The Ashen Keeper

Chapter 75

She could hear it coming straight for her. Sound was not supposed to travel in space, yet she heard it crawling at her. No, she wasn't hearing it. She was feeling it. Every cell in her body screaming to run. Screaming to hide.

Before she thought it to be immortal but now, she realized that it was in fact, no an immortal. It was eternal. She will never be able to kill it. She immediately summoned Alduin. But space itself was blocked in its presence. She could not teleport away either.

The only option is to block it. She summoned her scythe and started burning it. The amount of flame doesn't matter. What matter is the temperature. She would burn away space itself to cut off contact.

The horror unhinged its jaws and started firing black flames at her. She could block it but that would interrupt her process. Luckily, Selph, in her human form stood right in front of her. She too, summoned what looked like a giant flag.

She slammed it straight into the ground as magic started gathering around her and formed what looked like the mirage of a city. 'The city of the Ashes where the dragons dwelled', she thought to herself. Present before creation itself, she could call upon the once mighty city to defend against almost anything.

So, that was why she was so obsessed with the architecture of mankind. She could barely see anything other than its mighty walls but that was enough to block a blow from Wolnir. She not only shielded the keeper but the entirety of Knowhere.

It prevented the head of the Celestial from being destroyed by a single blow. She could barely see its skull face but its body must have been horrifying. But she need not worry about it anytime soon.

Charging up her blade, she cut down at particularly nothing. Of course, that was only the case with the naked eye. In fact, she cut space itself so that it cannot crawl towards her by grabbing space.

She succeeded but the giant continued crawling further. However, it made no progress but by then its hands were already out of the Abyss. Raising its mighty claws, it pressed down upon the place called Knowhere.

The city of Ashes stood unscathed from this. It then opens its mouth for black flames to flow like water. It intends to drown them in fire. What irony. She could not think of a single way to defeat this being.

Yhorm looked tiny in comparison to it. It also did not have the bracelets and the holy sword to destroy. Even the Ashen One himself, was not able to defeat this being completely and relied on destroying its bracelets to let it fall into the Abyss.

Now, it returns from the Abyss even stronger than before. No Lord could ever come close to the might of this being.

'My dear Ashen One, despite the love I hold for thee, I can't help but resent thee at this moment.', she thought to herself as she smiled.

But her smile quickly disappeared. She would not be granted the sweet release of death. Even if her wish was to be granted, she could not allow her disciples to go out like this. She filled the scythe with her best shot as she slashed at its arms.

It cut if clean off only for the arm to regenerate it once again. There is a saying back in her homeland that all things that bleed could be killed. That all blood and flesh could be killed but, this time is does not bleed. It is certainly made with bones but those are made of its victims.

A mere immortal would not survive the Abyss. The more it goes around killing everyone, the more it becomes something else. Something impossible to defeat. Fear. All children know its story and all adults fear it. Fear, something that is indestructible.

As long as just one person fears it, it is unkillable. Stars die in its presence. Moon shattered at the slightest touch of this being. All flames of life are extinguished wherever it goes. She looked behind only to see everyone she brought along has broken down.

They might as well be dead. The only exception was her alongside the elder dragons. No, there was another exception. Not a mighty being like Thor with the powers of a god. Not a magical presence like the Scarlet Witch. Not skilled with magic like Loki.

It was the last person she expected to not give into fear. Peter Quill. The man still held his mask on and was staring straight at whatever was crawling out of the Abyss. It is in these moments that the courage of man surpasses the courage of Gods.

He looked at her and nodded as he flew away in his boots. he was going to get a ship to run away. Even with his courage, he was not delusional. He knew it could not be defeated. Now, all she had to do was get it back into the Abyss.

She let go of her scythe. Her scythe was useful against opponents of her size but it would be a hinder against an opponent this big. To push back something, brute force works much better than cutting.

She tried out her own new spell for the first time. It resembled the Black Serpent spell back from Lordran. Made to drain any opponent of their flames. Flames represent life and this move was made to absorb it.

The inspiration came from the World Serpent Jormungand. But first, she generated flames in her foot and shot through the sky right into space. Falkor has turned himself into a dragon and was not ramming at the being and he appears to be winning.

Even the embodiment of fear was not an obstacle before an everlasting dragon. She started preparing her magic. She would imitate Gwyn and create life. She would give life to flames for the first time. It may be a very short life but it is life. And doing that, she shall become a Lord.

"The Truth that was concealed

The Truth of the First Flame, the Truth of Life

The Truth of Life was concealed

Life was born from the Dark

The bright light only segregates from the Truth

May the Light upon this being of the Abyss.

Arise, Jormungand"

Upon this being of darkness and destruction, the light of life shall shine. A ball of fire formed in her palms. It slowly started expanding until it became larger the Knowhere itself. She had created a miniature Sun, but the magic was still ongoing.

The seething ball of fire slowly transformed into a giant serpent. Using its huge body, it slowly wraps around the Cosmic Horror absorbing its life force. If course, it would not succeed since the giant was eternal but that was enough to render it unable to move.

The difference in power between the horror and her magic construct was abysmal but the Abyss has always been weak against the power of light and its true body has yet to come out.

'Ah, tis a perfect moment.', she said to herself. She sensed another familiar aura approaching them from a distance, perhaps because it could not teleport. She looked back to find a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

"Time has come for your judgement, keeper. Repent before perishing for killing a Celestial.", declared the giant lamp post as it raised its hands preparing whatever it is ready to do.