Trial Beneath the Stars
The circle disappeared beneath their feet.
Not faded.
Not dimmed.
Gone.
One instant, ancient Fyr inscriptions burned beneath Ryu and Luto.
The next—
Twilight.
Ryu blinked.
"...Huh."
Silence surrounded them.
Not night.
Not day.
Something caught between both.
The sky stretched endlessly overhead, dark not because of clouds—
But absence.
There were no stars.
No moons.
No distant galaxies.
Nothing.
Just an enormous hollow expanse of darkness.
And suspended within it—
A sun.
Or something pretending to be one.
Luto looked upward.
"...Mechanical."
The enormous sphere hung motionless within the sky.
Layered metallic rings rotated silently around a glowing central core while thousands of tiny mechanisms shifted across its surface.
Every few moments—
THUM.
A soft pulse traveled through it.
Warm artificial light spread across the land below.
Not sunlight.
An imitation.
Close enough to produce warmth.
Not close enough to feel natural.
Ghostlight washed over endless terrain.
Ryu slowly looked around.
"...We're definitely in the right place."
Luto glanced sideways.
"What makes you say that?"
Ryu gestured broadly.
"The fake sun."
"The creepy sky."
"The guy we're looking for is called the Fractured Flame."
He shrugged.
"Feels right."
Luto looked back upward.
"...Terrible reasoning."
"Still right."
They began walking.
Their footsteps barely made sound.
The ground beneath them appeared to be some strange pale stone stretching farther than either could see.
No buildings.
No vegetation.
No wind.
Nothing moved.
Luto's eyes shifted constantly.
The artificial sun.
The horizon.
The strange energy beneath the surface.
Something was—
"Ryu."
"What?"
"I think—"
The ground disappeared.
Both brothers dropped.
"...Oh."
Ryu looked downward.
There was no floor.
Only blackness.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
They fell.
Luto reached instinctively for Nulvyr.
Ryu twisted through the air.
"NOT AGAIN!"
Then—
The darkness swallowed them separately.
Luto heard Ryu's voice fading somewhere above him.
"I'M GETTING REALLY SICK OF THIS—"
Silence.
Luto landed.
Softly.
His boots touched grass.
He immediately crouched.
One hand pressed against the earth.
His eyes opened.
"...Interesting."
A field stretched around him.
Massive.
Green grass rolled gently beneath the artificial twilight.
There were no mountains.
No trees.
No walls.
Only open plains.
And directly ahead—
A door.
Luto stared.
"...No."
It stood alone.
Perfectly upright.
A large wooden door framed in black metal.
No wall.
No structure.
Nothing behind it.
Just—
A door.
Luto stood.
He looked around the empty field.
Then back at it.
"...That's irritating."
Several hundred feet to the side rested a large boulder.
Oddly smooth.
Almost symmetrical.
Luto glanced at it once.
Then dismissed it.
For now.
He crouched again.
His fingers brushed the grass.
Something was wrong.
Actually—
A lot of things were wrong.
Cosmic signatures covered the field.
Hundreds of them.
But they didn't feel like people.
There were no active energy sources.
No concentrated cores.
Instead—
Residue.
Tiny wavelengths scattered everywhere.
So small most people probably wouldn't notice them.
Luto did.
"...Circles."
His eyes narrowed.
Some were beneath the soil.
Some embedded inside stones.
Others woven through the air itself.
He traced one signature.
Then another.
Delayed detonation.
Energy compression.
Tripwires.
Proximity activation.
One reacted specifically to pressure.
Another seemed designed to detect—
Luto paused.
"...Cosmic energy."
His gaze moved toward the large boulder.
"Hm."
BOOOOOOM!
Across another identical field—
Ryu flew through the air.
"AHHHHH—"
CRASH.
He hit the grass.
Rolled.
Stopped.
Silence.
Ryu stared upward.
"...Okay."
Smoke drifted around him.
He slowly sat up.
"What the hell was that?!"
Behind him—
A small section of grass smoked where an explosion had erupted from absolutely nowhere.
Ryu stood.
Annoyed.
"Who puts bombs in grass?!"
He planted one hand against the ground to push himself upward.
CLICK.
Ryu froze.
"...What's that—"
SNAP!
Metal jaws clamped around his hand.
"AAAAH!"
Ryu yanked upward.
A primitive-looking metal trap dangled from his fingers.
He stared at it.
The trap wasn't particularly damaging.
Mostly insulting.
Ryu's eye twitched.
"...Is this a hunters trap?"
He shook his hand violently.
CLANK.
CLANK.
CLANK.
"WHO THE HELL STILL USES THESE?!"
The trap refused to release.
Ryu's irritation peaked.
Fire erupted around his arm.
"GET OFF!"
FWOOOM!
The trap melted.
Ryu shook molten metal from his fingers.
"There."
Then—
RUMMMMMBLE.
Ryu stopped.
"...What now?"
The plains shook.
Grass rippled outward.
The enormous boulder nearby began moving.
Ryu slowly turned.
"...Oh."
Cracks spread across the stone.
Then shifted.
The boulder unfolded.
A massive arm emerged.
Then another.
Stone segments rotated.
Legs pushed themselves from the earth.
The structure rose higher.
And higher.
And higher.
Ryu's mouth opened slightly.
The enormous stone construct towered above him.
A glowing core appeared inside its chest.
Its featureless head tilted downward.
Straight toward Ryu.
Ryu stood there silently.
Fire still smoking from one hand.
He looked at the melted trap.
Then at the golem.
Then back at the trap.
"...I feel like I wasn't supposed to do that."
The golem raised one enormous fist.
Ryu's eyes widened.
"Oh."
BOOOOOM!
Back in Luto's field—
Nulvyr sparked to life.
A faint electrical hum spread through the grass.
Immediately—
RUMMMMMBLE.
Luto looked toward the boulder.
"...Thought so."
It unfolded.
Stone shifted into limbs.
The massive golem rose from the plains.
Its glowing core came alive.
Luto stared upward.
"So."
He sighed.
"Either Eralyx has the worst home-security system I've ever seen..."
The golem took one step.
BOOM.
"...or he's testing us."
Another.
BOOM.
Luto looked toward the door.
"...Definitely testing us."
The golem charged.
Luto didn't move.
Not immediately.
His eyes flicked across the field.
Energy signatures.
Patterns.
Distances.
Timing.
The world around him seemed to slow.
Not literally.
His mind simply accelerated.
A detonation circle three steps left.
Pressure trigger ahead.
Energy wire six meters right.
Another circle beneath the golem's path.
Luto moved.
The stone fist came down.
He slipped aside.
BOOOOM!
Grass and earth exploded upward.
Luto stepped over a thin invisible wavelength.
Duck.
Another fist passed overhead.
Three steps.
Turn.
Jump.
A concealed blast erupted behind him.
BOOM!
The explosion struck the golem's shoulder.
Stone shattered.
Luto looked back.
"...Good."
He drew Nulvyr.
Lightning surged along the blade.
He spun.
SLASH!
The strike crashed directly across the golem's leg.
Sparks erupted.
The blade rebounded.
Luto landed.
His eyes narrowed.
"...Physical resistance."
The golem swung.
Luto leaned backward.
The fist passed inches above his face.
