Shadow of the Abyss

As rain lashed over the earth and the skies rumbled the song of the End, Altair peered up, no longer shrouded by the earth. He could see the skies, the rage brewing across the majesty of the Heavens. The winds were howling, slicing like angry knives across his surroundings, when an azure light coalesced across the skies, forming a protective sphere.

It didn't matter, for the storm phased through the barrier as if it didn't exist, bringing down a calamity that made mortal hearts quiver. Disciples pointed and shrieked, their terror mirroring the horror unfolding before them as their home became undone.

[Divine Fallen, Lord of the Flies, is observing you]

[Divine Fallen, Conquest has seized your image with the Eyes of Calamity]

Altair stood in defiance, hard as stone, before all the Gods, peering up at the skies towards the blackest night. He took in a deep breath, releasing a mist of Vale Qi from his lips.

"Endymion," He called, and the hiltless sword materialized, its mirrored obsidian edge absorbing all light in its sector. It had been the only sword he'd taken aside from the blade Hephaestus had given him. Aurora had insisted, claiming that he should at least get accustomed to the blade he rarely used.

When the arcs of black lightning illuminated the skies, Endymion quivered as if sensing something. Something beyond mere lightning. Altair felt it, too, though he didn't much care for the mysteries besieging the skies. All he desired was to survive.

[Defiled One, Goddess of Rot watches you]

[Ding]

[Cursed One, Murder, is willing to offer you a High Arcane Stone if you survive.]

[Divine Fallen, Lord of the Flies, will grant you half the Mana necessary to break into Fifth Circle should you never break a knee.]

In a flash, Altair's wardrobe shifted to a king's attire. He wore a snow-white half-coat spun from the silk of a ninth Circle Arachnid. It had been said it had once thought of spinning a web that would connect their sector of space to hundreds of parsecs in space together.

On his chest, he A strutted leather black and white, jerkin, and boots forged of the scales of a Dragon scale, the size of the small continent that came from the Heavens nearly four thousand years ago, caving in the central mass of Africa in a single swoop.

Curiously, on his half cape stood the sigil of the Moon and Night.

The gods who saw it all gaped, alerting many within the Prime Word of Noctem Altair's existence and relationship with the Primordials, for only those that have been blessed by the Endless Night and Lunar Moon were allowed to wear their banner.

Abyssal Lightning crackled, baring their furious fangs on the land in a rainfall of vicious arcs. Dozen danced across the Emperor's image. He ignored it, tightening his grip across his body.

When the first bolt of Lightning came, the barrier that had been for show became corporal, defending against the lightning that would have otherwise decimated the mountain. The sound it echoed was nothing short of earth-shattering. Worlds were sure to have burned before such a might, yet the barrier held by the sect maintained its resolve, barely invoking a shiver.

Lu Chen smiled on his scaffold. "You'll have to do better than that." he declared, clasping his hands together within his robe.
Experience new tales on empire

"You'll do well to never underestimate the Abyss," a voice from behind warned him. Lu Chen craned his head over his shoulder to the image of a man he never sought to cross. Not to ever.

"Lord Beelzebub…"

"So the monkey's disciple is all grown up," The Dark Fallen said. He sounded amused, though by what Lu Chen couldn't tell. Yet he couldn't pull his eyes away from the long black hair spilling out beneath his head. Tall with fearsomely red and gold eyes that seemed to harbor something devilish.

"Not many dare to call Lord Raijin monkey."

"I am not many. Raijin is nothing more than a lesser Lord to Sun Wukong. Both are monkeys in my eyes."

The winds rustled the robes of Lu Chen, but it didn't dare breathe against the Fallen. It parted much like the Red Sea, aware of itself.

"My Lord, forgive the curtness, but why are you here?" Lu Chen asked, cursing his luck. He didn't know much of the fallen. No one did. Aside from the small battles held across the myriad between the angels, none knew what they were like.

Even Raijin, whom the Princes of Hell had once tormented, could not explain the nature of a Monarch of the Nine Hells. They were the absolute powers of the Myriad Heavens, the beings that brought about Chaos from Order.

