The feeling of holding power once again was indescribable. Rieren was suffused with the strength she had begun to think would take her far too long to reclaim. If she’d had a spare moment, she would have simply taken the time to revel in it, to relish the surging Essence that filled every iota of her being.

Sadly, there was an Abyssal to kill. And that the effects of the Temporal Recollector weren’t going to last forever. She had already taken up two of the precious fifteen minutes of a different form that it provided.

At least, it turned out that defeating their greatest foe wasn’t going to be overly difficult. Even the weakest version of the Temporal Recollector had thrown Rieren forward in time—or perhaps backward in time, since this was a mere memory, but forward in power—to a point where she was still more powerful than the monster.

Mid-Ascendant. That was the realm Rieren had been granted. The same realm that the Masked Avatar was in, an entire realm higher than most of the Elders too.

Of course, most A-Grade Abyssals were more than strong enough to match a cultivator in the Ascendant realm. Early-Ascendant, at least, wasn’t beyond most A-Grade monster’s capability of defeating.

The catch was that this particular Abyssal was facing Rieren. One thing she had always prided herself on was the fact that she was always first among her peers. Or close enough, as far as she was concerned. While the Abyssal she was facing was no doubt among the stronger variants of A-Grade monsters, she was one of the strongest cultivators in her realm.

After all, she was well on the path beyond ascendancy and onto godhood.

So it was that, though the Gravemark Puppeteer held great power, it wasn’t enough for the monster to match Rieren. Not really.

Its attacks were a storm of blows, of course. But she was quick too. Time seemed to not exist outside the two of them, as was often the case when powerful beings used the full measure of their strength. The air moved sluggishly. The rain was slow. Only the water of Rieren’s empowered Domain and the torn fabric of her robes kept pace with her movements.

“Deceit, trickery, and cheap tricks,” the Abyssal said, its voice a trill of several joined together. “That is the only way you can hope to defeat one such as me.”

They had finally come to a pause after their latest round of exchanges. Rieren had left several gashes all over the monster’s webbed body, receiving not a single touch in return. It felt nice to fight toe-to-toe in that manner. Good to know that her skill with her sword had risen alongside her power.

She ought to end it, though. The Abyssal had caused enough trouble and there were only about eleven minutes left.

“Well, it is certainly working,” Rieren said.

That enraged the monster. It flung itself at her again, all its limbs readying to launch another ferocious barrage. Rieren was thankfully faster.

She used Enchant on her sword, selecting Mirrorsword. Her blade shifted form. The new one didn’t resemble a mirror so much as a hunk of metal the colour of the night sky, red energy gleaming at its centre. But it served her purpose well.

In her previous life, she had found many treasures and artifacts throughout her travels, all focused on finding ancient swords of legend and obtaining their power. It was impossible to get most of them physically, but a specific Enchantment allowed her to turn her sword temporarily into one of those vaunted blades of yore.

So it was that her current Enchantment gave her sword essentially the same power that Ground Truth had. Except, it had the additional input of allowing her to turn back the might used against her onto her assailant.

When her sword connected with the first of the Abyssal’s many blows, all of its power was drawn into the single point where its first blow and her blade connected. The strength went out of the rest of its webbed limbs. Even the crimson energy flowing through it was drawn to that single point. One point in space where all the combined power of the combatants had gathered.

The next thing was simply hitting that point with her sword. Of course, it was a bit of a gamble—if Rieren’s opponent hit it first, all the gathered power would rebound onto her. That would be a bit disastrous.

But Rieren knew her stats and was certain that she was faster. Especially since she could use Silken Passage, a greatly improved version of Fray Passage, specifically on localized areas of her body. That allowed her to swing her sword far faster than the Abyssal could attack.

When her deep blue blade connected with the glowing, pulsing orb of energy before it, the shockwave that shattered outwards ripped the Abyssal right off its feet.

The monster flew off nearly as fast as it had shot in. With a horrific screech, it crashed through the webbed spire holding the Sect Leader aloft before flying all the way to the rear of the chamber to collide with its walls.

Rieren was fast to catch what was happening in her immediate surroundings, of course. Her Mind was more than high enough now. The falling spire had revealed something gleaming with power at its hollow base. Kervantes was just behind it, seeking to protect both itself and the glittering orb from harm.

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But more importantly, the Sect Leader was falling fast as well. While Rieren’s Domain would save him from any injury from the fall—not that it would be terribly harmful for him at his stage of cultivation—he didn’t look like he was in any condition to break free of his binds and swim out from under the surf. She very well couldn’t let him drown.

A quick movement and a swift kick took care of most of the debris that sought to fall upon Kervantes and the Sect Leader.

“Who…?” he asked faintly, his eyes nearly closed but desperately trying to remain open. “Who are you?”

Rieren tore off the webs keeping him trapped and set him down gently on the surf. She supposed she could release her Domain, but the Abyssal wasn’t dead yet, which meant that she would need it soon enough anyway.

