Chapter 166: 40 Fire and Death!

Just as she had wished, the Heavens rose up to meet Sehuyun. It did not matter how different the shape of the universe was from before, or how large it was. It did not matter the power that rose up to meet her like a giant, firm and immovable, daunting even to her. It simply did not matter, for she clawed her way through the Void all the same, leaving her nest behind to meet this worthy foe. Statera Luotian, in all their glory, rose to meet her. Whatever words or plan they had held close to chest in a vain attempt to stop her, to try and end her rampage, to appeal to whatever "better nature" they believed she had buried somewhere beneath scale and rage, died in their throat. She watched it happen. She watched them swallow their words, their expression morphing to one of pure cold steel, determination that matched her own raging passion.

A crown of gold appeared above their head, burning like the sun, flowing purple robes transforming in pure white light as it cascaded down their form. Six feathered wings sprouted from their back, glowing a brilliant gold, eyes, those brilliant green eyes, shooting beams of light that set the Void to writhing.

Sehuyun

Fire and death ripped from between her teeth, the Void shuddering as she proclaimed her might. Tiny realities formed in the depths of her breath, exploding as her destructive flame and the Void itself collapsed them. Galaxies were created and annihilated in an instant, driving it farther, faster, more powerful the farther it reached, seeking nothing but destruction.

Statera Luotian's eyes grew wide, ducking beneath the stream of flame - and Sehuyun wrenched her head to the side in a great sweep, the Void rippling as she tracked the now winged god. They cursed, teleporting in rapid succession, but the Void was Sehuyun's domain, not the Heavens. She was the one to tear the Void asunder to create her territory, not made to create a realm to defend herself from the Void. She grabbed the Void with her claws, and

Their teleports stuttered, and Statera appeared just in front of Sehuyun's flame, eyes wide as they were bathed in the full destructive might of her Roar.

A shiver of fear ran down Sehuyun’s spine and she snapped her teeth shut, ducking her head as a spear of golden light lanced through her flames, smoking and stuttering as her destructive nature ate away at it.

Statera burst through the residual smoke and fire, a helm of silver light resting upon their head, eyes narrowed, fist cocked back and a gauntlet of power ripping through the Void at her. Sehuyun met it with her horns, a great crack echoing in the nothingness of their battleground, but she bared her teeth and ripped her horns upward, knocking them off-balance.

Her wings struck, the hooked ends swinging around to dig into the joints of Statera's own wings, digging beneath flesh and bone to rip them from their back. They screamed in pain, golden blood spilling out into the Void in a deeply satisfying spray, and Sehuyun laughed, roaring out her joy - only for Statera to shove their fist into her mouth, a burst of blue light blinding Sehuyun and igniting her own breath. She roared, thrashing her tail as cold blue fire seeped between the cracks of her scales, eating at her rage, at the flames that burned beneath her skin, freezing it all.

Sehuyun opened her mouth and breathed in, sucking in the cold flames to burn against the furnace of her soul.

"Now freeze," Statera uttered, leaping backward and clenching their fist, golden blood staining the rest of their stark-white wings. The entire construct collapsed - a sun, Statera had created a cold sun around Sehuyun's head - imploding and freezing her from the inside out. For a moment, there was absolute stillness. Statera took the moment to build up power, their now four wings flapping, hands clasped together, and Sehuyun sneered. A clever trick, but that was all it was. A trick.

She laughed; a deep, rumbling sound echoing from her chest, the ice cracking around her as she got used to her temporary prison. It was cold, freezing cold, a zero so absolute no molecules existed within that space - Void ice, the very essence of what it means to lack heat and movement.

She flexed, and it shattered, the glow in her chest transforming from burning orange to an unforgiving, frostbitten blue. The ice was sucked into her through every pore, swelling her already prodigious power as she claimed it as her own.

