"Forgive my interference".
A familiar blob of darkness began manifesting before them taking the shape of Emrys who suddenly grabbed the being by it's neck with such strength a visible crack was made on it's form, he made eye contact with Avistro sitting atop the beings head and then looked at the beings face.
"I'll be taking this thing with me for a bit, you can go in there to find more like it though not quite as strong" he pointed towards the abnormal blackhole behind them.
Sarang frowned "that won't be fair, we already have this one so why not go for the one's in there if you're already aware of them".
Emrys looked to be contemplating something for a bit before suggesting something surprising "rock paper scissors for it then?".
Sarang looked around at his peers to see what they thought of his suggestion, based on their body language they seemed to be either fine or indifferent towards it but no signs of aversion. But then there was Avistro who was the most interested in that thing out of everyone present and it felt only right to ask him what he thought of it, he unexpectedly agreed to it.
"It is decided then, but who will be the representative on your side" he asked.
The decision was quick and unanimous, Avistro would be the one playing. They both brought their hands forward, one big and one small, just as they were about to begin a huge wave of energy began seeping out of the beings body and it's body vibrated intensely, everyone was suddenly blown away and had their faces twisted in discomfort as a loud piercing shriek echoed through the entire realm ripping it apart bit by bit soon followed by a huge red pillar of light shooting high into the cosmos.
After taking a hold of their bearings once more they looked at the being whose form was undergoing some changes twisting and turning into something hideous, from it's back sprung out multiple black tentacles, rows of teeth were manifested all over it's body and it's formerly plain face now had a terrible makeshift mouth hanging wide open still releasing that terrible shriek.
"It would seem we have made it furious, quite livid even" Mordred commented with a chuckle at the end.
"But, if nothing else I must compliment it's vocal range and intensity, might even be putting you to shame Zirsto"
He rolled his eyes at Mordreds words but couldn't stop the little smile tugging at the edge of his mouth.
Avistro readjusted himself back to his normal size and smiled as he began levitating towards it again "so you've finally dropped the pretentious act".
"About time".
"But I apologize, you'll have to wait a bit".
Emrys appeared right at his side with his arm outstretched and ready to continue where they left off- "if we do this our way then none of us are going to win".
"I know that".
They both blinded themselves temporarily with a mana overload to their eyes and diverted their senses to themselves, after confirming both were ready they began the game.
"Interesting, I shall stand aside then" Emrys conceded.
Avistro suddenly shifted to the side dodging the tentacle that had reached out for him piercing into the abdomen of Emrys instead, he grabbed onto it and pulled it out of his body flinging it away accidentally throwing the guardian away with it.
"That won't count as a breach of agreement would it?" He asked.
"No".
"Do you have any plans with it's corpse after you're done".
"No".
"I see".
Avistro clamped his hands tightly together then released it as he appeared before the guardian still shrieking so wildly like it had lost it's mind and once it caught sight of him an unstable ball of energy began taking form in it's make shit mouth of which it shot out at him like a widespread beam destroying half the galaxy, he smirked and took control of the beam turning it back into a little concentrated ball of energy which he flicked into it's makeshift mouth to shut it up.
"Noisy".
The little ball of mana detonated like a miniature bomb inside it's throat causing it an immense level of pain which brought to a level of clarity like he had hoped for, Avistro smiled seeing the look of sudden calm on it after looking so rabid just moments ago.
"There he is, the pretentious one".
"To lose control like that, you must be some kind of defect".
It's makeshit mouth merged back into it's face leaving it as it once was, the tentacles on it's back looked to be shedding it's outer layer which broke into multiple pieces revealing what seemed to be vines of pure concentrated power and the red lightning surrounding it's body became wheels beneath it's feet and around it's wrists while the golden flames burning pure on it's head remained unchanged.
≈Before you die, I shall thank you persistent one for allowing me regain my clarity≈
It's hand spread wide open as a great tear in space opened up with a golden light shooting out of it like a meteor towards it and he grabbed onto revealing it's true form as a chakram which he wielded individually on both hands.
The blades were engulfed by a dark viscous aura that gave Avistro a sense of discomfort, like a thousand little bugs were crawling and biting all over his skin, it felt....wrong.....corrupted and defiled.
It was then he realised something "yeah, I should have seen it so much earlier".
"You're probably no guardian, everything about you just feels wrong".
"I have no idea what you are but as of this moment my curiosity of you ends here".
"Everything I do now shall be for the sole purpose of eliminating a disgusting and diseased rabid swine".
The being laughed, it laughed from the very bottom of it's soul and for what reason that would forever remain unclear, but it's feel underwent a massive change all of a sudden as it raised a chakram towards Avistro.
