Silence settled upon the lunar surface the deathly silence emanated with a frightening coldness, this was not the silence of peace at the end of one's life, but the kind of silence that follows the utter disparity that was devastation-the hush of a world that only now held its breath once the final bell rang it uttered the final note for this era of Civilisation as a whole.
The earth, once a blue and vibrant planet, now rested weakly in fire, agony, and deathly silence.
This home of humanity now bore a tole that no normal human or animal would survive from, now wounded the shallow breath of the planet was eerily slow and eerily silent the cries and hopes of humanity vanished into the deepest cracks of Earth which now lay in only ash and memories of a failed civilization its failure would last until its very conception and this failure of humanity spoke volume upon the toll of this Trial…
And above all of this stood the moon, resting silently above the once green planet it called partner, and comets fell.
Lunar dust wept down from the moon's surface like tears, the moon which had been shattered and cracked; now its form wasn't perfectly spherical and now bore an everlasting mark of pain and death, but even after such devastation, it illuminated the sky like a dying star. Only its faint shining of hope was the battleground where the best of humanity would fulfil the trial of civilization.
Two figures stood far apart from one another her figure stood tall along with her gaze her arms comfortably behind her back as if judging her cold gaze bore into the best of the best the strongest of humanity they called him, but before her, he was but an insect grovelling before her now kneeling before her.
Her hair cast far below her feet its snowy and creamy white colour slowly swayed the tips of her hair seemed to refract into royal purply blues as if it contained an entire galaxy no universe within her lengthy streaks of cold hair and her firm and long white eyebrows showed only contempt and some boredom neither furrowing neither rising as if before she was another daily task that had been repeated so many times before.
Her darkly tainted eyes covered that once warm ocean blue, now covered in a vibrant pink laced with a touch of faded void purple. She bore no sympathy for the other party, her figure crept with a long white dress refined with long trimming of galaxy-like patterns as if roots of a specific tree, it crept up her skirt and over her waist cape which slowly swayed from the non-existent wind of the moon her long legs were wrapped in long black and white stockings each of varying length which covered her almost deathly pale skin that screamed of a long forgotten delicate nature.
Her footwear was long white high heels, which were covered with the faded remains of dying flowers like yin and yang; they bore the balance of both her youthful and divine-like figure and her suffocating presence. The space around her seemed to be breaking into itself repeatedly as if her very presence was suffocating the very world itself.
With her half-lidded gaze, she bore down upon the last moth of flame, the last chaser of that ever-distant light.
Her hands slowly and swiftly stretched out before her and each hand donned a pair of long gloves like the duality between two opposites respectively They bore the colours of ████ and █████, white and black, Ying and Yang they were adorned with wilting flowers too that seemed to weep and bleed purple blood as dark black roots stretched from her hands and down her arms like a sickening evil it slowly crawled closer and closer towards her neck.
This body of hers, whenever it was her true physical body or simply a vessel for her occupation, the very power within said vessel was slowly but surely breaking down this body of hers.
But the trial was not over, not yet, at least the final test must finish so that the examiner may grade Human civilization once more. And then the sounds of bells rang, a horn of thunderous applause passed through the world itself.
Reason, Void, Thunder, Wind, Ice, Fire, Sentience, Stars, Death, Domination, Corruption, Binding, Origin, and E̷̝͙͈̣̥̜̬͇̟͈͙̮̯̎̈̐̍̌̄n̶̫̱̻͍̥͚̘̠̓ḍ̸̡͕̦̣̹͔̲̫̪͇̤̻̥̬̓͝ no Finality she bore the ability to manipulate the very reality around herself to her will, but she bore the responsibility of a judge an executioner of civilizations or well that is the role she gave herself at a time long ago she was the bringer of Finality, destroyer of worlds, watcher and wonder of countless worlds, she who bore the burden of ████ and E̷̝͙͈̣̥̜̬͇̟͈͙̮̯̎̈̐̍̌̄n̶̫̱̻͍̥͚̘̠̓ḍ̸̡͕̦̣̹͔̲̫̪͇̤̻̥̬̓͝ who on that narrow path she was Freya, who held the name Schariac a god among mortals.
