“RAA!”, Nox yelled out as she saw the boy screaming in pain, but when she turned she met a dazzling almost dazzling light, but she could still see the outlines and shades of the figures before her. After lodging the totem in the boy's chest, who fell down to his knees, the tallest figure started contorting in pain and when his back finally stood straight he was deformed. His already gigantic body was becoming even more so and a lump was forming on his head, a trump could be seen sprouting from his face and long and sharp tusks with it. When the man fully became a giant and absurd humanoid tusked creature, he lifted his hands and his lump in his air in a defying pose.

Fuuuuuooowww. When he finished sounding his trump, his form started twisting and was sucked in to the boy's body, more precisely into his wound. The boy's eyes and mouth shone with power, his veins budging out and forcing the skin of his body, he tried to scream, but he was forced to focusing on absorbing the name and the power of the sacrificing soul.

In the other side, a short but sturdy figure also started contorting itself. A tail sprouted from his spine, his hands turned into the sharpest of claws. He swayed heavily his head as he felt his teeth sprouting out and becoming longer and sharper.

Rooooooaaaaawrr. When he leaned back and roared, his form twisted, being sucked in by the boy as well. Again the boy tried to scream, but his subconscious knew that no effort should be wasted in such function, all of it was being invested in surviving and absorbing the soul of the sacrificed ones.

“Tch. Your eagle shaman is smarter than I thought, Nightbeast...”, Jesus uttered while sparing a tiring look at the scene, he then turned to the angel who was stupefied with the scene and the sacrifice of those men, “Now that we're not the only ones sacrificing anymore... Sound the trumpet, Gabriel.”

“...”, the angel looked at the beasts and then to the man that commanded him, his eyes were that of a frightened coward, on the edge. He stood up, even his wings were twitching and trembling, his hand slowly and shiveringly moved to his belt, seeing this, Jesus looked a little bit relieved.

“What-? Agio...”, Nox had a sad look in her eyes, as tears slowly fell down, but her eyes soon broke contact when suddenly one of the creatures got hold of one of the Horsemen. It resembled a crab but with far more claws and gripping hands as well, it's body was almost entirely covered by small eyes and the huge spiky fissure, that was it's mouth, crossed it from side to side. It was a far bigger creature than the rest of the others, easily surpassing the horsemen in height. It stopped the advance of the red steed, and while it gripped the blades with it's claws, it started putting his weight beneath the steed and lifting it in the air with his gripping hands. The rider lashed out at the beast, but it endured the pain with a demoralizing roar. The creature leaned back the rider and the steed and...

THUDUUUUUUUUUM . The War Horseman fell down on top of the barrier, spreading even more cracks on it's surface. Nox was forced to pour even more power to hold of what little was left of her protection as the horseman's weight forced the barrier down to an almost disrupting point.

Seeing this the angel reached his limit. It was the last drop. The angel desperately and frantically started flapping his wings and ran to the corner of the barrier, where there were fewer creatures. He forced himself on the barrier, mindlessly afraid.

“Gabriel! STO-aauhgh...”, Jesus tried to yell out to the angel, but he was too worn out, “Stop! Ple-as-!”.

Brrmuuooooooowwrr. The man besides to Mamuf started roaring as his form became much more the semblance of a bear. His form twisted and was also absorbed. Almost used to the numbing pain cycling his being, the boy started turning his head downwards, miring Nox and Jesus. He frowned upon seeing the horseman struggling to stand up on top of the barrier and with the woman panting as she put up even more power, she shivered in pain and exhaustion. The boy gritted his teeth.

The eagle-man turned his head to take a look at the woman. He muttered something, but his voice could not be heard. He arced himself in pain, holding his hands next to his heart. Feathers sprouted from his skin, talons formed from his feet and a beak out of his nose.

Kyiiiiaeeeewwww. The man-eagle flapped his wings and screeched. His form twisted as he was twisted by the kneeling boy. He tried to stand up, he was shivering and trembling, the veins still budging. The boy was breathing harshly and loudly, his arms arced in a wild manner. And stared.

The red horseman was struggling with the gargantua-crab creature, it's blades were getting stuck in the creatures bodies and no matter how many eyes were lashed out there were always more of them open and still functional. The creature lifted the steed once again, pushing and forcing him to the barrier. The third Horseman, Famine, lashed his hooks at the crab and pulled him back. The creature was forced several steps back, releasing the second horseman.

