The World Serpent

Back in the center of the Calidus Desert, everything was falling from the heavens. The clouds fell as if it was made of stone and broke apart. The dark skies became clearer and clearer as all else fell from its place. But as everything falls into the earth, this includes the elven warships and the battleships of Azathoth. 

*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*

*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*

*BOOM!!!* *BOOM!!!*

Thunder sounds of explosions echoed as shockwave ushered in its place.  It looks like the elven fleets and the fleet of Azathoth had lost against the battle of over the Heavens. But that didn't mean that the Great Rulers of the Calidus Desert didn't have any casualties. One of them died, three of them were injured, while the remaining ones were tired. 

They couldn't believe that such a creature could have that much power. The weapons on the ships also caused most of the destruction in the center of the Calidus Desert. The Proton and Anti Armaments split apart the dark concrete wasteland. When some of them hit the Great Rulers, it felt like needles piercing through their skin. 

In the rubble on the dark concrete wasteland, which was now full of metallic parts from the fallen ships, the rubble began moving, signifying someone or something trying to get out from it. After a while, a pale little hand revealed itself piercing through the rocky rubles. It seemed that Gloria was still alive though her current condition was unknown. 

A figure slowly escaped from the rubble that covered her. She was injured beyond relief. Her bones were broken though they were healing at a fast rate. One of her legs got amputated, and a single eye of her got gauged out. But even under such circumstances, she stood back up without any hesitation. The only thing within her was pure determination. 

She turned her gaze towards the remaining Great Rulers of the Great Calidus Desert. Her Golden Amber Eyes shone as she slowly revealed a smirk. It was as if she was mocking the Great Rulers for lacking the power to kill a little girl like her. 

Her actions didn't go unnoticed. The Great Ruler immediately noticed her rise over the rubble. They were quite a in disbelief after seeing Gloria rise despite her injuries. She was only standing in one leg as her amputated one was still healing. The Great Rulers weren't the only ones that noticed her, the surviving elven crews also noticed her. 

A distance away from where Gloria stood. The Captain of that elven battleship was looking at her from afar. The power of the Great Rulers was something unimaginable. It was a surprise that their naval fleets managed to kill one and injure some of them. Though, it took a vast amount of sacrifices. The Captain had already lost hope after the crash but upon seeing a little girl standing up against the Great Rulers. He couldn't help but grit his teeth in disappointment. 

He was disappointed at himself for making a young girl stand up alone against the Great Rulers. Why would he lose hope when even the youngest ones were still standing? As the older one, he needed to stand up and become the figure they would follow. At this moment, where morale was at its lowest, they needed someone, and that young girl was the one.

'Why am I acting like this? Why can't I move my body? Am I afraid?! Hell, No!!! I will continue standing even if my legs get crippled. It doesn't matter if I must use my arm for it.' The Captain thought to himself as he continued gritting his teeth. 

The Captain then forced himself to stand up. It took a while for him to fully stand. The remaining crew, who slowly gained their consciousness, saw their Captain standing and gazing upon a brave young girl. They furrowed their eyebrows as they also stood up from the rubble. 

One could say that even if the heavens fall, they will still stand and endure the weight beyond it. An interesting concept of bravery within hopeless and dire situations. A lot of things had happened during that battle. Tens of thousands of elven crews died during that battle. Their sacrifices were noteworthy to be able to take down a single god-like creature known as a Great Ruler. 

"You're still alive young one. But now, you must die. You caught us off-guard at that moment. We recognize you as someone strong, so we will give your our strongest attacks. Honor the revelation of our power." The Ancient Voices of the Great Rulers echoed as their bodies started radiantly shining. 

It looks like they were activating their strongest attacks against Gloria. Though, even upon meeting such attacks. Gloria gazed at them without any fear in her eyes. Her heart was calmly beating as her body was relaxed beyond relief. 