And there under a sky now stripped of its once beautiful and ever-growing wonders a Man who now bore the full burden of Humanity alone and thus the 'last' chaser of flame on the battlefield he who ignites and movers foreword to pass the torch onto the next must with all his might fight to the bitter end of a meaningless fight for he knew the consequences of this 'trial' and the last bits of humanity took the brunt of these consequences.
He who had the name Kaslana, he who held the name of strongest among humanity the best humanity could offer towards its examiner now stood against an endless and growing abyss his hair was messy and drenched with grime and dirt that had frozen against his body even the tears he shredded for those who fell with him could no longer be mustered his lover very well dead his allies likely too.
And he held one single weapon its warmth memorable its might stronger than many he who chased the flame must bring time for what was left of any of humankind, his clothes were tattered and partially shredded, but his long black coat still billowed against the turning tied he eagerly gasped even though air was not at all present to begin with human instincts are or can be a burden in many ways his hands which were protected with black gauntlets the temperature around him was dragged into a suffering bittering coldness and the sparks of the flame once more rose.
His gaze held sorrow, confusion, endless pain, anger, and tiredness. His hands held the divine key firmly within his palms like a lifeline. He clung to the mighty weapon, which held a long-dead Herrscher core that would cleave through the stars and set the sky ablaze, but it was for naught as she took every hit before this with ever-increasing boredom and little to no harm.
She finally let out a sigh not of tiredness not that she was tired of this ordeal she simply couldn't hold back any longer she had been going easy upon these... ants these vermin she held no interest in this game and her eyes narrowed upon Kevin, her suffocating presence only grew as time passed and then she spoke.
"Kaslana, this trial ends here. You, and all of humanity, have failed you, and this civilization has failed."
Her tone was both cold and held a hint of arrogance, laced with a sporting firmness in her words, she continued as her arms slowly swayed from side to side, only empathizing with her presence.
"Your chance has left you long ago, just like your comrades who now rest alone, cold and wilting. Your era is to end here and thus begin a new one. So I ask of you, Kaslana..."
Now her tone held a slight gentleness and warmth, but it was tainted by both her sheer presence and her icy cold demeanor. Kevin, who by now stood tall, gazed up towards her, both of their eyes dug into one another.
"Do you regret your choice?"
These simple words made Kevin burrow his eyebrows and his mouth seemed to clamp together along with his teeth only leaving silence in its wake seemingly as if he found his answer his cold eyes ignited once more into blazing determination even the cold environment around him began to skyrocket in heat the ever dazzling amber glow of the weapon he held seemed to shine like a star surrounding by darkness.
"Though I regret some of the choices that have been made both today and in the past, it won't stop me from continuing forward."
The weapon within his grip slowly rose before finally meeting its target. It pointed towards her and blazed with sheer destruction. The very space around the two seemed to clash, and the ground beneath them seemed to whine and shudder as the two opposing forces stared at one another.
"And I know we shall pass on the flame for the next generation of civilization, though we understood the risks, we still chose to move forward, no?"
Kevin paused in his monologue, though Freya's gaze still seemed to lack any interest in his words, she still listened, though her half-lidded gaze seemed to reform into a far more awake attitude as if this little speech of his did somewhat intrigue her.
"And like moths, we chased that ever-moving flame, even if it kept moving our dreams and ambitions, only to continue to hold firm with each generation, even if we as humanity may fall towards destruction."
He paused and his ever-hesitant gaze slowly became truly resolute, determined to keep moving forward even when before him was a monstrous wall, impenetrable, nigh invincible.
"So I ask you... Friend or foe?"
His ever-confident demeanor only blazed further as an endless flame the blade in his hand roared in a harmful furry and dazzling radiance The seventh divine key... the key of destruction flame seemed to only continue to burn brighter and brighter like a distant star it lit up the space around them as if it was the remaining flame of humanity its ever-burning desires of hopes and dreams. But she showed little care, now her uncaring and cool gaze slowly retracted, and boredom once more crept into her mind, she spoke in a calm tone.
"Kevin... we both know my answer already, no?"
