The Old Scholar

"Who do you think you are to make such a claim huh?!" Khan Cretoran asked with a terrified expression as he still held his warclub aloft, with the weapon shaking in his grasp.  

 "I just said who I was and it seems you forgot already....how....disappointing" The lady at the entrance of the hall remarked as her crimson eyes continued to stare at the Great Khan

"Don't you dare insult me witch! I am Khan Cretoran The Great! Uniter of Kassimir's Chosen and The Avatar of Krimetta! I will strike you down for your insolence! Just like the unworthy Great Plainers before you!" Cretoran declared as he readied his club and stepped into a fighting stance, pushing down all the fear and cowardice inside of him.

"Kassimir's Chosen? Avatar of Krimetta? All I hear is the babbling of a child who believes in false idols" The woman replied as she began to laugh at the Great Khan

"How dare you insult the twin gods of this world!!! DIEE!" Cretoran shouted as he charged the unmoving woman.

He closed in the gap as quickly as he could and swung his warclub downward, missing the mark as the woman simply stepped back. But he was not done as he swung his free hand that now had a dagger and trusted it forward, but the woman simply caught his wrist in her grasp and squeezed hard, making Cretoran shout in pain as he dropped the dagger. In an angered state, he swung his warclub again but it was caught by one of the floating red arms and snapped into two. The Great Khan was left confused and frightened as the two weapons he relied on were now no more. 

{!}

BAM!

And before he could do anything else, the woman who still held his wrist pulled him in close and smashed his face with a headbutt that sent him reeling as she let go of his wrist, he stumbled back and slipped onto the bloody floor onto his back, landing with a loud CRACK. Despite falling down hard, Cretoran tried backing away with his eyes still glued on the woman who was slowly approaching him, he saw that the limbs hovering above her traced the patterns of the walls of the chamber as they moved with her, his expression now filled with terror as blood began to trickle from his smashed nose and mouth. 

"S..sTAY BaCk! I'm warning you!" He cried out in desperation as he tried to look for any weapon that was on the floor near him, but there was none. 

"Oh? Is the mighty 'Avatar of Krimetta' scared?" The woman voiced as she took slow and deliberate steps forward

"k..KeEp tEstting me and I will call upon them to end you!" 

"Is that so? then by all means! Call upon your gods to strike me down here and now!" The woman replied with a cocky tone as she opened her arms and looked up at the ceiling inviting divine intervention to strike her down

"You asked for it! Oh Great Twins of the Sky! I call upon thee to rid this witch from my sight and save your Avatar!" The Great Khan chanted as he yelled into the air 

But to his shock, there came nothing. Nothing but silence followed his calls, nothing but the sight of the woman before him unarmed filled his sight as his gazed returned back down, nothing came, nothing happened, nothing was all there was. Cretoran couldn't understand this, why? WHY?! He was told by the nomads of his people that he was chosen to be theirs, he was told he would be their avatar upon this world, a mighty warrior and conqueror who would rule for generations upon generations, their strongest warrior Khan. And yet now, when he needed them the most, there was nothing. He could not accept this as he called upon them more and more but there was still nothing, his heart sank as he felt as if he was abandoned, his arms fell limp and his gaze fell to the floor, his eyes no longer filled with that spark. But as he gazed upon his leg, a blur of red filled his vision for a split second, and then his legs were gone. Replaced with the burning sensation of pain. 

"AAAAAAGHHHHH!" He screamed as he clutched what was left of his leg above the knee, his eyes turning upward again and remembering there was still the woman in front of him, this time along with the red eyes he could see a white smile glowing from the darkness of her hood. 

"Forgot I was here?" The woman remarked as she forcibly grabbed him by the throat with one of her floating arms and held him aloft, blood dripping from his missing legs

"Wai-" The Great Khan tried to voice out

"Shhh. You do not get to speak" The woman cut him off as she squeezed his throat 

"Your gods are nothing" The woman began with a mocking tone 

"You pray to nothing but endless darkness, for you see, your gods are no one, they are nobodies. They are false idols that you used to justify the slaughter of my people. The Great Plainers who wished to cooperate with you" 

{!} 

Cretoran's eyes widened at her words, his inner voice shouting and telling him to fight back as his anger was building up inside him, but his body could not muster the strength. 

"Hahahahha. I can see the rage in your eyes, but it won't do you any good. You are not an 'Avatar' nor a 'Hammer' you are nothing more than a savage barbarian who fails to listen to reason, and so are your people" The woman finished those final words with a sinister smile showing from her darkened hood 

The Great Khan's eyes widened some more as he saw the woman pull back her hood, revealing a woman of ethereal beauty with red eyes and flowing black hair. With a strange item perched upon her nose, her expression held anger, fury, and rage that was all being kept back by the sadistic and horrific smile upon her luscious lips. He tried to speak again but suddenly felt his voice disappear, his eyes tried to express his words but there was nothing he could do now. 

