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ASTERI'S POV
As promised, I was set to visit the Sarion Dynasty alongside the Lady First and Lady Fourth. I stood in my room, my clothes assembling themselves as I stared into the mirror.
"A lot has changed. I've changed."
I murmured to my reflection.
"I'm becoming more human. I wonder what would happen if I chose to return to the Star Realm."
I let out a slow breath.
'A human doesn't always says 'I'm human.'
The evil child, silent since that day, finally spoke.
"But, I don't think I'll be going back any time soon."
'But eventually, you will.'
He added.
"Just so you know."
I replied flatly, not looking away from the mirror.
"I'm not apologising."
'Don't worry, I'll burn the words and your mouth when it slips.'
"The thing is, you know I'm not the problem. You could've helped, but you didn't. Not that I asked. Still… a positive reaction wouldn't hurt."
'I don't know what you're talking about.'
"Oh—sorry. I was just talking to myself.
I turned and left the room.
Hinata and Co. are waiting downstairs so I should hurry up.
As I was walking down the hallway, a warm and comforting hand rested on my right shoulder. My first impression was Hinata, but I couldn't detect her presence.
'Is this one of the skills the Mother of Dragonspossesses'
I asked myself.
As I turned, I felt her hands wrapped around me, as if craving for me and our eyes met. I caught sight of her crimson eyes from my side.
It wasn't Amri nor Scarlet King who possessed identical crimson eyes and it certainly wasn't Hinata. What set her apart was her long reddish dark hair and the draconic horns.
I stood still, not frozen in fear. Impressive, but she barely register on my radar.
'How did she get past the barriers?'
The barrier that'll detect any presence even that of a Star. Yet the strange creature slipped inside—and worst of all, it came straight for me, the strongest, on my most secure floor.
"You've got the nerve to confront me directly. I'll give you that."
I said, my voice cool as I faced it.
She let out a soft, almost playful giggle, the sound echoing in the hallway. Then she spoke, her voice calm—far too calm for the threat she carried.
"It was easy as fuck."
She admitted with a careless shrug, as if breaking into the most secure place in the Base World meant nothing at all. Her eyes stayed on me, unblinking.
"And your execution."
She added, tilting her head slightly, a faint smile tugging at her lips,
"—will be just as easy."
I knew it, she was an enemy but I didn't freak out. Overreacting is for the weak. I decided to play her card and attack with my elbow. The moment i did, the hall was no more. It was as if my attack ripped off the curtains to the new environment.
I turned fully, taking in the strange environment I was teleported to.
I stood in a void where celestial bodies crumbled in the distance—stars collapsing in on themselves, fragments of worlds drifting like ash. Others were already gone, leaving only it's rocky remains in the dark.
She sat a short distance away, legs crossed, back to me as if I were nothing. Clearly to provoke me.
"What happened to the execution?"
I asked, voice low but edged.
"You seem awfully calm for someone who's about to die."
She said lightly.
"Along with your petty island… and that kingdom."
My eyes widened as the meaning settled in. She was here to kill me—while others moved on the island and that kingdom? Raja?
Well, that's smart. Isolating me while the others destroy my home.
I snapped my hand up, summoning a glowing orb into my palm.
"Atlas. Elaine. Assemble the demons and defend both lands."
I ordered, the message flaring out before the world fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
The graveyard stillness didn't last long. It shattered under her laughter—low at first, then spilling into a full demonic cackle she clearly couldn't hold back.
"You really don't understand the nature of the world you're in, do you?"
She asked at last, wiping at the corner of her eye as she composed herself, amusement still lingering in her voice.
"This world is already destroyed, and I've made it my home."
She said, spreading her arms as if to present it.
"Just like the worlds you create, I have authority here. Without even trying, contact with other worlds becomes nearly impossible once you're trapped inside. The only way out is with my permission—and that isn't happening. Your 'lands' have already fallen. And you—are—next."
'I get it. But you don't have to emphasise the last sentence.'
"That's a fact, is it?"
