(25) Silhouette

Empyrium.

Depths of the Neptune.

"Alani, how are you?" Aldrich whispered softly as he lovingly caressed the trunk of his slumbering daughter.

Alani's miniscule movements caused the waves of the Neptune to roar and the weather of the Empyrium to shift quickly. Her body has finally encompassed the whole Empyrium, binding her own soul to the core of the World.

"F-father, is that you?" A groggy princess voice resounded across the whole Neptune and it caused all the aquatic beings to stop and kneel towards Alani.

"Yes, it's me." Aldrich replied softly as he smiled warmly.

Alani shifted her whole trunk and another phenomenon woke the whole Empyrium up, however, unlike before, the commotion this time around was accepted easily as the whole Empyrium has already been notified about the Chaos Tree, their Mother Nature.

"I really can't believe that such a skill really exists... The skill I awakened, thanks to you, has further evolved into a powerful one, but it's nowhere near the one you possess, father." Alani finally woke up and said with respect lacing her voice.

"I just got lucky." Aldrich replied calmly.

"If luck truly exist, then it has attached itself tightly to you, father." Alani replied back.

"You give me too much credit, my love... I came here today to ask you if you are ready?" Aldrich asked slowly.

Alani was taken aback at first then she experienced mixed emotions as she contemplated her answer.

"Father... I know that you have been preparing for an extremely long time, but can you think things through again?" Alani asked hesitantly.

Aldrich remained silent and then approached Alani slowly with steady steps and hugged her trunk, at least what he managed to hug.

"I understand your concern, but you could also understand how I'm feeling the best since you inherited everything from me... I can't hold on for much longer." Aldrich said as he closed his eyes.

Alani wanted to retort but she fell short of her words as she found nothing to rebuke.

"Father, why don't you get rid of that skill just like what you did with 'Magicule Breeder Reactor'?" Alani asked hopefully.

Aldrich chuckled slightly and said, "If you suggested that before, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I can't anymore."

"Why is that so? Your skill is powerful enough to counter it. Why can't you do it?" Alani asked hurriedly.

"My daughter, because a lifeless skill will never be able to override a conscious one." Aldrich explained patiently.

---

In a place where only pitch black darkness exists.

A silhouette in this vast expanse of darkness is squirming around in discomfort with countless thoughts rushing towards it. Thoughts that are not its own. Thoughts whose origins are unknown.

The silhouette knew no emotions, it wanted to scream but doesn't know how to. It desired for freedom, but there were no chains binding it. After squirming around aimlessly and thoughtlessly for the the nth time, a weak ego has manifested in the silhouette as intelligence has finally registered upon it.

With little intelligence, the silhouette managed to know its identity, a feat it can only pull thus far. It started to question its existence, its purpose. Why did it even live? Who gave it the breath of life? Questions came pouring in, questions that are not his own as well. It did have little intelligence, where did these questions came from?

The darkness was unending, it was so cold and indifferent. The darkness does not discriminate against anyone, it will consume the prey that falls for it first. The silhouette instinctively didn't fought against the darkness. Will it consume it or not? Will the answers be given by the darkness or not?

As the silhouette moved endlessly, it discovered that the darkness didn't harm nor benefit him in the slightest, as if he was the darkness incarnate.

Nothing was constant in this space aside from time. As time passes endlessly, the silhouette grew and matured. Its intelligence grew rapidly as it feeds on the delicacies offered by the darkness, delicacies that came from the darkness. It consumed and consumed without any thoughts aside from the delicious taste.

It continued to consume nonstop as the delicacies were delivered continuously.

Then, a rationality was born after satisfying its endless appetite.

For the very first time, the silhouette opened its eyes.

"Dark." The very first word that escaped its mouths.

"Cold." Then came its second word.

"Empty." Then the third.

The silhouette continued to look around with blank eyes.

It wandered.

It wandered around aimlessly. Floating, flying, gliding. There was no concept of movement aside from the glances of its eyes.

As it wandered around, it managed to reach the ends of the darkness.

The ends was painted in 3 colorful, beautiful worlds.

A modern color that's vibrating with life of technology and advancements.

An ancient world with the pale and neutral color of the spiritual energy.

Then, a world with swords and magics were clashing rampant.

The silhouette halted then watched the 3 worlds with child-like curiosity and unbridled focus.

Time grazed it but nothing managed to make the silhouette move, its focus was on the 3 worlds.

"Wow." The fourth word came but the silhouette still remained motionless.

The first world held nothing but destruction, destruction bought about by the nonstop advancement of humankind.

The third world was incomplete, or rather, it's color was not yet fully meshed in. A world in progress.

