Dragonball M, Chapter 5: Clarion’s Call! The Signal! The Fate of the Universes!

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Provided we quell the unbridled rage and come to some sort of sense, yes?"

A testament to her willpower, or simply because she knew, and Blizzar admitted that they could do nothing more than buzz about like flies; the dozens and dozens of illusory clones were ignored.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

The knee was driven into her midsection, driving the wind out of her lungs. Along with air, a torrent of blood was ejected from her mouth and splashed across Inanna’s face. She flew back as pain radiated through her entire torso and landed hard on her shoulder.

She let out a gurgling, breathless wheeze and rolled over onto her front so she could rise to her knees. Her eyes squeezed shut as she struggled to catch her breath. Even then, she tried to respond. “Tha... that’s my problem. I don... don’t listen.” She had been told too many times it would get her into serious trouble one day. One day became that day and she couldn’t say she was surprised that it came to pass. It had, and the culmination of her poor decisions and personality flaws was staring her in the face.

She let out a grunt and rose to her feet. “I know you felt it, when I decided to kill you.” She swallowed raggedly and recoiled when she tasted her own blood. Regret washed over her in waves. She had made a lot of bad decisions in the last fifteen minutes. “I don’t want to,” she said honestly. “It doesn’t have to end that way.” To show she was serious, she powered down. “I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

Inanna wiped Sarada's blood from her eyes, idly. "After everything, you lose your nerve when it mattered most."

There was a lull, the former Oni seeming to weigh her options. Still wracked with pain, and filled with anger and hate, she very much wanted to simply... let it win. Slaughter everyone, and everything, starting with Sarada. Let Sakin conquer the rest... and so she held up her palm, Hakai coalescing in her open palm as she prepared to pass judgment, and erase the mortals that had attempted to kill her... only for a voice to echo in the back of her mind.

"...and you are no true Destroyer, are you, Inanna?"

"Tch."

If she did what she wished... they'd have been right about her in the end. Wouldn't they? Proved her no better than the petty Gods, and Goddesses she wished so desperately to overthrow. In killing them, she'd become the Destroyer, and Zurvan would win. The Hakai in her open palm bled away, and she slowly clenched her fist, arm falling back down to her side.

"In front of the whole Universe... you chose killing your wife, over listening to her. Remember that."

With that, she turned away from Sarada, scanning the battlefield for the one man who had cared enough to hear her. "... Where is Zaofan?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Inanna wiped Sarada's blood from her eyes, idly. "After everything, you lose your nerve when it mattered most."

There was a lull, the former Oni seeming to weigh her options. Still wracked with pain, and filled with anger and hate, she very much wanted to simply... let it win. Slaughter everyone, and everything, starting with Sarada. Let Sakin conquer the rest... and so she held up her palm, Hakai coalescing in her open palm as she prepared to pass judgment, and erase the mortals that had attempted to kill her... only for a voice to echo in the back of her mind.

And there it was. There was a consequence for every action, no matter how big or how small, how meaningful or insignificant. Anything pertaining to another person's life shouldn't have been made as lightly as the one she made in Inanna's case. But it was and she was about to pay for it.

To Sarada's credit, she didn't flinch or cower in fear. Nor did she try and bargain for her life to be spared. She simply looked at Inanna, face neutral. There were certainly other ways she would have chosen to die, but that was rarely a thing a person could have chosen. For a split second, she glanced at her sister and friend. The latter's eyes were wide with fear, while the former was about to jump into action. It was useless. They both knew that death by Hakai was as permanent as it came. She was done for.

She had a lot of regrets, too many to list off in the seconds that it would take for her body and soul to be erased. The first one and the only one that matter at that point was that she wouldn't be able to see Kumara grow up and accomplish great things. A single tear fell down her cheek. Goodbye, Little Love.

"Sarada! NO!"

"Tch."

If she did what she wished... they'd have been right about her in the end. Wouldn't they? Proved her no better than the petty Gods, and Goddesses she wished so desperately to overthrow. In killing them, she'd become the Destroyer, and Zurvan would win. The Hakai in her open palm bled away, and she slowly clenched her fist, arm falling back down to her side.

"In front of the whole Universe... you chose killing your wife, over listening to her. Remember that."

With that, she turned away from Sarada, scanning the battlefield for the one man who had cared enough to hear her. "... Where is Zaofan?"

