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[h2]The Pariah and the Serpent[/h2]

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The throne felt cold as the Monarch of All continued to gaze out upon the Galbar, occasionally shifting over to the moon that had been crafted by Yudaiel, only to then inevitably stare upon the spot where Ao-Yurin had been struck down by His hand. Two clawed hands ran themselves over the armrests of the Jade throne, causing a high pitched scraping sound to resonate throughout the empty palace halls. It had never occurred to Him what it would feel like with the weight of murder upon His shoulders, He had never considered such a thing before, but in the moment, be had thought it to be an act of kindness to end Ao-Yurin’s suffering. The thoughts weighed upon the Monarch of All as He continued to gaze upon that spot, yet, He knew that inaction would continue to perpetuate the feeling that was gnawing upon His soul.

With a sigh, the Monarch of All stood from His throne and opened the bridge to the Galbar, stepping forth until His feet stood atop the calm waters of the oceans. There was nothing but the open seas, even the horizon displayed nothing more than the creation of a now dead god, save for the occasional hole that had been brought about by Ruina’s hand. The Monarch of All looked down upon the ocean, seeing through the waves with perfect clarity, seeing the fish go about their meager lives and the reefs that occasionally dotted the sea floor. Yet, there was a further darkness deeper into the seas, one that was impenetrable even to His own absolute and indomitable gaze. Normally, nothing on the Galbar could hide from His sight, however, this darkness did not seem to be normal and appeared to be the antithesis of His divine light. He already knew what that meant, for there were few things that could have brought one of His subjects so low.

The Monarch of All dove into the water, His body compressing into that of a terrifying creature: an elongated snout filled with teeth gave way to a rotund body, six flippers dotted its sides, and a tail longer than any whale propelled His new form. The great tail swaying back forth sent the Monarch of All deeper and deeper, coming towards that impenetrable darkness that His gaze could not seem to move through. Then, with a sudden turn, the Monarch of All began to circle the darkness, knowing that it was not all-encompassing amongst the sea floor, before one of His eyes focused on the darkness and noticed that while He was looking at the darkness, it too was looking upon Him. It was a hideous creature, one that ate all the light that touched it and spat out the hideous fumes that coalesced around it. Such a sickening display brought nothing but hatred and anger to the Monarch of All, and He knew at that moment that He must strike first before the beast attacked.

The form of the Monarch of All’s beastial form turned and launched itself at the beast, though He had not expected the creature to launch a counterattack. Smoke billowed into the glowing eyes of the Monarch, causing the supreme god to veer off His course and slam into the sandy bottom of the ocean. However, such tricks were little more than a nuisance to such a being like the Monarch of All, who launched Himself at the monster, His teeth clamping down upon its arm and ushering it to release a bellow of pain. The smoke became deeper and blocked more light, but the Monarch would not lose His grip upon the being, not while He had it right where he wanted it. Then, a force only capable of being produced by another divine slammed into the top of bestial form, dazing the great Monarch of All and forcing him loose before a hand grabbed the back of His head and threw Him back. 

Transforming back to His true form and reorienting himself, the Monarch of All let out a snarl to the creature, disgust and an anger unseen filling the air.

[b][i]”So, you finally show yourself, pariah. I am impressed you show such strength.”[/i][/b]

Yet, the beast bellowed out yet more of its black smoke as it spoke back to the supreme god, definitely responding in a low guttural tone and in a tongue unknown to reality, as the Monarch of All had decreed it. Then, it launched itself upon the ruler, who caught the beast as the two flew through the oceans, each moment that passed the two beings hitting each other with such force as to cause miniature earthquakes and pockets of the ocean to temporarily recede before collapsing back in upon itself. For a moment, the Monarch of All seemed to gain the upper hand in the bout, as one his clawed hands dug itself into the skin of the beast and spilt ichor into the ocean, choking out life and blacking out the sun. The creature responded in kind by slamming a fist into the Monarch of All’s side, causing the deity to buckle before the supreme deity grasped onto its arm and flung into the ground with such force as to split the very ground in twain. 

