Beyond Worlds, Beneath the Star God

They stood at the edge of the impossible.

The Skygrave—a floating ruin suspended by collapsing pillars of light—loomed above them like a broken crown. Vast rings of stone rotated slowly around its core, defying gravity and logic alike. It did not shimmer. It did not glow. It simply existed—outside time, outside explanation.

Kun took the first step onto the bridge of woven runes, his boots clicking against sigil-stone.

Behind him, Elira followed, blade drawn. Orlan muttered stabilizing spells beneath his breath, every few steps flaring a protective glyph. Rhea walked last, eyes scanning the sky warily.

"The air's wrong," she said after a moment. "Feels... heavy. Like it's holding its breath."

Orlan nodded. "Residual temporal compression. Time isn't stable here."

"Meaning?" Elira asked.

"Meaning if we die here," Orlan muttered, "we might keep dying again and again, for a thousand years... or one second."

No one replied.

At the Skygrave's gate stood a massive arch—twenty feet tall—made of two curved blades embedded in stone. Between them, floating in midair, was a single glyph, glowing softly.

A lock.

"It's not just magic," Kun said quietly. "It's a memory."

He reached forward.

The glyph flared.

The arch opened.

And they stepped into the Vault of the Skygrave.

---

Interior – Hall of Echoes

The inside was... alive.

Not in the way the Mawhold was, with its rotting roots and breathing walls—but in a quiet, ancient way, like a cathedral dreaming of stars.

Light poured down from high windows made of crystalized runes. The floor was obsidian glass, and beneath it—sky. A swirling view of galaxies and constellations from another age.

Elira whispered, "We're not underground."

"No," Rhea said. "We're above the world. Possibly above time."

Orlan's staff buzzed.

He turned pale.

"What is it?" Kun asked.

Orlan's voice was hoarse. "We're standing atop the Celestora Starforge Core. The original convergence point of their solar magic... This place was meant to rewrite the rules of the universe."

Then—

The silence broke.

A low pulse of sound echoed through the Vault—like a heartbeat made of metal and thunder.

And from the far end of the hall, something stirred.

A figure emerged.

Ten feet tall. Wrapped in ancient armor, face hidden behind a half-shattered helm. On its back were two mechanical wings shaped like constellations.

It spoke in a voice like stone dragged through wind.

> "Designation: Starborn Detected."

> "Initiating Trial of Origin."

Kun stepped forward. "Trial?"

The figure raised its hand.

Rays of blue light lanced outward, forming a ring around the party. The floor beneath them shattered—yet they did not fall.

Instead, reality bent.

And they found themselves standing in a field of black sand under a red sky.

A second figure stood across from Kun.

Same height. Same build.

Same face.

"...what the hell—" Elira breathed.

The copy stepped forward.

But it wasn't just a copy.

It spoke with Kun's voice.

But not his heart.

> "You abandoned Earth."

> "You escaped death in a ship meant for none."

> "You burned your way into a world that was not yours."

> "And now you pretend to be a hero?"

The true Kun stood still, fists clenched.

"I never asked for this."

His double laughed. "But you never turned away, did you?"

Elira tried to move, but couldn't. None of them could.

Only Kun.

The trial had begun.

---

Spiritual Arena – Trial of Origin

The fake Kun attacked first—a blinding flash of dark-gold fire that mirrored the Sovereign Form. Kun dodged, but the heat singed his cloak. They clashed midair, flame against flame, light against shadow.

Every strike echoed with memories.

The ship.

The black hole.

The screams of his crew as time tore apart around them.

The moment he landed in the grassland of this world, dazed, reborn.

The guilt surged.

The double fed on it.

"You are not chosen," it spat. "You are accident. You are the flame that slipped through the cracks."

Kun was forced to the ground, knees shaking.

But then he heard her voice.

Not the double's.

Elira's.

> "You may have fallen through the stars… but you stood up here."

> "And that matters."

He looked up.

The double hesitated.

That was enough.

Kun gripped the flame.

And this time—it wasn't just gold.

It was silver.

> Starfire: Unity State—First Ascension: Mirrorbreak.

His body surged with dual-light. Not just sovereign fire, but something colder, refined—resonant. He stepped forward and slashed the false self with a blade of silver-gold flame.

The double dissolved.

And the trial ended.

---

Return – Skygrave Core

They were back in the Hall of Echoes.

The guardian knelt before Kun.

> "Trial Complete. Starborn Confirmed."

> "You carry both choice… and consequence."

It stepped aside.

Revealing a circular stair descending beneath the Skygrave—into the heart of the Starforge.

And there, at the very bottom, flickering faintly—

Was a second flame.

Dark.

Cold.

Waiting.