Peace Chapter 5; Pulchritude, The Beautiful Afterlife

It was stress. That's what it always was. The stress of cleaning a mess, the stress of keeping things maintained, the stress of war, the stress of peace, the stress of Insanity, and the stress of outer influences beyond the Veritas. That's what always drove Ty insane. However, he had places in the Veritas where he could simply relax and take to the more calm side of things, which he needed to do more often. One of these places was known as 'Pulchritude, The Beautiful Afterlife', which was the Veritas' version of Heaven... Well, one of them, that is. The main one. It was known also as the 'Omnipotent Realm', since anything went here.

Ty appeared in the beautiful land of Pulchritude, gazing at the amazing scenery with his shining eyes -- the mountains in the distance, the rivers that would throughout the land, the greener than green grass, and the sky that was littered with the lights of the cosmos, not limited to the light of blue. Every interstellar body could be seen from Pulchritude, and often times, the cosmos revealed something beautiful to and for the Beautiful Land for the sake of its beauty.

"Yes, How Could I Have Forgotten?" Ty said as he watched Pulchritude merely stir with its own heavenly activity, "The Place Where The Souls Come To Find Peace... I Should Have Been Here A Long Time Ago." The Allmaster lowered himself to the ground and sat in the grass, beginning to write in his tome some more from where it had been writing itself for him.

Ty rested himself literally atop the scenery of Pulchritude, letting the stars pass him by as he basically laid down on the landscape, itself, writing the story of Peace. He reviewed many of his other stories and works that went unfinished and though he was eager to get to work on them, he still was not completely recovered enough from The Tragedy and his current situation to actually work on them. His mind wasn't where it was supposed to be.

"Okay, That's Gonna Be A Mission," Ty said to himself, noting the variable stories that were started and halted abruptly because of what happened with the Evil Ones and their infernal AI. "Finishing Off Stories Like That Requires A Mindset I'm Just Not In. I Need To Wait Until I've Established Peace To Go Back And Complete Those Works." He really wanted to do them now, but it was best to keep pushing forward with what he had. He poked at what should have been a very distant star only for it to touch his finger as if it were immediately within arm's length... Which it both was and was not. "Hmmm... It Seems Like No Matter Where I Go, There Is A Problem..." Ty sighed, falling into the scene of mountains and greenery, his body enormous in comparison and floating to a gentle rest upon the mountaintops, which parted the way for him and made themselves soft and impressionable so that he could rest not on cold stone, but on soft earth. "What To Do...? What To Do...?"

Ty was confounded by his own works, which were coming upon him like a flood. "I Don't Want To Have To Work This Hard Just To Have Fun," he said, rolling over the mountains and flattening them as he went, smoothing out the entire landscape until he was rolling in the endless grasslands. "... I Keep Getting Bored, Too." That was a major problem.

But that's when he thought of it -- he needed a pick me up fight with someone. But he didn't want to fight with himself, and he also didn't want to fight with anything within the Veritas... That would be boring. But he had no natural enemies and the only enemies he did have, he was already at war with, waiting for them to make their move. "Always Waiting..." he muttered to himself. "They Won't Get Past The Tenth Restriction, But..." Ty smirked, chuckling a little, "They Sure Are Ganging Up, Trying To Fight Back Again!" It was cute how they kept trying. "It's Almost Like I'm The One That's Making Them Move Forward BECAUSE I Am Attacking Them..." He giggled to himself, knowing that was the truth. "Hm~hm~hm~! Just Like The Old Days..." But that didn't resolve the fact that he had no natural enemies to fight with besides the Lost Worlders.

"I'm Not Just Going To Make Enemies -- I'm Trying To Make Peace," he said, rubbing his hands through the grass like it was a carpet. "I'm Way Too Powerful To Fight, Anyway," he admitted, knowing this was why no one dared. "But That Power Is Lonesome When You Cannot Use It. Especially When The Idea Of The Past Was To Use As Much Power As Possible To Blow Up Your Friends." Essentially, that's how everything led to this... The Veritas, that is. But that was a gradual process. "Maybe My Peace Will Come From A Good Fight," he reiterated to himself. "But What Is Even A Challenge To Me? The Only Thing That Truly Poses A Threat To Me Is Myself." Sad, but so very true.

