879. Awaken...?

The noble throne room of the seven gods and their king was suddenly desecrated by the appearance of the means of production. The anvil, the forge, the furnace, the soul refinery, the crafting tables, and the golem forge, all barreled down like comets and surrounded the gods in their own Olympus. And with them the security.

Milton could barely make a step to attack when the massive fist of the three-faced golem turned his head into a cloud of blood. The lady that looked like a tailor attacked Seth with energy threats, but Sivri agilely caught them out of the air.

This was the person behind the Scene's well-tailored equipment. It was a shame that someone who had probably reached the master tier as a tailor had chosen to side with such a maniac. Not all craftsmen could be as sane and logical as him.

Despite being a frailer golem, Sivri was a lot stronger than the petite woman in a gothic-lolita dress. The golden dwarf unceremoniously shoved her face first into the furnace where she was stuck screaming as the pale-blue jet of flames swallowed her whole.

~Sivri, take Cade and get out of here~

Tatzel and Puffles also joined Cerberus, blocking the other five "gods". The nightmare centipede and the Imugi kept three of the five busy, while Cerberus kept pounding the other two, while Seth started chanting.

"Mussa'Practish! Mussa'Practish! Mussa-" At some point, a wheel fiddle had appeared in the bard's hand and he now started turning the crank.

"What are you doing!" Ozymandias exclaimed when he felt a massive aura press down on them and the whole building shake.

"'Practish! The Time has come to awaken him. Mussa'Practish..," but Seth ignored him

Originally Seth had wanted to call Paimon, but his preparations had been undone and he was too pissed after everything that happened to try and perform the kind of ballad needed to please Paimon, which depended a lot on minute musical control and skill management. He just wanted to see the Scene dead, they didn't deserve to be defeated with style.

"I call upon the ancient beast, to come forth from the underworld and- Awaken! Awaken! Awaken!..," Seth's voice thundered, shaking the whole building in tune with the ear-drum-ripping power of the Devil's Wheel Fiddle.

"I will not let you!" Ozymandias himself finally moved to attack, but at that very moment, a thunderstorm of music sounded like trumpets and cymbals and threw him back. The background of the music was a mighty roar and everyone but Seth suddenly felt a tremendous psychological pressure on them.

Some even stopped moving altogether, screaming and crying at whatever illusion they saw.  The hurdy-gurdy's skill of <Paimon's Presence> had stopped the self-proclaimed gods in their tracks. So much for the kings of kings, who could barely withstand this copy of the pale king's mere presence.

"Take the land, that must be taken"

The whole world shook as in the city below, the streets and buildings were ripped apart. Deep rifts parted the city's very foundations and unurthly flames licked toward to sky from the depth of the planet. The chasms formed a massive circle of conjuration.

"Rise up from your cursed slumber! Break forth from your grave eternally I command you to rise! Rise! Rise!"

Seth's voice and play were like a storm that pressed down on the world with brutal force and space itself started rippling within the constraints of the circle of conjuration. Fire and flames lit up in Seth's eyes, as he looked at Ozymandias.

"I'm the conjurer of demons, I'm the father of your death, I bring forth the ancient evil, I control his every breath~"

The gates of hell opened in a wavering crack in space as a massive demonic monster appeared past the gap in reality. Its simple presence seemed to stop time, as no living thing dared to move, despite the city around them crumbling under the force of the ballad. Only Seth vigorously played and sang.

"I instigate your misfortune, With the breath of grinding sand,  I awaken Armageddon to feed upon your million souls! Awaken! Awaken! Awaken!"

Two massive claws grabbed the edges of the rift and ripped it wide open, as the being of utmost terror stepped into their world, to feast. Ozymandias could only watch in horror as he got a taste of true fear. Deep in his soul cluster, he knew what he was facing.

Despite singing the words like a madman, more shouting than singing, Seth also felt the immense pressure that was past anything he would have expected. If it wasn't for the Devil's Wheel Fiddle taking the majority of the burden, he would not have withstood this.

The blacksmith had also underestimated what it meant to summon a Gatekeeper of Hell. Before Seth had wanted to summon Paimon, the pale King. As a king of Hell, the "heavenly" realm of demons one could say Seth had planned for a god to descend to punish the Scene. But even just the gate beast was almost too much for him.

He was just creating a connection to sacrifice the Scene, Mussa'Practish used it's own power to cross over. But even that was almost too much. The fact that such a strong avatar even appeared, said a lot about the power the scene had accumulated.

"Rise Rise And awaken!"

Finally, the giant monster had crossed through the portal, standing to tall, that the top of the building they were on was barely on chest level with the demonic beast. When the song ended, it's giant, yellow eyes focused on the throne room. The crank of the fiddle halted.

"I ACCEPT YOUR OFFERING. WHAT IS YOUR WISH?" it was a booming voice that penetrated existence itself but it sounded surprisingly sophisticated, compared to its appearance.

"All I wish for is to offer their souls, and the souls of anyone like them in this city, to you."

"A GAIN WITHIN A PRESENT," Mussa'Practish said pondering and falling silent for a moment.

Unexpectedly, the beast raised its massive claw, the size of a small island, and pointed at him. With unexpected gentleness, the savage tip of its nail touched the blacksmith's forehead and a rune lit up on his forehead, for just a moment.

"Haha, I will take it and leave a present of my own," he said in a normal tone, that was like a whisper compared to his true voice.

<Ding! You have received the Mark of Mussa'Practish.>

"What are you talking about? What is happening?!" Ozymandias exclaimed confused. He felt his presence wane. It was similar to the other "gods". Their light was slowly dissipating away from them in small specks and they became translucent. Suddenly, Mussa'Practish quoted something with a sneer.

"‚My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing besides remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

"Urgh, no... This can't be happening! My dreams, my power, my eternal kingdom..."

Ozymandias kept lamenting as he and the other gods dissipated to dust, until there was nothing left but brittle husks, that used to be their bodies. Frail statues that bore witness to the birth and fall of Urth's "New Gods".

Looking down at the ruined city, Seth saw clouds of glowing dust waft through the ruins, a sign that the same hat really happened to all their subordinates

"THE CONTRACT IS FULFILLED. I SHALL TAKE MY LEAVE."

Mussa'Practish spoke in his booming voice. Despite its massive size and brutal appearance, there was no fight and no destruction. The beast had appeared and without even the wave of its claw, it had finished the contract. After he spoke Mussa'Practishretrated back through the rift which mended and vanished like a Fata Morgana.

The bard stared at it, as the rift slowly closed, then he let out a deep sigh as the tension he held slowly left his body. Seth had been convinced Mussa'Practish would do short work out of the Scene, but the bard didn't expect it to go so quickly.

Or that a Beast of Hell would put such a burden on him. Tired he swept back his hair drenched in sweat. He really had to honor the power of his new instrument, without it, he may have suffered a lot in the attempt to summon Mussa'Practish, not to mention someone like Paimon.

The end of the scene had been a little anticlimactic, with all the trouble they had caused, but it was finally over. He had not even spoken out his thoughts when the city shook again.

<Ding! World Message. Due to the recent battles and high number of casualties, awakening slumbering realm has quickened.>

...Did he sing Awaken one too many times?