A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 422: Chapter 382

"Reflect – Musū Tengai!" My Reiatsu exploded outwards.

It was the first time I was using it, yet it felt like I understood it intrinsically. In this moment of respite, I knew exactly what to do.

Not only that, but I could see it.

I could see all the branching possibilities available to me. What would normally require me to use intense calculations and simulations, was unveiling itself vividly before my eyes.

My Sword's ability latched onto what I needed. I felt a painful throb behind my eyes, and my eyes strained to focus, but I pushed through.

{Careful, there's no limit to what you can do but only what you can handle.} My Zanpakutō's soothing voice rang out in my ears.

The condensed beam of Lightning and Divinity separated at the spot I swung down on. Parting in this small instance to give both Susanoo and I a reprieve. Susanoo who had been bearing the brunt of the attack with the help of my Authority almost fell over from the sudden freedom.

It's not that I blocked it.

Nor did I cut it in half.

Simply, in the spot where we were standing, the attack never landed.

[What the hell, who's talking?] Ddraig asked in confusion.

{Hello, Ddraig. It's good to finally meet you.} My Zanpakutō greeted him.

[You're the brat's spirit?]

{Yes.}

[Huh, I expected a woman.]

Not the time, Ddraig!

[Alright. But what the hell was that!?] He asked.

Later.

The attack let up a moment or two later, and the aftereffects were just as devastating as imagined. The world looked like it had ended around us. The Ocean had distorted unnaturally to accommodate the Divine Power unleashed by Indra. And the sky turned a baleful purple to reflect the cascading Lightning that seemed to fall at random.

Susanoo's Large form dissipated and he nearly fell to his knee, but I quickly moved to catch him. He was hurt, bloody, and breathing hard, but he still had a look of defiance in his eyes as he clutched my sword.

"What did you do?" Indra's voice boomed as he floated overhead. That large eye behind him was now gone, but there was something different about him. There were golden ring-like objects floating behind him, crackling with Divine Lightning. And on his forehead was a shining purple eye, not dissimilar from the one that we saw unleash that attack a moment prior. "That attack was more than enough to remove a weak God, much less a mortal." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "That Sword....and the other one." He muttered.

Susanoo also glanced at the sword in his hand and at mine. Clearly, he had some words he wanted to say, but swallowed them down, forcing himself back upright.

I glanced at my new sword as well as I hadn't had the chance to see it yet.

It was no longer a Katana.

Instead, it was more of a western sword that retained the grip from its sealed state. Straight, double edged with a minimalistic guard. But the most striking feature was the blade itself. I nearly mistook it for a mirror, and considering it showed a perfect reflection, I would be forgiven for that. But more so, it reminded me of the mirror from my inner world, that mercurial-like substance that composed it.

How appropriate, consider what the ability was.

"Your Eyes." Susanoo glanced at me.

I tilted my sword up to see what he was talking about. My eyes looked like Musū Tengai's when I saw him for the first time.

I wiped away the blood dripping from them and refocused.

"Can you keep going?" I whispered towards Susanoo.

"Who do you think I am?" He grunted, the Lightning around his body intensified, but could tell he didn't have much left in the tank. "Does it matter though? He's not playing anymore and I am not his match. Unless you have a plan?"

"Same as before." I held my sword up, pointing it at the God looming over us.

".....Don't die." He gripped my Sword. "I don't want to see Mother upset again."

I nodded at him and we moved at the same time. He turned into a streak of lightning and attacked from the right. I disappeared in a burst of Shunpo and attacked from the left.

Indra crossed his arms and didn't move, however, his eyes seemed to prioritize Susanoo, or rather my sword in his hand. Perhaps he deemed it a genuine threat?

I also called upon Whisper to begin casting a rather large Runic Spell just below the Ocean's currents.

Indra sneered and with him at the focal point, an expanding sphere of Lightning erupted. I activated my Semblance, woven with my own Divinity and bore through it with my Aura flaring up protectively.

