A surge of impious, holy, and star energy swallowed a whole stratum of the Terminal Room and Nyx narrowed her eyes as she noticed the faint presence of Aeter inside of it.
When it died down, she saw Rakna resurface first as he seemed to retreat, using his wings to glide his way into a better position. Roias' figure eventually followed, standing in midair with sparks of internal energy at his feet supporting him.
Other than some creases on his Gi, he didn't seem to be any worse for wear. What had changed in his expression was simply that the smirk had turned more amused. The Téras dusted himself with a calm demeanor and looked at both his opponents.
"The Kind Demon's Cross," he said whilst gazing at the accessory hanging around the werewolf's wrist. "The religious symbol of the Basilica of Eternal Night. Certainly, it does grant its wearer the ability to foster damage against us Téra. I did hear it was given to you as a reward for subjugating Verias. That is quite ironic for you to use it on me in turn. But to think you brought it to Zero… did you expect to encounter one of my kind? No… that is a silly question. Of course, you would."
Roias nodded to himself. "Indeed. On the other hand, I'm curious. In this place that lacks Original Laws of Existence or worldly influence, did you know the Kind Demon's power would still shine through?"
"Why the fuck would it matter?" Rakna scoffed and gripped the cross that reacted to his touch like none of the worshippers of the Basilica could ever dream of. "The old man doesn't need that crap and most importantly, why would you need the World as a medium when there is me right here?"
Blinking at first, the Téras eventually devolved into laughter. "So, it is nothing but conviction? How amusing. Pride? Belief? Certainty? Arrogance? Or instinct mayhap? What gives you this permanent confidence of yours?"
Rakna grinned viciously and transformed Sonata into a greatsword, which he hoisted with a single hand and pointed at Roias. "Luck," he uttered and blood energy coated his body, rousing the Eion inside at the same time, and invoking a shapeless aura. "[10 000 Nights of Severance.]"
Sonata slashed and Roias once again used a finger to swipe the flying attack and dispel it entirely before it even had the chance to hit. The werewolf immediately closed the distance afterward and swung the oscillating greatsword teeming with Eion.
This time, the Téras actually raised an eyebrow at the looming weapon and decided not to use his hand to block it. Rather, he conjured black mist around his arm and used it to deflect the sword as if it was physical.
"That odd… cyan energy," he muttered as he crouched to dodge a swing. "I've never seen anything like it before. Both your body and weapon emanate the same signature. Strange indeed," he mused and casually jumped with considerable finesse, landing on the werewolf's shoulder with one foot before using it as a stepstone.
Rakna clicked his tongue and ultimately decided to stop. His current strategy wasn't working and he had no problem believing Roias' threat. If this continued, the Téras would get bored and end it in a heartbeat.
"What's wrong?" The cursed creature cocked his head. "Out of ideas? Didn't you say you wanted to know how I knew of your identity? You still have some way to go before you earn it… or perhaps you wish to banter with me, hoping the little Truth Field around your sword will work on me?"
Silently, Rakna clenched Sonata, and the air began to vibrate imperceptibly. "{Nyx,}" he called out loud but the sound did not come out of his mouth as if he was mute. However, the target of his call reacted from below with widened eyes. "{I'm going to try something. Switch with me,}" he stated and his Soul Weapon dutifully carried his voice's vibrations through air control.
The goddess' expression sharpened and she nodded. Using her Ascended Shadow Control, a pair of wings sprouted on her back, followed by a robe and armor that manifested on top of the clothes she wore.
She flew off at a respectable speed, even by Rakna's standards, and crossed the werewolf who had started to retreat. They briefly glanced at each other and she charged at the Téras. She raised her hand and summoned the Urumi sword forged for her.
The blade split almost instantly and she whipped it at Roias with lightning speed, her attack being bolstered by shadows, Eion, and most importantly, her divinity; the natural force of nature that was generated by her body at all times.
Roias twisted his torso to dodge the whip and he could feel divine power scratch the surface of his skin without touching it. Divine power held the inherent capability of being holy, and this one was a much stronger one than Rakna had mustered through the perk of Sonata.
"Entertaining, I will agree," he admitted and invoked the black mist again. It swirled into the shape of a saber and he used it to deflect a second strike that was sent his way. "My next adversary is a Goddess. Sadly, far too weakened to be a commendable threat."
Nyx frowned at that and summoned a large salamander's head from within one of her wings. The reptilian opened its mouth and blew out a powerful breath of flames.
"Hahaha, you know that an Abyss Téras is weak to fire on top of holy power," Roias chuckled and raised his saber. Again, without visible effort, he retaliated and the fire was inexplicably split and extinguished in a second. "Good for you to capitalize on it," he uttered as sparks fizzled out. "But you must have realized it by now, right?"