≈I will acknowledge that most of my 'tricks' won't work on you, I see it clearly now too, you're almost as strong as him≈
Avistro offered no words, he just simply and slowly raised his left hand to perform the motion of an horizontal downwards slash at a seemingly snails pace. The being sent out it's tentacles towards him but they were all cut in half midway and continued onwards as it regenerated in a flash. An invisible wall seemed to have appeared as the tentacles couldn't move closer anymore and they kept cutting over and over again as fast as they regenerated.
Avistros hand had completed about five percent of it's full motion and the being felt a little strange, knowing full well it could not use the power of space against him effectively it tried something different.
It looked a bit further into the future to see what he was planning but saw nothing at all which confused it, the boy's nature was nowhere near transcendent enough like 'The Maker' to achieve an effect like this so somethng else was at play here and this triggered an entirely new sense of danger in it.
Letting go of one chakram in it's hand it mentally manipulated it to attack Avistro but was stopped also by the invisible force and with the other it drew a line along it's blade which lit up patterns that manifested on the thrown chakram releasing what seemed to be a formation around Avistro.
The invisible force that had been holding the blade in place was suddenly overpowered as the blade tore towards him cutting clean through his chest and hand then returning back to it's hands which strangely showed no signs of regeneration.
The being watched intently, right now it should be relieved it's attack was successful but the feeling of unease was growing stronger by the second and so taking no chances the formation around Avistro released multiple hooked lines which sunk deep into his flesh from all sides and began pulling him down into a doorway that had opened right beneath him while also steadily petrifying him as it progressed.
Still even as this progressed something felt horribly wrong, so so horribly wrong and in it's haste it made the worst move of it's life, used the power of time. The flow was reversed to the point before Avistro had made the movement that began all this but just as it was about to go forward and stop him he felt a small shift returning him back to the original present with a petrified Avistro still being pulled down into the doorway beneath him.
It could not believe or understand what was happening but it knew that he was behind it and as if to confirm his thoughts Avistro's petrified body suddenly began cracking, the hooks sunk into his flesh snapped and the formation holding him began trembling as it shattered to pieces closing the doorway along with it.
He regenerated his wounds and smiled "It seems I have to thank you also, for showing me how to use time".
"For some reason I could not feel my affinity with it in the slightest until you triggered it".
"Now I can complete it".
A foreboding sense of doom blared like an alarm in it's mind, *≈no no, he's dangerous, too dangerous≈* something bad was coming and it had to stop it all costs even if at the cost of everything including his personal revenge. The chakrams in it's hands were fused back together and placed into the spiral abyss on it's chest, a surge of power like never before rushed out of it's body like a tsunami and created three specific pulses. The first pulse destablized all of space to a point seemingly even beyond Avistro's control, the second put time in jeopardy and the third pulse was the most powerful incomparable to the first two.
With a loud clap it whispered <<f̷i̷n̷a̷l̷ c̷o̷l̷l̷a̷p̷s̷e̷>>
And finally the third pulse was released, it spread throughout the entire realm seemingly doing nothing at first. Then it was like a single great crack had occurred on the very fabric of reality, it became more prominent and kept spreading until it stopped, then it began healing back to it's original state.
<
A single thin line was manifested on the healed fabric which faded away a second later, both Avistro and the being stood face to face in silence.
≈How≈
Avistro smiled "I can see it all, from the very moment I began that movement you were already dead but not completely".
"My inability to perceive or access time made the move incomplete, so I tricked you into showing me how you do it".
"Of course i had no direct proof you could but from the very moment you called yourself the creator of those beings who attacked us at first I had a thought".
"I remember being told about one of them having power over time and unfortunately I did not have the pleasure of meeting him".
"It just made sense to me that as the creator who granted him such abilities in the first place then you had to have the same power but so much greater".
"Everything was so easy, just apply enough psychological pressure and some mental 'guidance' then at some point you would be forced to show me the power of time seemingly of your own will".
"And now my senses have improved so much further beyond what I expected".
"The very core of what you are down to every last detail, the connection between you and this realm, the minute structural workings of what your power is and where it comes from, all your traces in time".
"I could feel it all".
"And all I had to do was simply just.....cut".
A few moments of silence passed between them both, then a soft chuckle could be heard from it.
≈I see now, perhaps you might just be as powerful as 'The Maker'≈
≈How blind I was not to have seen that≈
In a matter of moments it's body faded away to nothing as Avistro released his hold over it, gone from time and gone from space, the only thing left of it was a memory in his mind and that of his peers, it was a practical erasure.
"This was not what I pictured in mind when you said it's corpse was of no interest to you".
Avistro turned around to face Emrys giving him a slight shrug "things happened".
"Mhm".
Avistro returned back to his peers and Emrys just floated there in silence staring straight ahead, "hm".
"Aine" he called out.
