A single cluster of cracks turned into countless more as Musa viciously punched his diamond prison.

The amount of force being generated with each swing was enough to send out waves of force even outside the cube.

I had instructed the dragons to return to the Island of Tablets but time was still moving incredibly slowly for me so that would take some time.

I bit my teeth as my Manifestation floated high in the air a few meters away from the cube.

With each passing moment, we got closer to that which I dreaded since my rebirth.

The end.

I considered, briefly, what the corrupted Musa had said.

It seemed as though by consuming souls he had elevate or changed his soul’s state.

Did that bring him closer to true immortality?

Physically speaking, he was almost indestructible but we of his soul?

Mmm… no.

I could never do it.

I could never consume the souls of my denizens to see if it would work.

Well, not this version of myself.

This foolish, irrational, emotional version of myself.

I laughed at myself before raising my Spear just as Musa broke free from his prison.

He then turned those oh-so-terrifying golden eyes towards me and barred his teeth.

I gave myself a nod and shifted towards him before thrusting my Spear towards his chest.

In a desperate bid to protect himself, Musa sacrificed his sword to deflect my Spear.

The forces the sword experienced were so great that it’s physical form shattered and since my Spear was enhanced by the soul of the Red Emperor, I managed to destroy the Sword’s soul as well.

Musa’s eyes widened and just as I readied my Spear to stab him again, he let out a wild roar and I watched as his golden soul glowed ever brighter.

He then began moving faster but this also pushed his body to its limits and cracks began to form throughout it.

He tried pushing himself backwards but I was far faster so I stabbed him in the chest only for him to grab my Spear and keep it from fully puncturing him.

However, he could only safely hold the physical aspect of Spear so I sent forth the spear’s hardened soul, piercing through several of his Uyil Belts.

[AHH!] Musa cried but I couldn’t stop here.

Our interaction led us to the ground where I forced Musa’s body before pushing through Soul Spear further in.

Musa glared at me all while absorbing Glass Energy but before he could do anything, my Spear’s soul began to rotate and I watched with gritted teeth as it shredded Musa’s soul.

[AHH! AAAAHH! AAAAAAAHHH!] I closed my eyes as all that Musa was twisted and contorted with pain.

His Uyil Belts were pulled in and torn apart.

With each Belt that tore, Musa grew weaker and weaker until only one was left.

Even during all this, he held onto my Spear and glared at me.

Musa was gone.

And it was up to me to rid the cosmos of whatever the thing beneath me was and so I finally plunged the physical aspect of the spear into his chest, piercing his heart in the process.

Musa let out a gasp as both his heart and final Belt were pierced.

It’s here, finally, that I allowed time to pass normally and I was washed with the sounds of the aftermath.

Massive sonic ripples tore across the air and the ground still rumbled with quakes.

However, my focus remained on Musa's which eyes slowly began to lose their terrible golden glow.

I pulled out my Spear and inched over to his head as he died.

[M-mom?] He wheezed and it was this which brought me to my knees.

I created another doll for myself and cradled Musa’s head as his Uyil Belts continued to fade.

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“Yes, my dear?”

[I… I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. Just as you chose to bear the weight of all that death, I will forever bear the weight of your sin.” I whimpered while gently brushing Musa’s hair with my fingers.

A single tear fell from Musa’s eye and I wiped it with my thumb before taking a deep breath.

“Farewell, sweet child

Rest for a while

For naught can stop

This fated day

Farewell, my love

Farewell, though we

Are bound through soul

Eternally.”

My words were swallowed by the rushing winds but I knew my words reached him.

I scanned the surrounding area and saw that a lot of the ice that once covered my Northern Pole had been blown away by our godly impacts and movements.

I widened my perspective and saw that the ice and a lot of the colder water in my Northern oceans had been pushed south and this was undoubtedly going to cause changes in the weather.

I wanted to check in on everyone but first I needed to bury my children and so I returned to my doll which gently cradled Musa.

I then flew back to the Elephantine Forest and was met by a panicked Chozek.

Behind him stood several armoured soldiers who held a stretcher atop which Tal rested.

I used Gravity Magic to raise the stretcher and carried her back to the Island of Tablets where I put her and Musa down on the floor of our home… again.

I had let it happen again.

And I knew the cosmos wasn’t going to give them back to me a second time.

So I sat by their sides and stared at their corpses as the horror of what had happened finally sank in.

It began with tears.

Crystalline tears which fell endlessly no matter how many times I wiped them away.

Then came my cries.

I let out a voice that I had never made before.