'There isn't a need for formalities,' Beelzebub said, smiling. "Just tell me why you are aiding Altair. Surely you are aware of his relationship with the hells."

"I was asked. By the Abyss." Lu Chen revealed.

Beelzebub frowned. "Lilith?" He glanced up at the tribulation, sensing the Abyssal Qi that had invoked a change, and then at Lu Chen. "Why would she Tarnish a Heavenly Tribulation merely to ask you to aid the boy?"

"I dare not claim to understand the Abyssal Empress. Of all the Primordials, Lilith Snow's mystery is rivaled only by Lord Hellmaster."

Beelzebub lips thinned. On that, they agreed. The Primordial of Hell and the Primordial of the Abyss were two entities most of his brethren found hard to grasp what they truly desired. Lilith was a bit easier to grasp due to having watched her rise to power, but now that she had fully reclaimed her powers, many of her actions remained veiled.

It was the same for Lord Hellmaster, who always seemed busy despite the Fallen Angels controlling the influx of souls in the hells.

"Where is your master now?"

Lu Chen lifted a brow. "Currently being sheltered by Lord Sun Wukong and Venerable Lord Shiva and Brahma. His name is on the bounty list of Kings of Hell."

"But not yours." Beelzebub mused, studying the uncomfortable look he was giving. "Well, it doesn't matter. Shall we watch the birth of something monstrous? The second bolt is coming."

***

As Heaven and Earth wept and howled, Altair stared, connecting the Vale Qi to not one star like he did last time but the three he possessed.

He hadn't known what it meant to possess the Almighty, but the sensation was without description. He was above it all. Life, Death, Hell, Heaven, Light, Dark. All of it. The presence of the Almighty Element wasn't something Altair could conceive as he stared, falling into the rippling lake of the Realm of Spirits.

It hadn't made sense before, but as he lingered there, drowned by an ocean of mana, Altair was pulled from his feet and into the air. Unburdened by the laws placed on the land, he stood above it, comprehending the realm in a way that only those who held omniscience could.

There were many things he could not grasp, many things that made little sense, but none of that mattered. What he could grasp became his power.

The Sword Path grew clearer, the lines thinner but brighter, and it encompassed a world relating to the Weave.

"With knowledge comes Authority," The Emperor declared, closing his eyes. The rumbles grew fiercer by the second. He channeled Vale Qi throughout his body to augment his original battle prowess. The Vale Crown he wore only seemed to grow brighter, illuminating the Endless Night that devoured.

For a while, nothing happened before the second, third, and fourth bolts fell like a cataclysm. Disciple beneath the realm of Transcendent threw up mouthfuls of blood as the raging thrumb of the lighting lashed at the barrier, shattering into a sea of ember by the third bolt.

Abyssal Rage invaded, falling from Heaven like a venerable sword, the bolt so massive it seemed to rival the mountain peak itself.

Reaching into himself, deep within his Sea of Awareness, The Emperor called upon all the Soul Energy to Augment his Aspect. He gritted his teeth, recalling the moment of enlightenment Zariel had offered to him, and swung Endymian with the rage of the King.

Vale Aspect: Rule, Divine Counter.

DING!!!!!

Ligaments were torn asunder as blood vessels popped out of the young emperor's forehead as he roared a cry of defiance that shook the heavens as he redirected the Abyssal Lightning back at the Heavens. The skies were divided, revealing the aimless void of an imperial eye looking from the great beyond.

Primal Death unveiled itself from the great beyond, lashing itself across mortal and immortal hearts alike, robbing them of their will to live. One by one, they toppled to a knee as the presence of the eye bore down on the realm.

"What is this!" Altair muttered fear unlike anything he'd ever faced, lashing at him, focusing on him as he looked up. His heart bounded in his chest as blood pooled from his eyes and nose, ears and mouth; he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, resisting with all his might to ccombat the sensation of death so prominant, he felt his very life force fading at a rapid rate.

The skies dimmed, and color faded to black and white as the eye focused. Abyssal Qi flared from across the scarlet eyes as the fifth tribulation bolt began to rise.

"Lilith… you crazy bitch! Whose side are you on?" Beelzubub asked, startled by the sensation meant for a transcendent, if not a Deva.