"...Very high physical resistance."
He stopped attacking.
No point.
Instead—
He ran.
The golem pursued.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Luto crossed another concealed circle.
At the final instant—
He jumped.
The golem stepped directly onto it.
WHOOOOOM!
A pillar of compressed energy erupted upward.
Its lower leg shattered.
The construct stumbled.
Luto was already moving toward the next signature.
"...Delayed explosive."
He passed it.
The golem followed.
Three.
Two.
One.
BOOOOOM!
Its back exploded.
Stone fragments scattered across the field.
Luto didn't even turn around.
Another trap.
Another turn.
Another impact.
The strange cosmic residue he'd detected moments earlier became a map inside his mind.
Where others would see empty grass—
Luto saw architecture.
An entire battlefield written beneath the surface.
Energy tripwires.
Blast circles.
Compression fields.
Gravity shifts.
Some hidden mechanically.
Others hidden cosmically.
He navigated through all of them.
And behind him—
The golem absorbed every mistake he refused to make.
BOOOM!
CRACK!
WHUM!
The construct became smaller with every trap.
Chunks of stone fell from its frame.
Its movements slowed.
Luto approached the door.
Almost there.
Then stopped.
His eyes lowered.
"...That's excessive."
A massive energy pattern occupied the ground immediately before the door.
Not explosive.
Not exactly.
There was—
Nothing beneath it.
A concealed hollow.
Luto glanced backward.
The damaged golem charged.
Luto waited.
BOOM.
Closer.
BOOM.
Closer.
At the last moment—
Luto stepped sideways.
The golem crossed the hidden threshold.
The field vanished beneath it.
Its enormous body dropped.
For a moment—
The construct almost appeared confused.
Then disappeared into darkness.
A few seconds passed.
Luto listened.
Nothing.
Then—
CRAAAAASH!
The entire field shook.
The golem's cosmic signature vanished.
Luto stared into the pit.
"...Okay."
He looked toward the door.
"...Still deciding if this was a test..."
He glanced into the abyss again.
"...or attempted murder."
CLICK.
The door unlocked.
Luto straightened.
"Test."
He thought for another moment.
"...Probably."
He stepped toward the door.
As his hand reached the handle—
He thought about Ryu.
Silence.
Then—
From somewhere impossibly distant—
"LEFT!"
Luto froze.
"...What?"
"LEFT!"
Ryu screamed.
The golem turned.
Barely.
BOOOOM!
An explosion detonated beside its leg.
The construct stumbled.
Ryu stood on its shoulder.
A rope of fire wrapped around both of the golem's arms.
Another burning strand crossed beneath its jaw and around the back of its enormous stone head.
Ryu pulled hard.
"OTHER LEFT!"
The golem jerked sideways.
BOOM!
A pressure trap erupted harmlessly behind them.
Ryu grinned.
"YES!"
He had absolutely no idea how this had happened.
At some point—
Running became inconvenient.
Then the golem tried grabbing him.
Then Ryu landed on its back.
Then—
For reasons he couldn't fully explain—
He remembered Pyrrhagon.
The flame.
Maintaining shape.
Nurturing it.
Understanding what it needed to remain.
And somehow—
The fire stayed.
Not a blast.
Not an explosion.
A rope.
Two of them.
Stable enough to wrap around stone.
Flexible enough to pull.
Ryu yanked the left strand.
"RIGHT!"
The golem turned right.
Another blast erupted beside them.
Ryu laughed.
"THIS IS WAY EASIER!"
The golem slammed through another hidden trap.
BOOOM!
Its shoulder cracked.
Ryu ducked beneath flying stone.
"YOU'RE DOING GREAT!"
The golem roared.
"I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
Another detonation.
"BUT I'M PROUD OF YOU!"
They charged across the field.
Every trap Ryu had accidentally activated earlier—
The golem now activated intentionally.
Fire rope tightened.
Ryu pulled left.
Then right.
The massive construct stumbled across the plains like the world's angriest mount.
Ryu leaned forward.
The door came into view.
"There!"
He pointed.
"STRAIGHT!"
The golem charged.
Faster.
Ryu's grin widened.
"We're actually gonna make—"
CLICK.
Ryu's expression changed.
"...Oh no."
The ground beneath the golem vanished.
One leg dropped.
Then the other.
The construct crashed forward.
Ryu nearly flew from its back.
"GET UP!"
He pulled the fire ropes.
"COME ON!"
The golem struggled.
Stone fingers clawed at the grass.
Ryu looked around.
Something else activated.
WHUUUM.
Above them—
Stone began forming.
Not falling.
Forming.
A massive jagged spear materialized within the air.
Layer upon layer of rock compressed around a sharpened point.
Ryu looked upward.
"...That's bad."
The golem still couldn't move.
Ryu yanked harder.
"GET UP!"
The rock spear grew larger.
"COME ON!"
Nothing.
Ryu looked toward the door.
Too far.
Then upward.
The spear dropped.
Ryu released the ropes.
"...Screw it."
He jumped.
A leap of faith.
Arms forward.
The door remained shut.
Ryu flew toward it.
Behind him—
SHHHHHRK!
The enormous stone spear pierced directly through the golem's chest.
Its core shattered.
CLICK.
Ryu's eyes widened.
The door swung open.
"...YES!"
He flew straight through.
Luto stepped through his door.
The field disappeared behind him.
He emerged into a strange empty space.
No sky.
No grass.
No visible floor.
Yet something beneath his boots supported him.
He looked around.
"...Ryu?"
A door appeared several feet away.
Luto stared.
It shook violently.
Then—
BANG!
The door flew open.
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
Luto's eyes widened.
"...Oh no."
Ryu came flying through.
Straight at him.
"WAIT—"
CRASH!
Both brothers hit the invisible ground.
Ryu rolled over Luto.
Luto slammed onto his back.
Silence.
Ryu groaned.
"...Made it."
Luto stared upward.
"...Get off me."
"Oh."
Ryu rolled aside.
Luto sat up.
"What happened to you?!"
Ryu looked confused.
"What happened to me?"
"Yes!"
"You came through the door like someone fired you out of a cannon!"
"That stupid rock thing tried killing me!"
"It was a golem."
"I know that now!"
Luto stood.
"You were supposed to avoid the traps."
Ryu stood too.
"There were traps everywhere!"
"Yes."
"That's why you avoid them."
"I DID."
Luto stared at him.
"...You absolutely did not."
"I avoided some."
"How?"
Ryu paused.
"...I used the golem."
Luto's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
"I rode it."
Silence.
Luto's face slowly changed.
"...You what?"
"I rode it."
"You rode the golem."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"It was easier."
"HOW WAS THAT EASIER?!"
"I made reins!"
"You made WHAT?!"
"Fire reins!"
Ryu mimed pulling them.
"Then I just steered him around the traps."
Luto stared at his brother.
"...You turned the trial guardian into transportation."
Ryu smiled.
"See?"
"You're getting it."
"I am not complimenting you!"
"It sounded like one."
"It wasn't!"
"Little bit."
"Ryu!"
"What?!"
"Do you ever think before doing something?!"
"All the time!"
"No, you don't!"
"Yes, I do!"
"You jumped through a door without knowing if it would open!"
"It opened!"