"Take this attack, Champion. The strongest attacks of 9 Great Rulers." The Ancient Voice crackled like thunder as a radiant light shone and shot towards the direction of Gloria. It was faster than anything, and Gloria couldn't see or sense the attack. She closed her eyelids though as seconds passed by, she noticed herself still standing.

It was at that moment she realized, Her Mother had arrived. 

Persia, the World Serpent. She stood there silently as everything around her got flattened. The rubble became dust, though fortunately, none of the surviving elven crew had died getting flattened into a mush of meat. The Great Rulers of the Calidus Desert, on the other hand, felt a pressure they had never felt before. It was as if the whole world was weighing them down.

Persia gazed upon the Great Rulers of the Calidus Desert with her golden amber eyes, which were shining radiantly with its golden light. A Great Ruler was about to speak before Persia literally turned the Great Ruler into a ball of flesh in a single glance. The Great Rulers got frozen in fear and silence as they never dared to open their mouths ever again. 

"Have you understood the things you had done? May I ask you who had done such things to my only daughter?" Persia asked with a calm voice as she flicked her fingers resulting in Gloria getting instantly healed. Gloria was about to smile until she had noticed the piss-off face of her Mother. She shrank back and faded from the entire situation.

"Don't run off and stand there," Persia said as Gloria, who was planning to silently disappear, froze. Gloria turned her head towards Persia, who had an emotionless expression. She knew that she had made her Mother angry, so it was up to her to apologize and acknowledge her mistakes.

Gloria swiftly bowed and apologized with her monotone voice. "I apologize for the things I had done, Mother. I have fought against Great Rulers, which as well might have been above myself. I was foolish to be prideful and brought shame to the Nation of Azathoth." One would expect that the Great Ruler would be content with this apology.

But unfortunately, Persia wasn't. It wasn't the apology she wanted, and instead of being happy upon receiving the apology. Her cold face got colder and colder as the pressure around her got stronger. Ego then appeared right beside Persia and spoke with her monotone voice. 

"There is no need to worry that much, Sister. Gloria is young and naive. She might not have understood the concept, and it might take time for her to feel it. But I will do everything I can to make her understand it. For now, it would be no use in getting angry. After all, she is still completely subservient. Value to oneself will be given as time grows. Patience is the key."

Ego explained as Persia sighed after a while. Well, what Ego did say was understandable. What Persia wanted was Gloria apologizing for trying to get hurt while not even thinking of retreating. She was a bit satisfied that Gloria had realized her foolish thoughts of attacking someone stronger than her. But even a realization would be useless if Gloria herself didn't value her life. 

"Understandable, getting angry would be foolish. I apologize for going hard on you, Gloria. I simply wanted you to realize that I don't want you to throw yourself into danger. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, so please don't do such a dangerous thing ever again. If you ever fight, you need to calculate your chances of winning." 

Persia gave Gloria a serene smile. Gloria lowered her head as Persia hugged her daughter. Persia started patting the soft hair of her Daughter as she heard her silent whispering voice. "I'm sorry for getting myself hurt, Mom." 

It was at that moment Persia felt her heart beating like a drum in a festival. She was quite satisfied with Gloria calling her Mother, but she was more satisfied with Gloria calling her Mom. Hah... The satisfaction of a cute daughter calling you in such a manner. Persia felt lucky. 

"Anyway, I hope that this won't happen ever again." Persia smiled as Gloria nodded. Persia then spoke while gazing upon the Great Rulers, who were kneeling in front of her. "Now what do I do with the nine of you? Ganging up on my Daughter, do you know how much such words make my blood boil?"

"Oy, Junior... Don't forget that we need things from their brain. Other than that, you can torture them without any limits from time and pain. Though, we do need information about these bastards. They are building a giant portal back to their homeworld. What do you say, vengeance?" Statera's words echoed as Persia smiled upon hearing the words of Statera.

"Ohoho, of course, vengeance.." An evil smile appeared on her face but immediately faded in an instant.