"I am a Dragon!" She bellowed her defiance, wings snapping out, a blizzard to end all winters falling from beneath her wings. "What is mine, is mine, and no longer yours! Your puny frozen sun could not contain me, Statera Luotian!"

"It was not meant to contain you. Merely give you pause." Statera's voice rang out in eerie harmony, three voices overlapping, for now Sehuyun faced three of them. Her eyes narrowed, teeth baring in a savage grin. The winged warrior was gone. In its place stood a form she was far more familiar with; three warriors clad in gleaming bronze armor, holding spears and round shields, capes falling from their backs.

"Your wings," Sehuyun growled, eyeing the three versions of Statera, spears leveled and shields raised. They had turned the wings she had torn off into different versions of themself. "You really think splitting yourself will make a difference?!" She howled, leaping forward, ice mixing with fire and smoke as she wreathed herself in shadow and power.

She leapt upon the first of them, claws tearing off arm and shield, maw wide open as she moved to bit its head off, its spear driving into the soft tissue of her open mouth, the other two moving with the synchronicity of trained soldiers, driving their own spears into chinks in her armor, beneath the wings or into her neck. Pain radiated from the strikes, the warriors pouring Statera’s Domain into her, attempting to balance her rage and anger, the fight within that bid her forward.

But she was a Dragon. And a Dragon commits, no matter what.

She shoved her head down, driving the spear in her mouth deeper, its foul magic balancing the raw destructive fury within her with calmer emotions – but it was but droplets in an ocean compared to her desire to fight. Her jaws snapped shut, shattering the spear, teeth sinking into the soft tissue of the warrior’s neck. The others stabbed her again as she wrecked her head sideways, warm golden blood splashing in her mouth as the head was removed, a fountain painting her muzzle gold, tail thrashing and knocking another of the copies aside -

An explosion rocked her, a pained roar escaping as she was sent hurtling backward, the head in her mouth - no, a single droplet of blood - detonating with extreme prejudice. Scales cracked and fell as she whirled, spinning and folding her wings close to right herself, the motion knocking away thrown spears. Her wings flared immediately after, halting her momentum, and as she hovered in the Void she stared down at the god.

Statera Luotian knelt next to their fallen, headless clone, merely touching it and absorbing it into their body. The other had a broken arm from where her tail struck it, and with a glance it, too, faded into golden light that was absorbed. She felt the head still in her mouth struggling to return, a bit of light seeping out from between her teeth.

Sehuyun laughed, gleeful and loud, as she swallowed what remained of Statera's head, its power absorbing slowly into her body as she claimed it as hers, the severed Will no match for her own. Blood dripped from her wounds, a cracked tooth flaking off when she tongued it. She could heal them easily. She did not, savoring the dull, throbbing pain, the taste of her own blood in her mouth mixing with Statera's, the warmth of it on her scales. And, most importantly, she let the ache fuel her.

Each dull throb only made her more and more angry, driving her fury to new heights and countering the foul balance Statera was trying to impose upon her.

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"Silly tricks and martyrdom," she scoffed, peering down at them imperiously. "We both know that you - what's that?" Statera had shifted forms again, no longer the bronze-clad warrior.

A simple, jade crown rest upon their brow. Their robes were ornamental and soft, made of fine silk, hair done up in a bun held with gold pins. At their side hung a straight sword, the pommel encrusted with gems. Yet what was in their hand was nothing but a simple, wooden bow, and no arrows.

"They say the weapon of a warrior, lays in the steel at your side and spear in your hand." They chanted rhythmically, voice serene and unflappable as they raised the bow. "But the Weapon of a Conqueror has always been a bow. Don't say I never tried to stop you." They drew and Sehuyun snarled, an arrow of red appearing on the string, pulled directly from Statera’s chest.

Alarm bells rang in Sehuyun's ears, for the first time a sense of true danger filling her heart. Her wings tucked and she dove, the Void parting before her to form a tunnel -

The arrow arrived. There was no thwack of a string, no whistling of the arrow as it split the air. It simply struck her just above the tail. Magic pushed into her, red and angry, taking her boundless rage and binding it within her very soul, using her own being against her.

