“History is such a fascinating subject to explore. My current research is about nations that have long since perished, only remembered through the written word and the bequeathment of memories. Such amazing cultures and technology, lost through the ages. And yet, in every nation, a single figure is mentioned time and time again. I wonder, just who exactly is The Constellation?”

Arch Magus Virgil, Ruler of Augurium

———

The Knight

The Knight arches back, tensing the muscles in its arms, and hurls the spear at Lorelai. It shoots through the air with extreme speed, and she barely manages to dodge at the last second as the spear tears right past her, the wind unleashing an unearthly shriek that echoes through the malignant atmosphere.

Sweat begins to drip down her cheek; nerves overtake her. If she loses focus for even a millisecond in this fight, her death is guaranteed.

“I can’t die here,” Lorelai mutters feverishly. “Not here, not like this.”

The Knight searches around and grabs another blade. After all, in such a corpse-filled battlefield, weapons are in no short supply.

”Gravitas!” Lorelai screams. “Hold it down as much as you can. Use all of your gravity on it or else it’ll start moving again!”

“Damnit,” Gravitas gasps, still recovering from The Knight’s pressure. “To think a day would come when I’d follow the orders of your ilk, but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice.”

Gravitas lifts his mace in the air, gathering and condensing the purple aura into a singular point.

“I call upon The Stars above. Let loose your wrath, and all shall be crushed before your immeasurable weight.”

Gravitas shoots the condensed energy into the air, creating a floating violet mass of energy directly above The Knight.

“Atlas’s Burden!”

The mass of violet energy shoots down a ray of gravitational force, violently crushing down on The Knight and locking it in place. It writhes and struggles to move, but the sheer weight of the ray causes even the ground below it to crumble, letting nothing escape the violet prison.

Meanwhile, Lorelai begins prepping her attack in the air, bringing the aura back onto her blades. She performs an enchanting-like sword dance as the energy spins around her, gradually gaining more and more speed until her image is blurred in a beautiful combination of gold and silver. Every bit of aura inside of her gathers onto the blades, and soon the entire sky is filled with a beautiful mirage of vibrant color.

Her celestial waltz nears its completion, creating a razing whirlwind of light around her. The sky of color joins the whirlwind and conjures a mesmerizing aurora.

“Gravitas, you must cancel your gravity the moment I go in or else I won’t be able to strike it properly!” Lorelai exclaims through the whirlwind.

“I won’t have enough energy to lock it down again once I cancel it!” Gravitas exasperates.

“I’ll end it with this strike!”

She must end it here. After all, she made a promise to survive. To return home safely back to the embrace of the one she loves most.

The whirlwind of light reaches max intensity, and Lorelai conducts her last, final movement in the dance.

“Supernova.”

She launches herself through the air, bypassing the speed of sound and creating a loud shockwave that encompasses the entire battlefield. The light shoots straight towards The Knight and razes everything in its path, the aurora following closely from behind, creating an ethereal trail of color in her wake.

Gravitas cancels Atlas’s Burden, and Lorelai gives one final glance at The Knight as she slashes at it with every fiber of her being.

And final it will be, for Lorelai will never return home ever again.

A split second. A split second of time is all The Knight has between the cancellation of Atlas’s Burden and the collision of the Supernova to move.

That is all it needs.

The Knight leaps into the air with inhuman agility directly above the Supernova, causing her attack to pass right beneath it.

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And in an instant, her neck is cleaved in two, separating her head from the rest of her body. It is a painless end, and Lorelai is unable to process her death before being brought into Cosmos’s loving embrace.

Her corpse crashes onto the ground and ragdolls into a lifeless clump; her beloved twin blades lay crumpled beside her covered in dirt and grime. The shimmering silver and gold auras fade, leaving only the stained swords behind while her head lands onto the earth next to her disgraced body, the helmet falling off to reveal her face still frozen in surprise. Blood pools from her severed orifices, and her armor becomes soaked in filth.

The Knight walks towards her corpse; its every step crunches the earth below and emits a ghastly squelching echo. When it arrives at her ruined remains, it reaches down and grabs the twin blades for itself.

The blades spark and sputter as if trying to reject their captor, but the light eventually fades, and the swords submit themselves towards their new owner. They have no choice. They must obey.

Gravitas can only watch on helplessly, the majority of his strength spent on shackling The Knight. He knows that he stands no chance against it. It’s a struggle just to remain standing.

Even so, he can’t help but feel a twinge of admiration towards its strength. To have the power to easily subdue two of their respective nation’s finest, just where exactly did such a monster come from?

Suddenly, an urge of realization dawns on his face. He lets out a boisterous laugh, finally deciphering the truth.

“To think,” Gravitas rasps. “That I would stand face to face with The Constellation itself. It appears that the warriors of the past failed in subduing you. After seeing your strength first hand, I must say that I’m not surprised.”

Gravitas musters every last ounce of his strength and imbues his weapon with a violet aura once more. No longer trying to survive, he simply wishes to face his end honorably in combat, all of his respect contained within his final blow.

“Remember my name, o’ scourge of the earth, for I am Gravitas. Proud warrior of Nox Caelum!”

But his pleas fall on deaf ears. After all, it is not The Constellation he is facing.

Just a mere shell.

The true atrocity remains deep in slumber, ignorant of the world outside.

Gravitas charges at The Knight and is met with a swift end; a single slash of the Solga is all it takes to cleave him in twain. The smoldering aura around the sword melts the armor’s defenses, leaving only the cauterized remains of the former commander to collapse onto the earth.

The spiked mace falls to the floor pitifully, and the last remnants of the violet aura dissipates until nothing is left. The Knight once again claims its prize.

It sheathes the twin swords and mace and resumes its march. Drawn by a presence within the Alexandria, it heads inside, destroying the emergency traps and defenses hidden within. Although there are leftover Polus elites guarding The Key, seeing the twin blades drains their morale, and they are left powerless as The Knight continues its indiscriminate slaughter.

A small woman approaches it amidst its rampage, her face stained with tears, and she collapses onto the floor with a despairing cry.

“Lorelai…” she whispers. “You didn’t keep your promise.”

The Knight silences her and resumes its mindless trudge through the fortress. It is close now. Soon, its duty will be completed.

Finally, it makes its way into the very center of the Alexandria. A small room appears before it filled with toys and decorations, and a crib lies in the middle holding a slumbering baby. The Comet innocently sleeps, unaware of the battle that has raged around him.

The Knight steps forward and prepares to claim his life. However, the moment before the strike can land, the baby opens its eyes, alerted to its presence.

The star-speckled irises in its eyes displays a wondrous nebula of space and galaxies; a snapshot of the heavens above and the realm that humanity once called home. It echoes a song of love, of tragedy, and of grim stoicism. Life will never be the same again. It can never return to those bygone eras.

The baby reaches out towards the frozen Knight, his tiny hands full of curiosity, and he lets out a loud coo of amusement as he stares at the pretty colors surrounding the blades.

At that moment, The Shell disappears.

And The Constellation awakens.