Dark Matter Ascension

Jace turned to that quieter one as he sheathed the sword and let the Talents and Skills fade. "Well? Did I impress you?" He let his helmet recede as a sign of respect so they could make eye contact.

The louder one nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, yes. Marvelous display. Really, you were not as challenged as we thought you would be."

Jace tapped the armor, "My wife. Rune Carver."

"Ah," the quieter one nodded. "That explains it. The rune is inside?"

"Yup," Jace replied feeling super excited that Shhiv's work had functioned as intended. "The [Interaction] Rune so that the armor can actually work against Psykinetics."

The quieter one stared at him for a few seconds before shrugging. "I will increase the rigor and reward of coming Vaults." He vanished.

The louder one chuckled, "Keep impressing us, Wraith." He said the last with a slight wink before vanishing as well.

Good thing they seem to like you, Ollie stated.

Jace crossed his arms, I think they might be trying something, he thought back. Are they maybe trying to manipulate me like Xera did? Be all friendly and nice to get me to lower my guard? Try and get me on their side? He had been betrayed several times already, and he did not want it to happen again.

I will need us to speak with them more to analyze speech patterns. But for now, we are just having pleasant conversations. Keep doing that. Nothing has been guaranteed save them giving us the go-ahead to go forward with our tunnel plan.

Jace looked to the reliquary and opened it. Inside was another tablet. He picked it up and began reading:

"You have defeated a Vault of The Ancients. This is the third Vault you have defeated. As such, you will receive information appropriate to an Ancient who has begun their trials. Locations will be translated automatically to your most familiar terminology."

The tablet shifted in his hands, and became a longer, thinner plate with different words written in the runic language. Strange, he thought as he paused reading. The two prior ones talked about "newly arrived Ancient" and this one speaks of one who has begun their "trials".

It seems that these Ancients, by implication, are arriving and perhaps even departing. Perhaps our layers of reality are a transitory state for them. As if they are going through our layers of reality as only one step in their personal journey. The terminology supports the theory.

Jace nodded and began reading:

"We are aware of the entities that control the Afterlives, but they are very withdrawn and fiercely protective of the Souls they receive. As such, we can only speculate as to their motivations. It is believed that the Afterlives were always present; a "purer" reflection of their Universe counterparts. They are full of life and vibrance. Once we created the Nethershift, and began to funnel the Souls of those worthy of paradise, we found to our delight that these rulers of the afterlives were wholly altruistic. The Souls that earned the right to exist there would be in eternal bliss. How this mechanism of this slice of all possible realities came into existence is a mystery to our kind. But, as is our way, all Ancients are meant to intercede in the most neutral manner possible: hence our instilling of judgment of Souls."

Intriguing, Ollie commented. So our universes and afterlives were already existing slices of reality, with the now-known-as Astral Verge being a transitory slice along with the Soul Realm. The Nethershift was wholly the creation of these Ancients, and this is some type of part of their journey. Our layers of reality, I mean.

Do you think they have evil intentions? Jace thought back as the slate vanished and he peeked into the box.

They have not done anything "evil" to our universes other than accidentally cause Astral Demons to exist. In the grand scheme of reality, they are neutral as they state they are in this tablet.

Jace picked up the odd, cylindrical device. It was like a pipe made of purple crystal, with jagged edges and was a good foot long. "Huh. Weird." He tried squeezing it lightly, but no message from the Astral System appeared. He tried shaking it, tossing it back and forth between his hands – but it did not respond. "Thoughts?"

No clue.

Jace felt suction from behind and he went flying out of the Vault, skidding on the worked stone ground of the bunker as he caught his footing. Recovering his stance, he held the tube, then, looked through it like it was a spyglass. "Maybe something on the inside-"

-----

[You have acquired a Relic of the Ancients.]

[The Astral System has detected another System present.]

[Do you wish to integrate Relic with existing {Equipment}?]

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

-----

"Yes?" Jace replied with a cautious question at the end.

