"Are you just going to stand by and let her leave?" Ezmelral's voice was tense as she watched Libinea's magnificent Phoenix form soar into the distant sky.
Raiking remained silent for a moment, his mind wandering back to the beginning—the day Libinea discovered his true identity as the God of Death. He recalled how she had knelt before him, pleading for his aid in avenging her massacred kin, and how he had impassively insisted she must undertake that bloody quest herself.
That fateful day marked the beginning of their shared journey to establish the Guild. Over the centuries, they had achieved exactly what they intended.
Libinea had liberated her people. Those who had the power to oppose her rule were either incapacitated or dead. Meanwhile, Raiking had forged a formidable Guild of Monsters—a force that not only safeguarded his daughter but would also serve as her ultimate, unstoppable vanguard should he ever fall.
With these accomplishments, fate was naturally returning things to their destined state.
"Not everyone is meant to walk the same path until the end," Raiking murmured. With a subtle gesture, he summoned a swirling, pitch-black Void Portal and stepped through it.
Ezmelral hesitated for a brief moment, casting a final, sorrowful glance at Libinea's diminishing figure. "Foolish sister," she whispered, tightening her hold on the sleeping Faye. She entered the abyss, ready to tread an uncharted path alongside the God of Death once more.
This particular Void Portal was intrinsically linked to every Void Being in existence. At that very moment, one such being was perilously close to completing a mission Raiking had assigned.
Miles below, as Morgal reveled in her apparent triumph over the desperate Chieftains, the forest floor beneath her twisted violently. A Void Portal ripped open.
Recognizing the oppressive, familiar aura of her contractor, the fearsome little girl leapt from her perch, landing gracefully on the earth below. As expected, Raiking emerged from the dark rift, followed by Ezmelral, who was still cradling the infant responsible for the destruction of Morgal's previous clan.
Raiking gazed down at the sadistic True Divinity, his expression inscrutable.
"You have done well," Raiking acknowledged.
Despite his words sounding like a compliment, the unresolved tension between them was palpable: he had specifically hired her for one task. Beyond that, she was left in complete darkness. Adding to her unease was the volatile nature of the God of Death's ire.
"What will you do with me now?" Morgal asked, her youthful voice tinged with genuine wariness.
"My initial plan was to kill you."
For the first time in her millennia-long existence, the Void Being felt her black heart sink. She had subdued entire mortal nations, vanquished elite sect leaders, and even been chosen by the Void's Will to ascend to True Divinity. In the midst of those bloody encounters, she always felt she either earned her survival through sheer power or schemed her way out with her cold-blooded cunning.
Yet now, as she gazed into his abyssal, void-black eyes, she realized she had no leverage left. She lacked the strength to defy her predicament, and her innocent, doll-like visage held no influence over his indifferent demeanor.
True fear began to seep into her soul, until Raiking spoke again.
"But there is a new... opportunity. Someone needs to fill this void."
Morgal's eyes widened with a glowing intensity. "Does that mean I can join you?"
"You can. But there's one non-negotiable condition."
"What's that?"
"You won't serve me directly," Raiking declared with a chilling detachment. "Instead, you will vow your unwavering loyalty to my child, Faye."
If anyone else in the universe had dared utter such a command, Morgal would have been ablaze with righteous fury. A True Divinity, an assassin of her unmatched prowess, reduced to playing nursemaid to a mortal child? Absurd.
Yet this was no ordinary child. She was the offspring of the being who had annihilated the Silent Blade Clan overnight and bent the Void's Will to his own desires.
The decision was inevitable.
"I will serve her well."
No sooner had Morgal spoken than Ezmelral stepped forward, her gaze more terrifying to Morgal than even Raiking's. The God of Death might look through you as if you were insignificant, but Ezmelral saw every inch of who you were. She exuded an intimidating aura, one that hinted she would gladly end you for the most minor of offenses.
Yet, there was no weapon in the Demigod's hand. Instead, she held the slumbering infant, extending her towards the assassin.
"Take her," Ezmelral commanded softly, her voice leaving no room for doubt or delay.
