novelraw Chapter 268: Star Maiden
Chapter 268: Star Maiden
Chapter 268: Star Maiden“Insanity… This is pure insanity…”
As the scenes piled on, it became harder and harder for Soren to comprehend why anything was happening. One battle after the next flashed by, depicting massacre after massacre. All of them ending with but a single radiant figure standing.
The elves petitioned her. The spirit wolves flattered her. The enslaved humans begged her.
But none… None could stop her carnage. Every battlefield became the same crimson hell—etched with the blood of all who fought, regardless of their allegiances. The heavens promised a trove of treasures, and yet none could ever sway her.
She remained pure as silver, even as the world around her became tainted.
And yet… Soren could tell her heart was aching.
“They called her the Great Equalizer.” Merlin’s voice beamed from above, prompting him to frown at the unfolding scene. Perched atop a mountain of corpses, Astrea sat alone—knees hugged close, as if to keep the world out.
Luminescent silver wings stretched from her back, wrapping around herself like a shell.
For a while, she stayed that way. Unwilling to move. Unwilling to see. Unwilling to speak… Unlike the first time, her blindfold was now fully tainted crimson. And yet, it was tied even more tightly than before.
Her justice… Her judgement. Her existence itself…
All of it was blind…
Eventually, two beams of light shined through the thick cloud cover, aimed at her already radiant figure. No doubt, carrying treasures unimaginable to any mortal, but also the heavy weight of a profound decision.
Sensing their arrival, Astrea stirred from her lassitude, turning to face away from the choice the Gods wanted her to make.
After watching it all unfold once more, Soren couldn’t help but be filled with rage.
“Why… Why can’t they leave her alone? Why are they subjecting her to this torment? She clearly doesn’t want anything to do with either of them!
“What is so special about her?...”
The Sleepless Guide took a moment to answer.
“Astrea was a human slave like any other. A servant to a noble elven house that offered her as a sacrifice to the Gods.
“As you might have guessed, the stories and myths you’ve read about in regards to Yasini’s demise were true. Yasini is the Flower Maiden’s name. Same with the Slumbering One—the Spirit Wolves knew Them as Yadria. That is why the planets are all named the way they are.
“However, what many fail to understand about the Gods who roamed the continent during the Age of Twilight, is that their statuses have all been earned undeservedly. Their reliance on the Astral River had driven them mad. The only one who managed to ascend rightfully was the Beast of Knowledge, but even He needed to usurp the authorities of a previous pretender.”
Undeserved?... Soren’s confusion was palpable, but he decided to focus on one thing at a time. “What is this Astral River you speak of?”
He heard a soft chuckle. “Have you not witnessed the ever-growning cosmos above the Cathedral of Aeons? That is what we call the Astral River. The Astral Anima of this world’s Beyond leaks into that endless stream, phasing through the fractures and reaching other worlds!
“That is why we call it, The Estuary of the Stars.”
Passing to other worlds… Soren was completely shocked. For the longest time, he had always assumed that these dimensions were entirely isolated. Their anima and the Universal Law that they govern by was absolute—utterly distinct from any other realm.
But the Whispering Dream’s words have fully shattered this notion. Astral Anima from other worlds could indeed leak into this one! And the opposite was true as well!
“Of course, this phenomenon was heavily limited. The Beyond also acts as a filter—not everything that arrives through the Astral River passes through.” Merlin added while observing the newly formed scene. Astrea was once again indiscriminately slaughtering another battlefield.
“What you need to know, however, is that this limitation diminishes with every year that passes. And even more importantly, the false Gods and their actions have heavily accelerated this occurrence.”
Soren pondered for a moment before asking. “The filter you speak of… Is it the Main Branch and Side Branches of the Cathedral?” Soren recalled how those twinkling stars seemed to descend into the chasm from the cosmos above.
“Correct.” He smiled. “The anima that leaks from those distant realms passes through the Main Branch—anything the Beyond deems unworthy gets filtered through the Side Branches. This is foreign willpower that is forced to exist only in ‘possible futures.’ It is through this method that Yarian has managed to stay relatively pure to its vision of Fantasia for so long…”
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The Whispering Dream crossed his arms. “As for the foreign anima that doesn’t get filtered, it will be allowed to pass through the Main Branch, eventually mixing with the Collective Subconscious within the Beyond.”
Staring at Astrea’s radiant figure, Merlin couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course, the False Gods didn’t care about any of this. During the Age of Heresy, desperation for the divine forced many to look toward this foreign influence. The Side Branches—isolated heaps of anima from beyond this realm’s edge—became a priceless treasure. The histories born from this influence, which were once relegated as taboo, began to disseminate into Yarian’s true history.
“As you may know, the Beyond is very archaic in nature. Entropy is at the heart of its existence. Which means, any willpower that’s added to the collective subconscious becomes almost impossible to expunge afterwards. That is why the Cathedral of Aeons is an important filter—anything that manages to slip through its designated barriers cannot be undone.”
