Will of chaos

Pov Ephiliel:

After days we were back at the Temple, looking around I see that it was still empty, the barriers still hiding their presence as before.

"Nala, will you wait for them here?" (me)

"Yes, things will get hectic soon, I won't be able to go unnoticed like before." (Nala)

"Then what should I..." (me)

Before I could speak, we both turned to a point behind where the blocks of space were rearranging into a portal, where a Level 1 Ascendant appears, he kneels in front of Nala delivering a letter, then his entire body melts into a horrible gelatinous puddle.

"Why does he keep using them like this?" (me)

"If he keeps using weak Ascendants as messengers like this..." (me)

"It doesn't matter... we have a problem." (Nala)

Nala, who didn't even care about the Ascendant melting, immediately began to read the letter that burned with each word until it disappeared, her expression was bad.

"What's the problem?" (Nala)

"Vecna ​​is missing, we don't know where he went or what he's doing." (Nala)

"How long has he been missing?" (me)

"Days, we don't know for sure." (Nala)

"What do we do? He's already on his way, the plan is going to be put into action! We need to stop him!" (me)

"Forget about Vecna, we still have two leaders to face, not to mention many things we still have to do, we can't waste time now." (Nala)

Vecna ​​can be a risk acting secretly, leaving him on his own now is letting his guard down at the most important moment, I can't accept that, not after everything I've endured to get here!!!

"Don't look at me like that, we don't have time for this, you know that and the chances of us being discovered are close to zero." (Nala)

"Just focus on what we have to do, we'll deal with Vecna ​​as and when he shows up." (Nala)

"(Her logic isn't wrong, but I can't help but worry... I'm so close to finally stopping resisting.)" (me)

The images of that World Tree came to my mind, its figure and presence were on a different scale than the World Trees I had ever seen.

The pain it caused me was nothing, I deserved so much more, every moment breathing was torture, those images in my mind, so much blood, all that devastation, the screams, so many screams.

"EPHILIEL!!!" (Nala)

Suddenly I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, that hand was very heavy and pulled me out of my thoughts, that was Nala who focused her vision on me.

"We don't have time for your guilt or your suicidal tendencies!" (Nala)

"I understand... I'm sorry..." (me)

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Pov Zenos:

Once again I was alone, this time around me there was only desert in every direction, Callidora didn't appear to me, nothing appeared to me, all I saw was a desert of red sand and a black sky dotted with purple stars, it was a macabre desolation with these colors.

"(It's as if there was no temperature, it's perfectly balanced with my body temperature.)" (me)

The environment, besides being macabre, was strange in many details, the sand in this desert was super fine, but my feet never sank, the temperature was always the same to the point of not feeling cold or hot, there was no airflow and no kind of odor, there was no sound to the point of hearing my heartbeat and my blood flow.

There weren't even any natural energies in the atmosphere, it was as if most of my senses were turned off, leaving only sight and touch, it was unnerving.

Time also felt different, sometimes it felt like a lot of time had passed and sometimes it felt like mere seconds had passed, my sense of time was distorted and unreliable, to remedy this I started counting my steps as I walked at a steady pace, this would be close to maintaining a more controllable sense of time.

As I walked, nothing happened for over an hour, even so I didn't let my guard down and continued to pay attention to every detail, this place was supposed to be about temptation, so sooner or later something would change.

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"Master, shall we go back now?" (Ibuki)

"Yes, we've already caught today's game, let's let Diana cook." (me)

"I still think we could get some more fruit..." (Kira)

I was walking between the trees full of red leaves, an Elf on one side and an evolved Goblin on the other side, looking at my hands as black as night where some rabbits were tied together, our lunch for today.

"(I feel like something is wrong... but what...?)" (me)

"You're late." (Erica)

"We lost track of time." (me)

Suddenly I hear Erica's words, she was at the wooden gates, the cabin seen behind her, a warm feeling taking over my heart as I felt at home.

