- Earth Core Area.
Deep within the heart of the planet, where molten fire and unrelenting pressure. The Earth's Core, the very heart that once pulsed with unimaginable power, now stands eerily still.
At the center of this, where an unimaginable power should have roared, there is only a transparent sphere.
A fragile-looking orb of energy, flickering weakly, as if its lifeblood had been drained.
Once the foundation of the world's stability, the Core should have been a source of power, rotating with ceaseless force. But now, it hangs in emptiness, dim and lifeless, like a sun that has long since burned out.
Yet, what truly captivates the eye is not the dying Core but the figure suspended within it.
Encased in the very heart of the fading energy, a woman sleeps. Her presence is unnatural, ethereal yet strangely absolute, as if she does not belong, yet the Core itself refuses to let her go.
Her form is untouched by the decay around her, her expression peaceful, her body weightless in the still air. His once beutiful hair, now black in color, drift in slow motion, defying gravity itself.
Behind her, half-subrged in the Core's failing light, a shield rests against her back. Not just any shield, but Aigis, the legendary aegis of Zeus, a relic of divine war, now reduced to nothing more than a shadow of its forr self. The once indomitable divine shield, which had protected the King of the Gods, now is cracked and tarnished.
Its celestial glow is gone, leaving behind only faint embers of its past might.
The dim light from the Aegis, was the only thing that protected the woman from the corrupt energy that was trying to reach her.
But even that didn't seem like it would last long.
------
The area around the core that once looked like a paradise garden now looks like a fortress, buildings filled with lava, and ugly creatures are everywhere.
It's them.
The Demons.
The demons have taken over the core area of the earth, making it a replica of hell. Make it their own.
The Earth's Core, once the heart Earth, had fallen silent. And in its absence, sothing else had taken root.
Where once stood a paradise, a divine sanctuary of radiant energy, flowing rivers of light, and lush gardens untouched by ti, now only a twisted nightmare remained.
The landscape had been reshaped into a grotesque fortress of ruin, a kingdom built upon corruption.
Massive obsidian spires jutted from the ground, their surfaces pulsing with veins of molten lava, twisting and writhing like sothing alive.
The sky, or what remained of it, was now nothing more than a black abyss, filled with the stench of brimstone.
The once crystal-clear streams that flowed through the Core's domain had been replaced with rivers of Blackened lava, bubbling with unholy energy.
And they were everywhere. The Demons.
--------
"... How's the progress? Have you been able to penetrate that Shield defense?"
A Demons said, His body flickers in and out of existence, like a mirage, making it difficult to tell whether he is actually present or just a projection. His hands are long and skeletal, each fingertip trailing invisible threads that attach themselves to objects, people, or even the fabric of reality itself.
He's, Duke Vassago, the Unseen Puppeteer.
"Is still in procces, Duke Vassago... With A little bit more force, we can reach Gaia"
"*Sigh* That shield is what delayed our plans all this ti, what prankster put such a powerful shield together with Gaia?... "
The demon standing beside Duke Vassago, a hulking beast with jagged, stone-like skin and molten cracks running along his body, let out a gravelly chuckle.
"Heh… Prankster or not, it won't last much longer. The Shield is crumbling"
Hearing that, Vassago's flickering form turned toward the transparent sphere where Gaia lay. His hollow eyes, devoid of light, observed the faint, pulsing cracks running along the shield's surface.
*Tch*
He had seen fate bend and break countless tis, yet this, this stubborn, ancient relic had stalled their conquest far longer than it should have.
Even now, with the once-great Earth's Core reduced to a husk, with Tartarus in disarray, and with humanity left in the dark about their dying world.
Gaia remained.
"Tell the others to accelerate the process"
Vassago murmured, his fingers twitching slightly, pulling at unseen strings. The very fabric of reality around him seed to ripple in response. Then said.
"I want that shield shattered before he gets here"
The lower-ranked demon beside him stiffened.
"You an-?"
Vassago's form shimred ominously, a faint, distorted chuckle escaping his lips.
"He's coming... The mont Tartarus trembled, the mont those wretched Hekatonkheires fell… He started moving toward here"
Hearing that, The other demons nearby stirred uneasily.
