The pattern hiding the prince’s vault wasn’t representative of anything. It was a copy of this cosmic monstrosity.
‘What does it want?’
The galaxy continued to swirl in the star’s eye, but the pitch black pupil did nothing. It only continued to stare down at Arden.
Like a god judging a soul.
A tremendous pressure bore down on Arden, forcing him to his knees immediately. He coughed up blood as he looked up at the icon of a god with a baleful glare.
“What the hell do you want!?” Arden roared.
The nighttime sounds of the majestic forest died out completely. No animals chirped, no water trickled, and no wind blew. In the presence of such a grand power, even the rules of nature kowtowed before it.
The world began to rumble. Arden put all of his strength into looking away from the transcendent being and glanced around.
The peak of the mountain that Arden was being chased up began to crumble under Arden’s astonished eyes. The trees were being splintered and shattered by the incredible force of the landslide. A cloud of splinters and stone dust rose into the air darkening the mountainside not being lit up by the icon.
The earth continued to quake wherever Arden looked. Mountains were falling, trees were being uprooted. Monsters weaker than the Stonelord were getting caught up in the devastation but could do nothing. It was unlikely that the Stonelord would survive such an event, even if it weren’t already dead.
'Is this thing destroying everything?'
The thing that Arden noticed while still under the great star’s gaze was how quiet it was. The world was in a state of perfect silence despite the chaos that was unfolding.
Arden heard a noise that he felt. It was an unfathomable language, but Arden understood what it was saying as it pounded into his soul. It didn’t even sound like a language. It was like when the Archon of Life spoke, but far worse. Far stronger.
It was like someone was carving meaning into his soul. Arden arched his back in pain that threatened to destroy his soul completely as he understood the eldritch words.
“These are the consequences of your actions. You brought destruction to this world to satisfy your greed for power and hunger for revenge. The blood of billions is on your hands, meddler.”
Arden screamed in agony as his soul continued to be twisted with the unearthly language that was speaking to him. He felt the anger of the being, but more than that, he felt its horrifying interest.
He resisted the power as best he could, but there was nothing he could do. It was impossible to even attempt to resist. He could feel his will breaking, but he held on as long as he could.
He rejected that the world was ending. He only used the Godstone to survive. When the StarFall came to his own world, it didn't end, just as he told the prince in his final moments. The voice continued, quashing Arden's inner voice.
"Foolish rationalization. Watch on and you will see."
From his spot in the middle of Starlight Grove, Arden had a front row seat for the devastation that a god was telling him was his fault.
No. To call it destruction was too light. Reality was unraveling. Existence was upside down. Finality approached.
Arden wanted to tear his eyes away from the sight of the breakdown of the world, but he couldn't. He was not allowed to. He had to watch the consequences. He had to bear the weight.
He felt his heart beat slowly, each beat punctuated by the ever increasing weight of horror and guilt of what he had done.
"Give up, meddler. It's not too late to end this. Is cosmic desolation a price you are willing to pay?"
Arden continued to hopelessly rationalize his actions. This wasn't his world. This was just a trial. His world had people that he loved. People that he wanted to protect.
Sya.
Cirai.
Vera.
And what did this world have?
An approaching calamity.
A paranoid hero.
And...Vera.
'No, no, no! This isn't real! It can't be! Vera would never die in a trial like this! She would never plead for me to remain in a trial with her!'
'Then why...?'
'Then why did I do all of this if she didn't matter!? If this world didn't matter!?'
He knew the answer, but he didn't want to admit it. Because admitting it would be admitting to omnicide as well.
'Because she felt real enough to me...As real as the rest of the world...The world that I destroyed...'
Even if this trial was just a trial and held no substance, his feelings were real. And he wouldn't get worked up over something he believed was fake. This world was just as real as his home.
"Home..." he muttered. It was barely a whisper, but even if was a shout that pieced the heavens, no one would hear him as the end loomed.
"I did this," he continued. "But I can't stop now. I promised them that I would make it back home to them."
Would he regret it? Almost certainly, but he couldn’t allow himself to end it here. He had already sacrificed an entire world. He didn't mean for it to come to this, but it did anyway. Now the only thing he could do was continue, if for no other reason than to prevent this world from mending in vain.
Arden coughed up blood as the communication continued. His insides were rapidly turning to paste as the cosmos crawled down his throat.
“Such unflinching desire. The only thing burning inside of you is the determination to continue. Was pilfering this world’s treasure not enough, meddler? Of course not. It is not in human nature to be content with what they have.”
Arden couldn't breathe. He wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of the being speaking to him that prevented any air from entering him, or if the being’s language had already hollowed out his insides with its power, destroying his lungs in the process.
“One needs at least that much desire for power to be worthy of becoming an Archon.”
