Chapter 221 - Portent of Doom

A number of glittering strings floated in a pure white aether, gently twisting around each other according to the natural currents of fate.

One silver string tied around a number of golden and silver ones, snipping the life out of them before itself perishing peacefully into the aether.

A black string circled a ribbon of golden and silver strings, directing the ribbon out into the world before escaping in the moonlight.

The golden tapestry of threads that shimmered above the city of Noga was being scrunched up into a knot and shredded to feed a black cord that radiated with a godly demonic presence.

Though she was in the aetheric world in the middle of the forest, every thread in the city converged on the God of Life’s thread. The disaster that was about to occur was intrinsically linked with her present location in the White World.

Beneath her blindfold, Yuzu’s brown eyes looked across the tapestry of fate with a relaxed concentration. An energy tingled within her body, coursing through her blood as she felt her consciousness expand to encompass the myriad threads affected by the God of Life’s ritual. The city of Noga was laid out before her, as if she were sitting above the clouds looking down upon it.

Her sense of self and ego faded, replaced with a pure intention, a singular purpose.

Save the citizens of Noga. Save the God of Life. Save the land from the evils of the black spire.

Stop the calamity unfolding before her.

As she looked down upon the intertwining fates of all those caught up in the ritual, she came to a deeper understanding of the events. Without her intervention, everything would be destroyed and be cast into ruin, and all of her goals would be struck into oblivion.

“…How annoying.” She muttered as the tiniest frown flickered on her lips. She let out a soft sigh as she raised her hands out to the tapestry and began to work.

~

On top of the inner city walls, a roaring pillar of flame spewed out of a black cauldron. Stationed around the pillar were a number of monks and police officers, keeping guard over the cauldron.

In the distance eleven other blazing pillars lit up the twilight sky in a ring, forming the perimeter of the sacrificial ritual at its center.

“Anything unusual?” A senior monk asked as he made his rounds.

“No, older brother, it’s been peaceful.” The junior said.

“Stay sharp.” The senior monk said seriously, “This is the critical moment in the performance. We must keep the flames from harm.”

“Seems a bit silly to have so many of us keeping watch,” The junior chuckled, not aware of why the seniors thought there would be a problem, “It’s just some fireworks. I doubt anyone will try anything.”

“This is serious!” The senior scolded the monk, looking across to the other faces, “Stay alert, don’t relax!”

As the monks stood guard a slim figure in an earthy green robe came up from the staircase. She gazed quietly upon the monks who were standing guard. Their heads were bowed, eyes closed as they stood motionlessly in place. The light from the flames played across their still faces and bodies, casting long flickering shadows across the wall top.

“Stay alert,” An older monk next to her mumbled, “Don’t relax!”

The scene was proceeding peacefully in their dreams as they remained unaware that they had been put to sleep.

The sounds of blazing flames bellowed across the otherwise quiet scene.

Quill carefully proceeded forward, her eyes glancing back and forth as she kept to the edges of the walkway. Though the monks had been put to sleep by her powers, she didn’t take it for granted, carefully approaching the cauldron like a cat stalking a prey.

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In the aether, a delicate hand reached out and touched her string.

A scene unfolded in Quill’s mind.

In the center of the square on a stage bathed in torch light, a black beast was gushing out of the body of a cultist who was tied to the black hand tree. It burst out of her abdomen, taking the form of a monstrous eight legged stag. Its matted fur was slick with blood, its massive antlers grew outward like tree branches that ended in flailing arms.

Every person in the square that placed their eyes on this creature instantly lost control and keeled over in terror before liquifying into a pool of blood. The edges of the horizon glowed with a demonic light as the world was washed in red.

The beast let out a terrible screech as it grew at an incredible pace, dwarfing the black cathedral on the other side of the square.

In this vision as the beast raised its massive head to the sky in the distance, Quill saw herself frantically toppling the cauldron that was spewing out the pillar of flames. It crashed to the ground, shattering and spewing its contents violently across the walkway. Bloodcurdling screams broke the night air as the sleeping monks woke up engulfed in flames.

