There's A Change In The World

Far away in the west, but the closest and strongest organizations other than the major organizations to the Rocaloi Academy. Within the most glorious and respected dome of natural array formation.

In the castle of the queen of the Nulla Kingdom, in her chambers' secret cultivation room, a dried-up body was sitting in the lotus position and with her eyes closed. Her skin continued t remain shriveled and without life. But at a particular moment, her body began pulsing here and there, bombing her skin with vitality again. Like the blowing of one's lips to fill a balloon with air, but at an instantaneous pace, her body regained the beautiful brown she used to have and even seemed more enchanting than ever before.

But that new enchanting appearance lasted for some minutes before returning to normal. However, the Power Energy fluctuations in her body were what truly had changed! She was no longer an Obsidiafying realm cultivator but an Ashes Apperception realm cultivator!!

She remained sitting in her secret hideout, her gasps audible ever so slightly as she opened her eyes abruptly and with the understanding of something flashing past them. She lifted her head slightly, and her eyes seemingly looked through everything and landed somewhere - on someone.

‘I was about to come to you… my Ciemnosc, milord.’ She thought to herself, her facial expression serene as she peacefully allowed the new incoming darkness to come towards her and, overwhelming the obscure black surrounding her within her hideout, engulfed her and turned all of the black into everpure darkness.

. . .

Ciemnosc kept on screaming muffledly, his face already terrifying to look at. And should anyone actually manage to do so, then everything they believed in would break, and their minds would shudder until becoming lost in the darkness he emanated.

Like tentacles, like endless tendrils and shapeless limbs of darkness, as shadows surrounded him, they spread over the entire Region, reaching it all without missing one bit. His Claws Out were already over 7 meters long but still only about 2 fingers’ width. They looked predominantly creepy, spine-tweaking, and soul-stirring.

They were behind and below his body, facing the ground at various angles when it came to the claws of his arms. And the sky and the faraway giant hills and some barely visible mountains so far away, Ciemnosc himself could barely see them in their entirety.

At this moment, his inner vision had blurred out again but was beginning to show clarity again. Ciemnosc’s face, which appeared terrifying to a degree it could terrify anything, and all in between calmed down, relaxed, and became charming and so very handsome too.

Just as his face was calm and his eyes looking up into the sky endlessly, his inner vision showered him with the tiny burst of light hidden deeply within him. And at that moment, everything inside him exploded, and the accumulated rage lurking all this long broke out of its confinements!!

“RUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOGGGHHRRWAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!”

… … … … … … … … WONG~~~~~~~~... !!!!!!!!

Ciemnosc’s scream rang out, just once and just for as long as it lasted before being cut off by none other but Ciemnosc himself. When it was cut off, everything that consisted of this ‘Kingdom’ was invaded by everpure darkness!

Explñoding within him was the burst of light, which started being hugged, embraced, and tamed by the darkness within him. It became ‘his’ and gave birth to an impossible, unstoppable event.

Ciemnosc directly witnessed his ‘that’ something. It showed itself, at last, looking like a strand of endless energy, but not ‘energy’ in itself, something else… something more. Something extraordinary!!

It seemed small but was endless in truth. And though it appeared fully covered by Ciemnosc’s eyesight within his inner self, but so was his inner self, and he could see it all at all times. The world outside him was immediately made out of pure darkness, just like his inner self. And just as much, Ciemnosc’s eyes had become fully pitch-black, yet his body began bleeding out, and this time his naturally dark blood.

This was it, the change. What Ciemnosc had lacked the most and was the most ignorant of, despite it being right there before his very eyes and nose. And he felt genuine.

But after his scream, his body fully turned pitch-black, leaving any spot of his clothes, skin, or hair of any other possible color and reality. Silence predominated. Everything. Around Ciemnosc. The Region. This world… The world.

… Far away from the Kingdom Ciemnosc was in, where darkness seemed to engulf the entire planet.; this ‘Kingdom’. The starless surroundings with only a ring of suns surrounding the Kingdom, giving it light every day and taking it away every night. The circle of suns was not only threatened by that darkness, which grew and grew until it devoured even the already unmistakable emptiness of everything that existed in space.