The pressure vanished and Arden was left on his knees staring up into the starry sky with blood running down his face from his slackened jaw, nostrils, eyes and ears. Pain engulfed his existence, but he didn’t care.
That thing was gone.
Only the night sky remained.
He didn’t even try to make sense of what kind of being that thing was. He didn’t even want to think at all. He just sat there with a blank expression.
Arden didn’t even look around at the world that was still being destroyed by cosmic power. Cracks ran through the sky and a malignant and eldritch shriek rocked the world from just beyond the cracks in space. Around him, the falling mountains and trees started turning into a fine ephemeral white fluid-like energy.
Had Arden been paying attention, he would have recognized it as the Blight.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The world decayed around Arden’s still gasping form when he felt one last tug at his soul.
“Soon, Paradox.”
Then Arden fell. He watched as the world around him was being converted into Blight as he fell through it.
Everything was dying, and nothing would be able to escape.
Nothing except for Arden.
*****
Arden didn't know how far or for how long he was falling. He only knew that the fall ended when he landed on his back in a celestial void, filled with many different colored stars. They moved around the infinite horizon without a care, and for the first time since meeting that being, Arden could breathe again. His body was healed as he returned to this celestial waiting room that he had been in before the trial.
He looked up at the cosmic map slowly moving and his eyes felt drawn to one of the countless red stars somewhere far off in the distance. Arden’s perception changed and he found himself lying on the ground just below the red star.
He could feel a bond between his soul and the star, and realized immediately that it was his Stellar Core.
The Status window appeared in front of him, and Arden heaved a sigh of relief that could have inflated a hot air balloon.
He was done with his trial. He survived.
His tear ducts which he thought had been long emptied started to flow again. He felt a weight in his heart heavier than the Forge of the Imaginarium as he cried.
Aspirant! Your Trial is over! Prepare for Appraisal!
The message hung over Arden's sobbing form for a long time. He just laid there and wept. He wouldn't ever be able to forgive himself for this. After he ran out of tears, he stared blankly at the message, having temporarily forgotten that he needed to acknowledge the message to continue.
"Right...powers. I actually get something out of this."
Arden watched with muted interest as the stars all around him all became interconnected with a golden string, forming a vast cosmic web. The color of the net terrified him, given what he had just been through, but he did his best to ignore the discomfort. He just focused on the golden thread reaching out to connect his star to the web.
As he watched the string slowly extend to his core, Arden thought about his celestial network. This was clearly the inner mechanisms of the Status and Starborn System, but what did it even mean for it to have an inner mechanism? It was clearly created by something for some reason, but Arden didn’t have the answers. In fact, he could guarantee that any guess would be hilariously off base, given how little time he had spent with the system. There were researchers out there in the world who had spent a much longer period of time researching the Status, but even they didn’t have an answer.
What answers would a slum rat have, when even the top brains of the world couldn't find one?
The Status appeared, interrupting his thoughts. He got to his feet and eagerly read what the Status said about him.
A world was on the verge of collapse, and a hero had been chosen to receive the power to defend the dying world. He was granted a Shard of the Fallen Star and began an expedition to the holy lands where he would ascend.
However, fate had other plans.
A nameless servant stole the Shard of the Fallen Star from the hero and escaped into the Celestial Mountains, slaying man and monster alike. When driven to the edge, the treacherous servant swallowed the Shard of the Fallen Star. His body, and the hero's were both destroyed by an unbeatable foe.
But the servant couldn’t die.
He used the energy of the Shard of the Fallen Star to create a Stellar Core as a mundane human, healing himself, and killing the hero.
The servant escaped to the Starlight Grove and was again besieged by the unbeatable foe. He was thrown into the Pool of Starlight, and killed the unbeatable foe.
The nameless servant, tired, gazed upon the stars.
And the Lone Star gazed back.
You have slain a red-tier awakened human, Bellum.
You have slain a red-tier awakened human, Loris of the Setting Sun.
You have slain a mundane awakened human, Yui of the Setting Sun.
You have slain a mundane awakened human, Marin of the Setting Sun.
You have slain a red-tier Main Sequence Celestial, Spawn of the Stonelord.
You have slain a mundane awakened human, Reza of the Setting Sun.
You have slain a mundane awakened human, Frome of the Setting Sun.
You have slain red-tier awakened human, Nux Valtorin.
You have slain red-tier Supernova, Stonelord.
You have assimilated Stellar Essence into your body, and controlled it to form a makeshift Stellar Core.
You have bathed in the Pool of Starlight and witnessed the rise of an Archon.
The Lone Star gazes.