The rider, War, launched both of her lashes at the crab as well, forming something similar to a tug of a war between the horsemen. Furious, the creature started swaying from side to side, the riders stood solid at first, but they soon were won over by the creature's strength and lost their grip. The creature propelled in the air and aimed for the second horseman. Famine could do nothing as he was dragged in the air by his own chains...

….. Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum.

…

What followed next was hell. The angel, free from the barrier, flew through the battlefield, until he was suddenly gripped by one of the creatures, that slowly ripped apart two of his wings. As the angel yelled and screamed with all of the air inside of his lungs, the beasts started gnawing and raking his limbs. Wings were severed and broken in half, hands and feet were torn and devoured, although he did not bleed like a human, but his golden essence seeped out from his wounds and was thoroughly savored by the swarming creatures. His face was frozen in a terrified state.

Jesus couldn't even spare the time to see the fate of his terrified companion, even though he was one of the Archangels, next to none of the children of Yahweh ever dealt with something as terrifying as what they are facing now. The matter at hand was the swarm coming his way and the woman, who collapsed in the ground after wearing out all of her power. 'Tch... She didn't even had her full power and she lasted this whole time... Fuckin seals...', he painfully got up, his wooden limbs hurt him, but he made an effort nonetheless, he reached for the woman and tried to lift her, but he strength failed him and he futilely tried to drag her as he watched the incoming swarm...

The creatures were foaming in their direction, clickling their claws and gnawing on their own spit. A particular one, the size of a puma, an amalgam of slug with many thin insect-like legs and claws, was licking it's mouth with a several inches long tongue as he reached for the woman's legs. When it was about to chomp on it...

BAH! A sturdy bear-like figure mauled away the creature, and started stomping and raking at the other ones incoming. Jesus could barely recognize the figure, until he saw the lodged totem on his chest. He was taller now and stronger, he had brown fur all over him, but his dark hair could still be noticed in a patch of fur just above his head. Ra roared as he forced the creatures away with his claws and paws. When they were just a little bit more relieved from the swarm, Ra turned back took both Nox and Jesus in his arms and started charging back. His corpse started shifting and becoming bigger and heavier, tusks sprouted from his mouth and a trump above it, he was changing between the four spirits he received. Jesus looked at the away the angel went, just to see a mesh of feathers and flesh, he grieved for this, but looked more attentively looking for something. His expression softened when he found what he was searching.

“There! Ra, go for the trumpet!”, Jesus pointed at the left, in the direction of a rather swarming patch of creatures that gnawed on body parts. “Horsemen! Protect your Lamb!”, he yelled out again to the riders that struggled with the bigger beasts. Both Famine and War were battling the gargantua-crab, whilst Death endlessly assaulted a creature that resembled a humanoid squid with multiple bat wings. Jesus clicked his tongue when he perceived the situation, it was a mess, none of them could him and his companions go through, until he remembered something.

“Con-!”, when he was about to call for him the First Horseman trampled through the creatures on Ra's left side, stomped by the hooves of his eight-legged steed. He then aimed his bow and shot a barrage of multiple mist arrows that cleared away as the creatures twitched and winced in pain. After that, the 200cm tall mammoth-man ran into that direction.

His fur was flawed and he was bleeding profusely, but the fortitude on his new form pushed him forward, unstoppable. With both of his arms occupied, he relied on his strong trump to sweep away the swarming creatures. When they reached the place, he put Jesus on the ground while keeping the creatures at bay. Jesus knelt and reached for a carved wooden horn. Jesus put it on his lips and soared it.

Ra had to put one of his hands on his ear as an incisive sounded pierced through his eardrums. “Ok, that'll do the trick, we should try to get away from this swarm while they distract it.”, Ra tilted his head, he knew about the current situation, the riders were struggling to survive even for themselves, how would they be able to distract the whole swarm for their sake? “No, no, it's not th-”, when Jesus started explaining blinding lights started surging on the battlefield, amidst the creatures. Then winged soldiers poured out from them and lunged directly into battle. Ra was nearly blinded when one of those appeared right next to him. Jesus turned and smiled at him. More at ease Ra quickly grabbed Jesus into his arms once again and started running, away from the creatures.