“I am Rieren, Sect Leader,” she said. “And I am here to ensure that you and the Sect does not fall.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was rather dismaying to see the kind of state he had been reduced to. His eyes were glassy and his whole body was emaciated as though his physicality had been drained from him. That the Abyssal had kept him alive was a small mercy, but it only made Rieren wonder why. What could it have learned from him?

Far off, the Gravemark Puppeteer climbed out of the rubble keeping it buried. It didn’t look like any of the falling rocks had harmed it much, though there was a terrible gash across its midsection where Rieren had slashed her sword.

A gash that revealed the presence of a different body within the webbed construct.

Rieren’s gaze narrowed. She hadn’t been able to see much of who lay within. The cut had been too thin, and even as she watched, the steely webs were regenerating themselves and sealing over the wound.

But there was a body inside. A body wearing a piece of clothing that was familiar to Rieren, though she couldn’t identify it exactly. There was something more significant going on here that she couldn’t place her finger on. Couldn’t think too much about, either, since her mind returned to her main objective—ending that Abyssal once and for all.

Rieren took a single step forward, then stopped. The Abyssal had raised one of its longer limbs high into the air. Then it spoke.

“You think your little trickery of strength will truly defeat me?” it said.

Despite the distance, Rieren heard it all too well, even though the monster wasn’t really raising its voice. Then she noticed the threads. Tiny strands were running through the entire chamber, at least in her vicinity. Each of the strands vibrated as the monster spoke, transmitting its voice far father than it normally would have gone.

“I care not for your blathering, Abyssal,” Rieren said, taking another step forward. “I—”

“I blather not.” The ring in the Abyssal’s voice made her stop again. “Not when I speak the truth. It is not just your strength that is a lie, now, is it?”

Rieren’s heart skipped a beat. That body she had seen within the monster… “Nothing you say is worth hearing, monster. The only thing you can do that is any worth is die.”

“Nothing? Not even the fact that you are the one who is the cause of all this?”

Rieren’s thoughts were starting to flash past her. She could react now, kill the Abyssal before it said anything further, but the words were already out. If she silenced it, the resulting suspicion that would befall would not be easily dissuaded.

But then, hadn’t Rieren decided that she was no longer going to bother with hiding and running away? Hadn’t she chosen to shift her priorities?

And yet, her heart was hammering faster with every moment. If the truth was to be revealed, it ought to come from her. There was only one way to deal with abhorrent little spikes of information such as the one the Abyssal was throwing. Discreditation.

“More blathering,” Rieren said, glad her voice was steady where her spirit was far from it. “That I allow you to even continue speaking is a grace you do not deserve.”

The Abyssal ignored the jibe. It was approaching her location, though slowly. “You are the one who started this all, Rieren Vallorne. Or perhaps, I should call you Bladed Goddess Arianaele? The one who tore down the Celestial Realm. The one who tricked the other gods.”

“Enough.”

Less than nine minutes left for Rieren to remain in her current form, as far as she had been able to track. If she wanted to win easily, she would need to attack, and do so now.

Though she supposed if she used all her strength, it wouldn’t even take one.

But the monster raised its voice, its words echoing across the chamber. “The one who, in her boundless hubris, decided to restart the apocalypse and all adjacent suffering.”

Time seemed to freeze. The silence was absolute, broken only by the continued plunks of water falling through the broken ceiling. Rieren couldn’t tell how the others were taking the reveal. What was she to even say to counter that? Had she been in their position, there was only one logical reaction to such a ridiculous notion.

Except, she couldn’t bring herself to lie or act. Strange. She had done so easily before. What was one more to add to the pile?

But maybe Rieren was tired of it. Maybe, now that she had secured herself the power she had been seeking, even if it was temporary, the consequence of such truths felt muted and hollow. Maybe it was time for the truth. For all truths.

“And how in the many worlds can one such as you know such a thing?” Rieren would not be the only one to suffer reveals. Not if she could help it. “How can a worthless Abyssal, a lowly monster rejected out of the Abyss, possess that sort of knowledge?”

Where the Abyssal had ignored all insults and verbal barbs before, something about Rieren’s latest lash had just the desired effect.

“Cease flaunting your ignorance like a weapon, you foolish little insect,” the Abyssal spat, taking another step forward. “You know nothing. You could never know anything. And yet you speak with boundless confidence? A fool. Nothing more.”

“Is that so? You have yet to enlighten us how you came about procuring such knowledge.”

Rieren’s grip tightened around her sword. There wasn’t any real point in letting the monster speak any further. What damage it had intended to deal with its words had already been dealt. Once it was fully underway in trying to convince them, she would end it.

But instead of answering, all the Abyssal did was release the hold it was keeping upon itself. The webbed body shifted so that all the steely threads in its front fell away, once again revealing the body within.

Rieren couldn’t help gasping, forgetting all about her intention to attack. It wasn’t just the clothes she recognized.

The body… she knew the man there too.

“I see it upon your face that you know full well what you see,” the Abyssal said, a hint of vicious laughter bubbling through its many voices. “Yes, this is a body from the Celestial Realm.”