For some reason, Inanna stopped. The hate and anger were still there. It was the realization that carrying out her intentions would have made her exactly what she hated the most. She had Ochazuke to thank for that.

"Ex-wife," she said. There was no point in hoping for any kind of reconciliation. The marriage was over. Honestly, it should have never happened to begin with. it was a bad idea to get married in the first place. She had too many issues and short-comings to try and put a mate through being bonded to her. Oh well; it was fun while it lasted, for as short as it ended up being. "I won't forget this."

That was all she said to Inanna. She turned away from her and walked to Parsley and Avoca. Full-body trembles shook Avoca. "I'm fine." She was far from it. Almost dying wasn't anything new. It was that it was completely avoidable that got to her. It would be a long time before she trusted herself and her judgment again. The universe could revile and judge her for what she did, that was fine. She could handle that. It was nothing new. It was just another on the list. "Zaofan saved our necks."

"...yeah." She frowned sadly but said nothing more.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Praxat holds her head with her right hand. ( Damn this splitting headache. It would be much easier to parse info with my electroreception if that massive energy disturbance in the air wasn't in the way. Well, at least I can tell the fighting has stopped,) Praxat thought.

[MrSandman]

Hands raised to Illargi above, the energy of the Threshling refugees there, the last of the civilians who had no strength of arms to join the knights granted him their hopes, and suspended upon that manifestation, their gathered ki that had fallen in harmonization had lifted his spirits.

"I won't fail you guys, not ever again. The Genki Dama..."

Then just as suddenly as the sphere had coalesced, he felt the elation fall and the weight return to his limbs.

"...it's gone! But it was just here- IT'S GONE!"

Breathing out slowly, the colour drained from Zaofan's face. It seemed the only thing preventing dejection from pulling him to the ground was the way he'd planted his feet, and hands limp at his side he sunk into his stance.

"...Etrina..."

Lifting his face forward, sadness and desperation filled his eyes and stretched a troubled brow as tears mixed with perspiration.

"...what did you do?"

"....I've taken it out of time....to a place where it may wait until it is needed again. Your hope is not gone, it only sleeps." Etrina foci responded softly. "You've done more for me then you know or I deserve. So let me carry your burden for once...stand straight, banish the defeat from your face and have faith in me." Floating up to Zaofans face, the foci attempted to brush the dirt from his face with its tiny hand. "...it ill suits you to look so hopeless, especially since its your hope that shines the brightest of us all."

Inanna wiped Sarada's blood from her eyes, idly. "After everything, you lose your nerve when it mattered most."

There was a lull, the former Oni seeming to weigh her options. Still wracked with pain, and filled with anger and hate, she very much wanted to simply... let it win. Slaughter everyone, and everything, starting with Sarada. Let Sakin conquer the rest... and so she held up her palm, Hakai coalescing in her open palm as she prepared to pass judgment, and erase the mortals that had attempted to kill her... only for a voice to echo in the back of her mind.

"Tch."

If she did what she wished... they'd have been right about her in the end. Wouldn't they? Proved her no better than the petty Gods, and Goddesses she wished so desperately to overthrow. In killing them, she'd become the Destroyer, and Zurvan would win. The Hakai in her open palm bled away, and she slowly clenched her fist, arm falling back down to her side.

"In front of the whole Universe... you chose killing your wife, over listening to her. Remember that."

With that, she turned away from Sarada, scanning the battlefield for the one man who had cared enough to hear her. "... Where is Zaofan?"

"...What right do you have to seek his attention." Etrina asked abruptly, tone empty save for the chime of the temporal power. "You left him broken, all for the crime of wishing to understand you. While you spit on others for choosing to kill you nearly did so with the one person who least deserved it....and now you wish to speak with him?"

Etrina took a deep breath, and released.

".....I want this over as much as anyone, but I'll not see him suffer as our martyr...he deserves far more then that. Speak to him if you wish but I will not accept any more harm coming to him."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"...What right do you have to seek his attention." Etrina asked abruptly, tone empty save for the chime of the temporal power. "You left him broken, all for the crime of wishing to understand you. While you spit on others for choosing to kill you nearly did so with the one person who least deserved it....and now you wish to speak with him?"

Etrina took a deep breath, and released.

".....I want this over as much as anyone, but I'll not see him suffer as our martyr...he deserves far more then that. Speak to him if you wish but I will not accept any more harm coming to him."

