(Cyrus' POV)

When I emerged on the other side of the door, the entire area morphed into something completely different once again. A walkway extended toward an arena suspended in a swirling void. I tread cautiously, knowing that the slightest misstep could send me tumbling into the dark abyss below. Like before, the cosmic energy here was erratic. Having learned my lesson, I kept my guard up, cloaking myself in a layer of cosmic energy.

When I reached the end of the walkway, I didn't hesitate to step onto the vast arena. Almost instantly, the ground trembled, and a loud cracking sound erupted from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I watched as the arena severe itself from the walkway.

"Of course, it breaks off," I muttered as the platform drifted further into the void.

As the arena floated, countless cosmic bodies began appearing out of thin air.

"What is going on?" I said aloud, shielding my eyes while they adjusted to the sudden influx of light. Once my vision cleared, the scene resembled the same celestial expanse where my Starbirth trial had taken place. But this time, something felt off. It wasn't as inviting—I couldn't quite pinpoint why.

Then, out of nowhere, an immense pressure weighed down on me, forcing me to one knee.

"What the hell was that?" I thought, frantically scanning the area for the source of the force. My senses stretched through the void, but all I saw were thousands of cosmic entities floating aimlessly. Struggling to move, I ran through every possible explanation in my mind, yet each one led to a dead end.

Seeing the muscles of my astral form bulging just to keep me upright was not reassuring.

"If I were attacked by any type of astral behemoth right now, I'd be a goner," I thought grimly.

I channeled cosmic energy into my body, hoping it would help me move. It worked, but only slightly—and I couldn't afford to waste my energy like this. With nothing to fight and no immediate danger, I decided to stop resisting the pressure.

"There has to be something I'm missing," I muttered, lying on my back and mentally reviewing every fact and variable I'd encountered so far.

A faint hiss echoed through the void, growing louder by the second. It felt like it was coming from one of the celestial bodies floating behind me.

Slowly, I fought against the crushing pressure, careful not to waste too much energy. But as I focused, I realized—the noise wasn't coming from the floating celestial body. It was coming from below me.

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Peering over the edge of the platform, I saw a massive sphere materializing as if it had only just decided to reveal itself. A dark, piercing red glow emerged from an opening in the sphere. An overwhelming, malicious intent seeped from within.

Then, slithering out of the core-like mass, a long, black creature emerged.

The beast was at least fifty meters in length, gliding through the void like it was swimming through water. My gaze traced every inch of its terrifying form—serrated spikes jutted from its obsidian scales, forming a nearly impenetrable defense. It had a massive skull that was adorned with two curved horns spiraling backwards like a twisted crown that radiated an eerie aura. Along with its piercing red eyes, it also housed a mouth large enough to snap a truck in half. But the most terrifying part? Its fangs.

Pitch black.

Not solid, but as if it were formed from the very void itself.

I had heard stories about creatures like this before. My uncle had told me of the battles he fought against astral behemoths in his youth and this behemoth fit the description of one his stories.

"A Voidfang Basilisk," I muttered under my breath.

From what I remembered, these creatures rarely appeared in the physical world. "Maybe it has something to do with this place being its natural habitat," I speculated.

As I observed the basilisk, another sound caught my attention—a faint sizzling from my right. Straining to turn my head, I noticed movement inside a nearby cosmic entity.

I hadn't seen it before, but then again, I had been too focused on figuring out how to move.

Suddenly, claws burst through what looked like a crystalline cocoon. A prismatic, glass-like head emerged.

"What the fuck is that?" I whispered, trying to stay unnoticed.

The creature pulled itself free and let out a deafening roar—directly at the approaching basilisk.

Now that it had fully emerged, I could see its entire form.

It looked like a dragon.

Its body was semi-ethereal, shifting between solid and gaseous states as if it had just been born from a nebula. The edges of its form blurred into swirling cosmic dust, giving the illusion that it was constantly dissolving into the void. Unlike a traditional dragon, it had no wings, yet it moved like a serpent, undulating gracefully toward the basilisk.

The two great astral behemoths were on a collision course, both radiating an overwhelming amount of cosmic energy. Sensing their cores, I knew immediately—I was nowhere near their level. Both of them had already reached the second stage of evolution and were on the verge of something higher.

The best thing I could do was stay out of the way and figure out how to escape this part of the rift.

As I peered over the edge, watching the inevitable clash unfold, I noticed something else—the crushing pressure on my body had weakened. The farther the prismatic drake moved away, the easier it became to move.

"Was that thing causing the pressure? Even while in hibernation?" I thought.

But the more I considered it, the more I realized—no, it wasn't just the drake's cosmic energy.

The pressure was coming from the drake itself.

The pressure was a completely different source of power and domination. It was hard to pinpoint exactly.

It was almost as if it had its own... gravity.

Realization struck like a lightning bolt.

"Why didn't I figure that out earlier? That's basic science. Every celestial entity has its own gravitational force and field. I just never encountered creatures with this much mass before, especially in an environment that does not have the same effect on my body as the physical realms gravity does."