Chapter 34 : Dying for a Greater Cause (3)

A massive sphere of black matter the size of a telluric planet stood in the heart of the mother system's core sector. This gigantic sphere was so dark that it resembled more a small black hole rather than a planet.

On the surface of this sphere, that the Scyllas tried so hard to defend against the Void Legions, stood a single but very imposing building : Primus One named it the Holy Temple.

This structure had no particular features, it was just a simple building with a rectangular shape. On its exterior wall, many portraits were engraved. These portraits didn't look like visages, and still, they were representing former living beings.

They were the Scyllas elders, all those who fall during the Dark Ages.

The remnants of all of their souls are resting in this temple.

Primus One was floating and slowly moving around the building, looking at each of his fallen brothers.

No one knew what was in his mind.

The Void natives always thought the Scyllas did not feel emotions, but they were wrong. They just do not show them as much as other living beings, no one can do better than a Scylla when it comes to managing emotions.

Because of this, they are considered heartless and cold beings, but in reality, they all share the same range of feelings as other living beings.

The only difference is that Scyllas are naturally able to overcome these emotions. They aren't bound by their feelings like most organic living beings.

This is the ability that made them able to evolve so much through their history. This is what made them stay at the top of the species pyramid for so long.

The Scyllas considering themselves superior is indeed vanity and arrogance, but it is also the truth. They truly are superior beings.

In their original form, outside of the Great Singularity, they do not need to eat. They do not need to sleep. They do not need to have sexual intercourse to breed and grow their ranks. They aren't affected by time. They can not be sick, nor can they be affected by any disease or plague.

Their potential has no limit.

Add to this already long list their almost invincible ethereal body, their strange native language that allows them to create powerful phenomenons such as invoking elements out of nowhere or controlling the gravity, and their technology so highly advanced...

They truly are the most versatile and powerful species that has ever existed in the material world.

No matter their enemies, they always found a way to deal with them. They always emerged victoriously. Even when limited by their Templar clones inside the Singularity, they still had enough power to be at the top of the species chain.

Legatus proved it well, he alone created a mini sun despite being heavily limited by his clone and soul-stone.

However, even though they have always won regardless of their opponent, there is one foe that has always remained firm against them.

A foe overwhelmingly more powerful than their whole species members combined together.

A foe they can not fight, no matter how hard they tried.

The only enemy to have always resisted their might.

This immovable opponent against which they always struggled so much.

The sole responsible for the fall of their elders.

The only thing they have never been able to bend to their will.

Fate.

___

"My Lord, we detain the Deficient One."

While Primus One was floating and moving around the temple in his majestic clone, staring at the portrait of each of his fallen brothers, he received a report from a subordinate.

"Bring him to me. Teleport him on my location."

"As you wish, My Lord."

Since his birth, Primus One always had a single wish : to find a way to break what is not supposed to be broken, Fate.

He always gave his best to free his Revered Mother from this black sphere that bound her to this dimension for eternity.

After having tried every means possible in vain, he was able to make a single but crucial conclusion.

"I need to bend Fate to my will."

When he muttered these words, a ray of light touched the ground.

Inside this ray was the Deficient One, a specimen that caused so much ruckus since his abduction that he could be considered the main reason for the militaristic defeat of the Scyllas' fleet, all by himself.

Primus One wasn't dumb, he knew everything this human did behind the scenes before rushing here alone. He knew that it would be hard, if not impossible, for the Scyllas fleet to win a frontal engagement against the Legions when they will group up around the Fifth legion and their Dreadnought.

The Legions considered this fight as their last and final chance to win the war and eradicate the Scyllas... what they didn't know, is that the Scyllas thought the same.

After so many millenniums spent on research and wars against the Void, Primus One needed a certain variable to appear to exploit it against Fate.

This variable was Jun.

No matter how old is Primus One, in all his lifetime, he has never met a living being that was so unpredictable as Jun. It was as if he was not affected at all by the Great River of Fate.

His innate ability to be at the same time so lucky and unlucky is nothing but a joke, it is truly a sign that Fate affects him differently.

It seemed that whenever this Human took a decision, he was not subject to Fate itself, but only to his own ridiculous luck.

After having studied those concepts such as luck, chance, skills, and probabilities to the extreme for so many years, Primus One knew that nothing could truly be randomized.

Everything that happened had a meaning and led to something pre-destined. These hidden meanings constantly interacting with each other without much sense were what the Scyllas called the Great River of Fate.