Susanoo merely pointed the sword at it and charged inside. Seemingly at the tip of my Authority, the lightning Indra summoned was dispersed.

"That damn sword again." Indra growled. "Without that, you would have died several times over!" He swiped his hand with Vajra, releasing a wave of thunderbolts that crashed into the Shinto God. The Eye on his forehead turned to face me. The ring behind his back rotated at high speeds and he sliced his hand through the air, flat, like a blade.

Space ruptured and split through his motion, tearing it apart and sending the broken turbulence my way.

I called for mirage with my free hand, clutching it between my fingers. If he wanted to use the disruption of space as a weapon, then I could counter it!

Myriad Slash.

My Mirage tore through the world as well in a different manner. Where he simply created a destructive void at the edge of his hand, I overlaid the movements of myself on several world-lines. The two attacks collided and produced a singularity.

It was small and infantile, but the world still quickly reacted as even a world without consciousness detests a void. The warped time and space didn't care for anyone around it as it immediately refilled the hole left.

A Space Explosion sent us both rocketing away from the focal point.

Indra Quickly regained his footing, but Susanoo was already on him and I wasn't far behind.

Indra seemingly looked calm. He pushed his palms together and an almost holy light emanated from him. Two more arms sprouted from his shoulders. Not the Lightning constructs that he wielded before, but genuine arms of flesh and blood, if Godly, as depicted on most images of him through literature.

If I had to make a conjecture, I would call this his true Divine Form.

"Wind and Rain. Storm and Lightning. The Sky, the Universe." He held the two new arms up, and the starry sky descended upon us. I would liken it to a Reality Marble and would have marveled at it if we weren't the ones it was focused on. "I am Indra, King of Gods and the Universe is my Domain."

The Authority of a God who reigns over one of the strongest Cosmologies in the world.

I wasn't even entirely sure if I could get out through my portal without calculating it first.

"Sword!" I called out to Susanoo.

His eyes widened and threw it towards me.

"It's useless." Indra said calmly, clapping his hands together. Two Massive Hands appeared at the ends of this false Universe, dwarfing even the stars that now surrounded us.

My Authority returned, and I called upon every ounce of my Divinity. "Your Authority, I seal it!" I declared, churning everything into the Divine Sword in my hand.

It already has a debilitating effect against Indra due to him being a Lightning God. Just wielding it, one could gain the advantage against his primary method of attack – his Divine Lightning.

However, this was something far different. This was him pulling upon his Divine Domains to alter the world, as his right as a God.

He was not a Heretic God though. His Authority manifested differently than those this Weapon originated from. It wasn't as...precise a mechanism to seal away.

Specifically, I sealed away his Domain compromising the Universe as his seat of the King of Gods.

Even still, my Divine Power clashed against his. Mine was infinitely smaller in comparison, but he had never experienced a Divine Weapon that could seal his Authority before, the foreignness of the situation having taken him by surprise.

I braced myself and I still struggled.

The Starry sky around us began to crack and shatter, falling apart at the seams before we were crushed beneath the weight of his Divine Power.

I could see the look of confusion mixed with a smidge of horror work its way across his face as he stared at the real world around us once more. "How -- !"

Susanoo's fist barreled towards Indra once more. He held His two left arms up to casually block, but I made a move as well.

"Reflect – Musū Tengai!"

What should have been an easy block for him, now had Susanoo's fist landed on his cheek. The confused God went flying.

I felt a wave of disorientation through my head as my vision blurred for a brief moment, but I clenched my teeth and worked through it. "Boost, Boost, Boost!" I shot forward as well, slashing both my swords downwards.

"Devil Bastard!" Indra roared. "This humiliation won't be wiped away even in your death!" His Vajra charged with his Divine Lightning to the point where it was difficult to even look at it head on.

And he threw it.

A part of me wondered how many mountains it would destroy if it were so inclined.

