PATH OF THE CREATOR

Hannah was currently overlooking the ma.s.sive mountain pa.s.s, the valley that cut between two tall peaks. It was usually enriched in green, though with the last failed invasion and today's, none of the greenery remained. Instead, it was a desolate land of blood and gore, of corpses and bones. By her side, Amadeel floated with a hardened expression as the Legions began forming under and around them -- they've taken up the bulk of the force, over one hundred and fifty thousand souls altogether. The number was enough to douse the land beneath in the souls, so much so that individuals ceased to stand out -- it was just a sea of people.

The other side, however, had three times their numbers at the central point of the battle -- nearly five hundred thousand souls. The colorful combinations of armors and weapons blanketed the pa.s.s and the sky above it, so much so that Amadeel began feeling rattled. It finally dawned on him that many will indeed die. Perhaps, by the end of this bloodbath, more than half their forces will have perished.

"Keep about your head," Hannah said, glancing at him and smiling faintly. He felt a faint sense of shame creep up on him. How was it that a child yet to turn even a hundred was more composed and readier than he was? "Protect those you can, mourn those you can't later."

"Be careful out there," he said. "Aside from Lino and Ella, you will be in the most danger."

"... hardly," she said as Qi around her began churning rapidly. The terrifying purity startled Amadeel momentarily; n.o.body had seen Hannah fighting in a long time, and most had begun viewing her simply as the Empress, the closest person to the Empyrean. "Good luck."

Blinding-white light burst out of her in seams, shouldering her entire being as she vanished, appearing over two miles away and over ten up, right where over thirty members of the Descent were gathering. Amadeel stared momentarily, stunned; for that brief moment, he sensed it -- perhaps, in raw stats and power, she eclipsed even Lino. Shuddering, he spun around, steeling his nerves, and began calling orders. This would be a long day.

**

Hannah came to a halt in front of the thirty-three members of the Descent. Save for One, all other founding members were here -- Two through Seven. Her appearance had changed in that single span of her breath; though her hair remained b.l.o.o.d.y-red, fluttering in the invisible winds, her eyes had turned entirely white, adorned in graceful s.h.i.+ne. Her one-piece dress appeared redone, cast into brilliant armor of white and silver, golden edges s.h.i.+ning like the sun. The world about her appeared to bow, kneel, expressing its servitude.

Her expression remained placid, a tinge of anger and fury hidden beneath the calmness, as she stared at the figures that slowly began fanning out into a crescent encirclement.

"... who was it?" she asked in a voice void of imperfections -- melodic, faint, orderly.

"Who was what, Maiden of Order?" Two stepped forth, blocking the influence of her voice from reaching the rest. "Did you come here to chat or fight?"

"Who was it that permitted the Primes to enter the War?" Hannah asked again.

"... I was," Two said, shrugging. "What of it? Would you refuse free help that comes knocking at your doors?"

"... you wouldn't dare," Hannah continued. "I guess it was One. So much for remaining indifferent to our conflicts. It's a shame he's not here today."

"Ha ha ha ha," Two crackled into faint laughter, shaking her head. "What if he were? You think any one of you could do anything to him?"

"--All Creation Heed--"

"Fan out more!!" Two called toward the rest, realizing the time for chatter was over. "Formulate the Barriers, prepare the attacks! Let us kill the Order itself!!"

"--Your Empress is Here."

Qi jolted, all elements bursting apart at their seams, devoured inside out from their cores, reforged within a nanosecond of the existence. The sky splintered into a slit around Hannah, wings of light spreading for ten miles on each end, s.h.i.+ning resplendently. Above her, a silver-adorned crown stood up, billowing light backward, folding it over her being, projecting her into a spectral Avatar -- a grand creation, surmounting five miles in height, almost corporeal.

The winds began blowing in ceremonial concert, sheering through the erected barriers; two members of the Descent were immediately killed, winds tearing through their eyes, mouths, muscles, and bones. With a cry they vanished into thin ash, incorporated into the wind itself.

"Attack!!" Two called out as hundreds of arrays lit up asudden, the remaining thirty-one members of the Descent spread out into a strange form, in such a way that they themselves formed a gigantic Avatar -- one of the earth-colors, steaming in hazy, ash-colored Qi.

Hannah clapped her hands together, jolting back and ripping open the vestiges of s.p.a.ce with the trace of her arms; thousands of tree-thick bolts of crimson lightning appeared, blasting away at the giant Avatar opposite of her. The crown on top of her head shuddered, crying out in joy, as she spread her arms wide, Qi tangling around her, forming fanned-out formation of light-woven blades. They erupted outwardly, cruising along the curve toward the Avatar that retaliated at last -- boulders formed out of Qi, superimposed over the tiny dots of Purefire, came cras.h.i.+ng in a uniform fas.h.i.+on from all frontal angles.