"All this power, and still as blind as before. What a waste." Inanna tilted her head.

"If he was to be your martyr, I would have erased him from existence, and not headbutted him." She said with a sigh. "What you will and won't accept is also not my concern, nor something you have the power at all to influence. If I want you dead, you die. In a minute... an hour. What does it matter, when the outcome is guaranteed. Search your billion, trillion timelines, you know I am right." She said; and though the vitriol had disappeared from her voice, weariness, and finality, carried through.

"So.. spare me. Time is limited, and the moments to come matter far more than your posturing."

[grampagen]

"....I've taken it out of time....to a place where it may wait until it is needed again. Your hope is not gone, it only sleeps." Etrina foci responded softly. "You've done more for me then you know or I deserve. So let me carry your burden for once...stand straight, banish the defeat from your face and have faith in me." Floating up to Zaofans face, the foci attempted to brush the dirt from his face with its tiny hand. "...it ill suits you to look so hopeless, especially since its your hope that shines the brightest of us all."

Staring into the Foci's doll-like, proxy eyes, he knew Etrina herself was watching at this very instance. Though they'd focused different segments of her personality before, this time...this time, it was quite different.

It's like you're not part of a spell, but it's a complete, other you. No projection or duplicate at that!

The little hand upon his cheek - ahh! - would have lifted his worries, were it not for the last scrapes of desperation that weighed upon his mind.

"...trust was never in doubt, Least of all from you, darling." Zaofan started, his lower lip struggling against the stammer that threatened to take it, "Whatever the universe throws at us, no matter what happens, everyone showed up. That much I know we can count on."

Sighing he crouched over, exhausted.

"What you don't understand, though, is that Spirit Bomb wasn't meant to attack her. There's a unique connection between Inanna and Reshlan's survival, and the Threshlings, they knew it...and wanted to do their part to repay their debt~!"

"Tch."

If she did what she wished... they'd have been right about her in the end. Wouldn't they? Proved her no better than the petty Gods, and Goddesses she wished so desperately to overthrow. In killing them, she'd become the Destroyer, and Zurvan would win. The Hakai in her open palm bled away, and she slowly clenched her fist, arm falling back down to her side.

"In front of the whole Universe... you chose killing your wife, over listening to her. Remember that."

With that, she turned away from Sarada, scanning the battlefield for the one man who had cared enough to hear her. "... Where is Zaofan?"

"All this power, and still as blind as before. What a waste." Inanna tilted her head.

"If he was to be your martyr, I would have erased him from existence, and not headbutted him." She said with a sigh. "What you will and won't accept is also not my concern, nor something you have the power at all to influence. If I want you dead, you die. In a minute... an hour. What does it matter, when the outcome is guaranteed. Search your billion, trillion timelines, you know I am right." She said; and though the vitriol had disappeared from her voice, weariness, and finality, carried through.

"So.. spare me. Time is limited, and the moments to come matter far more than your posturing."

As if to answer her question, a thin, golden ray carrying a Warm Glowing, Warming Glow cut across the sky. Illuminate over the shattered world, the energy transfer fell with direct intent from Zaofan's eyes over Inanna's face, carrying with it whatever Zaofan could muster without further charge of preparation.

If it isn't too late...!

At once, the light was blotted and flood the area about her as white smoke billowed the sulphurous air of brimstone. The medium of Grave Magic itself might have telegraphed his move entirely, but for the light from Zaofan suddenly magnified in an instant.

Snake Eyes!

The flash may have only been a brief reprieve. Jack had already seen how no successive attacks worked at once, even it they were carried on the airs of a wounded realm she'd only so recently departed. With a second teleport through the smoke, the albion blade of Excalibur struck upwards, its tip grazing between her demon's wings. Though magic in all its forms might be ineffectual the charm placed upon the Sword of the King had carried through the ages a Spark of Creation. Compared to the Destruction cast from time immemorial, it was but a flicker. Once upon Vermillion's fields it had rendered unhealing wounds in many mortal conflicts. As a bane of great enemies it would only pale in comparison; yet as Jack pulled the cut upward with such force it carried him off after his own sword, there he attempted to realize true purpose of Creation Energy.

A rebuttal to the brief manifestation of Hakai made in full but a moment later as Ochazuke stole in from the side. Struck upon Inanna's guard, he brought the enchanted runes of the Forger's Hammer down directly upon those spell-sundering etchings wrought upon her Forge Arm.