The endless tide was now occupied with the almost as endless tide of angels that just kept appearing in blinding and shining explosions of light. Ra didn't even had to sweep away the creatures with his trump like before, because Conquest rode just next to them, and either trampled or shot away any creature that would dare come close. As they ran, Ra finally thought over, now that he was more at ease...

Gladly the creatures were much more numerous than they were big in size. This endless tide... were each of these creatures any bigger than they are... I think they wouldn't be able to be stopped or idled by angels or the Four Horsemen. Obviously there were exceptions. The gargantua-crub and the Ctulhu-like warrior proved it. But... why?

“Here! This is enough!”, Jesus told Ra, “Conquest! Keep them at bay!”. Ra put them down, he carefully laid the woman on the ground, as she slowly opened up her eyes. Ra slowly turned back to his human form, although the thrill of battle and escape still urged for him to keep his form, or one of the other three. When she met his eyes, a glad smile broke through her exhausted expression. “R-ah...”, her voice was hoarse and dry, she barely spoke. The boy felt joy, his feelings conflicted with one another, as he resented for not remembering, or should it be better to say, not knowing anything about his first life as “Ra”... but still he could feel, truthfully in his heart, happy seeing her smile...

“Ok, here is the thing, channel your power to this totem.”, Jesus touched the carving figure in the chest of the boy, “Then you repeat the chant after me, and voilá portal to another reality all set up and done!”, the man seemed more desperate than excited as he said this.

“But, how is it supposed to go to the right reality, or something?”, Ra was concerned, something didn't feel right, his gut was warning him.

“Well, agh... It's not a portal to another reality. I don't have enough power to do that, anymore. Will have to make do with something else! A portal for your own essence. You're going to create a pathway to meet your essence that lies there in that other reality, when you bargained your names for protection. You set up your own pathway to it, nine hundreds year ago... Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to escape this reality without help.”, Jesus admitted, “You are the most unscrupulous tactician I've ever known... I'm glad we never met, haha...”

“Hm...”, Ra thought about it, his gut was screaming at this situation, something was definitely off, then a sparkle went through his mind, “What of her?”, he asked about the woman, who was slowly standing up, recovering just a bit of her strength.

“Um- Yeah, yeah, she just has to hang on tight with you!”, Jesus hesitated for a tiny screen of a second as he sounded desperate, Ra's gut screamed at this!

“No way! I'm not leaving her behind!”, after all they passed through, he's not leaving her behind, not after all she passed through to get to him and have the both of them reincarnated in another world, or whatever.

“...”, she just stood silent as she screamed, guilt feeling her face, but a little joy sparkled in her heart.

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“You prefer to die with us!? Let's do it before it is too late us to try anythin--!”, Jesus tried to reply, but.

BRAAAAWWIIIIAAHRRRRGHHH! A gigantic roar thundered the place, bigger and louder than anything before, when the three of them turned to face it. They saw the gargantuan-crab devouring the Second and the Third Horsemen, when it was done with them, it started swaying aside the swarm of lesser creatures around him, and devouring them too. He grew bigger and stronger by each creature that disappeared in the abyss of his maw. The angelic hosts started charging against the enlarging creature, only to be devoured by it as well.

'Fuck... No. no. no. no. NO!', Ra could only anger at the sight. “Repeat after me! And channel your power to the totem!”

“I am the First of them all. And shall I be once again. As I bend void and time. Matter and energy. To reunite myself with what I lost. As I lay empty within, I rip the cloth that separates the Legacies so that I make myself whole!”, Jesus quickly stated, “Repeat these words until you feel... something!”

“Something!? You kidding, right?”, the uncertainty at this plan didn't suit Ra, he didn't like it at all.

“Hell! No one ever tried this before, Ra! You guys are fuckin trail-blazers even at this point where you're at the bottom! Just get to it before any more creatures start devouring each other and growing bigger until we are surrounded by gigantic monsters for heaven's sake!!!”, Jesus snapped, clearly affected.

Clicking his tongue, Ra started chanting. Nox approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder and leaned in. Ra stood still as the woman kissed him on the lips, softly, closing her eyes and resting her forehead on his, she whispers... “Thank you, Ra... For turning me into who I am... but... it's time I turn back... okay?”, her voice was full of sadness and gloom, her hands trembled in anxiousness.

She stepped away. She looked at the boy. It was not him, but at least there was some of him in there. That was enough. She remembered the words he once told her. The words that formed her. The words that made her. She only had to undo these words, now... 'Even now, I disappoint you, undoing the greatest gift you ever gave me... Oh my love... please... live on'.

