The moment Asterion stepped through the tear, the air changed.
He landed softly—not on star-forged stone or cosmic dust, but on cold marble stained with ancient blood.
A temple stretched around him, massive and broken, its pillars carved from the bones of extinct titans. Murals lined the walls, depicting an empire that once ruled countless realms… an empire he didn't remember.
But every mural had one thing in common:A crown of stars.A figure of light.A king without a face.
Asterion touched one of the murals.The stone crumbled instantly.
This universe was dying.
The energy here was warped—qi that had been drained, devoured, infected by something twisted.
Asterion inhaled slowly."What happened to this place…?"
A voice echoed from behind a shattered archway:
"You did."
Asterion didn't turn.He felt the presence.
Powerful. Broken. Familiar.
"Show yourself," he said.
A man stepped out of the shadows, though man was too weak a word. He was tall, armored in cracked, obsidian plates. A single horn protruded from his forehead—half snapped off. His skin was etched with runic scars that glowed faintly.
But his eyes…
They were empty.
Like he had seen the universe end too many times.
"Asterion Vale," the figure said, voice trembling. "You've returned at last."
Asterion studied him.
The armor's design…The aura…The oppressive pressure…
This was no ordinary being.
"You know me," Asterion said quietly.
The man laughed dryly."I served you."
He fell to one knee, fists pressed against the ground.
"I was Valek, Commander of the Void Legions. Your executioner. Your shadow."
Asterion frowned."Why do you look… like a corpse?"
Valek lifted his head slowly.
"Because this universe was the first to fall."
Asterion stepped forward.
"Fell to what?"
Valek's hands shook.
"To the one who stole everything from you."
Silence trembled across the temple.
Asterion's eyes sharpened.This was confirmation.Not a mistake.Not an accident.
His memories had been taken by someone who feared him.
"Tell me," Asterion said, voice steady but cold. "What are they?"
Valek exhaled a shaky breath.
"They call themselves the Devourer of Origins. A being that consumes the foundation of universes—memories, laws, histories, identities. It entered your domain a billion years ago."
Asterion's chin lowered.
"And I fought it?"
Valek nodded.
"You did. For nine thousand years. The clash destroyed a hundred galaxies."
Asterion stared.
He couldn't remember any of it.
"And the result?" Asterion asked.
Valek looked away.
"You won."
Asterion blinked.
"But they erased your memories before dying. That was its final act."
Asterion's fist tightened.
Pieces.Fragments.The truth forming like constellations in his mind.
He didn't remember ruling.Because that creature didn't want him to.
But before he could speak again—
A wave of killing intent exploded from the far end of the temple.
A cold, twisted laugh followed.
"So the little king truly returned…"
The shadows thickened.
A monstrous figure crawled out, its limbs elongated, its skin stretched tight. Its mouth was a vertical slit filled with infinite teeth. Its eyes were swirling black holes.
A Devoured One.
Corrupted by the entity that stole Asterion's past.
Valek snarled."They followed you through the rift!"
Asterion didn't move.
The creature's voice slithered:
"It remembers you.But do you remember us?"
Asterion raised an eyebrow.
"No."
The creature screeched angrily, lashing out with claws sharp enough to split reality. Marble shattered as space cracked.
Valek moved to block—
But Asterion lifted a hand.
"Stay."
Valek froze mid-step.
Asterion stepped forward, letting the creature's claws come within inches of his face.
Then he whispered:
"Stop."
Reality obeyed.
Time froze.Matter froze.The creature froze—mid-lunge, mid-roar, suspended in absolute stillness.
Valek's eyes widened."Your Majesty… your control over Origin Law… it has returned."
Asterion's gaze sharpened.
"No. It was always there.I just forgot how to use it."
He placed one finger on the creature's forehead.
"You're loud," Asterion said calmly.
The creature disintegrated.
No explosion.No light.No scream.
It simply ceased to exist—erased from all timelines.
Valek trembled not out of fear, but reverence.
"You haven't changed at all," he whispered.
But Asterion didn't look proud.He didn't look satisfied.
He looked… empty.
As if deleting the monster solved nothing.
"Valek," Asterion said.
"Yes, my King?"
Asterion turned toward the temple doors—massive obsidian slabs with ancient constellations carved into them.
"Open the way."
"For what purpose?"
Asterion's expression darkened.
"To reclaim what was taken."
The air vibrated as Asterion raised both hands. The temple shook. Mountains outside split. Storm clouds swirled above the dead world.
Asterion spoke one command:
"Unseal the Path of Memories."
Valek stepped back in shock.
"That path leads to the Devourer's sanctum, my King! No one—"
Asterion's aura exploded.
Galaxies trembled.
Stars flickered.
Planets cracked.
"I am not no one."
The temple doors burst open, revealing a vast corridor of floating mirrors—each one showing a different universe Asterion once ruled.
Valek lowered his head.
"As you command."
Asterion stepped forward.
Into the path that held every memory he had lost.
Every universe that had forgotten him.
Every enemy that feared his return.
And as the mirrors lit up one by one, Asterion whispered:
"I'll remember everything."
His voice echoed like a prophecy:
"And then… they will remember me too."