Whether the bindings of spells, the intention craft behind ki, it will dash energy apart and absorb it without distinction.

As she moved within the confines of this spell Etrina wrought, no prison would hold her long, no torment stay her movement. Even True Magic would fray in time. Yet this, along with her true intention, had too had been masked for those who could not see it.

Ochazuke's questions were met with silence, as his cleansing flame burned away at her. A thing that was slow going, and dangerous, as the Oni that was, in her starvation, was set on consuming the energies- and the man- that manipulated them; even as he sought out the impurities that had driven her into this frenzied state. Though as her focus turned inward, to Zaofan, he found this struggle of his eased somewhat. Though what he'd find, would perhaps leave him at a loss: like a broken pot, she'd sealed the cracks with the souls of the denizens of Hell she'd slain... to remove them would shatter the vessel anew.

The moment Karura no Kaen had been swallowed, however, Ochazuke had pulled from a deeper reserve. The struggle had been brief, but having invoked Kikojutsu to grant him the strength to stand before her, a fragment of his very life energy now carried itself through the passages of her ki channels. And with the insights gleaned from regarding deeply the mysteries of God Ki from both Sarada and She Who Stalks, there he made his target.

The artisan's tool was despite its shape, not a weapon. The spells it crafted in the Darkling's hand actioned upon the deeper nature he'd seen behind Banespell's eyes before he'd become the Lord Forger, and when it struck down upon the monstrous thing that fed into the wounds rend across her maimed spirit, the entirety of the Known Universe was watching and glimpsed what they had known about Creation.

Its power lay in Possibility. The issue of energy that flowed from Ochazuke through Inanna carried itself, spoken upon the frequence of a Mastered Kiai.

"I release you, cosmic slave."

But it was not him alone. However many immortal devils sustained her through her wounds would not be shouted out. Rather, it was with the very eluside essence Inanna had sought a year ago.

What she could not grasp from Cleos now was channeled. All across the universe through the satellite feed that had been eyeing over Reshlan, from the worlds of their comrades, to the reaches in farther galaxies beyond, those planets whose Guardians presided over them and others who heard the Clarion Call had rejected Sakin and all his dread vision. As Zaofan had invoked it among the Threshlings seeking to defend their planet from its doom, Ochazuke channeled but a portion of the Heka he'd gathered since they landed, and the gathered multitudes of the universe fell along with the Hammer.

The blow Jack struck with Excalibur closed last as the rest would heal behind it, leaving the discombobulated souls a vent to disperse back beyond the veil, and with the power of a small miracle, the madness of the strongest of the broken souls to cease.

[grampagen]

Far, far away, a planet, a blazing emerald jewel in its solar system, goes dark. Like flipping a light switch, an entire planet simply….vanishes, and a solar system is plunged into confusion.

——————————

Genesis pours another dose of the powers she has subsumed into the device, and another planet appears as an image. This one is actually two, beautiful white and blue. With the same gesture, both are snuffed out.

Again, and again, and again, a dozen times a dozen times or more this happens until the magic she has purified is gone, her body slumping as Alakazah teleports to the moon and takes her back to the Forsworn World to rest and recover. Sakin, staring at the sky, shakes his head.

“Your move next.”

—————————————

On lone and distant Reshlan, a terrible…..tremor in the soul to those spiritually sensitive rolls across the planet. A horrific jerk that quickly fades, but leaves behind a terrible sense of dread.

Something terrible has happened.

—————————————

On Earth, the Hunter dealt with by Nunlil, Eva’s and Kai’s eyes open wide and a scream rips from their throat as they both feel the tremor and know. They scream and scream and scream, mentally calling out and finding nothing.

Across the entire universe, so many minds suddenly go dark that the backlash is enough to cause the rest of the Guardians to scream in pain and terror, Maiz included as the dreadful knowledge fills their head of what has occurred.

100 planets gone in a moment.

No sooner than the sound of Forger's instrument fell upon the magical forge did the cosmic shriek reach his senses, for as Ochazuke had reached across the universe to find the embers of hope, there came with it a certain cosmic awareness.

Countless lives, lost in an instant. Upon a fickle whim, no doubt it would be an act of the Cabal of the Fallen One and those that held airs of godly might. As they quarreled here at the edge of charted space, there was carried from beyond a great disturbance, heralding the doom of the universe as it had been fortold moments ago.

