“[Shards of Clarity Abide the Star’s Tyranny.]”

The instant Roias heard this verse, he knew what he was dealing with. And in the next instant, he had to dodge a slash nearly as fast as himself. Swiftly, he propped himself up on the werewolf’s polearm with one hand, before pivoting and kicking him in the chin.

But when his strike landed, he was met with a much stronger resistance than he expected. Rakna had barely tilted his head to the side from the force. ‘Did his attribute distribution change again…?’

Right after his assumption, a rippling fist came his way and when he tried to deflect it, the rebound instantly snapped his wrist. He grunted in surprise and stepped back. ‘First, he was fast. Then, he was resilient. And now, he’s stronger but slower. I see… truly an absurd ability.’

“You can re-assign your attributes at will…” He muttered out loud and Pandora’s Curse swallowed his surroundings and shoved the werewolf away. “The silver lining is that you must keep a certain balance in order for one attribute not to overstrain another. But your strange body mitigates that weakness,” he muttered and pointed his hand at Rakna.

The Curse was converted into dark blue water and coalesced into the giant form of a bipedal lizard with spikes covering its spine. “[Cry Out, Dagon,]” the Téras intoned and several halos of water appeared around its claws like bracelets. The summoned monster’s red eyes glowered forward.

Yet, Rakna’s expression was uncaring as he lowered Sonata. Instead, a purple aura whirled around his arm and was promptly encased in a translucent black crystal in his palm.

“[Ought The Blades of Fragility Rend Your Flesh.]”

With the second verse of the Cōl Lāli sung, the air rippled with soul power, and Roias widened his eyes as the force manifested physically, ruffling his clothes. The Dagon roared out and opened its mouth, charging a blue-colored breath.

The werewolf raised the black crystal in response and it transformed into a large slab blade with a carved edge. Roias’ summon roared and fired a beam of flowing plasma, swerving right and left like a snake in the direction of its target.

“[Naṭcattira Pirippāṉ,]” Rakna whispered and swung the unwieldy weapon. Then, in the blink of an eye, at the end of the swing, the crystal shattered into a thousand pieces, and the purple flames trapped inside flickered away.

Silence fell for a split second and was broken by the Dagon’s attack suddenly stopping and then splitting apart from the middle, each half drifting away like it had been slashed. And beyond it, the giant monster at the source of it was similarly bisected.

Roias glanced to his left where his arm was slowly falling, and then behind at the wall which now welcomed a ridiculously thin but deep scar. ‘What…?’ Even the Téras was out of his depth at the sight.

“[In a Dark Firmament, The Star Prowls the Light.]”

“[In Eternal Redemption, The Wolf Sings and Confers.]”

He heard the werewolf chant again and he warily looked back, calmly letting his arm float back up to his shoulder where it was stitched back up by Pandora’s Curse. ‘So, this… is the true face of what the Basilica has foretold the arrival,’ he thought as he watched the werewolf’s aura grow with each second as black crystals continued to sprout everywhere, even on Rakna himself, like armor.

“[In Between The End and Beginning…]”

Rakna trailed his last word and then burst forward, his form blurring. And as if he had teleported, he swung Sonata at Roias’ head who managed to catch it with his palms.

The Téras grunted as the blade’s oscillation traversed his arms and despite himself, shivered when the purple eyes of the werewolf, adorned by golden crosses, gazed at him from up close.

“[Sits the Tamed Mayhem of the Philosopher.]”

Rakna uttered and his soul power surged again, multiplying in intensity and twisting space itself as if something was trying to tear it apart. He then channeled more energy into his Guandao and wordlessly triggered Severance and Falling Star at the same time.

“[Spilling Blood and Smothering Death.]”

The perks exploded and Roias skid the wall with his arms crossed in defense. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered to himself, “[My Name… Is Vindication,]” the Curse disappeared from around him and his Nirvana Skill advanced to the next stage.

Erasing all spiritual energies; he applied it to himself. It did not destroy them but disallowed them to ever leave his body. Effectively turning him into a reactor with a compressed output, the dream of every master of physical combat.

Endless stamina, unlimited strength, and impenetrable defense. Roias’ flowing movement sped up and he kicked away Sonata before striking the werewolf’s abdomen with his elbow. Rakna snarled quietly and similarly increased his speed, distorting to contend with the Téras.

However, this time, it was Roias who did not take any damage no matter the attack. That was until a swarm of black crystals was fired again and his Vindication gave under their sharpness, opening countless cuts on his body.

“[Pitying Fairness and Collecting Hearts.]”

Rakna sang the penultimate verse and jumped back, spreading his wings wide and letting their metallic shine spread as soul power in the form of purple flames began to swirl around him. Roias landed on the wall and looked back just in time to see a sphere of flames fill his entire vision right as one sentence rang.