One which disarmed me, leaving me undone before my sorrow.

I felt pulses of anger here and there but I knew that there was no one to blame… other than me.

I cried.

So fully that I didn’t notice the figures who stood by the temple entrance.

For so long that I didn’t notice the sun had begun to set.

Countless thoughts passed by but I ignored them for the most part as I stared at Musa and Tal’s unmoving faces.

Those which were once full of so much life.

Which once brought me endless joy.

I took a deep breath before finally turning to the entrance to see a mortified Hekima, Ponya and Cheche.

I was happy to see them but I needed to do something first before anything else and so I stood up and carried my children outside to where their first graves were, right next to those of Heziyn and Vah.

I then buried them again but this time I destroyed their bodies along with the corpses of the Pāttiram which Musa kept beneath his house.

Glass Entities were scary.

Before my denizens left, I would have to teach them to, under any circumstances, attempt any soul transference of any kind.

“My Lady?” Cheche called from behind me and this finally brought my focus to a single point.

To her, one of my many denizens.

One of my many children.

I turned to face her although I could not give her the smile I wanted.

“What happened?” She whimpered while Hekima tightly held her hand.

I explained everything while leading them back into the Temple where I made some tea.

While I talked, Eshu was in Hatua speaking to Saidia who wore a grim expression.

“This… is sooner than I expected.” She admitted. She and Eshu were sitting in her office although Eshu had chosen to take my godly appearance.

His mannerisms were clearly different, however.

His brow was heavy and he sat hunched forward without the grace of a God.

Or maybe I had grown a little conceited.

“Start building the ships as soon as possible. I lost several Uyil Belts during that battle and while I think that I still have countless millions of years left, the habitability of my surface may soon drastically change so it would be best if you began your star bound voyage quickly.” Eshu said making Saidia’s eyes lower a little.

“And… what about you, My Lady?” Saidia whimpered and this was enough to make even Eshu- to make me gasp a little.

“I will be alright. My only desire is that you find more places that you can call home.”

Saidia weakly nodded although her head fell soon after.

She then silently accompanied me out of the HDA building allowing me to see just how much had changed.

For one, the air was foggy.

This was brought about by the southbound cold wind which bit the humid air.

A lot of buildings had been built with things like earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters in mind so according to reports, we had lost fifty thousand or so people with most of the casualties being in Northern Y’shuah.

This number, although tragic, was incredibly low considering that I had millions of denizens.

They really were a resourceful bunch and as soon as the carnage began, without any prompt from me, they began organizing themselves to increase their chances of survival.

People flocked to the capitals and other large cities where they were accounted for and taken care of.

Most of Northern Y’shua had been evacuated although a few regions were still occupied because that’s where a majority of farming took place.

“My deepest condolences, My Lady,” Saidia said while standing behind me.

“Mmm.” I simply sounded in acknowledgement before flying up and then south to Kimbilio where I was met by Ed and his son who led me to their office where I explained everything that happened and everything they had to do.

Ed shook his head as he sat next to Chibuk who had assumed the role of leader in Teva.

“Oh, such tragedy.” He groaned.

“But… we can’t possibly leave now. We haven’t even begun to test the blueprints for the ships to see if they’re even feasible or functional not to mention that this pushes us ahead of schedule by what you said would be thousands of years.” Chibuk panicked but I simply raised my right hand.

“I know, my child, I know. I simply came here today to state the urgency of the situation. I may have very well cracked my crown and that may have environmental consequences that could make life on my surface very difficult. I also want you all to be ready just in case something like this ever happens again.” I weakly smiled but they only winced in response.

As if they could see through my smile.

I let out a tired sigh before standing up.

“Anyway, that is all,” I said while turning to leave.

I understood Chibuk’s frustration and confusion but it needed to be done.

I didn’t plan on creating any more Glass Entities but still…

I left Ed’s office and while I flew this particular doll to Y’shuah, I shifted my focus back to Hekima and Cheche who had just received an explanation of things from my other self.

I drank some tea and thought about the end.

That dreadful moment when my second life would come to a close.

Huh…

I guess I was fortunate in that regard.

“My Lady?” Hekima called and it was here that I realized that I was faintly smiling.

“Oh- it’s nothing. Why don't you and Cheche head on home for now? I’ll call for you if I need anything.”

Hekima and Cheche exchanged concerned expressions but they eventually nodded before leaving the temple, allowing a deep silence to wash in.

A single tear fell from my left eye but this time I didn’t wipe it away, this time I allowed it to fall.