Actions And Consequences

My clone willed itself downward and landed gracefully on the floor next to where the portal had once been. He had a surprisingly calm expression on his face, and he was visibly focusing on something before pointing his hand at Ravanthan again.

"Where is your pride as a higher being!? I know you don't want this, to be this monster's slave, any more than I do. So help me free you." He told her, as he fired a new, different sort of energy at her. Thin, yellow lines, tiny beams of pure willpower, shot out of his fingertips and began to zoom towards Ravanthan.

Her wings began to move, against her will, but this time they were slow. Ravanthan's resistance was beginning to affect her form, and as she fought her orders from Akamal her body reflected her struggle, with each movement of hers being forced and fought against by her very soul. And this was fundamentally different from before when the clone was firing beams of freedom.

The beams whizzed and danced in the air, moving in ways that were very different from when the clone had fired his earlier "attacks" at the undead spirit queen. The beams surged towards Ravanthan and when her wings moved to block them they only barely succeeded. The energy collided with the wings and vanished into them, and Akamal roared at the clone again, before lunging at the creature.

That said I wasn't idle either, and as Akamal sped through the air at my clone, I chuckled and willed the floor of the gravesite to rise up between the two figures. The wall shot up and formed a perfect barrier that blocked the vestige from getting to my clone. It shot up right in front of him so he was unable to stop himself from slamming into it, but even though he hit it hard I knew that he was unhurt by his collision.

"You and I aren't done yet." I said, taunting the creature even as he slumped back and tried to detach himself from the wall he had run into. I chuckled and reached out with my mind to grab him telekinetically and pull him towards me. There was a grin on my face as I did so, as now he was beginning to show fear and anger, which meant that he sensed something, a threat. He turned to face me and silently lifted his axes, in a display I knew was meant to intimidate me, but didn't. Instead, all I did was smirk at my foe.

Meanwhile, my clone was watching as Ravanthan began to gaze at her wings, which I knew because I could see through his eyes as easily as I could see through my own. Her eyes momentarily filled with confusion, and then with tears. She slowly turned to look at my clone, and her eyes were filled with a vibrant cocktail of emotions.

"What... did you do?" She asked as she gazed at the creature. The clone smiled at her and fired another set of beams out of his fingertips. This time the beams were silver and radiated power in much the same way that the deity himself did. They flew towards the undead spirit queen but instead of hitting her they drew nearer to her and then stopped only a few meters away from her.

"Ravanthan... The time has come for you to be free. You are not a mortal or some other sort of lesser being. You are a spirit queen, a truly powerful being, and Akamal's magic, especially as he is but a vestige, cannot control you as fully as it can control some lesser being. Together we can free you from him and his sinister, unholy control. If you join hands with me, we can end this nightmare." The clone told Ravanthan, a gentle smile on his lips.

Ravanthan's wings began to flap, happily. As they did, tears began to stream down her face and she began to laugh.

"I... At last. I can control my wings." She said, her voice filled with joy for the first time. Her heart filled with joy, with hope, and the clone laughed, joyously, as he mentally ordered the beams he had created and launched at her to fly into her head and her heart. They obeyed him, and without her wings to get in the way the beams struck their targets. And the instant they did, Ravanthan, my clone, and I, all began to glow.

My clone and I began to radiate immense light the color of liquid silver. Ravanthan began to glow and radiate a light the shade of red that was associated with rubies. Akamal, having evidently had enough of this and sensing something strange, something well and truly beyond his expectations, decided to silently charge at me. In response I merely lifted my sword, ready to greet him head-on. I was aware of what was going on, fully aware of it, I knew that even if he came at me with all of his force all I needed to do was endure his onslaught for a few moments and everything would change.

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On the other side of the artificial barrier, the clone of the dark god who had come here to acquire more power over time and to avenge the lost voyage studied the undead spirit queen. The air around her was tinted dark red by the aura of power that was radiating out of her, and she stood perfectly still.

She was in her own head at the moment, as the powerful, liberating effects of the beams of freedom took hold of her. In her mind, in her very soul, a battle was taking place. A battle that would determine the future of all of existence. Althos' clone watched this battle, but he wasn't an idle audience member to it, he was preparing to become a participant.

He hurled more beams of pure willpower at her, this time aiming for areas other than her wings. He hurled beams at her hands, her legs, her chest, and finally her head. The most important beam was the one he hurled at her head, which manifested as a spear before hitting her and vanishing into her. A spear that would help her banish the evil of the cruel sorcery which kept her under Akamal's thumb.

