DB Host Stories - The Arrival of a God

-- The Interdimentional Rift --
(Vexx Soundtrack – Citadel of Shadows)

The Interdimentional Rift is not exactly a place, so to speak. A more accurate depiction would likely be a culmination of all places; an endless ocean of emptiness dotted with isolated pockets of land representing the infinite number of realities that existed. The Rift, as commonly described by those who knew of its very existence, can be seen as the void that lies between worlds; one that, if successfully navigated, could allow one to travel to other worlds. Sadly, few carry the strength required to open a door to the Rift, and even fewer possess the necessary means to traverse it.

One of those few was flying through this non-existent sea today. Due to its very nature, the Rift is always shifting, altering its appearance every time it is traversed; no-one experienced a trip through the Rift in the same way twice. On this day, the Rift had taken the form of an endless sky, with an impenetrable layer of grey clouds below and a sky of stars above, with the occasional mountaintop piercing into the heavens to represent a path to another dimension.

The figure was not focused on exploration, however, flying through on slim, leathery wings. His brown eyes bore straight ahead (or what could be classified as straight ahead), returning to his home realm with the steady pace of a mighty river.

Lord Xamweth Aurelius Oudeis, the thirteenth reincarnation of Chaos, the God of Discord, took a moment to think on his self-appointed duty of preserving the balance between order and chaos throughout the multiverse, and how he had come to be where he was now. He thought back to his original battle with Lucas Berian, thirteenth reincarnation of Cosmos, the Goddess of Harmony, who plotted to eradicate most of humanity in hopes of destroying the power of discord; he remembered his struggles against the reborn Cosmos herself, driven insane from rage, grief and despair and seeking the end of all living things; and he recalled his cataclysmic duels against the monstrous Wyrm Shinryu and the near-unstoppable force of Omega, two warring entities hell-bent on destroying the other and claiming all of existence as their own. Xamweth remembered all of the trials he had had to endure, and all in all had to consider himself lucky that his home still existed, and that he himself had lived to see his own twentieth birthday.

Xamweth’s musings were interrupted, however, when he sensed a dark force somewhere ahead of him.

“Hm?” he noted. “What the heck was that?”

His answer quickly came to him, as a large cloud of darkness shot towards Xamweth from beneath the clouds. The startled God of Discord barely managed to fling himself to the side as the thing flew past him at high speeds.

(Kingdom Hearts – The Tumbling)

The cloud soon burst apart to reveal a large, dark purple humanoid with a rather monstrous appearance. Its four arms were covered in large, deep-blue veins, its face was little more than a giant hole of razor fangs and glowing red slashes for eyes, and its wings were basically giant, bloated masses of flesh. Xamweth recognized it immediately, having dealt with these creatures before, and cast a vicious glare at it.

“Shadowspawn…” he snarled.

The Shadowspawn roared at Xamweth and charged again, but unlike the near-miss from before, Xamweth easily outmaneuvered the monster and gave chase, drawing the single-handed broadsword that was Caliburn from the sheath on his back. He didn’t know where this Shadowspawn came from, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it attack some unsuspecting world!

Xamweth dove in for a quick stab from his blade, but the monster blocked with a slash from one of its four claws. The monster swooped in to destroy its prey while he was staggering, but Xamweth recovered quickly and swiped at it. While he failed to hit the Shadowspawn with Caliburn itself, the monster was knocked back by a powerful gust of wind generated by the power within the longsword.

The Shadowspawn clasped its claws together and charged dark energy into a sphere that quickly shot towards the God of Discord, but Xamweth simply cut through it, leaving the two halves of the energy ball to explode harmlessly behind him. He charged at the demonic creature with the Sword of Wind poised to strike, but now it was the Shadowspawn’s turn to swerve and evade the attempted strike. Xamweth was confused at first, but when he recovered that confusion quickly turned to horror as he noticed the nearby mountaintop that the Shadowspawn was now flying to, ignoring Xamweth completely.

“Oh no you don’t!” the God of Discord said as he set off in pursuit of the demon.

Sheathing Caliburn in favour of the rapier of Laevatein, Xamweth quickly pointed the Sword of Fire at the retreating Shadowspawn and fired a multitude of fiery arrows. While most of the projectiles missed, a few managed to graze the monster and temporarily set those areas they touched ablaze. The Shadowspawn noticed nothing but the reality it had set its destruction-filled eyes upon; even when Xamweth scored a direct hit, destroying much of the bloated … thing that could be called a left wing in a blaze of flame, the demonic creature kept going and managed to slip into the crack in the mountain that served as an entrance to the realm, Xamweth following in hot pursuit.

---

-- ??? --

The Shadowspawn emerged in what seemed to be a large hanger bay and savoured the taste of fresh air in a new world. Its limited mind could already savour the death and destruction it was going to wreak upon this place. The monster roared in anticipation…

…only to be cut in half by a giant claymore edged with razor-sharp stone.

Xamweth watched as the two halves of the demon collapsed to the floor, dissolving into liquid shadow and violet smoke. The God of Discord smirked at his victory, confident that another world was safe for the time being.

Speaking of which, where WAS he?

(Sonic Colours – Tropical Resort Map Theme)

Xamweth took a quick once-over of his surroundings as he separated the twin shortswords of Galatine, returning the Swords of Earth to their sheaths on his thighs. He looked to be in a large hanger bay, which also seemed to be rather empty. The God of Discord scratched his head, not seeing any landmarks he recognised. Had he entered an unknown realm?

Xamweth retracted his wings (and the horns protruding from his temples and his long, thick tail), reverting to his normal human form. He didn’t know what the people here knew about chaos and order, but he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of an angry mob. It was always better to be safe now rather than sorry later.

With his powers reined in, Xamweth set off to see what wonders and dangers this world might hold.

To be continued…