Sometime, somewhere…
Sunny stared at the cane that he had sto—found in the Astral Express. Welt always brought it along with him wherever he went, so Sunny had gotten quite curious about it.
Later, he walked around the frozen wilderness of Belobog. A few Fragmentum monsters lurked through the snow, giving Sunny an opportunity to test out his new toy.
…The issue was that he had no idea how to use it. It wasn't a Memory, but it still seemed to radiate some sort of power.
'…Does Welt just swing this thing around?'
Holding the cane with both hands, Sunny immediately swung at the closest Shadewalker. The cane bashed into it's skull, a sharp noise cracking across the area.
[You have defeated an Awakened Monster, Everwinter Shadewalker.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
As it's mangled body fell, Sunny gave the cane a satisfied expression. It seemed like he was wielding a weapon of brute force! He watched as the other Fragmentum monsters ran off in fear of the cane.
He blinked as he felt his phone start to vibrate. Fishing it out of his pockets, he answered the call before putting it on speaker.
"Hello?"
He stiffened when the caller replied.
"Hello Sunny. It's me, Welt. I was looking for my cane, but it wasn't anywhere on the Express. Have you seen it?"
There seemed to be some panic in his voice. Sunny hesitated for a moment, before responding:
"Oh, that? I happen to have it with me right here."
Welt didn't say anything for a moment before sighing in relief.
"I was worried I had lost it. It's not a normal cane, you know?"
Sunny nodded despite the fact that Welt couldn't see him.
"It works well as a blunt weapon."
Welt simply chuckled.
"I never thought of using it that way. Makes me wonder if he ever tried that as well…"
He must have coughed on the other side of the phone, since Sunny heard similar sounds echoing on his end.
"Anyways, the Star of Eden isn't just a blunt weapon. It was from an era where humanity fought against false gods with nothing but their mortal flesh and blood. This cane was created from the remains of one of those false gods."
Sunny stared at the cane in his hand with curiosity.
"A… false god?"
"…There was a man I once knew — one I heavily respected. Long before I, my parents, or my grandparents were born, this man fought against these gods, bringing himself to insanity multiple times in the process. He was the one that killed the being that makes up the Star of Eden — although I didn't know it when I had met him."
Sunny contemplated what he had just heard.
"I'm not sure how strong these false gods were, but this guy sounds pretty powerful."
He must have been quite old too, considering Welt had said that he had been fighting against these false gods before his grandparents were even born.
Welt chuckled again.
"Although I'll admit that he was quite powerful the last time I saw him, I don't believe that he was always like that. The way he made it sound, he must have died a dozen or so times just to defeat the foe that was turned into my cane."
Sunny blinked.
"I'm sorry… did you say die?"
Welt didn't say anything for a moment, mumbling under his breath:
"…So it's not the case for you, huh?"
Welt continued, speaking in a normal tone.
"He never stated it outright, but he heavily implied that he had an ability that brings him back to a previous point in time. Considering his sudden reactions before he tells others about future threats… it wasnt far fetched to assume that he underwent death."
His tone changed again, causing Sunny to believe that he was smiling on the other side.
"You remind me of him, actually."
Sunny frowned. He wasn't a lunatic that faced death every five minutes!
"How so?"
Welt started to list off similarities.
"Your face is the exact same, with the only real difference being your hair and eye color, but I'm aware that that's unnatural. He was much taller than you, but that could be pinned on upbringing. As for personality, they are almost identical. The only difference is the fact that he acted in a matter similar to a messiah."
The moment that Sunny heard that the other person was taller, he grit his teeth in displeasure. Why was he being compared to a god-slaying hero from a time before even Welt was alive?
He sighed.
"Anyways, what does the cane do? You said it isn't just a blunt object."
"Hm? Oh, it's practically a mobile black hole. Don't do anything with it before I get th—"
Sunny immediately cut off the call, staring in horror at the Star of Eden in his hand. Deeper within his gaze, was the familiar glimmer of greed. Jabbing it into the snow, Sunny focused. Black and red energy crackled around him, the ground beneath him shaking.
Suddenly, a mountain multiple kilometers away flattened itself into a pancake, having not been able to withstand the pressure of gravity. He stared at the cane.
'…This is mines now. What else can I do?'
***
Millions of years later, a human floated through the empty void. Within his hand was an ornate cane.
He gazed up. THEY gazed back, feeling a strange sensation since THEY ascended to Aeonhood.
IX, for the first time since becoming the embodiment of Nihility, truly paid attention to a human. The action caused THEM to almost lose THEIR identity as the Nihility… but THEY stopped caring again. IX turned away from the human, wallowing in THEIR meaningless existence.
Sunny stared at the black hole of Nihility, grinning at the Star of Eden. He hadn't had any planets to use it on recently, but he seemed to become quite lucky. He was immortal now, so he needed some way to pass the time. Being of the Divine Rank was quite a hassle sometimes.
Sunny opened his mouth, speaking to his cane.
"Do you think a black hole suck in THE black hole?"
If he had the ability to speak in the vacuum of space, his ridiculous statement might have echoed across the empty void. Instead, Sunny just gripped the Star of Eden, the Divine Key thrumming with energy.
'Guess we'll just have to find out!'