"AFTER THE GOLEM DIED!"
"Exactly!"
"THAT WAS LUCK!"
"No."
Ryu pointed confidently.
"Timing."
Luto stared at him.
Then pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm going to lose my mind."
"You think too much anyway."
"...I'm going to kill you."
"See?"
"Less thinking already."
Before Luto could respond—
A voice cut through theirs.
Calm.
Dry.
Almost disappointed.
"...Took you long enough."
Both brothers stopped.
Their heads turned.
Someone stood within the darkness.
A single silhouette.
Watching them.
Waiting.
The same figure that had observed their arrival beneath Astradim's hollow sky.
Ryu's finger was still pointed at Luto.
Luto's argument disappeared immediately.
The silhouette stepped forward.
And at last—
The brothers stood before the man Ignovar had hidden from the multiverse.
Eralyx.
The Banished One
"...Took you long enough."
The argument died instantly.
Ryu's finger was still pointed at Luto.
Luto's mouth was halfway open.
Neither moved.
The silhouette standing several yards away tilted his head.
Then—
A soft chuckle.
"...What?"
He raised one hand.
SNAP.
Reality returned.
The darkness disappeared.
Ryu's stomach lurched.
Luto's feet shifted instinctively.
And suddenly—
They were standing beneath Astradim's hollow sky again.
Grass moved beneath their boots.
The mechanical sun hung impossibly high above them, its internal rings turning with quiet precision.
THUM.
Ghostlight washed across the plains.
The doors were gone.
The traps were gone.
The golems—
Gone.
Only three people remained.
Ryu.
Luto.
And the man standing before them.
He was tall.
Not imposing in the way Vulkhar had been.
Not enormous.
Not armored.
His body was covered in faded robes whose original color had long since been lost beneath age, scorch marks and repairs.
Several strips had been stitched back together using thread that shimmered faintly when touched by Astradim's artificial light.
His hair fell loosely behind his shoulders.
His face carried age—
But not weakness.
Then there were his eyes.
Molten gold.
They burned quietly within his face.
Not with cosmic energy alone.
With something older.
Hatred.
Wisdom.
Regret.
All somehow occupying the same gaze.
And despite all of that—
He smiled at them.
Warmly.
Almost kindly.
Ryu took one step backward.
"...Luto."
"I know."
"No, like..."
Ryu's voice dropped.
"...this guy feels a lot like a god."
Luto's eyes narrowed.
He felt it too.
The energy wasn't overwhelming.
Actually—
Barely any of it remained.
Faint traces.
Old residue buried so deeply inside the man's cosmic wavelength that someone less sensitive might never have recognized it.
But Luto did.
More importantly—
So did Ryu.
It wasn't merely power they were sensing anymore.
It was intent.
The way cosmic energy settled around someone.
The rhythm of it.
The scars left upon it.
Whatever stood before them had once carried Divine energy.
A lot of it.
Luto lowered his hand toward Nulvyr.
Not drawing it.
Just ready.
"You feel that?"
Ryu nodded.
"Yeah."
"...Divine."
The man's eyebrow rose.
"Hm."
That seemed to please him.
Luto called across the plains.
"Eralyx?"
The smile widened slightly.
"The Fractured Flame?"
The man considered the title.
"...Ah."
He scratched at his beard.
"Yes."
"That may have been one of mine."
Ryu blinked.
"One of?"
"I've collected several."
Eralyx started counting on his fingers.
"Some deserved."
"Some insulting."
"Two unnecessarily dramatic."
He lowered his hand.
"But nowadays..."
His golden eyes returned to them.
"...most who know I exist prefer the Banished One."
Ryu looked at Luto.
Luto looked at Ryu.
Ryu whispered,
"That one sounds more dramatic."
"I heard that."
Ryu straightened.
"...Good."
Eralyx chuckled.
Then looked between them.
"So."
He clasped his hands behind his back.
"You must be the brats Ignovar told me about."
Ryu's face twisted.
"...Brats?"
"His description."
"That's definitely not what he called us."
"No."
Eralyx smiled.
"I shortened it."
Luto sighed.
Eralyx's gaze settled on them more carefully.
"The two lunatics apparently crazy enough to attempt what he once did."
That quieted both brothers.
Luto frowned.
"...Which is?"
"Enter the Riven intentionally."
Silence.
Ryu scratched his cheek.
"...Oh."
"Yeah."
"When you say it like that..."
"It sounds bad."
"It is bad."
Eralyx began walking slowly around them.
"When Ignovar first asked whether I would assist..."
"I was skeptical."
His smile disappeared briefly.
"I've little desire to return to that wretched dimension."
Luto immediately caught it.
"...Return?"
Eralyx stopped.
Luto's eyes narrowed.
"You've been inside the Riven."
The old man looked toward him.
Then sighed.
"I had a feeling you were like this after watching your trial."
"What does that mean!?"
"The questions."
Ryu grinned.
"Yeah."
"He does that."
Luto ignored him.
"You've been there."
"Yes."
"How?"
"I helped Ignovar break into it."
Ryu's head snapped toward him.
"You helped Ignovar break into the Riven?"
Eralyx nodded.
"Long ago."
"Why?"
"That..."
He began walking again.
"...is a considerably longer conversation."
Luto started after him.
"Then—"
"And before you ask..."
Eralyx glanced over his shoulder.
"...yes."
"The sensation you noticed is Divine."
The brothers stopped.
Eralyx lifted one hand.
A tiny thread of pale golden energy surfaced around his fingers.
It looked wrong.
Old.
Fractured.
The light faded almost immediately.
"I was once considered a Lesser God."
Ryu's eyes widened.
"Once?"
"Banished."
Eralyx smiled.
"Officially."
He continued walking.
"Personally, I prefer to say they never caught me."
Luto stared.
"...That's not how banishment works."
"Worked well enough for me."
Ryu covered a laugh.
Luto looked at him.
"What?"
"For once he's annoying you instead of me."
"Wonderful."
Eralyx glanced behind himself.
"I can do both."
Before the brothers could respond—
Luto's expression hardened.
"We don't have time for this."
Eralyx stopped.
Luto stepped forward.
"Our brother is being executed."
"I know."
"There are fifteen pulses remaining."
"I know."
"And every moment we're standing here—"
"He isn't being executed."
Luto stopped.
Ryu frowned.
"...What?"
Eralyx turned.
His humor disappeared.
Completely.
"What the Divine announced..."
"...is not an execution."
Ryu stared.
"Then what the hell is it?"
Eralyx's molten eyes hardened.
"Bait."
The word landed heavier than it should have.
Luto's hand slowly fell away from forming Nulvyr.
"...Bait for who?"
Eralyx looked directly at them.
"That's the question."
Ryu frowned.
"For us?"
"Perhaps."
"You don't sound sure."
"I'm not."
That answer surprised them.
Eralyx continued.
"Ignovar informed me nearly a cycle ago that you might eventually come searching for help."
"Your brother's condition was..."
He paused.
"...unusual enough to interest me."
Ryu's jaw tightened.
"So you knew about Onyx."
"I knew something had been done to him."
"Not what."
"Not entirely."
He looked toward Astradim's false sun.
"At the time..."
"Ignovar asked only whether I believed restoration was possible."
"What did you tell him?"
