Chapter 123 - The End Of A Story - 1 - Chaos In The World

First of all, I come to ask for your help for a good deed.

There was a tragedy in a city in Rio de Janeiro, and a lot of people died and many others were left homeless, needing help in such a difficult time.

Do a good deed and help as you can.

The people of Petrópolis really need this strength and although many NGOs are doing an amazing job, even they have limitations.

So make this horrible world a little better world and, even if you don't want to donate to Petrópolis, donate to an NGO near you.

Do your part and be happy.

To help the people of Petrópolis, the information is on this site: https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/nacional/saiba-como-ajudar-as-vitimas-das-chuvas-em-petropolis-rj/?amp

That said, let's get to the chapter.

I hope you have a good read and that your day is promising.

Now I'm going to sleep. :)

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It all started with the solitude of the absolute being.

They were the beginning and the end of all existence and thus, they also had all power and all knowledge. But even though they had all this power and knowledge, they were lonely.

The name of this being was Void.

The Void was always happy and sad at the same time when he looked at their creation. He envied the mortals who, though so ephemeral, seemed more complete than their creator.

The Void looked at them, at mortals, and wanted to be with them, smile with them, cry and live with them, and so the creation of the gods began.

Despite envying their own creation, the Void also loved them and that's why they created the god to take care of their creation in their absence.

The first gods were called primordial gods. They had unimaginable powers and like their creator, they could create life out of nothing as well as destroy entire dimensions.

However, all this power made the Void, who was molding their new body, fear for their creation and limited the powers of the gods.

Each of the primordial gods were split in half, forming two completely different but still equal beings.

Furthermore, the Void also caused the gods' powers to be drastically reduced while separated. They also gained purposes in their deities that they couldn't ignore, and on top of all that, they could only revert to being one being for a short time.

In this way, the Void felt that their beloved creation was safe.

However, the Void was not an unjust being and seeing the silent displeasure of the gods, they tried to equalize with them. When they was creating their new vessel, wanting to be fair to the gods, the Void also implanted purposes in their new existence and those purposes were Truth and Justice.

Obviously these purposes weren't just because they wanted to be just with the gods. There were things only the Void knew.

Then, after seeing that their beloved creation was in good hands, the Void relinquished all their power in their original body and like a primordial god began his journey.

Although he relinquished all of his power, he remembered everything he ever knew about the future and could not live like mortals did.

Mortals experienced a different surprise each day and that was what the Void wanted, so he put his plan into action and taught mortals how they could become gods.

The road was long before Void's chosen mortals reached godhood. Many of those who believed in the Void failed miserably and died, and those among the many who succeeded were not useful in the Void's plan of lose all the knowledge he had.

Once they reached godhood, mortals became arrogant and started wars against the gods that already existed, causing the Void to become the existence that all gods feared, the god that could kill gods, Gehenna.

Many gods have come to fear Gehenna and even avoid him. Despite the vast majority of goddesses liking his appearance, in addition to being lonely, Gehenna became fearsome as a symbol of death among the gods and that made him want to live among mortals even more.

After several attempts and frustrations with mortal ascents to godhood, things began to move in a direction that the Void, now called Gehenna, wanted with the rise of El and Elkunirsa.

Once El and Elkunirsa reached godhood, Gehenna caused a slight distortion in their ascension and thus Yahweh and Asherah were born, who were part of the first two, so Gehenna only had to wait before he could finally get rid of all her knowledge.

While waiting for what he wanted, Gehenna returned to travel between worlds and even knowing everything that was going to happen, he did his best not to interfere with the course of the story that mortals told with their lives.

However, nothing stopped him from being a character in these stories and so he did. But that's another story and time passed quickly while Gehenna had fun.

Gehenna's plan was to die. If he dies, his memories would be erased in his vessel. Although, it would remain in his original body.

With his memories erased from his mind, he would no longer know anything about the future and so he could live fully as mortals and gods did.

However, there were memories of his journey that he didn't want to lose, so he tore off a small piece of his own existence, deposited all of his cherished memories in that piece and stored that piece of his existence with his memories in the soul of a mortal who hadn't even been born yet.

