The darkness scattered, revealing a clear, infinite sky. Down below, next to a huge, beautiful city, there were thousands of people, magicians, beasts, and other creatures. They all surrounded the city and listened to a huge gray man who was flying above it.
Vallynor itself was too far away, and its owner could not hear what was happening below. He was on a mountain and could only see what was in front of him until that moment.
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Start Song: https://soundcloud.com/samuelkimmusic/star-wars-x-attack-on-titan-epic-mashup?in_system_playlist=personalized-tracks%3A%3Auser-418954032%3A1131094684
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Unexpectedly, a golden dot appeared in the sky, which rapidly increased in size. A second dot appeared behind it, then a third. They multiplied and grew in size. Observing them, Vallynor realized that these golden dots were actually fingers. Some were coarse, while others were refined. These fingers seemed to be trying to tear open the sky.
Thousands of hands suddenly tore open the sky, creating a rift in the heavens and revealing that space was filled with stars. Hundreds of pairs of eyes looked down. The rift itself continued to grow, replacing the entire sky.
From the rift, pillars of light fell to the ground: one, two, ten, and a hundred. These pillars of light fell to the earth like drops of rain. Some were huge, while others were small.
Just as these pillars of light had appeared unexpectedly, they disappeared just as quickly, and in their place appeared people in shining golden armor, angels with enormous wings, giants in white armor, and many other races. Without orders, they threw themselves at the massive army surrounding the city.
The gray figure that flew over the city shouted, "Let our enemies regret ever opposing us! Attack!"
After the battle cry, the necromancers summoned their army of undead to attack the enemy. In response, the enemy shouted, "For the heavens!" before rushing in to destroy the undead that had risen from the ground.
The angels soared into the sky, ignoring the undead, and flew towards the city, but were stopped by waves of flying dragons and green humanoids that resembled goblins. They flew on iron planes and air balloons.
The pillars of light continued to appear, and two enormous pillars of light fell to the ground. After they disappeared, two huge white columns appeared in their place, on which golden symbols appeared. After this, a portal appeared, through which an endless army poured and rushed at the undead. The undead were quickly and almost completely destroyed, and because of this, the warriors, magicians, and beasts themselves attacked.
They killed and tore each other apart while, at the same time, ghosts and spirits fought against the heavenly spirits, pulling them out of the celestial warrior. Huge worms and snakes emerged from the ground, fighting against small warriors who were penetrating the earth.
While everyone was fighting, the gray man flew into the rift in the sky where hundreds of eyes were located. In the next moment, there were explosions and terrifying sounds of battle.
Sea Ele and water nymphs entered the sea and attacked krakens and mermaids. Everyone fought wherever they looked. And while everyone was busy, a rift appeared on the open ground not far away. A red mist poured out of it, and in the next moment, ugly red monsters appeared. They immediately pounced on the two armies.
The land was filled with hellish worms that attacked everyone. Sometimes they even attacked their own and destroyed them. Monsters with bat wings or black feathers flew out of the red rift. They pounced on flying angels and dragons, who merged with their riders, turning into humanoid dragons.
Watching the battlefield, Vallynor was able to see illusory hands coming out of the celestial rift, which pounced on the souls of dead heavenly warriors who survived the battle in the astral world. These hands also pounced on the souls of recently killed enemies, necromancers, mages, dragons, and so on.
Vallynor heard a fateful scream. Clouds in the shape of an eye gathered on the untouched rift in the sky. After that, it approached the field and attacked the hands coming out of the rift. And it began to collect the souls of its dead and enemies. In this battle, red hands also came out of the red rift.
While Vallynor watched the battle, the owner of memories rose and prepared to... fly? Like a river that emerged from a huge crack. River? This river seemed to be unaware of the existence of gravity and common sense—if it was alive, of course. Instead of falling to the ground, water moved through the air. After passing over the battlefield, thousands of watery hands pounced on all souls, regardless of faction. It was enough that something in your body was destroyed, and these hands would automatically target it. The river moved quickly through the sky and fell into the rift where demons came from, like a waterfall.
"River Styx?" whispered the memory owner. Vallynor, hearing the voice of the memory owner, immediately realized that it belonged to the old woman.
Looking at the flowing river, Vallynor couldn't help but be amazed. What he saw was the legendary river Styx, one of the rivers that flowed into the underworld, as the legend in his world went.