"I am Leilani Augusta, daughter of Kalani and Malikei, and I sentence you and your people to death as penance for the slaughter of countless innocent lives! I am your doom and I shall be theirs" Leilani shouted as she tightened the hand holding Cretoran up, with the latter desperately trying to speak and spare his people 

{!}

CRUSH! 

But as Cretoran continued to try and voice out his thoughts, Leilani crushed his head into a thin red mist, with the body hitting the floor and into its pool of blood. 

"That is a promise" Leilani finished as she turned from the corpses and made her way out of the castle. 

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After this moment, Leilani set out what she promised to do, all the while Fortuna and the rest of the gods watched from above, neither of them interfering as they understood that this was her choice. None of them could even stop her regardless as they were still in a weakened state and the loss of a giant chunk of spiritual energy that came from an even smaller source had crippled the four gods and goddesses even more, all the while Fortuna was busy doing her best in making sure the world did not collapse in on itself. And so they watched as the person they asked to save this world, went about on a revenge-filled killing spree that was caused by anger and grief. 

Leilani then spent the following months of the year being precise and thorough as she made sure she killed every single Cretoruman who lived on the continent. She could have ended it all in one snap that much is true, but instead, Leilani chose the more upfront and personal approach as to her, they did not deserve a quick death, these monsters of people, instead they deserved what they had done to her people, her people who had been slaughtered and displayed as a show of power. She would do the same, and she would be much, much worse. 

As she marched east, she unleashed her fury upon every Cretoruman she saw and met as she wandered the entirety of her home nation. Using the magic she learned from Fortuna, from her years upon years of lessons, it wasn't even a fair fight. Wherever she went death followed in many forms, she would rip off parts of her body and transform them via Carnomancy: a magic that manipulates flesh, blood and bones and to an extent life itself, she would transform these body parts into hideous and ferocious monsters that sprouted tendrils that could fire red beams of arcane energy, or be equipped with serrated bone blades or even just tendrils that had hundreds of teeth and unleash them upon towns and villages and even cities. Or other times she would fire off magical tidal waves to drown the populace before her or even split the ground beneath them and then bury them alive or even just straight up snapping her fingers and watching them instantaneously combust. 

But the method of killing Leilani used the most was to simply encase a settlement, town, or city in a large see-through barrier that encompasses all of it and then teleport herself into the center of it all. Unfurling tendrils from her back and then wielding "Augusta" as she slaughtered everyone there. She would show no mercy as she did the killing, whether they were elderly, men, women, or even children, all would die by her hand and would die screaming. To her, these were no longer people but these were savages who craved and called for war against her people, people who did nothing but simply grow and harvest the land across the Great Plains, she had made sure that her home would never cause conflict and only defend themselves, and even when she was gone she knew that they would hold true to this as when she scanned the many dead bodies of her people upon her return, she found out that they had tried multiple times to try and advocate for peace and cooperation but these brutes before her, all of them craved her family's destruction. And so she held no reservations as she did this, in her eyes, it was an eye for an eye and she was going to fulfill that promise. 

As the slaughter continued for months, the Khanate tried multiple times to stop her, sending in hordes of their warriors on horseback or in mass charges that surrounded her. All of these attempts were futile as Leilani butchered them like lambs to the slaughter, ripping her opponents in two with her tendrils or bare hands, slicing and slashing away with "Augusta" and various other weapons that far outclassed the warclubs and spears the Cretoran's used and even using her magic to create monsters from her flesh via Carnomancy or just raise the corpses to fight for her via Necromancy. Even their pitiful magic attacks paled in comparison to her retaliation such as when several 'Great Sages' fired powerful-looking fireballs and lightning streams that she deflected and absorbed with a single hand, before retaliating by transforming her head into that of a mighty dragon and breathing blue fire upon them that reduced them to ash. 

And by the end of the year, Leilani stood at the easternmost tip of the continent overlooking a bay. She let loose a sigh as she gazed upon the dark grey sky and dark waves crashing upon the rocky shores. The road she took to get to this point was filled with nothing but short of bloody, an entire nation wiped out by her bloodied and stained hands. Collapsing onto her knees, Leilani reflected on everything she had done for the past one hundred and twenty years, how much progress she made was snuffed out by the ambitions of others, and how her family and her home had paid the price. She took it all in and when she finished, she broke down into tears and cried for several uninterrupted hours. And when she finally finished, Armenakis appeared along with Santomin, both of them with concerned expressions on their faces.