The air shimmered and twisted as the energies of the ritual were disrupted. A shockwave exploded outward brazier, cascading across the inner city wall. As the shockwave reached the other pillars, the cauldrons containing them exploded, killing the monks and people in the area and toppling the walls.

These shockwaves converged on the plaza, crashing into the reincarnating God of Life and tearing through His body. He began to convulse as his flesh began violently sprouting limbs and branches. Thousands of mouths bubbled out of his skin and screamed in a discordant chorus.

The entire screams echoed across the city beyond the inner walls, tearing apart the souls of every living creature that heard it.

“Don’t.” An ethereal illusory voice spoke softly in Quill’s ears.

Quill suddenly snapped out of the vision, gasping softly in shock as her head jerked around in a panic.

The sleeping monks stood motionlessly in the vibrant light of the pillar that continued to blaze into the air.

“What in Noga’s name…” Quill croaked. Her throat was dry. Her pupils quivered in terror as she continued to look around for the source of the vision.

A tremor shook the ground as Quill’s spiritual intuition directed her attention toward the city center. A black mass was rising over the rooftops, taking shape into a terrible beast just like she had just witnessed.

She glanced at the cauldron, hesitating only a moment as she ran toward it, grabbing a long pole as she rushed to topple it down.

Was the vision real? Or was it just a trick by the enemy? Was it worse to let the God of Life revive or for that terrible future to occur?

In the heat of the moment Quill chose to act according to her original plan.

The delicate, unseen hand brushed across a number of silver threads, shaking them out of stillness.

Quill’s spiritual intuition rang out as she instinctively dodged to the left, just barely managing the slash of a steel blade.

“A-Attack! We’re under attack!” The monk brandishing the sword yelled out.

Across the wall, the guards that had been put to sleep opened their eyes, taking a moment to shake off the drowsiness as the yelling of their brothers called them to action.

The would-be-saboteur found herself desperately defending herself from multiple monks, barely evading a number of attacks as she was driven further and further away from the cauldron. She cast a regretful look at the untouched pillar of flame before abandoning her mission and launching herself off the parapets into the city below.

In the aetheric world Yuzu turned her attention elsewhere, plucking the strings across the inner city as she prevented numerous forces from disrupting the ritual.

The forces of Lord Noga were split, half of them protecting the monks, half working against him. A chaotic mess of Exalted acted upon each other, most unaware of the ramifications of their actions.

But Yuzu knew.

She worked quickly and efficiently, spending only as much time as she needed on each place, nudging strings only as much as she needed to, conserving her energy to make it last.

She could only hope it would last.

~

At the White Maiden’s shrine on the plateau above the forest, the four remaining worshipers stood solemnly in front of the shrine. The dim light of dozens of candles flickered from around the shrine, placed according to the White Maiden’s instructions. Silver bowls filled with incense, coins and peaches were laid out in offering to the mysterious deity who had implored their assistance with saving the city.

“White Maiden, we are your humble servants.” Char Char prayed with sincerity, “We offer you these gifts, that you may save us from disaster.”

“You are our guiding light, we pray for your love and protection.” Tua Kong, the eldest of the group spoke reverently.

“Please protect my friends and family.” The young girl named Rabbit pressed her hands together and bowed her head.

“…” Xiang grit his teeth as he closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer.

As the sun descended below the horizon an electric sensation filled the air, causing their extremities to tingle and their hair to stand on end.

Rabbit gasped softly as a soft white light began to glow above the shrine.

“Keep praying!” Char Char scolded softly, though she and Xiang also couldn’t help but look at the light.

A mysterious symbol of five concentric rings came to life above the small stone shrine. Shimmering lines connected the rings together at intervals as the symbol grew brighter and brighter, bathing the plateau in a bright white light.

The seedling that had been gifted by Ming Ru to the White Maiden suddenly sprouted out of the ground behind the shrine into an elegant white tree with crystalline leaves.

The four worshipers’ eyes were drawn upward, their mouths open in awe at the beautiful, mysterious tree that spread its boughs over the shrine.