Ilya was not one to take a loss lying down. The woman who had crushed her would pay.
However, what mattered now was retrieving the artifact for her lady. She side-eyed Hikari, her sister in faith, yet there was something about her that disgusted her.
She was far too soft.
Is my lady certain that she will be helpful? She shook her head and led the way through the dense foliage.
"Ilya, are you certain the temple is so close to Onost? The elves would have retrieved the artifact already."
Ilya scoffed. "Are you questioning my goddess?"
Hikari sighed. "Not at all."
"Good," Ilya said while clearing out the dense vegetation.
Soon they arrived at a small clearing. Around them was a stone well, in which the circles concentrated toward a small pond.
"My Lady said, we need to jump into that water," Ilya confidently led the way.
They stepped down onto the steps of stone toward the pond. Ilya knelt down and stared at it. "I am going first, do not dare run away."
Without a further word, Ilya dived into the water.
The vision around her changed, and the connection to her lady cut.
Her divinity faded.
A quiet ticking of the clock echoed around her before her vision returned to normal.
She clenched her fist. "I can't use my power here?"
If she had said that she was not worried about that fact, it would be a massive lie.
Soon after, Hikari appeared behind her.
Both girls were equally clueless about their current situation.
"I cannot call upon my power here," Hikari stated, trying to conjure her weapon. For the first time in their long lives, both girls were mere mortals.
"It matters not, we need to retrieve the artifact and get out of this place."
Hikari shuddered. "I do not like this."
The tunnels were cold and dark, with only the sound of a ticking clock echoing around them. However, despite the darkness, their sight still pushed through as if it were the brightest daylight.
"Stop whining, follow me," Ilya said while gesturing Hikari to quicken her stride.
Lady of dawn, guide me. She uttered a quick prayer in her mind and caught up to Ilya.
The duo of girls approached a set of stairs that led deeper inside.
As they descended, the tunnels became wider and taller, revealing a massive room surrounded by many white pillars.
Large white banners, embroidered with the golden hourglass, hung from them, gently swaying with the wind that permeated the temple.
A red carpet stretched before them, and a large pedestal welcomed them in the middle of it.
At the end was a large throne, with what looked like a marble statue.
Yet, the group wasn't alone.
Hikari pulled Ilya behind the pillar and observed.
A group of beastmen and humans approached the pedestal. The artifact was welcoming anyone to take it, there were no defenses. It resembled a spear stuck in the belly of the beast.
That is the white hand! Hikari's eyes widened.
Yet, the weapon of such power was completely in the open.
"Let me go," Ilya said, struggling to escape Hikari's grasp.
"No, we do not have our divine blessing right now, we need to be careful," She whispered.
The human who was leading the group reached forward and touched the white hand.
Unworthy.
A powerful voice erupted from each pillar.
The ticking stopped, and the marble statue rose from the throne, revealing that it was not a statue, but instead a man of unknown race.
His face was obscured, and a large golden clock floated behind him.
"I am the daybreak of the dawn, a cry of a newborn babe, and the first scream of creation. One who knows what is, and what will be. The keeper of eternal beginning and the quiet ticking clock." A whisper echoed through the halls.
"The love of beginning now beckons you, for you have sinned. The broken clock is now stuck in perpetuity and eternal decay." He spoke, voice echoing.
"I state now, before the Truth of Time. Your existence never was and will never be again."
With a simple statement, the time itself forgot the invaders. They simply never were. The history erased them, and the memory faded.
"The lord of beginnings?!" Hikari screamed, still holding her palm over Ilya's mouth.
Ilya finally managed to get herself out of Hikari's grip and stared at her. "The lord of the what?"
"Out of the fairy tale. The one who stands at the precipice of creation," She spoke knowingly, her eyes stuck on the man.
"I sense two more intruders. Little flies so desperately hiding, yet nothing escapes the time's gaze. I spare you now, for one of your hearts is pure."
As soon as his words left his mouth, the two blessed girls came face to face with the man.
Both girls shrank back and stepped back.
Before she could even process what happened, Hikari dropped onto her knees and bowed. "Forgive us for intruding in your sanctum, we did not know what we were doing!" She pleaded, her eyes wandering to Ilya, who still refused to bow, instead, she looked at Hikari with disgust.
"I do not know what you are, but I came here to collect that artifact," she said, pointing toward the white hand.
The Lord did not respond, instead, he only gazed at Ilya. "You are unworthy of wielding the Hand of the Beginning."
His gaze panned to Hikari. "However, you have potential, Pure one."
She raised her head slightly.
"You may stand."
Hikari nodded and followed after the Lord while holding a respectful distance.
"Pure one, you had tact not to lay claim to the piece of the great clock. Thus, I offer mercy to you and the impure one next to you. "
Hikari nodded. "Then… how do we claim the artifact?"
"That depends upon you, pure one."
Ilya scoffed. "I am supposed to claim it, not Hikari. I demand to know the answer."
However, the Lord ignored her and approached the white hand.
"The hand of the end had been misused; thus, only those I deem worthy may touch it, others never were and never shall be again." His voice echoed through the great halls, the clock on his back speeding up.
"How do we prove worthy?"
"Answer a single question," He said, "Do you know the consequence of playing with time?"
Ilya, already annoyed by the duo ignoring her, reached toward the hand, "You are just spouting rubbish, I am blessed by my goddess!" In an instant, she was gone, erased from history.
Hikari's eyes widened. "Please bring her back, she…"
"She was warned, pure one. My mercy has limits."
Hikari fell on her knees, "I beg of you! I will do anything, but please bring her back."
The lord stared down at the girl.