“N-no... Wait... Nox! WAIT!”. The boy tried to reach for her. 'He remembered!', she thought to herself as her chest throbbed with pain and anguish for not being allowed to cherish this moment, she retrieved her hand before he could touch it, and in tears she stepped away from him and turned back. She hated this... her cursed existence... in the end she would vanish just as she appeared... clad in fear and sadness. But at least she had some joy in the mid-way, right...?

“I neglect the words once given to me! I neglect this beautiful and defined side of myself! I neglect the forms and shapes you saw in me!”, her face was washed in tears as she yelled, “I accept! I accept my cursed true self! To be formless and shapeless! To be an abyss of fear and dread! I shed this beautiful skin to unleash the horror that once inspired nothing, but fear into the living!”

She turned to black, in her entirety. Clothes, skin and hair alike. Then her form contorted and twisted, and many more arms sprouted from it, forming claws and maws... she looked exactly like those beasts, but... instead of seeming a living cosmos, an agglomerate of stars in the darkness... she was just black. Pitch black. Like a night, without any light...

“She broke them... she broke the seals... Fuck, she even turned back to her original form...”, Jesus mumbled, “what kind of monsters are you, people...”, Jesus chuckled while he watched in horror the battle in front of him. 'What should I be afraid of... these beasts or these monsters that I was helping...'

The creature that Nox became mindlessly assaulted the swarm of creatures. Whilst in the far corner, the gargantuan-crab finished devouring the ctulhu-warrior creature and the Fourth Horseman, Death. As the last rider Conquest rode forth, charging against the devouring creature. Jesus just stood there, powerless.

'No... No... Fuck, even with this power... Even with this...', Ra swayed his head and gritting his teeth he put his hands together and chants. He gritted at the fact that he called that woman “Nox”, without even remembering why or how did he know it, and he pushed away from his mind the fact that she just turned and sacrificed herself... He pushed away the fear he felt of that creature, growing bigger by the second. He pushed away everything. Until nothing was left in his mind, but his will to survive.

Time sluggishly went by. As that creature came ever closer, swallowing angels and beasts alike. Jesus was just staring with empty eyes, his power was tapped, he gave his all in summoning the Horsemen. To Ra there was nothing but noise, screams and roar, around him. He just focused on the wood stuck on his chest, from which blood still poured out, slowly. Suddenly a sound. Actually it was the exact opposite. It was like 'silence' suddenly formed between his hand, in front of that totem.

The sound and what one would deem as an anomaly, a rift, enlarged and took hold of Ra's body. A rip in the reality, in the void. It grew larger and larger until it enveloped his whole body. The last thing he saw was the sight of that giant creature and the “Nox” creature clashing with each other. '…', his mind was blank... in the end he didn't know what to feel about her... something inside him missed her, but the actual him knew her as a total stranger. In the end she died for him, sort of. And he couldn't even properly reflect if he could ever return what she felt...

I mean, how could he fall in love for someone who he doesn't even remember? And who did nothing but plot his death and bring him to space where they were cornered by dimensional(?) beasts...?

… Well... in the end when he got that “power” from those other four he really felt something different in his heart. It was like the void that he always was just a little... satisfied. In that point, he felt gratitude for them... He thanked them, but... they died...

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Jesus just watched as the boy was enveloped in that anomaly. When he vanished, he sighed in relief. The gargantuan void beast gnawed on what seemed to be the throat of Nox, who in turn winced and screeched painfully, the void beast twisted it and forced it down to the ground. The beast was larger than Nox, yet again, she lost a tremendous amount of power keeping that protection barrier up. When she was overpowered and contained in the ground, deep inside she felt a little relieved... at least she would no longer feel anything, right?

Jesus watched with a complicated look as Nox was being gnawed and thoroughly raked to death by that giant void beast, and once it was distracted, the smaller ones started swarming over her body and doing the same thing too. Jesus was disgusted, he felt sorry for her... especially because...

“Oh my... Dad is sooo not going to like this...”, a voice came from Jesus's back. “Especially about Gabriel... but... I guess he just wasn't ready to cope with this... Umph...”, Jesus could imagine the figure of someone massaging the temple with a tired look in the face and closed eyes, although the one he was imagining would definitely be faking it.