"Muladhara, for to fell a tree one must start at the base. Let fear and anger bind you in place," they intoned, words choosing as if they were just beside Sehuyun's ear. She snapped and snarled, craning her neck to remove the glowing red object that pierced straight through her with her teeth, only for a second arrow to strike above it, piercing through where her navel would be. She screamed in pain, the Void shattering beneath the sound, rippling with disturbances.

"Svadhisthana, your passion become chains if left unbalanced." This arrow was a brilliant orange, and she could physically feal her passion, her raw fury and everything that made her a Dragon, working against her, binding her limbs and slowing her movement. Her teeth bared and wings flapped as she shot toward Statera, sucking in a deep breath and Roaring once more, the ice she had channeled burning away into pure destructive fire, focused entirely on burning Statera to nothingness.

They did not move, drawing their bow and firing once more, this time with a yellow arrow.

It arrived, and struck her just below the ribcage, piercing straight through the flames, untouched entirely. She stared at the arrow numbly; there was only one thing that could not be touched by her fires, for they were of the fire as much as anything else.

Concepts. Statera Luotian was trying to bind her with raw, distilled concepts. They were using her own being against her.

Statera walked out of the fire meant to destroy them with blackened robes and a half-burnt face that showed bone - wounds quickly healing. Too little. Her roar had been cut off by the arrow, and she had done too little damage. And now –

"Manipura, for the ego must die to achieve true enlightenment."

Sehuyun in agonized fury as her very core was struck and skewered, but she didn’t have time to sense what it was doing to her, as two more arrows arrived in quick succession.

"Anahata, to stimulate your compassion, and bridge the physical and spiritual. So you know what it is you do, intimately know the depths of others pain." A green arrow, through the heart, inspiring her to be, ugh, compassionate. "Vishuddha, for the truth is binding and damning both." Her wings flapped uselessly as a blue arrow pierced her throat, her roar blocked in her chest, lungs bound on two sides by compassion and truth.

She snarled and fixed Statera with a hateful glare, lunging forward with the last of her strength, claws bared.

The next arrow struck, as her claws tore a chunk out of Statera's side.

This one was purple.

"Ajna," Statera gasped, leaping away and clutching their side to stop the bleeding. "For without the ability to see the bigger picture, thou art but a frog in a well, staring at the sky." Sehuyun closed her eyes as her strength left her, all her emotions confused and bound together, ego and and rage pulled equally against love and compassion and passion and hope.

"These are the Seven Seals of the Heavens." Statera finished, a white arrow appearing on their bowstring as they drew back, hissing in pain as their torn side stretched open. Sehuyun cracked an eye to watch, her fear and panic bogged down by the six arrows already within her. "And it ends with the Crown. Sahasrara." And they loosed.

This time, Sehuyun could see it coming. And she knew without a shadow of a doubt that if it landed, she would be sealed, bound by the Heavens, to be tossed into a dungeon and rot away until she changed her mind, and become more of herself in a different way.

No.

NO!

"NO!" she boomed, screaming her defiance to the heavens, dredging up everything she could muster with tooth and claw and sheer fucking will.

Arrows shattered, Statera's eyes growing wide as she dug deep within herself, grabbing hold of that core sense of self no mere arrow could seal away. That was why Statera had sped through the Ego; they could not completely kill it from Sehuyun with a simple arrow, be it a Concept or not, and had sought to distract her with everything else. But a Dragon does not forget what they are.

Creation, not destruction, annihilated the concepts the arrows represented, challenging them with her own knowledge of who and what she was and unravelling the binding. She was everything the arrows told her she was; that was true. But she was not just that, either.

