2 Beholder of Gem
-450 years later, Sacred Serpent Valley in Nar-
"Shoot it down, shoot it down!"
"Shoot it quickly, it's about to fly away! Shoot it!"
"You're a hunter? You shot many birds and rabbits with your father before? How could you let that eagle fly away if you have hunted before? As far as I can see, you are nothing but talk!"
Slash!
Slash!
A humanoid, powerful-looking demonic serpenee, his face mean and vicious, snarled angrily as he repeatedly lashed out with his tail. The tail whip flashed like lightning, striking on the bodies of the souls of the dead beasts.
He struck the ghoul that had been arrogantly proclaiming that she was a hunter several dozen times, stopping only when the her soul had almost dissipated.
"Why are you so desperate to have the beast shot down?" Versailles irritability snapped.
"Because snakes and eagles are archenemies?" He responded with a scornful expression on his face, as if he could not understand why she even bothered to ask such a foolish question.
As much as she hated to admit, he was right. There was nothing but bad blood between snakes and eagles. And the eagles that were not shot down?
They would come back in force, hunting them instead.
She did not know if it was because of the years of hatred and killing between the snake and eagle clan that got passed down through generations, or the eagle clan's desire to obtain the magical gem protected by the snake clan.
Either way, whenever any member of the two clans met, a fight to the death always ensued.
"Alright, there is nothing else to see here, now move along!" The massive, glimmering serpenee stared at Versailles and brayed.
'I died already, so this must be at the center of the Nar Realm, the sacred serpent valley of Lord Tarke's' temple?'
Versailles could not help but look around curiously as she suddenly appeared here.
As she walked onto the Bridge of Despair, she saw that the other side of the bridge had a pool of blood. The pool of blood had all sorts of poisonous bugs, poisonous snakes, poisonous scorpions, and vicious dogs that wildly bit at creatures.
Most of the ghouls simply walked past the pool of blood, but some fell straight into it.
Clearly, these serpentines were strayed souls that were now burdened by their great sins, finding it impossible to avoid the grasping terrifying pool of blood.
Versailles silently followed the rest of the serpentines across the Bridge of Despair.
Innumerable ordinary female snakes in glittering blouses and skirt formed into a line. Like a long, sinuous serpent, they glided forward.
At the end of each line, more serpentines and serpenees would suddenly appear.
Some sighing as they shook their head, some weeping, and others just cursing or bragging.
An unnatural breeze rustled few bushes and trees growing around the temple of Tarke.
Growls and howls of a few wild creatures that the strayed serpentines were too fearful to approach resonated through the surroundings.
Not too far from the bridge, inside lord Tarke's temple, was a golden statue with a radiant and precious gem on its head. The gem flashed brilliantly, displaying a resplendence of images and lights.
This was the legendary 'Gem of Three Lives', referring to the 'past life', the 'present life', and the 'future life'.
The gem held the secrets to an individuals multiple lives, providing them with the ability to overcome trials and tribulations by peeking into the adversities they faced, are facing, and would face.
Unfortunately, it also possessed unimaginably vast and immense power that many races lusted after.
Due to its special properties however, there were specific requirements to gain possession of it, warding off many ill minded individuals.
After a long period of listless strolling, the thunderous sound of bell chimes echoed in the surroundings.
The countless serpentines raised their heads to look at the sky, Versailles following their lead.
From the distant horizon, an enormous black cloud rolled over, and atop that cloud was an enormous eagle lord glowing with black light.
The enormous eagle lord was over a hundred meters tall. It was built like a massive mountain, with its looming form and huge black beak. The black cloud it was riding on quickly flew over from the distant.
Atop the massive black cloud, the eagle lord stared downwards, its black eyes shooting out twin beams of lofty golden rays of light, cloaking the entire area below as it illuminated the body of lord Tarke's' statue inside the temple.
Boom!
The surrounding skies suddenly fractured. The surrounding mists began to break down and dissipate, exposing the countless serpentines and serpenees in line in the outside world.
The fractures in the space transformed many ghostly creatures into dust.
Like popping bubbles, the countless souls began disappearing as they screamed in agony.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
In mid-air, over a million black snakes could be seen flying out as the skies seemed to shudder and the earth seemed to bend, each one of them seemingly as enormous and massive as countless sinuous mountain chains.
Versailles felt she could even see the heart-freezing snake scales.
The countless snakes were wandering about, getting into battle formation, before each one of them vomited multiple streams of black lightning.
Instantly, trillions of black lightning bolts slashed down towards the eagle lord, every single one causing the heavens and the earth to break apart.
"Dark eagle lord, how did he get into the sacred serpent valley without alarming the snake king and queen?" Versailles bristled with unbridled fury as she watched the battle.
Rumble…
As the world fractured, the muddied stream of the River of Forgetfulness transformed into giant waves.
Ghosts that touched the waters were instantly dissipated. The Bridge of Despair shattered and the ghosts atop the Bridge fell directly into the river.
Versailles watched the eagle lord wreck havoc in the sacred serpent valley, shattering the heavens and cracking the earth. She watched him ruthlessly slaughter numerous serpents.
And she watched him crush lord Tarke's temple, reaching for the gem on the golden statues head.
Without thinking, she dashed into the temple.
"I can't let the magical gem fall into his hand. Let's risk it all!" Half hopping, half-lunging, she jumped directly for the gem on the statue.
Grabbing it firmly in her delicate ghostly hand, a warm stream of energy shot through her arm, spread to her soul, and exploded in her core, shattering her form.
Her damaged soul began to dissipate at a rapid speed as she fell into the rift beneath the statues' feet.
Her final grunt of pain was swallowed into the belly of the darkness.
Versailles felt like her head was going to split from a tremendous pain as she wondered in bone-piercing cold darkness. It was as though something was frantically grabbing and pulling at it.
Her neck hurt, her body suffering tremendous pressure. After another forceful tag on her head, she was free.
Hua!
She opened her mouth to cry out in joy, instead another sound resounded, making her confused.
Suddenly, she felt at ease, and then, warm.
At the same time, a breath of fresh air entered her lungs, making her feel alive.
Unbeknownst to her, this was the first 'breath' that Versailles took after her death.
"Huwow!" After taking another deep breath, Versailles let out another cry.
This time however, she was instantly aware that the cry was that of an infant.
And that infant cry, came from her very own mouth!
"Daughter! It's a daughter!" Although her hearing was a bit distorted, she could still understand what was being said.
The voice cried 'its a daughter,' enlightening her.
"Oh. I've been reborn." Versailles understood this right away.
