I splashed water across my face, my now dark head of hair sticking to my forehead. A sharp exhaling noise left my lips, my eyes glancing to the Meta Tome seated on the basin.

That thing was a liability.

This might’ve been a low-tier universe within the Fableverse, but creatures that could and would notice spikes within the Causal Law usually sprawled around everywhere.

And if there was one thing causality didn't take a liking to, it was determined preludes of fate… I needed to…

The book suddenly burst into luminous smoke, vanishing. I frowned, feeling a small chunk of my mind mend gently. It was a very peculiar feeling, like a soft caress along my frontal lobe.

I shook my head gently, coming out of the bath and staring at my face again, pinching my chick. “...Can't say the kid wasn't good looking, at least.”

Not that I was the most handsome guy around before anyway.

“...Please finish up,” Seiraph said calmly. “You have much to do. Besides, we are in a New City. It won't do us good to extend our stay.”

“We can't?” I asked, looking around. “And I'm already done, but…” I lifted the rag I was adorned in mere moments ago. Grime-stained and torn. ‘Jeez, Arutan, can't even get your ‘son’ proper clothes?’

“Yes, we can't. Well, that's more so the case for me than you.” The maiden replied. “And what seems to be the problem?”

“Ah, right, you don't happen to have any clothing my size, do you?”

 “Nnh? Your size…” her tone of voice jumped a pitch higher. “Oh, I don't. But you should check the closet.”

I grabbed the towel hanging by the hook on the door and wrapped it around my waist, exiting the bathroom. “Don't tell me I'll have to wear your clothes?”

Seiraph smiled from the kitchen, chopping a piece of purple, palpy fruit into the blender. “Just go see.”

I entered the only room in this large apartment. One look at the bed and I could tell it had never been used. 

Strolling past it, I opened the giant closet only to find it empty. I frowned, and just as I was about to complain, a net of lazers speedily traced the surface of my body.

Then a translucent panel appeared in front of my eyes. [You are naked.] It read. [Do you wish to get dressed?]

Ah…right.

I clicked the [Yes] option.

The screen stretch in length and a wide array of attire was visible, as if I were browsing a web store. It allowed me to choose from various designs and add personal customizations.

I kept it rather simple, garbing myself in a long sleeve jet-black shirt, a black coat with red accents and some breathable black cargo pants and black tactical boots.

As soon as I was sure of my options, my finger tapped the [Finish] button and the lazers went off again. Fabric materialized from nothing and began to hug my figure, and within seconds I was fully dressed; the towel dropping to my booted feet.

Seiraph entered the room, elegantly seating herself on the neglected bed. She stared at me up and down, clearly amused. “Seems we’re good to go?”

A cracked a terse smile. “Yeah.”

She took a small sip of the fruit smoothie in her hands, then threw the cup at me.

Startled, I raised my arms defensively but the cup simply sat in my hand the next moment, not a drop of liquid spilling out on the ground. As if it had followed a predated path. “Huh?”

“Drink, child,” Seiraph said, chuckling. She snapped her fingers and a ripple through space bounced between the walls of the room. “You'll need the energy.”

She was right. Though she didn't know it, this epilogue actually ended on a pretty messy cliff hanger. I took a giant swig of the sweet nectar, downing it in one breath.

“Thank you…” I mumbled genuinely. My body was on the brink of starvation and I didn't even notice it.

“Mhm.” She hummed. “Ready?”

I nodded.

She snapped her finger again. The disorientating ripples stopped, coalescing into a spinning vortex before bursting with a soft ‘siyuu’ noise. The next instant, a twisting portal was hovering in the middle of the room.

Chaos warping.

I gulped silently at the god queen's tierless authority. Once again, I was both amazed and terrified at my situation. This couldn't compare reading simple text.

“Go ahead, don't be afraid,” Seiraph said, gesturing to the portal. 