"Be... Free!" The clone roared, as he felt Ravanthan push her mind to the breaking point to lash out against the dark magic that had enslaved her to the whims of Akamal, a monster in every sense of the word.

In her own mind, Ravanthan remembered and keenly focused on every instance she had been forced to obey a command that she didn't want to do. She focused on every word she heard Akamal utter, and how her body refused to obey her for eons. She allowed the hatred she felt towards Akamal to become the center of her being for a moment.

My clone, watching her internally and externally, knew that this was what she was doing. He grinned and he began to help her. He rose his hand towards her and began to use his powers over wrath and hatred to stoke the emotions that Ravanthan had chosen to use as her way to freedom. Ravanthan's eyes closed and her mouth opened. For a moment she was silent, but then she began to speak.

"Akamal... Today, I free myself of your evil! Today I triumph!" Ravanthan roared, as the air that was tinted red around her began to burn and transform into a blazing aura of scarlet red flames.

"I... am no longer bound!" Ravanthan shouted, before mentally grabbing hold of the spear that had been hurled at her, and cutting through the magic of our shared foe. As she did that, the spear physically manifested in her hands, and she immediately twirled it in her hands before opening her eyes and facing the wall that I had created to keep Akamal from her. She studied the wall for a moment, before hurling her spear at and then through the wall.

The spear effortlessly smashed through the wall and flew right between Akamal and me. As it sped past the two of us Ravanthan rose a hand and the wall exploded, sending flaming fragments of marble floor everywhere. Ravanthan stepped towards Akamal and me, and there was a look of righteous fury on her face as she approached the vestige.

"At last, thanks to this young god... I am free." She declared steel in her voice. The instant that she did, the light that had been flowing out of me intensified, and I felt a truly tremendous surge of power flow into me.

Enormous notifications filled my mind's eye, but the most important one was the one that informed me of my new life domain powers, including the utterly fantastical "Ultra-Resurrection" power. And when I saw that particular power, I smiled triumphantly and pointed a hand at the still undead spirit queen. As I did, I spoke, and as I spoke my voice was infused with the joy of victory.

"Ravanthan... You are not just free. You are alive." I uttered, joyously, as I utilized the single most powerful ability I possessed, aiming it at the spirit queen, and in doing so fully reversed the horrifying victory Akamal once had over her. Life-restoring power flooded out of my outstretched hand, and the room quietly shook with the power I was unleashing.

"Come back to life, oh mighty spirit queen, Ravanthan..." I said, as Akamal realized what I was doing, and unleashed a truly blood-curdling roar, even as he turned back and swung one of his axes at my outstretched hand. The weapon, the one I was sure was his artifact, cleaved through the air, and even as I smiled in joy at my victory cleaved into my hand and began to bite into me. Awfully maddening pain began to cloud my senses as the axe sunk deeper and deeper into my hand and then my arm, but even the impact of the pain was dulled as a single quiet notification filled my mind's vision.

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[Universal Notification:

The total number of higher beings in existence has doubled. There are now two higher beings in existence. Celebrate and rejoice as Ravanthan, now the first and currently only spirit queen has at last been returned to life at the hands of the lord of life, Althos.]

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In the instants before Althos' hand was pierced by Akamal's axe, Ravanthan was still and basked in the glory of Althos as she felt the immense, universe-reshaping power of the deity who had done what even among most gods had long been considered an impossible dream: bring a higher being back from the dead. His power poured into every cell in her body, every ounce of magical power she possessed was infused by and supercharged by the reality-defying might of the god the notification had called the "Lord of Life".

Althos' life-giving light washed over the statuesque beauty, and she felt her mind and soul be empowered by his presence to the point that the dark power that had infused her and reanimated her was burned away. She felt every trace of Akamal be purged from her, as her heart began to beat again and as the color began to return to her body. And then in the midst of her basking in front of the power possessed by the creature, she heard him let out a pain-filled wail of fury and agony.

She opened her eyes only to see Akamal's axe embedded deep in Althos' arm, having cut his hand almost in two. Akamal was also roaring, but the sound was drowned out by Althos' pain-filled wail as he glared at his foe.

Ravanthan filled with fury at the sight of her savior being hurt so viciously by the monster who tormented her for so long. She began to step towards Akamal and Althos, but even as she did, Althos began to recover from the pain he felt, and his own eyes filled with a tidal wave's worth of fury so immense that only gods of corruption and anger could feel. Althos slowly staggered to his feet and Akamal, noticing this, tried to pull his axe free of the monster he was facing. He tried to free his axe, but a look of fear appeared on his face when he realized that he couldn't actually retrieve his weapon.