Nyx wouldn't stoop down as far as humoring her opponent vocally, but she had indeed understood the reality of the matter. Roias seemingly had innate skills he seemed to use ever since earlier. The black mist was most likely Pandora's Curse itself.
The impossibly fast, but yet smooth and flowing movements were either a high-grade martial art or an Internal Art like Ripple of Rupture.
But his every successful attempt at extinguishing her pseudo-spells and Rakna's Intent or Mana meant only one thing. 'He has either a physique or a Nirvana Skill that erases spiritual energies,' she thought grimly. 'That would explain why he decisively avoids Eion and dimensional forces. Neither of those is spiritual in nature. But on the other hand, magic and most skills are naught but.'
'I cannot hold my own in a physical fight with him,' she concluded internally, helplessly retrieving her whip sword after it once again failed to even graze him. 'I'm locked to ranged methods. But he's definitely vulnerable to my divinity… as long as I pour enough of it in my attacks, it should mitigate his ability to some extent.'
"I see you're the silent type," Roias commented while she was in the middle of her thoughts. "It is funny, isn't it?" He asked with a snicker. "Those in power tend to blabber away, feeling comfortable in their superiority. Personally, I genuinely appreciate conversing with my enemies. It shows me that they do not think of themselves as desperate, scared, or nervous. There is nothing that I love more than someone weaker than me willing to stick out their chest and holler proudly."
Nyx clicked her tongue and while the Téras talked, she glanced around the room to see if she could find Rakna, but to her dismay, there was no trace of him. Presumably, he had gone into another dimension to prepare whatever he was planning.
Roias sneered, "Perhaps your pride is something you've lost along with your former dignity as the Night Goddess. Perpetua Votum must have been a harrowing experience indeed."
Nyx froze and her eyes trembled, dumbfoundedly focusing back on the Téras. "How did…?"
"Ah, you finally spoke," he cackled. "Why? Is it that shocking that I know which spell Eternal Night used to seal you away?"
"Answer me," the goddess commanded menacingly and he simply smiled wider.
"Hah, it seems I've got your full attention now. Are you by any chance wary of my source? Or that it has any influence on how you landed up in Systema?"
"…"
Roias chuckled at her silence. "Admittedly, the knowledge is not my own. Our Dear Empress is the one who has revealed this to me. She is the perfect Téras and knows much about the Kind Demon and his life. After all, he is—" He was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and a massive pillar of holy light descending upon him.
⠀
* * *
⠀
A few moments earlier, Rakna had planted Sonata into the floor of the Terminal room and entered the Mirror Dimension through the blade's reflection. The moment he made the shift, he instantly began to fall as there was no floor for him to stand on.
The entire Terminal room was nonexistent, replaced by an endless void. However, after catching himself with his wings, the werewolf could still see the reflection of his weapon or the silhouettes of Roias and Nyx.
"Looks like the System's infrastructures are dimensionally exclusive," Rakna muttered to himself whilst initiating his idea. He breathed in and out and clasped his hands together.
The idea was simple; cast a spell. Ever since he had come out of Nyx's Half-Dimension, he had kept this constrained feeling deep down in his chest. It was as if his elements had begun to familiarize themselves with the environment and just needed a push to be brought out.
'But I lack the raw power to actually invoke them without the World,' he thought and channeled his mana through his arms.
He had escaped into the Mirror Dimension for one thing; to get away from Roias. Rakna obviously knew about the latter's strange ability to erase spiritual forces; he had made sure to use Crystal Sight at full capacity after his full-powered punch had been brushed off so easily.
He didn't want the Téras' presence to hinder the casting of his spell.
As for the nature of the spell, if he wanted to force it out without worldly influence, he needed one that relied on something more than just the System or him; an outside influence that could breach through the lack of World and even thrive upon its absence.
"And what better fit… than a Major Realm," Rakna uttered and activated Founding Intuition. Gray lines promptly spread out in symmetrical patterns across his crimson fur, releasing Soul Dust.
He grabbed nearly all of the Cardiac Pills he had left and threw them into his mouth, breaking them apart with his fangs and ignoring the strain he felt from the dangerously high dose. He proceeded to circulate his mana in order to cast his spell.
While inside the Twilight, he had used nothing more than his instinct boosted by the full moon to conjure his magic. But this time, he keenly visualized and drew the magic formation.
The runes and lines slowly etched themselves into the magic circle, but one didn't need to be a genius to tell at first sight that it was very unstable, somewhat glitching out.
