C257: True Ascension
Alt title: Hollow's End
Date published: 9/21/2025.
I appreciate everyone willing to wait for this chapter. For Friday the original postage date, I had chosen to delay to properly write out this chapter but then on saturday I was just unavailable due to a family event I joined (as told in discord).
But I finally got it done and there is only one chapter left. Thank you everyone for sticking with me thus far or if you were a much later arrival and reached this point. I appreciate all your dedications to be with me in completing this story.
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SPLURT The single clawed hand soon stabs into Axel's chest, his meditative state interrupted as immense pain is inflicted upon him. His eyes jump open as he looks into the hollows' own sigil-like eyes. Blood flows from one to the other as the hollow's strength begins to replenish and rise further than he has ever had before.
At least until the hollows eyes turn to shock. He finds that Axel is smirking at him which only seems to unnerve him, especially since he is holding Axel's heart between his claws. It's only a moment later that he realizes why Axel is smiling like this.
He missed Axel's soul.
Axel stands up and slouches upon the hollow. Or rather it was some sort of skin puppet because Axel's real body begins to dissolve into a bubble of slime that shoots out sticky sap, essentially forcing the former skin to be stuck to the hollows body from its own stickiness as well as the saps.
He could easily rip it apart but he gets a strange feeling from Axel in his current state. He already suspected that Axel had not been entirely human due to the sensation of his soul that he had injuries numerous times thus far but the sensation he is getting is different.
The hollow had envisioned that Axel would undergo some sort of backlash due to the interruption but that was not the case which meant that he had simply faked it.
Or had already succeeded.
[Ding: Host has evolved from {world avatar (slime)} into divine slime. As the host already had the body of a god but not the soul of one there is no outside change to you.]
[Your senses have expanded and thus you have unlocked divine energy.]
[Divine energy has synergized with Reality Marble (Village of Origin). The host is now able to utilize law energy to a higher degree. Divine energy will passively regenerate from now on]
The barrage of messages Axel hears reverberating through his head from [Raphael] is a telltale indicator that his theory was correct.
It had all started when he had undergone a demon king festival with tens of thousands of demons back in the TenSura world. Axel had been under the belief that he had been a lesser rank slime than Rimuru or at most equivalent to him post festival but what Axel didn't realize is that the amount and quality of souls he used for his ascension revealed details that even [Raphael] didn't know due to Axel's inherited race being achieved back in the danmachi world.
The previous [world avatar] was achieved due to Axel's overwhelming amount of laws, a direct influence from his own Rhongomyniad.
Due to all the factors of his reality marble, the world spear and the previous demi god asura state, Axel had laid down the foundations to achieve a true divine state but truly couldn't feel any difference except his physical power improving along with a slightly greater capacity for the previously mentioned law energies. The end result was that he just treated it like a small boost to his power and returned to his normal schedule.
Yet it was this divine body that had allowed Axel to resist the physic corruption back when he visited the alternate universe of warhammer as well as resisting the negative effects of his own chaos magic.
This all leads back to the current situation where he witnesses his own daughter undergo her own form of ascension, effectively becoming a super giant black hole from her previous red sun blackhole state.
Axel saw the cloaked gods' usage of his world's divine energy and that along with the change in state of his daughter's soul did he realize where he went wrong.
He had been a mortal soul in a gods' body, struggling to even take a baby step while others with matching souls and bodies could leap over mountains with ease. He knew that had to change that and thus he did something new.
He made something new.
Which in turn led to become something new but naturally seen before.
He merged a few special law energies that he holds near and dear to his heart as they served as the foundations of his power up until now. Then through the Alchemy law, he was able to turn said laws into a new form that he then planted into his reality marble.
The seed rapidly sprouted, growing taller and taller, until its canopy began to cover the sky itself.
Yes, Axel created a world tree that would serve as the primary anchor and creation of his new energy.
