Saturnastra Marduke - Final Episode - Chapter 16 P2
0Marduke is an alderman that was sent to the terraformed planet of Saturn in order to Hunt Abandons. Abandons are eldritch horrors that feast upon Magic Users. These creatures have succeeded in almost completely erasing magic from the known Universe. Due to the Magus genocide, the Abandons in turn were hunted down to extinction. The last one that remains has taken refuge in Saturn. Marduke must find and destroy this creature before it kills the last remaining Magic Users. Marduke tracks the Abandon Libra to Veragerung. He senses the creature, but he is still unable to pinpoint her exact location. Someone is sheltering the Abandon Libra. In exchange of knowledge, this person does her dirty work for her. Will Marduke succeed in destroying Libra? Or will Libra’s emissary kill Marduke?
Chapter 16 Part 2
The pool of blood eroded my auria. Now, I was in the sixth auria. It was an exact replica of hell. Using the scythe, I was able to summon Three Legions of the Damned. Like bats, this horde of demons swarmed around me. From the scythe’s blade, I made it radiate heavenly light. Recognizing the pure aura of their former master, the legion’s fury subsided. Pointing toward, the approaching pool of blood, I yelled to the demons, “Tear him apart! Body and Soul!”
Like a swarm of locus, they descended upon Berthame. They started clawing and consuming its very essence. This time even Berthame’s soul became like his blood. It started eroding the demons. All three legions, body and soul, were completely whipped out by Berthame. My fellow readers worry not for those poor hellions. Since they were a summoning, they simply went back from whence they came.
Running out of options, Berthame and I arrived at my final auria… This auria was a replica of The Abyss. It differed a little from the original. My version consisted of two solitary islands floating over the Abyss. The door I used to enter led to the world of the living. The door in the other Island led to the Source. Serving as a bridge, were ten control panels. Each one was themed after the Sefirot they represented. Each Sefirot, aside from Keter, was occupied by an auria version of one of my siblings. They were not the originals; however, they at least served as autopilots for the Sefirot machine.
Even though, the machine was a cheap replica, the gateways were summoning of the originals. With any luck, if I failed to slay Berthame using the machine, he might be stupid enough to enter the Source. With any luck, he would either die or become something else… What that something else would depend on Berthame’s true nature. With any luck, he would become something manageable. Like expected, Berthame’s blood rained over me. It started slowly corroding the machines and I as well. I sent a sprite with the scythe to repel most of the blood, while I worked the machine.
The first thing I did was summon up Berthame’s interior Sefirot. As expected, he had eleven Sefirot instead of ten. This proved to me that his true nature was evil. Since I could not defeat him, I would try to balance him out. The first Sefirot that had to go away was the additional Sefirot. Between, Crown and Foundation, he had the Sefirat of Conquest. I destroyed it using his very own sense of Justice and his overpowering Sefirot of Victory. While I was at it, I also got rid of his Kingship Sefirot. He was down to nine, which was also problematic. Still, 3 pairs of triplets were better than eleven.
After this first change, Berthame’s blood stood still in midair. It assembled like a puddle before me. From it grew the young Berthame, with his attack armor. He seemed a bit dazed at first, like he did not know where he was. Apparently, this minor change had done wonders to even him out. In a dreamy voice, he asked, “Weren’t we just fighting? Suddenly, I don’t feel like slaying you.”
“You never wanted to kill me in the first place. You simply wanted to control me…” I rebuked him from the Crown.
“Yes… I remember…” suddenly Berthame’s Justice flared up and turned to vengeance. It completely consumed his Wisdom, his Understanding and his Mercy. Along with Vengeance, all that remained were his distorted Will, his Love turned to hatred, and his splendor turned to Dullness, his eternity became momentary, and his foundation broke down. From his broken-down foundations, emerged Destruction. Seeing him take a turn for the worst, I tried to balance him out with good attributes. However, time and time again his vengeful side rejected anything positive. Much to my deep chagrin, he had become unnaturally still. He would stare at me with his red eyes while laughing.
Smiling he said, “I have seen your little trinket before. My darling Libra took pride in changing people’s nature. She too tried changing me. She wanted to make me a better person. I must thank you Marduke. It has been quite a long time since I felt like my true self again… You realize that you cannot defeat me!! So, open the right door for me, boy!”