How beautiful! The essence of a dreamer exposed to the Void, demi-planes, pocket dimensions, and estranged terra firm. See the tide of souls as they struggle to vacate the bastion of suffering, can you feel them pine for an end? You could end it all, give unto them the blessing of inexistence.
If eldritch beings are the negative result of gnosis, why would you want me to make more?
I suggested the blessing of inexistence, the only true freedom from the coils of mortality, the darkness beyond even the Void, the sacred state in which only Ayin dwells. We yearn, we strive, but even Azathoth and his ilk have failed despite the myriad dimensions penetrated, dreams created and forgotten, and cycles upended.
How could you join with Ayin while there is still Yesh?
Fred fell silent. I hate when you do that! Why the heck can’t you finish a conversation with me?
Thanks to Fred drawing attention to it, Telos couldn’t ignore the reality of what she saw within the gaping wound the physical construct of Oizys suffered. From the hole made by the Warden’s Divinity Nullifier Cannon what looked like a mist spread into the celestial abyss. A mist that, if you possessed the ability to see into the spiritual world such as Telos and Kallos, allowed you to see the ephemeral faces of torment, flashes of lives from previous cycles, and their desperation to be freed from the Tower.
“Is that how natives truly feel, under the trappings of the Towers control?” Bobbi asked with horror.
“Siegfried’s fleet is moving, we shall lead the way. It is time to make Oizys pay for this and every other atrocity she has perpetuated.” Kallos’ voice held cold fury, the state of so many souls trapped, fed upon, tortured, and intentionally set-back on the path of gnosis struck a chord in the Nephilim that filled the Cosmic Song with the theme of Belial. The song of Belial reminded Telos of a beloved game from her youth, the theme for a white haired antagonist with a massive sword. The ominous danger, inevitable triumph of a just cause, and sorrow for those caged raised goosebumps across Telos’ skin, despite the fact she had total physiological control of her body.
The crystalline vessel passed through the frozen wound, followed by the fleet of he Celestial Wardens. When the last vessel had passed inside, the ice that had held the wound open exploded and walls of putrid flesh covered in eyes and laughing mouths sealed their entrance.
“You’re trapped, little flies. The Overgod has promised me great rewards in exchange for you.” The laughter and voice came from everywhere, for they were now inside Oizys. Yet Telos responded with laughter, and a vicious smile.
“I’m trapped? I let you break the ice. It is you who is trapped with me, now, little Daemon. Do not think to beg pity of me due to my fondness for Nyx, for you shall receive none.”
The crystalline ship broke into component parts. Hundreds, thousands, of sharp crystal shards. The Transformative Flame of Eternal Becoming swirled around Telos in a blaze that enkindled a new glimmer of light within each shard of crystal. The light breathed from bright and shining to dark and devouring, and strained against the prison of crystal that confined it.
“Now?” Kallos asked.
“Fire at will,” Telos nodded. Sure, spreading her Flame didn’t seem like a facet that would require her full focus, but she also kept herself and the fleet from being teleported or moved. Resisting Oizys, on her home turf, inside of her, required all of Telos’ effort, and so it was Kallos who lifted a gauntleted hand.
“With Ayin’s destructive breath carried by Yesh’s crystalline daggers, know the wrath of those wronged! Storm of Shards!”
Kallos voice rang through the entirety of the Tower of Oizys with the judgement of the divine. The crystals exploded outward, piercing demi-planes, pocket dimensions, planets, celestial orchards, and all of the other beautiful and ugly things Oizys had made since the dawn of time. Wherever those crystal blades cut, the Flame trapped inside immolated the spiritual-physical manifestation of Oizys with a wrath knew no mercy nor pity, save for the souls trapped within, those were cleansed in a burst of white fire and delivered unto the Great Cycle.
“A little fire won’t hurt me, fools.” Oizys sounded strong, confident, but not even the Daemon of Misery could lie successfully before Void’s Gaze.
“Here we go,” Telos warned her group, even while Bobbi relayed a telepathic message to Siegfried and his people.
Everyone vanished.
Telos, Kallos, Arkaziel, and Bobbi appeared in a modern setting that matched something of how Telos had always imagined NASA’s mission control might look. Monitors, screens, desks, and dozens of very shocked administrators gaped at the four interlopers.
“What!? No! We sent you to the first floor!” A man Telos had never seen before exclaimed in confusion.
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“Sorry, we’re not playing by your script.” A black diamond taloned hand pierced the demi-god’s chest before he could react, and he withered to inexistence in mere seconds before the wide eyes of the gathered administrators.
“Oh shit, my legs!” Another administrator cried, drawing attention to the lesser god who’s legs ended at the knees, and a desk high black panther who made a big swallow to finish devouring the legs he’d bit off the admin.
“Defend yourselves, idiots!” A woman in a pants suit with a clipboard demanded of the others, moments before a black gauntleted fist broke her nose and sent her across the command center like a projectile, where she bounced off a wall and lay on the ground for a few moments. The rattle of chains followed two Heavenshadow Nebulite chains as they entangled both of her feet, and pulled her back across the room towards Kallos.
“Nice stuff you guys got here,” Bobbi laughed menacingly, flames danced to life in multiple orbs that shot across the room to burn technology and magical equipment with equal enthusiasm. When someone with authority over fire wanted things to burn, they burned with extra vigor at their masters will.