Merlin shook his head and smiled. “During the Age of Heresy, many beings raced to claim these foreign and alternate futures in order to ascend quickly. Some perished before they could ever reach Mount Tolarion, others got close but were consumed by greater foes. The chaos all of this spawned ushered an age of utter darkness, depravity, greed, corruption… Morality itself vanished—for who becomes God defines what morality is to begin with.
“The Statue Town you visited was a relic of this godless age. A time where many held confidence in their claims of divinity. Yet all that remains of them now is the statues and idols formed from the belief of their followers. Except for two of them, that is…”
Soren was filled with fear as he imagined the scenes Merlin described. “The Centuries of Horror… The historians were correct in their assesment…” This also made him remember the words the Whispering Dream first said when describing the Cathedral of Aeons:
It was a place where even the Gods had once knelt…
Visions of Statue Town and the colossal sculptures he had witnessed flashed through his mind… There were indeed two statues that stood out to him at the time. One depicted a woman with dazzling hair embroidered in countless flowers. She held out her arms to welcome the arrival of a bird. The other statue depicted a half-naked man with a wolf’s head sleeping on his back with no regard for the world around him.
At the time, he didn’t want to offend Myrin, so he refrained from making the connection. But now… It was impossible to deny the resemblance.
“Those statues were of Yasini and Yadria… Before their ascensions.”
Merlin said nothing, but his grin pretty much confirmed it.
“So is that why Silmar didn’t like the Greenfather? Because he too is a False God?”
Soren remembered his initial confrontation against the Whispering Dream in Celestine Citadel. The hatred in the enigmatic saint’s voice back then wasn’t at all normal. Ever since he learned about Merlin’s limitations, he suspected that the identity of the Saintess of Dream’s brother had been real all along. Sylia had likely never suspected Silmar because he never truly diverged from his personality after becoming the Whispering Dream’s puppet.
Since the ‘dreamers’ only follow Merlin’s orders if they align with their own goals, that would imply that the hatred he exuded was truly his own…
The Sleepless Guide chuckled. “Very astute of you. You are right—the reason I selected Silmar as my puppet was because of his hatred for the Greenfather. But he was a fool. For the deity he worshipped was a false one as well!” His laughter echoed in all directions.
Soren clicked his tongue. “Sly bastard…” He shook his head and asked:
“I don’t understand though. What does all of this have to do with Astrea?”
The scenes were continuing to shift to the same thing over and over again. Scorched battlefields, demolished citadels, genocided villages… Every one of them depicted the Great Equalizer as its lone survivor. She was akin to an angel—a herald of calamities and horror. The pureness of her light casting shadows wherever she walked.
Soren could tell that throughout each scene, Astrea was growing in strength. Her radiant spear now spilled anima wherever she went. Her silver wings dispelled fogs of war. And strangest of all, she was no longer alone…
A small contingent of knights followed her wherever she went—all of them human. No doubt, former slaves who decided to rebel against both sides like she did. With every shift in the scene, more and more silver knights followed her into the fray.
However, it was apparent to Soren that these soldiers didn’t just see her as a leader. They worshipped the very ground she walked on. To them, Astrea was truly a heavenly being. Every action she partook in was sacred—war scribes would follow each of her conquests, recording everything they witnessed.
In their eyes, she was a savior. Humanity’s light in the darkness.
Hearing his question, Merlin couldn’t help but smile. “What does it have to do with her? The simple answer is everything!
“I told you earlier, didn’t I? That the actions of the false gods managed to weaken the barrier connecting us to the Astral River.”
Soren nodded.
“Well, I left out something important.” Merlin chuckled. “The weakening of the barrier means more foreign Astral Anima leaking into this world. But the origins of that Astral Anima is important, you see! Some might come from very distant realms, unknown to us still. But the majority of it stems from a realm we are very close to in the Sea of Fractures.
“A realm you are very familiar with…”
“Familiar with…” Soren squinted as he mulled over the meaning. There were only three realms he was familiar with—Yarian, Yeongwon, and—
His eyes widened.
Before he could say it, Merlin grinned and spoke first:
“Earth.”
“Impos—”
“Impossible?” The Sleepless Guide scoffed, “Surely your arrival to this world is also impossible then?”
“.....” Soren couldn’t say anything.
Merlin chuckled, and then—without warning—spoke in perfect English, the sound of it sending chills down his spine:
“The polluted influence of the Astral River—it is best exemplified through her presence. Astrea… This name should be familiar to you as well. There is a Greek deity that goes by that name. They called Her…
“The Star Maiden.”
Soren’s heart hammered as he stared into the new scene below.
A crimson ocean stretched for miles, blood pooling across the land, ash and dust hanging thick in the air…
Through it all stood a single silhouette of pure silver-white. Its radiance a beacon.
The woman rose amid the ruin, Her presence illuminating the battlefield like a mythic oil painting of old… Silver knights knelt at Her feet, armor slick with red, heads bowed in silent anticipation.
Awaiting the next crusade of blind justice…
“Aren’t you pleased, Mr. Traveler? You aren’t the only one to transmigrate to this world after all!
“I once again introduce you to Astrea, the Second Foolish One of History.
“The one who will later become… The Mother of Silver!”