First lies of a rebirth.... His hand bunched tightly over the grip of the hammer. As the veins raised on his gauntleted arm, a tremor took his knees. He'd heard the voice of the multitudes cluster; just as clearly, he had felt them disappear. In the brief clearing between the actions taken, there could be no doubt what had happened where the vast emptiness echoed across the Cosmic Leyline.

And yet, today, on the precipice of the end of all things, ungated by preconception, therein he had achieved his Satori.

"Now, Inanna..." Ochazuke spoke as he lift the hammer before him, "...let me teach you...about hope."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Jack's action catches the attention of Praxat for a moment ( Wait, did Jack just attack her? What in the hell does he think he's doing?) Praxat thought.

Praxat then quickly turns her attention back to pushing her electroreception. ( Dammit, this headache is getting worse. I really wish that massive energy disturbance in the air was gone,) Praxat thought.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The scene unfolding on Reshlan was horrific. Maiz watched the proceedings unfold with a mixture of sadness and anxiety. Sadness because her family had ripped itself apart over something that could have been easily avoided. Anxiety because the clock had been ticking the entire time and time was very much not their friend. She felt impotent, completely useless. Bereft of any real ways of helping the situation, she could only watch. Mais and Kumara were playing in another room. There was no point in exposing them to such a horrible situation.

On Earth, the Hunter dealt with by Nunlil, Eva’s and Kai’s eyes open wide and a scream rips from their throat as they both feel the tremor and know. They scream and scream and scream, mentally calling out and finding nothing.

Across the entire universe, so many minds suddenly go dark that the backlash is enough to cause the rest of the Guardians to scream in pain and terror, Maiz included as the dreadful knowledge fills their head of what has occurred.

100 planets gone in a moment.

As she watched the situation on Reshlan mercifully calm itself without any loss of life, she felt something in the back of her mind. It felt like a worm was digging its way through her brain and into the fore of her mind. Then, it happened. Like a massive metal spike that had been violently and suddenly driven into her skull, an overwhelming pang of intense pain shot through her head. She didn't know how nor why, but trillions of lives had just been snuffed out simultaneously. There was no warning, no portent that such a thing was going to happen. Just there one second, gone an instant later.

Maiz opened her mouth and let loose a scream terrible and blood-curdling. The feeling that she felt when those lives disappeared was beyond words. It felt like a piece of herself had been ripped from her body, lit aflame, then forced back down her throat.

"Maiz?!" Mato must have been sitting outside her temple to keep watch over her in case anything else happened, for as much good as he could have done against anyone of note. Regardless, he was there moments after her screams belted out. He placed a strong hand on her shoulder and another on her back to help her sit up. "What happened?" He looked at the screen she had been watching the footage from Reshlan on. When he saw that everyone who should have been there was still there, he frowned in confusion.

Her screams died down and were replaced by soft whimpers. Her hands were badly shaking as they rose to tightly grip her head. "Gone," she whispered. Her voice was ragged and gritty from the full-throated screams. "A hundred... gone..."

"What? People?"

"Pl...planets." Even saying it aloud didn't make it seem any realer, but it was. She felt it.

"What? How?!"

How indeed. Even on their best, most destructive day, the Saiyans of yesteryear couldn't hope to wipe out a hundred populations in a year, much less a scant few seconds. Given the circumstance and what and who was awaiting their saviors on the near horizon, there was only one plausible answer. "Sakin."

He narrowed his eyes and helped her back onto the sofa. "I'll warn the rest of the empire. Any one of us could be next." He stepped away to do just that, leaving Maiz alone to struggle to collect herself.

Full-body shivers wracked her figure. Droplets of blood splashed on the thigh of her skirt, one by one pooling together to create a sickening crimson blotch. She wiped a finger under her nose and grimaced when the entire side returned stained red. She wiped her nose with a nearby towel. As she did, she touched her forehead. 'Eva, can you hear me?'

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The scene unfolding on Reshlan was horrific. Maiz watched the proceedings unfold with a mixture of sadness and anxiety. Sadness because her family had ripped itself apart over something that could have been easily avoided. Anxiety because the clock had been ticking the entire time and time was very much not their friend. She felt impotent, completely useless. Bereft of any real ways of helping the situation, she could only watch. Mais and Kumara were playing in another room. There was no point in exposing them to such a horrible situation.



