Chapter 53: Second Authority: War.

As I stepped out of Tearwyn's portal I suddenly felt a massive influx of power and energy. Blinking in surprise for a few seconds I look down at my hands and flex them a bit in confusion.

Much to my glee, Tearwyn's voice suddenly appeared in my head with an explanation, "Oh! It finally has fully awoken, Sis! Congratulations! You've fully awoken your second Authority: War!"

Humming in interest I say, "So that's why I feel so… energetic and giddy?"

Tearwyn giggled a bit before she said, "Correct! There is a major war in that world now, whereas before it wasn't enough to help unlock your Authority. But because of your take over of the Tower Dungeon, you've turned it into a 'War for Survival.' And thus, the stakes for the war have increased exponentially as they fight for their very right to exist."

I suddenly got worried about having this world ending because of my actions, as it was one of Tearwyn's, so I quickly voiced my concern to her.

Tearwyn merely giggled and said, "It's fine! I don't mind sacrificing a world to help you unlock one of your Authorities. And a major one too! Besides, our family has recently grown a lot, remember? Raven herself won a large swath of the Remnant multiverse by killing both of the Brother Gods in Divine Combat. Along side a multitude of other universes they had taken over."

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in relief as I nodded, "That's good then. Well, guess I'll enjoy this world to its fullest. Though with my 3rd seal being removed, and I am so much stronger than before…"

Tearwyn hummed in my mind for a few seconds before she said, "Yea. If you want a real fight, you'll need to fight in that universe's "Heaven" so the deities can have free access to their Arcanum. But I should warn you, Sis. Don't take them lightly while on their home turf. You'll get the fight you want, and then some."

A cruel grin made its way onto my lips as I said, "Excellent. I'll just follow the connection the two goddesses I corrupted have with their main bodies to find the plane. Thanks Tearwyn~!"

With a soft giggle she said, "No problem, sister Artoria! Now, I'm going to get comfy and watch you have fun!"

Nodding my head, I then focus on my connection to the two goddesses I corrupted. I soon found them on the first floor of the dungeon, while a large contingent of mortals and god/desses alike were fighting at the entrance.

My smile widened as I sunk into the shadows while thinking, 'Let's kick this war into overdrive then. There should be hundreds or even thousands of god/desses for me to fight against. This is gonna be good.'

As I stepped out of the shadow on the wall Hestia and the others were already kneeling and greeting me, "Welcome back, Goddess Artoria!"

Motioning for them to stand, I said, "Thank you. I see everyone has been having some fun, hmm? Well, we're going to kick this off into high gear. Hestia, Hephaestus. We're going to where your real bodies are to merge the sliver of your soul that I have corrupted with the rest of you. Can you tell anything about the state your real bodies are in, and their surroundings?"

As everyone stood back up, the two nodded and closed their eyes for several minutes. While they were checking on the state of their true selves, I asked Lili to give me an update on everything.

She bowed to me and said, "My Goddess. Bell is currently at the lowest section of the dungeon still as he had only just taken over the Dungeon fully a few hours ago."

She smirked as she continued, "You should have heard the swearing he started when the Dungeon started to fight back in earnest. Lady Hestia was so shocked!"

Chuckling lightly I asked, "And? Why is he still down there?"

Lili gave me a wry smile and said, "Well, after he got to the Dungeon Core and corrupted it, thus bringing it into the fold, they started talking. It seems the Core and Bell get along swimmingly and thus he stayed behind to talk with it and to come up with plans for taking over the surface."

I was about to comment when I noticed that Hestia and Hephaestus were done and waiting, so I turned my attention to them.

Seeing as I was paying attention to them Hestia said, "I can confirm that my connection to my true body is still strong. It's been resisting the corruption, but this has caused it to enter a sort of sleep from what I can tell. Same for you, Hephaestus?"

With a nod Hephaestus said, "I am much the same. Though my true body is showing signs of corruption because of the cure to my eye. My Divinity is fighting back but it's naturally a losing battle. I am also able to sense around me because of this, as it seems your corruption has taken the place of the other curse. My body at least is alone in my home from what I can tell."

Bringing my hand up to my chin I hum in thought, 'Best bet to start my incursion of this universe's "Heaven" would be with Hephaestus. That'll give me a good foot hold."

With the formation of a plan, but mostly just wanting to go and fight already, I nod and say, "Alright. We'll start the invasion of Heaven with Hephaestus. Lili, you tell Bell to ramp up things down here a lot. I want this dungeon pumping out monsters as fast as it can."

Lili bowed while saying, "By your will, My Goddess!"

She then sank into the shadows and left to go give my orders. Motioning for the two goddesses to come near me, I start using my spell to Dimension hop. I noticed that it took less than a second to fully charge now that I have three seals gone, which caused me to smile.

Closing my eyes, I followed the connection between Hephaestus and her real body in an attempt to find Heaven. Much to my glee, it was rather easy because of the state her real body was in. With a thought and no fanfare, reality melted around the three of us and then reformed seconds later.

Looking around, I could only nod my head in appreciation of Hephaestus's home. Or, at least her bedroom. It was massive, as I am sure all gods' rooms are. But what caught my eye was the fancy bed, and the veritable array of weapons all mounted on the walls and sides of the bed.