"That... was a mistake." Althos uttered, as he began to act. His voice sounded ragged and he was clearly in an enormous amount of pain. His normal resistance to pain was nullified by vestiges, and the truth was that this wound was the single worst one he had ever suffered in his life to date. But Althos, especially now, was not weak and even in pain, he was now tremendously more powerful than he had been before.

Althos's other hand reached out and grabbed the axe and he pulled it out of his arm, hissing in pain as he forcefully yanked the thing out of himself. Akamal rose his empty hand towards it and he expected the thing to free itself of Althos' grasp, but the eyes of the omni-being Akamal was facing began to glow bright blue, and the axe vibrated in his hand for a split second before stopping and this dumbfounded the vestige that Ravanthan and Althos were about to try and bring down together.

The deity had quietly stolen the axe from the monster he was here to take down, thanks to an incredibly powerful envy ability. One so powerful he had only acquired it as a consequence of skyrocketing into the third tier of influence over the domain of spirits, which was what vestiges were.

"This... is mine." Althos uttered, and then willed the axe away, causing the thing to vanish as it was desummoned. This made Akamal gasp and look at Althos with fear in his gaze. Akamal considered backing away from the creature, but he was far too slow to do so. Althos, momentarily moving faster than he had ever moved, dashed forward and grabbed Akamal's right arm with his good hand. Althos firmly held the hand and smiled viciously as Akamal's eyes widened in fear.

"And this... Is yours." Althos uttered, as he transferred the pain he felt from the blow he had suffered from the vestige into the nightmarish being. Akamal began to roar in fury as the mind-bending and consciousness-threatening pain began to flow into him. Ravanthan, who had begun to approach to help Althos, watched this with both awe and fear on her face.

Even as the pain seeped out of the deity and into the vestige, the deity healed himself. When his hand and arm were fully healed, he effortlessly tossed the vestige to a corner of the room, as he chuckled and began to take in his new powers. His mind was racing as he processed the dozens of new powers he had gained in one single potent burst.

"Now that I'm no longer in pain... I feel incredible." He muttered, as he examined himself. Ravanthan, while still in awe and somewhat afraid of the incredible power Althos possessed, only had a chance to feel happiness for a split second, before they were interrupted once more by their foe.

Akamal, who had been tossed away from Althos began to roar in anger. He had gotten up and was now radiating power unlike ever before. His eyes were filled with anger and with desperation and he gazed at his two foes, well aware that they were united in their desire to take him out.

The air around Akamal was now an eerie pitch black, and the nightmarish being was apparently readying himself for the fight of his life. As he quickly looked around he studied his two enemies.

"I see that it takes two of you to equal one of me, even in my deceased state..." He uttered, again trying to put on a flash air of courage and fearlessness. Althos saw through it instantly and only chuckled.

"Two of us? No... There's not two of us, Akamal. There's four." He said, as he summoned his sword and tapped it on his shield of solidified darkness. The shield began to vibrate intensely, and then to began to seemingly melt onto the floor at Althos' feet. It collected into a strange puddle of darkness, and then nearly instantly began to grow straight up, and take on a roughly humanoid shape, complete with weapons made of shadow-stuff.

Althos had just used his powers as a spirit king to transform his shadowy guardian into an intelligent, true, shape-shifting spirit. One who would help him win the day and bring an end to Akamal's evil.

Behind him, his clone also stepped past where the wall had once been and was instantly clad in a suit of powerful, technologically sophisticated armor. The suit was a powerful exoskeleton and a weapon packed to the brim with all manners of weaponry.

The actual Althos, rose his empty, shieldless hand to the air and summoned the axe that Akamal had once used against him. Now, for one of the first times in his life, Althos was dual-wielding. And even more impressively, the "Lord of Life" was actually using two weapon-type artifacts at the same time!

"Akamal... It's time to die." Althos declared as he pointed his new axe at his enemy, in a display meant to infuriate the vestige. Akamal roared in rage at the knowledge that all of his expectations had been off and that this god had so adeptly outmaneuvered him. Althos' clone silently stoked this rage, now able to use his powers over emotions to affect even vestiges!

Akamal hurled himself at his enemies, as his rage was only emboldened and enflamed by Althos's clone. Akamal moved several times faster than before, and the rage in his voice made it clear that he fully planned to murder every one of his enemies.