She closed her eyes as she let a chuckle escape from her lips and an almost maniacal and wide smile painted her face as the very space around her seemed to whine into submission, her arms slowly moved side to side empathizing her dominance as a spike of imaginary energy seem to cause the already shattered lunar surface to cave into itself the natural Honkai energy of the moon was far higher then on Earth and it seem to only continue to rise without any sign of stopping.
Kevin's eyebrows furrowed, his gaze held a hint of uneasiness and a resigned moment of sadness, though these emotions quickly turned to ashes as his hold upon the divine key only grew tighter along with the mighty weapon's blazing core.
Freya's eyes slowly curved into amusement as twelve translucent angelic wings slowly manifested behind her. For a moment, you could see the outlines of the twelve Herrscher cores.
Above her head, a crystal white crown with a singular gem embedded into the tip held the Herrscher core of Finality and Origin, with them seemingly merged into one single core that was tinted in a translucent pink.
And then those translucent wings behind her ripped themselves apart and floated towards her palm, Kevin's ice-cold eyes dilated as within a fraction of a second he zoomed towards her, and already in the striking distance he slammed his weapon overhead towards her now outstretched hand which had to gather light, that of an ever-growing star.
Freya's amused gaze slowly went up towards Kevin's gaze, who held immense worry and fear, and the world went black and white as afterimages of her hand slowly and fluidly went up and swiftly changed the direction of the weapon. Time quickly resumed to normal, and Kevin's strike missed its intended target, her hand, and with his strike cleaving into Freya's abdomen and out of her back, impaling her in one move.
Freya's body slumped slightly, her hand, which held a blinding light, rose above her head, her face covered in a deep shadow, and her grin still wide as ever, had small amounts of blood drip out from her lips.
Sweat seemed to roll down Kevin's back. Well, if he could sweat properly to begin with, it would be at this current moment. Her head slowly lifted, meeting Kevin's fearsome expression, and her lips opened.
"Yeah, should have gone for the head, Kaslana."
With these words tainted in mocking him, with an overhand, she grabbed him by the head, Magnetism, electricity, and binding formed into one peculiar energy source before, like a gunshot, Kevin was blasted away several hundred meters along with Judgment of Shamash, which flew into the air before burying into the fragment of lunar surface beneath him.
Freya's hand slowly traced over the bleeding wound that had been dealt, before it rapidly closed as if nothing had happened to begin with. Her gaze finally fell on him once more. He who had failed in his initial strike quickly grabbed the hilt of his weapon and then-"
"Now, now, there's no need to be so hasty, Kaslana."
Time crawled once more to a standstill. Kevin was now frozen in place as several chains of binding strangled each of his limbs, dragging his body into the lunar ground before the monochrome world returned to its normal vibrant colours, signalling that time resumed to a norm. Freya, who raised her arm towards the stars, held a dazzling light that slowly bent and shifted inwards layer over layer before the distinct outline of a massive lance was within her grasp.
This lance that radiated overwhelming light and pressure was like a galaxy within itself that could at any moment collapse the very space between them. Her gaze held contempt and seemed to faintly show a hint of nostalgia as her delicate fingers traced the handle of it.
Kevin, who slowly attempted to rise once more, was encompassed in even more chains of binding, though he could break through these chains; the continuous creation of these bindings made his attempts to break free even more difficult. However, he did take notice that with each new chain, the ability of its binding power became less refined and far less potent over time.
"Free at last... oh Rhongomyniad, how we have been apart for far too long"
Her tone of voice was quite frankly very delighted and eerie, it lost that aloofness and calmness as that unordinary maniacal smile sprouted upon her face as she laughed half-heartedly.
"This, oh this is my final answer Kaslana... this is the last answer to a world that shan't change not now nor then nor ever."
Her gaze slowly fell upon the chained soldier, he fearlessly shattered chain after chain as his hand slowly, inch by inch, got into grasping range of the divine key of destruction.
Freya snapped her fingers, a resounding click rang out like a calling as the chains of binding fell limply and lifelessly, and with this sudden moment of freedom, Kevin grasped the hilt of the divine key and with a roar.
"Judgment Of Shamash—Might of An-UtuZeroth Power: Unleash!"