I replied evenly.
"I've lost contact with the clones, Atlas, and Elaine—yes?"
I paused, then let out a quiet chuckle.
"Just kidding. I sent the message the moment we made eye contact. I'm not that naïve."
"You think it's funny?"
"It's funny that you think I hadn't contacted them already."
Silver Fang settled into my right palm. I closed the distance in a heartbeat and struck. There was no point in dragging this out—I'd put her down and return.
The blade carved a clean arc through the air, silver motes scattering where she'd stood a moment before. She was already above me, hovering, untouched.
"I moved without thinking."
She said lightly, selling out her defence.
"You'll need more than that to touch me."
'Defence driven by instinct… just like my Echo. This won't be simple.'
I admitted to myself. Anything that survived on pure instinct was dangerous.
Still—
"I don't need to touch you to get rid of you."
Using Astro Forge, I bent the surrounding space. Its edges folded inward, tightening like a closing cage, drawing together in an attempt to imprison her.
The air itself thickened, the void taking on a faint, glass-like surface as the pressure mounted.
With nothing more than a light tap of her finger, the compressed space rippled before detonating. The edges of the folded void tore apart violently, a jagged rift opening up like some wound in the heavens.
I looked up, instinct taking over, trying to break free, to escape the pull of whatever domain she had dragged me into. Yet, mothing responded.
'My Arts aren't sealed… so what is this?'
Some unseen force pressed against me from all sides, firm and absolute, denying even the concept of retreat.
"I said it's futile."
Her voice reached me a fraction of a second before she did.
She was suddenly there—her fist already driving toward my face. My arms rose on their own, crossing in front of me, as if my body had accepted the inevitability before my mind could protest. The impact landed with brutal finality, and the force behind it hurled me away.
The momentum should have carried me endlessly into the broken sky. Instead, it stopped. Halted mid-flight. Then I was dragged back toward her.
The pull was inescapable, like gravity rewritten to obey her alone. As I was drawn closer, something else caught my attention.
My clothes had begun to corrode, fibres unravelling into dust. Beneath them, my flesh followed, dissolving.
Slow strands of my own body peeled away and drifted downward, as though the punch had struck not just my form, but the very stability of my existence.
'Scary, but now's not the time.'
Our eyes met for a fraction of a second, and then she moved—directly for Silver Fang.
I barely had time to register it before the weapon began to corrode, dark green smoke snaking across its surface, eating away at the steel like acid. In an instant, it was ruined, completely useless and formless.
My mind spun, calculating faster than my body could react.
'Turning off weapons crafted by Hypergods?She's at least Magos' level… a Nebula.'
Before I could even breathe, her hand shot out and seized my arm. A chill ran up my spine as the same dark green corrosion begin spreading over me, crawling across my skin like living shadow.
"I am Jagarette."
She said, voice smooth but laced with malice. "The Second, a Phantom. Or, for short… a Godkiller."
Her words lingered in the air, heavier than the weight of any weapon. And in that moment, I knew—I wasn't just fighting someone powerful. I was facing something that existed to erase gods.
(God = Hypergod/Supergod)
"Thanks, but I didn't ask."
I pushed forth Enta's aura beneath her grip and channelled the same aura to my feet as it went straight to her temple, knocking her off.
I watched, heart hammering, as the dark green corrosion wove around Enta's aura, tugging at it like some relentless predator.
For a moment, it seemed Enta's void might hold… then it gave way, devoured entirely, swallowed by the creeping poison of her skill.
"Fight void with void."
She said, her voice deceptively calm, almost teasing. "That's your only option. But… do you even know that even a void can be corroded?"
Her hand pressed closer, and the corrosive power licked outward, burning through the air, searing against her temple as it blocked every shred of Enta's protection. I could feel the heat radiating even from here, a warning that nothing—even a void born of pure defence—was safe from her.
'Looks like Enta's useless here.'
'Switch or run. She's bad news.'
He fought back, but I ignored him. I can't let him out not after misbehaving.
