Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Midnight Reckoning

Another productive day followed the fourth interrogation of Captain Potani.  Lysette, together with Amalia, Gerald, and Lilia, had begun constructing the actual waterway that would one day lead into the future Lake Ciricu.

Progress was slow, yet steady.  Lysette used her new ability to manipulate plant matter to churn the topsoil, breaking it apart and making it easier to move.  Amalia would then take the loosened dirt and soil and excavate the future river basin, while Lilia generated a thin but highly-pressurized burst of water to cut through any lingering roots, bedrock, or other materials that Amalia had trouble moving.  Gerald would then sculpt the resulting basin and bond the rubble into sturdier stone to resist the elements undoing their work.

While sculpting the river basin in the early afternoon, the two Earth Cultivators, alongside Serrena, had stumbled upon a potentially very useful discovery.  By coalescing plant matter and ash together under extreme heat and pressure, it reformed into a remarkably resilient mineral.  

Lysette was awestruck at its durability.  It was able to withstand crushing to an extreme degree, while also being resistant to blunt force strikes.  And, though it was incredibly troublesome to work with or refine further, it undoubtedly had numerous other useful properties.  Properties which Lyon seemed almost unnaturally interested in studying further.

By twilight, the group returned to Ciricu proper and enjoyed a communal meal to celebrate the progression of the canal and lake project which had now been formally announced to the people more broadly.  The meal consisted of numerous different stews and soups all cooked by the townsfolk.  Potato soup, vegetable-barley soup, bean and rice soup, spiced meat and bean stew, and several others, all loaded with numerous earthy herbs and spices.

The smell in the air was aromatic, pungent, and mouthwatering.  Lysette ate a couple small bowls of the spicy ground beef stew, as did Mirae.  In contrast, the human Cultivators, all of whom had been hard at work either training, each gorged themselves on no fewer than three heaping portions each.  Even Kiarra, who days before had seemed almost offended at the prospect at eating such ‘unrefined’ meals, was eagerly chowing down on the spicy beef stew.

Lysette in particular enjoyed the evening meal, sharing tales of how she met the various other students she’d arrived alongside.  From the brash first encounter with Serrena and their numerous scuffles to the blatantly hostile first meeting with Kiarra.  The first meeting with Mirae and the awestruck reverence they showed even before learning about Lysette’s being a goddess, contrasted with Gerald’s reserved skepticism the same night.  And the social change that Lysette had been working on with Nicholas and his sister.  

Kiarra was laughing even when Nicholas made a couple of jokes at her expense, and at times, it seemed almost as though there was something nascent yet blooming between the two.  And Lysette was happy through it all, smiling and laughing right along with the others despite knowing that the hour of reckoning for herself and the village was fast approaching.  Because of that, she corrected.  If the worst did come to pass, it was her responsibility to defend the people with everything she had.  But if she could not, allowing them happiness and good cheer in their final moments was the best of the bad options.

It was dark by the time the meal ended and people returned to their houses, full of stomach and good cheer alike.  One by one, the homes went dark, leaving the town of Ciricu illuminated by smoldering embers and the stars above proceeding onward in their eternal celestial dance.

As midnight neared, Lysette took the skies overhead, looking out to all sides out to the horizon.  The warm comforts of her new home, the tranquil scenery, and the promise of future prosperity and opportunity that she hoped would follow in her wake.  The chance to build a microcosm of her ideal society, one where Cultivator and non-Cultivator, god and mortal alike, all worked side-by-side.  All working toward mutual benefit, uplifting one another in strength and spirit alike.

A few minutes before midnight, the air over Ciricu went abruptly still and silent.  One by one, the stars themselves dimmed, filling the night sky with a blanket of unadulterated darkness.  The otherworldly force even occluded the visual acuity of Lysette’s left eye, turning the normally-omnipresent haze of reddish-gold Essence to a dull, nearly-invisible brown.

Only the trails of Serrena’s flame at her feet, keeping her buoyed alongside Lysette and Mirae, provided any light at all.  And even that shimmer seemed muted and distant, suppressed by the power of the encroaching darkness.

“Well, it looks like you were right,” Serrena said.  “I can’t think of anyone but Zarielle who commands darkness to the extent we’re seeing right here and now.  Let’s just hope the visit isn’t as hostile as I fear.”

Lysette nodded.  “I know you’ll hate this request, Serrena.  But please, act with deference.  If the situation deteriorates and this comes to blows, go all out.  But I’d rather it didn’t–”

“I understand,” Serrena said.  “As exciting as the thrill of fighting an incarnate god is, I’d rather not be snuffed out before I reach those heights myself.”

Mirae’s hand slipped into Lysette’s.  “I’m with you all the way, Lyse.  No matter how this turns out.”

“Thank you both.  I still don’t feel great, but having both of you by my side helps a lot.”

The darkness receded. The stars reemerged upon the sky in waves, and the shimmering haze of Essence returned to its usual glow.  Only an unnatural font of darker-than-dark remained, centered upon the same grassy plain where Lysette and Serrena had made their promise earlier that morning.

With a shared nod between the three, they flew off to the east, touching down upon their destination a minute later.  Lysette dropped to a knee and lowered her head.  Mirae followed suit, kneeling right beside her.  And though she grumbled more than a little, Serrena did as well, taking a knee just beside and behind the couple.