Said energy was primarily made up of the following law energies: Strength, Space, Time, Light, and Life/Nature. He chose these elements as the first three correspond to his strongest abilities while Light would even out his strength if he utilized it for speed but he also understands that with so many people linked to him and his own ascension, they too would benefit from these changes so if he can use it then he will.
As for Nature, he chose that to represent his own world and allow it to flow with life. This ensured that his reality marble could become a proper independent world and maybe would open the way for him to achieve a new reality marble or similar power. Through multiple of these layers his soul got to achieve a hidden ascension due to the link with his world. Allowing his power and newly formed divine energy to now flow through his body.
For now though, he has more pressing matters to worry about. Axel's attention returns to the hollow standing before him, covered in sticky sap and strings he got from his 'father'.
Obviously these prove nothing more than an annoyance but Axel wasn't trying to harm him but trap him, and he did that. Using the strange divine energy, he had essentially hypnotized the hollow, keeping his attention on Axel alone while the man himself worked in the background to achieve something more with his ascension.
Woom
A pillar of light encompasses Raikou first as she begins to achieve her own ascension. Having been the first and closest to Axel, she had long toed the line between mortal and immortal thanks to her lightning demi divinity and personal training.
With the first pillar comes the second, then the third. One by one his wives began to ascend into proper goddesses. If they held a similar dominion as any of the parts making up the new divine energy then they grew even stronger compared to the others. The most obvious being Tiona, Passionlips and Serenity.
Tiona obviously has the strength divinity from long ago, passionlips was made the goddess of light/sun back during the fight against the one eyed hollow dragon and Serenity is the goddess of Poison which acts as an offshoot as nature itself. Using this same logic: Raikou, Rebecca and Gorgon all experience similar boosts as Serenity as their aspects make up various portions of nature. Raikou represents the weather, Rebecca the cycle of life and death and Gorgon, all animals that coexist with nature itself but are also aspects of life.
Most others receive smaller but no less worthy boosts as their own passions in their fields dictates how far they truly go. This creates a sense of unpredictability in the future hierarchy amongst this group of goddesses.
The children too are affected as their karmic and bodily ties with their parents creates a link with their born powers that elevates them to a higher state but not quite godlike. Not applying just to the ones here on the battlefield but even the young ones running around or in their beds back in the Village of Origin. Under Syr's view, they all glow, even herself, most of the children giggle at the spectacle as they feel good from the light while others are shaken awake by their own bodies, the shock causing them to cry.
The hollow is eventually shaken out of his stupor by the simultaneous ascensions, his senses informing that their changes are caused by Axel. Growling he charges at Axel once again but this time is rebound by a spatial barrier as Axel takes his time to reform his humanoid body.
"Well this has been…fun, but I believe that fellow has some business with you. How about you return there" Axel states as he points at the foreigner god as Axel spartan kicks the hollow away. His movement is slow and heavy but somehow the hollow couldn't avoid it as he feels his own speed lag under the time aura released by Axel letting his divine energy flow around him.
Crash boom
The hollow creates a ditch in the floor from the kick as he groans whilst getting up. Not to be outdone, the exposure to so many new powerful forces causes his hogyoku to activate once more as he grows his own white rubbery halo along with wings. The beastly mask is undone to reveal the hollows face once more. His physique improves as his energy is enhanced by the orb in his chest.
His physical strength matches the gods present but the lack of spiritual or mental factors prevents him from reaching the final step. Especially not with his incomplete Hogyoku.
Yet while hollow Xavier is relishing in the newfound strength, he recognizes the difference between himself and the others here, he looks to the barrier as his spiritual senses cover the whole isolated region as he looks for a weak spot. Thankfully tons of collisions had occurred and it became weakened quite a bit.
Luckily for him as well, the makers of the barrier are currently preoccupied with their own evolution and not able to reinforce the present barrier. With multiple horns sprouting out of his body, all release ceros in a variety of directions that damage the barrier until it finally shatters.