Then, as planned, Gehenna sacrificed El and Elkunirsa, suffered the consequences of his own plan, and disappeared to become a new being.

However, Gehenna hadn't looked that far into the future and didn't know that by depositing a piece of himself in a mortal soul, another existence would be born and today it would be known as Athena.

And now, in the center of all creation, where an endless silhouette hovers and twists like a great dark cloud, Gehenna slept amidst the endless streams of mana that came from all directions.

Unlike his muscular, masculine body that had been molded into the appearance of a famous hero in the distant future, Gehenna now had a more delicate, sinuous and beautiful appearance. She slept soundly until a surge of mana hit her like an electric pulse and her eyes, black like the vastness of all existence, opened and she disappeared in a flash.

***

The world was in complete chaos as everything was lit by ghastly lights from the rift that split the night sky in two. There was also tremors occurring across the continent and storms were raging everywhere, causing deaths in all world.

All this chaos because, in a single point in the world, two women absorbed the universe's mana using the world's mana veins as a shortcut. And this shortcut caused a continual disturbance in the world's mana, but the true chaos was within the minds of Athena and Anemus.

With all that mana, that power, building up in the bodies of Athena and Anemus, something that had sprung from Gehenna's memories awoke from the depths of Athena's existence.

That something was a fragmented Gehenna ego, but more twisted and evil than the original.

As soon as it woke up, this ego… no, this alter ego quickly took control of the minds and bodies of the two women, who had no chance to suppress it.

The caise of this was because the alter ego flooded the minds of Athena and Anemus, who were bound to each other with magic, with the millions of memories of Gehenna and thus took over their bodies and minds.

It was as if they were drowning in a vast and dark ocean as the memories of Gehenna were taking place in their minds. And just like that, the alter ego began to influence and control their minds and bodies.

The Alter ego had only two goals with that act against Athena and Anemus. Two missions it had given itself. Those quests were, first, to kill Yahweh and Asherah, the phony gods who deceived and killed their creator, then return to Gehenna, its origin.

It didn't know that that all happened because of it's creator's plan. It had no way of knowing, as the only memories of this incident were the deaths of El and Elkunirsa, which Gehenna didn't want to forget.

This was because the Alter ego did not know that everything that had happened was part of its creator's plan. A plan orchestrated by Gehenna himself to rid of the remnants of his abandoned omniscience.

To be fair to the alter ego, there was no way he could have known that all of this had been planned by Gehenna. All the information it had were fragments of memories that Gehenna didn't want to lose and, those memories, only held parts of the truth about it's creator's death.

With so little information at it's disposal, the alter ego came to believe that it's creator had been tricked and killed by his own creation.

Killed by gods who weren't even real. This was unacceptable in the alter ego's view point. It believed that the creator was bigger than that.

The alter ego believed that Yahweh and Asherah had played some dirty trick against the creator, against Gehenna, who was limited in an inferior form, and that was a thought that filled it with revolt.

So when it opened Athena's and Anemus' eyes and emerged from the vortex of mana, which rained down on their bodies like an apocalyptic hurricane, and looked at Yahweh and Asherah, who were fighting a small child, it's hatred burned and it released an anti-magic wave.

This anti-magic wave spread in all directions, destroying magical powers and skills, such as the magic that Lucifer used to open the gates of hell, the form of fenrir that Mifa kept and the pure fire form of Fotiá, who was the most affected by that, but that was also a wish of Athena.

As a last-ditch effort, when the alter launched that anti-magic wave, with the help of [Akashic Records], Athena mixed a spell to block the soul corridor that had formed between Fotiá and her and after that, Athena's ego was completely swallowed up by the alter ego's will.

So that was when Uran looked at Athena and her face, still a child, lit up with sincere joy.

Athena was the most important person for the little goddess.

Uran didn't know when it started, but her heart always exploded with happiness when she had Athena in her field of vision.

This helped her to remain patient two years ago, when she first met Athena, and went on to watch everything Athena did through the crack in the seal.

