"Well, then, since you're so confident, Kemet, would you wager your soul in exchange for a Heart of Solaris and a Divine Soul Shard, should you fail my trial?" Varick asked with a grin as his eyes began to glow eerily.
"Tempting, but is there a time limit to this wager, or is this indefinite, and I can accept the terms whenever I'm feeling suicidal?" wondered Pharaoh as he gazed at Varick with unconcealed caution and suspicion.
Even though inwardly he was debating if the risk was worth the reward, considering if he did win, these two materials could help Rin achieve a greater sense of unity between body, soul, and mind. While also lessening the time he would need to unlock all Seven Celestial Stars. However, while great, if he lost Rin's secrets would be a risk of being discovered and with that the truth of who he was.
"Good question, how about we set the time limit to an incense stick? Oh, and the timer will start the moment you begin to refine Solaris," stated Varick before pausing and flashing a menacing smile. "Also, for you to win the Heart of Solaris and the Divine Soul Shard, you would have to hold out for 40 minutes and then suffer the full weight of all 49 stars for the remaining time."
"Damn, you really don't hold back your punches, do you, Varick?" muttered Pharaoh.
"Unfortunately, that's never been something I've been quite good at; however, this should be nothing for Mr. Confident," commented Varick sarcastically as Mister X watched everything unfold with a frown silently.
"Sigh, just look at the trouble I've brought upon myself," murmured Pharaoh.
'Welp, I guess all I can do now is prove this old fossil wrong and secure two much-needed materials for Rin and myself.' He thought while entering a meditative state to prepare himself for the task before him.
***
Sometime later...
"So, are you ready, Kemet, the last warrior of the Sun Tribe?" asked Varick Star after giving Pharaoh time to prep himself.
"I feel better than I've ever felt in centuries, so let's get this show on the road and prove to myself that I still got it in me," smiled Pharaoh enthusiastically.
"Well, then, good luck, and I wish you the best, Kemet, as you'll need all the help you can get," Varick said as he snapped his fingers, teleporting Rin to the heart of the pocket dimension.
Along with an incense stick so Pharaoh could keep track of his time, even though Varick's clone would be supervising Kemet's progress in the meantime.
Considering Varick went back to his slumber to heal the injuries sustained by his soul, due to trying to fuse the marks obtained from the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
"Sigh, why is it that I'm always assigned the boring task to do?" muttered Nemo, one of Varick's clones, with frustration as he sat down with a pout and summoned a glass mirror.
That flared to life the moment he began to tap its surface in a precise sequence, causing the mirror to come alive with drifting starlight and constellations as its metallic frame began to shimmer with specks of Azul.
Before an image of Pharaoh manifested upon its surface, who was sitting peacefully amid a sea of Solaris. Just as the outline of seven red stars with flecks of ash on their surfaces appeared above his head.
"Hmm, so he plans to waste no time and get straight to it, huh?" muttered Nemo as he continued to watch Pharaoh with growing interest as Solaris began to seep into his body.
Causing the once seven translucent red stars to fully materialize above him and unleash their full might upon Pharaoh. Leading to the area around him caving in as a reddish light engulfed him and his surroundings, decreasing the flow of Solaris he could absorb and refine.
As the incense stick next to him, enveloped in a transient barrier, caught on fire as a bluish flame, settled upon the tip of the incense stick and burned slowly.
"Tsk, it seems he's nothing special after all; what a waste of time," muttered Nemo as he removed his gaze from Pharaoh and spied upon the other participants participating in the trials of his master's siblings.
***
Meanwhile, the moment Nemo retracted his gaze, Pharaoh opened his eyes and flashed a victorious smile. After sensing the probing gaze directed at him vanish, allowing him to finally set his plan in motion and start the creation of Rin's Star Body.
"Finally," muttered Pharaoh as he took a deep breath and exhaled, temporarily breaking the limits set on Rin's body by the Heavens with the use of Rin's bloodline.
Which had mutated and transformed into something never seen as it combined aspects of an archangel, a Divine White Tiger, and something else that Pharaoh could not yet identify.
Leading to a thunderous white tiger's roar erupting from Rin's body, shaking the very air of the dimension as a pair of angelic and grandiose gray wings tore into existence behind his back, along with a jagged halo shaped like a broken crown. That radiated a fractured light, casting a cold, divine glow as if even heaven itself could not decide whether to bless him or fear him.
Compelling the space around Pharaoh to fracture as the ground quaked beneath him and the stars themselves dimmed with reality humming in strain as it fought to hold together. At the same time, the once-calm sea of Solaris turned violent, surging forward in a massive, luminous tide that rushed toward him like a stampede of furious animals.
Roar! Swoosh!
Munch! Crunch! Gulp!
"Now, this is what I'm talking about," said Pharaoh as he released a burp following the influx of Solaris that entered Rin's body, causing him to look like a meatball with limbs as starlight shimmered under his skin.
Whilst mystical runes began to be inscribed upon Rin's body as the devoured Solaris was absorbed and refined into nutrients for his body, soul, and mind evenly. Forming a resonance with the stars of the Cosmos that grew stronger with every minute that passed.
As Pharaoh infused more of the devoured Solaris into every crevice and crack of Rin's being, causing his once-over-bloated self to deflate and return to normal. Just as he released his hold on Rin's bloodline, leading to its manifestations dissolving into nothingness like starlight fading into dots of light in a sky.
Bring an end to the power that had once bent reality around him as Heaven's restraints took hold of Rin, once again as they settled back into place like unseen chains forged by the heavens themselves.
And with that, soon to be completion of Pharaoh's wager with Varick, if he can persist these last 20 minutes under the weight of forty-nine stars…