Unrelenting, the Monarch of All advanced at such speed that the water parted before Him and when He impacted the creature, a great explosion ruptured the ground even further. Yet, such a blow was not enough to fell a creature made with divine intention, as the blackened monster loosed yet another wail and leapt upon the Monarch of All, and the battle continued, the two fighting their way towards the surface, striking and knocking each other all the while as more dark ichor spilled into seas. Then, the creature sent a mighty shock into the Monarch of All, delivering a punch into the great wound upon the chest of the Monarch, causing the divine being to recoil and gasp for air that He did not need. Staggering backward, the Monarch of All grasped at His chest, feeling as if He were unable to breath. 

The creature advanced, but with all the energy the Monarch of All could muster, He sent the palms of two His hands into the beast’s chest, sending it flying backward. He hunched over, tracing the edge of His wound, expecting the creature to mindlessly come and attack Him once more. Yet, it did not come as He had expected and He waited and waited, until He had regained His breath and when His vision was no longer blurred. The great Monarch of All let out a pain groan as He straightened himself, looking to the horizon from where the pariah had been found to. 

With a hiss, the Monarch of All looked to His chest to see a singular trickle of blood roaming down towards His abdomen. He took a single claw to it, dragging some of His divine essence to His eyes and merely gazing upon the sight of such divine ichor, the life blood of all that existed upon Galbar. Anger resonated as He looked upon the blood for He was immortal, how could it be that such a being of perfection as Himself could be brought so low by nothing more than a mere beast of burden. The anger boiled over as He let loose a scream into the air, nails digging into balled fists that brought out yet more of the divine ichor that now openly fell into the waters below Him.

As He loosed his cry of pain and anger, a small sea serpent came across the divine substance but knew better than to touch the blood. Yet, the serpent, flicking its tongue, could taste the poison left behind by the beast that had fought the lord of everything. It saw the devastation of its hunting grounds and now the pain of a god. Wanting to better serve the great Master of All, the small, but determined, sea snake turned back to the divine substance and threw itself into it. The serpent felt the divine ichor surge through it, driving it to become more than it was. Its body grew and grew, enough to swallow a whale then to more than two, then larger enough to fit a mountain but its slender back.

Two frontal legs sprouted from the limbless form, giant gliding wings erupted on either side of the great beast, and tendrils swayed from the beast’s chin. With a maw of middle filled teeth, the serpent looked upon the Monarch of All gazing upon its master before it bowed its head out of obedience and respect for the ruler of the gods. 

The Monarch of All looked down at the serpent, feeling His anger leave Him for a moment before folding His arms behind His back. 

[b][i]”You are a brave little creature, serpent. For that I shall reward you; first with a name, Zhongcheng, and secondly, with a task.”[/i][/b]

The Monarch of All paused in thought as the bridge to the Divine Palace opened behind Him, the Heavens in full view for Zhongcheng to see just passed his master. It was a beauty that no true mortal had seen, and yet, the beast knew not beauty or grace for he could only comprehend the great supreme one and his orders. 

[b][i]”Find the pariah, track it to wherever it has decided to crawl to. Then, let loose a roar to the heavens and summon me.”[/i][/b]

With those orders, the Monarch of All turned and walked through the bridge, leaving the beast to its hunt

[hider=Summary]

The Monarch of All feels pity for killing Ao and so goes out to find the culprit that poisoned him. The Monarch finds a great beast, a pariah, at the bottom of the ocean and attacks it. The fight is even and the pariah speaks in a tongue that the Monarch had cursed the beast to peak long ago. The pariah gets a dirty shot off and hits the Monarch’s wound before getting slapped into the horizon. 

A serpent that witnessed the battle and seeing that the Monarch is angry takes in some of the blood of the Monarch and transforms into a giant kiaju. Like a dog it obeys the Monarch and is ordered to hunt the pariah.
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