CHAPTER 91: HOURS AFTER THE MEETING

"Is the project done?" Kivas asked, her tone light as she stepped through the arching hallway carved from tree roots and anchored marble columns.

Light filtered through woven crystal-laced silk above, forming slow-revolving glyphs across the floor.

Samael, seated on the edge of a suspended platform surrounded by glowing nodes, lifted her head and gave a thumbs-up with no effort to stand. "Almost done. Oizys had fun with it too. Probably added some of her little touches too."

Kivas tilted her head slightly, lips twitching. "I see..."

She closed her eyes and let out a soft laugh that built into something much more unhinged.

Her shoulders trembled. Her voice cracked the air like a fever dream, sharp and euphoric.

The laughter that followed echoed like a villainess in the middle of a divine conquest.

Samael watched the scene unfold with an expression that bloomed with warmth beneath her usual deadpan. Her features softened. "You’re so cute when you do that," she said with a satisfied lilt, no hint of irony. "Absolutely adorable."

Kivas had been working on a hypothetical project for a while, and she planned for a maximum secrecy for those who were involved with it.

That project revolved around the same concept of assimilation that Yoiglah utilized to enhance himself and becoming more powerful, just like how he alone could just now casually bring forth a miraculous event to help the Claturians with whatever infrastructure project that they were currently obsessed with.

Not to mention, Kivas’ ever evolving standing as a deity had also grown a lot, and that also reflected to Yoiglah by ten times the amount.

After all, the secret project also revolved around Yoiglah too for being Kivas’ living Major Shrine.

"By the way," Kivas said after finishing her maniacally evil laughing session. "Where is Oizys? I couldn’t detect her on any of Vaingall’s grounds."

Ever since Kivas attempt to connect with the very land of Vaingall itself through sheer divine power that she gained from being a deity alone, she was able to do all sorts of things that do not even exist within her Well of the Soul.

This includes being able to detect people and perform a forecast on any place that had been influenced by Kivas’ miraculous signature.

"Don’t know either," Samael shrugged. "Even after having you, she seems to be quite paranoid and had always been casting a skill that prevented any kind of stalking being made on her."

"I think that is a normal mindset to have regardless of whether she has me or not."

"She also has a very weird obsession with her own steps, to the point that it was almost impossible to hear her coming from anywhere."

"I can relate to that."

"Right... You and Oizys... are somewhat similar in a way..."

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Kivas grinned as she half-lidded her gaze. "You have been very open and expressive these last few days, Sammy, it almost made me want to pinch your cheek and pamper you like a little kid."

"Can we do that now?" Samael asked with excitement.

"It’s been a while since I thoroughly pampered you, which was twenty hours ago..."

"I’ll work even harder if you do it."

"Alright, alright, let’s find a proper place first in this place."

"Ah right," Samael appeared to be reminded of something. "In any case, since the project still needs multiple testing before we can officially implant it in Vaingall," Samael said with her usual stoic, but surprisingly meek tone. "I tried on getting my hands on gastronomy recently, and I had some samples ready for you too—Kivas, sweetheart, are you okay?"

Kivas could be seen clutching her head.

"I don’t feel so good..."

Elsewhere in the deeper forest where the architecture dissolved into the primal embrace of twisted trees, Oizys had Blanchette pinned against the side of a titanic barkwall.

Her fingers gripped Blanchette’s neck with casual strength, enough to leave the wood behind her cracked in a spidery indent.

Despite this, Blanchette’s expression remained unnervingly placid. She gazed at Oizys like one would a bird flapping through a rainstorm—unmoved, half-amused.

"I gave you many warnings," Oizys hissed, voice tight and resonant, her eyes two were akin to slivers of sharpened dusk. "Why are you still here?"

Blanchette blinked, smiling gently like a librarian tolerating a loud patron. "My goals require me to remain in proximity to Vaingall for the time being. There’s nothing in this world or the next that will make me leave before I’m finished."

Oizys snarled and slammed her harder against the bark.

