Goddess of Finality and God of Destruction. Those were some seriously badass titles. I couldn't help but be impressed.
I offered a slight, respectful bow. "It's an honor to meet you both. I am Lucas."
⌈Would you look at that? Despite clearing a trial that breaks most souls, he still has his manners intact,⌋ Virgil observed, a hint of approval in his starry voice.
⌈Indeed. Humans are often such arrogant, prideful creatures once they gain a sliver of power,⌋ Finalis agreed.
Well, how could I not show respect when both of you could unmake me with a stray thought? I chuckled inwardly.
"May I ask you both a question?" I ventured.
⌈Sure.⌋
⌈Go ahead.⌋
"Am I… really going to receive blessings from both of you?" They had said the one who cleared the trial would be blessed, but it seemed too monumental, too good to be true. Even one of their powers would be a world-shaking gift. Ice was a powerful, versatile affinity. But Cosmos? That was the stuff of legends. From the little I knew, no living being possessed a true Cosmic affinity. To be the first… the possibilities were dizzying.
⌈Yes. And no,⌋ Finalis answered cryptically.
⌈Finalis here lost our little match,⌋ Virgil explained, gesturing to the now-empty game board. ⌈So she must hand over the authority to me.⌋ Finalis merely frowned, a flicker of irritation crossing her beautiful, dark features.
"Authority?" I asked, confused.
⌈The authority to be the first to bless the Chosen One,⌋ Virgil clarified. ⌈The winner gets to bestow their power first.⌋
"Meaning she would have blessed me with her ability if she'd won." I wasn't upset. Being blessed by the God of Destruction, with a power that seemed to encompass the universe itself, felt like winning the cosmic lottery. Cosmos likely included dominion over space, perhaps even time and light. It was… obscenely powerful.
⌈Correct,⌋ Virgil nodded. ⌈However, you may still receive her blessing later… if you meet certain qualifications.⌋
"What qualifications?"
⌈You will know when the time is right,⌋ Virgil said with a casual shrug that felt infinitely heavy.
"Another question," I pressed, my mind racing. "Am I the only one going through a test like this?"
I was neither naive nor a fool. This world was vast. The idea that I was the sole individual being tested by gods seemed incredibly unlikely.
⌈You are quite perceptive, aren't you?⌋ Finalis remarked, one elegant white eyebrow arching.
⌈I like him already,⌋ Virgil said, the stars in his eyes swirling with amusement.
⌈You are not the only one receiving a personal blessing,⌋ Finalis confirmed. ⌈There are others. Many, in fact. But most are blessed by minor deities. Only those chosen by the greater powers truly matter.⌋
⌈That is why you must grow strong, child,⌋ Virgil's voice took on a graver tone. ⌈Something is coming that will require you to stand at the very apex. Do not fall behind.⌋
I nodded, the weight of their words settling on my shoulders. I might be a frog in a well, unaware of the ocean, but I could sense the immense height of the sky. The world was dangerous, and there would always be someone stronger. But something is coming? A war of gods? A cataclysm?
"Can you tell me what's coming?" I asked, already anticipating the refusal.
⌈We cannot,⌋ Finalis said, not unkindly. ⌈If you grow strong enough to one day stand before our true selves, then we might.⌋
Of course. And what did they mean by 'true selves'? The question sparked a memory.
"Is there… a God of Reincarnation?" I asked, the words feeling heavy. "Or any entity powerful enough to pull a soul from another world into this one?"
If anyone could give me clues about my own inexplicable rebirth, it would be them.
Both deities grew still. A frown touched Finalis's brow as she exchanged a look with Virgil.
⌈I do not know why you ask,⌋ Finalis said slowly. ⌈But Virgil is the elder here. His memory spans further. He may know.⌋
Virgil's cosmic gaze turned upon me, and I felt the weight of eons in that look. ⌈There was a God of Reincarnation, once.⌋
"Was?"
⌈Yes. Was. They are believed to have perished… or so it is said. They vanished millions of years ago without a trace. After the war, no other god encountered them again, so their true fate remains a mystery.⌋
"A war?" The pieces of a larger, hidden history were tantalizingly close.
⌈A war you need not concern yourself with yet,⌋ Virgil said, his tone brooking no further inquiry.
This bastard—
⌈That is all I know. Why do you ask?⌋ Virgil's eyes held a new, piercing curiosity.
"No reason of importance," I said, offering a half-truth. "I was simply curious if such a thing was possible."
⌈Gods can accomplish many impossible things, child,⌋ Virgil said, leaning back in his chair, which shimmered faintly with starlight. ⌈But do not rely overmuch on my knowledge. We are merely avatars—fragments of our true selves left here to await a successor.⌋
"Is that what you meant by 'true selves'?" The realization clicked into place.
