Chapter 151: Time Binders

Chosen One of Time. That was her title given by the Warden of Time. A gift named "Eternity" was given to her, something her mortal body cannot handle for long.

Daughter of Judgement and Salvation. For her, everything she did was to lead her people into a brighter future. Letting her people judge those who are sinful, and leading to the end of the tunnel.

Monarch clad in Argent Light. The title she gave herself, the crown she put on herself. For her, she cannot be anything but a ruler.

And...

Embracer of Origin.

Out of all beings in the universe, there is one Attribute none has as their main one. None that lived beyond their awakening, that is. But she is the exception.

But that is a story for another day.

The quill writing in stardust put a period marker down, then Sinclair closed the Tome of Light with a thump.

"All recorded~", she hummed joyfully, "I died over ten times just to record this!!"

"Now... let's see how the story unfolds next..."

=0=0=

The cannon roared with maximum capacity.

The seven sacred swords embedded in the barrel ignited simultaneously, each one channeling the weight of legends forged across millennia.

Galatine's light.

Durendal's endurance.

Joyeuse's brilliance.

Curtana's mercy.

Kusanagi's storm.

Gram's fury.

Caladbolg's rainbow arc.

All of it focused into a single point of absolute violence. All focus into the fire of The Madden Flame.

KRAAAAKOOOOOM—

The beam that erupted from Utopia was beyond description. It wasn't fire or light or energy; it was the inevitability of the strongest Attribute. A column of pure annihilation force guaranteed by the universe itself, paid for in the blood of the Chosen One of Time.

The blast carved through the air, through the storm, through the defenses of The Still Fantasy's frozen monument.  Where Charlotte's previous bombardments had been absorbed, where the Goddess of Madness's flesh bombs had merely scratched—

This attack simply denied the ice's perfection. The pillar didn't shatter. It didn't explode.

It parted... for now.

A clean line split the dome from top to bottom, dividing it perfectly in half. The two halves hung suspended for a single impossible moment.

Then gravity remembered itself.

KRRRRRSH—KRRRRRSH—KRRRRRSH—

The halves collapsed inward, falling toward the frozen sea with the weight of continents. The sound was catastrophic, a symphony of destruction that echoed across the entire world. Ice that had been frozen in eternal perfection shattered into countless fragments, each one still carrying traces of The Still Fantasy's power but no longer unified, no longer whole.

The storm died; snow that had been going around fell. The temperature spiked forty degrees in seconds as natural law reasserted itself. The frozen sea began to crack and groan, water slowly remembering how to flow.

High above the devastation, Mazal Khyalan the Still Fantasy stared in genuine shock.

"No... no no no!!", the sprite-like creature clutched its scarf.

The answer was simple. Charlotte hadn't fought the concept of perfection. She'd simply paid the price to ignore it entirely.

"[Target neutralized.]", the Knight reported calmly, "[Ice structure integrity: zero percent. Threat level: significantly reduced.]"

Charlotte slumped in her chair, pale from blood loss, but smiling triumphantly.

She smiled with glee, "That is simply humanity's might."

She spun her chair around with her arms wide open. And at the same time, the embers of the Vampire Lord ignited the aurora in the sky. A chain reaction was the result. Fire ignites the Ether, creating an explosion that can wipe out the world. A beautiful and cataclysmic rain of fire.

Perhaps by fortune or by the sheer might of The Still Fantasy. The ice dome tanked most of the blast, shattering into thousands of pieces. Protecting the world at large.

In that explosion, The Void Enigma perished, using its own form as fuel. It takes a Great Old One to take down a Great Old One, after all. For Star Gods, the death of their Avatar is trivial. It is only an Avatar, containing not even one percent of its full power.

Celosia flew back in, returning to his human form.

"Thanks for offering your weapons, Charlotte.", he smiled, pulling Charlotte into a hug.

"Hehe, now who loves who?", she giggled, hugging him.

"Hey now, you are way younger than me. Not even a Stellar Cycle old.", he pushed her back slightly.

"Age is just a number for us.", she shrugged, opening more screens to look at the fallout.

The collapsed ice pillar created a tsunami from its sheer size and weight, threatening to consume the entire continent. But there was the eternal protector. Sularao punctured her body and ripped out her ribs, throwing them forward to summon an entire crimson forest across the coastlines of the two continents. Taller than any buildings this world is capable of, they protect all life from being drowned by the ocean.

