Cherreads

Chapter 47 - Chapter 45: Sata's Funeral Memories

Apollo retreated slowly, then conjured his spear, haloed with a divine glow.

They exchanged a series of titanic blows, their spears dancing with supernatural precision, but neither managed to wound the other, or even graze their opponent.

Apollo: Frozen Space.

Time seemed to freeze. Sata found herself trapped in the icy space that bound her. No movement was possible for her anymore.

Apollo: Thanato, devour this world! Let this space dissolve into nothingness, making it even more apt to hinder the slightest gesture!

Thanato: Very well... Sneaky Space.

The World of Nothingness was completely frozen. All forms of movement were suspended there. Only Apollo and Thanato were still able to move in this absolute stillness.

Apollo: Visio Predonum.

His eyes lit up with a divine light.

[Visio Predonum: faculty of the gods allowing them to perceive the invisible, the unspeakable, the imperceptible and the inaccessible - the very mysteries forged by other mythical beings.]

Apollo: Apophis, may this spear destroy your very source, irreversibly now!

He launched his spear. It pierced Sata head-on, causing her to disappear in a breath of mystical energy.

Apollo: It's time to pierce the depths of her Secret...

A second spear took shape in his hands. He lunged towards the place where Sata had disappeared. Thanks to his vision, he saw her pierced body petrify, and another emerge, extracting itself slowly from the stone.

Apollo: This time, I see clearly into your game. You won't escape me!

He rushed towards this new incarnation. But a strange phenomenon was occurring in this invisible space: the closer he got, the further she moved away. And the more he accelerated, the more the distance widened, until she disappeared entirely from his field of vision.

Apollo: Damn!

Suddenly, Sata reappeared.

Sata: Peekaboo!

Apollo: You're unbearable...

Sata: Thank me instead for all the new techniques you've just offered me. Hahahaha... Transcendence!

Apollo: That's not a problem.

They lunged against each other at a gargantuan speed. Their collision produced a colossal power, threatening not only the World of Nothingness, but also other neighboring worlds.

It was necessary to intervene immediately.

Thanato: Divine Imprisonment!

Thanks to this ability, Thanato managed to enclose Apollo, Sata and their unleashed energy in a gigantic sphere of energy. But the task was arduous: the contained power was too vast. He struggled with all his might to contain it.

Thanato: Argh... It's... Impossible!

The sphere deformed brutally, bristling with bumps. Through its summit, the destructive energy escaped in a torrent so intense that it pierced space, opening a breach to the outside of the World of Nothingness.

As this energy dissipated, the sphere shrank, until it disappeared completely.

Thanato: At least, the catastrophe has been avoided... Apollo, end this fight immediately!

The two adversaries were sucked into the breach and fell violently into another vast space, dark red, silent.

Apollo stood up and declared:

Apollo: Well, well, well...

Sata: Where are we, exactly?

Apollo: We are in Madhurya. More specifically, in its second layer.

Sata: What? The Outer Void has layers, now?

Apollo: It always has. Above the titanic worlds, such as the Nothingness, the Otherworld and that of the Gods, stands Endimork. And above Endimork, rises Madhurya.

Sata: Endimork... The place where the true forms of the Secondary Gods reside?

Apollo narrowed his eyes.

Apollo: Exact. And I am surprised that you can exist here. Your true essence does not reside in Endimork. You are not a simple Demon Queen.

Sata applauded softly.

Sata: Bravo, my dear Apollo. I didn't expect you to possess an energy capable of transcending three states at once, Endimork, then the first two layers of Madhurya. Congratulations!

Apollo (She dares to underestimate me?! Certainly, the fact that we fought using "Transcendence" probably caused this dimensional expulsion. The shock was too great for the World of Nothingness. But what surprises me even more is that she doesn't reside in Endimork... Madhurya is composed of an infinity of layers, each transcending the other. This means that, just here, we must cross an infinity of states before reaching the celestial zone of Viraya!)

...sata is certainly a creature of Viraya, but with a very transcendent knowledge if she really knows the existence of Jada...

Sata: What are you muttering? Have you already forgotten about me?

Apollo: Tell me... Are you really a Demon Queen?

Sata: Of course! Why this question?

Apollo (The Demon Kings of her level have all disappeared since the war of the Origins... How can an entity of this power still exist, and above all, have remained hidden for so long?)

Sata: Apollo!

Apollo: What?

Sata lowered her head.

Sata: Nothing... I have to eliminate you now.

Apollo: Pff... I'm going to show leniency. I may have made a mistake in underestimating you. Leave, while there is still time.

Sata raised her eyebrows.

Sata: Are you kidding? You boast in front of your ally, but you're nothing more than a coward?

Apollo: No connection.

Sata: Then let's fight, seriously this time!

She rushed towards him.

Apollo: Very well, as you wish. Authority I order Sata to remain still.

Sata: Wh...?!

Suddenly, her entire body froze.

Apollo joined his hands in prayer.

Apollo: Divine anger, blows of the gods, salvation from the punishment of sin, blows of the redeeming God.

A golden statue materialized behind him, sitting in meditation, with billions of arms.

Apollo: If you survive this, it's that you're no ordinary enemy.

Sata smiled, exalted.

Sata: Of course I'll survive... and this technique will be mine too!

Apollo: Several billion years ago, Madhurya was created precisely to allow total combat without fear of destruction. Here, I can release 7% of my power without annihilating existence.

Sata: Then what are you waiting for to prove it to me?!

Apollo: By my authority... I take away all your power.