Yet how it happens is surprising to the hollow as at the moment he had unleashed the beams, Axel had waved his hand, effectively rearranging the design of the barrier as well as the hollows location so that he only has the opening leading straight behind Serena. Axel did this to lead the hollow away from the city but also to feed his daughter more soul related essence to expand her abilities.
As for Serena herself, she has been analyzing her own body to get a better handle of her newfound strength since accidentally breaking the barrier earlier and returning through the same hole she had made. Her tests still have not finished as the barrier broke behind her. With time the rest of the barrier will break down like a glass mirror but the hollow doesnt have that time as he is currently surrounded by three different gods.
One is an old enemy that he has run away from before, the second is one of his own making and the third who is now before him is the child of the second who became a god before their parent.
With no way around as he is sure that the woman could keep up with him, he chose to distract her by once again shooting a variety of cero's at her.
Anyone else would have panicked from the earth shattering array of lasers coming in her direction but Serena has a passive expression as she simply releases a cloud of darkness that immediately begins to suck in the lasers like a gathering of pirahanas feasting upon flesh in an enclosed tank.
Since Serena is now distracted the hollow sonido's away through the empty barrier and is finally released from the enclosure. Only to be pulled back as a thread of mana gets wrapped around his leg when he was coming out of the Sonido. Evil Xavier looks at the string and finds it linked to Serena's hand as a thick darkness is already traveling down the string.
Sensing a threat from the string he decisively cuts off his own leg which detaches the string as he regrows a new leg but this moment of pause had given a new individual to appear before him. A woman with a calming presence lifts a soft trembling hand as a healing light covers her hand and extends to the hollow.
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Walking through a dark hallway and reaching a sealed room, the power she unleashes outside makes the chains fall loose but still present. She opens the door and walks through, there she spots a lonely weeping figure of a man who only knows pain and suffering at present.
"We need your help" The goddess's voice reaches an isolated figure that is trembling in the corner.
"Who..who are you?" the trembling figure asks as it looks at the shining figure. It had only mustered up the courage to even talk due to how 'nice' it feels in the goddesses presence, her natural aura soothes the pain he is feeling.
"My name is Fan Lan ('orchid pattern')[1], I wish to bring you out of here and stop your pain once and for all. But to do that, I need your help"
"No, I can't, I'm too weak to help anyone. Everyone I know suffers and I've made many more suffer due to my actions." The figure refuses but the goddess only steps closer to comfort them with a pitying look on her face.
"It wasn't you who did it, the other one here wishes to make you suffer just because you exist. I want you to stop him, just for a little bit. Then I shall ensure you will be allowed to rest. You have my word" She vows to the hurt man as her light flows into him, granting him some strength. He chooses to trust her and her alone and nods at her as he slowly gets up.
With the man given instructions the goddess of life returns to her body and continues distracting the hollow with her power.
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"Im sorry" She states which only confuses the hollow as his hidden injuries recover and he returns to full power save for his energy reserves. He naturally recognizes the goddess before him as the goddess of life, grand daughter to the robed god of reincarnation that had fucked him over. He had even briefly fought her when he had mutilated Axel's soul.
The soothing sensation he is experiencing to his soul is pleasant, extremely so as he can even feel the hogyoku being nurtured by this same energy. Yet he cant help but sense a bad sensation flow over him.
When he realizes what is going on, it is already too late as his soul was not the only one being healed. In the background of this healing cycle, the goddess of life had communed with the weakened soul of the original Xavier. With her energy as the fuel, he was able to regain his original memories and feelings.
She had plenty of time to expand her powers into a mastery of souls after she had messed up with improperly healing Axel's soul so long ago. She allows her energy to keep reinforcing the original Xavier's soul so that he can fight off the hollows control.
She does this to create an opening, one where the two souls are in contrast to each other, afterall, she wants to save this damned soul, not to kill them both.
