The gravity bore down on Seraph like an unrelenting storm, pressing against her muscles, her bones, her very breath. It was a constant, suffocating force—one that had once left her struggling to stand. Now, it was merely an opponent she had yet to defeat.
She twisted mid-air, her wings flickering as she struck out with a precise kick, the sheer weight behind it shattering the reinforced dummy into splinters. WIthout pause, she pivoted, landing smoothly before launching into another set of strikes.
She had no intention of stopping.
The room was set to 150 times normal gravity now. It was heavy. But she could push harder.
["Your endurance has improved."]
Seraph didn't pause as Luminara's voice drifted through her mind. She exhaled sharply, continuing her relentless assault on the next target.
"Not enough," she muttered between strikes.
["By all measurements, you have adapted faster than expected."] A brief pause. ["Then again, I should have anticipated your stubbornness."]
Seraph smirked slightly but didn't respond. Her wings flared, and she propelled herself upward before diving back down with a spinning heel kick that sent another training drone crashing into the floor.
["You're avoiding the real question."]
Seraph landed lightly, wiping sweat from her brow. "And what's that?"
["Where Knox went."]
Her expression darkened slightly, but she kept her voice even. "He said he had something else to do."
["And that doesn't concern you?"]
Seraph hesitated. Knox had definitely been different after that 'fight' with Nyxara. Not just determined—but almost obsessed. He had always been driven, but this was something else.
She flexed her fingers, frowning. "Of course it concerns me. But what am I supposed to do? Drag him back?"
["You could ask me where he is."]
Seraph's head snapped up. "...You know?"
["Of course I do. Kaelina and I are now always linked. I could tell you exactly what he's doing."]
Seraph narrowed her eyes. "And you're just now bringing this up?"
["I was waiting to see if you would ask."]
Seraph sighed, rolling her shoulders. "Alright. FIne. Where is he"
[Flying into a star."]
Seraph froze mid-motion. "...Excuse me?"
["He is currently inside the Sun."] Luminara's voice was entirely too calm. [Sitting at the core, bathing in solar fire."]
Seraph blinked.
Then blinked again.
Then ran both hands down her face.
"That idiot," she muttered.
["You seem... affected by this."]
"I'm annoyed," Seraph shot back. "Not affected."
["You have taken quite an interest in him."]
Seraph immediately scowled. "It's not like that."
["I never said what it was like."]
Seraph groaned, dragging a hand through her sweat-damp hair. "Listen. I care because if he gets himself killed, this whole operation is screwed. That's it."
["I see."]
"Don't say it like that."
["Like what?"]
"Like you don't believe me."
Luminara was silent for a moment before replying smoothly, ["I never said I didn't believe you."]
Seraph exhaled sharply. "You're insufferable."
["And yet, I am always right."]
Seraph chose to ignore that and instead turned the gravity up to 175 times normal.
If Knox was sitting in the Sun, then she clearly wasn't pushing herself hard enough.
The Gathering of Five
Across the vast reaches of existence, beyond the grasp of mortal perception, sat five entities. Their forms shimmered, shifting between tangible and incomprehensible—shadows of power, echoes of divine will.
Vaelith Solvair rested against a floating throne of blackened steel, eyes gleaming with the light of dying stars. "I encountered an interesting world recently."
Zerath Kael'Vorne, ever curious, tilted his head. "Oh?"
"A place where the dead refused to stay dead. Where souls were shackled to a cycle of reincarnation, driven endlessly forward by a twisted force."
Nyxara Veyne chunked softly, fingers trailing along the edge of a golden goblet. "Sounds tedious."
"It was," Vaelith admitted. "So I ended it."
Draeven Mal'Zor grinned, his jagged teeth flashing. "You erased an entire reincarnation cycle?"
"It was broken," Vaelith said simply. "A flawed game, running on borrowed time."
Islander Vhalros exhaled lazily. "You always ruin the fun."
Vaelith smirked. "The fun is watching them realize they never had a choice."
Zerath leaned forward. "Speaking of entertainment—there was another realm I visited. One where warriors relied on forging their souls into weapons. INteresting concept. But they spent far too much time talking."
Nyxara laughed. "Oh, I know that one. Too many swords. Not enough actual power."
"Exactly," Zerath said. "I grew tired of it. Erased the strongest one, and the rest fell apart."
Draeven snorted. "You always take the easy way out."
Vaelith glanced at him. "And what of you? What strange places have you seen?"
Draeven leaned back, his grin widening. "I came across a particularly annoying universe recently."
The others turned to him with mild curiosity.
Draeven's expression darkened slightly. "A world full of screaming, battle-hungry monkeys."
A silence settled over the group.
Then—Nyxara raised a brow. "Monkeys?"
"They powered up. Constantly. Every time I killed one, another got stronger. It was endless."
Islander smirked. "Sounds exhausting."
"It was," Draeven muttered. "At first, it was amusing. Watching them evolve, adapt, push beyond limits that should have broken them. But after a while..." He shook his head. "It became tedious."
Nyxara took a slow sip from her goblet. "So what did you do?"
Draeven's smirk returned.
"I got rid of them."
There was a pause. Then Vaelith chuckled. "How thorough."
"Very."
Zerath hummed in thought. "There are always remnants. Stranglers. The echoes of those kinds of worlds always find a way to linger."
Draeven waved a hand dismissively. "If any survive, they aren't worth my time."
The five of them sat in silence for a moment, each reflecting on the countless realms they had touched, altered, or ended.
Then Nyxara smirked. "Speaking of which... there was another place I passed through."
"Oh?" Islander titled his head.
Nyxara's eyes gleamed. "A world where humans tried to become god. Through their own creations. Their own ambition. They believed they could surpass divinity itself."
Vaelith smirked. "And?"
"And they did," Nyxara murmured. "For a time."
Zerath chuckled. "Foolish things."
"Always." Nyxara agreed.
They sat in silence once more, their thoughts stretching across the vastness of the multiverse.
Then, softly, Vaelith spoke.
"Do you think they even realize?" His voice was barely a whisper. "That none of them are in control?"
Zerath smiled faintly. "Oh, some of them suspect."
"But the truth?" Nyxara mused. "The truth is too much."
Islander exhaled. "Hosts. That's all they are."
Draeven grinned. "We choose where they go. What they do. How their stories unfold."
Vaelith nodded, his gaze distant. "And when we're done?"
Zerath smirked. "We move on."
The five of them laughed, their voices echoing through the endless void.
And somewhere, in a universe where a lone warrior sat at the heart of a burning star, reality continued forward—blissfully unaware of the hands that shaped it.