Chương 17: A Stranger in Her Own Legend

Echidna slowly returned to consciousness, the first sensation reaching her being the dull ache that remained throughout her body despite the incredible regeneration she had received. For a moment, she remained completely still, her mind struggling to separate reality from the remnants of the strange dream she had just experienced, and a bitter thought crossed her mind as her vision gradually returned to her crimson eyes.

'Echidna never believed nightmares truly exist...' She had never before slept, so the memory of what she had seen in her first one was as clear as a diamond.

'And for her very first dream to be one of her... of all beings... truly, what an unpleasant experience.' A sigh escaped her lips as she attempted to lift herself from the ground, her vision still blurry and her thoughts not yet fully aligned.

"To think Echidna's own mind would create such a cruel illusion..." she muttered weakly.

"Good morning." The casual greeting came from Gloria herself, looking down at her with the same relaxed expression.

"I must admit, I feel somewhat honored knowing that you missed me so much that I even appeared within your dreams." For several seconds, Echidna simply stared, before something strange filled the silence. A sound. A small, repetitive clicking sound. At first Gloria thought it was something within the cavern itself, perhaps some leftover effect from her spell or some strange reaction caused by the destruction surrounding them.

She glanced around briefly, searching for the source of the noise while internally sighing.

'Cmon, do not ruin this moment for me. I am trying to act serious here.' Yet when her gaze returned to Echidna, the answer became obvious. The sound was coming from her. The ancient god's teeth were violently striking against each other, her entire jaw trembling uncontrollably despite every attempt she made to hide it.

"E-E-Echidna welcomes the arrival of the mighty Gloria into her humble domain!" she suddenly shouted, throwing herself forward with whatever strength remained in her body until she collapsed onto one knee before Gloria.

"This lowly servant is filled with shame and sorrow for daring to raise her hand against such an existence! E-Echidna acted without wisdom, without understanding, and without realizing the honor that stood before her!" The transformation was so dramatic that Gloria could only stare. The same being who had once terrorized thousands of players, was now kneeling before her with sweat pouring down her face and her claws digging so deeply into her own arm that small trails of blood began running down her skin.

Her breathing had become increasingly frantic, as if she believed every word needed to be spoken perfectly or some invisible punishment would immediately descend upon her. Gloria's mind completely stalled.

'... Hey there... there really isn't any reason to take this that far, right? Just calm down. I already said I wasn't going to hurt you anymore.' Outwardly, however, none of those thoughts reached her face.

"An appropriate reaction, I suppose. Though I seem to remember you being rather different when you raised that hand against me." Echidna froze where she knelt, every trembling muscle locking in place as though time itself had stopped once again, while her widened eyes searched Gloria's expression with frantic desperation, trying to decipher whether those few simple words concealed some deeper meaning she had failed to grasp. Was it a rebuke? A test? A warning that she had not yet atoned for her offense?

"If this arm is the thing that dared to raise itself against you..." Echidna whispered as the fingers of her other hand curled around her shoulder, "... then it has already committed a crime beyond forgiveness." Before Gloria could fully process what those words implied, Echidna's claws dug beneath the skin and around the joint, her muscles tensing as she prepared to tear the entire limb from her body without the slightest hesitation.

"Enough." Gloria simply said, freezing Echidna in place. Gloria calmly stepped forward and rested two fingers against Echidna's wrist, gently pushing it away from her shoulder.

"You are no jester," she said, sounding almost disappointed by the spectacle unfolding before her, "so there is no need to entertain me in such ridiculous fashion." Echidna instantly lowered her head again, her entire body becoming so perfectly still that even the trembling seemed to vanish.

'What in the world is wrong with her...?' Gloria wondered, struggling to keep the confusion from reaching her face.

'I know I wasn't exactly subtle back in the game, and the lore I wrote for my guild certainly leaned a little too heavily into the whole "Super Conqueror" nonsense... but this is absurd, even for that.' No matter how many ways she examined the situation, the reaction refused to make sense. This was Echidna, one of the oldest entities ever introduced into DDO's lore.

Someone who, at the height of her existence, had absorbed the Great Shade of the World into herself and become the womb from which countless monsters were born. During the event remembered as the Bloody September, every wild creature that roamed the world had answered her will, transforming the world into a slaughterhouse responsible for millions of deaths before players finally brought her down.

A being with that history should have been proud beyond reason, arrogant beyond salvation, and utterly incapable of bowing before anyone.

"T-Then..." Echidna asked at last, her voice scarcely louder than a whisper as she carefully lifted her eyes without raising her head, "... how might this lowly creation bring satisfaction to the Mighty Gloria?" Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The question had barely left her lips when her gaze wandered past Gloria's shoulder and settled upon the Archer, who had remained standing several steps away throughout the entire exchange.

Echidna's eyes widened so violently that Gloria genuinely thought they might leap from their sockets.

"Ignorant creature!" she shrieked.

"What are you doing standing there? Kneel this instant! Lower your head before your arrogance earns us a death beyond death!" Iris visibly flinched, instinctively taking a step backward, but before she could react any further, Gloria raised a single hand.

"Stop this nonsense, Echidna." The cavern fell silent once more.

"I have no interest in whether she stands, kneels, or dances across the ceiling," Gloria said, glancing toward Echidna.

"What I require from you is considerably more valuable than empty displays of reverence, and unless you intend to answer my questions while shaking yourself unconscious, I suggest you calm yourself, gather your thoughts, and start behaving like the creature I know you once were." Echidna forced her breathing into a steady rhythm, swallowing the last remnants of panic until her voice came out controlled.

