Jin stood on the cusp of a roundabout, looking below at the endless glowing sea of gold while scratching the bandaged side of his head.
Stellaxis stood near him, sharing his gaze.
"So, what's this second stage mission that you want me to do?" Jin glanced at Stellaxis's fair, listless face.
"In my solitude I thought deeply about it, my grand plan to liberate us all. At its core it has seven major stages to guarantee wiping out our unseen captors. The first stage was to find a malleable existence capable of growing beyond its confines… I searched multiple realms and learned of many creations that could serve my purpose," Stellaxis looked up at Jin with furrowed brows.
"But a human was not one of them. Your kind is too brittle, weak to all elements with a high mortality rate. You make up for it with your reproductive capabilities. And even your prominent trait, your adaptability, takes several generations to take effect."
Jin glared at her, finding her disappointed attitude annoying.
"But you're an anomaly, an undying Devourer, so you're ideal to help us escape from the prison."
"Prison? Are you locked up somewhere?"
"No, we both are."
"You said you don't speak in metaphors, so that doesn't make any sense… I've been alive for too many years to count, and aside from the Shadow's Grasp keeping a leash on my neck, I never felt imprisoned by anything else. I can freely travel to different worlds without any issues… So what do you mean by prison?" Jin cocked a brow.
Stellaxis stared at Jin with a pitiful look, as if she was ashamed of him.
"Did you never notice it? Out of the duovigintillion worlds and realms out there, you can only access slightly over a million right now. We're in a cruel prison that limits you to these worlds, to these soul farms, while our captors exist out of it, safely hidden from us."
Jin felt his spine tingle, even though he didn't know how big a duovigintillion was or how to say it like her, the scale of a million worlds containing unknowing soul snacks for Celestial beings was still incredibly hard to imagine. But the fact he was in a prison on such a scale reflected the threat of his enemies.
'Wait, why am I just believing her right away? It's too far-fetched...'
"Celestial beings… I suppose I could refer to them as that… In my grand plan, the second stage leads to the third, which involves destroying modified Wishbearers that are keeping us confined in their web. The second stage is to get you strong enough to fight someone of at least the Supernova grade."
"Supernova grade?" Jin remembered seeing a weird grade in Aroa's system but he didn't know what it meant.
Stellaxis held out her hand, summoning a small glowing amber shard above her palm.
"From the lowest grade… Stardust, these are beings that are not corrupted, which means their mental abilities and bodies remain theirs, they're simply star-touched, infected."
The shard transformed to a five-pointed star of gold.
"Blooming Star, these ones are fairly tainted with the Celestials' essence and their bodies are strengthened in the process, their willpower defines whether they're mentally sound or beginning to lose grasp of themselves."
The star shone brighter until it turned to a radiant flawless sphere of ivory.
"Astral Dwarf, after consuming high levels of Celestial essence, their bodies and abilities become incredibly enhanced, and this is the last grade where they can resist the corruption and remain aware of who they are, you can view it as a fork in the path. The Celestials tend to see this and anything lower as unripe."
The white sphere exploded, becoming a smaller sphere surrounded by several fractured rings.
"Searing Supernovas, a grade given to those who succumb and lose themselves to the corrupted tug. They become docile followers of the Celestials, a false fragment of who they once were until they are consumed. At this stage they are ripe for eating or enslaving if the Celestials don't feel hungry yet…"
The rings dissolved as the sphere turned to a burning scarlet with a black core within.
"But there is a small percentage that might keep their will and sanity beyond that for a price, Eclipsed Suns. These filthy creatures serve the Celestials for unfathomable reasons, bowing willingly to those wretches."
Stellaxis crushed the orb in her grasp and turned towards Jin with a vicious glare.
"And beyond that are the Celestial vessels, the ones we're going to tear apart at our leisure for everything they did to me… to my kin. So let's begin the second stage. Follow me."
Stellaxis's form flickered and disappeared then appeared on another island. She crossed her arms and waited for Jin.
Jin grimaced.
'This feels like when I first joined Walter's group… Being pushed around to do things I half understand… I don't like this…'
But he still jumped to her, following obediently.
A distance away from Jin, back near Nexus, Skouter watched him moving away with narrowed eyes.
"It just doesn't feel right… Walter was right, Jin is acting differently... I didn't pay attention before..."
***
Jin jumped on a spacious, torn highway then walked to Stellaxis.
"The second stage has two segments I am interested in developing. Your personal strength is the highest priority, with it you will defend yourself and bring their followers to their knees. The second segment is developing your army," Stellaxis smiled at him faintly.