They were already being turned off one by one, as thin tentacles without substance nor volume directly touched them and consumed their light in less than an instant as if it was never there in the first place, to begin with. And as if they owned those suns. Hence, they took everything from them as it is supposed and consumed it as simply as it could ever be described.

Usually, whenever one of these types of suns dimmed and died, they would leave behind a frozen sphere of pure energy to be shared among the Elements of the world and then, in the future, reborn as a large star or a growing sun. Yet, the moment these suns encircling the Kingdom were touched, tainted by the darkness that overwhelmed the universe itself, they instantly divided and disappeared, showing no crack or implosion about to occur.

… twinkle, shaaah~.

Close by, a static yet impossibly-fast moving star-like body streaked across the universe, trillions of kilometers from the darkness that had already engulfed the Kingdom and its suns in less than an instant.

Twinkle. As if it suddenly noticed something about the darkness. The star-like body stopped, halted, and seemed to ponder. From it, a little thought was driven to a conclusion. ‘It will devour everything! How can something like this exist? Ah! It’s done by a living being?! What kind of living being should ever be capable of this?!’

‘Might as well… And here I thought another few tens of Archeons would be needed before finding somebody… but I have to stop it. I can’t let this devouring spread to the other Universes. It’s already stealing pure energy from their Galaxies’ Kingdoms and even… woah! Even Elements from the universe itself! I have to stop it!’

After the star-like body had these thoughts, it and within an instant, traveled an untold distance to the Kingdom enshrouded in total, pure darkness. It fearlessly entered the impossible, that everpure darkness. It coursed, covered with its star-like energy, down and through the darkness while time was as if stopped. In reality, however, it was just too fast that barely any iota went by.

Yet. In this iota of time, the Kingdom’s darkness spread out. Just like the star-like body thought it would. It had already made connections, link-like limbs that went out of the Kingdom’s spatial territory and directly went far away, at a distance much farther than even that of the star-like body, traveling through space nearby.

The speed of those ‘links’ were tremendously fast, as if they were always there, not in the form of tunnels or shapeless limbs, but everywhere. It only needed the thoughts of this everpure darkness to connect to each other this way, basically instantaneously.

When the star-like body reached the very core of this everpure darkness, it found a naked body of even more atramentous monstrosity. It was overly excited, like a kid who had recuperated a long-lost doggy it left on a random road ten years ago.

Before long, and before anything else could happen with the same speed as before. The star-like body seemed to condense its authentic body. It was humanoid and was pretty small, but not enough to be a little child, almost about the age of Ciemnosc. It seemed to rub its hands, raised them, and then as if Ciemnosc was a pool of darkness for her to be eaten forever, she took a dip after forming a slight arch flying right above the everpure dark body.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The humanoid starry figure illuminated by various colorful and excessively beautiful, scintillating colors disappeared into Ciemnosc’s body. Then the universe seemed to tremble, and Ciemnosc’s shout from before, seemed to resound everywhere. It went from the Kingdom that was shrouded in darkness to all possible angles. Limitlessly penetrating into the world.

“... RUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOGGGHHRRWAAAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!!!...”

… In a place that held the most beautiful places and people of all that exists and there is, possibly the most beautiful woman in the world was meditating on a praying mat in front of the figure of a Preternatural Fox with their figure looking somewhat humanoid, but remaining animalistic.

White hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes, the beautiful woman had long, wide white furry, foxy ears. When she heard something, despite it being less than an echo, her eyes widened fully for the first time in her life, and both her pupils and irises shrank to atomical levels.

Her body trembled, and her entire recollection of all shocks, surprises, and fears in her life appeared before her eyes, within her mind and soul in an instant. But, despite going through each of them, her mesmerizing beautiful, and cute countenance remained like that for even days to come… as what she heard was something she couldn’t discover nor ever have thought of.

… The same happened in other places from different people.

