Chereads / MYRIAD / Chapter 16 - Mundane Lives: Calamity

Chapter 16 - Mundane Lives: Calamity

[Paradis: Hades' Cabin]

"Hello again, Young Wolf.", Hades greeted Gazeera, as a smile warped over his cloudy mannequin like face.

"Lord Hades.", spoke Gazeera, as he bowed before him.

"Firstly I am sorry for summoning you again, right during your orientation.", continued Lord Hades. "I presume, Aminon has briefed you about your duty as an [Overseer].

"Aminon showed me to the lighthouse and told a bit about it's uses.", replied Gazeera. "She was going to show me my workplace, but it seemed like [The Retired One] wanted to have a word with me. In fact, he was about to assign me my first task, that's when you summoned me."

"Well, [The Retired One] is known to be patient.", grinned Hades. "I have a task for you instead."

Gazeera nodded.

"You haven't ascended through reincarnation, but through a recommendation. Though, weirdly we cannot pin-point which Deity recommended you.", said Lord Hades. "But that is not an issue. Since you have been recommended, you have skipped a few steps, necessary steps to understand the way our realm functions. And for that reason, I think it would be good if you get some field experience.

"Field experience?..", questioned Gazeera.

"Having you witness the whole process from death to reincarnation.", replied Lord Hades. "And there is no better way of achieving it than handling an apocalypse. Nothing as calamatic as the biblical end, just handling the end of one civilization and ushering the beginning of a new one."

"So all I have to do, is witness the whole process?", said Gazeera.

"Well you can get involved if you want to, but mostly yes. You just have to witness the whole process.", replied Lord Hades.

"Okay, when do we start?,", Gazeera agreed.

"Right now.", said Lord Hades, as he snapped his fingers.

Thanatos appeared in front of them, wrapped in shadows.

"Go and summon [Deimos], he will be joining us on Sector [SF-5101].", Lord Hades commanded.

Thanatos nodded and dispersed in shades of black, reappearing alongside another [Incarnation].

This [Incarnation] was pitch black, with red engraving and markings running randomly across his body. He had huge sharp canine protruding out from his mouth, bulging gold eyes with red iris. His hair was a cloudy combination of jet black and grey.

[Deimos] bowed in front of Lord Hades.

"He is Deimos, The God of Terror.", spoke Lord Hades, turning to [Deimos], he continued-

"You are to accompany Gazeera throughout this expedition and guide him along the way. He is a newborn and a fellow [Overseer], he might not be familiar with certain things, so I urge you to be patient."

"As you command.", responded Deimos, curtly. He had deep, commanding voice.

"Sir, the reaper units are ready.", spoke Thanatos.

"Tell the [Furies] to prepare the [Heralds]. I will be personally overseeing this calamity.", commanded Lord Hades.

"Yes, my liege.", replied Thanatos.

**************** *************** *************** 

[Paradis: The Lighthouse]

Cerberus stood guard before the [Gates of Erebos], the mighty spectral portal surrounded by a vast array of ethereal strands. He was a towering beast, with his three wolf heads held high.

Before him a group of [Incarnations] dressed in black and grey suits were waiting. These were the Grim [Reapers]. And right above them flew a flight of bestial creatures, riding them were the [Heralds] led by [The Three Furies]. The [Heralds] were adorned with the carcasses of several abominations and monsters, appearing domineering and powerful. They landed right beside the [Reapers].

The spectral portal was pulsing softly. Suddenly a grey rift opened in the pavilion, and out from it strode Lord Hades followed by Thanatos, Deimos and Gazeera.

"Is everyone ready for the convergence?", Aminon's voice reverberated across the pavilion.

"Yes.", affirmed Lord Hades.

"Alright then, initiating convergence in 10.. 9.. 8.."

"We are about to fuse with the laws of the realm.", Deimos told Gazeera. "It's your first time right, you might feel a bit whoozy."

"What do you me-", as Gazeera was about to ask Deimos.

BOOM!!!

The pulsing spectral portal opened. The ethereal strands around the portal started spinning vigorously, wrapping themselves around it.

ZWROON!!!

The portal started flickering viciously and a beam of light shot forth, shrouding everyone within it. It started pulling everyone towards the portal.

Gazeera looked at his hand, it was warping and distorting as he got sucked into the [Gates of Erebos], stretching like a string. 

SCHING!!!

Gazeera was suddenly thrown into a void of space, where he flailed randomly zooming across the spectral abyss.

Mesmerized, he gazed upon the abyss, the space was black shrouded in purplish violet hue. Here he could see countless timelines converging and diverging, warping around round and round, over and over again. He could see several universes dissipate and form. And above all that he could see waves of souls and wraiths, zooming across the abyss, an ethereal cloud jumping from one universe to another. Warping around different timelines.

He was still flailing around, when a hand grabbed him.

"Stay close to me." , said Deimos.

