The air shimmered with heat and energy as the Starborn cult charged.
Russ stood still, shadow energy swirling around his arms. The new ability pulsing inside him felt volatile—alive, even. His skin prickled as if the void itself was watching through him.
> [Skill Active: Void Rend Lv. 1]
Description: Tear through matter using condensed Void energy. Caution: Overuse may result in instability.]
"Instability?" Russ muttered. "Comforting."
The sand monsters lunged first—jagged limbs and twisting faces reaching for him. Russ swung instinctively.
A line of black-purple energy tore through the air like a blade of oblivion, slicing one creature clean in half. The halves didn't just fall—they vanished, as if erased from existence.
Even the cultists stopped for a second.
"Damn," Kai muttered from behind cover. "That's not just vampire power."
Russ didn't respond—he didn't have time. Three more sandbeasts circled him. One leapt from behind.
He twisted mid-air, sliding underneath and slashing upward with Void Rend. The creature screamed in reverse—its voice echoing backward in time before disintegrating.
Minny carved through the left flank, her twin daggers laced with lunar silver. She danced between cultists with the grace of a predator.
Vee, crouched behind a wrecked engine, tossed a grenade into the fray. The blast scrambled the corrupted systems embedded in the cultists' armor, frying their enhancements.
But even with those victories, the leader hadn't moved.
He watched Russ with amusement, arms folded behind his back.
"You adapt quickly," the man said. "Your father took weeks to control the Void. You… inherit it."
Russ paused. "Yeah? Then maybe I inherited his punch too."
He sprinted toward the cult leader, Void Rend glowing at his side.
But the man didn't dodge.
He simply raised a finger and whispered a word in a language Russ didn't understand.
The Void shook.
Russ's attack stopped mid-swing—frozen in the air as if time itself hit pause.
> [System Interference Detected.]
[Unknown Astral Authority Activated.]
Pain shot through Russ's mind. His thoughts became static. Visions flooded his brain—alternate realities, broken timelines, memories that weren't his.
He saw himself dying. Winning. Becoming a god. Becoming nothing.
He screamed.
The world snapped back.
Russ dropped to one knee, panting, Void energy flickering wildly around him like a fire about to burn out of control.
The cult leader smiled.
"You are not ready. But soon… your blood will remember."
Before Russ could stand again, the man raised his hand.
A flare of starfire erupted around him, forming a portal of spiraling light. The remaining cultists retreated into it like smoke drawn into a vacuum.
The last thing the man said before vanishing:
> "The Progenitor chose to seal us. You must choose to release us. Or die trying."
The portal collapsed.
Silence returned to the battlefield—except for Russ's ragged breathing and the dull hum of the Legacy System settling.
> [Trial Complete: Survive the Starborn Cult – SUCCESS.]
[Sync Rate: 35.1%]
[New Trait Unlocked: Astral Resistance Lv. 1]
[Memory Access – Partial.]
Minny dropped beside him. "You good?"
Russ nodded slowly. "No. But I'm alive."
Kai limped over. "If this is your idea of a quiet life, remind me never to hang out with your family again."
Russ chuckled weakly, then looked toward the horizon—toward the stars.
"They're not just after me," he said. "They want something buried in our bloodline. Something even Dad couldn't destroy."
Minny looked grim. "Then we dig it up before they do."
Russ clenched his fist, Void energy pulsing gently.
"For the first time in my life…" he said, "I think I want to know who my father really was."