"My army?"
"Explaining the past to you while your inferior brain struggles to process simple words is taxing, so don't mind the reasons. To destroy them, an army is needed."
She pointed up at the black sun.
"It lies there hibernating, my kin. We will use its dormant powers to create a portal into the two realms I saw within your recent memories, where I think Astral Dwarves lie. You will devour them and grow stronger."
"These Wishbearers… they're not…" Jin grimaced with a regretful look, Seiya and Mona flashing in his head.
"I assure you, those who reach the grade of Astral Dwarves in unsundered worlds are never defenseless and helpless prey like you think. You won't kill innocents if that eases your heart, but it won't be easy to take their hearts."
Stellaxis reached her hand up towards the lusterless sphere causing it to whirr and emit a deep resonance as it slowly moved towards them.
Skouter jumped on the island and rolled on his feet.
"Jin!" Skouter smiled at him brightly.
"What are you doing here?" Jin instantly scowled and turned to him.
"Checking on you, buddy. You haven't been acting normal since you came back. Not to mention your wounded face…" Skouter stepped closer, his smile growing more sympathetic and hurt.
"Well I'd appreciate it if you ran back and let me breathe for a while, you're too irritating for my head," Jin scoffed.
A dark shadow loomed over them both, making them turn towards the large house-sized sphere next to them.
"Wh-What is this…?" Skouter tensed up while looking at it.
Stellaxis turned towards Jin, her eyes glowing dangerously.
"We can use him, Devourer. He could be the first step to your army and an extension of your strength for now. From your memories, he seems very loyal to you while harboring grand desires to save the world. His heroic craving can be exploited and his affection can be used to leash him to your commands."
'What? He can't fight at all, he's only a utility! I won't risk it,' Jin glared at her hatefully while conversing with her through his thoughts.
"Irrelevant. One simple step is all I need to turn him into a seasoned war machine. If I embed my kin into him, the same as you and I, it will enhance his abilities and mental processing. You won't even have to worry about keeping him safe, my kin will take care of it. He will turn to his guardian, like I am to you."
Jin stared at her quietly, still scowling while he carefully took her words into consideration.
"Jin? You don't look as surprised as you should be… You uhh… got a new power out there that I should know about?" Skouter chuckled and walked closer to Jin while carefully looking at the large ball.
Jin took a deep breath and exhaled greatly while looking at the ground.
"How do I even start explaining this…"
"You won't have to, Devourer. Activate your skill and lie to make him-"
"No," Jin slowly turned towards Skouter.
"That's a very dramatic no…" Skouter chuckled.
"Skouter, do you know why we're still alive today?"
"Because of you?" Skouter smiled at Jin.
"Because I've been killing people like us, people who just wanted to live their lives normally. I brought their cores, you can think of them as Wishbearer hearts, and then Walter turned them into a drink for us to enjoy," Jin smiled back, almost breaking into a chuckle.
Skouter stared silently at Jin, his brow furrowing slightly while his lips careened into a frown.
"But then Aroa shows up, saying we need to eat some magical plant to start getting free vegan batteries that don't come from people, and you know what happens after that? It turns out that the plant is full of some weird poison that turns us into food for star monsters! What a wild discovery!" Jin laughed.
"Jin... you've been through a lot... You can take a break, it's fine," Skouter's face sank with pain.
"We die if I take a break, Skouter!"
"You can if I... if I apply myself... Walter said I can be just like you, Jin. If it's this taxing for you, then I don't mind taking some of that burden off you."
"Walter said that? You? Heh... I thought he was going to bring someone from the Grasp, but he chose you? Strange..."
Jin sighed deeply and ruffled his wavy hair.
"There's so much you don't know, Skouter... Blissfully ignorant without knowing who Walter actually is and what he wants to do with you and Nexus."
"I know Walter is more than just some fancy butler working at an orphanage, but what else?" Skouter glowered.
Jin laughed and shook his head.
"There's no orphanage, Skouter. Never was. And since Walter wants to replace me with you, that means he already wrote me as dead and will come finish the job when he returns. I don't think I can survive in a fight against him..."
"You can, Devourer. The second stage will ensure it once we complete it, until then avoid combat with this Walter. Recruit Nexus for more protection," Stellaxis spoke up at him in a commanding tone.
Jin glanced down to her then looked up at Skouter.
"Skouter, unlike Walter, I'm going to actually give you a choice that isn't an illusion. But before that I want you to know everything about that old bag and the organization he's with."
"Alright... Spill it out, I've been dying to find out," Skouter gulped and looked at Jin attentively.