Chapter 11 - Paragons of Paradigm and Paradox (3)

The Space within the Council Hall was subtly shifted and stirred. It was not enough for others to notice, but Ciel realised immediately that her control over this specific Space had been commandeered by another authority that was beyond her own. To be more precise, it was not that the authority was beyond hers, but that her base authority came from it making it so that this spatial domain could be accessed by that authority easily. It was the Authority of the Ten Wings, the root of her birth that was invoked by the incarnations of Grace through the Incantation of the Wings. It was both gentle and invasive, soothing and decisive as it pervaded the entire hall to grasp another facet of Reality within.

Time began to curve, veering off from its predetermined path. Grace did not want to do this initially, but he realised soon after beginning his ritual that he would need more power. The seed he wished to awaken was like a shriveled husk of its former self barely maintained by the powers of each incarnation that fell under its dominion. He could not awaken it the same way he awakened the Seed of Paradox. After all, Paradox was given to him by Lapis who had nurtured it non-stop even when he did not nurture his. It only required his will to sprout and blossom. For his own seed, Grace would need to drown it in power and fill it back up to the brim until it was bursting at the seams. So while Time passed as normal on Earth, it was slower in the Council Hall where Grace had a tight grip on everything.

But his actions were not without consequence. Just as the people of Earth were made aware of Grace's divine acts in one small corner of the world, ripples of his deeds spread out into the new System of Existence. It was not so obvious that they could be traced back to the source, but it was enough to alert certain beings. The System of Existence itself was already aware of the intrusion, but was incredulously unable to find it yet. Thus it bided time, patiently waiting for this intruder to reveal themselves.

In a grand cathedral of golden prisms whose spires stood from one universe and pierced into another, a grand rhapsody was playing much to the jovial denizens' festive delight. They danced around with feverish whimsicality as they strove for only two things in their mindless pursuit of elation. The first was to make love, spreading their living metallic forms that live only for the grand rhapsody to as many as they could reach. And the second was to make war, killing in a festival rusting blood that belied the true madness hidden behind their ever-present smiles. At the heart of the grand cathedral was an isolated room where only one person could enter. She lay on her bed made of golden metallic film as her eyes opened, the small metallic wings on her temples and all over her body fluttered with a mellow rhythm of melancholy quite the opposite to the rhapsody outside.

"A third intruder…, is it finally time? Will my Anthem be called upon once more?"

Despite the sheer amount of power contained in every one of her movements, the woman's voice was weak and quivering. Her golden metallic eyes contained only unwillingness and remorse. Recalling memories of a time long past, she shivered in disgust for what she had done. Her grand symphony rang even louder and spread even further. It was her way of atoning, her way of punishing. The other universes nearby were soon swallowed in a frenzy of love and murder, spilling blood, oil and rust in their demented festival of bliss.

In a small house hidden away in the farthest reaches of Existence, a man wearing a long white robe was writing on a long scroll. He was a scribe and an archivist, recording everything and anything within Existence. He was doing his usual work when all of a sudden, his pale grey skin suddenly shivered and his beady black eyes lit up with an unknown light. A look of shock and awe appeared on his face before he hurriedly left his office and reached the bedroom. There he saw his wife, a woman with the skin of ice that nearly resembled glass. She gazed outside the window, her usually despondent eyes now filled with tears threatening to spill. The man paused, unable to balance the anticipations brewing in his heart and the sadness he felt for his wife. But soon enough, he walked over to her and embraced her.

"Sophia, it was not your fault. And now, we may have the opportunity to right this wrong. I swear to you, I shall bring upheaval to Ekklesia."

The woman named Sophia nodded, closing her eyes as she let the tears finally fall. She leaned against her husband, seeking the warmth that she could still scarcely believe had chosen her despite her accursed fate. She felt helpless at the thought of what was to come, the blade of vengeance that would surely seek her head. And yet, she felt a spark of fury being ignited within the depths of her being. Even if justice comes for her, she would accept it only when she had achieved her own vengeance. The man hugged his wife tighter. He had already seen a possible path for the future. He cannot wait to finally rid Existence of the filth that had long since festered, but he needed to be patient. Time will flow ever onward, and as the one who upheld its Vicissitudes, he knew he will have his opportunity.

These three beings were the only ones to have felt the coming of the Paradigmatic Paradox, but soon enough, they will not be the only ones. As the people of Earth bustled with activity, seeking security where they can, the Council of Grace stepped onto a new stage. The first change came from two people who bore the same name, Caelum Grace. One was older than the other, but their powers seemed to mirror each other. The older Caelum had light blonde hair with dark golden serpentine eyes. And as he chanted the Incantation of the Wings, he morphed into a long serpentine dragon of white and gold. His feathered white wings unfurled as he began circling overhead. He was the Primordial Dragon God, the first True Dragon to ever exist in the destroyed System of Existence.

Following him was the God of Eternity who turned into a pitch black serpentine dragon with four eyes of crimson, gold, white and amethyst. His ten shards returned to him and formed his wings made of energy, each with their own colours, once more adorning his title as the Heaven-Devouring Dragon God. His Wings of Serenity, Chaos, Reason, Immolation, Desire, Conquest, Prayer, Castigation, Origin and the End further erupted with power, lighting up the Divine Constructs within the palace in the Aletheian Engine.

Soon, three more dragons appeared to join them. One was more of a serpent than a dragon, having no wings of its own. Its sleek black scales were decorated with patterns of different colours, each depicting a different serpent that seemed to slither within his body. They soon burst out to accompany him in his flight, but it was clear that their consciousnesses were not complete. This was Alpheus Grace, the Father of Serpents and the Devourer of Dreams. The little snakes that flew with him were his children, related not by blood but by existence, binding themselves to him. This granted them a limited awakening from their dormancy unlike their other siblings.

Another dragon to appear was one whose scales resembled a galaxy. Even without the ability to camouflage, he probably would not be noticeable if one were to just gaze at him with a backdrop of the universe. He was the Stellar Dragon Emperor and the distant ancestor of the Long Clan, Li Xing Yue. He was the one to have recovered the essence of True Dragons within their Source of Existence after the Primordial Dragon God sacrificed it to protect his wife from the attack of traitors. It was because of him that the Heaven-Devouring Divine Dragon emerged.

And finally, a monstrosity that did not at all resemble a dragon joined the four of them. Its long body was like that of a worm made of shards of black glass, oozing out a potent mist of bloodlust and malice. Its head was even worse as its two deep crimson eyes seemed to yearn for the destruction of everything. Its open maw revealed rows upon rows of vicious black glass fangs that could literally tear into the very fabric of Reality and chew on it, its bottomless abyssal pit inheriting the insufferable voracity that drove it to madness. And then, on many of the largest glass spine shards on its body, crimson draconic eyes blinked and gazed at the world around it. This was the true form of the Inhuman Emperor. This was the Insane Dragon of Inevitability.

The five dragons circled the Council of Grace, but their appearance was just the first. The House of Grace witnessed the emergence of the true forms of their god as Grace finally truly began the process of awakening his seed. He would finally reclaim his former name, and only then can he truly become the Paradigmatic Paradox.