Chapter 128: God of Stories

A person from a world where hardship and determination are always rewarded; that is all Lea is to Sinclair.

Although they can both see each other, the distance is quite far. Like, it is at minimum a hundred kilometers between the two of them.

Why did Sinclair create a spire of abominable flesh? For the sake of it, of course.

"Hey now, I have my reasons!!", she spoke to the empty air, "To aurafarm, of course~!!"

Even though her opponent is tired, bitter, and furious, she wouldn't care much. In the distance, Lea erupted into a figure of blue and golden flame, battling off the residents of this accursed land.

"Oo~ there she goes, handling the herd of Face Eater quite well.", Sinclair spoke lightly, observing Lea's struggles.

Gigantic beasts, toxic monsters, abominations that make people question if the gods are virtuous beings. Lea certainly is questioning her life choices when facing off against endless horrific byproducts of Charlotte's way to "save the world".

And this place isn't half as dangerous as the place it was named after. Sinclair is enjoying every moment of this.

"Being one step away from the Shadow Realm makes me appreciate the little things in life~", the Anomaly shrugged, then she frowned, "Hey now, that's technically a derogatory term!!"

While Sinclair was being delusional, "I'm not!! I fucking know what you are, Nathan!!", Lea was making her way to the center.

Hastur and her gun were wrapped in Hexes, making them deadlier than before. With them, she carved a path of blood for herself.

I must keep going...

"I curse myself with Paranoia."

Black curse marks ran down her body. Not giving herself a moment of rest.

I will rip that bitch's throat out...

"I curse myself with Wrath."

Another layer of curses. So every swing of her blade, every shot of her gun, carries her malice.

You are the origin of my suffering...

"I curse myself with Tunnel Vision."

So that she can focus on the lightless figure standing on top of the spire, everything else became insignificant.

Half-Horrors coming from everywhere, trying to kill Lea. Not because it is in their instinct to slaughter, but because of where Sinclair was... The Avenger doesn't care, the Faceless Twilight tread forward.

"In my name, Lea Darkwill, I shall stand before you..."

Pieces of the Half-Horrors' consciousness were passively consumed by her, bit by bit, she realized what Sinclair was.

The madness that came from a distant world, an anomaly to existence itself...

That was what she was facing... and with so much pain on this journey, she will repay it a thousandfold!!

=0=0=

Towering ancient bookshelves reaching the sky, vanishing into translucent portals at a certain distance. In them are books upon books, all inscribed with different pieces of knowledge.

Lea knew this place well. Even with her hazy mind after fighting a horde of Half-Horrors.

Walking amongst the shelves, she found it hard to believe this place could appear in reality. With seemingly so many books, she thought it would be infinite.

"It is both, actually.", a hallowed voice came from the distance.

Lea instantly tensed up, readying her sword. Slowly, she approached the center, passing the ancient library.

There, in the seat of honor of the long table. Sinclair sat with her legs on the table; those lightless eyes were like black holes, swallowing all light. Her hair was still a short wolf cut, carrying an ethereal white to it. Still in a pitch-black military uniform, which amplified her danger even further.

And that damn smile, mocking her with every second that passed.

"Continuing what I just said, this library is infinite as it continuously grows with each new piece of information added. But it is ultimately finite as the amount of knowledge it has at one time is countable.", Sinclair continued, tilting her head to one side, "You are probably wondering why this library is here, correct?"

"What is... your connection with Charlotte?", Lea's voice was weak, tired. But she was still trying to find a chance to strike.

Sinclair's smile only widens, "You don't need to know, it's a loooong~ story."

No answers... Lea didn't seek one anyway. She already knew there was a connection between them...

She pulled the trigger, attempting to end the fight quickly. Even if she had to dig through corruptive mud, she would find that ring.

Plus, Sinclair is easy to kill—

"Did you think I am that easy to kill?", she flicked the energy bolt away with her finger, "Don't you ever think that I let people kill me for the fun of the game?"

