The void between Universes 3514 and 3515 wasn't empty; it was a suffocating tomb woven from the necrotic fabric of 236 dead realities. Saganbo's suppressed energy pressed down with the weight of extinct civilizations. The Stardust Weaver, its crystalline baffles screaming under Merus's desperate infusion of Creation energy, bucked violently. Inside, the air crackled with tangible strain.
Netsudo gasped, crumpled against a shuddering bulkhead, his fungal cloak drenched in luminous sweat. Each breath was a ragged, painful rasp. "That's... so huge!" he wheezed, amber eyes wide with primal terror. "Feels like... my soul's being flattened... I can still hold on... Kinda..." Tiny, dying embers of magma flickered weakly around his clenched fists.
Beside him, Kagaya stood like a defiant mountain carved from emerald rage. His tribal markings blazed, veins standing out like cables as he resisted the crushing force. He slammed a fist against the groaning deck, the impact echoing. "OH YEAH! I'M TOTALLY FINE! JUST GOTTA WARM UP THESE SMASHING MUSCLES!" His roar was a physical defiance against the encroaching silence. Miryoku leaned against him, her turquoise light pulsing erratically, a fragile shield against the psychic onslaught. Kuro's movements were stiff, precise, his visor a blur of data streams compensating for the invisible chains dragging at him. Shirou braced himself against a console, the Whispering Wind held ready, his sharp eyes scanning the oppressive, starless nothing outside. Only Merus seemed anchored, cerulean power radiating from him, holding their fragile pocket of reality intact.
"Damn it!" Merus hissed, ancient eyes locked on the navigational hologram. Kokuto's void-shear signature pulsed like a malevolent star, already vanishing into the 3521st Universe. "He's pushing harder! We're losing him! Overload the dimensional shear compensators! We breach the 3519th NOW!"
The ship shrieked in protest. Reality tore as Merus poured more divine essence into the straining drives, clawing through the dense cosmic tar towards Universe 3519. Kokuto, a silent blade of entropic purpose, felt the gnats' persistence as a minor irritation. The throne awaited. The asset was secured. Lord Saganbo's will would deal with the rest. He sliced into the 3522nd Universe.
Merus's group fought into the 3518th. The pressure intensified like a physical blow. Netsudo whimpered, sinking lower. Miryoku's light dimmed visibly, her breath coming in short gasps. Kuro's analytical calm fractured for a microsecond, a flicker of strain crossing his features. "Structural integrity critical. Local spacetime exhibiting... gravitational crystallization."
"Five universes!" Merus commanded, his voice laced with unprecedented urgency. "Brace! Threshold breach in three... two... ONE!"
Universe 3523 :
Kokuto materialized onto the star-metal dais before the Throne of Weeping Neutrons, the unconscious forms of Shinji draped limply over his shoulders. He dropped instantly to one knee, head bowed low, the unnatural stillness of his crimson scarf the only movement. "I'm here, sir."
Saganbo, bathed in baleful purple-black radiance, didn't turn. A flicker of satisfaction touched his lips. "Welcome back, Kokuto. Efficiency, as always." He gestured idly. "Place him there. Now, we await Amado. His insights are paramount for integrating the Trascender's essence. With his counsel, our absolute dominion—"
He stopped. His galactic eyes narrowed. A subtle... absence... resonated through the oppressive energy field. Saganbo sat upright, a frown etching his features. He extended a hand, fingers splayed, feeling the cosmic currents. His frown deepened into confusion, then hardened into cold, disbelieving fury.
Kokuto remained kneeling, sensing the seismic shift in the void. "Lord Saganbo?"
Saganbo's voice was a low, dangerous hum that vibrated the star-metal floor. "It's... gone." He clenched his fist, space warping violently around it. "Amado's resonance... the constant, familiar hum of his presence... Extinguished. Not shielded. Not displaced. Annihilated. From the entirety of the multiversal weave." He turned his gaze, a storm of cosmic rage and genuine shock, towards Kokuto. "He has been... erased."
YOU ARE READING
Trascender : The Fourth Gust
FantasyWhat happens when death becomes impossible? Nineteen-year-old Shinji Kazuhiko's life shattered the night a masked killer invaded his home. Left for dead, he made a horrifying discovery: he cannot die. And with each death, something inside him grows...