Sata felt her powers disappear within her.

Sata: How is this possible...?

Apollo struck her with a single blow, crushing her to the ground.

For once, her techniques no longer activated. She was bleeding profusely, and as she fell, she perhaps thought that the end was finally approaching, that this god would finish her off.

She collapsed to the ground. Then, faltering, she stood up.

Sata: Is that all you can do? I expected more from a god like you. Why not use your thousand-armed technique, huh?

Apollo appeared before her. The surprise made her recoil and fall.

She looked at him. In his eyes shone a sublime, almost irresistible light.

Sata: Get out of my sight!!

She stood up and attacked with a punch, which Apollo intercepted effortlessly.

Sata: You ....!!

Apollo: Stop it. You're no longer credible.

Sata: Huh?!

Apollo: You're no longer in a state to face me. I already congratulate you for having held out against my 7% in the World of Nothingness. But beyond... The Power of Authority, that of the God Father, dictates the order, and only his will authorizes its use. All the Primordial Gods possess it. This ability embodies the Divine Word and no one resists it.

Sata: Then why not have used it sooner?

Apollo: In the World of Nothingness, this would have caused major disturbances. I can only invoke it in the presence of superior divine beings like Zeus or in Madhurya, without risks.

[Authority.]

It came from no sky, no abyss, no era. It was not born. It was not given. It was. A Voice without timbre, without breath, which precedes language as lightning precedes thunder. Where kings command, it orders. Where gods impose, it dictates. Not by desire, nor by caprice, but because nothing can do otherwise.

Everything known or hidden, every will, every thought, every essence, even those that escape time, even those that tread the nameless stars, kneel before Her - not by submission, but because there is no position outside Her reach.

It does not act: it is the acting. It does not threaten: it is that before which all threat dissipates. Its silence is enough to bring down the ramparts of worlds. Its word need not be spoken to be fulfilled.

And if a being claimed to be able to oppose it… then that very opposition would be the path through which Authority would assert itself again, vaster, older, more relentless. For all that is, was, or will be, bends according to its breath, as the shadow bends to the fire.

No one can escape it. For even the idea of escaping belongs to it.

Sata: Very well... then I know what I must do.

A dark aura emanated from her body.

Sata… Sata… Sata…

[Memories of Sata]

My existence has been nothing but manipulation and suffering, for me as for others.

From my creation, I ate the forbidden fruit… and became the Demon of Sin.

Driven from the splendid garden that sheltered me, I was relegated to the world of existence, relentlessly exposed to the assaults of gods and angels, unable to tolerate my presence, intrinsically linked to the sin of which I am the source.

As long as sin persists, I will be there. This is the reason for their eternal relentlessness against me.

I have always aspired to redemption… but how to achieve it?

It was enough for me to leave my cave for attacks to rain down from all sides. Each step towards the light became a step towards pain.

It is said that the Heavenly Father always forgives his children, his creations. Why then was I always hunted, rejected, destroyed?

I prayed, I apologized. Nothing. For over a thousand years, silence answered me. So, I stopped begging… and decided to annihilate them.

I morphed into Apophis, my colossal serpentine form, consumed by rage and pain. I wanted to devour the world of existence. But Adam intervened. He defeated me to protect this world.

After my fall, I was thrown into an unknown world, without a name, where my bloodied body lay, broken.

I was terrified. I wanted to repair my faults, but everything escaped me. In this place devoid of salvation, the angels found me and slaughtered me without pity. Their divine swords pierced my flesh, lacerating my being to nothingness.

Thus, I perished in this nameless world that was called "the World of Surveillance".

I thought I was finally free… but my consciousness, anchored deeply in its source, remained immortal.

Nine billion years later, I awoke.

I was now a young demon, one of Lilith's children… but I was only an intruder among them.

The cruelest thing was to keep all the memories of my previous life. This eternal consciousness became my burden.

I sank into madness. I was overwhelmed. I cried, day and night, relentlessly, for fifteen thousand years.

Lilith, she knew.

She knew my true origin. She knew that I was not hers, and for this reason, she always treated me with distance, reserving her attentions for her true children.

Then came the birth of Erasa.

A demon child with a strange background, unlike that of the others. She had in her a familiar gentleness… similar to that of Lucifer.

I understood. This child came neither from Azazel, nor from Samael. It could only be that of Lucifer. But I had to be certain, completely certain, before acting.

Years passed. Erasa reached the age of 900 years. One day, I heard a conversation between her and Lilith, about her father. My blood ran cold.

So, I went to find her.

Sata: Erasa, what did you say to Mom about your father?

Erasa: Mom told me that my father was… the Devil himself!

This answer troubled me, but it confirmed my suspicions. Azazel, Samael, Lilith… all are demons. But the one called "the Devil himself" can only be Lucifer. And it is Lilith herself who spoke these words.

I then took her in my arms. I was ready to devour her. To make the daughter of the man responsible for everything I still live pay. The one who promised rewards but brought only suffering.

But Lilith stopped me.

With a simple smile. Sweet. Calculated.

I knew then that she was preparing something.

I released Erasa.

Lilith: Erasa, can you leave us alone for a moment? I would like to talk a little with your big sister, Erashia.

Erasa: Okay, Mother!

She walked away, carefree.

Lilith turned towards me an enigmatic gaze.

Lilith: Isn't she adorable, my little Erasa? She looks a lot like you, you know. You share many common traits… except that, she, she is really my daughter.

Erashia swallowed.

(What is she trying to say? What does she really want?)

More Chapters