With an impressed whistle I say, "Damn, Hephaestus. You like showing off your work, I take it. Not that I blame you though, those are some nice looking weapons."

Hephaestus smiled at me and said, "Thank you, My Goddess. I take pride in the work here. Did you want any of them?"

I shake my head and say, "Nah. No offence to you, Hephaestus, but you'll never be able to craft a weapon like my Excalibur Morgan."

She raised her eyebrow and asked, "May I see it?"

I nod my head while motioning to her true body with my hand, "Yes, but after you combine with your real body. Unlike me, my sword can not lower its presence on the world around it. So if we're not detected yet, we will be the second I summon it."

With stars in her eyes Hephaestus said, "At once, My Goddess! I can't wait to see the weapon that you call yours!"

She quickly moved over to her real body, and placed her hand over her heart. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn't hope she'd give it a good squeeze…

Shaking my head I scold myself, 'Not the time, Artoria. I am feeling slightly pent up after seeing all of the sexy women that became my sisters it seems…'

Quickly shaking away, and mostly failing, my impure thoughts, the Hephaestus's were soon covered in some of my Abyss Water in a cocoon like construct. It didn't take long for black-red lightning to start covering the surface of the egg and for it to start to crack. A wonderful royal purple light was seeping from the cracks before the whole thing shattered with a splash.

Where there were two, now there was one. I watched in interest as the entire room, or the whole building I assumed, quickly followed suit and changed to a darker colour. Where before the walls of her room were a white marble, now they are nice polished black. As I was looking around at my work, I heard Hephaestus moaning which drew my attention.

Looking at her I internally frowned as I thought, 'She has to be doing that on purpose. There is no way you moan like you're having the best sex in your life as you wake up…'

As her eyes fluttered open and she sat up, her look was back to how her mortal shell looked. All nice and Grim/Water corrupted. She looked around for a few seconds in confusion before she turned to us and smiled.

As she got out of her bed, she kneeled down and said, "My Goddess. It's like I have woken up from a nightmare, only to see your brilliance. Thank you for your gift."

I couldn't help but smile as I looked down at her. After asking her to stand I said, "You're welcome, Hephaestus. Now, we've got a war to wage against the rest of the god/desses here. Do you know how many I'll have to deal with?"

She frowned in thought before saying, "I am sorry, I do not know. It's been so long since I've paid any attention to our numbers."

I hummed in thought while nodding my head for a few seconds. But her fidgeting quickly pulled my attention away from any plans I was going to make.

With an eyebrow raised I asked, "What is it, Hephaestus?"

She blushed lightly while poking her index fingers together as she asked, "May… may I see your sword, My Goddess?"

Lightly chuckling at her antics I summon my Excalibur Morgan while holding it outward so she can inspect it. It was currently also in its sheath, but we could all still feel it thrumming with power.

Her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas day as she inspected it. She reached out to draw it, and before I could tell her to stop she received a small zap of black-red lightning.

Letting out a surprised yelp Hephaestus said, "Ah! Well, that was my mistake. I should have known a weapon such as this would not want anyone but you to wield it. I am sorry."

Waving her apology off I said, "It's fine. Now you know. Here, I'll draw it so you can see the blade. It's quite beautiful."

She was nodding her head so fast, I could have sworn I heard a few sonic cracks. Feeling a bit playful, I slowly unsheathed my blade. While she marvelled at the blade and its patterns, I actually took note of a change. There was now an inscription on my blade, whereas before it was just patterns.

Looking at it, I couldn't make out what language it actually was, but I could somehow still understand what it said. Three simple words: All to NULL.

I raised an eyebrow as I mused to myself, 'Makes sense, being that my release is an attack of NULL. But, how come I never noticed it before?'

The world around me lost its colour, and I was unable to move. I was about to try and get out of the situation when I heard Mothers voice in my head.

With a soft chuckle she said, "Congratulations, Little Artoria~. You're finally strong enough to start seeing some of the changes you've gone through in your 'long' life. That inscription is part of a blessing your past self had earned from me. And you're finally strong enough, mentally and by strength of soul, to start working towards fully unlocking it~."

I couldn't help myself as my excitement started to rise, as I had a pretty good idea what that blessing was.

With another giggle that caused me to swoon after my own mother she said, "You are correct, little Artoria~. The blessing your past self had earned from me is a minor Authority in NULL. You're the first entity in trillions of trillions of cycles of the True Omniverse that has earned that from me, and not be immediately erased from it~."

If I could move right now, I would have the biggest madding grin on my face right now. My thoughts raced at the implications of being able to wield NULL! Even at a minor Authority level.

As I was lost in fantasies about what I could do, I suddenly felt my face being cupped by a pair of hands.

My spin shivered as I felt Mother whisper into my ear, "Work hard, my beautiful daughter~. You have the potential to even unlock a Major Authority in NULL."

[author] Sorry for taking so long to post. I am currently sick, and last week I had a major episode of depression. Having a new game to play doesn't help either... But, here it is~! Enjoy~!♥[/author]