As she watched the situation on Reshlan mercifully calm itself without any loss of life, she felt something in the back of her mind. It felt like a worm was digging its way through her brain and into the fore of her mind. Then, it happened. Like a massive metal spike that had been violently and suddenly driven into her skull, an overwhelming pang of intense pain shot through her head. She didn't know how nor why, but trillions of lives had just been snuffed out simultaneously. There was no warning, no portent that such a thing was going to happen. Just there one second, gone an instant later.

Maiz opened her mouth and let loose a scream terrible and blood-curdling. The feeling that she felt when those lives disappeared was beyond words. It felt like a piece of herself had been ripped from her body, lit aflame, then forced back down her throat.

"Maiz?!" Mato must have been sitting outside her temple to keep watch over her in case anything else happened, for as much good as he could have done against anyone of note. Regardless, he was there moments after her screams belted out. He placed a strong hand on her shoulder and another on her back to help her sit up. "What happened?" He looked at the screen she had been watching the footage from Reshlan on. When he saw that everyone who should have been there was still there, he frowned in confusion.

Her screams died down and were replaced by soft whimpers. Her hands were badly shaking as they rose to tightly grip her head. "Gone," she whispered. Her voice was ragged and gritty from the full-throated screams. "A hundred... gone..."

"What? People?"

"Pl...planets." Even saying it aloud didn't make it seem any realer, but it was. She felt it.

"What? How?!"

How indeed. Even on their best, most destructive day, the Saiyans of yesteryear couldn't hope to wipe out a hundred populations in a year, much less a scant few seconds. Given the circumstance and what and who was awaiting their saviors on the near horizon, there was only one plausible answer. "Sakin."

He narrowed his eyes and helped her back onto the sofa. "I'll warn the rest of the empire. Any one of us could be next." He stepped away to do just that, leaving Maiz alone to struggle to collect herself.

Full-body shivers wracked her figure. Droplets of blood splashed on the thigh of her skirt, one by one pooling together to create a sickening crimson blotch. She wiped a finger under her nose and grimaced when the entire side returned stained red. She wiped her nose with a nearby towel. As she did, she touched her forehead. 'Eva, can you hear me?'

A psychic shrill scream echoes faintly down the chain to her own mind before ragged mental gasps brings back a voice.

‘…..yes. So…..so many…….’

A hitch, followed by a pained moan.

‘Chroma, but Meagan….wasn’t there….here….on Earth with Jinzi…….., oh gods………..Namek……..the Nevadian homeworld……Praxat’s home, ……..so….so many more gone. Trying…to reach…further, see…who was lost……..like my mind is being….shredded…….’

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Jack's action catches the attention of Praxat for a moment ( Wait, did Jack just attack her? What in the hell does he think he's doing?) Praxat thought.

Praxat then quickly turns her attention back to pushing her electroreception. ( Dammit, this headache is getting worse. I really wish that massive energy disturbance in the air was gone,) Praxat thought.

You break free.

An odd concept, your energy sense. It’s quite broad and wide in scope. Once free, and pushed beyond the norm, you see a wave of psychic energy (something you have never seen before) wash through you.

It is the mental screams of your people.

It brings you to your knees and makes you bleed from your eyes and ears and nose, and a terrible truth is exposed to you: your planet is gone.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

A psychic shrill scream echoes faintly down the chain to her own mind before ragged mental gasps brings back a voice.

‘…..yes. So…..so many…….’

A hitch, followed by a pained moan.

‘Chroma, but Meagan….wasn’t there….here….on Earth with Jinzi…….., oh gods………..Namek……..the Nevadian homeworld……Praxat’s home, ……..so….so many more gone. Trying…to reach…further, see…who was lost……..like my mind is being….shredded…….’

The list of planets destroyed was short thus far, but harrowing. Half of them were where Sarada and Parsley's allies were from. Her heart felt heavy, even as her head thrummed painfully. The day had extracted an already impossibly heavy toll and it threatened to take a personal turn as Sakin turned his attention to the universe and sought to take full advantage of the untimely distraction on Reshlan. 'Don... Don't strain yourself. I'll help.'

She breathed in shakily. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she persisted. Creation energy bubbled up from within her to bolster her efforts. Her senses shot outward, past Planet Sarada and the galaxy that held it, and into the greater universe. Her teeth grit together by the strain of the monumental task. She fought through it and peered across the stars to see what other worlds had been lost.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

You break free.

