Raven's silver blades swing upward to block the incoming white threads.

Her greater form activates at the same time, and a reality-bending ripple of divine energy shakes the white mansion.

All of the statues, walls, floor, and ceiling shake, but somehow they all withstand the intense pressure of two true Cores colliding.

The thick forest outside, however, is not so resistant to the energy waves.

Kilometers of forest outside the mansion are vaporized, and even further out, the shockwave uproots trees even more tens of kilometers away.

Lingering portions of this attack ripple far out to vibrate through the 8 Great Regions to the east.

The bulk of the shimmering strands are stopped dead in their tracks by the silver blades tethered with divine energy, but on contact, they splash outward, multiplying into hundreds more.

They're both graceful and terrifying as they shimmer and bend to flood the room and avoid Raven's upward slash.

The movement of the threads is unpredictable, acting as if they'll shoot down in one direction but spinning and twisting off into multiple separate unexpected angles, while multiplying into more in some directions and consolidating back into single strands in others.

Raven twists her body out of the way, lunging toward the open doors at the exit of the mansion, but more and more threads burst out from the strands she just dodged.

An elaborate, constantly moving prison of threads fills the room, and she yells out loud while more blood trickles out from her nose and mouth.

"You can't do this... It's against the code. If you kill me here, you will be punished by the others. We cannot fight until the throne has awakened—"

As she yells out those words, more volatile white threads come shooting her way from all angles.

There's no way to block them all, so Raven uses her True Core's hidden defense ability, and at every contact point that the shimmering threads hit, small portions of her body disappear from reality, allowing the white threads to phase right through.

She scowls and changes her positioning again, taking a lunge toward the open exit doors, but a violent burning sensation pulses through her body, and the ringing in her ears intensifies.

The sudden jolt of pain disrupts her movements and makes the portions of her body that are in her divine stealth-empowered pocket dimension phase in and out of reality.

Even as she lunges out of the way at full force, a few dozen of the white strands still manage to sink into her flesh, planting their roots in her right shoulder and left leg.

Dense streams of True Core's divine energy surge through the strands from the source at the back of the mansion, and the distorted laugh of insanity echoes through the large open room again.

"Raven, my dear. You are making my masterpiece even more satisfying. You have yet to see, you are already dead."

The white strands of energy start to glow with a yellow light as more divine energy is channeled into them, surging into the points that have already taken root in Raven's body.

As the divine light builds up, the hundreds of internal wounds all over her body pulse and burn brighter, making the ringing in the silver sword wielder's ears grow louder and louder.

Even through the pain, she doesn't hesitate to reactivate her stealth ability but comes to the horrifying realization that it won't be enough.

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As her entire body disappears from reality, the two collections of white strands still stay connected.

Her entire being is invisible, but the two rooted anchors still show her exact location and grow deeper into her flesh, wriggling and tethering to every cell in her body they touch. White blotches of material, like moving marble, appear in the room in the shape of her left knee and right shoulder.

Another painful burning surge ripples through her body as the divine energy poisoning and fatigue get far worse, especially while she uses her greater form and full power now.

She flashes back to reality, and more puddles of blood cover the floor as the mad artist's voice echoes through her mind along with the ringing that sounds like alarm bells blaring.

"Your True Core's signal on our transmission tablets has been fading ever since the surges began. It will be an epic tale. Raven, the invisible savior, who gave her life to battle the Flame Emperor just days before the throne showed itself. None of the other members of the Order will think any differently of the situation; none of them will doubt my words when I say you came here and died of natural injuries on my front steps. Our mortal bodies cannot withstand this True Core's power, this is why we seek the throne, after all."

Raven's eyes widen as the ringing gets louder and louder, making the end of the man's speech harder to hear.

She does know that what he's saying is true.

Raven's battle with the Flame Emperor was the most exhilarating moment of her entire life. In all her decades of cultivating, there was never an opponent that dared to push their body to the limits like that.

Everyone's fear of death always held them back.

Their fear of injury or overburdening their core, not allowing them to properly ascend.

Everyone in the Order patiently waited and never allowed their true potential to be tested for fear of failure once they reached the final stage.

It is this careful and calculated strategy that brought them this far, but as Raven replays the last few hours of her life on repeat in her head, she questions if this is truly the way to live. The exponential growth of the fighter she battled in the desert is like nothing she's ever seen before, it gives her a spark of extra motivation to jumpstart her decaying mind out from the deafening ringing.

She lets out a yell to match its rhythm and doesn't hesitate to use her divine energy-imbued blades to slice off her own arm from the infected shoulder and a large amount of her right leg, then slips away into a pocket dimension for a few fractions of a second before the next burning pulse electrifies her system.

She phases out and away from the densest portion of white threads but is still paralyzed with pain, sliding across the entire entrance hall to leave a long crimson trail of blood across the white floor.

More echoes of mad laughter fill the room as a tall, lanky man walks down one of the curved staircases that leads from the top floor down to the bottom.

His shiny shoes, long pants, and well-fit suit are all exactly the same shade of white as the palace around him.

Hundreds of threads vibrate and glisten out of the ends of his sleeves where his hands should be, and where his head would lie, a jumbled volatile rotating ball of thousands of white threads is in its place.

Words come out from the center of the ball of threads as he creeps closer to Raven's body as her core pulses violently, and the scars inside her body burn bright through her bloody armor and flesh.

"Fighting even in your final seconds... Maybe a warrior like you should have been the one to claim the throne. As the Originators text states, they have left us the key, and one that never stops climbing may one day unlock the door."

He lets out a sigh.

"Reality isn't kind to fairy tales... but don't worry, I will make sure this art is not forgotten."

Strands of countless white threads flood all around the room and retrieve Raven's severed limbs, while the other half plunges deep into her last remaining good leg and arm, pulling her upright and bringing all of the pieces of her body together to stand tall in the entrance of the mansion. She's now overlooking an endless forest of downed trees and an untouched walkway of statues trailing off into it.

The ringing in Raven's ears has grown so loud that the man's words hardly reach her.

"You will be the pinnacle piece in my collection, I tell you that is certain. Once I walk through the door to the other side, I promise to bring you and all of my masterpieces with me."

The pain surging through every cell in her being makes it impossible to move.

Her limbs are reconnected, and the man made of threads stands right behind her while her arms and legs begin to turn hard and marble white, just like the countless statues littering this mansion.

Her blades are gripped tightly in a fighting stance, and there are bright yellow-pulsing scars shining through the threads as they seep deeper up her legs, down her shoulders, and start to creep up her neck.

The sound of heavy breathing, identical to the noises heard from the transmission tablet not long ago, is all Raven hears as the ringing takes over her mind.

Just as she's about to lose consciousness entirely, a bright yellow flash of light appears from the East.

Raven can't tell if this is a hallucination, as just moments ago she was replaying her favorite battle of all time in her head. Now, the presence of a True Core that feels just like the Flame Emperor's is approaching rapidly, and it's even stronger than it was when they clashed...