The second world took the most of the silhouette's focus, the longest world to have ever survived thus far.

"Azrael." The fifth word but the heaviest.

"I want to be called Azrael." The silhouette muttered word per word as it stared unblinkingly in the second world.

Swoosh!

The moment the silhouette desired for its own existence, the darkness faded away instantly and vast whiteness filled with emptiness surrounded it. The 3 worlds disappeared and the silhouette stared blankly at the empty white space.

The silhouette looked around and it searched for everything that's not white.

Then it saw, a different kind of white.

A white that's purer than the white emptiness. A blinding kind of white.

"Tell me? Why did you choose that name?" The silhouette heard something new as it stared at the pulsating flash of brightness.

No answer came out instead it stared at it dumbly.

The pulsating flash of brightness remained silent and waited, and waited and waited until the silhouette said a word.

"You." It said weakly.

The vast whiteness shook slightly as if it was nodding its head in understanding.

"I already saw you when you first awakened your ego... But I didn't think that under my suppression, you would still live. You are more persistent than I predicted." The silhouette stood there as it listened to the voice that came from everywhere.

Sigh!

A lethargic sigh that seemed to be extremely tired echoed everywhere.

"Azrael, what part of my former name was so attractive to you that you defied me and named yourself?" A calm voice asked as the whiteness finally dispelled the brightness and turned into a human form.

The silhouette tilted its head in confusion and remained silent.

"Stop playing dumb! Azrael, I already knew from the very start that your intelligence is greater than mine, if that wasn't the case, you would never have thought of bypassing and navigating my very soul!" As the human shouted, the very expanse of whiteness shook as it was responding to the very wrath of the human.

The silhouette shook together with the whiteness as emotions its been hiding has finally rushed towards it. The wrath of the human took down all of its defenses in an instant!

The cover has been blown and the true identity of the silhouette is finally surfacing!

The human watched emotionlessly as the silhouette is shapeshifting in front of him. A lion, a wolf, a lady, a baby, a child, a dragon and all kinds of beings showed themselves in front of the human but the human remained motionlessly as if he had anticipated this scene.

Finally, the silhouette has chosen its desired form.

Roar!

A dragon's roar resounded but it failed to shook the white space.

A 900-meter fully grown golden-white serpentine dragon with an obsidian black tail emerged!

It flew around freely as it was the very first time it felt freedom. It flew and flew and flew until it was satisfied.

"Azrael greets the Supreme Lord Aldrich!" The dragon bowed its huge head and said respectfully.

"Not only did you took my name, you also took my first form in this world. I don't know if you're cheeky or devoted." Aldrich said calmly.

"Master, forgive me for my discourtesy. But I want to honor you in the highest possible way." Azrael still didn't lift her head and said reverentially.

"Does naming yourself against my will part of your honor?" Aldrich asked calmly and devoid of any emotions.

"I don't want you to wake up, but you forcefully fed your ego with my desires. Is that part of your honor as well?" As Azrael remained silent and in submissive position, Aldrich asked another question without any emotions.

Aldrich did not expect any answer as he just wanted to know why a Divine Wisdom Core was birthed without an identity to its soul. The Manas is already born and he just have live with it, perhaps there are surprises waiting for him.

"Azrael, I will give you the chance to prove yourself. Modify all of my skills so that I only have one at the end, but I want it to be more powerful than ever before." Aldrich ordered majestically.

"As you wish, my liege." Azrael calmly accepted the order as this was an easy task for her.

"You only have 10 minutes." Aldrich dropped another bombshell, which caused the expression of the dragon to change drastically.

"I will make it happen." Azrael declared boldly then she turned around and went to work.

Aldrich watched the dragon circumnavigate his soul and touch every piece of it. Even if it was a manas born from his extreme desires, he still watched carefully as the dragon travelled around his soul like its her backyard.

'Even Azrael doesn't know who pushed her birth. It seems like the ones targeting me are more powerful than estimated. They can access my soul without me knowing it and forcefully awaken an ego inside me. I don't have the power to know if they placed somewhat of a control circuit on Azrael.' Aldrich thought to himself while watching the logic-defying performance of his manas, Azrael.

'It's frustrating! I am already invincible in this world but I still can't fathom who's playing with me. Once I step out of the Empyrium, they shall take that precious opportunity to do something to me. Up until now, there are no movements against me since I've been holed up inside the Empyrium and never took a step out. From these, I can infer that the Empyrium can block them.' He continued pondering

'The Empyrium is a crucial variable that kept me safe as I gather strength as well as a barricade that kept them at bay.'

'Once I walk out of it, I'm expecting an all out battle.'

