Chapter 240

  Legend of the Masked Children (X)

  She wove her fingers gently and tore open a hole in the void, pulling the newcomer in with her.

  Opposite her stood a shadowy figure, its edges like vanishing smoke.

  It was an Avatar, prompting her to frown.

  Of all the curses to inflict upon the city, what exactly did she do to cause the ire of a Sovereign?

  Sighing, she undid the muted colors and the vast arrays the figure set up to try and trap her; it was akin to a parent 'testing' a child, causing her to feel a sense of disdain toward the newcomer.

  "Are you a child?" she asked, her voice carrying coldness that she did not display in front of others.

  "Compared to you, most of us would be," the voice replied. "What is a Primordial Daughter doing here?"

  "I could ask the same of you," she said. "What is a Prisoner doing here?"

  "... what must be done."

  "Hah. Are you lunatics still pursuing that demented dream of yours?"

  "Careful," the voice grew colder. "Words are like vipers, if untamed."

  "Then let them be. You've invoked hell upon the city under my guardianship. You should be so lucky that I do not storm over to whatever rat hole you're hiding in and turn it all to ashes."

  "We are waiting, thus, Lady. You can find us in the Hidden Abyss."

  "..."

  "Bravado of words is as hollow as hope and dreams are. You may be an equal of mine here, within this realm of yours, but you are broken. Scarred."

  "Careful," she said back, her voice a growl. "If I do choose to throw my life into the flames, my promise could very much become real."

  "I don't doubt. But I am not here for you."

  "Then why are you here?"

  "Someone in the city disrupted a long affair of ours--thrice, now, in the scant few months of time. We must root out the Heathen, no matter what."

  "And you really think I will let you? Or, perhaps, are you hoping that those lambs you sent to slaughter will luck into killing whoever it is that messed up your truly insane plans?"

  "We do the Lord's bidding, and His will is eternal. Those children know that."

  "Hm. Yes. All children, magically, always seem to know that the cause they are fighting for is just. How long do you think you can keep me here?"

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Long enough."

  "And what if you fail?"

  "Then the Lord wishes Heathen to live."

  "Hah. How convenient. To have an answer for everything," she said as her fingers began to weave the web of lights--there were about fourteen layers that she had to dissever, though none were particularly complex. Merely... obtuse. "You're an Array Master. A rare thing these days."

  "I am many things, just as you are."

  "Many would pay a hefty price to learn where you are," she said. "Few of whom you could endure even running away from."

  "Our eyes will always be watching," the figure said. "You belong within these here walls, pup of the Divine. If you set foot outside of them, you shall perish, body and soul."

  "... tsk. Demented pieces of shit," she snapped her tongue and hurried. She didn't know precisely what branch they were, as there were so many different ones that were labeled 'Prisoners'--as they all once were locked up in the Infernal Quarters--but they were all largely the same, dreaming of waking up that which had been put to sleep long before humanity was a twinkle in the course of history.

  That whose absence itself allowed humanity to even exist.

  "I could claim the same for you pups who support corrupt Ascended who fancy themselves Gods. But... why should I? Your scars know that the best."

  She felt the pang in the depths of her dantian, as though the dagger that was already there had been twisted.

  Her eyes veered to the side and at the shadowy figure as she wondered whether to truly throw caution to the wind. Her existence, already, was a play of errors and shortcomings; perhaps, one last act of heroism might give her something that she had been missing for all this time.

  ... no.

  She was too cowardly.

  Despite everything, she was still alive and enjoying life, no less. Yes, she was far weaker than at her peak, and she indulged literal children that she would have treated as ants previously, but every time she breathed in... she knew she wanted to live.

  "You know nothing of my scars," she said, snapping the last array. "As you know nothing of anything. In a morbid way, I do hope you succeed--for that will be the only way you morons will ever learn to let the sleeping leviathans slumber."

  She was just about to attack when the figure began to fade on their own, dissipating much like smoke in the wind, all while their grating cackle resonated. Angered, she snapped and sent forth an array of light, destroying it.

  Emerging back into the world, she first looked down to account for the damage; it would take a good number of years to reconstruct the city, but years... those she already had.

  Truthfully, it wasn't as bad as she'd anticipated--there were precisely 1,489 children who attacked, and though their strongest was a bit weaker than the city's strongest, by the sheer number, they should have achieved a quick victory.

  But they did not.

  Yes, most of the city was ruin and rubble, and there were hundreds of dead lying everywhere, but that was it. It was hundreds. She expected that number to be closer to five digits.

  Frowning deeply, she scouted a bit closer to the ground and saw a few... anomalies.

  Masked children--four of them, to be precise--were fighting well beyond their apparent realm. Though she could tell that they were hiding it, she couldn't actually discern through the disguise. The feeling was... harrowing.

  It meant that the cloaking art was of a higher tier than her discernment art, which was of the peak Divine Realm.

  And the children... they were odd.

  While they seemed vastly less talented than most of the people she knew in her youth--including herself--they also evoked the sensation of watching a herald. Someone that the Heavens themselves decreed would sweep through the lands.

  And the way they fought was... insane.

  The exact way she used to fight back in her youth.

  Reckless, thirsty, greedy.

  She spied them moving closer together in a cluster, defeating kids far stronger than them realm-wise, and then rushing off outside the colosseum as though they were looking for something.

  No, not something.

  Someone.

  It was an ordinary-seeming man who looked wholly drained from just saving a few citizens, wounded from head to toe as he was remarkably weak for his realm. And yet, the moment the kids saw him... something about them changed.

  From seasoned bloodthirsty war hounds, they became worried little pups that all but started licking his wounds clean.

  Who was he?

  And why was a selection of monsters that put even her at attention treating him like he was their... Master?