I clenched my right hand, only to see the energy strangely enter it. And not just from the Earth Crystal but from the entirety of the jungle, causing the plant life to return to "normal". Summoning Zantetsuken to my hand, I then saw something very strange- rather than taking the form of a katana, the sword instead took the form of a double-bladed sword with one of the blades being shorter than the other and both blades glowing with an ominous red glow. However, I had no time to think on why this was the case as Cu then proceeded to attack. Grabbing Zantetsuken with both hands, I parried the attack and launched an assault of my own, noticing that I was limited to slow yet strong slashes. They also apparently displaced the earth beneath our feet too. Smiling, Cu promptly thrust his spear with an increased tempo; not to be outdone, I slashed with Zantetsuken in a bid to counter and parry his strikes. Narrowly dodging one of Cu's thrusts, I felt time briefly stop for a moment, granting me an opportune window to attack. Taking the opportunity, I attacked, delivering a brutal slash that Cu countered with a thrust from his spear. Undeterred, I delivered a furious slurry of slashes that Cu easily parried. "You're not embracing the darkness within you. And here I thought you were actually starting to learn.", Cu said, disappointed. "What did you say?!", I asked, furious. "Yes, that's it! Embrace the darkness!", Cu said as I slashed even further, launching various beams of darkness. Facepalming in disappointment, Cu then said, "No. You're relying too much on your own strength, not on Odin's.". "It's normal for a warrior to use their own strength than something temporary.", I said. "That is just so wrong.", Cu said before launching a thrust from his spear that I just managed to block, only for the beam the thrust unleashed to pass through me and shatter the Earth Crystal. As a surge of anger raged within me, I unleashed a violent red storm of electricity that promptly sped up my movement considerably. It was to avail, though as Cu blocked and deflected all my attacks very easily. "Why? Why can't I beat you?", I asked angrily. "Well, you're clearly not worthy of becoming the Sovereign if you're so weak.", Cu said. "Why you little!", I shouted, unleashing a darkness empowered slash. Sighing, Cu sidestepped the attack before warping away. Angry, I then saw a path leading underground.

Walking down the path, I saw the shrubbery and foliage of the Sunleth Waterscape change into an underground tunnel. Dismissing Zantetsuken, I ran through the tunnel, hatred guiding my steps. "How dare he call me weak. How dare he criticise me for not Odin's power.", I thought as a red storm of electricity surrounded me. Too angry to notice my running charring the ground, I ran through a gathered group of skeletal soldiers dressed in rags, reducing them to dust. Screaming in rage, I then unleashed a more potent storm of energy, finding myself in that red flat again. "Here again?", I asked. "That's right.", I heard Alastor's voice say. Turning around to see him, I saw that Himari was accompanying him. "Wait, why are you two here?", I asked. "Oh, I'm not Alastor. You may call me the Negative Strength Force.", the being resembling Alastor said. "And you may call me the Negative Still Force.", the being resembling Himari said, glowing with a sinister green glow. "Wait, so the Negative Speed Force isn't the only negative force out there?", I asked. "Seems like someone doesn't understand the fact that for all positive force, there is an equal and opposite negative force and vice versa.", the Negative Still Force said. "You mean there's a Negative Sage Force too?", I asked. "That's correct.", the Negative Strength Force said. As a chill ran down my spine, I then asked, "Does that mean there's a Negative Sage Force as well?". "Indeed there is. And I believe you've met the Sage Force's avatar already.", the Negative Strength Force said.

Finding myself in the underground tunnel again, I then saw that I was standing in a giant puddle. "Must be close to the Water Crystal.", I said to myself. "Oh, right you are!", Alastor said, walking out of the darkness. "Are you Alastor or the Negative Strength Force?", I asked. "Oh, you know I'm Alastor.", Alastor replied. "Wait, are you the Strength Force's avatar?", I asked. "Well, for someone so smart, you certainly are quite slow on the uptake sometimes. Then again, you've always been like this.", Alastor said, brimming with blue electricity. Terrified, I then ran, red electricity trailing behind me. "You know you can't run from yourself forever.", Alastor said. Then, Himari came, glowing with a green glow. "Incidentally, how's the Sage Force treating you?", Alastor asked. "Well, it seems to be functioning OK.", Himari said. "It's just that I thought that you inheriting Deon's power might could have affected you adversely.", Alastor said. "I don't want to jinx it but it seems like I'm OK…despite the peculiars of how I inherited the Sage Force.", Himari said. "That's good to know.", Alastor said.

Coming out of the tunnel, I found myself in a flooded aqueduct. Well, it wasn't completely flooded, but it looked like it was about to be completely submerged. "OK, time to track down the Water Crystal.", I said. As I walked into the aqueduct, Iori smiled, watching me from above.

The story continues in the next chapter.