The blades ignored them, thousands of them bursting from nothing into reality, winding about in a long curve before striking at the Avatar's sides; the perceived skin cracked temporarily, a single cry jolting the sky as a member of descent fell into the oblivion.

In the meantime, Hannah exhaled a deep breath, the chill manifesting into a circular sigil in front of her. Touching the center with her index figure, she infused it with a storm of Qi, expanding it until it blocked her entire Avatar -- it ate away at the boulders, one by one, as tendrils of smoke arose in their wake, arms breaking out toward her. She spun in place, raising her arms over her as s.p.a.ce beneath her ripped open, a rectangular pillar of pure light consuming her, rising up like a curtain, swallowing the smoky arms.

"Order in Desolation," she mumbled lowly as her eyes began s.h.i.+ning even brighter, the glow turning into wisps of smoke that folded back over her, forming another layer to her crown -- the trail of smoke appeared like the fully carved antlers of a deer. "Sever the Lithe Binds of Creation."

The light that ceased being defined by color erupted out of her like the rays of the sun, was.h.i.+ng over the surrounding world. The beams weaved about into a loop, converging into a behemoth of a blade that sliced over a thousand times in rapid succession, cutting through the Avatar, felling five members of the Descent in the process.

"WHAT IS THIS?!!" Five cried out suddenly, barely managing to evade the blade. "Two, we can't defeat her!! We have to retreat!!"

"IF WE RETREAT, EVERYONE BEHIND US WILL DIE!!" Two "GO ALL OUT!! WE AT LEAST HAVE TO CONTAIN HER!!"

Two sucked in a ma.s.s of Qi, letting it trail through her body until time around her slowed down to a crawl. She clasped her hands together, a process that appeared to last a whole eternity to her, yet it lasted less than a second to the observers, sending an ever-weaving shockwave around her that wrapped around the Avatar. The dilation allowed them to easily dodged the strikes as Four stepped slightly out, doused in thick shadows, spreading his fingers wide and belting Qi out in droves.

Thousands upon thousands of zombified, winged corpses came to, rapidly flapping the rotting wings as they dove toward Hannah.

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The latter, still indifferent, slapped her right arm in front of her, causing the s.p.a.ce to the left side of the Descent's Avatar to rip open -- a beam of ever-devouring Light trounced it, burning like the fires of desolation.

Just as she was preparing to continue the attack, Hannah frowned, withdrawing backward in a single flash of light. s.p.a.ce, where she stood, ripped unto itself, exploding into a shockwave, while her beam -- and the rip it was coming from -- vanished from the sky. She had managed to kill six more members of the Descent, though none of the core members.

Her gaze sharpened, she looked upward, toward the head of the Avatar, where a new figure joined -- '1' carved into his forehead.

"..." rather than growing frustrated, however, Hannah smiled rather wickedly, a complete contrast to her ethereal pure figure. "At last. I was wondering whether you'll truly let them die..."

"... you seem rather confident," Alladin said, smiling faintly. "You shouldn't."

"Confident? No," Hannah shook her head, taking a deep breath and taking to the high-sky once more, her Avatar following her. "Angry? Yes. Whatever you may be, you should not have done this, One. Trust me... you cannot afford the price you will have to pay."

"--I've paid my dues already, Elysian" he said, shaking his head. "I did what had to be done. Were you of clear mind, you too would see that the world can't continue down this path."

"... Song of the Beginning," Hannah sang in a low tune, spreading her arms wide, as Qi melded into the warm winds that gracefully entangled her. "Of Light, Night, Dawn and Dusk -- Elements of Creation, Manifest."

"s.p.a.cetime Lock," Alladin extended his hand, his palm open, fingers spread, as Two joined him, mimicking his posture. "Pocket of Nothingness."

As the elements swelled into an ever-devouring symphony, the two ma.s.sive Avatars temporarily vanished from everyone's eyes.

Though Hannah found herself in a completely different dimension, she appeared unperturbed. Even realizing she couldn't locate the Descent's Avatar, rather than confused, she smiled.

"... thank you," she mumbled, bringing her fingers up to her lips, blowing at them gently. "Eternity in a Song; Now, Tomorrow, Forever -- I command All."

The dimension suddenly came alive, like a completely new world sprouting out over the course of billions of years. Oceans, landma.s.ses, rivers, mountains, hills, trees, lakes, living, all seemed to conjoin in the creation of everything that lasted a few breaths. The Descent's Avatar stood in the distance, both One and Two bearing the expressions of confusion that swiftly turned into anxiety. This wasn't an illusion, that they immediately ascertained -- Hannah had composed a whole world, one as diverse and as ma.s.sive as Noterra -- in the span of a few breaths.

"All of Creation Heed," they could hear her melodic voice trickle into their ears, one that almost caused them to walk over to her and surrender. "Your Maker is Here..."