Chapter 05 - Beyond The Gate Of Eternity
939 Words
The moment Aren stepped through the golden portal, everything disappeared.
The village.
The river.
Selene.
His family.
Even the sky itself.
For an instant, there was only light.
Endless light.
It surrounded him from every direction.
Aren felt as though he were falling and flying at the same time.
His body became weightless.
Time seemed meaningless.
Seconds felt like hours.
Hours felt like seconds.
Then suddenly—
The light vanished.
Aren opened his eyes.
And immediately forgot how to breathe.
He stood upon a floating platform made of crystal.
Above him stretched an endless sea of stars.
Not a night sky.
An actual ocean of stars.
Entire galaxies drifted through space like glowing islands.
Massive worlds floated in the distance.
Some larger than suns.
Some surrounded by rings of light.
Others burned with strange colors he had never seen before.
The sight was beyond imagination.
Beyond dreams.
Beyond reality.
"This..."
Aren whispered.
"...is impossible."
A soft voice answered.
"No."
Lyra stood nearby.
Her silver hair moved gently in a cosmic wind.
"This is reality."
Aren slowly turned around.
Thousands of floating pathways connected countless crystal islands.
Gigantic structures rose toward infinity.
Palaces larger than mountains.
Libraries stretching across entire dimensions.
Ancient towers built among stars.
Everything felt divine.
As if he had stepped into the heart of creation itself.
"Where are we?"
Lyra looked toward the horizon.
"This place is called Eternis."
"The Citadel Beyond Time."
"It exists outside ordinary reality."
Aren stared.
"You live here?"
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I suppose you could say that."
For the first time since leaving home, the weight of what he had done truly struck him.
He was gone.
Actually gone.
Green Hollow was now an entire universe away.
His family could not reach him.
Selene could not reach him.
Nobody could.
A strange loneliness appeared in his heart.
Lyra seemed to notice.
"You miss them."
It wasn't a question.
Aren nodded.
"Yeah."
The answer was simple.
Honest.
The goddess looked away.
For a brief moment, sadness appeared in her golden eyes.
Then it vanished.
"That feeling will never disappear."
Aren blinked.
"What?"
"Home."
Her voice became quiet.
"No matter how far you travel."
"No matter how much power you gain."
"You never truly stop missing it."
The words surprised him.
For the first time, Lyra didn't sound like a goddess.
She sounded human.
Lonely.
Before he could ask more, a loud horn echoed across the heavens.
BOOOOOOOOM.
The entire realm shook.
Aren looked up.
"What was that?"
Lyra's expression immediately changed.
The softness vanished.
The Goddess of Eternity returned.
"Stay behind me."
Her voice became cold.
Serious.
Dangerous.
Aren felt a chill run through his spine.
Suddenly countless figures appeared in the sky.
Warriors.
Thousands of them.
Some possessed wings.
Others carried weapons made from stars.
Many radiated power greater than anything Aren had ever felt.
Yet all of them looked terrified.
One warrior landed before Lyra.
He immediately knelt.
"Lady Lyra."
His voice shook.
"The Void has attacked again."
The atmosphere became heavy.
Lyra closed her eyes.
For several seconds she remained silent.
Then she opened them.
Golden light erupted from her body.
The entire cosmos trembled.
Even distant stars seemed to dim.
Aren's eyes widened.
This was the true power of a goddess.
"Show me."
The warrior pointed toward the horizon.
A giant c***k had appeared in space itself.
Darkness poured from within.
Black mist spread across nearby stars.
Anything it touched simply ceased to exist.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
Aren's heart nearly stopped.
It was the same darkness he had seen during Lyra's vision.
The thing devouring worlds.
From inside the c***k came movement.
Something enormous.
A claw.
Larger than mountains.
Then another.
Then countless crimson eyes opened within the darkness.
A roar shook existence.
The sound alone shattered distant planets.
Thousands of warriors immediately prepared for battle.
"What is that?!"
Aren shouted.
Lyra answered without looking away.
"A Void Beast."
The creature emerged further.
Its body seemed endless.
An abomination born from darkness itself.
Every movement distorted reality.
Every breath consumed light.
Aren felt fear unlike anything before.
He was just a farmer.
A normal human.
Standing before something capable of destroying worlds.
Then Lyra stepped forward.
Alone.
One woman facing a monster larger than galaxies.
The Void Beast roared.
The stars shook.
Reality cracked.
Lyra raised one hand.
A single golden symbol appeared above her palm.
The next second—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A pillar of light exploded across the cosmos.
The Void Beast screamed.
Entire sections of its body vanished instantly.
Aren could only stare.
Speechless.
Within seconds, the impossible monster had been reduced to ash.
Nothing remained.
The darkness disappeared.
The c***k in space slowly healed.
Silence returned.
Every warrior in Eternis bowed.
Not out of fear.
Out of respect.
Because they had just witnessed the strongest goddess in existence.
Aren looked at Lyra.
And for the first time understood.
The enemy she fought was not some ordinary threat.
It was a nightmare capable of destroying creation itself.
Meanwhile...
Far away.
Back in Aren's world.
Selene sat alone beside the river.
The place where Aren had disappeared.
Tears still stained her face.
Then the darkness returned.
The same whisper echoed once more.
Closer this time.
More seductive.
More dangerous.
"Do you wish to see him again?"
Selene's hands tightened.
Her heart ached.
"Do you wish to reach the boy you love?"
The shadows around her began moving.
"Then accept my offer."
A crimson eye slowly opened within the darkness.
Watching her.
Waiting.
Smiling.
For the first time...
Selene answered.
"...What must I do?"
And somewhere in the depths of Hell—
Something ancient laughed.
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