SECOND INTERLUDE

Three months ago, Terra Para, Ascendancy System

I stepped out of what one day would be called null space, and my feet touched the brilliant, azure surface of the Terra Para Shard.

The headquarters of the Order of the Radiant Knights.

Home.

I breathed deeply, the evanescence of my body again present, and cast my gaze around. The Shard was as grand as the one on Utopia Draconis, a crystal mountain towering over the grey, lifeless expanses of Terra Para. During the centuries of the Order's stewardship over this unique landmark many edifices and structures had been erected. Houses, workshops, barracks, gardens, training grounds, cosmodromes, plazas, factories, monuments, libraries and museums, all those and more constituted the largest community and safe haven the Radiant Knights had since the Dragon Independence War. It was the heart and soul of an organization which had endured and assisted in galaxy-wide conflicts spanning centuries of history.

It was the home of the most enlightened individuals in the Sector.

Individuals, who I was sure would come this time around and see reason, instead of casting out revolutionary, nay, visionary ideas merely out of fear.

I was wrong.

My sudden arrival startled my former comrades. Though I had been cast out by the very people I returned now to, they gave me a warm welcome, in light of the circumstances. They asked for Her, of course. I said nothing, biting down the hellish screams struggling to burst out from my burning soul. Instead, I drew the power of my grandest vision, and heralded before them the new, final, Great Age I was going to bring upon Creation. I told them Salvation was upon us All, and we were soon to become One. Forever.

Oh, how foolish they were.

The merest of pauses was their only response. After that instant, they fell upon me in absolute earnest, in complete unison. They were the wisest individuals of the galaxy; and they were also the deadliest, and most powerful, save for the greatest of dragons. And though it burdened their hearts, they carried out any hard decisions to the end.

Yet I was prepared for such mindless, reality-bound rejection. Saddened, yet prepared. I summoned the entirety of my existence, the very definition of my being, and cast it into the mirror of the Universe to magnify its light a thousandfold. I flared with the greatest, purest radiance of the stars themselves, a Beacon for all the souls in the world, an Avatar of the Great Cosmos itself. With merely a gesture, I controlled everything: I foiled their attacks, averted their powers, prevented their retreat, and broke their resistance. My Will was Law, and with that gesture I bade them become Enlightened, see the One Truth. They were not ready for Ascension; each one burst into a brilliant spark of pure Essence, their individuality severed, yet their Spirit Enduring.

My own soul was swiftly evaporating into the ephemeral song of Entropy, due to the terminality of my own actions. To keep the flame alight inside me, I took the warmth of others, forever merging them into my Pattern. Despite this angelic fuel, Time still cast a shadow behind my back. Yet I kept my movements smooth, and my mind clear, as the moment of Salvation was at hand.

I defeated my former comrades most immediate to me, and turned toward the Shard itself. Near its summit, I drew my Starblade, and did what I had done to its twin on Utopia Draconis: I tore open a Rift in space-time itself, collapsing the boundaries between Here and There. Yet now I went one step further, and reached out Beyond Everything. Darkness rose, followed by Light, crashing down, teetering on the Edge of Collapse. The Spiral of Time distorted, twisting, leaping, lashing, and Reality itself began to topple. I held my Starblade high, its Radiance a blazing Purity with which I would light the Way.

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I prepared to cast out my soul into the Abyss, and make All Into One.

Then things changed.

The lover of my former mentor appeared. She charged at me, bearing his Starblade. I turned to face her, almost annoyed at this trifle interruption. She was a master of the Æther but her powers were nothing compared to mine.

I underestimated her.

We clashed with blade and spell, will against will, while around us the World ended. My concentration was split three ways, to keep the Shard intact, to defeat the opposition, and to protect the wavering fire of my soul. Reinforcements arrived, more Radiant Knights entering the fray, seizing the opportunity to destroy my Legacy before it was created.

No. I would not let this Come To Pass.

I reached into the depths of my being, gathering the Essences of those whom I had forcefully thrust into the Light. With a resolute gesture and a shout of power I brought them back again into separate existence, their mind Whole, their body pure Light, their cause Just, and their spirit Enlightened – and the Revenant were here once more, Heralds of the Coming Age of Eternity.

They became the executors of my Will and of the Great Cosmos. They charged upon their fellow companions and devastated their ranks, while I reaved the souls of the Knights to add their Essence to my own Power, to continue fighting for what was Right. For each fallen Knight I won a new Revenant at my side, and soon the field was mine again.

And then they outwitted me again.

In a bid of desperation, she, the lover of my former mentor, encased the Shard in an utterly impregnable energy veil, phasing it out beyond anyone's reach, even mine. Then the remaining Knights carried her aloft, retreating into the farthest reaches of Terra Para. I stayed behind, unable to pursue; I had to stabilize the raging Entropy, or risk the entire planet destroyed.

Thus began what they would call, after my time, the War For Ascension.

I stood alone at the Shard, my first legion of Revenant ready to do my bidding with absolute loyalty. I could not enter the Temple, for the Keys had been torn from my hands, and cast Far Away where I could not reach. Darkness reigned, and Thunder roared; the Vortex of Void was engulfing the horizon, held back only by the sheerness of my Will. The Flame inside Me was Dying. Yet that single, burning desire, bright as the greatest Virtue, held my Vision clear, and my Mind focused on the task at hand.

What was I to do?

I knew only one answer: go to war.

I was a veteran of the Supremacy Wars, of the Axiom Crusades, and of the Starblaze. I have faced the countless horrors of the Void Demons, and have survived the massacre of the Dragon Independence War. I have mastered the Æther, and I have unlocked the knowledge of the Universe. I have peered into the Abyss, and I have walked the everlasting path of the Celestial Way. I have traveled among the stars for centuries, and I have known both peace and conflict. I have fought, and I have counseled; I have sought enlightenment, and I have risked my life in the name of my vow and the sacred duties I uphold.

And So Shall I Do Again.

It was time to make my own crusade.

I was the Messiah, and yet to them I was the Devil. I rose from the darkness, and Saw the Truth. I wanted to give them the greatest Gift, and in return share Our ultimate Joy as I reunite with Kalessia while everyone Prevail in Paradise.

Yet instead they cast Enlightenment aside, and label my Vision madness. So be it. They could Ascend willingly, or they could see the Light nonetheless, for Ascension would Not Be Denied.

I descended from the Shard, Revenant at my heels, and went directly into battle. The Consortium, the Union, the H'raal – the enemy did not matter; they were all mortal, and they all, to my greatest grief, abhorred the idea behind my Vision.

I reaved the souls of thousands upon thousands, renewing my faltering vitality, expanding my retinue, and bringing enlightenment to those whom I assimilated. In truth, it was a terrible event, an atrocity of untold magnitude; for I sundered the very fabric of every individual, no matter how eager or ready to accept Unity, in order to keep my own self above the rest. In the end, it did not matter; I was a sinner now, a horrendous monster as my enemy wanted me to be, yet when Salvation finally came, I knew it would not matter. For then, All will be One.

Still, as much as I searched, I could not find the Radiant Knights. They had the Keys to the Temple, without which I could not access the Shard to bring Singularity Once and For All. I devoted much of my concentration in slowing down the Reality Vortex I had torn open, yet I could not stop it completely without depleting myself beyond the critical point. So now, I was in a race against Time itself: I had to find a Way to reach the Shard before it was completely lost and before I collapsed in perpetual Failure.

And I would not let that happen.

Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind.

We are yet to drink our fill.

I regret only one thing: I, who fought against monsters so long, became one of them in the end.

The only ray of hope was that, soon, there would be No End.