★45
THIRD POV
Later that night, Asteri was in his room when Hinamatsuri came by.
"Hinata."
"Ati chan."
She came and sat beside him.
"You look worried. What's wrong?"
Noticing her discomfort, he asked. She freaked out, and after a moment of collecting herself, she opened up.
"I... I didn't want to bring it up, but... I ended up asking Lady Elaine what happened after I died... She said you almost lost yourself to some point, and lord Atlas said you were like a dark being.."
Asteri sighs.
"Yeah. I had a little battle with my opposite. I couldn't take it. I don't want to accept the fact that I'll lose you... Not after getting so close to you. How attached I've become to you."
"At... attached?"
"Yeah... you've become crucial to my life here. Vengeance doesn't matter, but your revival does. You and all those who perished.
Fortunately, the star above the island took the souls of its citizens and stored them. With that, I knew your revival was 100% assured."
"...."
"After that, I summoned an army of demons, and we attacked. I ended up wiping out an entire kingdom on my end alone. I felt like I didn't have a choice but to pay them exactly as they've harmed me."
He chuckled slightly after his last sentence. Hinamatsuri was at a loss for words, so she covered her mouth.
"F... eight hundred thousand?"
She asked, her voice barely steady.
"Honestly, I don't even know the exact number."
He replied.
"I never counted. I went there and struck them down-one after another-without pause. And that's not even including what Majo did to the second kingdom."
He exhaled slowly, his expression unchanged.
"But none of that matters now. Like I said before, I would do it again."
His gaze hardened.
"I'll face anyone who stands in my way. A Star, a Dark Star, even a Demon Lord. It doesn't matter who they are."
His voice lowered, carrying unmistakable resolve.
"If anyone lays a hand on my home, I'll take them all."
Hinamatsuri was speechless....
"You'll really go that far for someone you met recently?"
"It's in human nature to protect someone they care about, right?"
"I.... I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to. I'll visit Guy tomorrow, I'd like to trigger Walpurgis and let the world know the dangers it'll face once they mess with me."
"..."
"I want you to come with me... Hinata."
"Heh? To Walpurgis?"
"No, on my little trip tomorrow."
"Um... no problem."
The room went silent after that before Hinamatsuri stammered on her words.
"Um...unn."
"What's wrong?"
"So that's what the star is there for. I've been meaning to ask you know."
"Don't do that, always ask me anything. I'll answer based on my knowledge."
"Ok."
"Besides, that star is a living being."
Asteri said calmly.
"It stores energy, observes every angle of this island, grants immortality to its citizens, and houses something special I've kept. To put it simply, it has many uses."
Hinamatsuri stared at him, momentarily at a loss. The words living being refused to settle together in her mind.
"...Can you elaborate on some parts, please?"
"Sure."
He replied without hesitation.
"It's alive because it created life of its own from the energy it accumulated over time. Not borrowed life or implanted but slf-originated."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"It also stores my energy. If it were ever destroyed, which is practically impossible, the released magic energy alone would be enough to erase everything from this island all the way to Sarion."
(Magical energy ≠ Star energy.)
"T... that far?"
She whispered.
"Not really."
He corrected.
"I'm confident it could scar the Cardinal World itself. Still, I doubt the Grand Lord would allow something this fragile to exist, so its destruction isn't a realistic outcome."
She nodded slowly, still processing, and he moved on.
"Next, its observational function. It watches this island constantly, but it can't act on its own. Think of it as a perfect recorder. It gathers data, events, changes, deaths so that I can review everything whenever I want."
He glanced at her before continuing.
"As for immortality: anyone who lives here becomes bound to this land. When they die on this island, their soul is absorbed by the star and preserved. It waits for my command to return them to life. That's how I was able to bring everyone back. Including you."
Her breath caught for a moment, but she remained silent.
"And lastly,"
He said, his tone shifting slightly.
"it houses something I've kept hidden. That part... I'd rather show you."
Asteri formed a door in midair, its surface shimmering faintly with starlight, then extended his hand toward her. She took it without hesitation, and together they stepped through.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the scenery changed.