Turning waves that would've reset life itself into mere floods and rains. Still disasters, but nothing to the scale of this battle for the fate of the world.

"Huh, seems like she forgot the islands.", Charlotte commented.

Celosia chimmed in, "Yeah, they are goners."

...

Jim collapsed where he stood.

Just a moment ago, he had activated Passage upon the entirety of the Archipelago, creating a portal in order to transport the people to a different location... that location being the New World.

He has a lot to explain, both for these people who almost died and the tribes of the New World. But not now. With the last bit of his strength, he moved himself to one of his safe houses.

"By this point, I don't think I am ready in a long while...", he complained to himself, leaning against the wall.

Charlotte had warned him about the Voidborn of Motion, how dangerous it is to catch its attention. If not careful, he could become its puppet without him even knowing. Jim would no longer be a Trailblazer, but Destiny's Slave. But that is just a part of what it means to tread on the Path of Divinity. To stand in front of the Cosmic Laws and survive their judgment.

=0=0=

Like a candle against the wind, Mazal Khyalan's form was slowly crumbling. The sprite-like creature lay on its broken pillar, still laughing, still crackling even if it was defeated...

No, defeated is the wrong word. It merely lost, even if the majority of its Light was lost after the attack.

"What fun!! But that is not all from me!!"

Snow surges from it, like a storm announcing the end. It was still one of the Star Gods bearing the title of Great Old One; there is no way it would go down that easily. Even if its plans were foiled. It saw the silver warship flying in the air, and on the bow was the owner of the ship, looking down at The Still Fantasy with those cold azure eyes.

"You should know what is going to happen next, right?", her voice boomed through a speaker.

"Hehehehe... I will not fall without a proper fight!!", it sang joyfully.

The storm around it became more intense. Like a white curtain had just descended around it, obscuring everything except for its laughter.

But Charlotte is not someone who fights fair; if she can get away with it, then she would do anything to win. Taking in a deep breath, she opened her arms wide.

"I call upon the Lord of Tindalos!!!"

The air shifted instantly. As if something that shouldn't be here was called upon. Blue particles swirled around her, forming two straight swords. Then, with a manic smile, one of a madman, she began to chant the Honorific Title of Time.

"Lord of the Beginning and the End!

Guardian of Causality!

Celestial Embodiment of Time!!

The Warden of the Multiverse!!!"

She crossed her swords, creating an angle. An angle that was also a portal to the dimension where the Warden of Time resides. Opening a black portal, a gateway for the Beasts of Time to come out.

Wolves made out of geometric shapes came pouring out. Giant geometric spiders crawled out as well. All coming toward the snowstorm. In the hope of devouring the greatest and first Violator of Time. Yet that hope did not come.

The Beasts of Time froze into statues and were shattered by the cold wind. This was not something the vanguards who simply devour could handle.

"Well then, I'll be going now.", Charlotte waved, "I hate seeing the Warden; it scares the shit out of me. So good luck~ toodaloo~"

All of her ships began to retreat. Leaving one wound in reality and a horde of monsters to kill one single Star God.

"Heh... I knew you would be here~", the sprite turned behind.

A mass of incomprehension, a black-hooded shadow made of shapes. Staring down at The Still Fantasy since when, nobody knows. For the Warden of Time, that concept is relative.

"Designation: ANCHOR"

"Limitation: BYPASSED"

The twisted voice of Time was grating, making The Still Fantasy's form glitch. It knew the Warden was accelerating its own flow of time, trying to turn it to dust. Then rejuvenate it, then age it - back and forth. For most, the experience would be torture, but as the Star God that had conquered time...

"Aah... that's painful~ hehehehe...", it laughed, standing up with great effort, "Frost Bind."

The Warden became frozen in place, sealed in a block of ice. For a moment, The Still Fantasy was safe. The next moment, it was deleted.

Standing in front of the Warden was another Warden - the same aspect of the same being. Even if it hunts those violating the timestream, it is the sole being that can violate those same principles it upholds.

The Warden simply used its enemy's tactics. Like a hunter to his prey.

Just like that, The Still Fantasy's presence was gone from the world. And the Warden stares at the fleeing ships, at its Chosen One.

Or is it truly over?