Chapter 172: Dear Mama!
Drul ak'nul. Your Lord sentences you to death. Pronounced by the Lord, and powered by the Thirteenth Secret, that simple sentence became the Weaver's execution.
The Weaver had died.
The Fundamentals Principles couldn't believe it—watching with suspicion as they expected the Weaver's laugh to resound the moment next. It didn't. The lingering sparks scattering into oblivion as the Master of Creation perished in body and soul—kickstarting a chain of events that would keep the Higher Planes busy for years to come.
Meanwhile, in the Spiritual World's Mausoleum of Evil, Fylkir Aurelia faced Marduk's last remnant, an emaciated old man bound to a tall silver throne:
The Weaver's Mortal Avatar and Overseer of the Sanctuary. The Avatar's skin went from pale to gray, back to pale white then green, shifting with the rhythm of his racing heartbeat.
"How did it come to this? It's over? I'm really…dying like this?
No…hell no! Lord, you have no heart—more heartless than me for sure. Otherwise, how could you so easily eliminate one who loved you for an eternity?" The avatar ignored Aurelia, ignored the servants at his feet, and even the Purple Blood Pool in the catacombs of the Mausoleum—obsessing over his inevitable demise.
The 13th Secret is the Key to the Highest Wisdom, the Gatekeeper of Omnipotence. Without the 13th Secret, no one can resist the Lord, no one…not even a fellow Triumvir! But the 13th Secret's omnipotent might is counterbalanced by its restrictions. The main one being "selfishness." Read latest stories on m_v-l'e|-NovelBin.net
The Lord cannot use the 13th Secret for personal reasons. But whenever a Fundamental Principle abandons their duties and transgresses the balance established by Our Will, the Lord can activate the 13th Secret and go all out. And she did just that.
When Mithras put two girls in your hands and asked you, HIS Lord, to raise them, you agreed. When he refused to do his job and enlighten myriad lives, you had nothing to say. Vritra fought her way to paradise and stabbed you in the heart, but you didn't fight back! Yet the day I allow myself to go all out and rampage against my enemies — MY ENEMIES — ah, you must put me down?
Laughable. Each Iteration…in each iteration of this lifeless reality I must create things I can't stand watching breathe! They bore me! But because this universe must stay balanced and in perpetual growth, I follow the fucking rules and create the scum!
My flawed universe enables your paradise. One cannot exist without the other, and so much more that I have done for you, but you ignore my struggle to cater to my enemies' pain! Why?!
How dare you? How…can you?
Mad? Toxic? Lord…IT IS YOU WHO DROVE ME MAD! Your disrespect drove me insane! How can a man devote himself for so long yet only get disrespect and disdain in return? How could I not go mad?
They only see the end but have no idea of the journey. All that I have done…all I have endured…the things I had to do…so YOU could enjoy your peace!
But it doesn't matter. It never will. It's not about what I do for you…just how you feel about me. And I…repulse you! Hahahahahaha!
The Avatar's complexion stabilized at a green and glossy shade. And with an unsteady gait, he stood up, lurching towards Aurelia with an ink-like fluid filling his eyes.
"Aurelia…I never touched you because I break what I touch. You're my perception of the Lord. I should elevate you, not break you. But now I don't care. I can't have the Lord…so I must have you…and use your agony…to vent the little bit of fury that I can.
Just a little is fine. So…please bear with me." The Avatar's delirious worlds trailed off, his skeletal arms trembling as they stretched towards Aurelia. He didn't have much time. With the Weaver destroyed, his avatars would soon follow. The closer the connection, the faster they'd die. So, before his turn came…the Sanctuary Avatar wanted a taste…of Marduk's finest creation.
But barely had the creature's arms extended that the Purple Blood Pool underground stirred—followed by a spiked, scarlet hammer that crashed into the Avatar's skull!
