Matthew couldn't help but gasp in disbelief as a theory formed in his mind: "Could Augustus Black be trapped within that orb?!"
He wanted to badly shatter the black orb due to his overwhelming curiosity, gritting his teeth, he managed to escape from the grasp of Elijah and carry his younger brother to their side of the cradle: "What to do now?"
—••••••••••—
BEYOND THE
VEIL: THE
GREAT SHIFT
CHAPTER 17:
INNER WORLD
CONVERGENCE
—••••••••••—
[WITHIN THE INNER WORLD OF DAEMON EGGERS.]
Daemon floated above the tangible blue sky, around him all colors of the spectrum appeared as an illusory ethereal halo floated over his head.
Looking around, he sighed self-deprecatingly within his Inner World which was the convergence between soul, spirit, and the physical domain.
He could see the reflections of his soul and spirit.
At first glance, his Inner World Convergence manifests as a vast obsidian expanse. Suddenly, a sprawling cityscape emerged, wrought from his memories etched in the stone of remorse and triumph alike.
The skyline is dominated by towering spires, some standing strong, some being built, and others destroyed entirely. Veins of liquid silver flow through the city streets, and limbs and other body parts are interwoven within the liquid silver, they all say different things but they have the same meaning - the damnation of Daemon Eggers.
The God above the skyscrapers grimaced, he knew who they were - his victims in battle, the majority of them were people he'd killed during the War of LöreHeaven.
Looking around, the architecture became a fusion of elegance and brutality - from his old and new life. Yet, amidst the imposing structures, there are gardens bathed in ethereal moonlight shrouded with knowledge and insight, tended by wisps of emotional echoes.
Flowers of vibrant hues bloom, each petal an emotion he has learned to cultivate— "An introspective garden of self-love and compassion," Daemon said out loud, even though he thought about it. The fragrance of these blossoms intermingles with the metallic tang of the city's darker corners.
At the heart of the city stands a colossal obsidian throne, the seat of Daemon's godlike authority within his Inner World. In the skies above, constellations formed intricate patterns, each star held a memory, some with regret, others had cherished moments.
They flicker in among the cosmos in a dance, encapsulating the ballet of Daemon's existence.
Daemon was drawn from his reminiscing when he felt death draw near, turning his head, he saw the Sentinel Warden taking stand above the skyline.
Daemon launched an attack as it held its hand outstretched - it was the same "Absolute Decay" ability. It instantaneously arrived at Daemon.
Daemon Egger smiled arrogantly, he simply backhanded the abstract and intangible ability of the Nameless Sect. Daemon blinked from his spot in the sky and landed right in front of the Sentinel Warden.
His smirk plastered on his face as Daemon's elegant black suit with blue edges disappeared. Dissipating completely, Daemon now wore a long black haori from the olden days of Japanese history, it was long and reached to his ankles. Around the edges of the haori, a well-textured blue cloth lined it, and behind the haori was the family insignia of the powerful and ancient Eggers Family.
The Eggers family insignia is a striking blend of elegance and mystique. At its core, is an intricately designed silver raven, wings outstretched in majestic flight.
Surrounding the raven is a circular border of intertwined thorns. Above the raven, a single, radiant star shines in a deep, indigo sky. The background of the insignia is a midnight blue shield. The Eggers family insignia stands as a testament to their enduring legacy, an emblem of wisdom, protection, and the eternal dance between light and shadow.
As Daemon shed his clothes and created new clothes in this space, he still held the same charismatic smirk. Suddenly, Daemon Eggers disappeared and the Sentinel Warden only felt a hole being pierced within its stomach. It gagged from pain as it was thrown across the skyline into skyscraper after skyscraper.
The skyscraper that the Sentinel Warden was thrown into was immediately shattered into millions of pieces but reformed by the power of Daemon. While in midair, the Sentinel Warden looked around, it felt power unlike anything before - the only thing that can compare being the power of the Prince of Death.
Looking up, it saw Daemon Eggers holding a long curved blade with a round handle. As he stood atop his Inner World Convergence - a profound silence enveloped the shadowed city below.
With an anguished roar that echoed through the silver liquid streets, Daemon summoned the depths of his power, channeling it into a searing red beam that erupted from his outstretched curved blade. The beam tore through the Warden, engulfing it in an inferno of ethereal flames.
The once pristine city crumbled into chaos, reduced to ashes in the wake of the devastating onslaught. The air crackled with the intensity of Daemon's unleashed might, and the skies wept molten embers as the Warden writhed within the searing conflagration.
Daemon walked through the cracked concrete streets and crumbling skyscrapers reduced to nothing but dust. He sighed deeply, "Victory is my - at last." His triumph was reflected in the shattered remains of his Inner World. With a resolute gaze, he shattered the very fabric of his constructed reality, emerging from the remnants of his ethereal kingdom into the stark reality of the tangible world.
As he approached his wife, the air pulsated with an eerie energy. The air quivered with an ominous surge of power, and before Daemon could comprehend the unfolding deceit, a searing pain ripped through him.