⌈Yes. Did you believe a mortal could converse so casually with a full deity without being reduced to his component atoms?⌋ Virgil chuckled, a sound like distant supernovas.
"The thought had crossed my mind," I admitted. "I knew attempting to look upon a true god was tantamount to suicide."
⌈At least you understand that much,⌋ Finalis said. ⌈These avatars have waited here for millions of years. We do not possess the current memories of our true forms. Only after bestowing our blessing will we return to them.⌋ Her expression turned serious. ⌈And do not assume all gods are as… accommodating as we are. Most are not. Even our true selves may not be so friendly. They might annihilate you on sight.⌋
"I see…" I gulped, the casual warning sending a fresh chill down my spine. So they were echoes, waiting. The real powers were elsewhere, in realms I couldn't fathom.
I asked a few more questions, most of which they deftly avoided answering. Then, the moment I'd been waiting for finally arrived.
⌈Now,⌋ Virgil said, rising from his chair. He was tall, easily over two meters, his form seeming to cast a shadow containing entire galaxies. ⌈Are you ready for your blessing?⌋
"Yes," I responded, my voice firm despite the tremor of anticipation in my chest.
⌈Good. Be grateful. The great Virgil is blessing you with two of his most potent affinities.⌋ He smiled, a proud, radiant expression. ⌈Cosmos… and Lightning.⌋
Two ultra-rare affinities. Hell yes! My heart soared. I'd guessed right about the lightning. A thousand visions of power and possibility exploded in my mind.
Seeing my elation, Virgil chuckled. ⌈Technically, it is not merely two, but five. Within the Cosmos reside Space, Time, and Light.⌋
Damn. I really hit the jackpot, didn't I? The sheer, broken potential of it was staggering. I can't wait to see the look on that bitch Londres's face.
⌈Show-off,⌋ Finalis muttered, though a small smile played on her lips.
Virgil stepped closer, looming over me. ⌈Now that I look at you… you are quite short.⌋
A vein throbbed at my temple, but I swallowed the retort.
⌈Well, it matters not. You are young. You will grow. And if you do not… I shall simply have to stretch you. I cannot have my successor be shorter than I am.⌋
"What do you mean, 'successor'?" I asked, a new wariness cutting through my excitement.
⌈Pay his theatrics no mind. He is always like this,⌋ Finalis interjected, shaking her head with fond exasperation.
Virgil placed his right hand on top of my head. His touch was neither warm nor cold, but it thrummed with immeasurable power. ⌈Make us proud, successor. And do not take too long to find us.⌋
That will likely take a lifetime, if not more, I thought. But I met his star-filled gaze and said aloud, "I will."
With those final words, power erupted from his hand. It was not a trickle, but a torrent—a river of pure, cosmic and electric energy that surged into my very soul. The world, the white room, their faces, all dissolved into a supernova of sensation before everything went dark.
Meanwhile, in the white room:
Virgil and Finalis stood in silence, staring at the spot where Lucas had vanished.
⌈It is funny how he did not notice he had been bleeding this whole time.⌋ Finalis said with a sad voice as she looked at the bloody feet marked on the white floor.
Lucas's feet had been bleeding even before he entered the white room, meaning that he had indeed walked for years without noticing in the void; he was just numb to the feeling.
Virgil did not reply, only remained quiet for a while.
Finalis finally spoke after a couple of minutes, her voice softer, tinged with something like regret. ⌈Is it truly right… not to tell him now?⌋
Virgil stood with his arms clasped behind his back, his gaze lifted to the featureless white sky of the chamber, though his eyes seemed to stare into the infinite deeps beyond. ⌈It is better this way. For now.⌋
[Empire of Yves, Awakening Hall]
Thirty minutes had bled by since the silver dagger had pierced Lucas's heart. He had not stirred.
In the hushed hall, tension had curdled into derision. An awakening typically took five, maybe ten minutes. A half-hour of stillness spoke of failure… or death.
"What did you all expect?" sneered a red-haired woman in her thirties, her crimson eyes flashing. "He is common-born, devoid of talent. He is probably dead. I feel no pulse of life from that water."
"A waste of a perfectly good awakening dagger," another noble clicked their tongue in disdain.
The murmur of scorn grew, a poisonous chorus. I told you, you common filth, Londres thought, a cold satisfaction settling in her chest. You were worthless. Now you are dead. I tried to save you from this humiliation.
High upon her throne of black wood, Empress Alexandra remained a statue of imperial composure, her face a mask of icy calm. But deep within, a seed of doubt gnawed. Did he truly perish? If so… then who will fuck me?
