Chapter 154: Old Gods

In the dead of night, Lea was still in the town, completely hidden as she watched people hurriedly going indoors. Because the song had begun, her lullaby under the power of Order - had spread to the entire town.

She realized that all Paths, no matter what, are powerful. At the level of a Star God, their full power can be displayed.

Order can command the world. Ice can freeze time itself. Severance can cut the world. Veil can create entire fake lives.

And godhood in this world is supposed to elevate mortals on that very same level. What would max-level Malediction bring? Could she curse the entire world?

And she soon found out an answer for a Path. In her detection range, Lea sensed something—

Crack—

She shattered. Lea found herself in the Dream World, inside her mansion. Slowly reforming from the Cursed Constructs around her.

"Did I...", she was confused at first.

But the memory played in slow motion made it clear. She was attacked and killed in an instant, cut into twelve pieces, then those twelve pieces got cut again into twelve more pieces each. And then burned. She was killed.

Who could've done that?

"Bashie, what killed me?", she asked the Jester.

"I don't know!! But definitely something beyond Charlotte's knowledge.", Bashie Mahzala said, "I can tell it was primarily Decimation."

Decimation, huh...

Then there is no other choice but to go back and confront whatever killed her. As long as people remember her, she can revive. If not, this mansion would be expelled from the Divine Domain of Unconscious, and all of her Cursed Constructs would blow up.

And most of her soul is in here, and the other half of the Divine Domain acts as a backup.

...

Inside a house, when the light had already turned off, where a child was praying to The Sacred Flame. Hoping for justice to strike those vagabonds who call themselves heroes.

Bubbling out of the shadow. Quietly and silently. The Faceless Twilight rose from the ground.

She listened to the child's prayer; the faceless haunter of the night stared quietly... this was just what she needed. A prayer and someone possible to blame. With Cloak, Silence, and Veil, Lea became a void no one could notice. She deconstructs her body and seeps out of the house, slipping onto the rooftop.

And she extended her darkness, marking this entire town as her territory... where she can hear every thought, every hypocrisy and folly of the people who call themselves heroes of Empire's Edge.

From her body, a flock of birds detached themselves; fragments of her existence landed all over the town. Also, she put her lullaby a little bit louder...

Because she is facing an unknown enemy... There is no reason to hold back. But she cannot show her trump card just yet.

Looking over the town, with a cold and uncaring gaze, she held her hand out...

"Hex."

In an instant, all birds hit the vagabonds, inflicting hundreds of curses on them rapidly. Individually, they might be weak, but the sheer quantity quickly made those afflicted die in agony.

To note, Lea is the only Malediction Pathstrider to do it this way. She never mastered any other curses besides sleep.

Their screams echoed throughout the streets, a chorus of agony that made windows slam shut and doors bolt tight. Lea hummed her lullaby, the melody weaving through the screams like a lullaby sung over dying embers.

Below, the vagabonds writhed. Curses layered upon curses. Skin boiled and froze simultaneously. Bones grew brittle then sharp, piercing through flesh from within. Eyes wept blood. Tongues swelled until breathing became impossible.

One man tried to run. His legs gave out, muscles dissolving into slurry. He crawled instead, leaving a trail of liquefied tissue. Another screamed for mercy. His voice box ruptured mid-plea, the sound becoming a wet gurgle. Lea watched from the rooftop, her form barely visible, just a suggestion of something against the starlight.

The screams grew weaker. Bodies stopped twitching. Silence crept back into the town, broken only by her humming. The child's prayer had been answered. Justice was delivered by a fake god wearing righteousness like a mask.

Lea smiled behind her horned facade.

Yet there was one who resisted her curses. Her target, continuously trying to burn her soul fragment away.

It hurts, but she had her mark now...

"Branding."

Her target was marked. She pulled Houyi out of her shadow and drew the bow—

What?

Through the vision provided by her other soul fragments. The person who attacked her was a grey metal mechanical birdman... but that was not it, no... Ideation told her this wasn't an alien.

This was a native of this world... what?

More outrageous, it was holding The Plague Garden in its arms. It took the Mother of Life hostage.

"Alien god from outer space!!", it cried out, directing malice at her, "Are you so cold to aim your weapon at your own kind?!"

No, there seems to be a misunderstanding here. How the hell does everyone see through her Cloak's Zone? How high must one be to do it?

Lea could understand that Star Gods and Heralds are way beyond her; Solafant's Void can nullify her concealment. But this is the third time!! And a native at that!!

"Bashie... can I use that obliterate thing?", she asked quietly.

"I won't help you this time~ since you aren't facing an Outsider!!", they cheerfully responded.

Great...

Lea's area-of-effect arrows would definitely hurt The Plague Garden. She doesn't know how tough the slime form is; it could burst and end the world right here...

With her soul fragments landing around him, these crystal birds began to speak; dozens of voices echoed through the street.

