Chapter 57: The Author Is on Strike, Long Live Manga!

When the author goes for a hot chocolate and leaves the most dangerous goddess unsupervised.

In the grand throne room, morning light filtered through the floating stained-glass windows. Saphira slowly descended the velvet steps, a cushion under her arm, a smile far too innocent to inspire confidence the walls of the blue tower shimmered with a silent excitement. 

—"Well… the author said he'd had enough that he was on strike a hot chocolate break, I quote." Élya, perched on a stack of semi-conscious grimoires, raised an eyebrow; her voice was crisp, but her gaze sparkled with amused delight:"We shouldn't take advantage of this, should we?" A silence, a exchanged look, then, together, two voices uttered the same sentence with the same eager intensity: "Too late."

Saphira then pulled out a dusty old grimoire, locked with narrative gold and divine sarcasm. On the cover, in shining letters: "Forbidden Entry — Manga World: too many dramatic poses, danger of over-styling." She broke the seal with a dramatic gesture, worthy of an arc transformation immediately, the wind rose in the tower, speed lines appeared in the air, dialogue bubbles burst from nothingness a titanic door adorned with kanji crashed into the center of the room, the floor lit up with stylized glyphs, a synthetic music, a mix between J-Pop and an apocalypse theme, started without permission.

Saphira spread her arms: stylized transformation activated her outfit changed in a shower of light: a flowing black dress, a disproportionate saber, a mystical headband her eyes shone with a mysterious trauma that she invented on the spot. "Aura detected: immeasurable but modest level. I am Saphira Noctielle. The Empress of the Illustrated Void." She landed in a folklore-inspired village, populated by teenagers with statistically improbable haircuts every attack was yelled like a dramatic symphonyb a boy leaped into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs: "Accelerating Flower of the Absolute Purple Dragon's Purple Shadow!" Saphira didn't move; she just watched him.

—"That's far too long." A simple snap of her fingers, a blue slap, and the boy fell, defeated a little girl fainted with respect. Meanwhile, in the celestial heights... The Primordial Mother set down her cup of light and raised an eyebrow:"What in the world is all this commotion?" Zeus, floating clumsily with crumpled script pages in his arms, attempted an excuse:"The author is on strike, madam." Kaela, thundering, boomed in a voice of steel: "I SAID NOT TO LEAVE THE GODDESS OF CHAOS WITH AN UNFINISHED WORLD!" Morpheus, leaning against a star, yawned with a sigh.

—"It's too late she's in a narrative arc now." 

Saphira entered a combat arena shaped like an animated mandala facing her, an enemy announced with four text screens: Zenkuro, the Fallen Mangaka. attire: burnt paper kimono, brush-lance, vengeful eyebrows. Ability: to draw the end of your arc before you live it he growled: "You don't have a tragic flashback! you can't be the hero!" Saphira replied, impassively:"Flashback? Very well." a lightning bolt struck the narrative sky. instantly, images imposed themselves: a solitary childhood, a plush toy stolen by a wizard-cookie, an old candy cane sword master, a tower without light:"There, I have my trauma." She drew her saber, three successive poses, then she screamed:"Stylistic blue arc of final irony!" the blow struck. Zenkuro dissolved into particles of narrative frame back in the tower, Saphira landed gently in her arms, a freshly printed manga on the cover, herself heroic posture saber raised in a bubble: "Too stylish." An astral pigeon landed at her feet, carrying a parchment scribbled by Morpheus: "Strictly forbidden to return to manga before the strike ends, and give back that hairstyle, thank you." Saphira shrugged: "It suited me well, though."

End of Chapter 57 – The Author Is on Strike, Long Live Manga!