"Huh?" Already wobbling, to begin with, the Avatar dropped face down. He had no chance to crash proper. The spiked blood hammer caught his chin, forcefully keeping him standing before blasting his knees with a pair of ferocious blows.
More vulnerable than ever, the avatar reeled back, his blood bursting from multiple crippling wounds as a white-haired Fylkir appeared between him and Aurelia, his sclera blackened by rage as he lunged at the skeletal creature—swinging his brand-new hammer into their chest with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Secrets combined!
*CRACK*
The Avatar burst into two, the lower collapsing into atomic particles while Odoacer hoisted what remained by the neck.
"You…regained your humanity? How?" The Avatar choked out, unable to comprehend how Odoacer had managed to break free from the shackles of their contract…and regain his heart!
"Why would I want to become heartless? Heartless is dull and tasteless. I just wanted to take advantage of the covenant to increase my power level and defeat my son. I was going to break the contract eventually.
But you just went ahead and got executed by the Lord, giving us the chance to fight back early." Odoacer clapped back, his purple eyes shifting to Trajan's magenta as a dark-purple flame coiled up his Fylkir armor.
"Us?" The Avatar slurred. Not expecting Aurelia to stand up the moment next…with the Right of Annihilation she'd inherited from the Beast shining through her golden eyes.
"You've benefited immensely from the Weaver's boons. Thanks, and congratulations…father."
"Unnecessary, my prince...ess. Though you and I now walk different paths, rest assured that dad will execute whoever attempts to profane your dignity."
"Prince is fine. I've lived as a general my entire life. This is too weird..." Aurelia had no time to waste on idle words, ending the father-daughter exchange with a graceful spin, and vanishing from the scene.
The Avatar couldn't believe it. Wondering how he'd missed Odoacer and Aurelia's cooperation.
The covenant built on the King of Kings' heartlessness. To break it, all Odoacer had to do was regain his emotions. But the Weaver made sure to kill them through trials and life events. Mithras was always destined to be the final blow. So why did it fail?
Why was everything going so wrong?!
"Funny how you can watch a person grow from infancy to maturity yet never get to know them. You've been watching me for over 100,000 years…yet still have no idea of how dearly I love my mother.
Plain looking, soft-spoken, ordinary, and unremarkable, yet there is no one in this world that I love more than my mother. How can there be…when she gave me life and love despite my vile origins?
I shed tears with my baby sister, over the years
We was poorer than the other little kids
And even though we had different daddies, the same drama
When things went wrong, we'd blame Mama
I reminisce on the stress I caused, it was hell
But she loved me anyway. My mom is my savior. Praise be her name. I only need to remember the smile on her face as she watched me eat breakfast to regain my humanity. And you thought you could reveal yourself as the one behind her fate without me making you pay?
Now you even dare to covet my firstborn daughter?
Hell no. You gotta die…with ten thousand times the pain and agony that my dear mother endured." The King of Kings declared, pale-gray lightning lacing his hammer alongside the Winds of Destiny as he crushed the Avatar to death with a flurry of rumbling blows!
"A proper anti-hero needs a crushing origin story that helps the viewer empathize and justify his malicious deeds. Odoacer, I never wanted you to be a villain. Martyr or Omniarch, but never a villain.
Alas…I can't help myself! Whenever I see a young thug smile, I must break their soul! And you, my protagonist, were a most mesmerizing thug.
Thank you for perfecting yourself despite the handicaps...and good luck…My Protagonist!"
Marduk's voice trailed off, followed by Odoacer's True Heart arising from the avatar's remains and returning where it belonged.
"No need for luck. Marduk down, Heruka's next. Wait. Wash your neck and wait for your dear son's ascension.
I will come straight to you. Aim this hammer forged with your bones at your skull and say…
HERUKA, A SON HAS COME…TO AVENGE HIS MOTHER!
Those will be the last words you hear in this miserable life of yours. I make you this promise, as Odoacer di Hadubrangr:
The King of Kings!"