I stepped toward the hole twisting spacetime, and within a moment I was standing in an archaic hall. The floors were a smooth, marbled white and the giant golden door ahead gleamed in spite of the dimly lit surroundings.

“Where…are we?” I asked, glancing back at Seiraph. She snapped her fingers, and the portal ricocheted closed.

“Underneath Ahrlich.” She grabbed me by the arm and led me to the oval shaped door. “More specifically, this was once Veshar's palace…now it's simply a base of the Wings of Eternity.”

“Wings of Eternity?”

Her response was a knowing smile. The door slid outward, exposing the enormous interior. People in slim hooded robes roamed about, moving in and out of the many corridors and doorways. Above, gentle light spilled from the orbs floating underneath the curved ceiling.

“The gift Veshar left you and…” Seiraph stopped herself, glancing upwards, beyond the domed ceiling. “They dare…” she murmured, a sickly aura leaking from every pore on her body. 

I followed silently behind her, the hideously cold expression on her face vanishing. We passed through another corridor, the robed figures bowing reverently to her as every step.

Soon, we arrived in a dark room. Maybe the Fractal Fragment recovered, because I could sense multiple figures lurking in the darkness.

Soft lights lit up on the too-high up ceiling, casting a dim Illumination into the space. A large altar was built from the wall, engraved with complex gold and black geometric symbols.

I squinted, noticing a small blob of darkness floating atop the altar, held up by a beautifully crafted ambiguous statue. 

My right eye throbbed, and I faltered. A deep and endless power radiated from the blob. “Veshar..?” I blurted, in spite of myself.

Seiraph gave a saddened smile, holding me up. “Yes, and no…it is a fragment of his Celestial Heart.” 

I clutched my eye in pain, breathing haggardly. I scrunched up my face, glaring at the Heart. That inexperienced idiot. Later he would realise that by leaving two Fragments, he had doomed this universe. 

At my side, oblivious of my thoughts, Seiraph continued. “As his heir, you will inherit his authority.”

A presence in the shadows made a disgruntled noise, hesitantly stepping out. “M—”

Seiraph’s true power leaked out of the Mannequin, its skin crackling and cracking with thin dark fractures. She slowly, with frigid eyes, glanced at the young woman that interrupted her. “Aristel. Quiet.”

The young woman's metallic amber eyes flared with a calm, even glow. She didn't back down. “He's a mortal. A weak one, at that.” 

“So are you, child,” Seiraph said, softly sighing. She took a handkerchief and dabbed away the blood trickling from my eye. “Let this matter rest.”

“I am not weak.” She growled out the next sentence. “Nor am I a mere mortal.”

I leaned against Seiraph, raising my hand. “Both of you please stop.” I lifted my gaze, meeting Aristel’s contemptuous eyes. “Well, when I heard there was a sister out in the world I had to meet…” a smirk made its way to my lips. “I didn't expect her to be a complete bitch.”

The Novaheir’s eyes dimmed, wisps of black Celestial energy drifting around her body. “...What?”

The murderous intent in that single word made my knees go weak. It was unbearable. Seriously, I almost pissed my pants. 

“I’m kidding, of course.” I quickly said, lifting my arms up in a defenceless manner. “Just trying to break the ice.”

Another figure clad in the clandestine darkness of the room roared in delight, his laughter echoing throughout the small  space. “I like this one, Your Eminence!”

“Enough. All of you.” Another shaky voice mumbled. Though the hearty laughter didn't seize.

Seiraph gently brought a hand to her forehead, annoyed. “You knew about our Aristel?” She asked, looking at me with a silent penetrating stare. “Is this the second thing Vesh told you?”

I simply nodded.

Her eyes narrowed, she clearly didn't believe my words. “...I see.”

“What exactly do you expect me to do with that Celestial Heart?” I said, forcefully changing the topic.

“Absorb it, of course,” she said, her eyes lighting up with a fanatical glint. “He chose you.”