However, Primus One also knew that for each rule existing, there is always an exception proving it. Even the unbreakable absolute laws have exceptions, this is what the Revered Mother herself revealed to Primus One. While Primus tries to defy Fate, the Revered Mother wants to completely break it.

After all those years of stagnation in his research, this conflict with the Void heretics gave birth to the best gift he could ever ask for : a living being that was not subject to Fate.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The exception that proves and confirms the rule that Primus looked for so long.

___

The moment I tried to open my eyes, I felt a violent headache and an intense pain, as if my eyelids were glued together and my head has been smashed by a Netherite club.

I was plunged into pure darkness. I didn't even know if I had my eyes open or closed. I only felt dizzy and very confused.

'Am I in my Sea of Consciousness ?'

'No...I don't think so, I do not have the same feeling as the previous times.'

'And most importantly, I do not remember losing consciousness...'

The last thing I could remember was when a dozen of high-ranked Scylla officers dragged me out of my interceptor.

They attached my hands and feet with an exotic metal extremely strong and they brought me to their mother-ship.

I was waiting in an isolation cell to be transported somewhere before I blacked out... that's the last thing I remember.

'Did they drug me ?'

[They didn't.]

'Gladia ??'

[J-Jun, listen to w-what I'm going to say and t-try not to panic...]

'What is happening ?'

[You are in presence of... Arghh!...]

She didn't finish her sentence before I heard her loudly cry inside my head. This never happened before.

'Gladia ?'

I started to be agitated, I didn't know what was happening but it freaked me out to hear Gladia yelling in pain.

'Gladia ?? Answer me, what's happening ?? Are you alright ??'

While I tried to internally contact her, another voice resonated inside my head.

[So this is how you communicate with your Nihil Conscientia... Interesting.]

This was a low-pitched metallic voice that loudly resonated after every word was pronounced, it sounded vaguely female but at the same time, it also sounded too old and too strange to be of any known genre.

It was as if I was talking to a sort of...cosmic being ?

'Wait...don't tell me...'

When I came to my senses and understood the situation I was in, I started to feel terrified.

My heartbeat accelerated and even the entirety of my black matter reacted to this voice. It acted as if it wanted to go into survival mode and crawled back under my skin ; Tassadar was literally hiding inside my body...

Just a few words from this being were enough for me to feel as if I was inside the mouth of a giant, waiting to be eaten alive completely frozen in fear.

Every cell of my body activated themselves, and all my organs started to act on their own to make me understand a single thing as soon as possible : ESCAPE.

'Wh-who are you ??'

I heard no response. It only made me more anxious.

'What have you done to Gladia ??'

[Hm, so you are using a name to call this Conscientia ? You are quite surprising.]

This time, the voice answered, as if its owner was carefully analyzing every one of my thoughts and reactions.

I had to stop panicking and think logically and rationally, as I usually do in the worst situations.

After thinking about everything that happened, I somehow had a guess about who was talking to me... But I didn't want to admit it.

If I did, it would mean that everything I've done and everything I've fought for was useless.

It would mean... that we lost.

[I know what you are thinking. And I can answer you... You are right.]

'S-so... you are... the Revered Mother ?'

[This name is just what my children call me. I do not have a real name to give you, as I never had a use for it before this conversation.]

'Wait... h-how can you talk to me inside my head ? Wasn't I supposed to meet with Primus One ? Weren't you sleeping ?'

This time, the voice didn't answer directly, as if thinking about the words it was going to say. After a brief pause, the Revered Mother said.

[You have a lot of questions, and unfortunately, I cannot answer all of them. Primus One brought you to me in total ecstasy, saying that you are the being he looked for so long.

Saying that you are the one who can defy Fate... and free me from this dimension.]

I now understood why he wanted so much to meet me. Primus One was convinced that I was a sort of 'required material' to save his Revered Mother...

'I doubt you'll gain anything valuable from eating me...'

[Hm, Are you joking to calm yourself down? That's not a bad idea.

Nonetheless, you are correct. While you are a fascinating specimen... Even you, the Deficient Void Rifter who has brought so many calamities for my children, cannot defy Fate by yourself. Or at least, not that I know and trust me, I am probably the one who knows Fate the most.

Nobody is supposed to defy Fate. That is why I will be the first to break the current of the River of Fate.]

From this point onward, I started to be completely lost in these explanations.

All those talks about Fate and this River of Fate reminded me of the old female voice I heard before being engulfed in Legatus' attack on the mega-structure. Now that I knew the voice of the Revered Mother, I know that these two voices aren't the same being.

While I was trying to understand the situation I was in, the Revered Mother casually asked me a ridiculous question.

