Chapter 10: The Divine Gambit
**The Ascent to Eternity**
The air crackled with residual energy as the Eclipse Sisters, Nyx and Helia, opened a rift to the Divine Realm—a plane of existence where time spiraled like liquid gold and mountains floated atop clouds of starlight. Li Yunxiao stepped through, his gold-and-shadow tattoos shimmering in response to the realm's oppressive aura. Seraphina followed, her dagger gleaming with stolen celestial energy.
"Try not to gawk, scholar," she teased, though her violet eyes widened at the kaleidoscopic sky. "We're here to kill a goddess, not starve at a banquet."
Lyra adjusted her scorched armor, her emerald gaze wary. "Stay sharp. Even the air here bites."
Zara materialized from a shadow, her heterochromatic eyes glinting. "I'll take point. If Astraea's here, she'll be where the screams are loudest."
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#### **New Adversary: The Celestial Arbiter**
The group traversed a bridge of crystallized light, only to be halted by a towering figure clad in judicial robes that writhed like living parchment.
**Valthor, the Celestial Arbiter**
- **Appearance**: Valthor's androgynous form radiated austere authority. Their marble-pale skin was etched with glowing silver runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. Their hair, a cascade of ink-black quills, framed a face devoid of eyes—only a hollow void where their gaze should be. Their voice echoed with the weight of a thousand verdicts, each word etching itself into the air. "**The Golden Mind stands accused of cosmic treason. Sentence: erasure.**"
- **Personality**: Ruthlessly impartial, Valthor embodied the Divine Realm's merciless laws. They viewed Yunxiao's existence as a disruption to cosmic order, their "trial" a prelude to execution.
Nyx stepped forward, her scythe humming. "The Core's theft voids your jurisdiction, Arbiter."
Valthor's void-eyes narrowed. "**The thief Astraea… is beyond your comprehension.**"
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#### **Ecchi Interlude: The Binding Chains**
Captured by Valthor's sentient chains, Yunxiao found himself bound alongside Helia, the solar Sovereign's molten armor searing his skin.
"Cozy," Helia purred, her flames licking his neck. "Bet you've never been this close to a star."
Seraphina, watching from a hidden alcove, smirked. "Rescue him *after* he stops blushing."
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#### **Astraea's Dominion**
The Divine Realm's heart was a fractured palace where Astraea hovered above the stolen Core, her galactic form now fused with its power. The Eclipse Sisters attacked, their combined energies clashing in supernovas of light and dark.
**Astraea, the Ascendant**
- **Transformed Appearance**: Astraea's body had become a constellation of collapsing stars, her voice a black hole's roar. "**You cling to mortality like insects to rot. Witness divinity!**"
Yunxiao tapped into his scars, channeling both Void and Core energy to disrupt her form. "You're not a goddess—you're a parasite!"
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#### **The Eclipse Sisters' Betrayal**
As Astraea faltered, Nyx and Helia seized the Core, their alliance shattered.
"Balance requires sacrifice," Nyx hissed, her scythe aimed at Yunxiao.
Helia's flames engulfed Lyra. "Nothing personal, mortal. We'll make it quick."
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#### **Yunxiao's Revelation**
Cornered, Yunxiao's scars erupted, merging his consciousness with the Core. Visions flooded him—the First Golden Mind, his ancestor, forging the Core not as a weapon, but as a *cage* for a primordial evil Astraea now unleashed.
"The Core isn't power… it's a lock," he gasped. "And she's breaking it."
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