After the festival, Fedrick set course for the Outer Reaches—the uncharted realm past the civilized stars, where the Laws of the Universe frayed and reality warped.
His goal: learn the Law of Voidbound—the final prerequisite to unlock the second form of the Aurealis Myrrh.
Only two beings in history had ever wielded the Voidbound Law.
Both had gone mad.
Fedrick arrived at the edge of space, where light no longer behaved correctly. Planets drifted sideways. Time trembled. Sounds bled into color. There was no up or down—only depth.
Even the warship's systems struggled.
[WARNING: Voidbound Territory Detected]
System Functionality: 46%
Host Sanity Integrity: 88%
Recommend retreat.
Fedrick ignored it. "Show me."
He stepped outside the ship—into vacuum without protection. Into a realm that didn't care about gods or systems.
Inside the Void, he saw them.
Silhouettes of lost cultivators. Whispering memories of ascendants who'd failed to comprehend the Law. They lunged at him, merging their minds with his, trying to overwhelm him with sorrow, rage, emptiness.
He fought back—not with brute force, but with identity.
"I am Fedrick Vaelthorn," he declared. "My will is not yours. My fate is self-written."
[Law Recognition Attempt: Success]
[Assimilating Law of Voidbound — Concept: Self vs Oblivion]
Trait Gained: Unshakable Core
Skill Unlocked: "Void Echo Step" — Allows the host to exist in multiple overlapping states of probability for 3 seconds
He opened his eyes.
The Void trembled.
The Aurealis Myrrh transformed.
Runes along its surface bent and curved, expanding. Star-cores ignited. The vessel doubled in size, now pulsing with the Voidbound Law.
[Warship Evolution: Phase II — "Eclipse-Class Sovereign Form"]
New Feature Unlocked: Reality Wound Cannon
New Feature Unlocked: Quantum Mantle Cloak
Serenya, watching from the control deck, caught her breath. "It's a new godship…"
Fedrick returned, eyes shadowed with knowledge he hadn't possessed before.
He sat beside her. "We're leaving the Outer Reaches."
"Where?"
"To the world where Laws are born," he said. "To the realm where the First Flame sleeps."
"And after that?"
He took her hand.
"We go to war."