"Are you ok?" Armenakis asked as she helped the young mortal up 

"Mhmm" Leilani answered as she began to wipe away her tears 

"Then come with us" The Goddess of Souls replied as she opened up a portal that shone brightly before the trio walked through it

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Stepping out of the portal, Leilani was greeted by the sight of a large group of people looking at her. They were all dressed in robes and tribal clothes of her home and her people and they were all standing atop clouds that acted as platforms. She saw many familiar faces among the crowds and as her eyes wandered, they widened at the sight of the two people in the forefront of them all, her parents. She took a few steps forward before falling onto her knees, her lips trembling and her eyes watery as she looked up at them and the rest of the people gathered before her, she watched as her parents approached and her eyes widened once more as Kalani placed her hand upon her cheek as she kneeled down before her, the soft touch of her mother's fingers finally broke her and Leilani began to bawl her eyes out clinging to the robes of her mother like when she was a child. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Leilani cried as her grip tightened and she sank her face onto her mother's chest 

"No one blames you my sweet child" Kalani replied as she embraced her daughter and soothed her

"I'm sorry" Leilani continued as she spent the next hour bawling, all the while the souls of the Great Plainers and the two Goddesses watched on in silence 

After Leilani had finished her crying and had calmed down, Malikei helped her up and gave her a hug, with Leilani embracing her father in kind, after all, both her mother and father loved her dearly to no end. 

"We have been watching you the entire time don't you know" Malikei stated as he held her in his arms 

"You have?" Leilani asked 

"Mhmm. We have seen everything you did, from setting out and teaching the people on that distant continent to your recent act of slaughter...You have experienced a lot in a short span of twenty years..compared to your life before that" Her father answered 

"I....Then you know I have failed THEM all....I left them the moment they needed me the most and I was not there to save them....they all died because of me" The Scholar of Santomin replied with a frown as she looked away from her father's eyes and the rest of the room. 

"You did not fail them Leilani" Chantook's voice chimed in as she made her way to her best friend, 

"Rather, they failed to live up to your example. They relied too much on your assistance which although a boon, brought them a false sense of security" Chantook added as she looked her friend in the eyes

"It is true Great Scholar of Santomin" Another voice called out but this one was much younger, 

Leilani gazed upward and saw a man known as King Juble I, the descendant of Chantook and the reigning King when the Khanate attacked. His eyes held regret and sorrow as he looked down at the Great Scholar of Santomin. 

"We failed to plan and expect their betrayal when all of the warning signs were there...we assumed they would not harm us due to our supposedly stronger army and people...how wrong we were"  Juble added as he floated down and knelt before her 

"If anything, you have only avenged people who have failed you...and for that, we are sorry" 

"We are sorry" The rest of the souls present chanted as they all got on their knees and looked upon Leilani.

"If it is of anything to you Great Scholar. We forgive you for your supposed failure, and we are grateful for your vengeance" Juble added as he briefly looked up at her then bowed his head

Leilani was left speechless at the display before her and she was unsure of what to say or do, Kalani and Malikei could read her expression and both of them had small smiles on their faces as they turned to the two Goddesses and nodded, with Santomin and Armenakis returning the nod. Armenakis then whisked away the souls of the Great Plainers, leaving only Chantook, Kalani and Malikei with Leilani who looked upon them with teary eyes. 

"You may be unsure of what to do now...but I think we both know what you must do, or rather what you must continue to do" Kalani said with a small smile as she clasped her daughter's hand in hers. 

"Hmm?" Leilani hummed with a raised eyebrow 

"The Goddesses were kind enough to tell us about you and your mission when we arrived here...to think you were shouldering all of this on your own..." Her mother added as she pulled her in for another hug 

"You still have a job to do my daughter. And one that we wish we could help you with" Malikei added as he also joined in on the hug

"But unfortunately we cannot. We have been told you were chosen for many reasons and those reasons are yours to keep..." Chantook chimed in as well with a soft smile

As Leilani was about to speak, her parents hushed her by pulling her in close, their warmth filling the tired woman with feelings she had missed for so long. 

"You still have a life to live my darling daughter. Don't worry about anything else other than your job and the people who are going to be under you, you will succeed and you will fail, that is the truth of life. Don't bog yourself down with what-ifs and regrets, live the life you want and do the job you were given, continue to be sweet, be kind and the delightful daughter we had. I love you Leilani, WE love you...always remember that, and when your job is done, then we can spend as much time together as you want" Kalani whispered in her ear, with her words causing Leilani to cry again. 

"You also needn't worry about the population of the continent you just cleared, Ragneus and the rest of us already have another batch at the ready, and they will need a leader" Armenakis chimed in as she stood before them, with Leilani nodding. 

After a long while, Leilani let go of her parents, wished them and Chantook goodbye and returned to the physical realm, thanking Armenakis and Santomin before they too returned back to their personal realms. Taking a deep breath, Leilani felt a brand new lease of life fill her, she still had a job to do and she kept the words of her mother close to her heart. She spent the next few weeks scouring across the eastern part of the continent and buried the bodies of her massacre. Before overseeing the next batch of people and species that were delivered by the angels to the continent and then performing her job. 

And soon, five thousand years had passed. 

A/N: Hello! And here is the next chapter! I plan to make as many chapters as I can before December 28th, and I hope the content is pleasing to you all! I am grateful for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy this series as it goes on! Leave me your thoughts in the comments below and I will engage with them, even questions are fine. And as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!