An odd concept, your energy sense. It’s quite broad and wide in scope. Once free, and pushed beyond the norm, you see a wave of psychic energy (something you have never seen before) wash through you.

It is the mental screams of your people.

It brings you to your knees and makes you bleed from your eyes and ears and nose, and a terrible truth is exposed to you: your planet is gone.

( What the hell did I just witness. I saw the mental screams of my people. My planet Qaceria is gone, but how?) Praxat thought.

( What about my mother, my father, my grandfather, and my siblings? What about Althena, wait, Althena isn't a part of my people she's technically not a Toadian. I didn't see the screams of Althena, and my great-great uncle's people, so maybe his planet Amperior is okay?) Praxat thought.

( This hurts so much the pain is unbearable, I feel like I just want to die, but I have to pull through. I will find whoever is responsible for what I witness and I will make them pay! However, even in anger, I must not lose control, I must keep myself in a state of tranquility even when I'm angry, ) Praxat thought.

( I must remember Uncle Bulllick's teachings. Wait, they are other Toadians besides me who are part of the Galaxy Police. So some of my people may still be alive, those who weren't on Qaceria. ) Praxat thought.

( Hmm, it is quite odd I was able to push my electroreception enough to break through that massive energy disturbance in the air. I thought for sure I would pass out, and I never thought electroreception would be capable of this, but what do I know I only recently developed it. Well, I always had it but until I had to develop it, it was undeveloped. Earth's sharks, fish, rays, salamanders, caecilians, Guiana dolphins, bees, and monotreme also have this same sense,) Praxat thought.

( Also this wave of energy I'm seeing. What connection does it have to the electromagnetic spectrum? Damn my blindfold is getting stained by all this blood,) Praxat thought

( Wait my home planet Qaceria being gone also means my favorite Qaceria anime is gone, and so are the many Q-Horror games I never got the chance to play. not to mention with my home planet Qaceria gone now, The anime base on my ancestor Disdemona's travelogues, titled Adventures of Disdemona: Legends Never Die. Will never be finished, not unless there's a way to bring my planet back, ) Parxat thought.

( Wait, there might be some of my people on other planets like Earth. My home planet Qaceria did have advanced portal technology. In fact, some may even be on Earth right now,) Praxat thought.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

One might say, what happened in the moment after Inanna turned her back on the others, was purely coincidental. Another, might say it was by design.

What everyone who bore witness to what followed would agree to, however; is that what did happen was nothing short of a miracle.

As if to answer her question, a thin, golden ray carrying a Warm Glowing, Warming Glow cut across the sky. Illuminate over the shattered world, the energy transfer fell with direct intent from Zaofan's eyes over Inanna's face, carrying with it whatever Zaofan could muster without further charge of preparation.

If it isn't too late...!

At once, the light was blotted and flood the area about her as white smoke billowed the sulphurous air of brimstone. The medium of Grave Magic itself might have telegraphed his move entirely, but for the light from Zaofan suddenly magnified in an instant.

Snake Eyes!

The flash may have only been a brief reprieve. Jack had already seen how no successive attacks worked at once, even it they were carried on the airs of a wounded realm she'd only so recently departed. With a second teleport through the smoke, the albion blade of Excalibur struck upwards, its tip grazing between her demon's wings. Though magic in all its forms might be ineffectual the charm placed upon the Sword of the King had carried through the ages a Spark of Creation. Compared to the Destruction cast from time immemorial, it was but a flicker. Once upon Vermillion's fields it had rendered unhealing wounds in many mortal conflicts. As a bane of great enemies it would only pale in comparison; yet as Jack pulled the cut upward with such force it carried him off after his own sword, there he attempted to realize true purpose of Creation Energy.

A rebuttal to the brief manifestation of Hakai made in full but a moment later as Ochazuke stole in from the side. Struck upon Inanna's guard, he brought the enchanted runes of the Forger's Hammer down directly upon those spell-sundering etchings wrought upon her Forge Arm.

Whether the bindings of spells, the intention craft behind ki, it will dash energy apart and absorb it without distinction.

As she moved within the confines of this spell Etrina wrought, no prison would hold her long, no torment stay her movement. Even True Magic would fray in time. Yet this, along with her true intention, had too had been masked for those who could not see it.

