Chapter 31

Aurora was honestly a bit like Hecate, the goddess within my soul, she was slightly teasing yet still kept a friendly soft-spoken demeanor as she spoke.

Once we left her cell of a room and went down another long hallway we reached what looked to be a large atrium or garden and in the center of the garden was another girl who looked a lot like Aurora but a much younger form of her. "So... I am assuming this is either a clone of you or perhaps a memory of your younger state?" I pondered aloud as I took in the girl that was sadly looking up at me and Aurora as she kneeled in the dirt beside the Gazebo in the center of the room.

Aurora kneeled in front of her younger self and as she took her younger's selfs face in a hand I cringed as she abruptly slapped the manifestation of her younger weak self across the face and it broke apart into particles that seemed to merge back into her. "Waiting for a savior when we spent years being tortured... An ignorant young girl, but her purity was to be commended I suppose." Aurora sighed and I patted her shoulder as the surrounding area swirled and I realized we were dragged into another section of her memories that formed the sorta reality marble that made up the interior of the facility.

'How powerful must she have been in her life that merely her arm was used to power this massive magically powered facility?' I thought frowning as we deposited on what looked like a massive wartorn battlefield.

"Well, this is certainly something," I muttered as I took in what looked like tens of thousands of human and monster corpses strewn everywhere, and what made me frown was how I could sense something like Aurora's mana but far more tainted than what was seeping into all these corpses.

Aurora merely like a lady took my arm like I was a gentleman so we could walk over the corpses to the center of the large battlefield and in the center of the battlefield was another little girl version of Aurora and as we came closer once again I could hear her sniffles that pulled at my heartstrings... Well, pulled at my heart that was open as seeing and walking over thousands of corpses made me go cold to keep my sanity.

"Jake, could you loan me a sword?" Aurora asked holding her hand out to me and I looked at both of the Aurora's and the surrounding battlefield and realized the significance of these last two memories I had seen in the Gazebo and here.

"This is where Aurora died and Diabolos was born wasn't it?" I asked taking in the corpses that were starting to twitch under the fell power filling their veins. "You awoke to your suffering at that gazebo and then during this battle where you killed all these people, your innocence died and you became the demon Diabolos right?" I asked and I felt Hecate stir within myself as she seemingly paid more attention to what was happening along with the other gods.

I could even hear Buddha asking if he could use my body for a minute to help her pass on properly but I denied his request with a message stating that her walk along the Preta/Ghost path of Nirvana wasn't complete yet. And Ereshkigal was watching this scene with more attention than any of the other gods due to her own status of a goddess of death...

I got down on my knees and sighed as I ignored the zombie knights drawing their weapons, as I gently lifted the young Aurora's face up, and as I stared into her eyes I saw the differences between the different ones. As the first one I saw at the gazebo was simply filled with sadness and despair at the suffering she was forced to endure, my older Aurora was slightly teasing and if anything content but tired of life itself.

But this one... Even as it sniffled and cried silently with tears falling out of her lavender eyes I could see the pure madness and hatred that desired to see the world burn down within those orbs. Before either Aurora could react I poked the younger in the forehead and she slumped towards me as the light blade I made, instantly ended her life by going through her brain.

Once again the surroundings shattered even as a zombie tried to attack me and I frowned as I felt the zombie's arm actually make contact with my shoulder before I punched it through several zombies that were behind it. It still bewildered me how her pseudo-reality marble was making these things tangible honestly.

"Did you do that to save me from the guilt?" Aurora softly asked while spinning to stand in front of me as the surroundings broke apart and were reforming and I shook my head to her question. I mean a part of it was true... But I hoped that if I did it, she wouldn't inherit that insanity and hatred for the world, but as that other Aurora broke apart and fused with the older one I realized that I wasn't going to be that lucky.

But I was relieved to see her not freaking out with what I thought to be her memories returning to her.

"Sorta I guess..." I responded before shrugging. "Well let's keep going, my mana is starting to drain even more than I would like," I said wryly and Aurora just returned to holding my arm between her large breasts as she walked beside me barefoot across the shattering and reforming world around us.

After a bit more walking and the world settled around us, I heard Aurora sigh as we came into a large open room that had a large stone door with a lot of runes engraved upon it that was sealed with several chains that were also engraved with magical runes and literally glowing with the power as the chains were all attached to the ornate greatsword that was pierced into the ground in front of the door.

"So... let me guess," I spoke as we walked over to the ornate sword and I took in the magical engravings that flashed with cryptic nonsense. "It says something about only the people with the blood of those that slayed your demon form can take the sword right?" I asked dully and Aurora covered her mouth with her silken green gloved to hide her giggles.

"Jake, why do you sound so bored when you uncover a secret huh?" Aurora teased before her smile fell apart and she sighed. "You know... You are kinda fun so you breaking this sword free and escaping will mean my death as my soul cannot survive outside this facility's nourishment and I kinda feel like I will miss you." She said with a sad smile and then I pulled at Ereshkigal's blessings within myself.

"What if I could take you from here and get you a new body?" I asked softly as I manifested a golden cage that was lined with the soft light blue flames of Kur. "I know this cage... Looks bad, but it can protect your soul and I can help make a new body for you within not even a week or two?" I asked as I heard Hecate roaring in approval and clearly wanting the 'Witch of Calamity' for a disciple.

Aurora bit her lower lip before she snorted and leaned closer to me and I inevitably saw down her cleavage as she spoke teasingly. "And what will you do once you give me a body Jake? Are you going to ravish me?" And then her smile turned cold as she spoke seriously. "Or will you use me as a tool of destruction or to make you immortal?" She finished and I shook my head wryly.

"I already have a dozen gods giving me blessings... I don't need your immortality that is based on the mass sacrifice of lives and your suffering." I said flatly and she blinked as there was not a single hint of falsehood in my words. "Yes, I would very much like it if you killed the Cult of Diabolos members... And of course, help me kill invaders to this world but other than that I don't have any hopes or designs on you." I said as honestly as I could and then Aurora snorted but I could hear the levity and acceptance in that snort.

"Very well Jake, I will give you my trust... You already saw my body when I made my dress so make sure it matches." She whispered into my ear teasingly before giggling as she touched the golden cage her form was sucked into it and I felt Ereshkigal and Hecate going over her soul to make sure it was alright.

So with Aurora now in my soul... Gods I was a fucking hotel for disembodied souls and having more than a dozen voices in my head should get me my own psych ward but either way I went to go inspect the large sword that was inlaid into the stone that I obviously couldn't lift out from the ground.

"Whelp I always wanted my own sword and stone." I joked as I literally transfused the surrounding ground around the sword and a large plate in the ground to make it a sort of anvil of heavily enchanted stone on the end of the blade as I picked it up. And I could hear Scathach and some other gods chuckling within my soul as I fucking stole the sword and the stone itself and when I placed the sword within my pocket space, the enchantments that sealed the door were broken...

"Do I go see the heavily cursed mutated form of Diabolos... Or do I nuke the whole area?" I pondered as I heard my magical radio buzz to life as my removal of the Holy Sword of Olivier seemingly stripped the area of its magical defenses.

"Jake, we are pulling out after collecting the Knight of Twelve, member Nelson and taking him back to base to be thoroughly interrogated." Epsilon's voice rang out through the radio and with that, my decision was made.

"Alright, hurry up and get out of here. I got to check one last thing and I will be blowing this entire area up and leaving with the runic portal hoop Scathach taught Eta." I explained before turning to the large rune door and shrugging. Time to loot some immortal super magical flesh.