"Where am... I?,", asked Gazeera, still mesmerized.

"Welcome to the Multiverse.", replied Deimos, with a smile.

Where are the rest?,", enquired Gazeera.

Deimos pointed at a group flying above them. A magnificent army of [Incarnations] led by Lord Hades himself, who was surrounded by [The Three Furies]. Followed by Thanatos and his [Reapers], racing across the abyss like a trail of jet black shadows. And right alongside them the domineering group of [Heralds] riding their mighty beasts, roaring along the way.

"Don't leave my hand.", said Deimos. "Can't have you getting lost here."

They made their way towards the group.

"Commencing convergence.", Lord Hades transmitted his command to all of them.

"Brace yourself.", Deimos told Gazeera, who tightly clutched [Bailka] his palisman and held it before himself.

The beam of light around them started dissipating slowly. Gazeera distorted as if he was being warped and churned.

The beam of light led towards a universe, which was pulsing under the influence of the [Gates of Erebos].

"AAAARRRHHH!!!", Gazeera roared. Just then-

All of them were brought inside the universe.

************** *************** ****************

[SF-5101: Variant 10E]

It was a desolate realm, with few sparkling galaxies moving in it. The universe was rather new and small. The [Incarnations] were just drifting around in the empty, desolate space

"Are you alright?", asked Deimos. He was flickering and translucent like a projection. Shrouded in a murky dark red hue.

"I am fine.", replied Gazeera. He too was flickering like a projection, shrouded in bright cyan light.

"Really, you aren't feeling concussed or disoriented?", said Deimos.

"No... as you can see, I am fine.", said Gazeera. He raised his arms high and stood tall.

"If you say so.", shrugged Deimos.

"Now you might be wondering about what I meant by fusing with the laws of the world?", spoke Deimos.

"Yes.", replied Gazeera.

"So as you can see, even though we entered this universe we have not incarnated in it.", said Deimos. "We have descended to this realm in our true form."

He pointed at different [Incarnations] standing alongside them. All of them were flickering like projections, shrouded in different colors.

"But we can't directly interact with any universe in our true form, primarily because it will cause more harm than good.", he continued. "So in-order to interact with a universe we inhabit the laws that govern them."

"So what happens if we do involve ourselves directly with the world?", questioned Gazeera.

"We would reshape the world in our image. It won't be intentional of course, our presence would just alter the universe to accomodate us.", replied Deimos.

"And, what exactly are we waiting for here?", asked Gazeera.

"We are synchronizing with this realm.", replied Deimos.

And just as Deimos said that, every [Incarnation] in the premise stopped flickering, with the colors shrouding them forming a sleek silhouette around them.

"Get ready.", said Deimos, as the group raced across the universe into a galaxy. There were several ships zooming around shooting one another. Great mother ships hovering about star systems destroying satellites, planets, etc. The whole galaxy overrun with mayhem, destruction and madness.

Fleets of starships clashing against one another. Booming and bashing, blasting away each other as they left behind a wake of ruin and doom across the galaxy.

Gazeera was shocked by the level at which this war was being fought at.

Looking at his face Deimos smirked-

"You should see the look on your face.", he remarked. "This much is nothing compared to the biblical apocalypse or even some of the major catastrophes I have witnessed. In front of them, this is just a minor skirmish."

"What are they even fighting for?", asked Gazeera.

"It is a war for dominion and authority between the remnants of a dying civilization looking for a new home and a newly bloomed galactic empire defending theirs.", replied Deimos. "Too bad neither of them are going to survive."

"Well then, let's get to work.", said Deimos,. "Don't wander away, kid. Just stay close to me and capture as many spirits as you can. Leave the souls to the [Reapers] and the [Heralds]."

SCHRINNG!!!

Lord Hades raised a pair of dark glinting cleavers, as he grinded them together. Every [Incarnation] rushed forth including Deimos. who was followed by Gazeera.

As they were rushing forth towards the battlefield, Deimos turned back and gestured Gazeera to observe.

Everyone got to work, the reapers zoomed across the galaxy like whisps of black smoke, wielding their sickles and scythes, reaping every soul that fell in the battle. Soon the entire battlefield was shrouded within an encirclement of dark mist, trapping every soul inside.

The [Heralds] circled around the reapers wielding a wide arsenal of weapons, crashing into pocket dimensions, destroying domains which unleashed waves upon waves of spirits and trapped wraiths.

The [Heralds] guided the wraiths back into the same universal timeline, while some of them were sent to other variant timelines.

Deimos summoned a scimitar, as he prepared for the rushing wave of spirits.

"Follow my Lead!!!", he told Gazeera, as he flew towards the monstrous mob of spirits who were gushing at him viciously screeching and cackling.

Gazeera followed right alongside him, zooming across the galaxy, ignoring the mayhem and chaos around them.