Eralyx looked toward Ryu.
"That possibility and probability are very different things."
Ryu didn't seem particularly satisfied with that.
"But since then..."
Eralyx continued.
"...the situation developed."
"The Divine announced the execution."
"The Riven entered heightened security."
"Transit routes began closing."
"And Divine fleets started moving."
Luto's expression shifted.
"How many?"
"A great many."
"That's not a number."
"It's the number I have."
Luto sighed.
Eralyx almost smiled.
"So yes."
"I will assist you."
"I'll help you enter the Riven."
Luto folded his arms.
"...How fortunate you also happen to know how to do that."
Ryu slowly turned.
"Luto."
"What?"
"He's helping us."
"I know."
"Then maybe don't annoy the ancient former god who built the murder-field."
Luto stared at him.
"...You rode his golem."
"That was before I knew he was helping."
Eralyx watched them.
Fascinated.
"...Ignovar somehow undersold this."
"Can we focus?"
Luto asked.
"Gladly."
Eralyx's smile faded once more.
"I investigated the execution."
"What little I could."
"The problem is..."
He raised one finger.
"...it makes no sense."
The brothers became quiet.
"The Divine have possessed your brother for many cycles."
"They've deployed him."
"Used him."
"Hidden him."
"If they wanted him dead..."
Eralyx shrugged.
"...they could have killed him whenever they pleased."
Luto immediately thought of his own unanswered questions without knowing another man somewhere among the stars had reached the same conclusion.
Eralyx continued.
"Instead..."
"They announce it."
"Publicly."
"They broadcast a location."
"They gather military forces."
"They place the entire Riven on alert."
He shook his head.
"That's not how you dispose of something."
"That's how you invite witnesses."
Ryu's face tightened.
"So it's a trap."
"Almost certainly."
"For us?"
"Again..."
Eralyx spread his hands.
"I don't know."
"Perhaps you."
"Perhaps every remaining Daredevil faction foolish enough to attempt an attack."
"Perhaps Sovereigns."
Luto's eyes narrowed.
"Sovereigns?"
"A display."
"A warning."
"A reminder that even beings powerful enough to challenge Heaven still operate beneath Heaven's reach."
Eralyx thought.
"Or perhaps none of those."
"Perhaps the public execution is simply the gathering point for something else."
Ryu rubbed his forehead.
"So we don't even know what they're planning."
"No."
"Fantastic."
"No."
Eralyx corrected.
"Terrible."
"Glad we agree."
"The only relevant information I've been able to confirm is that an exceptionally large collection of Divine Guard vessels is converging on the Riven."
He looked toward them.
"Far more than one prisoner should require."
Ryu's frustration finally surfaced.
"But why?!"
Fire flickered instinctively around his fingers.
"Why would they do all of this?"
"For us?"
"For Onyx?"
"Why go through this much effort over three people?!"
Eralyx's gaze settled upon him.
Then—
"Who told you this was about you?"
Ryu froze.
Eralyx stepped closer.
"You're no one special."
Silence.
Ryu blinked.
"...Wow."
Luto's mouth twitched.
Eralyx continued before Ryu could protest.
"Neither am I."
"Neither is your brother."
"Not to them."
His voice grew quieter.
"This is simply what the Divine do."
Ryu's irritation disappeared slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Eralyx stared into the artificial horizon.
"For longer than I've existed..."
"the Divine have maintained order through classification."
"Everything belongs somewhere."
"God."
"Mortal."
"Beast."
"Weapon."
"Sovereign."
"Servant."
"Threat."
His molten eyes shifted toward them.
"The problem begins when something refuses the category assigned to it."
Luto listened closely.
Eralyx continued.
"There is an old concept."
"Older than most surviving Divine doctrine."
"Older than several pantheons."
"We call it..."
"...the Last Law."
Ryu frowned.
"What's the law?"
"No one knows."
Both brothers stared.
Luto spoke first.
"...You're kidding."
"No."
"You just called it a law."
"That's what surviving records call it."
"But nobody knows what it says?"
"Correct."
Ryu looked at Luto.
"That's stupid."
"Exceptionally."
Eralyx nodded.
"Which is why scholars have been arguing about it for ages."
Luto stepped closer.
"There must be transcriptions."
"Thousands."
"Then—"
"Most contradict one another."
Luto stopped.
Eralyx lifted one finger.
"Some claim the Last Law was spoken by the First Flame."
Another.
"Some claim it was written after his death."
Another.
"Some say the Seven spoke it."
"Others claim the Seven were the reason it needed to be spoken."
Another finger.
"One civilization translated it as prophecy."
"Another as warning."
"A third interpreted it as an accusation."
Ryu frowned harder.
"...And we're supposed to trust this?"
"No."
Eralyx replied immediately.
That caught both brothers off guard.
"Never trust history merely because someone calls it ancient."
Luto's expression softened into something almost approving.
Eralyx continued.
"I don't know the exact words."
"I don't know who spoke them."
"I don't know how much survived intact."
"But across enough versions..."
"Enough forbidden texts..."
"Enough damaged archives..."
"Enough frightened gods who thought I wasn't listening..."
His molten eyes narrowed.
"...the same idea keeps appearing."
Silence.
Luto asked quietly,
"What idea?"
Eralyx hesitated.
Then answered carefully.
"That the greatest danger to Divine order..."
"...is not power."
Ryu stared.
"It's possibility."
The mechanical sun pulsed overhead.
THUM.
Luto's expression changed.
Eralyx continued.
"A powerful mortal can be killed."
"A rebellion can be crushed."
"A Sovereign can be negotiated with."
"An army can be counted."
"But something that develops outside the structure Heaven understands..."
"...something whose future cannot be reliably predicted..."
His eyes hardened.
"...that frightens them."
Luto immediately thought of Seravynn.
Never mistake silence for ignorance.
Ryu frowned.
"So the Divine just kill anything they don't understand?"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes they recruit it."
"Sometimes they rewrite it."
"Sometimes they convince everyone else it was evil before anyone can ask why it disappeared."
Ryu became quiet.
Onyx.
Eralyx noticed.
He didn't press.
Luto spoke instead.
"You were Divine."
"I was."
"Did you know?"
"No."
That answer came without pride.
"I obeyed more than I questioned."
Ryu looked surprised.
"You?"
Eralyx smiled faintly.
"I was younger."
"Stupider."
"Considerably more convinced that possessing power meant understanding the people who gave it to me."
He gestured broadly upward.
"Most Divine soldiers are not conspirators."
"Most Lesser Gods aren't either."
"They receive orders."
"They're taught doctrine."
"They're shown history carefully curated to make the present feel inevitable."
"And then they perform their role."
Luto nodded slowly.
"So the system doesn't require everyone to know the truth."
"No system ever has."
"It requires enough people to believe questioning it is more dangerous than obeying it."
Silence settled.
Ryu stared at the grass.
"So what does any of that have to do with Daredevils?"
Eralyx smiled.
"Good question."
He turned toward them fully.
"Tell me."
"What is a Daredevil?"
Ryu answered first.
"Someone who fights the Divine."
Eralyx looked toward Luto.
Luto thought longer.
"A mortal organization."
"Different factions."
"People who oppose Divine authority, usually through armed resistance."
Eralyx nodded.