A grimace slowly made its way to my face. I let a long moment pass, looking at the Heart of the Trillion Winged Exotica. Aristel and Seiraph both stared at me with eyes that suggested they knew what I would say next, though each of them had different reasons.

“No thanks.”

“Then shall we get started…hmm?” Seiraph looked down at me with bewildered eyes. Her lips bobbed up and down. “You reject it?”

Aristel’s mouth went agape. 

“Yes. I don't need it.” I caressed the right side of my face. “I already have a gift from Veshar, I'll live as long as I have it.”

“That…” Seiraph's sentence trailed. She shook her head gently, as if to shake my words out of her head. “Keiran. You don't seem to understand. He left that Heart for you. No other being can absorb its essence—his essence.”

I let out a soft breath. “God Mother, what do you truly know of the ‘Eye of the Blindest Old One’?”

Her expression hardened. “Not much, I admit. Veshar was always so secretive about…” she caught herself, clearing her throat. “Why do you ask?”

It was the eye of the Most Ancient Godless, Voidlord Ae’Lisar. Not the Celestial Veshar, that's why. Rather than explain, I pried my bleeding eye open. “Look… I can feel I'm not compatible with that Fragment.”

Seiraph sucked in a sharp breath. “That's not possible. If not you, then who? Why would he leave it? You are just a child—you can't understand. You have to take the Heart, you have to take his mantle and—”

“I’m not Veshar.” I interrupted calmly, despite the pounding headache coming on. Shit, I really needed to get away from that Fragment. Fast.

She froze, as if she was reminded of a terrible trauma.

Aristel growled in displeasure. “Who said you were…” she mumbled, though her animosity toward me had been completely dampened.

“Then you cannot be the wings that lead us.” An unfamiliar sickly voice rasped from the darkness.

I sneakily glanced at the Heart, then steeled my heart. “I’m still Veshar's chosen heir.”

“You cannot lead us without power.” The elderly voice intoned.

“Who said I'm powerless?”

I focused on my right eye, and felt a pang ran through my head. My vision swam, red swimming into my field of vision.

[Eye of the Blindest Old One recovering!]

[Eye of the Blindest Old One recovering!]

[Eye of the Blindest Old One recovering!]

I recalled the first moment Keiran force-activated the ability vividly.

[Meta Commentary triggered.]

{Keiran’s broken arm throbbed with a dull pain. He looked up at the star lit sky with an expressionless face.

This was it. Belvir would kill him here, then finish off Aristel. Just why… was he so worthless?

Every time. Just once he wanted to be useful. To save instead of be saved. He…didn't want her to die. Even if he had to.

He felt a piece of his mind fracture.

The Celestial Heart within his chest churned, even his dormant eye sparked to life. He could feel it speedily drain all his Celestial energy, changing it to something sinister.

The world seemed to tear at his gaze. He silently watched the hunk of metal slowly approach.

The last iota of Celestial energy seemed like such a simple blob of matter for him to dissect and rearrange.

He raised his hand to the heavens. And when he tightened it to a fist…

The sky fell.}

Blue energy merged with the red, slowly swirling into purple.

[Requirements acknowledged.]

[Sub-authority, Metarealization, active.]

[Synchronicity with character’s physical body, 63.428%.]

[Synchronicity with character's mind, 47.875%]

[Mean Synch Rate below 60%.]

[Skill Activation failed to satiate Causal Law!]

[Authority, Meta Lord, resonation with skill filling the remaining percentile.]

My glazed red eye went aflame with a purple glow. A suppressive, alien force spread from my body. Everyone in this room knew this aura.

The world as I knew it vanished, now overlaid by billions of small violet geometric patterns that seamlessly faded into each other. This wasn't how the ability was described in the novel, but given the author's obsession with geometry, I suppose it made sense.

I heard Seiraph’s voice, coming from a myriad of very dark shapes. “This…?”

“My power.” I said, looking up. Countless angles were intertwined together, representing different… something. I couldn't make sense of it. I felt I would go mad if I stayed in this state too long. “The power Veshar left us.” 