Morgal complied. She reached out, carefully cradling Faye in her arms. It was the first time in her thousand-year existence that Morgal held something so fragile without the instinctive urge to destroy it.
Raiking allowed no time for contemplation of this new, peculiar feeling. He vanished silently into the portal, signaling the two women to follow. One by one, they stepped into the void, leaving the Skyward border without a trace of their presence.
---
[Location - Close to the Skyward Border]
As Raiking and the Guild vanished into the Void Portal, Libinea's fiery determination drove her to the edge of the Five Mountains Border with unyielding speed.
For miles, the sky was marred by the ominous pillars of smoke from the battlefield, piercing through the night like dark spears. Libinea pushed herself to the limits, her speed a blur, reaching the scene in mere moments, a feat no mortal could achieve.
She hovered above the clouds, her heart heavy with disbelief at the chaos unfolding below.
"Someone dared to invade my territory while I was away..." she murmured.
But "someone" was insufficient to describe the threat. The suffocating auras swarming the mountain were not of this world. They were the same eldritch horrors she had battled against during her relentless century in the Void Realm.
How had they breached the Void Boundary Lake?
Yet, pondering this was a luxury she couldn't afford. Activating her True Divinity senses, she scanned the Skyward Region. Relief washed over her as she sensed that most of the civilians had evacuated and were safe at the mountain's base. However, this relief was fleeting as she focused on the devastated plaza. The spiritual signatures of five powerful individuals she had once known were gone.
The Chieftains.
"They were the warriors Nirvana spoke of... the ones who've now entered the reincarnation cycle," Libinea whispered, her golden eyes narrowing with sorrow.
Although the sudden and violent loss of her leaders dealt a devastating blow to the Phoenix Clan, there was one glimmer of hope amidst the chaos. As Libinea unfurled her massive, fiery wings, surveying the total devastation of the village, she identified two familiar auras. Her adoptive parents, Elder Wenya and Elder Mushai, were still on the ground, fiercely battling against the Void Creatures.
"At least they're alive."
She forcefully set aside her analytical mind, allowing the raw, cataclysmic battle instincts of a True Divinity to take over. With one final, mighty flap of her colossal wings—not to remain airborne, but to unleash utter devastation—she launched into action.
A ferocious barrage of Azure-infused feathers tore away from her wings, cascading from the sky like a meteor shower of doom.
BOOM! Explosion after earth-shattering explosion erupted across the mountain peak. Each feather detonated with the force of a collapsing star as it struck the ruined village, instantly engulfing the swarming Silver-Black Void Guardians in a blinding inferno, catching the soulless clones completely off guard.
As Libinea descended onto the scorched battlefield, the sheer force of her landing dispersed the thick clouds of smoke and debris in every direction.
Amidst the glowing, cratered aftermath of her attack, she stood transformed—not as the massive bird she once was, but in her exalted human form. Her hair, flickering like golden embers, danced in harmony with her majestic feathered robe.
In an instant, two weary figures materialized at her side.
"Elders," Libinea acknowledged, her golden eyes surveying them with intensity.
"You're finally here," Elder Mushai wheezed, exhaling a heavy sigh of relief as he leaned on his battleaxe for support.
"What is happening?" Libinea demanded, her voice cutting through the tension.
But before an answer could emerge, the ground beneath them trembled violently. The sickening sound of jagged crystals cracking through the earth signaled a terrifying event.
The ominous return of the Silver Void Guardians.
Shards from their shattered forms rapidly multiplied, reforming into a flawless army of clones.
"Basic fire magic won't suffice here," Elder Wenya warned, her gaze locked onto the shifting horde.
"I get it," Libinea responded, her grip on her fan tightening with determination. "We need to obliterate them completely to break their defiance."
A brilliant surge of fire energy erupted from within her, stifling the air around them. Drawing on the peak of her True Divinity magic, Libinea raised her fan to the heavens and unleashed her ultimate spell:
"True Divinity of the Sun—The Sovereign's Zenith!"