Well, it when she could muster a sufficient amount of power to do so.

That feeling of having millions of ants crawling around in her belly and the warmth in her heart, that only happened to her when she saw Athena.

Anyway, without realizing it, Uran was already loving Athena. It was a strong love that could be compared to the love that Fotiá felt for her mother... No, it was bigger than that.

The love that Uran felt for Athena was greater than a brotherly love, but it was not a lover's love.

Well, there was no way Uran could understand that, she had spent millennia alone and her feelings were still somewhat clouded. She was so confused about her feelings that, even though she still loved her mother, Uran was trying to kill her.

With her feelings stamped on her small and beautiful face, Uran flew towards her friend with open arms to hug her, but she did not even come within ten meters of Athena, because she was soon hit by a powerful gust of wind. It made her disappear into the darkness of the night so fast that hardly anyone on that battlefield could see which way she was thrown.

The alter ego, who dominated the bodies and minds of Athena and Anemus, had no interest in Uran when Yahweh and Asherah were right in front of it's eyes.

And though it's faces, Athena and Anemus' faces, didn't show it, the alter ego was thirsty for blood, for the blood of traitors, and wouldn't waste it's time on an unknown kid, who wasn't even in the creator's memories.

***

At the same time, far away from the battlefield, Ella carried Ytria on her back and Lucifer carried Fotiá in her arms and they flew east amidst a raging storm.

As soon as they saw that something was wrong with Athena, they fled.

However, they didn't run away out of fear, they wouldn't be that disloyal. They did it because they knew things would only get worse from that moment on.

They were aware of their limits and, even though they didn't know or understand the situation of Athena and Anemus, they knew that they would only be burdens for the two, who had risen with a great power.

Besides, once she regained her sanity, all Lucifer saw was Fotia.

The demon lord had the mission to protect the nymph and fleeing the battlefield with Fotiá was her only choice after the anti-magic wave was launched.

While Ella and Ytria talked trying to theorize what was happening to Athena to launch that anti-magic wave and have all that aura and murderous intent emanating from her and Anemus, Lucifer was sunk in worries about Fotiá, who wouldn't wake up.

She had already tried everything, from tickling to a kiss that made Ytria and Ella, who were distracted, react in amazement at the scene, but none of that worked and Fotiá continued sleeping.

Well, the fact that the nymph was only sleeping was Lucifer's relief, but that didn't make her any less worried.

"It's no use looking like that, Lucifer." Ytria said. "After that, it's normal for her to be in this state. She needs to rest so she can reorganize her mana."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

(She's talking about the spirit form this nymph was in. That form where her whole body is made of fire is pure mana and being hit by a wave of anti-magic... It's lucky she's in your arms now.) Ella snorted.

Knowing about the relationship between Athena and Fotiá, Ella had been quite annoyed with what Athena had done.

In the time she spent in the castle, sometimes playing with Fotiá, Faena and the other children, Ella developed a friendship with the nymph, a friendship somewhat greater than the pseudo friendship she had with Athena, and seeing her in that state, it irritated Ella.

Also, the fact that Fotiá's cause was something that Athena caused, made Ella even more angry, as they were family, something Ella lost a long time ago. But, that's a different long story and Ella would rather forget about it, so she just frowned a little.

"If I, who was in a physical form, was affected and I can't use any magic yet, imagine who was in a spirit form... Her mana must be in chaos." Ytria explained and Lucifer's heart calmed down.

(We'll get to the camp soon. Let her rest for a few hours and everything will be fine.)

"That's if there's still a camp..." Lucifer said quietly as she saw what was happening around them.

Random storms came out of nowhere, changing the temperature dramatically from hot to cold and then hot again. Earthquakes and landslides in all directions, and worst of all, the rest of the floating continent and islands slowly plummeting from the sky as the mana crystals faded one after the other.

This was an unknown fact, or rather something that only Gion, Ytria, Lanar, Nimo, Faena, Neu and Eun knew.

The lands that floated in the sky were held in the air by levitation magic that was maintained by the mana crystals.

Lhia had done an impeccable job in her last moments and that was undeniable. However, now it was all just a death trap for millions of people.