"Both wrong."
Ryu frowned.
"How are both wrong?"
"Because you're describing what the word became."
Eralyx began walking slowly around them again.
"Modern society thinks Daredevils are rebels."
"Terrorists, depending upon which world you're standing on."
"Insurgents."
"Heretics."
"Mortals arrogant enough to attack gods."
He looked toward Luto.
"Divine archives generally describe them as organized cosmic extremists."
"Some are."
"Many aren't."
He looked toward Ryu.
"Historically..."
"...Daredevil wasn't the name of an organization."
"What was it?"
"A description."
Eralyx stopped.
"Someone who stepped somewhere Heaven said mortals could not."
Neither brother spoke.
"Sometimes physically."
"Sometimes intellectually."
"Sometimes cosmically."
"A mortal developing energy beyond accepted limits."
"A scholar studying knowledge prohibited by Divine doctrine."
"A civilization refusing compulsory worship."
"A warrior surviving something they were statistically supposed to die from."
"A person discovering that the boundaries everyone called natural..."
He smiled faintly.
"...weren't natural at all."
Luto's eyes narrowed.
"So anyone who breaks a Divine law is a Daredevil?"
"No."
"Then what's the distinction?"
"That..."
Eralyx said,
"...is the difficult part."
He stared between them.
"You don't become a Daredevil because you declare yourself one."
"You don't join a faction and suddenly become one."
"You don't receive a title."
"Historically..."
"...it was something the world eventually realized you'd become."
Ryu raised an eyebrow.
"That's incredibly vague."
"History often is."
"Can you make it less vague?"
Eralyx sighed.
"A Daredevil is someone who acts where the Divine structure insists action should be impossible."
Luto remained still.
Eralyx continued.
"They survive beyond expectation."
"Learn beyond permission."
"Create beyond precedent."
"Choose beyond prediction."
"And eventually..."
His molten eyes sharpened.
"...their existence becomes an argument against the limits everyone else accepted."
Ryu stared.
Luto did too.
Something about that explanation felt much larger than the factions they'd encountered.
Luto looked toward Nulvyr now in his hand.
Then remembered Orin.
Weapons without ancestors.
Ryu remembered flames taking shape between his hands.
Neither said anything.
Eralyx noticed both reactions.
Interesting.
He continued.
"Now..."
"Why do I think the Divine persecute them?"
Ryu crossed his arms.
"Because they're dangerous."
"Partially."
Luto answered instead.
"Because they're unpredictable."
Eralyx smiled.
"Closer."
He pointed toward Luto.
"If the fragments of the Last Law are even remotely genuine..."
"...then an unpredictable mortal isn't merely inconvenient."
"They're evidence."
"Evidence of what?"
"That whatever Heaven teaches about the limits of cosmic evolution..."
"...might be incomplete."
Silence.
Luto's expression changed.
Ryu frowned.
"You mean everything we know about cosmic energy is wrong?"
"No."
Eralyx shook his head.
"That's the mistake people make."
"What you know isn't necessarily false."
"It's simply..."
He searched for the word.
"...permitted."
Luto's eyes sharpened.
Eralyx gestured toward Nulvyr.
"How cosmic energy awakens."
"How it develops."
"How mortals categorize techniques."
"What forms are considered possible."
"What races supposedly possess which limits."
"A great deal of modern knowledge passed through civilizations influenced by Divine institutions."
"So the Divine wrote all of it?"
"No."
"But they survived long enough to decide which libraries remained standing."
That silenced both brothers.
Ryu eventually spoke.
"...That's worse."
"Usually."
Eralyx shrugged.
Luto folded his arms.
"So your entire theory depends on records you already admitted might be wrong."
"Correct."
Ryu pointed at him.
"Thank you!"
"I was waiting for that!"
Eralyx looked amused.
"Good."
"Because skepticism will keep you alive considerably longer than worship."
Luto frowned.
"So you don't actually know why Daredevils are persecuted."
"No."
"I have theories."
"I have correlations."
"I have several millennia of watching the Divine react disproportionately whenever mortals exceed specific thresholds."
"But certainty?"
Eralyx shook his head.
"That belongs to fools and prophets."
Ryu stared.
"...You really don't talk like a god."
"That's one of the reasons they stopped inviting me to meetings."
Luto almost laughed.
Almost.
Eralyx looked toward both brothers.
"And for the record..."
"...neither of you are Daredevils."
Ryu blinked.
"What?"
Luto frowned.
"We've fought Divine soldiers."
"So?"
"We've attacked Divine property."
"Congratulations."
Ryu pointed at himself.
"I punched a god."
Eralyx stared.
"...Did you win?"
Ryu lowered his finger.
"...That's not important."
Luto coughed suspiciously.
"Illyra was not a god"
Ryu glared at him.
Eralyx chuckled.
"You misunderstand."
"Daredevil isn't something you decide to be."
"It's something your actions eventually make undeniable."
His expression became more serious.
"You two are..."
He considered them.
"...unfinished."
Ryu didn't know whether to be offended.
"That's somehow worse."
"Perhaps."
Eralyx turned away.
"But if you're truly planning to walk into the Riven..."
He began moving across the plains.
"...you may not remain unfinished for long."
The brothers exchanged a look.
That sentence carried considerably more danger than either liked.
Ryu scratched his cheek.
"So..."
"We have a former Lesser God."
"A giant Divine fleet."
"An execution that's actually bait."
"Some ancient law nobody knows."
"And apparently cosmic energy has secret rules."
Luto nodded.
"That's roughly where we are."
Ryu sighed.
"...I miss the volcano."
"Of course you do."
Ahead—
Eralyx lifted one hand.
"Come."
Both brothers looked toward him.
"We only have two days."
Silence.
Ryu's head tilted.
"...What?"
Luto blinked.
"Two days?"
"Yes."
They hurried after him.
Luto reached him first.
"You expect us to prepare for entering the Riven in two days?"
"Correct."
"That's impossible."
"No."
Eralyx kept walking.
"Very inconvenient."
Ryu caught up.
"Wait, wait, wait."
"You said fifteen pulses."
"Yes."
"And now we have two days?"
"Correct."
"Those aren't the same thing!"
"Not here."
Both brothers slowed.
Eralyx looked upward.
The mechanical sun pulsed.
THUM.
"Astradim was hidden for a reason."
"Distance alone wouldn't have accomplished that."
Luto's expression changed instantly.
"...Time."
Eralyx glanced toward him.
"Good."
"Astradim exists within a heavily compressed temporal pocket."
"Time passes considerably slower here relative to the surrounding expanses."
Ryu stared.
"...How much slower?"
Eralyx answered casually.
"Approximately two days here..."
"...for every ten pulses out in the multiverse."
Both brothers stopped walking.
Dead silence.
Ryu slowly turned toward Luto.
Luto slowly turned toward Ryu.
Then—
"WHAT?!"
Both sprinted after Eralyx.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT EARLIER?!"
Ryu shouted.
Luto immediately followed.
"We've been standing here talking!"
"Yes."
"YOU MADE US DO A TRIAL FIRST!"
"Also yes."
"WE COULD'VE STARTED PREPARING!"
Eralyx continued walking as though nothing were happening.
Ryu moved beside him.
