Dimensional Descent

"Ancestor," Verma spoke after they left the range of Owlan territory, a hint of excitement in her voice. Compared to her usual gentle demeanor, she seemed to hardly be able to contain herself at the moment, as though she might burst out at the seams any second now.

The elder Celestial Ember chuckled. "Calm your heart, young one. We have yet to benefit as much as you might presume."

Verma's gaze dimmed somewhat when she heard this. But soon, the warmth of her Ancestor's wings made her smile bloom once again. What was there to fear?

Her Ancestor was chuckling, so the situation couldn't be bad. Since when did the Beast Empire fear hard work? If that was all it took, soon enough they would rise again.

"What do you need me to do, Ancestor?" She asked.

"You've already done more than enough, little Verma. It's time we old bones carry some of the burden."

"Can I know what our plans are?"

The Ancestor Celestial Ember fell into silence, each flap of her wings taking her across several bubble worlds. Just the shadow of her form in the skies was enough to paint the tales of countless legends for years to come. The imprint of what seemed like the feats of a god were difficult to erase from the hearts of the masses that witnessed them.

Verma lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Ancestor. I've overstepped my bounds."

The Ancestor Celestial Ember chuckled. "It's good to be eager, but trying to bite off more than you can chew will only harm you. Even so, you've done a great service for our Beast Empires this time, and soon enough, you will have a seat beside me.

"What I can tell you is that even if we gain nothing from this Life Tablet, it will be of great use to us.

"The Demi-Gods and Mortals have long since forgotten the power the Gods of Creation wielded. They were the mighty harbingers of Beast Empire's pride. We, as their descendants, have yet to become worthy to understand the full scope of their being.

"All we can do is take the steps to one day return as their descendants to our destined glory."

Verma listened in silence, her gaze glowing. The gentle flaps of her Ancestor's wings that could take them across worlds was nothing more than a soothing warm breeze across her feathers.

"In that case, Ancestor... Does this mean we will be using the Owlans?"

The Ancestor Celestial Ember chuckled. "Little Verma, you are, indeed, a sharp one. Are you sad?"

Verma's eyes dimmed a bit. "... Celestia is my best friend..." she spoke softly, almost worried that her Ancestor would hear her.

A subtle stroke of ember caressed the junior Celestial Ember's head.

"Indeed, in this world it is hard to find such a friend. These coming events might very well put you on opposing sides of this coming conflict, and it will strain your relationship or maybe outright destroy it. However, in this world, there is no such thing as objective right or objective wrong, everyone carries their own scales and weights.

"If she no longer wants to be a friend of yours after these matters, then you will have to make a choice between your family or your friendship."

Verma's beak parted slightly, a gloom hanging around her for a moment.

Her friend? Or her family? Wasn't the answer obvious? How could she ever choose her friend?

"Will we win, Ancestor?"

The Ancestor's voice echoed across the skies, causing mountains of several worlds to tremble and shatter.

"The Beast Empire will rise again!"

Her voice dripped with confidence.

-----

A familiar Variant Invalid sat on a pile of corpses. His Samoan-like tattoos flashed with red, his belly rippling as he bit into a beast leg over two meters in length.

Despite the fact he was eating beast-kind, those around him didn't dare to say a word.

In these last few days, this man had been completely insatiable, wanting to devour any and everything. He couldn't seem to stand any food he ate, and yet he wanted more nonetheless.

As expected, he finished off the beast leg and then his face twisted in disgust. He thrust two fingers down his throat and threw up the food he had just eaten before tossing the bone to the side and picking up another barely half-cooked leg of meat.

Everyone knew why he was acting like this. He really wanted the woman attached to the rest of that leg he had found. After eating that leg, nothing else could seem to soothe his appetite.

He kept killing one beast after another, eating up their legs in hope for the same delicious taste, but nothing could measure up.

"Bring me humans!" He barked. "It's not tender enough! Not flavorful enough! None of you beasts are enough!"

His roar was so powerful that a cyclone formed high in the skies above, his opaque eyeballs reflecting with a light of savagery and indecency.

The tiger beasts looked toward one another, their hearts trembling. There was only one human bubble left, and they had no idea where it was. And humans that could survive, even as slaves, in other worlds were both incredibly powerful, and would also have... unique statuses.

Trying to hunt down humans for this... creature to eat would be like antagonizing the other Mortal Races a step far too early.

Even so, they had to do it or else they would suffer his wrath...

Or so they thought before a message suddenly descended.

"Hm?" The Variant Invalid frowned. "Fuck!"

He stood and kicked away the pile of grotesque corpses and vomit before standing and suddenly vanishing.

The moment his oppressive aura vanished, the tigers collapsed, gasping for breath. In that moment, they had completely forgotten about the rage they felt toward the death of one of their own. All they cared about was the fact that the menace had finally disappeared.

-----

The Variant Invalid flashed, crossing several worlds in a blur.

It was a journey that took over a day...

And when everything sharpened once more, he stood in a world of Demi-God Beasts

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