Arden reread the message several times. He couldn’t but laugh without humor. It just felt so unreal, seeing everything he had managed to achieve and overcome. The odds were so heavily stacked against him, and he somehow came out alive. Being a husk helped for sure, but the most dangerous moment took place after his body was already destroyed. Really, the tria lfelt more of a test of mental fortitude than anything Starborn related.
Final Appraisal: Worthy. Your villainy and drive have no limit.
“Stop it.”
Arden said that, but he didn’t feel bad at all from having the universal system calling him scum. It was true, but he was just happy to be done with it. Plus, considering his achievements, he felt that he had done enough to claim the legacy as his own now. He was fine being on the receiving end of the Status’ attitude if it meant he could claim his boons.
Such as an actual Starborn ability to go alongside it. Arden rubbed his hands together in excitement. For the first time in what felt like forever, he felt hopeful.
Protostar Arden, receive your bounty!
Arden’s attitude soared. No longer was he a measly slum rat. No longer was he a mere Aspirant. He was a Starborn now, through and through.
Legacy of Beyond and Legacy of Life has evolved into Legacy of Arden. This mighty power is now yours, and yours alone.
Legacy of Arden has affected your Constellation.
Constellation Aspirant has evolved into Constellation RedShift.
Arden sighed.
"It's over..."
Arden didn’t even know what a RedShift was, but it sounded cool and evolved because of his legacy. It had to be something special. Strong as well. From his knowledge, most Starborn’s powers were in some way related to their Constellation. That’s why Yaan’s Constellation was Kiln, and he produced flames.
“What’s a RedShift?”
The Status didn’t answer the question. It only continued.
Constellation Rank: Paradox.
Arden was beyond thrilled. He kind of figured he would be given something special given that he was now a paradoxical being. He thought that he would be given an ancillary ability similar to the Legacy of Beyond’s healing ability that was of the same rank, but this? He never considered for even a moment the possibility that his entire Constellation would be paradox rank as well.
Admittedly, he didn't know where the strength of a Paradox rank Constellation scaled against the other ranks of Constellations, which had ranks from protostar to dwarf. Protostar Constellations were average and would be accepted at most low to mid level guilds. Main Sequence and Giants would happily be invited to higher level guilds, while Nebulas and Dwarfs had guilds built around them. He would have to see what else his Constellation had in store for him to find out definitely.
The Status changed again, this time displaying his full Constellation.
Constellation: RedShift
- Rank: Paradox
- Description: As stars travel across the universe away from us, they take on a red appearance and are called red shifts. You too will become red with blood as you advance. The question remains as to whether your humanity will come with you, or if you will leave it behind in the name of power.
Innate Ability: The Blood of Billions
- Description: Due to your Paradoxical nature and possession of a Legacy, your evolution process is different from other Starborn. You do not have a Stellar Core and Stellar Essence, but a Star Core that feeds on Biomass from slain foes.
That was a lot for Arden to take in. He had his answer to what a red shift was and why that was his Constellation. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with the symbolism equating him to a monster that endlessly feasts on blood, but then he remembered how he just doomed an entire world, and how he had attacked at least two people by biting them.
The more interesting thing was the innate ability, The Blood of Billions. He couldn't increase his power by consuming Star Cores that Celestials dropped like everyone else. This was a major pro to Arden the slum rat.
Every other Starborn hoarded Star Cores for two reasons: to increase their rank, and use as currency with other Starborn. Arden didn’t rank up with Star Cores though, so he could save all of his collected Star Cores for purposes other than ranking up. He would be rich!
Finally, Arden’s longest dream had just been made able to fulfil. He would be able to leave the slums with Sya. They’d be able to find a place in one of the inner parts of the city with a high Starborn population to mitigate the risk of the Blight spreading to mundanes. They’d be able to eat real food, not rations!
“Everything’s turning up Arden,” he said, fearing what would happen next knowing his luck.
Bestowing Protostar Ability.
Protostar Ability: Devour
- Description: With a touch, you can devour Biomass for your own benefit.
“Now we’re cooking.”
When he first saw his Constellation, he was worried that he would have to eat Celestials to obtain Biomass. Now, he could put his worry to rest. Having an ability that absorbed Biomass instead was much more palatable. And easier.
“For my own benefit…”
Immediately, Arden thought about healing himself like the old legacy had. His new legacy was an offshoot of that, and his ability existed because his legacy evolved his previous Constellation. He was sure there would be much more than that, but without real world testing, it wouldn’t be known to him.
You have obtained Paradox-tier Protostar Satellite, Spark of Paradox.
Before Arden tried to summon up his Soul Cluster to look over the info for the Stoneflesh Shroud and the Spark of Paradox, the Status displayed one last message.
We welcome the newest Archon to the pantheon. Return to your world, RedShift Arden!
And Arden was expelled from the celestial void, and came crashing back down to reality.