[You have embraced your source element: Corruption and Repose.]
[You are in possession of your Aspect and Flaw.]
[The fourth seal has been broken.]
Asteria's eyes widened amidst the total chaos, her frantic desire and madness slowly lessening; it felt as if the world around her was growing quieter, more welcome, as if she finally had complete control over the noise.
She didn't, but oh, delusion is a sweet thing.
The Queen of Nightmare was collapsed on the floor within the dark rift called the Nightmare Gate. Her head was spinning, her heart was racing — and her body felt lighter. She felt like she had far more control over her movements. She felt like her entire body was being restructured from the inside out.
What was the word for it?
Powerful... she felt incredibly powerful. Even among the chaos and destruction she vaguely remembered causing, she felt powerful. Her soul felt like it was suddenly filled with a vast ocean of essence, with such incredible depths that it felt entirely inexhaustible in comparison to before.
There was a different kind of change that she drifted towards while in this state of unconscious-consciousness.
It was that she could feel a completely different type of energy buzzing all around her. It was incredibly dense, tranquil, and entirely mad. This essence belonged to the world itself.
'...Source element? Yes... it must be,' she lazily said inwardly, still unsure of where she was or what she was doing. She remembered what the spell had just said: corruption and repose. 'The tranquility and quietness of repose, like a dream... and the insanity and madness of corruption... what a bizarre combination.'
She felt the world responding to her, even if only slightly, and the spirit essence from her source elements was flowing directly into her. Wisps of it actively replenished her essence or simply flowed through her skin. It was like she was borrowing the energy of the world as long as she remained within her source elements.
It was comfortable, warm, and... quiet. So quiet.
"What was I doing?" She mumbled, her mind still dazed. "Yes... a Fallen Titan did this to me..." she chuckled in a hoarse, scraping voice. "Am I supposed to thank it for pushing me to transcend?"
When Asteria hoisted herself off the hard ground, the world still distorted by the visible rift in reality that begged for her attention, the spell spoke again.
[You have awakened an Aspect Ability: Transfiguration.]
[You have gained an attribute: Sorceress' Gaze.]
"Ah... thank you Spell, I'll be sure to check this out later..." She stretched her aching arms, looking down at her wounds from the recent destruction and sighed.
Asteria's [Crown of Golden Glass] began to glow with a faint, pulsing light, which continued to slither down her figure in a beautiful radiance. This was [Sun's Decree]. It was an enchantment she had been hesitant on using before; her intuition had told her that using it previously would drain every drop of her essence; but now she had no such worries.
Her physical wounds began to knit together and heal, and she began to feel far more rejuvenated within a few seconds of maintaining her decree.
Finally standing up on her own two feet, Asteria took a few strides out of the distortion of space and saw the true scale of the chaos she had caused.
The government forces seemed to have arrived and were currently attempting to slay the Fallen Titan wrecking chaos along the empty street — right behind it was a massive crater that glowed with intense heat, the buildings nearby completely reduced to ruins and ash.
The Fallen Titan itself was faring no better. The thick soil along its back was completely obliterated and the dark stone it was made from was covered in deep cracks, with large chunks missing entirely from its shell; one of its burning eyes was missing entirely.
It seems Asteria's runic array had done something grand, at least. Even if it had cost a street of buildings and...
...Multiple valiant and brave Awakened warriors' lives.
Asteria gritted her teeth, a deep guilt filling the fibers of her being. "I'll pay them back, somehow. Even if I have to repent for the rest of my life for my foolish choices."
The Queen of Nightmare still had a Titan to slay.
Looking at the raging mountain of stone, all she could do was sigh in regret and anger. Hoisting her [Blade of Destiny] into the air — its form was much firmer, darker, and felt entirely stronger — she decided to try something else. Something she had a nagging feeling would end this swiftly without causing too much damage to the surroundings and herself; anything to keep more lives from being lost.
She gazed around the battlefield, seeing the bloodied figure of Soul Reaper Jet fighting the calamity in the street, the remaining Awakened warriors firing from afar with their weaponry — none of them dared to get close anymore.
Asteria began to carve her next rune.
It looked like it depicted the sky, a wide sky with a single, thin line splitting it clean into two. The rune meant: "to separate those who wronged oneself."
It was the True Name of Splitting the Sky.