The cleaver roared alongside him like a blazing star. It fell overhead, slamming down towards her with ferocity and anger, like an ever-burning tide, and it eagerly swarmed towards her. She smiled as the blazing light got closer and closer to her, raising her head with boredom towards her opponent.
"Remember what the 'lord' once said, Kaslana?"
Kevin's eyes shrank as the roaring flames burned quicker and quicker. As the temperature around Freya skyrocketed, so did the imaginary energy around her. She held that lance high above her head as if making a statement, and then her lips parted for one last time.
"Let. There. Be. Light!"
Everything in the entire world, no universe, went to a standstill as if time itself fell into an endless abyss. The world lost its colour. Both of their figures stood eerily still, Kevin within striking distance, Freya holding the lance above her head. And then everything fell into a blinding light with sprouted from that lance, it reached far and wide, no being was left unscathed by its grasp. It signalled the end of this trial, it told the end of this fight, if you could even call it that to begin with, some would call it an absolute slaughter.
And slowly that light receded only one the figure stood upon the remnants of the moon, her feet slowly met the ground as before, she stood before an unconscious Kaslana, the cleaver of Shamash, half buried in ice, lost its endless blazing light.
The lance within her grasp slowly broke down before decomposing it dust as it slowly returned with nature itself. Her figure, though she had lost those twelve wings and that ever-radiant lance, the crown that floated on her head was still there.
With an amused snort, she picked up the divine key, twirling around like a toy, before slamming it between his legs. The unconscious Kevin didn't move a muscle. She rolled her eyes as if losing interest in the divine key entirely, but a blazing red Herrscher core dropped into her palm.
"This will do."
Freya spoke as she began to wonder away the clacking of her high heels against the remnants of the lunar surface beneath her sounded resoundingly her figure slowly swayed her hand which held this brand newly formed Herrscher core of flame or destruction as you will slowly emanated a warm feeling within her palm before she simply pushed it into her chest as it phased right through and within.
Her eyes closed and reopened shortly after, and the outline of red mixed with the original pink hue of her purple pupils then slowly took effect. And there the victor left, her gaze somewhat lifeless.
"When we meet again, thousands of years will have passed. I do hope you impress me... Kaslana, when the next trial of humanity begins,"
She let out another sigh before continuing her walk. The distance between her and him grew ever distant with each step. But during these short moments, she hadn't noticed that the crown above her head, the Herrscher core, which had Finality and Origin fused into one, showed change the overwhelming pink tint of the core slowly receded.
Without any warning, Origin had completely vanished from her shown by her eyes losing their pinkness, and behind her, the translucent pink-tinted silhouette appeared without her notice. The ever-annoying pink elf showed a hint of sadness and worry before her form completely vanished into pink glimmering light, which faded into the imaginary space.
Freya's figure slowly faded into the distance her divine garments and long dress gently billowed in the cold space the moon beneath her began to slowly reform into a complete state and large amounts of shattered lunar surface gently receded into where the moon's former form once stood until at least seventy-eight percent of the original moon was able to reform.
Freya slowly began to fly up, her feet left the ground as she set her sights on what was once called the Earth. Her hand reached out for it, and a cut in the imaginary space opened before her. On the other side rested the burning surroundings of the once lively planet.
A smile formed on her lips, and her half-lidded gaze became apparent before finally taking a step through. The cut in the imaginary space slowly closed, leaving no traces behind.
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This is not just a story of the end.
This is the tale of a Judge, the tale of a fallen star, a 'second' daughter of 'God' who bore the burden of judgment not with malice, but with now sprouting emotions.
I am Freya Terminus Schariac.
The Herrscher of Finality.
The one who watched civilizations rise and crumble under their hubris.
The one who extinguished the flame of the moth.
But this is not the end of my story, Captains.
This is the beginning of a new era.
An age where truths will twist, fates will alter, and stories will shift.
One that is familiar... yet irrevocably different.
So I ask you... Are you ready to see this new story begin?
If so, then you'd better keep an eye out.
Step forward.
And remember...
Finality is inevitable and ████ is forever a part of who I am.
It is the burden I carry.
And is what I truly am.
And the promise I made for all of us and the world itself.