Darkness bubbled out of the ground much like the muck of oozing tar, bubbles bursting with a blacklight iridescence both sickening and yet beautiful at the same time.  Inch by slow-moving, ominous inch, a familiar figure rose out of the font of shadow, coalescing the wisps of darkness into a regal, divine figure.  As it finished taking the shape of a pale-skinned woman with cloak, hair, and eyes of darkest night, Zarielle finally spoke.

“I am pleased that you have answered my summons as you had previously agreed, my dear Lysette.  I see your confidant Mirae is still present as well.  Though, they are…  different.  Both in their physical appearance as well as their aura.  Tell me, Lysette, was this your doing?”

“Yes, Zarielle.”  Lysette raised her head slightly, looking at her patron’s calves.  “I needed them to remain by my side for however long our fight might take.  I needed them stronger of body and Spark alike, so they could fight at my side.  And to those ends, I shared my divinity with them.”

Zarielle remained motionless.  Lysette’s heart raced.  After far too long for comfort, the Goddess of Darkness turned to Serrena.

“Another kneeling before me who carries upon her a divine aura.  Child, speak your name?”

Serrena choked her palpable desire to scoff at the deific personage before her, but relented at the last moment.  “Serrena Raesh, Lady Zarielle.”

“Raesh…  Ah, I see.  You’re the child of that hothead Vorcal.  The temper and the flaming red hair are a dead giveaway to that end.  Let us hope you don’t turn out like Sierra.”

“You know my ancestor?”

“You share her impertinence for certain.  Let us hope you do not share her impulsiveness and complete and utter disregard for order, planning, and foresight.”

Serrena bit her tongue.

“I sense you wish to know more.  But now is hardly the time.  I have a task that needs doing.”

“What would you have us do?” Lysette asked.

“I am… concerned with some of your more recent actions, Lysette.  You have revealed your divinity not just to your chosen companion, but to the Raesh girl, and countless others, all in direct defiance of my orders.  Then, not content with mere disobedience, you have also allowed information about your divine nature slip into the hands not just of our enemy, but of other gods as well.”

Lysette eyed Serrena for a half second, wondering if she’d at some point communed with her deific progenitor and revealed as such.  But Serrena’s lack of reaction at hearing Zarielle’s indictment assuaged Lysette’s concerns— she had revealed nothing.

Still, Saffron certainly would have made mention of Lysette to Domar.  And if her hunch was correct, it was probable that Thosse had been made aware of her existence.  From there, rumors could circle throughout the entirety of the Celestial realm.  If not her connection to Zarielle, then at least that some deity had empowered a demonic Godslayer and sicced her on Aimarion for some purpose.

“Furthermore, you have defied my orders in each of my previous assignments.  Rather than securing the Scepter of our enemy and destroying the Scrying Stone as you were instructed, you have instead Deconstructed the Scepter and failed to do the same to the Scrying Stone.

“And your power, while formidable, is still far from the levels I expected from you.  I had great hopes for you, my dear.  I had sacrificed much to give you the abilities you would need to claim our vengeance.  But it seems my hopes have been misplaced.

“But, I will give you one chance to regain my favor.  It seems that the people of this town are quite fond of you.  And you of them.  Your sentimentality, your… weaker, human impulses.  Those human emotions and attachments cloud your judgement.  They dull your fighting senses.  They stop you from doing what needs to be done to exact our revenge.  I order the three of you before me: cut them down, and in doing so–”

“No.”  Lysette stood and sprouted her wings.

“I beg your reconsideration, my dear.  Have you forgotten who it was who saved your life?  Who gave you the chance at revenge that you craved more than anything?  To whom you swore a pact?”

“Of course not, Zarielle.  Regardless of what happens tonight, my gratitude toward you is everlasting.  And rest assured, claiming my vengeance upon Asterion is never far from my mind.  However, neither will I forsake my friends and all those who turn to me for protection against the oncoming ravages of war.

“Wasn’t that your job, once?  I attended your services once before.  A ‘Mistress of Shadows’ who provides succor to those who need protection from the burning light.    A goddess who provides comfort and relief to those who seek the protection of the shadows.  One who shepherds the meek and wounded from those who would attempt to outshine and blind them.  That’s what they worshiped you as.”

Zarielle showed the barest hint of bemusement beneath her building ire.

“That may be what you were once, but it’s clear that something has changed you into an all-consuming font of vengeance who’s completely lost the love for humanity that you once had.  You may be my patron— and I will reiterate, I will always respect you and be grateful for that.

“But I will not go down that path with you.  I will not abandon my friends, my partner, my people.  I’m going to carry out the Aestori will, build a new world for humanity.  Reshape the world to how it ought to be.  Become the goddess who humanity deserves, who will uplift humanity to live their lives on their own terms.  Not one who just sees them as fonts of Divine Essence to gorge themselves on in a conflict that’s gone on for five million years too long!”

Lysette sprouted four shadow tentacles out of her back and blades of ice in each arm.  Her connection to her Reciprocity flourished as she envisioned the world she planned to build, the people whose prayers empowered her, and the promises she had made for the future.

She pointed the blade in her right arm at Zarielle’s form.  “So rescind your order and let’s talk this out, find out how to move forward in a way that satisfies everyone’s interests.  Or I will do what needs to be done.”

Chapter 193: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111216648

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/table-of-101896170

Chapter 195: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111216666