Chapter 1 Keeper of the Unseen Chains
Darkness pressed in from every direction.
The last thing he remembered was… what was it? His life, slipping away. Yet here he was—aware, no sense of time. Just the void.
"What... is this?" His voice—or whatever passed it—echoed in the void.
Silence.
Then, the darkness shifted. Tiny points of light blinked into existence—stars, scattered across the endless black. One cluster stood out, drawing him closer.
A window appeared before him:
{You have reincarnated as a newborn Constellation}
Title: Keeper of the Unseen Chains
Mission: Forge Your Own Path.
His mind reeled. Moments ago, he was... what? A regular guy. Earth.
"Now I'm... this?" he muttered, scanning the message again. "Forge my own path?"
The system responded.
{You are a Constellation, a being beyond mortal limits. Influence others, shape your existence. Fail, and your powers will weaken.}
Influence others?. Before he could process, another window appeared:
Powers Overview:
- Authority of Absolute Nullification: Nullify anything—physical, magical, even emotions.
- Authority of Unseen Chains: Control chains that bind body and mind, even concepts.
It felt unreal. His old life—a memory.
He wondered what to do with such power.
Another prompt flashed:
{Warning: Disturbance Detected}
Suddenly, the stars around him flickered erratically, as a deep, resonant hum filled the void.
"What… what's happening?" he gasped, watching the stars dim as the sky twisted into a chaotic vortex of color and shadow.
A screen flashed before his eyes:
{An anomaly has breached your dimension. Transitioning to the Abyssal Threshold.}
Before he could process it, the world dissolved into darkness, an unseen force pulling him in every direction at once. The system's voice echoed through his mind:
{Abyssal Threshold: This realm exists between reality and unreality, where the laws of existence bend.}
"What… what does that mean? And why am I here?" he asked, his voice trembling with confusion.
{This is the Abyssal Threshold, a volatile realm that lies between reality and unreality, accessible only through… anomalies.}
"Anomalies?" he echoed, uncertain. "What even is an anomaly?"
{That is… not relevant at this time. It does not concern you yet.}
"Of course, it doesn't," he muttered. "So what am I supposed to do here?"
{Survival here is… difficult, even for Constellations. Proceed with caution there are outer gods in this realm.}
"Outer gods?" His pulse quickened.
{Correct. Their influence in this realm is absolute.}
"Fantastic," he whispered.
He scanned his surroundings, searching for anything that might hint at an escape.
The void around him churned, an endless sea of shifting colors and shadows, mesmerizing yet disorienting.
The "ground" beneath him felt more like a mirage—no true solidity, just a subtle resistance.
Then, a chill rippled down his spine—a presence. He didn't hear it, didn't see it approach, but he felt it.
Slowly, he turned.
And froze.
Just beyond his line of sight loomed something colossal, defying all reason. Its shape was maddeningly elusive, like trying to focus on something that refused to be seen.
What he could perceive was an amalgam of writhing darkness, tendrils of shadow extending into the abyss.
Where a face might be, there was only a void—a gaping, endless maw swallowing all light. From within, countless eyes emerged, glowing pale and unblinking, staring straight at him.
They blinked in eerie unison, a slow, deliberate motion that sent a shiver through him.
The entity's "arms" were impossibly long and thin, moving in a fluid, unsettling rhythm, as if bending time and space around them.
Though it didn't move closer, its presence seemed to press in from all sides, tightening the space between them despite the infinite expanse.
His heart thundered, his throat dry, a cold sweat breaking across his skin.
There was no sound, no wind—only the feeling of an existential crisis consuming him.
"Thou art not meant to be here."