Her blade danced through the air, slowly and methodically, channeling her raw transcendent essence into the air. Her violet essence glowed brighter, more vivid and far more tangible than ever before. Her essence was usually rampant, violent and volatile in nature — but here, it felt completely calm and collected. Ready.
Her rune was complete, and it lingered in the quiet air right in front of her.
Instinctively, Asteria knew this was no ordinary rune she could just channel and use at will; it required a physical medium. A sword to truly split the sky with. It required immense strength, power, and deep determination.
But could a mortal dare to split the sky?
No.
No, they couldn't.
But that wouldn't stop Asteria from trying if it meant she could save far more lives at her own expense.
SLICE.
Her [Blade of Destiny] began to shimmer with a brilliant violet light along the dark blade's edge, channeling her power, essence, and Nether's own divine expertise directly into the rune for her to carve it, cast it, and finally...
...to split the mountain that stood in her way.
CRACK.
Asteria's blade extended much further than she could have imagined, crashing violently into the Fallen Titan's side, immediately beginning to shatter and crack the thick stone shell it was built upon.
THUMP.
The massive right arm of the Fallen Titan fell to the earth. Its cracked stone crumbled into dust onto the street below. The right leg of the Fallen Titan was split completely open, collapsing the mountain of stone onto one single knee.
Her blade didn't stop there, though. It passed right through the destruction it created onto the calamity and spread further, further until it reached the very clouds above.
The clouds parted in a straight line, and rain began to fall through the gap.
The Queen of Nightmare split the mountain and the sky.
And so, the Queen of Nightmare took to the sky herself, launching off of the ground in a powerful leap and landing squarely on the Fallen Titan's head while it kneeled in the pure agony of having its limbs torn off of its body.
Holding her [Blade of Destiny] directly to the Fallen Titan's head, she laughed. "And I thought you were scary at first." Shaking her head, she continued in a solemn, quiet tone. "But now I know you're really quite small."
Her blade of countless destinies found its mark in the form of a greatsword that was taller than she was, as strong as her and immensely heavy — and she proceeded to sink it deep into the stone of the Titan's skull, piercing through it like a hot knife through butter.
The Titan wailed, a terrible screech echoing through its broken, invasive maw that was wide enough to swallow houses — flailing its mountainous remaining limbs to escape while it couldn't move or fight properly — until it couldn't wail, flail, or scream any longer.
[You have slain, Fallen Titan, Gluttonous Mound.]
[You have received a memory: Gourmet's Kitchen.]
"Wonderful. I'll take it." She stretched her tired limbs, hoping for the sweet rest of slumber. She noticed that forcing a memory didn't drain a lot of her essence anymore — in fact, she barely noticed the drain even though it was an Ascended memory of the Seventh tier. "Being a Saint is awesome, it seems."
Sliding off of the Gluttonous Mound's cracked spine, Asteria landed on the shattered ground with a light thud.
The Soul Reaper walked over to the Queen of Nightmare and whispered, "The government will deal with the aftermath and we will also deal with the ones who fell. I assume you have things to take care of... Saint Asteria."
"You could tell?" Asteria chuckled, her golden laurel crown glowing once more as it covered Jet's figure in a golden brilliance, washing away her external injuries. "It's the least I could do, you look... battered to say the least." She laughed slightly.
The Soul Reaper's complexion visibly became a little less pale, though she winced as her internal injuries began to heal. "I assumed, it's not exactly normal that one's presence changes that dramatically — I've been around a lot of Saints, you see." She shook her head in sheer disbelief. "I won't ask how you did it, because that's not my story to tell; but I do know you should most likely keep it a secret."
The Queen of Nightmare could agree to that much, so she nodded contently in response.
'I'll provide for their families if they have any, for life... it's all I can really do.'
***
The Queen of Nightmare took a long, quiet route home. She spent time looking closely at her surroundings, the city skylines, and the beautiful foliage that had been carefully curated along the paths. She looked up at the blue sky, the massive shell that was built around the NQSC to purify the air and provide consistent temperatures — she saw all the little things she had been too busy to pay attention to before.
Asteria saw a lot of things. The children happily playing in the streets, government officials going around to keep the peace. And... the outskirts.