She launched herself forward with claws and wings of fury, shattering the bow with a sweep of her tail, Statera stumbling backward with sword drawn, desperately fending off her claws and teeth, cursing the whole way.

"I am a Dragon!" She bellowed, batting their sword aside and spearing them through with a spike on her wing. They punched her appendage, scales cracking beneath the force. "You think a mere Conqueror can challenge I?! A mere warrior?! A Holy Angel?! No! I am an existence to shake the Heavens! If I am to be defeated, let there be fire, let there be fury, and let my dying roar crack the heavens themselves!" Each word was punctuated with another strike, another blow, another piece of Statera carved away.

They shifted again and again. To the Warrior, to the Angel, to a being made of nebulas, and even, briefly, to a scaled form that tried to become a dragon.

Sehuyun did not let them. She would not dishonor this fight by not taking them seriously.

"LET THERE BE FIRE AND ASH!" She roared, and . Orange flames bathed Statera, and, for the briefest of moments, she saw them. They simply stood there, bleeding and missing chunks, and watched death approach - and closed their eyes. Sehuyun did not let up. Not after ten minutes. Not after twenty. Not until not even ash remained, and she alone stood int he Void, her Nest behind, and the combined universes of the One World and the Four Realms before.

A scream of fear and rage tore up from the One World, the Oshun, the broken bitch, standing upon the surface.

Sehuyun laughed, placing one paw right where the ash pile should have been, blood pouring from her wounds that only now began to close. She was victorious. She was victorious! And she ignored the hollow feeling in her chest at the thought. Now, it was about time to turn to her new nest -

She froze in place, wings flaring wide as she fixated her gaze where the rhythmic thumping had come from.

That sounded like –

Thunder boomed, and Sehuyun could not help the satisfied grin that crept up onto her face, power swirling within her to heal her wounds even faster, and undo the remaining bindings Statera had imposed upon her. The One World shifted, mountains moving, energy roaring and rippling as structures within the universe, closer to the Four Realms, connected with everything. The Giant she had felt shifting when she approached opened its eye, metaphorically, raw power surging forth.

“SEHUYUN.” The voice boomed, echoing from everywhere and nowhere.

“It’s about damn time,” she growled out, storm clouds gathering before her, purple lightning splitting the Void as Statera Luotian revealed their truest nature.

“The center is the soul, and I am the Heavens.” Statera said softly. “You wanted to shake me? Consider me shaken. Now, I will show you the fullest height of the Heavens.”

Sehuyun laughed, as a shape began to condense in the storm clouds, the energies of two – no, – universes creating a body for the Heavens to inhabit.

“Now this is more like!” She roared with glee. Thunder boomed. A dragon roared. And the battle began anew.

***

Alexander had said one word when the thumping began. “This shall be the Heart of my universe. The Heart Realm.” He said, naming the very center that sought to encase the Four Realms, not noticing the way it beat.

Elvira tapped the outer part of her universe, that hard shell. “This is the Bulwark. The wall, which allows only that which I desire in and out.” She said, nodding happily.

“This shall be the Mirror Realm,” Keilan said, tapping the mirrored realm. “What looks in, looks back, reflecting what is, and showing the self.” It shuddered and pulsed, nerves firing.

“The Flux,” Reika muttered, watching her realm contract and expand, constantly shifting and moving, clinging to all to create movement and intention, reacting to the universes around it.

Morgan smiled to itself, as it watched it all happen, and looked heavenward. It desired nothing more than to jump up there and teach the foolish lizard what the Great One truly was itself, but…well. It supposed it should be thankful. Now, the Great One was realizing their true might, their truest expression of their Greatness. That core of steel had been melted and was being reformed into something new.

Morgan’s grin widened, baring its too-many teeth.

All that was left, was for it to finish up its job. It wouldn’t go so far as to create its own universe, but there was certainly nothing stopping it from using [Words.]

“The Realms are your Soul. Everything else, the Body. Now, [Connect.]” It said, and everything changed.