Part … - What Day Is It?

  Elizabeth drifted through the void, witnessing untold numbers of vast worlds erupting in the vibrant colors of diverse life and civilizations.

  All were just beyond her reach.

  She felt time slip her by as Earth grew further and further from her mind, steadily fading into unconsciousness.

  Pain ripped through her as she was assailed by an incomprehensible babble of sound that fit no description of proper language, yet also came from a voice in the vast expanse. The mere act of hearing it pulled her from her reverie and immediately gave her a migraine.

  The sound continued and she felt her mind trying to rip itself apart.

  She tried to will her body to move, to dig her fingertips into her own flesh to distract from the enormity of the mental strain from the voice that had turned to… birdsong?

  A whole ecology of different bird calls formed from the incoherent babble, each bird crying to be heard above the rest.

  Finally, it shifted further.

  Finally, a form appeared in her vision, one composed of too many distorted features to be defined.

  “I am Xaoc.” She heard words at last, as the birdsong shifted to a thousand voices, all in diverse tones, yet the meaning rose from the clamor. “You have witnessed the beauty of chaos, the life borne forth from the madness of nature. You desire it, and so I have come.”

  Elizabeth had no reaction, as her body did not obey her commands, nor had it done so since her unfortunate incident that had stolen her from her old life.

  “Your body is broken.” The voice sounded almost sad, if sadness were found within a thousand emotions from the thousand voices. “I will make you anew. I wish to see the chaotic life that springs forth from your presence in my world.”

  And so, her future was decided.

  Elizabeth awoke in the central aisle of a chapel, wherein a discordant song of prayer was raised to the being who had saved her.

  [*ding* Welcome to Pallos!]

  [Name: Elizabeth Freenight]

  [Race: Chaotic Elvenoid]

  [Age: 21,746]

  [*ding* Congratulations! You’ve survived your early years, and the system is now fully unlocked for you!]

  It was all beyond her understanding.

  How was she supposed to react to such a chaotic sequence of events?

  Then she looked up, which would’ve been fine, if she’d been trying to look up.

  She tried to look around again, and instead her eyes met the face of a young woman in messy, colorful robes who looked at her with curiosity.

  A series of little noises continued to resound in her head, but Elizabeth found herself far too confused to appreciate them. She mentally dismissed them as she continued to stare.

  “A gift from lord Xaoc!” The woman proclaimed, and suddenly Elizabeth was surrounded by medieval peasants.

  She tried to move, at least to stand up, only to find her muscles were no longer wired correctly. She would be in real trouble if things remained like this. Moving her leg seemed to twitch her pinky in spasms. Nothing made sense. She wished desperately for something to come to her aid, at least to help her combat the rushing crowd, which seemed to move in slow motion as her panic arose.

  [*ding* You have unlocked the skill [Improvisation]!]

  It made no sense, but the blue box was there, hovering before her eyes. She didn’t need skills, she was a highly paid actress for her ability to adjust to scenes on the fly. The skill simply selected itself for her and she began to move.

  To her brain, it all made no sense, and trying to unravel the mystery of her mangled body was giving her a new headache, so she simply stopped trying.

  She somehow stood up and began to lead the worshippers on a chase, as each one of them tried to touch her or… kiss her?

  They wished to treat her like a buddha statue or something.

  Finding the door, she burst out into a city teeming with life and bustling with people.

  It was a beautiful sight, and she found it pleasing to her senses to watch everyone going about their business, fighting against the crowds.

  She added to that collage of madness—of life.

  She led her pursuers out of the church and into the city, causing a small stampede. And she laughed. She laughed at the wonder of living again, no longer stuck as a witness to the worlds before her aimless path.

  She was finally a piece of the tapestry.

  Elizabeth took to the skies with a thought, or perhaps a small dream. From her back, a pair of wings emerged, first bat-like at the base, then turning to feathers and ending with barren bones.

  They should not have allowed her to fly, but thanks to her skills after years of service to Xaoc as his agent upon the world of Pallos, she had blossomed into the Adventurer she had become. Her new body only appeared human, yet it was malleable and sometimes had a will of its own.

  She had learned to let it roam free by feeding it with the skills and classes that would allow it to best change the world.

  It made her happy.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Order, managed by Seira, was a force of stress and constant containment, as if trying to constantly cage a wild beast. A hopeless effort. Elizabeth, or Beth as she had chosen, was the wild beast. Impossible to tame and raging like an eternal typhoon.

  She had become [Xaoc’s Hand] with the Forest element. She let the power run free, and it had never let her down, as she never tried to hold it back.

  Sure, she was seen as a criminal in many lands, but that was a part of being an embodiment of chaos.

  She recalled a quote from a distant life.

  “Who can explain to someone who uses God’s gift to enslave, that you have used God’s gift to be free.”

  She made many new memories in her new life on Pallos, leaving her former acquaintances from her mind.

  And so, Beth enjoyed life.

  However, she often found lands entrapped in the vice-like grip of a tyrant.

  Her second class [Untamed Liberator] chafed at the injustice. The folly of any so-called [Leader] to suppress the chaos of his people in such a way.

  She became the herald for another cause, bound to become a criminal again if she failed.

  And yet, she found she could never be restricted, clapped in irons or executed. Obstacles to her liberty turned to flowers at her touch.

  She had become freedom given form.

