Galileo walked with straight back through the facility. Although he had to alter his height for it, he now looked exactly like Wisdom with that black cloak and ceramic mask. He had to follow many instructions and procedures but he eventually found himself in the huge room with a familiar figure.

In front of his was a bound and naked man with a long unshaved beard. His bindings were not the usual kind though as countless chains and rods made from the best reinforced steel had him suspended in the air. On the bits of his body that were visible beneath all that metal Galileo could see those familiar seal tattoos as well as his dead grey eyes.

“It’s been a long time old friend,” Galileo took off his mask once the door was shut. Quinn had assured him that he would not be listened to but even if he were, that would not be a problem anymore.

“Galileo?” The man attempted to look down, making all those chains creak as they held his head in position. At least his jaw was the only unrestrained muscle, “You really took your time!” he almost laughed.

“You were expecting me?” Galileo was slightly startled by that exclamation.

“Of course I was,” the man tried to smile with his stiff visage, “Who else could you possibly seek to answer your questions?”

“Since you already know why I am here it makes things easier,” Galileo nodded and looked at the man.

“Of course, of course, I will tell you whatever I can,” the man laughed, “But humour me for a moment and answer a few of my questions first. They are something I wanted to know for the past… Centuries? Maybe millennia. Who really knows how to count time in a chamber with no day or night cycle.”

“Then ask away,” Galileo had no option but to comply. He was very well aware that no force in this world could make that man do anything he didn’t want to.

“Do you remember that strange sensation you gradually began to feel as you grew more powerful? That gnawing feeling at the back of your mind, the indescribable and unexplainable thing?”

“Yes,” Galileo nodded after a while, “However I have long begun to completely ignore it.”

“So did all of us,” the man attempted to nod, but that only made the chains rustle slightly, “I want you to feel that sensation, the best you can and tell me how powerful it is.”

Galileo complied and closed his eyes. The strange sensation the man spoke of had been known by all powerful beings at the ancient times. It had begun to manifest once a being gathered enough power and grew more intense each time that might advanced further. Every being eventually learned to ignore it, including Galileo. Although he had been curious about its origin at first, he never managed to learn even a clue.

“It’s strangely intense,” Galileo eventually exclaimed, surprised at how he hadn’t noticed earlier, “In fact, hundreds of times more intense. How is it possible that I haven’t noticed.”

“Don’t worry about that, that is not your fault,” the chained man said, “So my guess was right. Congratulations and condolences, Galileo. You are going to meet the most terrifying being in the entire universe.”

“What are you talking about,” Galileo was startled by the sudden claim.

“You had always been wondering who could have possibly put those seals on me, right?” the man laughed, “That especially intense feeling is what the eldest beings in the universe like to call the Stare. Though I can no longer feel it, the man who sealed me can, and all he ever does is trying to seek it out.”

“Should I be afraid,” Galileo was slightly startled by that revelation.

“Probably not,” the man attempted to shake his head, however, the chains were still present, “Your eyes are green and you posses a flame, right? He will probably like you unless you do something stupid like me and he probably won’t even interfere. In fact, he might already be watching us right now. If you are then fuck you!” those final words were likely not directed at Galileo.

“And what would something stupid be?” Galileo decided that it was the best opportunity to ask.

“Nowadays? Probably attempting the reforge the shattered realm or wiping out the entire galaxy. Anything less and you will probably get away with a scolding at worst,” the man laughed.

“In that case, what did you do to deserve his wrath?” Galileo asked, staring at those countless seals.

“I frankly have no idea,” the chains shook especially hard as the man attempted to shrug, “He had erased the memory of my sin as well as my life before it. What I am telling you is based purely upon observations of his self-centred judgement which I get to see quite often, because he likes to try blaming me for anything wrong that ever happens in my general vicinity, general usually meaning the same galaxy cluster.”

“How have you even kept your sanity,” Galileo could not understand.

“Hell if I know. Most likely these seals also reinforce the mind.”

“Possibly. Was that everything you wanted to know? If so I also have questions,” Galileo nodded and said.

“Yes, that is all. you want to know what caused the cataclysm, right?” the man easily deduced what Galileo had in mind, “I know exactly. It was a mana plague.”

“A mana plague?” Galileo was surprised. He was familiar with the concept. It was a disease which fed on mana, spreading through the ambient power in the air it would jump from mage to mage, crippling or even killing them before it left. However, a mana plague could be resisted, in fact, even the mana super plague Galileo had once created in the madness of his research could at most killed someone in the 4th leap.

“Yes, but one unlike anything you have seen before," the man smiled, "It is known as Celestial decay. Contagious enough that the moment it appears every particle of mana in the entire world is instantly infected. That includes that within beings. Before they even know it, every magical being, including the gods, simultaneously meet their doom. It is instant and irresistible. The only beings that could survive are those completely lacking magic at the time it happens."

"Then how did the two of us survive?" Galileo frowned. It was too early for him to determine how feasible the situation even was.

"This has to do with your nature as well as the nature of Celestial decay. You probably realise that you are special in many ways. Your unique ability to wield others' gifts as long as you understand their inner workings, your unmatched growth in power, the immense event caused by your birth and even that strange green flame you cannot properly comprehend. You are not a Godseed as the inhabitants of this world came to call them. You were born a step more powerful than that, a Son of eternity. Or as your kind is often called, a prodigy of the universe. The Celestial decay also has another name: A redemption of the universe. As a little known fact, the universe will avoid hurting its children."

"Then were you also this 'Son of eternity' seeing you are also alive," Galileo asked.

"Most likely," the man sighed, "As I have said, the memories of my life had been thoroughly erased."

Assuming that what you are telling me is the truth," Galileo also sighed, "Why did the Celestial decay appear here?”

“Usually it appears as a punishment. A reckoning from the heavens to erase a sinful world, often because of a single being which had delved a bit too deep into what lies within the shattered realm of the Abyss,” the chained man answered, “But there was no being capable of that in this world. In fact, there had never been a being even capable of triggering Celestial decay. That is why I had asked you whether you can feel the Stare as it is the one thing that defies everything we know in its wake. The impossible becomes probable and the inevitable becomes unlikely. Everything before, during and after the Stare’s arrival simply follows a different set of rules than the rest of the universe in certain circumstances. Perhaps that is also why the man who did this to me follows it so ravenously.”

“What you have told me today is nothing short of disturbing and unbelievable,” Galileo frowned.

“You had your questions and I gave you the best answers I could,” the man didn’t seem to care, “If there is nothing else you can leave me be.”

“Don’t you want to be released?” Galileo asked his final question.

“These chains will decay eventually,” the man closed his eyes “Until then I will enjoy the relative quietness of this place. I have had plenty of fun in the few millennia before my capture and a proper rest is in order.”

“Then goodbye. Today had been… enlightening,” Galileo said and prepared to leave, still not certain whether he would believe the man. He had no reason to lie, however, no reason to tell the truth either. But that was something Galileo had expected when he sought answers from him in the first place. Even if those things weren’t true, he would try confirm them in the future based on the clues he had received.

“You will see that I am right eventually,” the man laughed for the last time as Galileo put on the ceramic mask and was about to leave, “Everyone does.”