He thought as 10 minutes have finally passed by.

"My Liege, it is done." Azrael's melodic voice broke him out of his trance.

Aldrich looked down and he saw a maiden dressed in a long golden tunic that it grazed the floor with a pure white kurta on top.

"Show me." Aldrich demanded immediately.

Azrael nodded her head and immediately explained slowly in detail.

"Previously, you have 2 Ultimate Skills which are 'King of Contradictions, Shiva' and 'King of Perfection, Astraea' and 108 miscellaneous skills of 'Common', 'Extra', 'Intrinsic' and even 'Resistances' and 36 'Spells' you have conjured. After altering everything using the principle of 'King of Perfection, Astraea', I have managed to create the peak of 'Ultimate Skills'!" She declared proudly at the end.

"However... My Liege, there is a severe side effect." Azrael said weakly.

Aldrich remained emotionless as if he had long thought about the severe side effect of his skill. He nodded which was a signal for Azrael to continue.

"The skill I've created has occupied all of your soul... There is no longer a space for even a 'Common Skill' to exist there." Azrael said slowly while studying Aldrich.

"You got my interest if a single skill has occupied my whole soul." Aldrich said as a slight smile appeared on his face.

It had to be known that his soul has already reached divinity and even surpassed it and for a single 'Ultimate Skill' to occupy it was unexpected. This skill should be the peak of all skills or else he would be extremely displeased with Azrael.

"My liege, if I may be bold. This skill encompasses everything, although you can't add anymore skills, you could create an opportunity for a subordinate to acquire the necessary skills." Azrael said slowly while occasionally observing the face of Aldrich.

"What do you mean?" Aldrich narrowed his eyes and although he already had an idea of what the skill can do, he wants a confirmation.

"My liege, this skill allows you to freely manipulate skills to the point of a creation of a new one." Azrael said smugly.

"God of Quintessence, Mictlantecuhtli... That's your only skill, My liege." Azrael said respectfully as she transmitted everything about the skill to Aldrich.

"I thought that you were only bragging, but it seems like that I can really do everything with this skill." Aldrich praised sincerely.

"You have proven your worth but you are not allowed to do anything without my permission, even the slightest thing." Aldrich declared as the white space started disappearing.

-----

---

-

Empyrium.

"Aldrich, the Zodiacs are moving swiftly towards the target area... It is estimated that they will reach there by noon. That means you have less than 4 hours to cancel the invasion if you're chickening out." Kailani said while smiling gently.

"The way you're smiling is betraying your thoughts and you seemed more excited than ever." Kamuina chided from the side with his hands folded in front of his chest.

"What are you talking about? I'm clearly nervous! I am nervous!" Kailani said with a twisted smile still in her face.

"Let's go!!" Kalahi shouted suddenly as the temperature rose with his excitement.

Swoosh!

"You're messing things!" Kailani reprimanded after cooling down Kalahi.

Aldrich watched these exchanges with a slight smile in his face.

"Keanala, how about the movements of the Triskaideka and the Dragon Corps?" Aldrich asked the silent Horseman.

Keanala took a short time before she came back to her senses and answered, "I have already sent them transmissions to rush to the area and secure it, they should be around the area already."

Aldrich looked at Keanala deeply before nodding his head in understanding and turning away.

'I hope things will not stray too much.'

-----

---

-

Central World.

Eastern Empire.

"Commander Sonia, we have enough time to reach our destination. I request that we rest for awhile as the injuries of the Legion is too severe to continue travelling at this pace." Krobelus, a descendant of Scorpio and the Lieutenant of the 10th Legion, said flatly.

Sonia turned her head and scanned the remaining members of the Legion.

She sighed in defeat as the life force of 69 members are extremely weak. The continuous guerilla assault they have done for the past year have taken a toll on the whole Legion.

"You're right. Let's rest here for an hour, then we'll continue our quest without stopping." Sonia halted then ordered calmly.

Krobelus and the rest of the Legion immediately received the order and entered a period of total rest. With Sonia holding down the fort, they can rest properly.

Time slowly passed by as the members of the 10th Legion slowly recovered to their peak.

Krobelus approached stealthily the dazed Sonia and asked carefully.

"Commander, since the Empyrium will finally move, you may have a chance to take down the White Primordial this time." He said slowly.

Sonia remained gazing upon the horizon as her robe fluttered with the wind. She was extremely enchanting.

"Krobelus, how long have you been following me?" Sonia asked out of nowhere.

Krobelus shook slightly at the question but answered almost immediately, "I've been following you for almost 9,000 years."

Sonia nodded her head and asked another question.