The sound that erupted from the tree’s frame cracked branches overhead, birds spiraling in silent flight.

Blanchette’s spine bent against the pressure, but no bruise formed. No bones snapped. Her posture barely faltered.

"I don’t want you to be anywhere near this timeline’s Kivas!"

"Why don’t you do the reasonable thing and die?" Blanchette asked with unblinking cheer. "Kivas would be a great deal safer without you."

Oizys didn’t immediately respond. Her grip flexed. Her body went rigid.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, each word felt like it would be cut by a blade.

Ever since Oizys’ arrival to this timeline, she felt nauseous of the unknown possibilities that might not be able to be seen yet, but somehow brewing in the darkness, waiting for the opportune moment to strike when her guard was utterly stripped from her.

It kept her from trying to fit in with these strange and peaceful realities.

At the same time, Kivas’ appearance and action had been nothing but kind and supportive, even if it was intruded by some possessive dragon from time to time.

Regardless, Oizys would never let this new life be taken away from her again.

"Answer me."

Before Blanchette could answer, a sound reached them from the direction of the temple—a guttural roar that did not echo so much as to unmake every sound around it.

The vibration passed through the roots and trees.

Blanchette tilted her head. "Oh, would you look at that? How about we go and check together, hm?"

Oizys didn’t look at her immediately. Her eyes remained locked on the skyline that had twisted slightly, as if heat shimmer warped the air. She stepped back half a pace.

"You..." she whispered. "Is this your doing?"

Blanchette shrugged, casual as ever. "My involvement is peripheral, at best."

Oizys vanished in a blur, her feet not touching the forest floor as she darted toward the temple.

Blanchette followed a moment later, leaping effortlessly from branch to branch, grinning the whole way.

As they approached the outer perimeter, something clawed at Oizys’ perception.

Colors dulled. Sounds became warped and stuttering. Her sixth sense—the refined gut-feel that guided her across timelines—dimmed to a flicker. Her inner sight, usually sharp and vast, felt like it had been wrapped in gauze.

She couldn’t see beyond the next tree.

When they broke through the final thicket, the forest opened up into a horrifying landscape.

The temple’s outer gardens were unrecognizable. Craters torn into the soil. Pillars collapsed. Spires that had once spiraled elegantly into the heavens now curved sideways, half-melted.

And towering at the center of the chaos stood a being that scraped the sky.

Its limbs were elongated and multi-jointed, spined along the back like razors unfolding. A cascade of halos spiraled around its form in shifting patterns. Its face—if one could call it that—bore no eyes, only a flickering white symbol in constant rotation.

Surrounding it were masses of corrupted summons—half-made, half-born things with flickering cores and pulsating spines. Against them surged dozens of Divine Constructs, each wreathed in divine fire and woven light, tearing through the swarms with relentless precision.

Oizys steadied herself and launched forward into the fray, stopping only beside a Limbo Tier Construct that stood amidst a circle of fallen creatures, its blade arm dripping with disintegrating essence.

"What is happening here?" Oizys demanded. "Why can’t I see anything clearly? It’s like the world itself is veiling the truth from me."

The Construct didn’t look at her, only scanned the horizon before speaking. "A sudden Apotheosis occurred. Celestial Avatar Kivas has ascended through an involuntary threshold. The small and hostile entities you witnessed are the byproduct of its mere existence.

Oizys gritted her teeth. "Where is Samael?"

"Currently engaging with the core of the phenomenon. Direct conflict is underway."

Oizys turned her head rapidly, searching the battlefield. There was no sign of Samael. No trace of her presence. Not even a ripple of her divine pressure.

"I can’t see her..." she murmured.

Something shifted in the air. A pulling sensation, not physical, but embedded in the bone.

Before she knew it, she witnessed the entire world turn into a total darkness.

The sounds of battle vanished. The air no longer moved. Her feet no longer touched anything tangible. Her body floated, but it felt neither cold nor weightless. There was no horizon. No gravity. No time.

Just darkness.

Total. Absolute. Soundless.

And she was alone.

"This place is..."