'The enemy must've figured out my ability to use void and brought her up to counter that. What a pain. Phantom? Godkiller? Second? I'm not familiar with these beings within the Dark Stars hierarchy. Regardless of who they are, in order to win,
I need to secure the plot immediately.'
While Dark Star teirs like Nebula and Dark Star respectively counter Hypergod and Supergod, rumours has it there exist creature deep within the Nihil Space beyond teirs. An archetype of destruction for both Stars and Dark Stars.
I dashed toward her, unleashing a flurry of attacks, each one more frantic than the last. She moved like water—fluid and effortless—deflecting most of them, letting a few strike her deliberately, almost like a tease.
"Keep trying."
She murmured, voice calm, almost encouraging. "You can do better."
I couldn't help the grin that cracked across my face. Meaningless or not, I poured myself into the assault, the chaos of movement sharpening my focus.
Minutes passed. Sweat burned my eyes, my muscles screamed, yet still I pressed on. Then, slowly, something began to change. My attacks, my effort—they were leaving a mark.
I froze mid-step, watching the Mystic Class Twin Carver tremble under her defence. Corrosion crept along its edges, slow but undeniable, the first visible victory in a battle that had felt hopeless.
"What can you see?"
I asked, narrowing my eyes.
She tilted her head, almost bored, and shrugged. "Huh? The only thing I see… is you losing."
"That far? Sorry, but—False Administrator, activate Artificial World."
I activated the skill.
The rift pulsed once, then expanded, spreading outward like cracks through fragile glass. With Artificial World feeding it, the rifts linked together, forming a chaotic, unstable expanse—an environment stripped of logic, structure and purpose. Reality itself twisted and frayed, meaningless and disorienting.
"…that's nothing but a dream."
I said, letting the words hang in the fractured air.
She turned her gaze across the shifting void, calm as ever, unshaken by the chaos I had wrought.
"And you think, that I can't move freely in a place where meaning doesn't exist?"
She said slowly, almost teasing
"Nope."
"I don't understand. With the rift created, you could've escaped back to the Cardinal World. Why didn't you leave?"
She asked again, her eyes glued to the environment, studying it I guess.
"It'll be a hassle to deal with the same enemy twice. I'll get rid of you here and now."
"Speak the truth."
"That is the truth."
"The other truth."
'Crap, she knows.'
"Even with this concealed environment, I can't escape. It's weird but that's the reality I have to accept."
'Artificial World allows me to overwrite the laws present for a certain time. The rift that helped me trap her is lawless, a Sub Space. However, if I can't change the law of the surroundings, I can always use it on myself.'
My dark silvery aura slowly began leaking. The darkness lightening thanks to the Halo of Runes. Knowing I can't keep the Halo active for long, I drew the dagger I had painstakingly forged after facing Magos, its surface humming with restrained power.
An ice sphere materialised in my hand, its surface pulsing with the same aura as my own. I poured my energy into it, letting it saturate every inch, before abruptly cutting the flow.
The sphere drank in the aura, glowing intensely, until a faint crack appeared along its surface. That crack was enough.
Jagarette remained locked in place, unmoving, her expression unlike anything I've seen. For the first time, I saw it—fear flickering in her eyes.
She surged toward me, faster than before, her claws outstretched, aiming straight for my head. But it was too late.
The ice sphere detonated. In that instant, I seized the opportunity, bringing the frozen dagger down in a long, precise arc.
It caught her shoulder, slicing clean through bone and flesh alike. She screamed, but the momentum didn't stop; she reeled, unsteady for the first time in the fight.
"Allow me to introduce… White."
I said, holding the frozen dagger steady.
"A weapon of pure Energy."
Her glare was sharp, voice venomous.
"P… pure Energy? Don't give me that crap!"
She ignored the agony in her severed shoulder, summoning her aura with a roar.
White responded, erupting in blinding white radiance that consumed the space around us, warping light and shadow alike, the rift trembling under its intensity.
To be continued...