  And yet, others were terrified of her.

  Terrified by the beauty of unconstrained life.

  She practiced the art of Biomancy, empowering the prey to hunt their predators, throwing ecosystems into chaos, then basking in the rivalry.

  She spent years, or perhaps decades stirring up the pot of civilization and wilderness anew. Elizabeth brought pure, unbridled chaos to the world.

  In the end, she also brought death.

  When the deer struck down the coyote, then reigned as the new king of the forest, she turned the woodlands into bastions of pain and horror.

  When the [Laborer] overthrew their [Lord], she had brought forth yet another tyrant.

  Chaos was change. Chaos was turbulence. Chaos was the war, not the outcome.

  Chaos was the uncertainty along the way.

  What better way to bring about turbulence than to embody its greatest motivator?

  Fear.

  Elizabeth knew fear. She embraced her fear, embodied it.

  The killer in the night.

  The monster that hunted the [Warrior].

  The darkness itself, hiding the spectre of death just out of sight. That was her. It was her new calling. She was an avatar of Life, then Liberty, and now the shadow of fear lurking around every corner.

  She sought out the fearless…

  Not the Trolls or Vampires, who feared the sun.

  Not the Demons who feared their own vices.

  Not the humans who feared their pitiful ends after a scant few decades of life.

  The Elves. Eternal, powerful, self-assured. The Elves were nothing but braggarts with eternity at their fingertips, yet they squandered it.

  But. Not. Beth.

  Her timeless body was ever-shifting. She was not immortal, but as a person in constant flux, her time limit never arose. Her body simply found a new form with every step upon the ground. She didn’t need to worry about all the petty problems other races had.

  She found the Elves in their crystalline towers, looking down imperiously upon the rest of the world with their disdainful visages.

  Beth entered their city, her twisted wings—which should not have been capable of flight—folded and merged into her flesh.

  “Name and affiliation? Reason for entering the city?” The elven guard prompted her as she approached the checkpoint.

  “Beth. Servant of Xaoc. I have come to show you all the beauty of fear.” She told him in simple words. Too simple, it seemed.

  “I have to ask you to come with us.” He hefted his weapon and gave her a look.

  She shook her head sadly.

  “You cannot constrain me. He has gifted me a body that will not be bound.” Beth gave him a pitiful look as he grew angrier.

  Pitiful elves and their pride. He thinks me a mortal because of my form alone. I suppose he would be somewhat correct. But at the same time, so very wrong.

  She stepped forward, and he swung the bludgeon he had at his side.

  It was made from solid oak, but the moment it made contact with her skin, it turned to flowers, scattering petals into the air.

  “I tried to warn you. But don’t you see? Fear is so much better.” Truly, it looked better in his eyes as she reached for him, gliding one finger down across his armor and turning it all to loose flowers. His armor skills meant nothing before her touch of change.

  She laid her palm upon his bare chest and began to change his body too, all before the other guards could react.

  He twisted and morphed into a towering beast of bone and thick hide.

  A roar was ripped from his new maw, before he turned his four hungry eyes upon the other elves around him, signaling the beginning of the fear of the elves.

  It was luxurious, and the elves did a remarkable job of fending off her creations, yet she was but one simple little girl amongst the crowd of panicking civilians.

  Even as their powerful and ancient [Mages] ripped through the monsters that sprang up, even more fear was spread through the rest of the city.

  Beth leveled.

  Her system offered her more and more power as the peerless, perfect Elves cowered before her gift of change.

  There was a time when Xaoc himself spoke to her, so long ago.

  Now he begged.

  Pleaded with his creation to turn back to the beauty she had once witnessed and created with his gifts. He had forsaken her, and she no longer needed his gifts.

  She laughed a little, as she faced down a truly ancient elf on the verge of his own ascension.

  He would become her greatest work yet. The tool for her final effort.

  She collapsed to her knees, a look of fear in her eyes as she whispered words to the powerful immortal before her.

  His Adamantium weapons wrapped themselves around her wrists, binding them.

  The magic metal strained before turning to flowers like everything else that touched her.

  It had been a long time since she’d been able to feel anything with her body that did not obey her body’s will.

  She gave a soft smile as he was shocked.

  He never reacted in time.

  Despite all the gifts of the Elves, he hadn’t had a chance to stop her.

  His body resisted her touch, allowing her to briefly embrace him, as if she were his lover.

  She hugged him, and suddenly all her skills finally took hold.

  He changed.

  He became a massive, twisted creature of chitin and ichor.

  Her weapon to kill a god.

  A false deity that was a stain upon their own seat.

  Beth ensured their name would never be remembered. After all, the seat belonged to her.

  With her final confrontation, a nearly deific monster at her side, Beth ascended at long last.

  Her beast fell in the effort, forcing the elusive god out of hiding and bringing itself within her reach.

  A mouse, crushed beneath her heel.

  After all, she had long reigned terror over the lands.

  None were feared more by Pallos than she was.

  Elizabeth classed up.

  [*ding* You have upgraded your class [The beast Within] - Forest]

  [*ding* Well done! Your class [The Beast Within] has leveled up from level 3,584 to level 4,096!]

  [*ding* Notice! Apotheosis has begun!]

  [Elizabeth Freenight has ascended to become the Goddess of Fear!]

  With the pretender gone, now the true embodiment of Fear sits upon the throne.