Blue lights rose from the floor of the command center and each orb materialized into the carbon forms of a full squad of twenty Archons. Their presence was no surprise to the group, they had seen the signs before entering the physical manifestation of Oizys. Still, twenty enemies emerging that quickly left no doubt that they had laid in waiting for Telos to come for Oizys.
“Submit to the will of the Overgod, Chaosbringer!” The lead Archon demanded, just before a blast of pure, purple-black energy struck it in the face. The blue light of the Archon struggled against the purple soul energy that spread through the Archon’s pure, orderly energy and broke it down. Pieces of carbon thudded to the floor, bursts of blue light went off like fire works, and the purple-black energy burst like a nova. Of the lead Archon, there were scant remains. The other nineteen Archon’s looked in horror, then upon themselves, as each had been touched by the purple energy from the Soul-Witch.
“We shall be visiting your Lord next, creatures of false order.” Telos smirked at the glimmer in Kallos’ eye, the wrath in her tone, and she’d be lying if she said Kallos making a proclamation like that didn’t make her want to high-five her lover. Her enjoyment of the retort and spreading curse amongst the Archons left her distracted, and she only noticed a blue-flaming sword swinging for her face when it nearly touched her neck. Rather than dodge, she altered the flows of the Void and the Transformative Flame of Eternal Becoming through her body. The blade hit her neck, the supposedly unbreakable weapon shattered, the blue-flame that lit it extinguished, and when the Archon had a moment to accept what just happened, Telos casually grabbed the false-angelic being by its throat.
The archon swung its spirit-infused carbon limbs at Telos, but it might as well have been a toddler swinging at an adult, for all that she simply ignored the attacks without a sign of injury.
“Tell me, Archon, which of your leaders are among you?” With the question came invisible chains, like those Kallos wielded, that crept inside of the Archon and compelled it to answer.
-I knew you loved my chains, copying them now, dear?-
“The Weaver of Dark Fates commands us, Syltharion.” The paralyzed, controlled Archon answered with a mechanical voice.
“Do you hear me, Syltharion?” Telos inquired of the subject.
Dark blue engulfed the aura of the lesser Archon, and a powerful presence radiated out of a vessel too weak to contain it.
“Yes, Chaosbringer, I hear you.” The Archon didn’t sound mechanical, or as mechanical, but the voices were so similar as to be indistinguishable. Archons were not the most variable of creatures, it seemed.
“I’m going to destroy your soldiers, whatever other forces you’ve brought, you, and then Oizys. When I’m done with that, I will move on to assault your bastion of hollow order, your so called Seven Heavens, and Ialdaboath will share your fate.” Telos stared at the lesser Archon before her, while around her Bobbi, Kallos, and Arkaziel demolished the other eighteen Archons. Arkaziel did so as a kitten, as if to make a point that the Lords of Order could not contend with a mere kitten. Which was kind of a silly point, since the kitten in question was a Void aspected Beast Sovereign with the blood of Tiamat, and numerous authorities. Yet, from the corner of her eye, Telos witnessed the flashes of claws, the blasts of lasers from kitty eyes, and the demise of Archons.
“I am the webmaster here. You have ensured your demise by entering this wretched place. This foul Daemon is an appropriate resting place for your profane corpse.” As with every other Archon they had encountered, the Lords of Order remained high on arrogant hubris.
“Excuse me, foul Daemon? I am the incarnation of misery, pain, and distress! I am the daughter of Nyx, a Primordial in my own right, and am feared and worshipped on more worlds than you’ve heard of, you worthless hunk of graphite.” Oizys couldn’t help but unleash her inner Karen upon being insulted by the Archon.
“You are a means to an end, Daemon. Know thy place lest Ialdaboath give me leave to purge you and the Chaosbringer both,” Syltharion backtracked not at all on his opinion of Oizys, even under the Daemons direct attention.
Telos coughed loudly.
“If you two are done posturing, I’d be happy to skip all the theatrics and take both of you on at the same time. How about it?” Telos wished the two would snap up the challenge.
“As if I would lower myself to fighting you,” Oizys scoffed.
“We will battle when you fall into my web, Chaosbringer.”
“Pity,” Telos grunted and dumped an immense flow of power into the Archon she held. It wouldn’t do much, but both Oizys and Syltharion should have suffered a significant mental shock, as if she had screamed into a bullhorn next to their ears. The lesser Archon crumbled to dust, its body and spirit utterly destroyed in the process of being used as a telephone by three entities all much stronger than itself.
None of the twenty Archons were left. All had been dispatched in the time she’d had her little talk, but the Administrators of the Tower were no where to be seen.
“Did we lose them?” Telos asked the two StarManes, who had slightly guilty looks on their face.
“We got distracted by the Archons, and they slipped away.” Bobbi admitted.
“Which one of you killed the most Archons?” Telos asked with a small sigh.
“I did,” Kallos smiled.
“Good job!” Telos high-fived Kallos, and ignored the slightly offended looks and silence radiating from the StarManes.
“It’s fine, guys. They’re just administrators, what’s the worst they could do?” Telos smirked, even as the walls melted around them, revealing a sky thick with dark clouds, and a cityscape of ruins. She could almost hear subtle boss music playing in the background, and both Telos and Kallos burst into laughter when they realized it was the Cosmic Song itself playing a boss fight track.