The moment Karura no Kaen had been swallowed, however, Ochazuke had pulled from a deeper reserve. The struggle had been brief, but having invoked Kikojutsu to grant him the strength to stand before her, a fragment of his very life energy now carried itself through the passages of her ki channels. And with the insights gleaned from regarding deeply the mysteries of God Ki from both Sarada and She Who Stalks, there he made his target.

The artisan's tool was despite its shape, not a weapon. The spells it crafted in the Darkling's hand actioned upon the deeper nature he'd seen behind Banespell's eyes before he'd become the Lord Forger, and when it struck down upon the monstrous thing that fed into the wounds rend across her maimed spirit, the entirety of the Known Universe was watching and glimpsed what they had known about Creation.

Its power lay in Possibility. The issue of energy that flowed from Ochazuke through Inanna carried itself, spoken upon the frequence of a Mastered Kiai.

"I release you, cosmic slave."

But it was not him alone. However many immortal devils sustained her through her wounds would not be shouted out. Rather, it was with the very eluside essence Inanna had sought a year ago.

What she could not grasp from Cleos now was channeled. All across the universe through the satellite feed that had been eyeing over Reshlan, from the worlds of their comrades, to the reaches in farther galaxies beyond, those planets whose Guardians presided over them and others who heard the Clarion Call had rejected Sakin and all his dread vision. As Zaofan had invoked it among the Threshlings seeking to defend their planet from its doom, Ochazuke channeled but a portion of the Heka he'd gathered since they landed, and the gathered multitudes of the universe fell along with the Hammer.

The blow Jack struck with Excalibur closed last as the rest would heal behind it, leaving the discombobulated souls a vent to disperse back beyond the veil, and with the power of a small miracle, the madness of the strongest of the broken souls to cease.

Blinded, and with her back exposed, Jack Knave managed to strike a mortal blow. The divine nature of the blade, Excalibur, coupled with temporal energy it had been laced with allowing it to pierce flesh, and bone, and the soul itself.

... and then she got what she'd asked for.

With a burst of energy, and sound that shook the Leylines themselves, the Forger's Hammer connected with the Forge Arm, and Inanna was brought to her knees; her howls of pain drowned out by the din that fell over the planet Reshlan, as her ruined soul was sundered and she was unmade... And were it not for the energies she had subsumed- energy Ochazuke had offered freely- that would have been the end of things. Yet, as with impure ore, the fires of Karura no Kaen had helped to separate; so when the Hammer had struck its Anvil, it was a lump of white-hot metal, true... But stripped of its impurities.

So it was as Ochazuke said: the cosmic slave, was free... and so much more.

As Ochazuke had not simply separated Inanna from the demonic energy she had consumed for survival, he had plied the power of Possibility. Merging two halves, Creation, and Destruction, to create a greater whole.

... So it was, that the Universe watched in wonder, as a mortal... A human; created something that had only been seen in all Universes, once before.

A new entity, no longer bound or burdened, by the cycle of stagnation, and decay.

Further still, a mortal man created something never before seen. A thing that many Gods, and many Monsters... Had tried, and failed to manage.

Born from the fragments of a twice-dead thing, who had suffered from the designs of both Gods and Monsters. An entity... a deity. The First Unbound.

A God of True Magic.

No sooner than the sound of Forger's instrument fell upon the magical forge did the cosmic shriek reach his senses, for as Ochazuke had reached across the universe to find the embers of hope, there came with it a certain cosmic awareness.

Countless lives, lost in an instant. Upon a fickle whim, no doubt it would be an act of the Cabal of the Fallen One and those that held airs of godly might. As they quarreled here at the edge of charted space, there was carried from beyond a great disturbance, heralding the doom of the universe as it had been fortold moments ago.

First lies of a rebirth.... His hand bunched tightly over the grip of the hammer. As the veins raised on his gauntleted arm, a tremor took his knees. He'd heard the voice of the multitudes cluster; just as clearly, he had felt them disappear. In the brief clearing between the actions taken, there could be no doubt what had happened where the vast emptiness echoed across the Cosmic Leyline.

And yet, today, on the precipice of the end of all things, ungated by preconception, therein he had achieved his Satori.

"Now, Inanna..." Ochazuke spoke as he lift the hammer before him, "...let me teach you...about hope."

Still kneeling. This new, and at the same time familiar entity, eyed Ochazuke curiously with golden-eyes. When she finally responded, her voice was soft, unsure.

"Hope?"