Lea took a step back, feeling the overwhelming wrongness coming from Sinclair. It was a monster that shouldn't exist!! Every fiber of her being denied it!!

"So, I will do this the way Charlotte likes.", she snapped her finger, "Bloom, Flower of Life."

From beneath, a pattern of interwoven crimson light formed, crossing each other, creating the image of a flower.

Lea tried to fall back, but black flesh tendrils had already grasped her, pulling her closer to the table. And they forced her to sit down.

But that was enough time for Lea to see her target, on Sinclair's left middle finger... was a silver ring decorated with three diamond-shaped gems in red, green, and blue.

"Charlotte has the capacity to be one of the smartest people in the universe, just short of the Star Gods.", Sinclair began, "But she found it too boring, so she just turned off her brain."

She opened her arms wide, "Australia is the byproduct of the Path rituals; this is what happens when she uses half of her brain."

A planetary-level change, creating rituals for the sake of a world she held no love for. Lea could see the gravity of The Heretic's impact... no, is calling Charlotte a heretic even make sense?

Lea doesn't know...

"Why... keep me here... why telling me all of this...?"

"Because I want to try Charlotte's way of handling the situation!", Sinclair beamed, "Although always the quickest to throw hands, she always tries negotiation first~ unlike me, who just do whatever I find fun at the moment."

Lea grit her teeth, "So my suffering is for your entertainment?!"

Sinclair just laughed, "Ahahahaha~!! Yes, I enjoy your suffering very much~"

Cursed Constructs erupted around Lea, trying to maul Sinclair, yet they stopped upon touching something invisible, indestructible.

"Now then... tell me why you seek me. Aside from your revenge, of course~ 'cause you have no possible way of beating me~"

Lea couldn't say. She wouldn't yield.

"Tell me, or I'll murder every single person who knows your name and title.", it was a serious threat.

Lea's mind flashed the visage of Dawn, Jim, Auger, and many people she had met... she doesn't even entertain the thought of the anomaly lying.

"Since you can't beat me in any shape or form~", Sinclair's smile widened once more. She got off her seat, walking on the table with soundless steps over to Lea.

"What. Do. You. Want."

That was not a question, Lea felt the implication. She already knew...

Those lightless eyes stared down at her. Even closer after Sinclair crouched down... close enough for Lea.

"Dream... Eater."

The divine power of unconsciousness came out, reaching Sinclair. Like sticky black arms reaching out, snuffing Sinclair's consciousness for less than a second.

The black flesh also began to recede.

Quickly, Lea came and grabbed her hand, transforming her own body into a more agile and thin form.

When Lea was about to rip that ring off, a sudden chill ran down her spine.

"As Lea was about to take the ring, all of her exhaustion came hitting her at once.", Sinclair's voice came from somewhere else, narrating... no, manipulating what she was feeling.

The Sinclair in front of her melted into a pile of corruptive mud, while the ring landed in her hand. It took her so much willpower to just clench her fist; this exhaustion wasn't normal.

"Despite paranoia keeping her restless, she cannot hold on anymore."

She felt cracks spread across her body, bleeding out black blood that melted the table underneath her.

"Can she keep going on? Can she do it? Against the horror of the universe?"

NO.

The word exploded from Lea's throat, not spoken but roared, carried on waves of pure Malediction that cracked the library's shelves.

"I REFUSE!!"

Her body blazed with golden and blue flame, curses erupting from every crack in her form. The exhaustion pressed down like a mountain, but Lea pushed back with raw, unfiltered rage.

"You don't get to write my story!!", she screamed at the empty air, at Sinclair hiding somewhere, at the universe itself, "Do you think this is too much for me?!"

The cracks in her body widened, black blood pouring out, but Lea forced them closed through sheer will. Cursed Constructs wove through the wounds, holding her together through nothing but spite.