"Come on… don't let me down," Rakna uttered and manually started drawing the remaining runes with the tip of his claws. Once he was done, the result faintly but surely began to spin. "[Heed My Call,]" he intoned and poured his soul power into it to stabilize it. "[Star Monarch – Virgo.]"
After he chanted, the circle did not react, much to his annoyance. He growled and used more of his soul power while maintaining Founding Intuition. He redirected all of it to his back where his Chalice was etched on.
The Chalice of the Crystal Wolf was his personal Magic Sigil. He had often neglected one of its basic uses until now since most of his magic casting while in the System never required anything more than his instincts.
A Sigil was meant to bend the World. It was a catalyst for the caster to impose their will onto the already established but malleable reality known as the World. But without that root concept, there was nothing to alter, thus making the invocation of magic an incredibly difficult process.
In that case, Rakna would skip it entirely. Why did he need to alter anything, when he already had his own World to impose his will onto others?
"[Embers of Ardor Abide the Star's Vehemence,]" he sang the first line of his Cōl Lāli and the image of the crystalline chalice shone through his fur, enveloping him with its light.
Promptly, the magic circle transformed as if spurred on. It turned into a solid object made out of a precious stone similar to diamond and showered the surroundings with its light. Steadily, above it, small dots of Inferno Star Energy began to appear to form a constellation and Rakna grinned.
"Now, we're talking," he laughed as a multitude of crimson embers sparked around him, on their way to manifest the Inferno Star, but not quite there yet. Meanwhile, the constellation coalesced and turned into a familiar winged cocoon that released far more divinity and power than usual.
Wordlessly, Rakna glanced at Sonata located outside of Antanasia. His link with the Soul Weapon was still present even across dimensions and he ordered it to move. The sword trembled before it flew off toward the figures of Roias and Nyx.
At the same time, a beautiful woman burst out of the Star Energy cocoon and beamed in happiness as she felt a thrilling amount of power accessible to her.
"Lord Monarch!" She greeted cheerfully. "This is incredible! There is barely any interference from Egregore and no limitation from the World. My power is augmented by at least ten-fold," she said rapidly and Rakna snorted in amusement.
Astraea then looked around for a moment. "Um… but where are we?" She added with a tilt of her head. "Looks like Enthymio?" She guessed out loud.
"No time to explain," Rakna finally cut her and pointed at the hazy figure of Roias. "Do you see that bastard? I'll bring you out of Antanasia with me and I want you to hit him with all you've got."
The incarnated goddess quickly sobered up and her eyes sharpened as she observed Roias with renewed seriousness. Now, she knew why her Monarch was currently using his opposite element and personality. "I understand."
"Good. If you're ready…" Rakna's wings crackled as he prepared to carry Astraea out of the Mirror World. His eyes flashed with a deep shade of red and in a streak of light, the dimension collapsed and a divine pillar engulfed Roias from above.
Nyx's eyes widened in surprise and urgently took her distance from the well of power. She looked up and spotted an angelic figure at the source of the attack. "Astraea…?" She muttered and turned to her right where Rakna landed with a tired sigh.
"Shit, that was actually close," the werewolf spoke with an unhinged tone that Nyx was strangely getting used to without difficulty. "For a moment, I thought I wouldn't be able to—" His small rant was cut off by the pillar of holy light imploding. "And of course, it doesn't matter," he grumbled.
"Lord Monarch," Astraea called out as she landed before the both of them. "Please step back. This creature is far more powerful than it is letting on," she said with a grimace.
Roias emerged from the attack with once again barely a mark. However, his sand-colored skin was faintly darker and was releasing smoke, though it was quickly fading away regardless.
"A Firmament Monarch," the Téras commented with his four eyes peering into the angel. "That is an interesting strategy you came up with. Certainly, a Realm can pierce this Plateau's isolation."
"Stop being so damn patronizing," Rakna scoffed.
"Haha, all right. I think you earned it," Roias declared with a chuckle. "Actually, that fallen goddess next to you and I were having a small chat about it before you so rudely interrupted us. As I was saying, our Empress is the epitome of the race known as the Téra. And she has a deep connection to the one known as Eternal Night."
The werewolf's eyebrow twitched.
"And the reason is simple. For you see, the Mad God known as Karaskan is widely known to be the creator of the Téra. He did so by participating in both the crafting and opening of Pandora's Box, which we were born from. But it is not a popular fact that… he didn't open it himself."
Nyx widened her eyes in realization by that point. She knew what he was going to say, and she had in fact known about it for a while. The dots had connected in her mind and she threw a side glance at Rakna who was quietly listening.
"He used someone else's power to awaken it," Roias stated and grinned. "Karaskan is our Creator indeed, but Arimane Reigen Blade… is nothing less than our Father."