They knew who he was.
Taufik.
The anomaly. The one who had defied fate, ti, and reality itself.
If he arrived before the shield broke, their plans would be ruined.
No. More than ruined. He would erase them.
"Increase the pressure"
Vassago ordered, his voice eerily calm. Then continued.
"Drain the last embers of the Core. Let this place rot entirely if you must, but Gaia must fall before he reaches her... Only after The Earth is fall... With the destruction of the center of the universe, our great plan can begin"
With that, The demons moved imdiately, their grotesque forms scattering through the ruined fortress, their dark magic spreading through the twisted architecture.
Vassago remained still for a mont, watching the failing Aegis.
His fingers twitched again.
Far away, in the depths of Tartarus, where echoes of battle still rang, invisible strings tightened.
A new ga piece had been set.
Now, it was just a matter of whether Taufik could reach Gaia in ti... Or whether he would arrive to witness her fall.
--------
With a feeling of unease, Taufik explored the area behind the Gate.
Beyond the ancient gate lay a realm unlike anything Taufik had seen before. The oppressive air, thick with a suffocating weight, felt unnatural even to him.
Shadows twisted and coiled unnaturally, whispering secrets in a language older than ti itself.
A towering chasm stretched before him, a void where even light seed to hesitate before vanishing into nothingness.
At its center, a bridge of obsidian and bone extended forward, seemingly endless.
On either side, enormous statues lood, figures of forgotten deities, their faces eroded, their once-grand forms cracked and broken.
Seeing this, Taufik narrowed his eyes. But there's no ti to observe this sight, no, not even for a second.
Aksara and Erelythe followed closely behind, both on high alert.
Aksara's grip on his Ninjato tightened as his instincts scread at him, sothing was watching them.
Erelythe's expression remained unreadable, but her voice carried a warning.
"We have entered the Threshold of the Tartarus... From this point on, Sothing unexpected may happen suddenly"
Hearing this, Aksara glanced at her.
"... And what exactly does that an?"
Erelythe stepped forward, her crimson eyes scanning the abyss.
"This place exist even before the gods... Before Olympus, before the Titans... It is not part of the world, nor outside of it... This is The Real Tartarus itself"
At those words, Aksara scoffed.
"Great... Just when I thought, earlier, was bad enough"
But Taufik wasn't listening. His Concept. His whole being was reacting to sothing.
Then...
A sound.
A slow, deliberate clap echoed through the darkness.
*Clap~ Clap~ Clap~*
After that, from the shadows ahead, a figure erged.
He was tall, draped in tattered robes blacker than night itself.
His skin was an unnatural shade of gray, as if drained of life, and his eyes.
His eyes were hollow voids, swirling with an abyss deeper than death.
Aksara instinctively raised his sword. Erelythe stiffened, her hands flexing slightly as if preparing to strike.
The figure smiled.
"Fascinating"
That being mused, his voice smooth yet carrying a weight that pressed down on reality itself.
"A defiant of fate, a pure descendant of Gaia, and a forgotten death... Quite the interesting combination"
Taufik's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Hearing that, The being tilted his head.
"You do not recognize ? Ah~ Maybe with this you'll recognize "
That Baing said, with his smile widened. A familiar Crimson energy appear on his hands
".... I'm Andrealphus, the Cipher of Madness... Is nice to et you"
Hearing this, Aksara tensed, his grip on the Ninjato tightening. Erelythe remained motionless, eyes locked on Andrealphus.
The air grew heavier, distorted, as if reality itself recoiled from the presence of the Cipher of Madness.
But Taufik?
He moved.
No hesitation. No words. No warnings.
A single step, and the world shattered around him.
*BOOM!*
The bridge beneath his feet cracked, shadows splintering as his SwordMagic Technique roared to life.
The darkness around him recoiled, twisting in unnatural patterns, as if trying to reject his existence.
But it was too late.
Taufik was already upon Andrealphus.
His Katana, cloaked in absolute briliant of light, struck forward, a slash that would ignore flesh, bone, and even the soul itself if Taufik want.
But seeing this, Andrealphus did not flinch.
Instead, he smiled.
*Twitch*
....
...
..
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