"I am LEA DARKWILL!!", her voice rumbled the ancient bookshelves, "The FACELESS TWILIGHT!! And you do NOT dictate what I can or cannot do!!"

Sinclair's laughter echoed from everywhere and nowhere, "Oh~? Fighting the narrative itself? How deliciously futile—"

"FUCK YOUR NARRATIVE!!"

Lea's Ideation flared. If Sinclair could narrate reality, then Lea would think a different one into existence.

I am not exhausted. I am not breaking. I am WRATH itself...

The ring in her hand began to glow, and the God of Order made her lies into reality.

Her body stopped cracking. The exhaustion didn't vanish, but it became background noise beneath the inferno of her rage.

"I curse myself with Vengeance.", Lea snarled, new marks burning into her pale skin, "I curse myself with Spite. I curse myself with REFUSAL!!"

Each curse made her stronger, more solid, more real than whatever story Sinclair tried to impose.

The ring burned in her clenched fist.

And Lea stood.

"Try again, bitch.", she spat blood. "I'm still here."

Sinclair's delighted laughter filled the library.

"Wonderful~!!"

She turned around from one of the bookshelves, carrying with her a book. That book, Lea knew very well.

The Tome of Light.

"I'll share something with you.", she opened the book, letting out the text and ravings, making Lea flinch in place.

"This library you are familiar with is the Divine Domain of Tales, where all stories of this world are collected."

So this place is a Divine Domain—

Then a realization hit Lea.

"No..."

Sinclair ignored her, "The book you call the Tome of Light, it is a Divine Throne. It chose Charlotte at first, but like all divinity, she rejected it. Turning it into its current state, a book and a library, so it can be used by anyone strong enough to handle Divinity."

The text began to wrap around Sinclair, the blinding light of the book dimmed. Lea turned herself into darkness, charging forth to stop her.

"So, I laid claim upon the Divinity of Tales, of Infinite Unfolding Stories."

A burst of energy knocked Lea back, flung her into the table, breaking it in half. She drew her gun and fired, sending multiple energy bullets at Sinclair.

Anything... just anything... stop Sinclair!!

"I am Sinclair Apocrypha, Anomaly the universe had named The Nowhere Girl- Everywhere and Nowhere, I exist, I don't exist."

Her smile just got brighter, right as Lea's bullets hit her, then she came in with Hastur, slicing off her head.

Fuck... It's too late.

The library rumbles, as if resisting its new master. Then it began to sink into the ground, returning to an empty plain. The ground rumbles again, but Lea doesn't want to deal with this now. So she used Soul Morph to transform her body into her aerial form, ascending into the sky, quickly getting up to the clouds.

Still, Sinclair's voice was clear, as if right behind her, "You should witness the coming of a new age... Ahkar Karbiwa, I choose you!!"

A blue portal opened above her, and coming out of it was... something alien. The thing burst fully through the portal.

A rectangular beast of metal and glass, roaring with impossible force. Wheels thicker than towers spun beneath it, crushing air into thunder. It looked absurd, like nothing this world had ever imagined.

Beep beep!

Lea barely had time to register it.

The machine slammed into her midair. Bone, curse, flame, and spite shattered at once as she was hurled backward, the sky tearing open behind her. Another portal yawned wide.

Lea vanished into it in a spiral of blue and gold fire.

The portal snapped shut.

The machine slowed, idling in the empty sky before sinking back into nothing.

Sinclair watched, standing on the ground of a half-built arena, sighing as everything sank back in.

"Welp, there goes my performance.", she took out a vape from her pocket, taking a deep inhale, "But I still have an unseen audience."

She smiled; her lightless eyes shrank as madness took over, a wide, wicked smile plastered on her face. She flung her arms wide, like a showman.

"Reintroducing myself~ I am Sinclair Apocrypha, the Goddess of Stories!!"

After a moment, she sighed.

"Just kidding~"