[Tell me, Human, do you trust in Fate and Destiny ?]

It was hard to answer this, but until I could contact Gladia, open my eyes and assess the situation I was in... I preferred not to be insolent and answer everything she asked obediently.

'I... I do not know exactly.

I like to think that I am the sole responsible for my actions and my life, and yet so many improbable things happened to me that I can not be sure anymore if there is or not a kind of superior concept that force everyone to follow it, or predict everyone's life.'

[I'll answer for you, then. It does exist, it is called the Great River of Fate. Despite having lived for almost an eternity and being omnipotent, even I have never been able to fully understand this concept.

However, studying it for so many hundreds of millenniums allowed me to understand and probe my own Fate. Apparently, Primus One also found a conclusion close to mine, even if he took a few more thousands of years to understand it.]

'So... is that why you send your Scyllas in the whole universe, reducing to dust entire galaxies and eradicating so many species ?

While I am afraid as fuck to talk to such a frightening being as you, I'll still be honest... What shocked me the most when I fought the Scyllas wasn't their cruelty or their lack of empathy. It was their dogma and their zealous faith.

They all believe so much in you, and more importantly, they are all convinced that what they do is the right thing to do and the only good way that should be followed...'

Once again, the voice in my head didn't answer immediately.

At first, I had trouble talking casually to this voice knowing that its owner was a divinity worshiped by the crazy Scyllas, but something inside me pushed me to do it.

If this being wanted me dead, I would have been dead for a long time already. Instead, it took the time to talk to me.

After having thought rationally about it, I knew that I was doomed. I was dead the moment I willingly gave myself to the Scyllas.

This time, no matter my luck, I knew for sure that it would be impossible to escape this place or this deity.

However, things are different if this Revered Mother needs to keep me alive for something particular.

If I am going to die, I might as well gain as much time as possible for the Legions that are still fighting.

As if reading my mind, the Revered Mother cut my thought process and said.

[You are smart, Human. I now understand why you gave so much trouble to my children. I will also be honest with you, I have never wanted this bloodshed.]

These words confused me. Out of all the responses she could have given, I was not expecting this one.

[I already know my Fate, and I already know that the only being able to go against the current of the Great River of Fate is not a weak organic life-form like you, but an all-powerful dimensional deity such as me.]

'Then why...'

[My Children acted on their own. While I do not condemn them, I do not approve of their actions either.

I already know why you did let yourself be captured so easily. You planned to trick Primus One and harm me.

Am I right ?]

'Wh-what... How do you...'

[Do not worry, I do not plan to punish you. I even respect your bold actions, it is so improbable to see such a weak being as you being so brave when facing me.

The blue gem you brought here with you, hidden in your shadow by your subordinate, will not work against me. But still, it surprised me to see such an old artifact in this era.]

'So you knew about my plan... and you also know what is this gem ?'

I have always been curious about this blue gem that looked so much like the vague memories I had of my planet. Gladia and I were not able to identify it, however, we found out that it shared some of its properties with the anti-matter bombs left behind by the ancient beings.

After analyzing the concentration of these hazardous elements inside the blue gem, Gladia told me that they were so concentrated in the blue gem that its power was equivalent to at least a thousand anti-matter bombs.

So we deduced that this blue gem was a sort of anti-dimensional weapon the ancient being developed, but never had the occasion to use.

[This, is what its creators called a Drop of Fate. This little gem is the result of converging and materializing a billion living beings' dying souls together.

You thought it was a bomb, but in reality, this is just a way to summon the broken Fate of a billion souls in the material world : the destructive power is just a side effect.

While breaking the game may annihilate a great part of the material world, the drawback of using it will be the pure hate of a billion revengeful spirits deprived of finding salvation in the Great River of Fate.

Are you sure you are ready to endure this ? These spirits would follow your soul through each its reincarnation, even after death.

Are you still willing to break this gem, even though it would not harm me ?]

A billion souls...

I thought that during those hellish years I'd have already seen everything from the Ancient Beings and their weapons, and yet they are still surprising me up to this day.

'How did they do to materialize Fate ? Isn't it supposed to be nothing more than a concept ?'

[You fought against my children, haven't you ?]

'I did.'

[Then you know how the Ancient beings did. The spells used to create this gem and to create other normally impossible events are the same kind of spells my children used when fighting you. They share the same base.]

'Wait... Does that mean... the ancient beings that made the golden hangar, the Lance of Kar'goth, its army and all its technology and armament were Scyllas ?'

[Indeed.]