Dark Matter Ascension

Highlord Tibalt was glowering at the test subjects on the monitor. Artificial Astral Demons were a bust, he thought as the last few experiments were put down. His companion who had participated in the coup was on the other monitor, shaking his head.

"Shame," he muttered. "We cannot utilize them how we envisioned."

Another voice came from another monitor, "Dreamer Demons are confirmed to work. We have one-hundred, and the prisons have been emptied as the undesirables have been slaughtered and their Souls consumed."

Tibalt grinned. At least one thing is going right. One-hundred Potency 2 Dreamers, now under the same restrictions as the Astral Demons themselves. Namely, death to non-Psykinetics was still viable thanks to their Dreamer origin. But, they could grow in strength far faster. He spoke calmly and clearly, "Send them one hundred to me in the Verge. We will begin out assault on Universe 1190."

"Will do. They'll be on the next transport vessel."

Both screens cut out, and Tibalt reached into his pocket, pulling out the tube that was crammed full of Souls. It was easy to make a Dreamer Demon – any Dreamer had to consume Souls and then activate their System interface, accept a prompt…and then they could ascend so much faster.

For the glory of the empire, he thought as he uncapped the container, rapidly put it to his lips, and gulped down the Souls. System interface, activate.

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[Detected the presence of Souls inside a Dreamer.]

[Expel or contain?]

-----

"Contain," he said as he felt the swirling mass in his chest. Souls, yearning to break free as they pushed against his stomach, causing intense pain. They tried to crawl up his throat, and he swallowed them back down.

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[Confirmed. Dreamer to Dreamer Demon conversion initiated.]

-----

Tibalt clenched his teeth and began hyperventilating, collapsing to the ground and wheezing through blistering pain. His insides felt like they were on fire. Sparkles of light and agony danced through his shut eyelids, and he could hear the screams of Souls within him as thousands of consciousnesses were snuffed out.

The pain faded and was replaced with a warmth. A suffusing, tender warmth like when his brother hugged him goodbye before leaving for the Verge front. The same warmth he felt when he reached the position of Highlord. As he grabbed the table edge and pulled himself up, he growled out, "Camera and feed."

A camera in the corner focused on him and broadcasted a feed of him, hunched over the table. He looked the same on the outside – no indication of the act he had committed. The consumption of Souls for power. And yet he felt that raw strength through him as he received dozens of level-up notifications.

His muscles brimmed with power, and he let out a deep, bellowing laugh. "We will take Universe 1190 tomorrow!" he shouted into the comms network. "Prepare everything except our garrison."

He lowered his eyes to the table, full of battle plans he had been revising and devising. That Universe is free reign for the Astral Demons and whatever else is inside…but now…I think resources are not the only thing we can get from there.

Tibalt would conquer that Universe for the glory of the Vanguard Empire. He would take all sentient life and kill them, standing at the singularity and gobbling them all up. I'll become a Highlord of the Astral Verge. The Vanguard Empire will spread. We will become the strongest force, supplant the Astral Demon hordes…and become the new rulers of this layer of reality. All Universes will bow to our might.

Jace was sprinting along, over the now-swampy grounds that he deftly ran over the tops of. He heard a crackling in his ear – a pending audio request. "Ollie, patch them through."

"This is Grand Coordinator Brok. Wraith, you hear me?" The clattering voice came through in a rush, words tumbling over each other in rapid beats. Something was clearly wrong, or he was in a panic.

Jace did not slow his gait, but spoke firmly. "What's going on?"

"We've picked up a large force of high-Potency demons that came up from a lower Layer. Not sure how low, but preliminary scans indicate mostly 9 and 10. Probably for a raid."

That caused Jace to come to a stop and his heartbeat quickened. "And?"

"They are on a course for Universe 1190. One that has been fighting Astral Demons for some time, and are slowly losing the fight. That Universe's inhabitants want our help, to join the Coalition. We are diverting all available, nearby resources. We could use your help – appropriately compensated, I'd add."

Jace's heart was beating rapidly, and he could feel the warm, comforting heat of the new addition inside his chest. The call to action, to be a hero and save a whole universe was a tempting lure that pulled on the edges of his mind to respond. But the fear he felt from fighting a single Potency 8 Astral Demon stopped him from replying instantly that he would help. "Give me a minute," he quietly replied, muting the comms.

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Ollie floated in front of him, remaining stationary – which he only did when he was very concerned or anxious. "That sounds deadly," he said.

Jace swallowed down the knot in his throat and let his helmet recede so he was really looking into Ollie's eyes. "It sounds like a fucking death sentence. Potency 9 and 10? Even with…fuck, however many Dreamers they can pull in to help…" he shook his head, "I was destroyed in a matter of seconds. A single Potency 8 was able to annihilate me! Even with you helping with that energy-draining merge!" he was practically shouting at this point – not at Ollie, but out of exasperation at the futility of what was being asked of him.

And the wrenching roil between his mind, his Emotion Source, and his body's instinctual reaction was tearing at him. The call to be a hero resonated deeply with his Soul, with his particular interface with The Astral System. But his sense of survival, honed over years of surviving on the streets, then surviving hostile encounters in his universe during his travels, was screaming at him to resist.

He opened up the comms, "I'm not going."