It was in total shambles, just like she remembered. The air was dirty and smelled of all kinds of dangerous substances, the houses could hardly be called houses; the people were in rags, they were poor and visibly malnourished.
She was exactly like them once. And she didn't know what to do to help them — she never knew that if she could ask for help, what would she even ask for? Warm food and a clean bed? Was she truly that simple-minded back then?
'One day I'll come back here and help all of them. One day.'
Although she was now a lofty Princess of Song and now a Saint, she was still humble at her roots, strong when she absolutely had to be, and Gods... she still drifted off to fantasise.
***
Asteria found herself back in the quiet safety of her home; only this time, the space was without the clutter of boxes and envelopes scattered on her floors. She sat down on her sofa and laid her head back on the soft, silk pillows before letting out a long sigh.
"What do I do next?"
She had no immediate plan, no motivation. She was completely full of guilt and regret. So, she did what anyone would do when regretful, bored, and full of spite in the era of the nightmare spell, and opened her runes.
Rank: Corrupted.
'I'm not surprised but... Transcendent is so much cooler than Corrupted. Come on Spell, can't you de-corrupt me?'
Searching deep through her runes, Asteria found the most important part she was looking for.
Transcendent Aspect Ability: [Transfiguration]:
Ability Description: ["The Nightmare Spell's creations heed your call and abide by your changes."]
"What the hell does that even mean?" Asteria looked down at her feet, shaking her head. "I can just... edit things?"
Deciding to test it out later, Asteria looked over at the first of two more things to review.
Attribute: [Sorceress' Gaze]
[Sorceress' Gaze] Description: "You can view all types of sorcery and have an easier time understanding it."
'Hmm... Is that why I had a better time understanding that rune that helped me kill the Titan?' she mused, her eyes widening when she suddenly heard the spell whisper in her ear.
[You have two attributes that could be combined. Would you like to evolve your attributes: "Glass Eyes" and "Sorceress' Gaze"]
"Um. Sure," she responded, completely dumbfounded that the Spell casually asks her to combine her attributes.
[You have gained an attribute: Eyes of Truth]
Shaking her head and sighing, Asteria found the new attribute waiting for her in the text.
[Eyes of Truth]: "No truth or secret may be hidden from you. No sorcery will confuse you as no sorcery will be unknown to you."
Asteria swallowed her saliva, her throat dry. "Upgrades, people! Upgrades! Oh my Spell! Have I ever told you that you're my favourite person... being? Entity? Ah, what does it matter, you're great, Spell, despite all your obvious faults."
[...{
Moving onto the next item on my list...
Memory: [Gourmet's Kitchen]
Memory Rank: Ascended
Memory Tier: VII
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: ["Once, there was a gourmet who desired nothing more than the finest dishes.
The gourmet searched his lands and territories for any dish he could find — and searched for the perfect one. The man found plenty of variety and none fit his taste, no matter who tried and where he went.
Eventually, the gourmet became a glutton in misery as he could never find the dish he valued most, a perfect creation by a perfect chef. Unfortunately there was no such perfect chef as nothing could be perfect.
Just like the gourmet's gluttonous desire for food."]
'Yuck.'
Memory Enchantments: [Cookery], [Gourmet], [Perfect Preparation], [Impossible Handling], [Purity].
[Cookery]: This memory can assume the form of any cooking utensil.
[Gourmet]: Any dish prepared with this memory will fit the taste buds of those who eat it.
[Perfect Preparation]: This memory can perfectly cut and prepare any meal within the wielder's intent.
[Impossible Handling]: This memory can handle any material for cooking without being damaged or deformed in the process.
[Purity] Any dish prepared with this memory will have all of its impurities cleansed.
"So... I can become the world's best chef with this memory?" Asteria sighed, a long, deep sigh before a little grin appeared on her face. "Surprisingly useful in this world, actually."
Summoning the memory into her hands, it formed a heavy, silvery-grey metal pan. There were delicate plants engraved on the handle and a rough rock engraved onto the base.
"Yup, it's sure a pan–" Her voice stopped completely when she looked closer at the item.
Asteria could... see the memory. Not just the memory itself, but much deeper.
There were seven bright nodes shining inside of the pan, and they created a complex weave of connections in silver thread throughout the entire memory, looking almost like a glowing spider web.
"Is this how the Spell creates memories?"