“You sure took your time, Lucy...”, Jesus said with a hoarse and tired voice, “I mean creating big ones just for the sake of breaking the barrier and then splitting them into a tenfold of smaller ones just to swarm us...”

“Yes... I wanted to give you guys a shot, you know...”, the voice replied. Jesus turned to meet the figure. It was a young woman in a ravishing and expensive tuxedo, he had blond hair, but his eyes were deep crimson red. His lines were feminine and sensual.

“Why is that?”, Jesus inquired.

“Well... I felt sorry for her... She spent the whole centuries in hell, watching him... It was just so sad...”

“Hoh? The devil being compassionate? Mankind would be slack-jawed...”, Jesus joked.

“Fufu... Mankind's too stupid to realize that even we have feelings, little brother...”, after chuckling for a second, Lucy replied, with a disappointed tone.

“Sadly... But he wasn't... He made The Nightbeast fall in love with him after all.”, Jesus stated, simply.

“Yes. I can only shiver at what he will do in the other world... It thrills me with curiosity... That god? He is mankind instincts incarnate...”, Lucy uttered her words in a rather lustful manner.

“So. Tell me. Why aren't you stopping it now?”, Jesus hissed at Lucifer.

“You truly don't understand?”, Lucy asked in a serious monotone.

“Hm?”, Jesus raised an eyebrow.

“Oh my... Don't blame me for spoiling it then... You would figure it out sooner or later anyway...”, Lucifer mumbled and took a quick breath before continuing, “Do you know how the Universes come to be, little brother?”

“...”, Jesus stared silently waiting for an answer.

“Legacies. Realities. They are void beasts.”, Lucy stated quickly, rather careless, “They are so full and filled with positive matter and spiritual essence, that it finally reaches a breaking point. The dark, negative matter that forms them can no longer contain the endless amount of those two components. So, just like any other instinctive beast, from any world or reality, it simply walks away, knowing that it's death nears. Once they find themselves in the in-between space of dimensions... they explode. And just like that... another Legacy is woven into the tapestry that is the Multiverse...”

“Guh...”, Jesus widened his eyes and stared at Lucy, slack-jawed.

“It gives quite a somber and unique reason for why Realities are called 'Legacies', don't you think? Each Reality is a Legacy of a beast, born from chaos, that spent it's entire existence devouring matter and spirits...”

“Hugh...”, Jesus swayed his head to regain his composure, “But! Still, why are you lettin her die!? Just for the sake of filling up a Void Beast so that it can blow up and 'breed' another Universe?”

“...”, Lucy glared at Jesus, “Let me just state the fact that if I, indeed, had said yes as an answer for that question, in no circumstances would I ever be wrong, little brother!”, after snapping out a bit, Lucy breathed deeply and continued, “But no... that's indeed not the reason...”

“Then what is it!?”, Jesus's voice hoarsed even more as he pushed his throat to raise his words.

Lucy sideglanced at Jesus...

“Do you really believe that something as old as her will just accept being consumed...?”, Lucy's voice was dead serious...

“...”, Jesus then turned his head to the swarm. The void beasts were already retreating after the command of the Lord of Hell. But one of them was still finishing it's meal, savouring every bit of it. When there was nothing more left, the void beast leaned back and roared triumphantly... as his little brothers marched steadily to the brink of the horizon, as they climbed the 'walls' of the Cosmos and took their rightful places among the stars, once again... That Beast stood... After roaring it simply stood... still.

When Jesus was about to turn at Lucifer and inquire him, the beast started twitching, as if synchronized. It contorted and winced in pain, as the stars that embellished it's dark skin disappeared, one by one. When the beast was nothing, but blackness, it recomposed itself and stared. Stared right into the place where Ra ripped the Legacy.

As Lucy watched for Jesus's reaction... 'But I assure you, little brother... That is not the only reason, either...', she silently kept to himself...

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Author's Note: Okay! Guys, it's 0300 AM here, and I have classes in about... three hours. So please forgive me, but I'll put this chapter's Bestiary Entry tomorrow, morning or afternoon. SO! What do you think the other side is gonna be like? What will Ra do... Are you guys okay about how he felt about Nox, in the end... Or that spoil on Lucy's part was too much... Leave your reply, your opinion, or even pull out some chat with me! Thanks a lot for reading!! xD

Today's Chapter Music - Tanelorn (Into the Void) by Blind Guardian