"Are you su-"

"Yes," Jace replied with finality as he shut down that line of thought. The flame within, that golden flame of valor, hissed and crackled against his words. But survival came above all else. "I have fought a Potency 8 Astral Demon on my own and was defeated handily. Against a group of 9 and 10? Take my advice, cut your losses, and leave that universe to their fate."

There. He said it. A sense of finality washed over him as he knew he had just advised the condemnation of a universe to the fate that was coming for them. That inferno in his chest refused to still, and he winced in pain as the heat of his emotions was clawing against him, trying to drive him to say something else. But, he shut off the comms and let out a sigh of exasperated relief. "It's done."

Ollie patted him on the shoulder, "Good. Our survival is more important than being a hero." He frowned, "It sucks, leaving a whole universe to a deadly fate…but realistically there is nothing we could do."

Jace shook his head and kept sprinting towards the Vault that Ollie had marked on his map. He knew he would feel guilt over being able to help and not helping…but realistically it was better to know when to give up versus die for nothing. That universe is doomed. And I have too much to live for and accomplish to risk my neck.

Mixarizk breached the first Layer with his horde. The wails of echoing madness cascaded across the Astral Verge as lesser demons crawled back to their brood pits, their little holes in the ground, their handful of cities. For when madness chose to conquer, all who witnessed it would surely perish screaming.

They made a direct course for Universe 1190. The travel took a few days, with starships from all manner of universes unleashing weaponry upon the horde…but they were an inexorable tide. The ships that could obliterate planets with their weaponry? Specks of dirt and dust in the face of Potency 9 Psykinetics. For who could withstand the rush calamity that is unstoppable and among the most powerful of creatures in existence?

The universe they sought had somehow repelled the demonic incursions, and large, block-shaped vessels surrounded the mountain top. "This was not here before," the scout – a low Potency demon who served Mixarizk, stated. "The universe was ripe to plunder! And these are not Gyanv Coalition vessels."

The horde came to a halt, and Mixarizk flapped in place, impressed. "Someone else has conquered the universe…and they want to talk." He felt the slight buzzing on his Rune-inscribed communication slate, and holding it to his ear, he spoke. "You are quite interesting."

A male voice replied. Gruff, no-nonsense, and filled with religious fervor. "This is Highlord Tibalt of the Vanguard Empire. We have claimed this universe-"

Mixarizk held up his clawed hand, pointing a single finger at the space elevator that had been constructed. Desecration, he thought as he activated a Talent. One of the ships instantly blackened, the square, bulky container turning to a corrupted version of its past glory. Immediately falling under his control – along with all of those on board. With a flick, he sent it careening towards another vessel – causing a huge explosion as both careened down to the mountain. "No. You are temporary occupants. Your Souls mean nothing to us – we will go and take the Universal Matter that remains."

The man's voice returned, calmer and more respectful. "I…apologize. We will withdraw immediately."

"Wise," Mixarizk replied as he let the communication slate slip through his claws. He turned to his subordinate. "Go. Follow these vessels to their universe. We will mark it for conquering one our next venture."

"By your will, herald of madness," the peon replied as his body camouflaged and he chased after the now-fleeing vessels.

Mixarizk gestured to the now-awaiting funnel, which would lead up through a black hole and into the universe's center. "Go forth! In Valcrinox's name, and for the madness we bring!" the entire horde surged forth, letting out whoops and exclamations of primal savagery at the carnage that would await.

Jace had stopped and set up the tent a few times, making camp and eating rations. As he was packing his tent into the TPSB, a call came into his communication array. "Go for Wraith."

It was the Coordinator again, who sounded very concerned. "The universe fell."

"No shit," Jace replied.

There was a clacking that translated through as a weary sigh. "We sent forces. The Vanguard Empire was there, first, and had conquered the universe. They withdrew, and when the demons went in…nothing remains. Our first fleet and the dozens of heroism-leaning Dreamers like yourself who we sent were crushed."

"Again, no shit." Jace felt vindication in his chest, and that feeling of being right washed over him. "I fucking told you that it was useless. Should've just left the universe to its demise."

"Our Queen wishes to speak with you."

"Put her on," Jace replied, irritated that they didn't listen, and tried to send people to fight after the universe was already lost. Compounding disaster with another one.

The Hive Queen, Phrakal, spoke with a furious series of clicks. "Why were you not there!" she near-shouted.

"I'm not going to die for your Coalition," Jace replied tersely. "I'll help out when I can and when I think I can help…but you lot signed your own death warrants there."

"It would not have happened if you shared your technology!"

I can't, because then it would make my universe vulnerable, he wanted to reply but instead kept in his thoughts. "I will still help with Missions when I'm near-"

"No. We are done with you." The Hive Queen sounded resolute and quite assured of her statement, despite the chittering behind her words which translated to other voices overlapped in shouting. "The Gyanv Alliance Coalition wants nothing to do with a coward who lets other universes die!" The call cut off.

Xera's voice came over Quinn's line, "It is for the best, probably."

"Less Missions," Jace commented. "Less Infusions."

"We will find them!" Ollie stated as he lay curled around Jace's neck. "We will get so many Infusions from beating Astral Demons and taking it from them!"

Jace gave him a little scratch on the head and then continued his run toward the now-closer Vault.