A blade materialized from the Warden's ethereal form and thrust into Daemon's neck with malevolent precision. Time seemed to slow as Daemon staggered backward, betrayed by the very victory he thought he had secured. The city of ash and ruin and the shattered remnants of his Inner World was only a façade for the Sentinel Warden to escape a perilous and hopeless fate - and it succeeded.
Laughing up blood, Daemon barely managed to backhand the Sentinel Warden as he turned around. A small confident smirk played on Daemon's lips, "I've seen. Your kind. Time and. Time again." Daemon was stumped as the Sentinel Warden began to speak, his tone robust and raspy with a couple of second gaps between his next words.
"Always disappointing," Daemon frowned - "Of course it's disappointing. Especially for you, a creature with no love from its creator - an amalgamation of souls and deceit." The Sentinel Warden didn't show any response to Daemon as it simply approached closer.
"My creators. Will be. Disappointed. Such a man. With great potential." The Sentinel Warden rushed through Daemon's weak defenses as it grabbed the scythe still lodged into Daemon's neck, as it grabbed the handle - it pulled the scythe out.
Daemon could only watch hopelessly, at the end, he simply closed his eyes: thinking about the one thing that gave him comfort for the last 9 years - Aryanna Eggers.
"I really wish I had children. They can learn from me, their excellent mother, and be visited by Uncle Elijah, Matthew, Augustus, and Aunt Selena. Unfortunately - just a future is never to be."
Daemon felt warm blood leave his body, then nothing. Nothing happened afterward, no drop to the ground, no shouts of pain - no nothing.
Daemon could only open his eyes to see what happened to prevent his death. As he did so, Daemon saw short-medium flowing blonde hair with white clergymen robes with golden accents. Noticing the gray, unmoving world - Daemon could only sigh in relief as he smiled softly and thought about his savior.
Arthur Seraphim!
Within the gray, unmoving world - only Arthur Seraphim and Daemon Eggers had color and motion within the stillness of the world. However, because of this, Daemon saw the Sentinel Warden a dozen or so feet away with its hands outstretched with the scythe leaving his neck. He saw his skin, flesh, bone, and blood floating within the unmoving world, yet, he remained alive. Then he looked at Arthur who was six or so feet away from him.
Arthur didn't regard Daemon's existence within the gray world as he simply touched the skull face of the Sentinel Warden. He sighed self-deprecatingly, "This… it isn't even oneth-one billion of the strength of an Angel. And you lost to this?!" His calm and chilling tone made Daemon's spine automatically straighten.
"'He' is near the strength of a true God, a power far above that of an Angel. Did the Crone of Fate lie?!" The Angel of Time himself muttered outwardly to Daemon, the Eggers male felt like he was a son that had disappointed their father greatly and was now being disciplined.
Tsking softly, "No matter - you can all be groomed into powerful warriors." The Angel of Time turned around after muttering to himself. He reverted time and returned Daemon to his prime before the injuries and the neck chunks missing.
Snapping his fingers, the gray unmoving world stopped affecting the Sentient Warden as it moved. The Sentinel Warden looked confused as if he was a fish flopping around on land.
Seeing Arthur, it attacked without thought and with pure instinct. With a vertical slash, the scythe hit the ground with a cloud of dust forming. After the dust cleared, I couldn't believe it.
The man dressed in simple white clergyman robes sat on the edge of his scythe's blade. Thinking quickly, the Sentinel Warden outstretched his hands again and tried to unleash a wave of "Absolute Decay". But before it could, Arthur grabbed its outstretched hand and threw him upwards into the sky - immediately receiving a kick to the stomach.
Regaining its composure, the Sentinel Warden gazed at Arthur. Immediately, Arthur seemingly backhanded the air as some invincible energy bounced off the Angel of Time's hand to a nearby building, causing the building to instantly disappear.
"Death Gaze?!… What Age are we? The Age of Forgotten Gods?!" The Angel of Time yelled out as he attacked with a punch, only for it to be blocked by the scythe, however, the scythe showed cracks on the blade and handle. Backing away to create distance, the Sentinel Warden threw his scythe connected by chains towards the Angel of Time.
With a thought, the scythe stopped entirely while in motion as it disappeared and quickly reappeared in the hands of Arthur, the Angel of Time.
"Such a simple weapon imbued with the spirit fragments of the Prince of Death. Quite innovative for a bunch of brainless puppets of death." The Angel of Time read all the uniqueness within the scythe as he placed it between his fingertips, instantaneously shattering the scythe as the fragments disappeared to ashes.
With a simple gaze, a white illusory door appeared to the right of the Sentinel Warden, then multiple white illusory doors appeared - reaching out with both arms, multiple black skeletons appeared next to the Sentinel Warden.
The Angel of Time appeared pleased as the white illusory doors closed, in front of him - ten original Sentinel Wardens appeared. "Now that 'I've' even the numbers out a bit, show me some more!"
All ten Sentinel Wardens began to release this goo-like substance from their bodies as multiple more appeared, they were copies of all ten originals. Smirking at the ten originals and 40 copies, the Angel of Time bowed softly.
"Don't make me wait no longer, fools!"