Arthur, standing beside the blood-tinted pool, wore a deep frown. His golden eyes were fixed not on the still surface, but on Lucas's pale hand, resting just below the waterline.
Why? Because he had just seen it—a faint, undeniable twitch of the fingers. Am I seeing things?
To everyone else in the hall, Lucas was already a corpse. Even Andromeda's usually impassive face held a quiet, resigned stillness.
But Lucas was about to prove them all devastatingly wrong.
A change shuddered through the chamber. The very air grew dense, charged.
A smile, sharp and sudden, split Arthur's concerned expression. His golden eyes began to glow with an inner light.
He was not alone. Every powerful being in the room felt the shift—a gathering storm contained in a teenage boy's broken body.
It began with a single, tiny crackle. A faint blue spark, like static, flickered across Lucas's chest where the wound had been.
Then it multiplied.
Blue-white lightning erupted from his body, violent and beautiful, spiderwebbing across the surface of the water in a dazzling, snapping net. The energy raced through the conductive pool, lashing out toward the nearest living thing—Arthur.
Arthur didn't flinch. With a mere thought, a sphere of solid golden light shimmered into existence around him. The fork of lightning struck the barrier with a deafening CRACK-THOOOM that shook the foundations of the grand hall, rattling the teeth of every onlooker.
"No… way…" A nobleman stumbled to his feet, his chair crashing backward. "Lightning Affinity?!"
"Impossible!" another voice shrieked, the word torn between disbelief and awe.
"Another rare affinity!" a matron whispered, her eyes gleaming with sudden, predatory interest as she licked her lips. "The royal family is truly blessed this day!"
In that instant, Lucas's image in the eyes of the court began to fracture and reform.
The Empress's fingers clenched on the armrests of her throne, the polished wood groaning in protest. He lives.
Londres's face, however, twisted in pure, incandescent fury. "How?!" she hissed under her breath, her nails digging into her palms. "How could gutter trash awaken that?!"
Beside her, Andromeda remained still. But if one looked very, very closely, a ghost of a smile—so small it could be a trick of the light—touched the very corner of her lips. "I knew you could do it…" The whisper was lost in the echoing aftermath of the thunder.
In the pool, Arthur's wide smile had returned, sharper than ever. He had known the lightning wouldn't harm him, but some instinct had screamed to raise a barrier. Me, using a barrier against a child's awakening. How delightful.
The hall filled with the continuous, angry crackle of raw lightning, contained now by Arthur's will, compressing into a roaring, brilliant cage of light around the pool.
"By the gods… the sheer volume of mana!" an elder gasped, his red eyes wide.
"And its purity… it's astonishing," a younger mage breathed, a genuine smile of wonder on his face.
After what felt like an eternity, the violent eruption ceased. The lightning faded, leaving the water steaming and Lucas's body once again still.
Arthur moved forward, intending to retrieve the boy, assuming the spectacle was over.
He was wrong. They all were.
Lucas was not finished.
Before Arthur's hand could touch him, Lucas's body moved. Not by his own will, but lifted by an invisible, profound force.
He rose slowly from the water, droplets falling from his pale form like liquid diamonds.
Arthur's eyes widened.
Lucas did not stop at the surface. He continued to ascend, floating upward until he hovered several feet above the bloody pool, past Arthur's head.
"What in the seven hells—?!" a voice cried out. "Is he… floating?!"
"This boy…" Arthur murmured, his golden eyes trembling with a emotion he hadn't felt in centuries—pure, unadulterated shock.
Lucas hung in the air like an angel in a blasphemous ascension, pale and serene.
Then, the final, history-altering revelation emerged.
A soft, radiant light began to emanate from Lucas's body. It was not the harsh blue-white of lightning, but a deep, soothing, impossible color—the color of Cosmic Latte, the average hue of the universe itself. It spilled from him, gentle yet inexorable, filling every corner of the grand hall with its otherworldly glow.
The sound of dozens of chairs scraping back and toppling over filled the sudden silence.
Every single elder, every powerful figure in the crowd, was on their feet. Auras of terrifying power flared instinctively into life, crimson eyes blazing with a mixture of primal fear, awe, and voracious excitement. The very air vibrated with released pressure.
Even the Sun Empress stood fully erect, a wild, triumphant smile spreading across her face as a corona of golden-red fire wreathed her form in response.
They all watched, breaths held, as the boy floated in the center of their world, enveloped in the light of the cosmos.
********
Only one chapter today, I need to study for my exams, I might not upload tomorrow but I'll see what I can do:)