"Dad, is this all you have for food?" (Irina)

"Leave it in my hands, I'll ask my daughter to cook." (Freya)

"Let Erica work a little too, she can't spend all day reading." (me)

"I'm hungry..." (Lilith)

"Hungry..." (Hinata)

"I want sweets, please, just a cake..." (Layla)

"Please stop complaining..." (Karina)

"..." (me)

I stopped in the middle of the path, a wide smile taking over my face when I saw everyone together in this cabin, a simple, cozy and happy life.

"I didn't want anything more than this..." (me)

"That must be why I didn't realize when I fell for your tricks, right?" (me)

"You were pretty quick to realize." (Callidora)

Crack

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Suddenly everything shattered like a mirror when it was hit, the pieces of reality falling and sinking into the fine sands of this damned desert while I was still walking, but this time Callidora was walking beside me, even so I didn't look at her, I just kept looking ahead as I walked in a straight line at the same pace.

"Did you really think that kind of temptation would work on me?" (me)

"No, but you are an exception, your desires are always too immediate and fluid to stop at just one, only that was the one that was permanent in your heart." (Callidora)

"For someone with so much power, your desires are quite... simple..." (Callidora)

"I have never been a greedy person, I don't care about authority, money or power... I never have." (me)

Throughout my life, I have only accumulated power to survive, being constantly attacked, encountering increasingly dangerous creatures and situations along my journey, seeking power was a necessity and not an option.

"Am I getting close to the door yet?" (me)

"No, it will take a few more hours, as I said before, you got over your temptations too quickly, so just keep walking." (Callidora)

As I walked, the presence beside me disappeared, so I kept walking and walking for hours, soon I saw a gate made of white blocks in the distance, with an increase in speed I arrived in front of that gate in a second where I found only Samara and Hades waiting next to Akatosh.

"Let me guess, none of you were affected by your temptations?" (me)

"My lord, I have already given in to my temptations a long time ago, nothing that this place can show me that I have not already accomplished, that is how I stopped being the Saint of Life." (Samara)

"I saw nothing but desert." (Hades)

"I walked through forests of food, there were so many aromas of meat that I have eaten in the past, but temptations cannot affect my willpower, no matter how delicious they are." (Akatosh)

"Then all we can do is wait." (me)

With that, we continued waiting for a few more hours. The last one to appear, oddly enough, was Selene. My mother's face was stained with tears, and her Aura was ablaze with sadness mixed with incalculable anger. Her red eyes were so terrifying that even I felt a chill run down my spine.

But there was someone who couldn't get out of the desert. In fact, it was something I should have expected.

Sigh

"< Divine Summon: Layla >" (me)

I feel this whole place trying to resist my Summon, but not even Callidora can completely stop the power of chaos. Then, after several minutes, a magic circle burns the space while a sleeping Fairy with a drooling mouth appears, falling into my hands while muttering something.

"Hehehe... sweets, so many sweets... I want more cake... OW!!" (Layla)

"Who was the idiot who dared to hit the beautiful me!?" (Layla)

"It was me, you idiot, I knew you wouldn't pass." (Me)

Sigh

After we were all gathered, Callidora appeared once again, this time she didn't collect anything from us like she did before, she just touched the gate that shone brightly.

"The passage is open, you can pass, but I advise you to be careful." (Callidora)

Saying that, Callidora disappeared, the gate that was shining suddenly revealed a checkered passage with us as if we were looking at a low-resolution television screen.

"Don't separate and try not to use your Auras, until we reunite with my people, we have to go unnoticed." (Davoth)

"Do you know where this gate leads?" (me)

"Yes, a place I planned a long time ago, far from everyone's sight, where you will be able to adapt to the environment, but remember not to use your Divinities in any way and keep your Auras under complete control." (Davoth)

With that, Davoth passes through the gate and we all follow him, finally leaving this damned place.