Lynch floated in the void, wrapped in deep, profound darkness.
There was no light, no sound, as if all things had returned to nothingness, leaving only his individual self, “I,” existing in the entire world.
Having already experienced the River of Time and the space beyond the Silver Gate, Lynch did not panic. Relaxing both body and mind, he floated quietly in the endless darkness, savoring a tranquility rare since his transmigration.
Time lost all meaning within the chaos; it might have been a single second or billions of years. Immersed in this state, Lynch had nearly forgotten even the concept of “I.” But just then, light tore through the chaos, and an endless galaxy appeared, studding the dark abyss into a starlit night sky.
Appearing both at the distant edge of the universe and right before his eyes, the brilliant stars began to shift as if pulled by an unseen force, condensing under Lynch’s gaze into a human silhouette crafted from starlight.
It was merely an outline, yet distinctly vivid—the silhouette of a lady in a dignified floor-length gown, her long hair cascading down her back. A crown-like headband rested on her head, and her hand held a scepter wrapped in brilliant starlight as she gazed at Lynch across the night sky.
She simply stood there silently, making no movement or sound. Her face remained unseeable, yet a solemn majesty radiated from her starlight form, pressing upon him with an intangible weight.
His heart pounded and his veins tightened as the weight settled over Lynch’s mind, making him intensely nervous.
This was not the terror he had felt upon hearing Mulsith-ha’s howl. It was more like the realization of one’s own insignificance and fragility when looking up at towering mountains or soaring monuments—an instinct that compelled one to bow, offering humility and reverence.
In that moment, Lynch understood that he was witnessing greatness, witnessing majesty, witnessing... a god.
Goddess of the Night, Lord of Starlight, Queen of Darkness, Master of Mystery.
Wielding the two exclusive authorities over the night and the stars, she was the head of the night deities in the Mythological Era and one of the three major gods who had been the first to awaken at the end of the Third Age.
Nyx, the Goddess of the Night.
The instant he realized this, a soundless voice arrived in his mind along with a divine thought, cold and deep as a frigid night.
“Lynch Levive, follower of the Crimson Moon. I shall give you a choice now.”
“Hmm?” The cold, indifferent tone made Lynch’s heart sink, and an ominous foreboding welled up inside him. ‘Neighbor, neighbor.’
Yet his mind remained dead silent. The expected response of “I’m here” never came.
“Save your breath, pathetic mortal. You have no idea what you have done. The moment you stepped into my domain, you lost her forever. She was never meant to awaken; this world does not belong to her. I have already returned her to slumber in the Dreamlands, so you need not dwell on her any longer. You would do better to think of your own fate.” The voice grew even colder, carrying a bone-chilling frost. “I take no pleasure in tormenting mortals, so I am willing to grant you a choice. Sever your bond with her of your own accord right now, and I shall allow you to return to the mortal world alive. Though you will lose your soul-twisting power forever, you will at least live out the rest of your natural life. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to erase you. Only by doing so can I guarantee she never awakens again.”
Dead silence fell over the void once more. Lynch remained silent for a long moment before he suddenly chuckled and shook his head.
“Aunt Nyx, this game isn’t funny at all. I’ll admit, her lack of response caught me off guard. But she told me that no matter where I am, she will be with me, and that not even a god could sever the bond between us. If I hadn’t just confirmed that with her a moment ago, I might have actually fallen for it.”
Lynch’s tense body relaxed, and he said with a relaxed smile,
“I decided to trust her a long time ago, so I won’t easily doubt her judgment. Since she believes you are trustworthy to her, then you must be. You’re simply using some other method to prevent me from reaching her. I don’t know what method it is, but I doubt you can block her—you can only interfere with me, making me feel as though our connection has been severed. For instance, making me dream, dreaming that I can’t reach her. Ah, right, I get it now. You are the Goddess of the Night, which means you most likely hold authority over dreams as well. Crafting a dream for me is far too easy for you. And as for why I could perceive a deity directly without suffering any ill effects—that’s because I’m contacting you through the buffer of a dream, isn’t it?”
A cold sneer quickly echoed in his mind. “You are clever and calm. You seem quite confident in your judgment.”
“Of course. Ever since I awakened, the reason I’ve survived this long—aside from her support—is my composure and judgment. I believe I can keep moving forward relying on them.”
“Regardless of whether your guess is accurate, she cannot help you right now. You still face the same choice: voluntarily sever your bond with her and let her return to slumber in the Dreamlands, or have me sever it for you and send you both back into sleep together.” The silhouette of starlight slowly turned to face Lynch directly, and the intangible weight spiked dramatically. “She may have told you I harbor no malice toward her, but did she ever mention how I feel about you? Why don’t you use that clever, calm head of yours to deduce your fate?”
“Are you serious, Aunt Nyx?” Lynch’s smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression. “Do you really want me dead? No, my phrasing was off. I should ask: do you really want me dead right now?”
The unexpected question caught the cold voice off guard, plunging her into silence, while the pressure emanating from the starlight figure noticeably eased.
“I definitely won’t sever my bond with her. Quite literally, I don’t even know how to, nor do I want to learn. If you really want me dead right now, hurry up. I’m in a hurry. It’s late, and I want to get some sleep tonight—wait, I suppose I’m already sleeping right now. Whatever. Since I’m betting you don’t want me dead right now, I’ll skip the ceremony and lay it straight. Truth is, coming to meet you this time, I also wanted to talk to you alone. There are things I don’t want my neighbor to hear. Nothing malicious, I just don’t want her listening in.”
“Why do you make such a bet?”
The cold voice softened instead. The starlight silhouette sat down upon a throne that materialized from nothingness, and a chair appeared behind Lynch as well.
Lynch did not stand on ceremony. He sat right down, lit his pipe in a relaxed manner, crossed his legs, and took a few puffs before sighing.
“This morning, I caught wind of some forbidden knowledge. Very dangerous stuff. Try as I might not to overthink, thoughts are hard to control, and I couldn’t help but piece together a few secrets regarding the Supreme. If I’m not mistaken, the resurrection process for you twelve major gods is actually quite similar to what I’m experiencing right now, isn’t it?”
"..."
“Gathering divine authorities one by one, eventually stepping into legend, mastering all the powers of a fallen god, and ultimately walking toward the Supreme. That’s the path, right? But what comes after? Who is the one reaching the Supreme? Is it me, who endured all those hardships, or is it the Supreme itself? And what happens to the me who went through all that trouble?”
"..."
“So you see, when she said you harbored no malice toward her, but not necessarily toward me—that statement was spot on. You do want me dead. But my bet was also correct: not right now, but at the very end of the journey. Now that she isn’t around, why don’t we lay our cards on the table? Am I right, Aunt Nyx?”
Rate on N.U.