"You could've told us the second we arrived!"
"No."
"WHY NOT?!"
"Because you would've attempted to leave immediately."
Both brothers opened their mouths.
Stopped.
Silence.
Eralyx continued forward.
Ryu looked toward Luto.
Luto looked toward Ryu.
Neither spoke.
Eralyx glanced behind himself.
"...Exactly."
Ryu muttered,
"I don't like him."
Luto sighed.
"I do."
"Of course you do."
They followed.
Three figures crossed beneath Astradim's artificial sun.
One ancient.
Two unfinished.
And somewhere far beyond that hidden world—
The Fifteenth Pulse continued toward its end.
Day One
10 PULSES UNTIL EXECUTION.
One day remained on Astradim.
And somewhere beneath its mechanical sun—
Ryu was dying.
At least—
That was what he would've told anyone who asked.
"...Everything hurts."
Luto didn't respond.
"...Luto."
Nothing.
Ryu turned his head slightly.
"You alive?"
"...Unfortunately."
"Okay."
Silence returned.
The brothers lay side by side upon the cracked stone floor of what had once been a temple.
Or—
At least they assumed it had been a temple.
Most of it wasn't there anymore.
Four weathered pillars remained.
Half of one wall.
Several broken statues whose faces had eroded beyond recognition.
And absolutely no roof.
Which meant the mechanical sun remained visible overhead.
Its enormous metallic rings turned silently within Astradim's empty sky.
THUM.
Artificial warmth spread across the ruins.
Ryu stared upward.
"...Still creepy."
Luto's eyes remained closed.
"You've said that seven times."
"Because it is."
"Go to sleep."
"I'm trying."
"Try quieter."
Ryu frowned.
"...You're mean when you're tired."
"I'm always mean to you."
"True."
Silence.
Neither moved.
They couldn't.
Their bodies were exhausted.
Their cosmic energy was worse.
For nearly an entire Astradim day—
Eralyx had pushed them.
Corrected them.
Insulted them.
Corrected them again.
And somehow found increasingly irritating ways to explain that everything Caelivar had spent ten years teaching them wasn't wrong—
They simply needed more.
Much more.
Ryu's fingers twitched against the stone.
A tiny flame appeared.
It barely lasted a second.
Then—
Pfft.
Gone.
"...Yeah."
He sighed.
"I'm done."
Luto opened one eye.
"Finally realized?"
"Shut up."
Luto looked upward again.
The false sun pulsed.
Ten pulses.
That was all that remained outside Astradim.
One more day here.
Then—
The Riven.
The joking slowly faded from Ryu's face.
"...Luto."
"Hm?"
"We're actually close."
Luto knew exactly what he meant.
Neither needed to say the name.
But Ryu did anyway.
"...Onyx."
The ruins became strangely quiet.
Ryu folded one arm behind his head.
"It didn't feel real before."
"What didn't?"
"Any of it."
Ryu stared upward.
"Veltraxis."
"Vanthelos."
"Fyr."
"Finding Ignovar."
"Finding Eralyx."
He swallowed.
"It always felt like..."
"...we were trying to get closer."
Luto slowly turned his head toward him.
Ryu's eyes remained on the sky.
"But now we're here."
"Tomorrow we leave."
"And after that..."
A small smile appeared.
"...we see him."
Luto looked back toward the artificial sun.
"Yeah."
Ryu laughed quietly.
"You think he's taller?"
"Probably."
"Think he'll recognize us?"
Luto didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"I think he already does."
Ryu's smile grew.
Seravynn's story.
The chained child.
I promised.
To wait for them.
Ryu closed his eyes.
"...Yeah."
For the first time—
The Riven didn't feel like some impossible place at the end of their journey.
It felt close.
Terrifyingly close.
And as exhaustion finally began dragging at both brothers—
Their minds drifted backward.
To how the first day had begun.
Several hours earlier—
Ryu stared at the table.
Then stared harder.
His expression slowly collapsed.
"...No."
Luto stood beside him.
"What?"
"Too much."
Eralyx continued walking around the chamber.
"You've been looking at it for six seconds."
"Exactly."
Ryu pointed.
"That's enough."
The three stood inside a cavern carved into the side of one of Astradim's enormous mountains.
From the outside—
It looked natural.
Inside—
Not remotely.
Ancient machinery covered the walls.
Metal consoles had been built directly into stone.
Several were broken.
Others flickered weakly.
Loose wires hung from the ceiling.
Crystalline instruments floated above cracked workstations.
Shelves contained hundreds of deteriorating scrolls, metallic tablets and devices neither brother recognized.
It was a research facility.
An incredibly advanced one.
Once.
Now—
It looked like nobody had properly maintained it in several centuries.
Ryu pointed toward a sparking console.
"...Does anything here work?"
"Most things."
SPARK.
Ryu stared.
Eralyx continued walking.
"Eventually."
Luto leaned closer to the table.
That—
At least—
Still worked.
Barely.
A massive projection floated above it.
The Riven.
Or what remained of Eralyx's knowledge of it.
The map was incomplete.
Entire regions flickered.
Some sections had clearly been reconstructed from memory.
Others carried question marks.
Several areas weren't mapped at all.
But what was there—
Was overwhelming.
Luto's eyes moved rapidly.
Divine installations.
Prison territories.
Execution grounds.
Dimensional barriers.
Military corridors.
Surveillance regions.
Transit restrictions.
Energy detection arrays.
Layer after layer after layer.
Ryu stared for another moment.
Then rubbed his eyes.
"...Can you make it less..."
He waved vaguely.
"...that?"
Eralyx looked at him.
"Less accurate?"
"Less painful."
Luto sighed.
"I understand it."
"Of course you do."
Eralyx touched the projection.
Most of the map disappeared.
Only several major regions remained.
Ryu nodded.
"See?"
"Beautiful."
Luto looked offended.
Eralyx enlarged one region.
A massive dark section appeared along the outer reaches of the Riven.
No installations.
No visible surveillance.
Nothing.
Luto immediately noticed.
"Deadzone."
Eralyx nodded.
"From the last incursion."
"Ignovar?"
"Partially."
He moved two fingers.
The projection shifted.
"During our previous entry, several sections of the Riven's detection infrastructure were damaged."
"Some were repaired."
"Some weren't."
"And some..."
"...I suspect the Divine intentionally abandoned."
Ryu leaned closer.
"Why?"
"Because broken roads make excellent funnels."
Luto understood immediately.
"They expect someone to use it."
"Precisely."
The map changed again.
Hundreds of tiny golden points appeared around the deadzone.
Then thousands.
Ryu stared.
"...Those are ships?"
"Predicted defensive positions."
"...That's worse."
"Yes."
Eralyx expanded the projection.
"The majority of Divine Guard reinforcements will likely concentrate here."
"Anyone attempting to approach the execution grounds through the deadzone will be forced through them."
Luto studied the formation.
"Can we go around?"
"Yes."
Ryu brightened.
"Great."
"You'll die."
Ryu's face fell.
"...Why even say yes?"
"The other approaches have intact surveillance."
Eralyx pointed toward several enormous rings surrounding the execution territory.
"Dimensional barriers."
"Detection fields."
"Divine installations."
"Patrol routes."
"Some defenses I understand."
"Several I don't."