But from what he knew, this river had embodied the beginning and end of the soul since the beginning of the world, when life was just emerging from the world river, which was not yet fully formed. The first soul emerged, or rather, God. God, who rules over all souls And after him, the first soul
The river Styx takes the souls of the dead and purifies them, washing them in its cleansing water. It destroys all memories, feelings, and even personality, turning the soul of the deceased into a pure and innocent soul. And after judgment, it decides when the purified soul will come out of the Styx. And where it emerges, it will be decided what it will become: a human, an elf, a demon, an angel, and so on. It doesn't matter who the deceased was before entering the Styx. Even a demon, if lucky enough to enter the river after death, can become an angel.
The Styx takes everything a person has and gives it new life. And now everyone who has fallen into the hands of the river Styx can be said to have died but, at the same time, survived. Even if they lost everything they had, including themselves.
Vallynor felt like he was flying, and that made him snap out of his reverie. He was so engrossed in watching the river that he didn't even notice the warriors from all three factions had stopped and were watching as the river flowed across the sky and earth. A cry of anger came from the rift in the sky and earth. The eye from the cloud let out a scream and attacked the river. The two remaining entities stopped bothering each other and attacked the common enemy.
Several silhouettes fell from the rift in the sky like meteorites. Also, huge demons rose from the rift on the ground. One huge red demon, coming out of the rift, rose into the sky and let out a loud cry, but before he could even react, a beautiful girl attacked him.
After exchanging a few blows with the girl, the demon said, "Today, I, Tini, the King and Lord of Nightmares, will kill you, Lia. And by eating you, I will become the sole ruler of the Kingdom of Nightmares," Tini declared arrogantly.
"You're too arrogant," Lia corrected her hair and rushed at Tini, creating dozens of cracks from which terrible and scary creatures emerged. Tini remained arrogant and replied in kind.
As Vallinor looked on, a silhouette fell before him, raising a huge cloud of dust. The old woman dispersed the dust with her wings and revealed a beautiful woman dressed in green with green hair. Her skin was as milky white as snow. She looked at the old woman, smiled gently, and said, "Nata Extendere Vitam In Silvis Per Inane, long time no see. It's time to settle our dispute." Wiping away her soft smile, she showed her eyes filled with hatred and continued, "I cannot be considered the true embodiment of nature because of you. It's all because you were born several hundred years before me."
"Yes, how petty and vain one must be to consider oneself the only one. What a trifle!" the old woman sneered.
"I can no longer tolerate all the insignificant beings who pray to me but have images similar to yours. Here, I will take on the status of the only goddess of nature, and you, as her embodiment, will disappear."
Throwing herself at the old woman, the goddess clenched her hand into a fist. Vines sprouted from the ground and attacked the old woman. But the old woman hit the ground with her paw, and a stone wall grew in front of her, which was destroyed in the next moment.
At first, Vallinor watched the battle with interest, but after watching hundreds of battles, he quickly became tired and thought about something else.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Why did the Styx come? Wasn't the river Styx supposed to be hostile to the God of Souls? And who was the gray figure that flew into the sky? Wasn't it the God of Souls himself?
Ignoring the battle, he watched the whole war.
The demons swarmed out of the rift and attacked their enemies chaotically, as if they had no allies. Watching them, Vallinor saw how eagerly they pounced on angels, even if they were fighting to the death with someone else. If an angel appeared nearby, the demon stopped and attacked him as if he were a greedy man who had seen a jug filled with gold.
Because of this, angels often attacked the faction of the God of Souls, trying to distance themselves from the annoying demons. Suddenly, a roar came from the rift, so strong that it engulfed the entire area of the battle. The rift quickly widened, revealing an ugly paw and then another. These paws forcefully widened the rift, creating a loud screech.
If the rift in the heavens was smooth without any flaws, the rift in hell was uneven and full of cracks. The screeching sounded as if someone was playing with a fork on plates and got carried away.
Soon the head of the owner's hands appeared from the rift, and after that, the body and legs themselves. This demon was almost ten meters tall, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he looked rotten, and his flesh was like a sponge full of holes from which disgusting liquid dripped.
The creature pounced on the field, trampling the most unfortunate, and the earth cracked. An enormous iron giant emerged from the ground, with black smoke emanating from behind him. The iron giant attacked the demonic giant.
"Aaaah, you have become stronger, but it doesn't matter. I am still stronger than you because I am the True King of Nightmares," shouted the demonic giant, experiencing pain. Tini quickly recovered and shouted to show how majestic he was.