The clock behind him ticked back, and in the very moment, Ilya appeared next to her. Her hands shook, and she stared at her palm, sweating. "What have you done to me?!" Ilya demanded, yet her demands were unanswered; instead, she was ejected from the temple.
"Answer my question, pure one," He said.
Hikari thought. Searching her mind's archives for anything that would refer to the lord's question.
Soon, she arrived at the memory of a tale she had read. A dwarven kingdom, stuck in eternity, forever stilled while the time of the world flowed.
"The Paradox and the Collapse?"
The Lord nodded. "Your answer is acceptable, yet I sense great uncertainty in you."
"I am worried, if someone of your caliber is defending the White Hand, is it truly right for me to claim it?"
"I am a warden of Time, I care not what happens in the lower cosmos. I allow you to claim it and one day reforge the great clock," He said. "Go forth, claim the White Hand, with the blessing of the Beginnings."
Hikari reached toward the White Hand.
"Heed my warning. No matter how tempting, the price upon the cosmos would quickly become too heavy to pay. This is a heavy burden, but you shall carry it."
She nodded. "I understand."
Her fingers wrapped around the White Hand.
In an instant, the Lord disappeared, and she found herself in the middle of the stone well, her hand tightly holding onto the White Hand.
The entrance to the temple is gone? She stared at the centre where the pond of water was. Now it was dry as the stone surrounding it.
Before she could even process what happened, she found a dark weapon's blade under her throat. "Surrender the artifact to me, at once!"
Hikari sighed. "No, the Lord said that it is too dangerous, I can't give it to you."
She pressed the weapon closer. "I do not care, whoever that was doesn't override my lady's mission, despite his power."
Hikari gently pushed off the weapon and smiled at Ilya before wrapping the white hand in cloth. "Let's discuss this somewhere else, sister."
Ilya scoffed. "I will allow it, but that artifact better not leave my sight."
The duo slowly made their way out of the stone well and stepped onto the grass.
"It would seem your plan worked, Rolan. The Inquisitor will be satisfied with the result." A voice reached from the forest.
Soon, two entities emerged, one was an elf with long black hair and clipped ears, her eyes were black, and her flesh scarred by torture instruments.
Next to him was a hooded man, and within the hood, only a spectral eye could be seen.
The female elf bowed. "It is a great honor to make amends for my mistake in Razul."
Hikari conjured a lightbound weapon and took the guard.
"The mistake was a minor one, your actions provided enough, and now you provided us a way to finish what you started."
The duo looked toward them.
Ilya turned into the shadows and dashed forward. She was quickly hit by the chains coming out of the ground.
"What is this?!" She shouted, her divinity quickly falling to zero.
Hikari attempted to break the chains, she, too, was quickly caught.
"Not only that, your actions gave us access to the white hand we spent so long trying to claim," The hooded man chuckled and looked toward Hikari.
"Bishop?! How could you betray us?!" Ilya shouted toward the clipped elf.
The elven lady chuckled and then grinned. "I was never on your side, filthy heretic. My name is Rolan, the First Disciple."
The girls remained powerless.
Seven more hooded entities made their way out of the forest, each carrying a black box in their hands.
Shit, I can't let the artifact fall into their hands! She struggled with all her might, yet the chains held tight.
"Shush, little one. Sleep now. [Final Death]."
Hikari fell, leaving Ilya to stare at the corpse of her sister in faith. "How dare you! I will kill you all!"
"Silence. You have an important mission to do for us," the hooded man brought a small black cube to her face and broke it.
The Twilight Rot escaped and dug into Ilya's flesh.
The chains retreated, letting the divine connection return.
"Her goddess should react to this." The hooded man spoke.
Ilya thrashed on the ground, the rot spread over her flesh.
The rot eroded her throat, silencing her screams.
The eight hooded individuals took positions around the dark circle.
Their boxes shattered.
Soon, the day turned into the night and oppressive mists descended upon the world.
Rolan stepped forward. "Time for this body to serve its final purpose."
The desecration of the temples, theft of the relic, and death of the greater blessed child. All of it culminated in one final goal.
Bring the goddess of the night into the mortal world.
Rolan raised his hands up.
"Smite me, Len. Smite the sinner that had taken your daughter!"
After a moment of silence, a pillar of darkness descended in front of Rolan.
After the darkness retreated, in the circle stood an entity of great power. The ground around her shuddered and cracked and the day turned into the night.
"I have come upon the earth and with my two feet taken possession!" She shouted. "You Human dogs think you can take what belongs to me unpunished! I will end you all!"
She turned toward Rolan. "You! You will end!"
With a mere word, Rolan was reduced to dust. In that moment, her focus was on Rolan, the chains erupted from the ground and 8 boxes, each digging into her divine flesh.
She gripped the ones that dug into her hands and shattered them, yet they reformed.
She fought the persistent chains. "You damn ants! Red Dawn will be erased for this!"
However, it did not take long for her to feel the weakness sneaking up on her.
Each time a chain connected to her, her power grew dimmer.
Instead of dealing with chains, she smited one of the hooded individuals, however, instead of an instant death, a dark puddle reformed into the individual again.
Len caused the earth to quake and the skies to open, an earthquake that destroyed parts of nearby Onost.
Yet the chains were relentless. After what seemed to be an eternity, her movements grew sluggish, her divine light dimming.
The boxes absorbed her divinity, leaving her as nothing more than a shell before her enemy.
The chains pushed her to the ground.
"You… Insects!"
"Silence, goddess. Your blood will serve our purposes well." The hooded man spoke while picking up the White Hand. He then brought his black box close to her.
The black cube shattered and pulled her body inside itself.
Before she could even protest, her consciousness faded.