He looked toward them.
"The deadzone is terrible."
"It is also your best option."
Luto's gaze remained fixed on the golden formations.
"How many guards?"
"Unknown."
"Estimate."
"Too many."
Ryu sighed.
"You really like that answer."
"It remains accurate."
Eralyx's expression became serious.
"Understand something."
"You are not preparing to defeat the Divine forces within the Riven."
Ryu folded his arms.
"That's encouraging."
"You're preparing to survive them."
That quieted him.
Eralyx pointed toward the execution grounds.
"Your objective is your brother."
"Nothing else."
"You cannot afford unnecessary battles."
"You cannot afford pride."
"And most importantly..."
His molten eyes shifted between them.
"...you cannot arrive here exhausted."
Luto nodded.
"The execution grounds."
"Correct."
"We don't know what's waiting there."
"No."
"Which means whatever energy we spend reaching Onyx..."
"...is energy we won't have once the actual trap closes."
Ryu frowned.
"Then we need an escape plan."
Eralyx smiled.
"Finally."
Ryu stared.
"...Why'd you say it like that?"
"No reason."
He turned toward Luto.
"You'll handle it."
Ryu's face changed.
"Why him?"
Luto didn't even look away from the map.
"Because I understand teleportation circles."
"I understand circles."
"You rode a golem into a pit."
"That worked!"
Eralyx raised one hand.
"Children."
Both looked toward him.
"I'll teach Luto something known as a Far Anchor."
Luto's attention sharpened.
"A teleportation technique?"
"An emergency one."
Eralyx touched the table.
A tiny circle appeared.
Then—
A single line fired outward from it.
Past one world.
Past another.
Until—
It connected with a distant point.
"The circles you're familiar with require two known anchors."
"Origin."
"Destination."
Luto nodded.
"Coordinates woven between them."
"Exactly."
Eralyx pointed toward the line.
"A Far Anchor removes the second certainty."
Luto frowned.
"Then how does it know where to go?"
"It doesn't."
Ryu blinked.
"...Excuse me?"
Eralyx ignored him.
"You establish the origin."
"Then instead of assigning a destination, the circle releases a compressed spatial thread."
The line on the projection continued outward.
"It reaches through dimensional space until it encounters the first sufficiently stable anchor it can grasp."
Luto's eyes widened slightly.
"A dimension."
"A planet."
"A sufficiently stable spatial body."
"Whatever catches first."
Ryu stared.
"So our escape plan is..."
"...leave?"
"Correct."
"To where?"
"Yes."
Ryu looked at Luto.
Luto rubbed his chin.
"...That's actually useful."
"HOW?"
"We don't need to know where we're going."
"We need to not be in the Riven."
Ryu considered that.
"...Okay."
"Still hate it."
Eralyx nodded.
"Sensible."
Luto studied the diagram.
"The thread could be intercepted."
"Yes."
"Broken."
"Yes."
"Latch onto somewhere hostile."
"Very easily."
Luto stared at him.
"And you're teaching me this."
"Would you prefer no escape plan?"
"...Continue."
Ryu pointed at Luto.
"See?"
"Now who's asking too many questions?"
Luto ignored him.
Ryu looked back toward the map.
"Okay."
"So that's getting out."
He pointed toward the Riven.
"How the hell are we getting in?"
Eralyx smiled.
"Through the Cut."
Silence.
Ryu looked at Luto.
Luto shook his head.
Ryu looked back.
"The what?"
"The Riven Cut."
Eralyx manipulated the map again.
The Divine installations faded.
The barriers faded.
The planets faded.
Until only darkness remained.
Then—
A faint silver line appeared.
It stretched across an impossible distance.
Curving between expanses.
Passing beneath mapped routes.
And eventually—
Cutting directly toward the Riven.
Luto leaned closer.
"What is that?"
"A cosmic current."
Both brothers stared.
Ryu raised his hand.
"Question."
"Unfortunately."
"What is a cosmic current?"
Eralyx leaned against the table.
"The universe isn't empty."
"We know."
Luto answered.
"Cosmic radiation."
"Residual energy."
"Dimensional pressure."
"Gravitational distortions."
"Yes."
"But those are symptoms."
Eralyx gestured toward the silver line.
"Cosmic energy moves."
"Not randomly."
"Across sufficient distances, pressure differences between dimensions create pathways."
"Natural streams."
"Currents."
Luto's eyes followed the projection.
"Like rivers."
"Closer to ocean currents."
Eralyx corrected.
"Enormous."
"Ancient."
"Mostly invisible."
"Some move between planets."
"Others between dimensions."
"A few cross expanses."
Ryu stared at the line.
"And people use these?"
"Yes."
"Why have we never heard of them?"
"You probably have."
Eralyx shrugged.
"You simply didn't know what you were hearing about."
"Many old transit routes were built along currents."
"Certain portals use them unknowingly."
"Some civilizations learned to sail them."
Luto's eyes widened.
"Sail?"
"Ships?"
"Specialized ones."
Eralyx moved the projection again.
Several smaller streams appeared.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
They intertwined.
Separated.
Reconnected.
An enormous invisible network stretching across existence.
Luto stared.
"...They're connected."
"Most."
"Not all."
"But enough."
Eralyx tapped the ancient silver current leading toward the Riven.
"The Riven Cut is one of the oldest I've encountered."
"Older than several Divine transit systems."
"Possibly older than the Riven's current fortifications."
Ryu frowned.
"So the Divine don't know about it?"
"They may."
Eralyx answered.
"Never build a plan around your enemy being ignorant."
Luto glanced toward him.
Seravynn would've approved.
Eralyx continued.
"But they may believe it unusable."
"Why?"
"The Cut is unstable."
"Violent."
"And partially collapsed."
Ryu stared.
"...And this is the safest way?"
"Yes."
"Everything about this plan keeps getting worse."
"The Divine heavily monitor conventional dimensional travel into the Riven."
"Portals."
"Eventide routes."
"Military corridors."
"Known currents."
Eralyx pointed toward the ancient line.
"But the Cut..."
"...barely registers as functional."
Luto understood.
"So even if they know it exists..."
"They aren't expecting someone to use it."
"Exactly."
Ryu looked between them.
"Except you have."
Eralyx smiled.
"Now you're listening."
"Ignovar and I used the Cut during our previous entry."
Luto nodded slowly.
"So where's the ship?"
Eralyx stared at him.
Then—
Laughed.
Not chuckled.
Laughed.
Luto's expression flattened.
"...What?"
Eralyx continued laughing.
Ryu started smiling.
"Oh, that's not good."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"But he's laughing at you."
Eralyx finally regained himself.
"A ship."
"Yes."
Luto gestured toward the current.
"You said civilizations sail them."
"They do."
"So what are we using?"
Eralyx smiled.
"You."
Silence.
Luto stared.
Ryu stared.
"...Us?"
"Yes."
"As the ship?"
"If the metaphor helps."
Ryu slowly raised one finger.
"...I don't like the metaphor."
Eralyx turned away.
"Follow me."
He moved deeper into the facility.
The brothers exchanged a look.
Neither moved.
Eralyx's voice echoed from ahead.
"If you're frightened, you're welcome to remain here."
Ryu immediately walked.
"I'm not frightened."