… One place ruled by the generous and people-loving rulers of the last Eons, with an atmosphere around its boundless territory filled with amicable peace. A very long and scaly humanoid feline with cat ears and whiskers but a pair of reptile’s eyes, claws, and tail. He also reacted the same, but like the rest, everything became silent. Though some investigations were made, it was merely a smallish procedure of ‘just in case’ scenario.

… Another place ruled by oppressing others, not just those weaker than themselves, within or outside their own rule. A large and exceptionally bulky minotaur with donkey ears and hooves at the back of his hands as protectors reacted and became quite perplexed by the empty echo.

… One other place, ruled by the everpresent corruption and greed, a male human with short bright orange, dull brown eyes, and creamy, pale white skin was just revising some huge thing’s blueprint when he lifted his head up and became shocked to his core.

… Yet another place, this time ruled by the oldest and most respected territory and perhaps one of the oldest races to ever exist. A rule that has always been majestic, sovereign, and untouchable through all Changes. The same response occurred, and this time, the Emperor of this Empire fell into a long, distant silence to contemplate, unlike never before. The Emperor’s body, as any other of his Race, was of a blue that could intermittently turn transparent or see-thru.

… There was this other place where its rule was projected as might and respectful death. Its ruler, a burly man with the words ‘might’ and ‘power’ deeply marked all over his body as one of the strongest powerhouses in all that exists and there is. He had a head with short diminutive hair but looked exceptionally handsome and manly. Yet, as he looked at a pair of lovebirds, his eyes softened, something that was never seen otherwise.

When the empty howling echoed, only he could sense it, and thought it gathered his attention and even made him frown, he quickly turned to look back at the lovebirds before him. A touch of pain emitted through them instantly washed away, a side effect of being shocked to his core.

… Lastly, a place basically where it all happened and from where it all occurred. There were 3 figures seated in a dining hall, which was unusually of regular size and for a family banquet at most.

One of them was the father, a middle-aged, handsome man with suaveness. The power coming from him was as terrifying as the other 2 figures in the dining hall, as they seated around an extreme of the dining table.

Of the 2 figures, one seemed like the younger brother and the other, naturally, the older brother. The older-looking brother was a lavish handsome, mighty handsome, and charming young man. But had virility all over his appearance, and he wore star-shaped fragments around the collar of his incredibly magnificent obscured blue suit. The younger one looked gentle and calming, just as handsome as his brother and father.

All of them had black hair and eyes, had a white skin color, and were simply the embodiment of manliness as they looked at each other warmly. The father had pressure come out of his eyes and set on his sons. And he was ‘more than’ proud seeing them go through it without sweating even imaginarily in their heads. Though they were probably cursing him.

“Hahahaha,” the father chuckled, content. “Holy Son, what do you think of your older brother, hum?”

Being stared at by his father, the younger brother didn’t look pleased or pressured. He looked quite calm. But as he turned his eyes to look at his older brother, who looked at him from the lower corner of his eyes, the younger brother’s eyes revealed cowardice before setting once more on his father’s face. The older brother’s back was straight and sharp like a sword, as his eyes continued to look at his younger brother silently and honestly amicably.

“Em, please elaborate, Patriarch.” The younger brother mentioned in honorifics, only then did the Patriarch heave a sigh, realizing his doings. Slapping his left thigh and looking at the ceiling in a little self-blame, the father spoke, “I only used ‘Holy Son’ because of the pride it brings me to call you like that, my son. Very well, let’s see…”

The younger brother nodded after seeing his father look at his face expectantly. The father then pondered as he grasped his chin with his right hand and began massaging it even. After just 3 seconds of pondering, the father’s face illuminated, and looked warmly at his youngest son. “There is the pacification of our Universal Lands. Your brother did that in a little more than 10 years, he sure took some time in the Sinvonnia Kingdom, slowing him down, but he managed to live up to his word.”

“He managed to keep our agendas hidden and our allies. The rich ones are still selling us resources. It’s a pity they don’t send them anymore. We no longer need them since there is no unrest within our organizational territory. But, ah, we can now focus on planning for the next hundreds of thousands of years of battles. Just like they are. We are no longer at such a disadvantage.”