Seeing the islands and the mainland falling almost in slow motion in that tenebrous light of the rift and storm lightning, Lucifer thought that maybe that would really be the end of that world.

"Something's been bothering me." Ytria said. "Why weren't you two affected by the wave of anti-magic?"

"Hm? I was affected, but because of all the divinity I took from my siblings, I was able to recover instantly." Lucifer explained with a shrug.

"And you, Chionothyella?"

(I'm a dragon.) Ella said wryly.

"Is that your explanation?!" Ytria asked in disbelief.

(Yes, I'm an old dragon, even though I'm still young. I wouldn't be affected by a mana flush that affects someone's mana circulation. It would only affect children of five thousand years or younger.)

Ella's explanation made Ytria's interest in dragons and adventurous spirit awakened. As Ella spoke, Ytria's eyes sparkled with excitement as she planned future trips to study dragons in person.

"I can already see the camp..." Lucifer said and hovered in the air when she saw the situation of the place. "Holy Hell..."

***

With so much chaos and death in the world, there was one being who was legitimately happy with all that, and that was Naph, the goddess of death.

The reason for such happiness was because her plan was working.

Together with her brothers, Viha and Meno, Naph had created a plane solely for the passage of the dead to reincarnation.

This would cause her to be established with the goddess who would bring redemption to lost souls and strengthen her existence for mortals, as only a small part of northerners worshiped her.

After seeing Yahweh's power, Naph quickly understood what a god like her needed to do to gain more power and strengthen her existence.

She wanted the faith of mortals so that, when Athena or Uran took the place of supreme goddess of the world, she would still be needed in that world.

Naph had no intention of going against Athena or her younger sister, Uran. In fact, even now, she regretted never having done anything to help Uran.

So Naph created the underworld, a place the dead gods could never leave as long as Viha, Meno and she had the power to keep that plane locked away.

Naph knew that the deaths of gods wouldn't just end with the deaths of Nirsa, Rendel and Kadra, soon other gods would be killed and fall there and Naph intended to make sure they never left.

Well, there were some gods, some of her brothers and sisters, who weren't as bad as Redel was. And there were those, like Ertalla, who even sympathized with Athena. These would not be locked away, but would need Uran's permission and forgiveness to leave the underworld.

And so, as if following Naph's plan, just like the souls of mortals, the souls of angels slain in the camp and on the battlefield soon fell into the underworld.

However, unlike the souls of mortals, the souls of the gods were thrown deeper into the underworld, where Naph had placed various astral creatures to torture them.

Eventually, Naph's name was recognized by all mortals, and while it was more of a fear-worshipping, Naph received the faith mortals had that they would pass through the underworld and return as a new being, be it an animal, person, or plant, according to the life they had led while was alive.

Of course, this was just a mortal superstition, a fable that someone had told children about an underworld from another world, where the mortal souls had to gone to seeking for the redemption for their sins.

Well, that was also another story to be told in the distant future.

***

All this happened minutes before Lucifer, Ella, Ytria and Fotiá arrived at the camp.

The people were exhausted from all the tragedy that followed them in the last few hours. They had never experienced situations like the ones they faced. Their minds troubled by the deaths that had occurred, could barely digest all the information they had witnessed.

Being teleported to an unknown land, which they believed was hostile to life, seeing their homeland decimated in the blink of an eye, walking around and being attacked and killed by unknown winged beings...

The people Athena had saved were extremely exhausted. Both mentally and physically. They could barely move after all that had happened in such a short space of time.

It had only been three hours since all that had happened and changed their lives. Hardly anyone normal would be able to accept things as they were and remain calm. They were desperate.

Serien, accompanied by Sahari, Lobana and Oliana, walked among the citizens who were still alive, mostly children and young women, and tried to help and comfort the depressed people.

Not even the soldiers and knights, who still patrolled and did their best to keep the people safe, were all right.

They were clearly tired. They panted, sweated and hardened their expressions in an attempt to hide their fatigue and stress, but in the end, they were still just as exhausted as the one they protected.