They found themselves within a strange construct, vast, silent, and unreal. The ground was covered in endless white grass that swayed without wind. There was no sun in the sky, no trees, no animals, no insects. Just a boundless expanse of pale terrain stretching into nothingness.
"This place is saturated with Star energy,"
Asteri said.
"You can't perceive it directly, but I've placed a barrier around you. It filters everything harmful."
Hinamatsuri nodded, trusting his words, and they began walking toward the centre of the land.
Eventually, they reached the core.
An altar stood before them, ancient and pristine, and at its centre lay a massive, broken egg. Cracks spread across its shell, fragments scattered around it as if something had forced its way out from within.
Asteri studied it for a moment.
"...Looks like they've already hatched."
"Hatch?"
She echoed softly. And a presence answered before words could.
From behind the shattered egg, a small dragon emerged. Its scales were the embodiment of absolute black—not merely dark, but consumptive. Light bent toward its body and vanished upon contact, leaving no reflection, no afterimage, nothing.
Even its outline felt wrong, as though existence itself hesitated to acknowledge it. Violet eyes opened, sharp and alert, scanning Asteri from head to toe before shifting and locking onto Hinata.
The change was instant. Hostility flared and without warning, the dragon inhaled, its chest expanding as violet flames poured from its maw toward her. The fire wasn't wild or explosive it was terrifyingly focused.
Asteri stepped forward and raised his palm. The flames struck his hand head-on. The flesh hissed and warped as the fire made contact, his palm visibly melting under the heat. Yet he didn't pull back. He didn't flinch.
"Harming her means harming me, Yin."
The dragon froze mid-breath.
For a moment, the violet flames wavered, then redirected, flowing toward Asteri himself instead. When even that failed to produce the result it wanted, the dragon gave a sharp hiss, spread its wings, and shot upward, disappearing into the white expanse without another glance.
The two approached the broken egg. Inside it lay another small dragon, curled peacefully within the shell, fast asleep.
Unlike the first, its scales were pure white, untouched by shadow. Light didn't bounce off its body, it originated from it. A soft, celestial glow radiated outward, steady and calm, filling the surrounding space.
With each slow breath, the light subtly intensified and faded, as though it were breathing illumination itself.
Where the black dragon devoured light, this one seemed to give it form.
Asteri looked down at it, expression unreadable.
"Yang is asleep. Good."
Hinamatsuri stared between the empty sky where the black dragon had fled and the sleeping white one before her.
"…Yin and Yang."
She said quietly.
"Dragons?"
She asked, not expecting to see a rare creature face-to-face. Her face lit up as she absorbed the cute little dragon sleeping with no care in the world.
"Yeah. I had the egg after my trip to Kalidor. Kalidor is the parallel world of dragons located at a higher point to the Pond in the Star Realm. So basically, they can't live here. I used this place as a medium for the egg to hatch. They've..."
Asteri paused for a moment, examining them.
"So that's what happened?"
"What's that?"
Asteri closed his eyes for a moment and smiled.
"I don't know how, but they absorbed all the energy I've been leaking ever since that day."
"Oh... That's great, I guess. But still two dragons in one egg? Normally, it's one organism per egg."
"Yeah. But this isn't a regular dragon. It's a Balance Dragon. I named them Yin and Yang was the perfect name. Implying balance..."
(Yin = Dark, Moon, Negative, and the rest while Yang is the opposite. It's nighttime, that's why Yang is sleeping, and Yin, the stubborn one, is awake.)
"Oh, that makes sense."
"A Dragon race is also a Supreme Being. It's rare but they are few Dragons in the Pond even after the Rebellion. To us, Dragons are somewhat life itself."
"Life itself?"
She repeated. How can such cosmic beings feel something towards this mythical creature?
"Yes. The Grand Lord's avatar was a dragon."
"I see."
"Want to play with Yin?"
"Already in love with them. So yes. But he's kind of aggressive..."
<
"You'll love Yang then. Let's go. "
<
Enta mocked.
"Um."
Asteri turned a blind eye to Entares's mockery and left the star together with Hinamatsuri.
To be continued...