"Maybe you'll shut up? I'm tired of listening to your nonsense," Lia said irritably, watching him quickly regenerate his body.
"You should be grateful for your fate that you can listen and see your king," growled Tini.
"You annoy me," Lia replied.
Vallynor wanted to continue watching, but suddenly everything darkened before his eyes. He thought his memories had ended, but then he heard:
"Nevispi, I thought you would become a threat to me. But all this time you wasted your time in vain," spoke the Goddess of Nature in a pleasant voice, watching as the enormous dragon slowly rose.
"Spending time with your children is not a sin. No matter how strong I can become, I cannot share my happiness with my loved ones," Nevispi replied.
"Hahaha, you speak of family, but you yourself have distanced yourself from your children. That's why they now hate you. And all because you lost your first children," the Goddess of Nature said mockingly.
"Shut up!!!" Nevispi couldn't contain herself and shouted.
"I like you more like this. I want to tell you a secret. Those hunters who hunted your children were ordered by the priests. Or rather, my faithful priests or shamans? I don't remember. It was a long time ago. I personally got rid of them so that no one would find out and so that it would remain a secret," Nevispi continued to mock.
"You?" whispered Nevispi, the last words sounding like a threat. The old woman transformed into a human and then picked up a bow, aiming it at her enemy.
"You better look at your huge chest," the Nature Goddess jeered, pointing a finger at the old woman without a second thought.
The old woman wanted to look at her chest, but a strong and unbearable pain seized her body, causing her to fall onto the cold stone. This pain even affected her mind, and she lost control of her body, immediately transforming back into a dragon.
The nature goddess raised her right hand, and a vine in the shape of a sword quickly grew out of the stone. Taking the sword in her hand, she slowly approached her long-time enemy with a smile on her face.
As the Nature Goddess took another step, she lifted her leg to take the next step but felt something and quickly took five steps back. A metallic airship fell from the sky where she had been standing, and from inside it, a voice could be heard:
"I told you, idiot. Don't put five stones at once; put four! Four! You really are an idiot. Complete idiots. Can't count properly. More isn't always better," the owner of the voice yelled, slowly emerging from the damaged airship. He showed a green goblin in blue clothes, which were stained with oil.
"And those feathered ones were chasing us, knowing our boss was with us," the first goblin complained, leaving the airship. The second, third, fourth, and so on followed him.
The first goblin, looking around, saw the old lady with a sword and the Queen of the Forest lying on the ground. He pulled something out of his pants that looked like a phone and, bringing it close to his mouth, said:
"Base, come in. Code 364812-3337. Send 3, no, 5 squadrons."
A voice came from the black device: "Boss, speak directly. I can't find the codebook."
"What did I say two days before the battle? Memorize that damn book. Okay. I am now on Queen of the Forest Mountain, and the enemy is nearby," he said, stopping to look at the Goddess of Nature with an appraising glance, then at her sword in hand. The goddess herself was also curious, waiting for even a drop of the dragon's consciousness to return. After all, they killed him so quickly and destroyed his soul. She wanted to look into his eyes. "The enemy is some lady or whatever. I'm old enough to be her grandma. She sits with a sword and shows off. Send five teams with the latest weapons. Let's show the lady it's not the Stone Age," he said, and for the first time, the Goddess of Nature was so humiliated. But having lived for so long, she did not succumb to anger. On the contrary, she was curious.
"Yes, yes, you're a lady. Hey, guys, gather around and help the dragon," he continued.
"That I cannot allow. So, die," she said, raising her sword and making a quick strike. Swinging her sword, a shockwave like lightning flew towards the goblins. When it should have cut them into pieces, a blue dome enveloped them, protecting them from the attack.
The chief goblin raised his hand and shouted, "Aim! Fire!"
Blue little bullets flew from all sides, aimed at the Goddess of Nature. She gracefully dodged each bullet.
At the same time, the goblins quickly approached the dragon and struck several blows. This quickly awakened the Queen of the Forest and calmed her raging pain.
Valinor, who was listening to the subdued conversation, finally saw the daredevils, who called this lady a goddess.
Seeing Nevispi rise from the ground, the Goddess of Nature made a leap that helped her hide behind the grass that grew under her feet in an instant. Holding the sword in both hands, she was ready to strike when blue bullets flew at her. But a blue dome approached the goblins and Nevispi.
