It had been ten minutes since the noise died down and the chaos ceased. The clouds had returned to their bright, cheerier forms and the sun was back brightening up the sky. Everything seemed normal, but when one gazed upon the earth from above and saw the destruction that had been wrought on it, they would understand that nothing was normal. For the land was fractured and uneven. Canyons as deep as the pits of hell and just as wide dominated the landscape just outside Amalgamation. The land of Elementals itself had borne quite a loss. For even with the Nature Barrier shielding the people from harm, many buildings fell and the constructed roads were deconstructed. Nothing was the same. And it wasn't just at Amalgamation. Every major city suffered great loss and even some villages had been completely destroyed. People lost their lives as easily as it took a man to weed out grass. And property was destroyed – everywhere. Apart from the human settlements, forests and other natural landscapes had been forever altered. Mountains were now valleys and valleys were now hills. Fire had mowed down forests and deserts were now filled with streams of water. Nothing was the same.
Yet the greatest change of all was none of these things. For though the World of the Three Great Races had been forever altered, it still remained. It's people were strong. It will recover. The greatest change was the atmosphere.
"Can you feel it?" Mane asked tiredly. His eyes were sunken and puffy like a baby who had been crying for several hours without rest and his lips were charred as darkly as the midnight sky. The young Supreme lay calmly on Crystal's back like a helpless babe. His eyes were narrowed into crescents as he relished the changes the fight with Shiva had brought.
"I can, Master Mane," Crystal smiled slightly and said. Although she had a grown man on her back, she didn't seem exhausted in any way. And that was because she wasn't. For she used a basic Lease to enhance her strength, giving her the superior ability of a Thrasher. Usually she shouldn't have been able to do so since she wasn't to use any Leases. But she was. And that was because of the new change to the World of the Three Great Races.
Chaos
Yes, Chaos
Flowing through the atmosphere of the World of the Three Great Races was Chaos; the richest and purest Chaos that had ever been known to mankind and God alike. This was true Chaos – Pure Chaos – that only existed during the era of the Origin King. This was Chaos given directly by an artefact blessed by the Chaotic Flame. How furious the Origin King would be if he found out that his servant's power was what Mane ultimately used to save himself. Alas, he was dead. For he had fallen to the staff of the Chaos Witch.
The two walked silently for a while. The consequences of using his power recklessly had caught up with Mane; hence, he was very weak. Added to the fact that he had used the power of the Void, Mane was currently empty. He could feel Edict's caress and Chaos surrender, but he couldn't bend them to his will. And even Devour could not remedy the wounds Mane had accrued onto himself. Mane could feel it: it would be several weeks or maybe months, before he could use his power again. But he didn't really care about that. He was under the care and protection of the Chaos Witch. Few would threaten him now.
"Master...about Aurora" Crystal hesitated slightly before finally mentioning the name of the missing Wraith. Aurora bad been whisked away by the Origin King when Mane was unconscious and her whereabouts were unknown. Crystal was happy that her Lord was safe, but she worried about the Wraith whose location and current situation was unknown.
"She is fine," Mane weakly replied. His eyes were now slightly sunken and his breath a bit laboured. He needed to rest. As for Crystal calling him Master, Mane didn't want to go into that argument. When he killed Shiva, the Eternal whose beauty had driven the God of destruction to use his loins instead of his head, had refused to call him Mane anymore.
"You just killed a god so I can no longer just call you Mane," she said when she run to the battlefield and picked him up onto her back.
Mane sniffled slightly when some dust got into his nose and said, "I could feel her aura when before I lost my strength. She is in Amalgamation."
That was indeed the case. Mane had obviously noticed the missing Wraith when he came and since he saw most of what happened through the eyes of Cronos he knew what had happened. And that was why he didn't bother asking Crystal about what was going on when he returned. The first thing Mane had done when he came was to trace Aurora with the Soul Contract he had with her. And he found her easily. For the Origin King had smartly sent her into his home. It wasn't a surprising discovery since Amalgamation was the most logical place to send Aurora to. After all, the Origin King didn't really have bases anywhere else. It seems there was a dimensional crack in a dungeon below his mansion that separated reality from virtual. So Aurora couldn't get out on her own.
"We will go for her when we enter the city," Mane stated. "But for now, I shall sleep," he added before immediately dosing off.
"Yes Master," Crystal didn't oppose her Master's decision at all. She swiftly agreed and increased the length of her strides. Now that she knew that Aurora was fine, she wasn't that worried anymore. So she allowed her Master to rest on her delicate back.
Several minutes after Mane and Aurora left the battlefield, a strange change occurred. The peaceful yet marred land remained as it was, for the change was one of spirit and not of flesh. A red mist rose from the sunken earth after Mane was far gone and began a search – the search for the broken corpse of the body of destruction.
The mist searched for a while, for it had no eyes nor ears. However it's search wasn't fruitless. After almost an hour, it found its target, broken and tattered in a canyon as deep as the sun was from the earth. And it settled on it. A voice that was husky from disuse and carried a great weakness with it immediately escaped the mouth of the dead Shiva once the red mist entered his corpse. And if Mane were to be here he would recognise that voice.
"Cough," Shiva sniffled as his body slowly patched itself back together. But this wasn't Shiva. The redness in his eyes weren't his. For those eyes were those of destruction!
"Hehe. I am back. I will find you, Mane Harbinger. And I will take back my eyes."