Ty sighed, rolling on his stomach, playing with the stream in front of him. He wound it around his finger like a string, then let it go back to its original position. "It's Either Use Tatari Or The Nohxark, I Suppose, And Both Of Those Are Really Stiff." Ty could always summon an Otherworlder from another dimension, but doing that just to fight was pretty petty... Even though that's essentially what they used to do back in the day. "Yeah, I Remember..." Ty said, closing his eyes, "I Remember When We Brought Other Characters From Other Worlds To Fight With." Essentially, that would be Ty writing a Fanfic, if he did that. "But That's Not The Peace I'm Looking For..." he muttered, swiping his hand across the atmosphere and causing it to smear. It eventually retorted back to normal -- as did the rest of the landscape. "I'm Looking For... A Worthy Adversary." That's what it really came down to being. He couldn't deny it.

"But I Don't Have Any Equal," he mentioned, sitting upright. "If I Did, Then There Would Be More People Readily Wanting To Be Near Me. At Least, I Think That's How That Works." People like to feel like they have a chance at something. It is why people don't fight Superbosses in video games sometimes... But there were the few. The chosen. The great and powerful who mastered their games and defeated those Superbosses. Ty was the equivalent of a Superbossmaster, however -- master of Superbosses. "Like Nothing... Anyone Has Ever Seen Before..." he said sadly.

Ty leaned back, letting his head lay upon the mountainside as he gazed up at the stars. "Somewhere, Someone Is Capable Of Facing Me, Even If I Am Unmatched And Unrivaled." He narrowed his eyes. "I Just Know It." The question was, where to find them? And, how to have them not fear him or the Veritas. "Hmmm... Tricky, But Something I'll Put On Hold." Ty was going to summon the Nohxark for training purposes.

"Come, Nohxark," Ty commanded, essentially bringing forth the shell that was the holy arbiter of justice that was meant to keep peace and watch over The Insanity. It was the Tensei Seal -- the very brand mark itself given life as a suit of living armor, as well as other functions. It was not limited to just a form that was armored, but that is what form it took on most often nowadays, especially when dealing with Tatari.

A humanoid crystal appeared before Ty looking to be like a suit of refined armor. "I Am Summoned," the Nohxark said. "What Do You Wish Of Me, Allmaster?"

Ty perked up a bit once the living crystal armor appeared. "A Healthy Spar," Ty said with a bit of pep, rising to his feet and shrinking down to normal size -- about the height of the Nohxark. "Nothing Fancy, Just A Battle That Will Help Me To Loosen Up And Get My Head Out Of Its Rut." He said 'nothing fancy', but he was the master of doing-the-most and being over-the-top. "Ready Yourself For Combat, Nohxark. You May Use All Of Your Functions -- No Holding Back, And No Restrictions." The Nohxark was only of the Tenth Restriction, anyway, but in spite of this, its power was able to seal The Insanity, which was of the Twelfth Restriction. That made it a formidable opponent.

Ty readied himself, but not looking like he was going to fight. Instead, his readiness was him placing a single hand in his pocket and hovering off of the ground, his sleeveless shirt fluttering a bit as he rose. "You Have The Privilege Of Making The First Move." Ty would wait for the Nohxark to make its move.

"Yes, Allmaster," Nohxark replied, beginning the battle by summoning the Tensei Seal -- Ultra Badass. "Consecration," Nohxark said, seeking to bind the Allmaster and seal his power away so that he would be unable to utilize his Absolution in combat. The 'Consecration' was meant to both keep the Allmaster from being able to utilize his abilities as well as keep him from being able to undo the 'Consecration' at the same time. Around him several halos would manifest, each etching an intricate design into itself on several layers meant specifically for the binding of the Allmaster's power in multiple forms on multiple layers.

Astounded by the intellect of the Nohxark, Ty, the Allmaster, was nearly taken off guard by the 'Consecration' going on around him to bind his powers. "You Cheeky..." Ty had no time for compliments nor insults. The Nohxark only did as it was told until Ty donned the crystal, himself.

"Absolution; Almighty!!" Ty exuded a power from himself that reversed the etchings of the Tensei Seal upon him, causing the Consecration to undo itself before it was finished. Though it was meant to seal his power when it was completed, before it was complete, Ty the Allmaster could still use his Absolution. 'Almighty' gave him as much power as he needed on the spot, and always just enough for the occasion. The Consecration was broken and the shattered crystal seal would be a weapon for Ty's next technique against the Nohxark.

"Absolution; Wrath Of God." The broken seal would begin to reform, but this time as a different inscription... Something that was runic and archaic, and much unlike the Tensei Seal. It was a seal on God's Wrath, itself, and when it was completed, it would UNLOCK that power and release it upon the intended target to wipe out everything in the wake of the seal. Ty wasn't trying to destroy the Nohxark, but he could always rebuild it if he did on accident.