Dodging almost all the bullets, the goddess looked indifferently at her wounds. But when she saw Nevispi rise and examine the wound on his palm, she quickly returned to her human form.
She was overcome with anger and disappointment. Anger that these small green-skinned creatures could help the enemy and disappointment in herself for trying to do more than was necessary. What was the point of needing screams and moans of pain if she was to be completely and forever destroyed?
"We helped you. The rest is up to you. And we have to return to the sky and help your children," said the chief goblin, hitting the second goblin standing next to him on the buttocks and saying angrily, "When I say four, not five,"
"Yes, yes, boss. I won't do it again," replied the second goblin, but in response, he received another kick in the buttocks, which was clearly stronger than the previous one.
Watching everything that was happening, Vallynor was very interested and wanted to see not only battles but also the inventions that the goblins possessed. It reminded him of the combination of magic and technology, like in those Minecraft mods. Haha, childhood.
Carefully watching, waiting for the second round, Vallynor felt a force pulling him into the unknown. Everything in front of his eyes faded into darkness.
Waking up next to a tree, he saw a sphere filled with his memories in front of him. But it didn't show him the scenes he had just seen, but his own.
Vallynor thought for a moment and, observing, realized that this world was his inner world, filled with his memories. Thinking, he quickly drew a triangle with rounded edges on the inside of his left hand, confirming one thing.
There was no pain from the wound that he should have felt, nor was there any blood slowly flowing from it. But instead, the drawn triangle disappeared, leaving his left hand alone. Looking at the sphere filled with his memories, he took a deep breath and hardened his gaze, touching the sphere.
***
Buzz, buzz... Vallynor opened his eyes and saw his familiar room. Getting up from the bed, he noticed that his old phone was making an unbearable sound. The screen read "alarm clock," and in the comments it said, "Go to university and learn programming."
Pressing the "snooze for 5 minutes" button, Vallynor wanted to go back to bed and continue his strange dream.
What dream? Vallynor vaguely remembered a cannibal granny and a beautiful transvestite woman, but quickly forgot about them.
He took his phone and checked his notifications. There were new chapters in light novels and manga. Then he opened YouTube and began watching videos on a news channel.
"Hello everyone! Today we will talk about how feminists received a blow from an unexpected source. The company, Blizzard, went bankrupt and destroyed its main game. Bobik Kotik refused to donate the award to charity. And much more..."
Listening to the news about how feminists got hit, Vallynor laughed and nodded. He quickly ran to the bathroom so as not to miss the news.
Three minutes later, the alarm clock went off again. This time, Vallynor turned it off immediately.
He increased the volume of the video and went to the kitchen to make tea. Opening the cupboard door, he took the package of Rollton and began warming it up in the microwave. Muttering to himself, he said,
"Let her eat this damn vegetable soup," he said, raising his hands dramatically. "Where's the meat, beans, and beetroot with hot pepper? Does she want me to become just skin and bones?" Vallynor suddenly stopped and, looking at the fridge, saw a jar of borscht. And, looking strangely, he asked, "Who is she? Who made this damn borscht?"
Thinking, he quickly remembered the beautiful girl he had started dating: "How could I forget Angelique? Did I drink too much yesterday? No, I'm a homebody; I love games. As if I'm going to waste my time going to the disco. The girl has a few loyal friends. What else do I need? There were rumors about drugs just recently."
The kettle began to whistle three times, warning that the water was ready. Vallynor tore open the package of macaroni and listened to the latest gaming news.
"A new FIFA game from EA was recently released, the most equal one. A patch was released that fixed a recent bug where a player could exit the match if they saw that they were losing and not receive a defeat in their statistics. Players who learned about this bug quickly rose in the rankings. With zero losses. But after the patch, the majority of players received a ban. Some for 7 days, and some permanently. They themselves made mistakes, but players are punished for them. Equality?"
Vallynor shook his head in disgust and said, "Who are these damn mammoths willing to pay ten times for the same game? This FIFA is no different from others, except for slightly improved graphics."
Putting down his plate, he looked at the old cuckoo clock: 08:12.
"Another 48 minutes until the start of class. Hmmm... but where is my university?" Vallynor tried to remember his university, but nothing came to mind. He was already about to take out his phone when he remembered that the university was next to his house.
"Did I drink that much? Maybe I was with Angelique... Or even slept with her. But then where is she?"