Her opening was just what the god of death and reincarnation needed as he closes the distance, having figured out his granddaughter's plan he chooses to humor her as his power over death flows into the reaper's/hollow's body. He finds that it actually is plausible as the black seems to flow down the middle of their body.
"Pull" The god of death states to his family as they both begin to grab an arm and pull in their opposing directions.
The body seems to gradually be destroyed as two opposing lights shine out. The first is a pure gray light as the tainted soul of the reaper is pulled by the goddess while a pure white soul covered in a hollow mask is pulled by the god of death.
The hollow naturally resists this pull as they also try to drag the reaper into themselves to repair their body. The surprising thing is that the hollow is actually able to make it work as inch by inch he remerges with Xavier himself .
Suddenly, a chain comes flying and wraps around the hollows arm as Serena joins the struggle, her black mist flowing along the chain to rapidly weaken the hollow's soul as well as for her to gain its power as recommended to her by her father.
Speaking of Axel himself, he has summoned the original form of the Rhongomyniad. The thick war spear's flowing outer shell is stabbed into the hollow's merged body. From there he begins to break the body down bit by bit so that even if they somehow remerge then their power would drop astronomically and make it easier to defeat him at the very least.
The two fold gradual weakening and the overall power of 4 gods splitting the two souls apart ensures that more and more of the two separate.
Yet it is Xavier himself to takes the final step, by lifting one of his feet, he slams it into the chest of the hollow. The impact completely separates them as their physical body is destroyed by Axel in one fell swoop.
From there Fan lan takes the reapers half of the soul away to a safe space while the remaining three wail upon the hollows soul. Serena with her devouring aura, stripping the hollow of his power step by step as his second Resurrecion is undone.
Axel hops in with his spear stabbing the hollows chest, piercing where the hogyoku is but its material is incredibly strong even if it is only half of it. The spear tip grinds against the shell of the artifact but with no progress yet seen as it chooses to augment itself first to resist the piercing effect as well as the divine energy from Axel. Having already experienced the majority of its components, its resistance to Axel's divine energy is shocking.
But not all possibilities are closed off as the god of death waves his trident and unleashes the black flame to latch onto the orb as it creates an opening in the shell where the spear quickly stabs into the core of the artifact. Axel unleashes a burst of energy into the core that finally destroys the artifact.
With the hogyoku destroyed, the hollows power decreases even further as all his adaptations and even special magic eye are undone. With the original Lino Doue and Alpha Stigma, it's a massive decrease in power compared to the combined eye.
From here it's a downward trek for the Hollow as he eventually fades away into nothingness as his power is all absorbed by Serena. His body had accumulated tons of stab wounds or Axel while the death god kept breaking all his chains, though said chains were the hollows' own connection to his power and reiatsu. Loss of these powers had made it easier for Serena to absorb until the hollow finally died.
In its final moments the hollow exploded its own soul but at that point it had already lost everything and the three gods barely even moved from their original places.
As the three continue to stand there searching for any leftover traces of the hollow, they soon relax as they properly extinguished the soul. Axel and Serena soon turn their attention to the robed god of death who invaded their battlefield.
During their standoff, a new rift appears to the side as another man walks through it wearing a slim cloak on his body compared to the first gods heavy robes and pauldrons.
The god of death slaps his own forehead as he begins to curse the new arrival.
"Youre fucking late dumbass. He's finally dead and if Fan Lan didn't step it, he might have even escaped. You had one job…"
"Oh give me a fucking break, my powers are suited for interplanetary travel and you know that, you could have just waited a second for me to catch up and i know you saw me coming in but you just dragged my daughter away" the other god curses him back as the two go back and forth and even exchange a few punches before the god of death makes a new portal for them to leave through.
The new god heads on back while the first robed god turns to the two of them as if nothing had just happened and even a pleased tone as he invites them. "Would you like to join us for dinner and tea?"
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Word count: 3612
Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.