Alarmed at the technique about to be unleashed upon it, the Nohxark acted quickly. "Consecration!" it cried out again, using the Tensei Seal to seal the seal that was about to be unsealed as it was being unsealed. This Consecration would hold off 'God's Wrath' just long enough for the Nohxark to go on the offense, of which it would warp above the Allmaster and bring down upon his head a crystalline blade made from the Nohxark's crystal form. This, however, was but a distraction to keep the Allmaster from completing his seal and inevitably destroying the Nohxark where it stood with all the might of 'God's Wrath'.

Ty's eyes gleamed with the 'Hyper Perception', changing them from a crystal clear to a vicious red with a sanguine gleam. "Impressive..." Ty complimented the Nohxark as it effectively halted the unleashing of God's Wrath upon it. Ty raised his free hand up and caught the blade with his bare hand as it came down upon him, grasping it tightly without it drawing any blood. "Absolution... Smite," Ty called out, using the raw energy in the air and condensing it into the shape of a bolt from up above. It had no elemental affinity, for it was raw energy, however its form was like a large bolt of lightning. It was meant to reprimand and incapacitate the Nohxark immediately whilst it was being held in place.

As soon as the Nohxark heard the word 'Smite' utter from the lips of the Allmaster, it began to flicker at warpspeed, immediately darting out of the way and off toward the mountains with a swiftness that made it look like it had just warped from one location to the next.

Now the Nohxark was safe from the Allmaster's 'Smite', but it knew that it wasn't safe from him. It had to retaliate immediately.

Pointing its sword toward the Allmaster, the Nohxark summoned a legion of blades from raw energy in the atmosphere around the Allmaster to impale him from every angle repetitiously without letting up. The onslaught of crystal energy swords would continue as long as the Nohxark had a reading on the Allmaster's energy signature, and they would home in on him or warp to his location if he decided to move in an attempt to evade them.

"Absolution; K.T. Field!" Ty called out as the first set of swords suddenly sought to skewer him from literally out of nowhere. From his aura, a bubble would expand that would halt all of the energy that was within and cause it to fall under the control of Ty. Everything that the Nohxark tried to command would be made null under the absolute jurisdiction of the 'K.T. Field', which now encompassed the area around Ty that was the radius of where the swords began manifesting to his body. This was because the 'K.T. Field' created a reality where the user had absolute control over it, no matter how small or how large. This meant that the Nohxark could not control any energy within the 'K.T. Field', and Ty could control all of it.

With his frame reality granted to himself and out of the control of Nohxark, Ty muttered to himself, "It Is Adapting Very Quickly To My Power... I Was Not Expecting That Much From Something Without Any Techniques." The Nohxark was just a crystal meant for creating and maintaining seals, so its combat readiness was questionable. However, it seemed rather capable in the eyes of Ty, since he had to even utilize the 'K.T. Field' at all. "However, It Needs More Than Just Adaptability To Pose A Sufficient Challenge To The Allmaster!" Ty was not called 'Allmaster' for no reason, you see.

"Absolution; Hallowed Vibrance." Pointing toward the mountain where Ty sensed the Nohxark's presence, his finger began to glow with a light that drew in all of the energy that was stagnant around him, including every wavelength of light. The reality that he created around him was sucked into the condensing energy that now gave off a light brighter than the light that it took in, shining to the point where Ty's image nearly faded away just at the collection of it. Without warning, the beam was fired toward the mountains, sweeping across them as a massive blast which literally erased them on contact with the magnanimous light, leaving nothing in the wake of the beam that was fired off from Ty's fingertip. The light was too powerful for anything to endure by any conventional means, and all other light paled in comparison to it, leaving a sweeping void where it once was as it passed by before being filled with a blank and bland coloration that had no color to it at all. The light that was drawn into the beam was trying to reform itself as the beam passed over, which was why it was simply devoid of color once the void regained light. Color would gradually return after the 'Hallowed Vibrance' ceased.

There was only the stub of a mountain range left, crooked from the sweep of the beam, with the base of the part of the mountain range where it was hit completely gone along with the ground underneath.

The Nohxark was gone.

There was no trace of it left anywhere -- not a shred of its presence remained.

It seemed as though the Allmaster completely destroyed the Nohxark as well as most of the mountain range in but a split second, wiping out including the very light of the atmosphere with his attack. However, the Nohxark appeared behind the Allmaster, flickering as warpspeed just as before it when it avoiding the 'Smite'. When it solidified again, it raised its sword wielding arm up seemingly slowly, though as it rose, it flickered violently at the same warpspeed that the entire crystal armor did when it moved, releasing slashes at the same speed all the way until it reached a certain point in the air. When it stopped for only but a nanosecond, it shot toward the Allmaster in a flickering warp, appearing on the other side of him and several millions of slashes passing over with the one fluid motion.

