[A/N: Donât worry weâll be right back to Ash in a Chapter or two.]
While Ash remained in the 95th Heavenâsurrounded by his wives and the others who had come to join himâthe situation on the Mars Plane was shifting in its own way.
Back on the Mars Plane, two of his children had finally reached a sort of understanding. Not completely, but for now they chose to stick together.
Aurora, Isis, Xeros, and his wives were back in the endless graveyard, strolling leisurely as if in no hurry.
"So, youâre telling me Father is aliveâand already dealing with the invasion back home?" Xeros asked, double-checking everything Aurora had told him.
As previously mentioned, she did not elaborate on the subject of incarnations.
While she was aware of their existence, her own knowledge on the matter was limited. Consequently, she simply informed them that he had not truly died but had been reborn in a small world.
The world of Elaris...
This revelation prompted Isis to speak, as she had never heard of him prior to leaving the Orb.
Realizing he came from there as well, she couldnât help but think how small the cultivation world seemed despite all its grandeur.
"Thatâs right," Aurora agreed. "If Iâm right, heâd probably wipe out those invaders in the most dramatic yet agonizing way."
Xeroâs third wife scoffed, "You canât be serious... do you know how long the Earth Plane has been holding off the Pluto Plane?"
"Itâs good news that our fatherâinâlaw is alive," the Second said, "but letâs stay grounded. We canât rely on wishful thinking."
Isis scoffed this time.
"Tsk, I donât know that man personally, but if he plans to wipe something out, Iâm sure he would," she said, adding, "He once broadcast the destruction of an entire galaxy.... live."
"What weight does that carry in higher dimensions, though?" the First Wife remarked.
It wasnât that they doubted Ash or thought less of himâthey were just being realistic.
Like Isis, they hadnât exactly seen how Aurora had wiped out those clones. Her power was a mystery to them, and now she was claiming a single man could stop an invasion?
They were far too old to cling to false hope over something so serious.
Aurora ignored them, teetering on the edge of disliking these women. She could handle a lot, but anyone thinking less of Ash was something she couldnât tolerate.
So, before she hummed them out of existence, she turned to Xeros.
"Elder brother... if you love these wives of yours, youâd best keep them far away from Daddy."
Xeros raised a brow. "He wouldnât... would he?"
The women with him narrowed their eyes, unsure of what he meant. They knew Xeros had a thing for obsessive love but couldnât figure out why they should avoid Ash.
"No... but Iâm sure they would," she replied with a shrug, cutting off any reaction before it began.
Isis cut in, "Enough nonsense. Weâll figure out the situation on the Earth Plane after weâve saved my mother."
"Right, three more missions to go," Aurora said as they started ascending back toward the sky islands.
"Who in their right mind would take on not just one... but four abyssal missions?" Xeros asked, still in disbelief after hearing it from Aurora.
"Well, better get used to it," Isis sighed.
------
"Are you sure they will appear here?" Desiree asked as she looked at Dex.
They both stood in the skies, as he looked down below with his arms crossed.
"Oh, theyâre coming," Dex murmured, with a slow smile spreading across his face.
"I can smell them. Especially that dragon.... Her scent is unmistakableâAnd there are five other scents with them... much stronger than normal."
Desireeâs brows rose. "Five others... are you sure?"
Dex nodded. "The strongest of them smells like... lust."
He turned slightly, gesturing with his chin toward skies around him. It looked to be empty, but that wasnât the case at all.
"But it matters not. We are not alone."
In that moment the space rippled for a moment revealing hundreds of thousands of devils.
As a Prince, he obviously had his own legion of warriors ready to move at his say so.
And currently they were putting the finishing touches on a massive rune formation.,
"And just in case..." Dex continued, "I called in a favor."
A tall woman stepped out from the shadows of a nearby crater, her beauty sharp and chilling, with an unmistakably otherworldly presence.
Known as number 198 among the Existential Horrors, she was far from ordinary, hailing from a race that existed beyond all nine Dimensions.
She was a Genasi, born of Absolute Space.
[A/N: Genasi are like elementals.]
Her skin was a deep, rich obsidian that seemed to absorb the light, adorned with intricate glowing purple tattoos winding along her arms.
She had hair that tumbled like a cascade of pure midnight, and her eyes were dark amethyst voidsâcold, endless, pupil-less, swirling like hidden galaxies of purple light.
"Iâm here, just like you requested," she said with little interest. "Have the payment ready, or Iâll take your little clan as payment instead."
Dexâs smile wavered briefly before he regained his composure.
"Haha, isnât that just perfect."
He glanced toward the path where Aurora and the others were approaching, eyes shining with anticipation.
-----
The moment Aurora and the others appeared in the skies, every sense went on high alert. But she was already preparedâElysia had warned her to stay sharp, and she knew the Hollow Prince wasnât much of a threat.
Clearly, the warning was meant for something else entirely.
HUMMMMM!!!!
The moment the seven reached the height of the Sky Islands, the air trembled as the rune formation came to life.
Number 198 stepped forward and uttered a few simple words.
As the Genasi of Absolute Space, she waved her hand, slicing through the fabric of space itself. For light-years in every direction, there was no teleporting, no escape.
Or so she believed...
"Your will bends to me.... you will sit and wait to be captured."
When she spoke, the purple tattoos on her arms glowed brightly as she invoked the script of true reality.
Not everyone had their own scriptâthere werenât many to begin with.
Aside from Ashâs red, white, and black tattoos, these purple markings gave Number 198 complete control over wills, which in turn shaped desires.
Her script allowed her to bend willsâshaping desire itself with a single command.
In that moment, as Xeros and the others froze, Aurora spread her divinity to its fullest and descended toward the 74th Heaven.
In the next heartbeat, they all vanished.
But Aurora wouldnât be an Originatâa Goddess of the Ineffable Pantheonâif she backed down from a challenge.
Oh no, she refused to be hunted.
Hummmm!
As they faded away, she blew across her hand like a kiss, and the sound that followed was pure melodyâso pure that visible musical notes drifted toward Dex, Desiree, and Number 198.
Each delicate musical note twisted, folded, and blossomed into tiny, graceful white birds. In an instant, hundreds appearedâthen thousandsâswarming through the air around the three.
Dexâs eyes went wide. "What theâ?"
Desiree threw up a barrier of shadows on instinct, but she was already too late.
KAKABOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
The white birds burst apart, each one erupting into a blaze of radiant, harmonious light that swept across the area like a soft waveâthough it was anything but gentle to those it touched.
Everyone nearby was engulfed, left helpless and unable to move.