"You are making a mistake, Mard Awalan is not a being you can mess with.", she spoke with more gravitas than normal, "Do you intend to make an enemy with half of the universe?"

"Hah!! Do you think you sparkly fucks can just trample on OUR turf as you like?!", the birdman scoffed, "Listen here, I was only awakened recently by that red bitch, but I can tell that you fuckers are messing with this world!!"

Hah... this is a stubborn one...

She still has tricks up her sleeves.

"Steam of Infinite Gold;

Overflowing Greed, Aurum Light;

Bat of the Forsaken Coin."

The Honorific Title of the Steam Bat came from all the birds.

"The Golden Order, Great Old One of the universe. A foolish mortal dares threaten the Mother of Life, taking her hostage!!"

Near the birdman, Lea can see her fallen emblem light up. Novala had heard of the situation. For someone as kind as the Giant of Light, to take his Mother hostage, even the kindest warmth would turn into an inferno rage.

"What have you done...", it narrowed its eyes at the birds. Its grip on the slime became tighter.

There is no reason to not help someone. And vice versa, there is no reason to not ask for help. The emblem on the ground instantly burst into flame, grabbing the birdman's attention. Then a flaming punch sent him flying into the sky, dropping The Plague Garden.

"Mother, are you alright?", Novala carried the slime up.

"Mm!", it squeaked in confirmation.

But the birdman's misfortune did not end there. The silver moon shining on top, its crimson gaze lit up— sending the birdman down, pinning it into the ground.

I might've called in more than I should've.

The air became hotter, like breathing directly in front of a fire. Lea turned to the sky, seeing the golden gleam of the Steam Bat. Then she slammed down onto the birdman, pinning him with her claws.

"Lesser God of this world.", she grumbled, "We are the Harbingers of Life, those who give Life to the world. You must not value your existence..."

Before it could defend itself in front of the Great Old One, Lea drew her bow and shot a Judgement Arrow, penetrating through the birdman's skull. But she sensed it was still alive. Very weak from being attacked by three Outsiders.

"I will handle this.", Lea appeared next to the Steam Bat, speaking with as much respect as she has, "Thank you for coming to my aid on such short notice."

For one reason or another, she feels more comfortable standing in front of people that can crush her like a bug. Perhaps because they are so alien to her that she has no way to truly understand them, so she doesn't need to think about them.

"Do as you see fit, Miss Darkwill.", Novala spoke for all of them.

"We don't want that guy to jump in, so let this be a secret.", the bat stared at the West.

What's wrong with the West now?

Lea turned to look... nothing out of the ordinary. But she had a vague feeling that something was there, something she should've seen...

No.

That wasn't her problem. Her problem is here, this supposed Lesser God...

"Sinking Rem...", Lea whispered.

She dragged the consciousness of the headless birdman into the Dream World. She too entered her mansion...

Only to find not a person, nor a mechanical creation, but a lump of brain matter on her floor.

Ew...

Obviously, she could hear the panic spreading. Lea wouldn't entertain someone who had killed her once; she would get the memories anyway. So underneath the brain, her jaws snapped shut, devouring the soul.

And Lea got the fragments of memories...

"Ah... so that is how it is."

The birdman's name was Al'twa'kan, something from before the Blackout. One of the gods who had faced the Mist Lord...

And this is the first time Lea learned that thing's title.

"The Mist Lord, huh...", that was her target for the deal. She is in no way strong enough to deal with that thing.

It won and plunged the world into the depths of the unknown. With the element of Mystery by its side, that thing defeated anything that came to it; only a few were saved by a person named Sularao... the Goddess of Madness.

Then the title of Lesser Gods; they include two categories. First were the old divine entities before the Blackout, those who remained after the Mist Lord nearly wiped all of them out. The second type was...

"So that is why I don't see anyone beyond the Sixth Step."

Because the moment one became the Seventh Step, it was like alerting their existence as something dangerous to the Mist Lord. It became a race between the Mist Lord's planetary influence deleting them and Sularao rescuing them.

"So all this time, you have been fighting alone against the source of darkness."

She found a new respect for the Goddess of Madness, who can only find beauty in the world. She fought for so long for the sake of this world.

She got out of her Dream World, seeing that all the people she summoned were gone, except for The Plague Garden. But the townfolks are still trembling in fear.

They had witnessed something they weren't supposed to see.

"Hush now...", she activated her Hexes on this town.

The familiar sleep spell hit everyone, dragging them to slumber where they stood. It was more potent than Lea expected, but nothing to worry about.

"Let's Silence today's event.", she clapped her hands.

With the power of Silence, she suppressed everyone's memory of tonight. When they woke up, nobody would know what happened this night. Though they might be very confused and scared of what happened today, that is none of Lea's business.

"Come on now.", she scooped The Plague Garden up, transforming herself into the beastial form, "We still have a city to slaughter."

Lea wanted to get over the Sixth Step as soon as possible...

And to give Sularao her deserved rest.