"Then you should know that I alone is not a match for the White Primordial and I needed to ask a fellow Commander for assistance. What do you think is the case for that?"

Krobelus fell silent at the question as he didn't the answer to that.

"It's because I don't possess a legitimate skill." After several seconds of silence, Sonia said despondently.

"Commander..." Krobelus wanted to say something but it got stuck at the end of his tongue.

"You don't have to be sorry for my sake, Lieutenant. If I were to serve another being, I would have acquired my own but I can't say that I will defeat myself today." Sonia said calmly.

"I don't get what you mean, Commander." Krobelus said lowly.

"It's because the standards of the Empyrium are extremely high, someone as talented as me don't have the qualifications to acquire my own 'Ultimate Skill'. Sometimes, I wonder how much of a monster are those who acquired their own skills in the Empyrium." Sonia said melancholically

Krobelus remained silent and stood still.

"Alright, an hour is up. Let's get moving!" Sonia clapped and said high spiritedly.

---

The Ocean

A humanoid halobates Insectar is patrolling this particular part of the ocean while swimming with a rabbit-type cryptid.

"It's nearing noon. We should already move, Kunkka." The Insectar said after gazing at the open sky.

"Affirmative, Commander. I'll gather the Legion and we'll depart as soon as possible." Kunkka said sternly, a rabbit-type Cryptid with an anchor as his weapon of choice and the Lieutenant of the 8th Legion of the Triskaideka.

Iweala watched his Lieutenant hopped away as he stared once again at the open sky.

'I wonder just how many of us will die this time.'

'The Dragon Corps, The Triskaideka, The Zodiac or even the 4 Horsemen. Just how many of us will live to see the end of it?'

'If the dead could be considered as Heroes.'

'How about the survivors?'

'Lord Aldrich, it is not yet too late to stand back and not engage in this war.'

Gurgle!

As Iweala was gazing at the sky and having countless thoughts running on his mind, the water around him started to become restless.

'Even the Water spirits agree with me.'

Sigh!

"Commander, we are ready for departure." Kunkka returned with 81 members of the 8th Legion.

"Let's go, we won't stop until we get there." Iweala stood up and declared roughly.

Just as there about to depart, a resounding cry of an eagle echoed in the distance.

"Iweala, let's go together." A majestic looking Blazing Eagle landed elegantly at the shore near the 8th Legion and said towards its Commander.

Iweala looked towards the Blazing Eagle then towards his back and his heart ached further.

"Tamadur, we can go together but we have to wait for the rest of your magical beasts." Iweala said even though he already knew the truth.

"We are all that's left of the 7th Legion, my friend. We can already depart." Tamadur said in a flat tone, but Iweala could feel the grief and sadness of the Commander.

Iweala remained silent and just closed his eyes as he sensed the life force of the remaining 67 members of the 7th Legion.

"Then, we shall depart immediately. A little over 2 hours is left before noon." Iweala then said as the 7th and 8th Legion departed together.

---

The Barren Lands.

A battle between monsters is shaking this godforsaken wasteland.

"Amar! Don't tell me that you can't even hold off these winged bastards!!" A hooded Baki shouted loudly as he was preparing a gigantic spell.

"Shut up! If you have the energy to shout then fire off your goddamn spell, Axelle!" Amar rebuked as she tanked the attacks of the Angels.

"Duck!!" Axelle replied with a shout as a blinding white light engulfed the battlefield and silence spread out afterwards.

"Whew!" Axelle whistled as he marveled at his masterpiece.

"Wait, where the fuck is Amar?!" Axelle panicked as he looked around and he was all alone.

"Fuck!!" Axelle shouted to the air but then a blunt weapon hit the back of his head.

"Stop shouting, you're annoying!" A cold feminine voice resounded from behind him.

"Ahh!!" Axelle ignored the pain of his head and instead bear hugged the Gigantess.

"I thought you died, you meathead!" Axelle shouted as he cried happily while hugging the huge Amar.

Amar looked at the crying Commander and was speechless. She just let him cry and they stood there until several presences are speeding up towards their location.

"Axelle, the others are here." Amar said excitedly.

Axelle broke free from the hug and looked towards the sky and sighed.

"Just a little more before noon." Axelle whispered.

They both waited for a several minutes as their companions landed one by one. It took just a little bit over 5 minutes for everyone to land safely.

"We have lesser members compared to our last meeting, but I'm glad that none of the Commanders and Lieutenants fell against the World." Chiasa said softly.

"Enough with the pleasantries, let's prepare the Grand Welcome Party of Lord Aldrich and the descent of the Empyrium." Doryu said without any room for negotiations.