“...I see.” The raspy voice murmured. “Then we still might have a chance of survival.”

The geometry above suddenly began to shift and change, spinning out of synch with each other.  I deactivated the ability, watching reality add layers upon itself, as if dawning a disguise then finally reverting to normal.

A helpless smile adorned my lips, as I bore witness to Seiraph's pained expression. “I wouldn't count on that if I were you.”

“My barriers ho-, how?” She said, her voice breaking. She fell to her knees at a loss for breath.

Aristel ran over to her side. “Mother! Mother, what's wrong?”

“It's—”

The entire room shook as a deafening noise echoed throughout the entire castle. 

I struggled to stand up straight as the tremor got worse. Violently snatching the Mannequin off the ground, I grabbed hold of its shoulders. “Seiraph!! Can you open another portal?”

She groaned, the skin of her little doll falling apart. Her eyes dazed. 

I clicked my tongue, handing over the limp body to Aristel. Sweat slickened my forehead. The sound of rapid gunfire and explosion seemed to be getting louder. 

Any mistake from here on out would spell death.

On the altar, there were six figures already containing Veshar's Celestial Heart. Though it was too late, they would be on us any second.

“Her core matrix was holding the barriers together, I think whatever attack that was–”

“I know.” 

After securing the Heart, one of the six figures secretly opened a hidden passageway. “Through here! Let's go!”

I began sprinting. And a moment later, so did Aristel, throwing her mother on her back.

The sound of metallic footfalls made its way into my ears. My legs strained as I accelerated, though Aristel breezed past me without breaking a sweat.

“Singularity found.” A heavily distorted voice reverberated, along with the sound of marble cracking. “Initiating containment protocol. It seems to have been extracted already.”

I didn't look back, just a few more steps…

My eardrums seemed to rapture as shots were fired. Aristel was already through the door. Shit, if I hadn't blab along, I would have absorbed the Heart, and I would've been the one passed out on her back.

The chill of death made my hair stand on end…it was so close…

“NO!!”

A voice boomed, not quite human. Time slowed down to a literal crawl. When I blinked, a gentle embrace wrapped around my body. “I can't lose the last bit of Veshar…I cannot.”

Off the corner of my eyes, I saw the Mannequin break off into black ash. It was the only thing animated in the frozen time. I slowly faced the being that held onto me so tightly.

How pitiful.

Seiraph stared back at me with eyes of bubbling darkness. Her face remained the same, but her skin was a waxen white and her hair jet-black. It was the humanoid form closest to her true essence. 

“Say nothing.” She smiled and turned to face the mech. Her bare feet lightly graced the ground from underneath her misty black dress, as she gently threw the human head-sized bullets that were about to kill me to the ground.

And even though the bullets she touched fell to the ground at normal speed, Seiraph reached the tall mech suit before they could clang on the ground.

Her hand punched through the suit's exoskeleton, then she pulled out the pilot. The man gasped, confused. “Speak. How did you break my barriers?”

“Deicide Ri-, Ra-, Ra-, Rif-,…!” he yelled, his eyes slowly dimming. Just being faced with a god's hatred was enough to drive one insane. At this point, humans didn't really know how powerful Celestial's were.

But they would soon.

“Worthless.” She crushed the man’s head like it was a water balloon. “Ah, I only have a few minutes left. Go. I’ll hold them off here.”

I reached the members at the passageway, and time began moving once more. Everyone blinked around me, their eyes planted at the descended god. 

“Mother…” Aristel whispered.

Seiraph gave her a wane smile. “Please leave for now, my beautiful daughter. We shall meet again.”

I swiped the container holding Veshar's Heart, and ran down the tunnel. “Hurry!”

Those idiots…they didn't realise. Just as humans couldn't comprehend a Celestial's unbridled might, that God Slayers would start to rise.

And that they were just as terrifying.