The young fairy flew out and circled joyfully around him coming to a stop at his facw staring him with bright expectant eyes, Emrys barely ever called her for anything himself so her excitement couldn't be contained
He heaved a small sigh "can you help me find the one that thing referred to as 'Maker', in terms of concealment I might be the best but searching is where I fall short of that guy".
Aine flew around in joy some more before complying with his request and began searching for it, in moments it was found and she spread her hands wide as a golden doorway was opened before them.
She turned back looking at him with expectant eyes, he smiled and gave her a gentle headpat "thank you Aine, you've done well".
He stepped forward into it and felt himself walking through a veil as he now found himself summoned in a space of white, all around were multiple golden orbs just floating around aimlessly.
Emrys flew up to one of them and held it in his hands raising a brow when he saw what they were "realms?". He let got and reached for another one and it was the same as the first, each and every one of them were realms contained inside these golden orbs.
"I see, so it's a standalone realm that's a part of a limited other collective ones, affecting one does nothing to the others, cannot be called a fully realised multiverse but the next best imitation a limited being could make".
"Each should also have their own assigned guardians just like that thing I'd imagine, how fraudulent".
He let go of the orbs and began looking around fo something "This place, I guess it qualifies as the master control room or should it be somewhere else " he thought outloud to himself.
Just then a heavy disturbance shook the entire space and cracks began occurring everywhere, the formerly white space began getting corroded by a crimson force which ate everything in it's path, the golden orbs were all stained with it and devoured whole leaving nothing until it everything was dyed in it.
The space finally unable to withstand the ravenous force devouring it was destroyed bringing Emrys to a whole new space, it looked to be incredibly damaged but still holding strong and also had what felt to be a surface this time, some distance away from his was a throne sitting high up on a platform with a lengthy stairway leading up to it.
From the platform blood flowed down on all sides even reaching to the place where he stood, the stairs were long covered in it and sitting atop the throne was a slumped body impaled in multiple places by black spears, Emrys walked up the bloody stairs and stood before him wondering how he was able to find this place first.
"For how long are you going to pretend".
Velkos raised his head up to meet the gaze of Emrys, though he wore a faceless plain mask with no features it was still too obvious to Emrys that it was him. He observed the change in his aura, the mana inside him seemed to have underwent a great change recently and that mask was no ordinary thing by what he could feel, it was meant to hide something deep underneath and Emrys could already tell what it is.
"The nature of an Asura finally manifested huh, seems you were already prepared".
Velkos verbally said nothing but Emrys could read the emotions being sent through his mana which amused him a bit when he deciphered it.
"I'm already quite mad and my will is greater than you can imagine, this only serves to amuse".
He walked towards the edge of the platform and looked down "how did you find this place".
Velkos conveyed the answer through his mana prompting Emrys to raise a brow "called you here? Interesting, where is he now".
Upon receiving his answer Emrys called for Aine once more, it was quite interesting to him how petty 'The Maker' was, leaving his realm just because it got a little dirty and setting a self destruct sequence to it all to move on onto creating a new one.
But what bugged him a little bit was why Velkos chose to let himself get in that state, the best he could chuck it up to was boredom or perhaps the Asura spirit might have strange tastes.
Aine found him pretty quickly once again and summoned the large doorway before him, this time instead of calmly walking through it he flew through it like a meteor bursting with excitement internally at the prospect of what he was about to attain but what he saw dashed his hopes a little.
Sitting helplessly on his throne with a body riddled with injuries and a foreign blood that seemed to be destroying him from the inside out, missing an arm and his radiant body now seemed like a flame on it's last breath, Velkos had inflicted a damage far worse than he expected seeing as he wasn't healing from any of it in the slightest, the Asuras nature was truly the greatest poison.
The realm it had just created also looked very incomplete and shaky relative to to the damaged one he just left, the Maker's eyes met with his and was instantly ablaze with rage interwoven with weariness.
"Y-you, you're one o-of them a-aren't you" his voice sounded so strange and cracked,, the pitiful state he was in right now couldn't have been something a being like he who should be the god of this world would ever imagine possible.
Emrys heaved a weary sigh and just looked up into empty space, today had been such a terrible day for him. He permanently lost the guardian he wanted to have, 'The Maker' whom had revived the possibility of getting something even better than he originally wanted while getting a good exercise out of it was broken and even the spare guardians along with their realms he had lucked out on in that space was devoured by the blood of Velkos, nothing had gone according to the way he wanted in the slightest, he even lost a game too just to top it all off.
"Let's just get this over with".
Emrys covered his hand in darkness and grabbed onto the Maker's face, he tried to muster up an attack to defend himself but because of that slight distraction the blood he had been barely holding back from devouring him whole attacked with even more ferocity and Emrys simply just swallowed him into his world of darkness devouring and killing him in there.
It really....really was a bad day,
EnD.