Luto followed.
"You screamed when the floor disappeared."
"That was surprise."
"You screamed for several seconds."
"Long surprise."
They followed Eralyx through an enormous metal doorway.
Beyond it—
The facility opened into a cavernous chamber.
No equipment.
No tables.
Just a massive circular floor carved with old training marks.
Eralyx walked toward the center.
"Tell me."
"Both of you have traveled through open space?"
Ryu nodded.
"Yeah."
Luto followed.
"And you know how to protect yourselves from vacuum?"
Both nodded again.
"Cosmic layer around the body."
Luto explained.
"Reinforce the skin, lungs and internal pressure."
"Maintain temperature."
"Good."
Eralyx turned.
"Forget the reinforcement."
Luto frowned.
"...What?"
"The principle is similar."
"The intention is opposite."
Eralyx raised one hand.
Golden energy appeared around his body.
Thin.
Almost invisible.
"Normally, when mortals cover themselves in cosmic energy..."
The layer expanded.
"...they make themselves larger."
Ryu looked confused.
"You're the same size."
"Cosmically larger."
Luto understood.
"Your wavelength becomes more pronounced."
"Precisely."
Eralyx's energy intensified.
The brothers could feel him immediately.
A presence.
A signal.
A declaration.
"Reinforcement tells the universe..."
Eralyx said,
"...I am here."
Then—
Everything vanished.
Ryu's eyes widened.
Luto became perfectly still.
Eralyx remained standing before them.
Visible.
Breathing.
Smiling.
But—
His cosmic presence was gone.
Not weakened.
Gone.
Luto reached outward instinctively.
Nothing.
"...How?"
Eralyx's voice remained calm.
"Compression."
The faintest golden outline appeared around his skin.
So tight it almost seemed beneath it.
"You've both learned to expand cosmic energy."
"Project it."
"Attack with it."
"Reinforce yourselves."
"Create techniques."
"But concealment..."
His eyes moved between them.
"...requires you to stop treating cosmic energy as proof that you exist."
Ryu frowned.
"That sounds unnecessarily complicated."
"It will become considerably worse."
"Great."
Eralyx pointed toward the floor.
"Do it."
Ryu blinked.
"Now?"
"No."
"Next century."
Ryu's eyes narrowed.
"...I liked you more yesterday."
"You met me today."
"Exactly."
Luto was already working.
Lightning flickered faintly around him.
His cosmic energy expanded—
Then stopped.
He inhaled.
Compressed.
The lightning pulled inward.
Closer.
Closer.
His wavelength weakened.
Eralyx watched.
"Hm."
Luto compressed again.
The energy tightened around his body.
His presence dulled considerably.
Ryu stared.
"...Show-off."
Luto opened one eye.
"Focus."
Ryu ignited.
FWOOOM!
Fire erupted around him.
Eralyx stared.
Luto stared.
Ryu looked between them.
"What?"
Eralyx slowly scratched his beard.
"...Your energy is incredibly loud."
Ryu's face twisted.
"How can energy be loud?"
"I felt that from the other side of the chamber."
"We're in the same chamber!"
"Precisely."
Luto laughed.
Ryu pointed.
"Yours isn't perfect either!"
"No."
Eralyx agreed.
"But his is considerably better."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Reality's."
Ryu muttered something unpleasant.
Then tried again.
The fire compressed.
For half a second—
His presence weakened.
Then—
FWUMP.
It expanded again.
Ryu growled.
Again.
FWUMP.
Again.
FWOOOM.
Again.
Eralyx watched.
At first amused.
Then—
Interested.
Because Ryu kept trying.
Again.
Again.
Again.
His cosmic energy was strange.
Not merely powerful.
Expressive.
Even when compressed, it seemed determined to announce itself.
Like asking a wildfire to whisper.
But every failure only irritated Ryu enough to try again.
Meanwhile—
Luto progressed rapidly.
He understood compression almost immediately.
Not perfectly.
But intellectually.
He treated his cosmic wavelength like an equation.
Reduce leakage.
Collapse unnecessary output.
Maintain circulation.
Compress external radiation.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until—
Eralyx briefly lost track of him.
Only for a second.
But enough.
The former Lesser God's eyebrow rose.
"...Good."
Luto opened his eyes.
"How long?"
"Less than a second."
Luto frowned.
"Again."
Ryu stared.
"You disappeared for a second and you're disappointed?"
"Yes."
"I hate smart people."
"You spent yesterday talking to a Ferrakai for hours."
"That was you."
Ryu paused.
"...I hate you specifically."
Training continued.
Hours disappeared.
Eralyx taught them to compress their cosmic layers until the energy stopped fighting the environment around them.
Then came the harder part.
Movement.
Because concealment while standing still—
Was useless.
The instant Ryu moved—
FWOOOM!
"Too loud."
"I KNOW!"
Again.
Luto stepped.
His wavelength fluctuated.
"Again."
He reset.
Again.
Again.
Eventually—
They ran.
Jumped.
Attacked.
Stopped.
Compressed.
Failed.
Repeated.
Eralyx pushed them until their bodies learned something their instincts hated.
Don't dominate the energy around you.
Don't resist it.
Don't announce yourself to it.
Move with it.
Become part of it.
By the time Eralyx returned to the Riven Cut—
The explanation finally made sense.
"You won't survive the current by fighting it."
The brothers stood exhausted across from him.
"You'll compress the layer until the current cannot easily distinguish your cosmic energy from its own."
Luto wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Essentially matching our external wavelength."
"Close enough."
"And once we're inside?"
"Don't resist."
Ryu frowned.
"What happens if we do?"
Eralyx smiled.
"You become cosmic debris."
Ryu stared.
"...Can you stop smiling when you say things like that?"
"No."
Eralyx continued.
"If performed correctly..."
He raised one hand.
Two tiny lights appeared.
They entered the projected current.
Then accelerated.
Faster.
Faster.
Until they became streaks.
"...the Cut carries you."
"To any outside observer..."
"...you'll appear as nothing more than cosmic debris."
The two lights streaked toward the Riven.
Eralyx smiled faintly.
"Or perhaps..."
"...shooting stars."
Much later—
The broken temple returned.
Ryu stared upward.
The mechanical sun continued its endless rotation.
His entire body felt heavy.
Beside him—
Luto was still thinking.
Of course he was.
"We need to practice compression tomorrow while doing the other training."
Ryu said nothing.
Luto continued.
"Especially you."
Silence.
"Your wavelength expands whenever your concentration breaks."
Nothing.
"Which means the current could throw you out if you lose control."
Still nothing.
Luto turned his head.
"Ryu?"
Ryu lay beside him.
Mouth slightly open.
Completely unconscious.
"...Ryu."
A quiet sound answered.
"...hnn..."
Luto stared.
Then—
Ryu snored.
Loudly.
Luto's eye twitched.
"You fell asleep while I was talking."
Another snore.
"...Of course you did."
Luto looked back toward the mechanical sun.
Ten pulses remained.
One more Astradim day.
One more day to learn.
One more day to prepare.
Then—
Onyx.
Luto closed his eyes.
Beside him, Ryu snored again.
"...You seriously need to work on your concealment."
Ryu slept through the insult.
And beneath Astradim's empty sky—
Day One came to an end.