However, they didn't stop and kept pacing back and forth, taking turns and short breaks. They kept to their duty and out of respect for their courage, determination and dedication, no one said anything to them, they just thanked them silently.

As she walked through the camp, Serien's heart pounded in his chest every time he saw a corpse.

No matter where she went, there was a corpse of an adult, a child, a woman... That was when it wasn't just a piece of a body or just a puddle of ground meat and blood.

Beside these bodies, there was always someone in tears, crying out their grief with fury and wailing in their cry of pain. That scenes made Serien feel heavy as if she'd lost a piece of her.

The queen wanted to hug them and cry with them, but then who would be their safe haven? If she collapsed, they would lose their pillar, and so, Serien held back and continued walking through the crowd, healing the wounded who still had salvation.

"How many wounded are left to be healed?" Sahari asked Oliana.

Sahari was extremely worried about Serien, who cast a high level spell after another, healing even those who had lost legs or arms.

Even though she was using Mifa's hair as a catalyst, doing that was too risky, because, normally, Serien could only cast that same spell twice a day.

From all that tragedy, Sahari saw a happiness arising in the future. They were starting to understand each other again and getting closer. Sahari didn't want anything to happen to Serien, even less now that the mood between them was getting better.

However, Sahari also couldn't stop Serien from doing what she had to do. In this helplessness, all that was left for Sahari was worry and zeal.

Seeing the distressed eyes of her friend, Oliana, who was as tall as a mountain giant, dressed in armor whose color it was no longer possible to tell, looked at the entire camp as far as her eyes could see and could barely count how many wounded still remained.

N/A: A mountain giant is, on average, three and a half meters tall, and can reach around seven meters. They are considered the smallest species among the giants. However, Oliana is not a giant.

"Thousands...?" Oliana answered uncertainly.

There were thousands or millions of wounded scattered throughout the camp, it was impossible for Oliana to count them all in that moment.

Sahari looked at Serien with pained eyes and bit her lip, avoiding asking Serien to stop, as she knew that wouldn't happen. She could only pray that Serien's mana wouldn't run out and the worst would happen.

Serien's eyes were filled with pain and at one time or another, they filled with tears at the sight of someone crying with a body or piece of one in her arms. But she couldn't stop and along with the few remnants clerics of the old church of light, she continued to heal as many wounded as she could.

However, there was another worry that Serien couldn't get out of her head. Something Lucifer had warned her about before she left for the battlefield where Athena was.

There were other angels in disguise among the people.

Shapeshifters who waited for an opportunity to kill someone else and take their souls as a way to extend their weakened lives. Beings who saw mortals, regardless of race or color, as only finite batteries, useful only for a few minutes.

Since Lucifer, Mifa and Fotia had left, there had been twenty attacks that Serien had been aware of. However, in fact, the attacks of the fallen angels had already passed the hundreds and they only managed to kill three of the attackers.

Serien was starting to think that maybe peace would never come again, and that's when Michael appeared before her.

A tall and handsome man with golden hair, eyes and wings, but he wore rags and carried, attached to his body, thick black chains that absorbed any kind of mana, preventing him from using any kind of power.

A powerless archangel, someone she knew nothing about other than that, for the moment, he was Lucifer's plaything as Hercules was Athena's, a captive enemy.

"If you take these things away from me, I might be able to help end with the fallen." Michael said, looking into Serien's purple eyes.

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This isn't the final chapter, don't worry, it's just a piece of it.

Well, I think this is pretty obvious...

I underestimated the length of the story and when I went to see the draft, it was huge. There will probably be another two or three parts yet, so instead of a final chapter, it's more of a final arc. :v

That said, I don't know when the next chapter will be released. I'm writing on my cell phone and this is horrible. To make matters worse, due to the rains in RJ, the delivery of my pc case was delayed by five months...

It seems that the company was flooded by a flood and made all the company's equipment and materials useless. Well, I already paid, so I just have to wait.... Damn rain.

Well, I hope you stay as patient as you've been so far and keep following "Last Played" until the very end.

Kisses. ;*

All J.