Deimos swung his scimitar, striking at the horde of spirits swarming him. A dull grey crescent shaped arch shot forward at the horde, devouring them in terror and dismay. Deimos circled around the mob cornering them from all sides slashing and stabbing any spirit that got too close to him. The spirits tried to run away, they tried to retreat but to no avail as they could not escape the grasp of terror.

The Few that managed to rush out in panic got struck down by Gazeera's Bailka, as he sent them straight back to Deimos . Deimos spun around, zooming across the galaxy slashing and striking every spirit in his way. Gazeera followed quickly behind him, hitting any spirit that managed to escape Deimos back to him.

After scouring the whole galaxy for spirits, capturing any that they could find. The duo finally stopped their onslaught. Containing every spirit at one place in the shape of a murky dark grey cloud.

Schling..!

Deimos sheathed his scimitar.

"Not bad, kid.", he told Gazeera. "Great job on keeping up with me."

"Thanks.", replied Gazeera, with a smug smile on his face.

"Let's join the rest. They must be almost done on their side.", said Deimos.

"What do you mean, the war is still going-", spoke Gazeera.

"No it's not.", interrupted Deimos. "Look around you, it just ended."

Around them the galaxy was left in the wake ruin and doom. Planets obliterated, mother-ships torn apart drifting in solitude, mangled remains of imploded corpses floating in the cold and desolate space. Several star-systems had collapsed, with huge nebulae strewn across the galaxy.

Deimos raised his hand, pointing his palm at the murky grey cloud of spirits. Pale grey waves shot forth from his hand, shrouding the cloud. The spirits within shuddered, as most of them got purified. The ones that were purified shined brightly, while the ones that were not remained grey.

"The white ones are [Fragments] of our souls, while the darker ones are spirits that are too attached to this universe.", explained Deimos. "But don't worry about them, [Aminon] will tell you about them later."

They made their way towards Lord Hades. The [Reapers] and the [Heralds], had already assembled before him. Thanatos appeared behind Lord Hades, as he assimilated himself in shades of black. The [Furies] circled around Lord Hades menacingly.

"Release the [Fragments] back into [Yggdrasil].", he commanded Deimos.

Deimos obliged by opening a grey rift and forcing all the purified [Fragments] into [Yggdrasil] through it.

"What are we going to do with the remaining ones?", he asked, pointing at the darker spirits.

Lord Hades summoned a box, it had several spiral patterns engraved on it. It faintly glowed with a copper glint.

Everyone except for Gazeera was taken aback by it's presence.

"My liege, Pandora's Box, why would yo-", Thanatos spoke up

"I promised him that I would show him the whole process from death to reincarnation, didn't I?..", said Lord Hades, pointing the box at Gazeera. He then pressed one of the spiral patterns on the box activating it. All the engraved patterns on the box started glowing faintly, as it hovered over his palm. The remaining grey spirits got sucked into it like a vortex. The spiral engravings turned red. The insides of the box started to churn and grind.

Lord Hades opened Pandora's Box by pressing it gently at the sides, and out from it came a gushing wave of dark spirits shrouded in bright light as they unleashed themselves upon the universe entering different dimensions and timelines. The space around them started getting bleak, as several timelines started warping and flickering. The galaxy started spiraling and distorting under the influence of unleashed horde of dark spirits. Suddenly, an immense pressure was exerted over the universe. A calamity was approaching it. It had the form of draconian cloud shrouded in spectral strands. It approached the universe in an erratic manner, growling and roaring.

It crashed into the universe cracking it's space as it forcefully opened a huge purple rift.

"Everyone!, GET BACK!!!", Thanatos yelled.

Every [Incarnation] present started retreating. Trying to get away from the dragonic figure.

"Stay close to me.", Deimos told Gazeera, with a grim expression over his face.

Lord Hades glared at the raging draconian cloud charging at him. He stood rooted at his spot as he readied his cleavers.

Pandora's Box unleashed the bright white [Spirit of Hope]. Unphased the draconian cloud charged at the group of [Incarnations]. The [Spirit of Hope] dispersed across the bleak and dark universe spreading light, as it entered the warping and flickering timelines. The universe slowly returned to it's original state and the timelines stopped flickering. The dark spirits eventually disappeared..

Lord Hades charged at the raging dragonic calamity ready to strike it, but it brushed past him completely ignoring him. He got startled, as he turned back to see that the dragonic calamity was targeting Gazeera and Deimos as it was viciously chasing them at an immense speed.

"HOLD ON!!!", Deimos bellowed as he unsheathed his scimitar, ready to face the immense and vicious dragonic calamity.

Deimos struck his blade forward at the draconian cloud, but it completely phased through him. The dragonic calamity rushed after Gazeera, as it's roars reverberated across the universe. It opened it's huge and mighty maw, and gulped down Gazeera in one go.

Gulp..~

"GAZEERA!!!", Deimos bellowed, desperately.

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