However, to deal with it was simple, I created a portal in front of me to intercept it, linking it to another that opened right above his head.

He wasn't stupid. He was arrogant and many other insults I could think of, but he could immediately see through my actions.

He scoffed and merely held up his hand. "Do you think I'd be hurt by my own weapon?" He mocked as it came down from above.

My eyes focused and the myriad possibilities unfolded. I felt the blood flow from the corners of my eyes, but I kept pushing until I found what I was looking for.

"Reflect – Musū Tengai."

His eyes widened because he could see it happen, or rather, what didn't. His divine sight was powerful, he could see what was supposed to happen and how something else entirely occurred.

His Vajra missed his hand and collided with his own chest.

The Sea politely parted, allowing the Hindu God to hit the seafloor. A Pillar of Lightning reached up to the heavens from where it connected.

I felt another wave of dizziness that nearly made me fall over and I clutched my head instinctively. It felt like I was getting a lobotomy.

{Don't push it too much.} My Spirit spoke again. {To make a change occur that had nearly no viable possibility will be a burden.}

[What the hell is going on?] Ddraig demanded.

{The ability to see the possible outcomes and then, take one that occurred and reflect a portion of it onto the world. That is my power.}

[....that's fucking bullshit.]

[It is not without its drawbacks, as you can see. The more unlikely that something is to occur, the bigger the backlash. The possibility that a God such as Indra would.....hit himself with his own weapon was very far off the 'beaten path' so to speak.]

There was a furious roar at the bottom of the new chasm that brought me back to my senses. The Sea began to bubble at the sheer amount of lightning coursing through it.

Indra shot back up to the surface, looking apocalyptic.

His chest was bloodied and charred. Blood dripped from his lips and his eyes were bloodshot.

Susanoo limped to my side again, and despite the situation, he began laughing. "Even if I died at this moment, it would be worth it."

"If those are your last words, then so be it." Indra growled.

I handed my Divine Sword back to Susanoo who happily accepted it. Then, I took out my Staff of Magnus. "Preparations are complete. If you want a fight to the death, then let's have at it. I'll show you the Magic I used to slay a God." I was about to call upon Yggdrasil, dozens upon dozens of Spell Circles illuminated beneath us.

"Why don't we end this here?" A familiar voice whispered in the wind, and barely a second later, Sun Wukong sat upon a cloud in between us.

"You dare interfere, Monkey." Indra's eyes narrowed.

"Before you get upset, might want to look at what the Kid is packing." He pointed his pipe downwards. "He said 'Magic' and you probably ignored it, but you might wanna look again, boss. That is some pretty intense stuff there."

Indra paused, giving my Spell Circle a due inspection and his brow furrowed. I saw his fingers twitch like he was about to make a move, but once more, another voice entered our ears.

"You should listen to him, Indra." The shadows around the vicinity swirled and two people walked out.

"Or not, I will gladly take my pound of flesh." Izzy stepped out with a companion, she moved her fingers, like she was about to clench something if the situation called for it.

However, Indra completely ignored her. "Hades."

"Indra." Hades greeted.

"Are you going to interfere, Hades?" Indra's face returned to something neutral. "Since when do you babysit a couple of worthless Gods and a Bastard Devil?"

"You mean the same ones who did this to you?" He hummed.

"Watch your words." Indra's voice carried with it a hint of thunder.

"Or what?" Hades stepped forward, a helmet manifested atop his head, looking as if it was going to consume all light that shined around it. "Are you going to fight me as well, Indra?"

The Helm of Darkness, Hades' Divine Armament.

On par with Zeus's Thunderbolt and Poseidon's Trident.

"Well, it's too late now." Sun Wukong sighed.

I wanted to question what he meant by that, but the storm clouds were pushed away, as intense sunlight shined down from above.

And accompanying it, an uncountable number of Gods descended from the Heavens.

"Takamagahara has arrived."

[***]

A/N

If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

Just started FGO Orleans arc0