“Mn, your older brother is nowadays renowned everywhere, and our citizens and cultivators worship him. Without him, the remnants of the Great Sage’s rule would still be forcing their lives into a disgusting short life. Now, they can live a bit more.” The father concluded saying before looking at his son’s face, seeing nothing but a neutral face.

“... It is true that Older Brother is an amazing… everything. He can do things going from administration to logistics and be our army’s general. Older Brother also has a heart and can feel like any other person. He isn’t a thoughtless machine that works like the Great Sage’s impossible-to-respect warriors.” The younger brother said after a light but lasting pause.

“Hahahaha, those are my sons!”

“Soon, a few hundred thousand years from now, when these battles begin, we will get your older brother to form his organization first. I am old, I can’t let you both just be passed down this mantle, and I will remain here. It would be best to not have you punks from fighting each other and wanting to kill me, hahahaha!” The father slapped both his thighs this time, his mouth opening slightly wide and more than necessary in joy. But then, his youngest son added, his tone gentle but his demeanor no longer calm, but confrontational.

“But it is also his especially latest doing that unnerves me, as the Holy Son of the Clan, that I think Patriarch needs to think it over about Older Brother.” The young son said, his eyes narrowing and looking with a gesture towards his older brother. The father frowned, becoming aware something must have happened during the last decade. “What is it you are speaking of?”

“Yes, little brother, what are you talking about?” The older brother suddenly said, turning to look at his younger brother with a slightly dancing chin and eyes narrowing a little.

“As I said before, Older Brother feels like a person, not a machine. So he makes mistakes that even ordinary folks would. Yet errs worse than them in order to respond to those mistakes. And now, I’m sure that he has caused great damage. I’m even confident to say he has sowed karma we cannot face-off, and is the leg-”

“Patriarch! Saint Son! Holy Son!” An attendant came rushing in. He looked at each of the 3 figures, enunciating the second one as he looked first at the older brother and then at the younger brother. He kept silent after entering their beloved and warm dinner hall, waiting to be allowed to speak and continue.

“Speak,” the Patriarch commanded right away. He knew that for an attendant to barge in without any notice, it had to be something serious to be considered. The attendant deeply and respectfully bowed before nodding, then began elaborating.

“Honored existences, there are reports of an… an… an anomaly within the Destripen Phase Starlight Universe!” The father and sons frowned. That was awfully close to…

But the attendant continued, daring not to take more than a moment to pause and recompose himself. “In the Broken Hound Small Galaxy…”

“!” - “!?” - “!” The 3 responded just the same, just more seriously this time. Especially the oldest son.

“Directly coming from Sinvonnia Kingdom, we can’t see what it is! O- ou- our sensors are worthless, they aren’t working somehow, and we can’t send people there without protocol. Venerable Ancestor Haotian has asked me to hurry and ask the Patriarch for a response. What should we do?!”

“!!” - “?!!!” - “!!” Once again, the Patriarch, Saint Son, and Holy Son reacted. This time, however, they became shell-shocked. Even more so as they felt like a howl had just passed through their ears.

“Is it a bad omen?!” The Patriarch muttered loudly before walking to the attendant and beginning to relay his information to move for an investigation after a month. Even though these Saint and Holy Sons were some of the most talented and promising favored ones in all that exists and there is, this was the Clan that the Patriarch commanded, and nothing could change that.

“This needs to be prevented! Fat- Patriarch, please immediately send people to ensure their safety!!” The Holy Son exclaimed, imploring as he made long strides towards his father, which he was thankfully heard by his father.

‘... That can- can’t… be…’ Behind, and without their notice, the Saint Son began to sweat, his eyes shed sharp, crystal-shining and thin tears that streaked down his skin and clothes without diminishing in size, in the slightest.

***

Oh so far away. Destripen Phase Starlight-ranked Universe, in the Borken Hound Small-ranked Galaxy. Outside the spatial territory of the Sinvonnia Kingdom by at least a few spatial roads.

An enormous spaceship came into being as it zoomed in from the distance. It appeared, making an inaudible ‘futomp’ noise within space, stopping to contemplate… just about nothing.

…

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Let It Rain's Note: Welcome to the game. Hope you liked the prologue.