"How may Echidna be of service, then?" Gloria felt a quiet wave of relief at the change.

'Thank you! This image of you was really starting to ruin the picture I had in my mind.'

"Information." Gloria answered simply. Echidna tilted her head, genuine confusion plastered all over her face.

"Information?" Gloria inclined her head.

"However you choose to see me, one fact has become impossible to ignore. I have apparently been... absent... for a very long time, and the world I remember is no longer the one standing before me. You have existed throughout that time, Echidna. You have witnessed centuries that I have not, which makes you a well of knowledge I have every intention of drinking from."' Information...?' Echidna repeated inwardly, scarcely daring to believe what she had heard.

'This... this is an opportunity!' The Gloria of old would never have lingered for conversation after victory had already been secured. She would have annihilated the defeated, taken whatever she desired from the ruins, and departed without granting another thought to those left behind. Yet the being standing before her now had healed her wounds, spared her life, dismissed her transgressions with almost unsettling indifference.

'No...' Echidna corrected herself almost immediately, tightening her fists.

'This is more than an opportunity to survive! If I prove useful... if I become indispensable... then perhaps I may earn something infinitely more valuable than mercy.' The thought alone sent another shiver through her body, though this time it had nothing to do with fear.

To stand within the favor of the being who had once ruled the Golden Age was an honor beyond anything she had ever imagined possible, and if answering a handful of questions became the first step toward that impossible destination, then she would gladly empty every memory she possessed.

"Of course, Mighty Gloria. Whatever question rests upon your mind, Echidna shall answer to the fullest extent of her knowledge."

"Excellent." Gloria said, her voice calm enough that it almost sounded conversational again.

"Then let us begin with the question that interests me most. Tell me everything you know about these Supreme Beings." Since there was little point in relying on only one perspective when two witnesses from the same world stood before her, she decided she might as well compare their answers from the very beginning.

"And I would appreciate your thoughts as well, Iris," she said, turning her head slightly.

"If the two of you disagree on anything, I want to hear both versions." The Archer blinked in surprise, and for a brief instant the only words that escaped her lips were a quiet, almost absent-minded murmur.

"... Of course she would know my name..."

"Yes! I shall answer whatever I can." Beside her, Echidna watched the exchange with an expression that almost resembled annoyance, her eyes briefly flicking toward Iris before returning to Gloria, silently declaring that such questions should naturally be directed to her alone. The thought disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, however, replaced by an eager smile.

"Of course, Mighty Gloria," Echidna began, her voice regaining much of the regal confidence it had possessed before the battle.

"Although... Echidna suspects that title may be unfamiliar to you, for there exists no reality in which those beings possess the right to call themselves Supreme in your presence." She paused only briefly before continuing.

"Nevertheless, that is the name by which history remembers them. The Supreme Beings ruled this world for more than twenty thousand years, shaping civilizations according to their will, raising their kingdoms from wilderness, and destroying others with equal ease whenever they stood in the path of their ambitions. Every one of them possessed power beyond imagination, and together they established countless organizations known as guilds, each one gathering extraordinary individuals beneath a single banner."

Echidna frowned ever so slightly before shaking her head.

"No...

'kingdoms' is far too insignificant a word for what those guilds truly governed. Entire worlds would be a more fitting description. Their influence stretched across continents, dimensions, and realms beyond mortal understanding." Gloria instinctively turned toward Iris, searching for even the smallest sign of disagreement, only to find the Archer nodding so enthusiastically that several strands of crimson hair bounced against her shoulders.

"You needn't look at me for confirmation. Lady Echidna has described them exactly as every history book and temple chronicle does. There is a reason the entire world calls them the Supreme Beings, and even the oldest records struggle to capture everything they accomplished." Gloria nodded, feeling another piece of the puzzle settle into place.

'So it really is them...'. There was no longer much room for coincidence. After allowing that realization to settle for only a heartbeat, she immediately moved on to the question that mattered far more.

"Then tell me this. Do either of you know where I might find one of these Supreme Beings?"

"Certainly."

"Of course." Both women spoke at the exact same moment, only for Echidna to slowly turn her head toward Iris with an expression that, for the briefest instant, suggested she was contemplating whether strangling the Archer would count as a forgivable offense in Gloria's presence.

'She addressed me, little girl,' the raid boss complained inwardly while maintaining a perfectly composed smile.

'Do not steal the purpose I have only just been granted!' The irritation vanished almost immediately, and she lowered her head apologetically before continuing.

"Forgive me. While the exact location of each remaining Supreme Being changes with time, their domains are known to the world, and anyone of sufficient standing knows where each of them resides." Gloria's attention caught on a single word.

"... Remaining?" The question escaped her almost instinctively. Echidna inclined her head.

"Yes, Mighty Gloria." A faint knot formed in Gloria's stomach.

"Do you have an estimate, of how many are still alive?" She had expected the answer to be unpleasant. Three hundred years was an almost unimaginable span of time, and even players who had chosen human races possessed natural lifespans unless extraordinary methods were used to prolong them. Death through age alone would have claimed many of them, while wars, betrayals, and stupidity would claim many more.

"Echidna has no need to estimate. Their number is not a matter of speculation, for it is known." She drew a slow breath before continuing.

"There are... six Supreme Beings remaining." For the first time since awakening in this world, Gloria's composure fractured without her permission.

"... WHAT?!" The word exploded, stripped of every ounce of the calm dignity she had maintained until now. Echidna noticed the reaction, yet offered no comfort, only closing her eyes before delivering the final blow in a voice emptied of all emotion.

"Yes, Mighty Gloria... almost all of them have been killed."