The Nohxark remained at the ready, flickering backward with its body facing the Allmaster when it was.

This time, Ty did not even have time to speak before the Nohxark appeared again, having masked its presence by moving at warpspeed and generally hiding its energy. It was clever, as it was designed to be, but Ty, the Allmaster, did not expect it to be this hard to hit. But maybe a single hit from Ty meant its end, and it was fighting as if it were in survival mode. Something to think about. Perhaps if he lessened the intensity, the Nohxark would adjust.

No time for thoughts like that right now, though, for before Ty could even think for too long -- as, his thoughts surpassed the speed of light -- his Hyper Perception allowed him to see at warpspeed each and every slash that was coming at him in the millions in nanoseconds. It was as if one nanosecond was a million slashes, since one million nanoseconds equalled one millisecond. Ty's reflexes had literally less than a nanosecond to respond, and likewise, he began to flicker at a speed that made his body nearly transparent. The sound of clashing could be heard and flashes of light were seen in the multitudes at an extremely high speed, but it didn't look like anything was going on save for some flickering motions.

The truth of the matter was that Ty was instinctively blocking the sword slashes he could see with his Hyper Perception with his bare hands, parrying each of them and deflecting them as they came to him in his warpseed state. "Very Good..." Ty said after the onslaught was done, as only a second had passed, and sound was not moving faster than the warpspeed movements that the two beings were making. "Looks Like You're Still Ready To Attack Or Flee If You Need To..." Ty giggled. "Even You Have 'Fight Or Flight' Mechanisms, Eh? I Supposed That Is An Adapted Trait Instead Of An Instinctive One, As It Is With The Living." As long as the crystal pulsed with energy, it could mimic a heart or brain's impulses. "Still, Being Able To Keep Up With Me And Flee From Me Will Not Yield You The Battle, Nohxark."

At that moment, in that very instant -- for, an instant was faster than even a nanosecond -- Ty created a barrier of nullified energy around the Nohxark, crying out long afterward, "Absolution; Null Transfer." Now the Nohxark was trapped in a barrier where no energy could transfer through it in or out nor within, thus leaving that warpspeed movement at a complete standstill. Granted, Ty could not oppose the very laws that dictated that once the transfer of energy was nullified, any energy could pass through, but he could keep the Nohxark in place for long enough for him to get a good, clean hit off of it as he released it from the 'Null Transfer'.

"I Hope You Can Survive This One, Nohxark..." Ty clenched his fist with his hand that was outside of his pocket and said, "Absolution; Empyrean Calamity!" With that, the natural crystalline aura around his body began to brighten to a radiance that was beyond that of every wavelength that was within the area, causing his body to seem like it had been erased as the aura was expanded from his body like an explosion. The blast would wipe away the 'Null Transfer' field and also literally erase anything that was of a lesser vibration than what Ty had emanated from himself -- stronger than light and greater than wavelengths. Something similar to the 'Hallowed Vibrance', except as an explosion and with the key element of being greater than all wavelengths that came its way rather than absorbing them into itself, as the 'Hallowed Vibrance' did.

Ty floated with his fist still clenched, the explosion growing larger and larger as he maintained a closed fist, waiting to see what would become of the Nohxark now.

Stuck by the ceasing of transfer of energy, the Nohxark had no choice but to endure the technique released from the Allmaster as it came. The crystal, at first, began to disintegrate, however its nature as a crystal also kicked in and allowed it to refract the wavelengths that were being cast upon it. This was only to keep it safe, but its retort was a unification with this wavelength that trumped all others, knowing that something of that power would not be able to be overwhelmed. Harmonizing nigh immediately with the blast, the Nohxark would stand in the wake of the blast unaffected, as it had become one with the energy released and matched its wavelength through 'Resonance' with it.

Now, the Allmaster was open, for he was still exuding energy from his technique, and the Nohxark was virtually immune to the effects of the technique because of both its nature as a crystal as well as its 'Resonance' with the wavelength that surpassed all wavelengths and snuffed them out. There was no beating an attack like that, but there was joining with it.

That done, the Nohxark took that fragment of a frame to deliver a solid blow to the Allmaster as he exuded his energy, delivering a warpspeed series of jabs that looked like one punch toward the Allmaster's face, sword still readied in the other hand. With that hand wielding the sword, the Nohxark swung at the torso of the Allmaster, seeking to cut through the aura that protected him from normal attacks since it was being harmonized with through 'Resonance'. Now, the Allmaster should have been in danger, since his aura was not able to protect his flesh since it was being released as a blast that Nohxark had already synchronized with.