“[The One, They Call Harvest.]”

* * *

Roias opened his eyes to gaze at a field of purple flowers with rivers of crystalline water traversing it. Black petals rained from the sky and a manor floated in the sky above the sea. The Téras scowled and looked up to see night had fallen; illuminated by twelve moons. Lunar power was saturating the air and gathering behind him.

He widened his eyes at the implication and turned his back toward the shore of what he realized was a soul sea and spotted the werewolf, calmly standing in the distance.

A fourth pair of wings had already grown on him and his total of nine lupine tails were stretching outward, carried by the breeze. Furthermore, beyond him, where hundreds of black monuments of precious stone were erected, countless beasts were glowering in his direction.

“…a Soul Marble,” Roias eventually remarked with a smile. “Lovely. I’m almost jealous. While I am interested in the fact that you’re a Nine-Tailed, or even that mountain off in the sea, I do wonder… what are they?” He asked whilst pointing at the animals. “They feel… odd,” he uttered and his eyes twitched when a tiger lying down next to the river huffed at him as if he had just told a joke.

“They don’t,” Rakna spoke up with a tone so peaceful it sent Roias for a loop. Every beast instantly turned toward the werewolf, observing him with a judging stare. “I am the odd one. Some pitiful creatures that I accidentally took in for a ride; that’s what they are. They are my instinct, my rage, my imbalance, my hunger, and one of the ingredients.”

“…the ingredients to what?” The Téras inquired and Rakna raised his hand at the sky. Roias looked up at the same time and frowned. “The moons…?” He muttered as three out of the twelve were visibly shaking.

“They’re not moons,” Rakna rebutted and the celestial objects descended closer to the ground in a triangular formation, increasing in relative size and showing more details. “They never were.”

Upon closer look, Roias could tell that something was wrong with those moons. First, they were not reflecting light but seemed to be producing it instead. Their glow was far brighter than normal, and they also seemed to possess no imperfection, as if polished globes.

“Stars prowl when night falls,” the werewolf uttered and two of the moons promptly began to peel off their surface, layers upon layers of white dust began to dissipate into the air until eventually, what was being peeled away changed to turquoise and crimson for each.

Roias himself couldn’t help but open his mouth in awe as the two stars of legend were revealed to him in all their splendor.

The Everfrost Star, spreading cold mist, jagged crystal undulating over its surface, and turquoise cold flames raging inside and out. The Neverwinter Star, bending air with its heat, a spiky surface of crystal, volcanic rocks mixed in, and crimson flames storming about.

Both emitted a light that could never be described, understood, or appreciated in any rational way or form. They were marvels of the universe and beyond.

Then, the third fake moon rattled. However, it did not follow the example of the twin stars. Instead, a flash of light was spotted above the crystal mountain far off the soul sea.

* * *

The Sage walked out of his hut while twirling a diamond jewel hovering above his palm. He tapped it repeatedly with his fingers and planted his cane in the snow before gazing at the pair of stars in the distance.

He smiled fondly at the sight and lifted the diamond. “Everfrost, Neverwinter, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, The Hungry Beast, and… me. Your Divinity is lacking, and so is your Infernity. You have yet to find a fourth Sin to stabilize the whole, but you will overcome it.”

The legendary wish granter blew on the diamond and it floated away from his hand. “You will now receive the container. Fill it properly,” he declared and gently prodded the jewel with his cane.

The object, beautiful as a diamond, transparent as crystal, flew off like a shooting star and collided with the third moon. Then, a nova of light erupted from it and swallowed the two stars nearby.

The beasts of the soul scape began to roar and the waves of the soul sea expanded. The remaining nine moons shone together and then; the monuments guarded by the animals vibrated. Each one of them, in turn, shot a beam of black and purple energy at the nova.

In no time, there were hundreds of rays of the same nature cluttering the sky and the brightness was gradually dimming, the nova being slowly encroached until it finally burst.

The rays disappeared, the field of flowers rippled from the shockwave, the black petals formed a tornado, and the moons started blinking as they orbited around the newly born star. An imposing force of the unnatural, a black star burning with crystal and blazing purple.

“You wanted to see what I was capable of?” Rakna spoke up and spread his arms, and all the beasts of his soul scape thundered. In the sky, Rexam cried out, and on the floating library, Fenriu’s eyes gleamed as they stared at Roias.

“Here it is, my final destination,” the werewolf uttered and the star descended. At the same time, his body completely transformed. Violet embers crawled over his fur and he became a creature of flesh… and obsidian.

“[Obsidian Star Manifestation.]”