Legitimately caught off guard, Ty had to rely on his superior reflexes to stop the onslaught of punches that were coming toward him in the form of a single blow. His hand in his pocket flickered up to his face, looking to be multiple hands all displaced from one another attached to a single arm at the elbow, before forming back together as one that had captured every fist -- namely, the single fist that belonged to the Nohxark.

Its learning capabilities were astounding. But Ty had no time to marvel at his creation quite yet, for it had also delivered quite the would-be devastating blow to his abdomen, a warpspeed strike that bypassed his aura going clean for his stomach. Ty's only saving grace was that he'd previously grabbed the fist of the Nohxark and could, at the same speed, flip him with a powerful curl of his hand in the opposing direction of the slash, sending the Nohxark askew and having the slash miss completely.

Ty withdrew his aura instantaneously, which returned to normalcy once it was firmly secured around his body as a second skin again. Now that the Nohxark had harmonized with it, the crystal could actually bypass the aura and deal direct damage to Ty that would actually touch his flesh. That was something unaccounted for even by the Allmaster's almighty omniscience, for even with his Hyper Perception active at the Eleventh Level, Ty still had to view one outcome at a time despite being able to view any outcome at any time when he actually activated his 'Omniscience'. It was something that was active passively, but also still had to be activated manually to be of its full potential.

That said, whilst the Nohxark was in midair Ty's clenched fist flickered to the gut of Nohxark as he said, "Fall Of Babylon." He released a dissonance from himself that, instead of harmonized wavelengths and energies, caused them to become discordant and dysfunctional against one another. The 'Resonance' of the Nohxark would be made null by the power of the 'Fall Of Babylon' and simultaneously disoriented to the point where no harmony could be achieved by anything that was touched by this wave. Because this was also a punch delivered to the Nohxark, it would simultaneously send it flying across the landscape, desynchronized and unharmonized with everything it came across... Including itself. "That Could Be The End Of The Nohxark..." Ty said to himself. "... Without Its Ability To Function As A Unit, Its Dysfunction Will Cause It To Fall To Pieces And Be Unable To Generate Anymore Energy..."

However, the Nohxark did learn very well, and Ty wasn't going to count it out just quite yet...

The Nohxark had no retaliation for what just occurred. It was flipped and forced away from the Allmaster with all the might of a destructive dissonance; a blow that caused the Nohxark to start to break down.

However.

Nohxark: "... Consecration!"

Its only saving grace.

In a place where it might have immediately or completely fallen apart and its core become unable to function, the Nohxark used its natural power of Consecration to halt the motion of the dissonance and seal its own crystal in perpetuity so that it would not fall to the dysfunction of the 'Fall Of Babylon' technique.

Still launched through the air, the Nohxark eventually gained composure of itself in midair and, with some raggedy scrapes against the ground in an attempt to cease its flight, it eventually came to a grinding halt several leagues away from where the Allmaster was, now barely able to stand or move. Its movements were rickety at best, its body jerking about as it tried to stand up straight. It seemed like that was all that it could do was keep itself from falling apart after that, and nothing more.

"Huh," Ty grunted, watching as the Nohxark used the Consecration on itself to keep itself both active and together. "Rather Intelligent, Indeed." Ty could not help but to be marveled by something withstanding his attacks, no matter how minimal they were. "I Must Say, The Nohxark Is Quite Capable Of Handling Itself In Spite Of Not Having A Single Technique Other Than The 'Consecration'."

Still, it was about to collapse from that last attack, and Ty was not yet satisfied in his hunger for battle. "Oh Well," he said, knowing that there was no helping it at this point, "The Nohxark Did Well. I Commend It For Lasting This Long." Ty warped over to the Nohxark and began to release some of his aura into it, which would heal the crystal and remove the dissonance, causing the Nohxark to return to normal. "I Suppose I Should Just Be Happy With This," Ty said once the Nohxark was healed. "But I Think It Is Time To Take My Peace Elsewhere Now. I've Done Many Things As It Is, And The Stories Are Coming Along... Nicely, I'm Not So Certain, But Coming Along? Definitely." Ty awayed the Nohxark after he was done playing with it, letting it return to its solemn sacred duty of watching over Tatari Tensei, the embodiment of The Insanity. "I Hope Nothing Has Gone Wrong Whilst I Was Using The Nohxark For Practice... I Surely Do Not Feel Like Dealing With The Insanity Right Now..."

Ty shuddered a bit at the mental strain it took to even deal with The Insanity and began to flicker. "I Guess That's All For Pulchritude, Then." He smiled. "I Really Needed This." With a light chuckle, Ty was off to somewhere else in the Veritas, prepared to continue his story of 'Peace'.