The tube shattered in his hands, and as he stared, dumbly at it. The crystalline, floating purple shards then flew into his eyes, and he felt a white-hot pain as he collapsed to the ground, punching the floor and letting out a cry of agony as it felt like he had been stabbed back on Nihilethelea by that cat-man.

A moment later, the pain vanished, and he gasped as he blinked his eyes over and over, rubbing them as his vision returned.

-----

[Relic Equipped.]

[Arbiter's Sight.]

[Enables the user to see the Karma Coefficient of any creature with a Soul. Those with a lower Karma Coefficient will suffer more injury from the user while the user is empowered by their Emotion Source.]

-----

[Effects from merged {Equipment}:]

[Terrifying – Any entity of a lower {Tier} than the user is incapable of harming them, provided they are kept within field of view.]

[Sealing – The user can look at any Astral Incursion and seal it. May be done once per {day} cycle.]

[Effects merged to new designation: Draconic Sovereign.]

[Future alterations will be merged into new designation.]

-----

Ollie un-merged from Jace's head, causing a wicked, pulsating headache that Jace quickly fixed with a Dark Matter Mending. "Wow, you look different."

"Show me," Jace said as he gasped from the alleviation of pain. Ollie flew in front of him and pulled up a screen, showing a camera view from Ollie's point of view. Jace's eyes were the same, slitted pupils with the deep, cosmic center – but there were jagged edges of purple crystals that seemed to point inward to the pupil. He blinked a few times, and saw the swirl of cascading colors within. "Huh. Neat." He also saw a number above his head.

-----

[Karma Coefficient]

[+ 35]

-----

"Ready to head back home for some R&R?" Ollie asked as he swam in tight circles around Jace.

"Yeah," he replied with enthusiasm as he gripped the voidlight tether and traveled back home.

Mixarizk pulled out of the universe, watching with satisfaction as the funnel that led to the singularity's center collapsed, leaving a bare mountain that slowly began to descend, to merge with the Astral Verge's first Layer that it had risen from.

They had quite the hefty haul – Souls and Universal Matter. Enough for several of the legion to level up. And his gaze drifted to another funnel in the distance. The one that those block-shaped vessels had fled to.

"We cannot," he said to his still-eager legion. "The lure is too strong for me; and that means it will affect you, too. We withdraw to the fields of madness in Layer 10." He began flying to the hole that would lead them down, feeling the tugging sensation on the edges of his psyche as it threatened to rip itself asunder.

"My Queen," Grand Coordinator Brok said with a trembling set of clacking mandibles as his voice came out in a shudder of fear. "We should not alienate this individual."

She was seated upon her throne, back in City 231. She clacked her mandibles in rage and fury, and the voice that came through was sputtering with wrath. "Issue the death mark against Wraith! We'll kill him, take his technology, and figure out how he has done what he has done! The Alliance Coalition needs that power to safeguard all universes!"

Brok felt the tension in his mandibles, and was going to reply, but knew that her mind was made up. He could only carry out her will. "By your command," he stated as he stood up and departed at her gesture. Going right to the communication center, he began typing in the message that would then be relayed through to the individuals holding Rune-carved communication devices.

The thought of sending a warning to Wraith crossed his mind, but he dashed it from his mind. No, he thought. The Dreamer left a universe to die when he could have helped. Could have used that phenomenal power to destroy the demons. Instead…they were a coward. And we lost every other heroic-aligned Psykinetic user.

He sent off the message and began drafting up orders. More of the brood from their home universe was to be brought as children. Indoctrinated into those who would choose and then tested to be able to handle the golden flames of a heroic Emotion Source.

Then, he turned and began reading reports. The Vanguard Empire…

Highlord Tibalt was astonished and furious. They had been driven from their harvest of Universe 1190, and the entire universe collapsed in on itself once the Astral Demons left. They did not get nearly enough Souls to do what they wanted. What he envisioned. The whole Vanguard Empire, turned into Dreamer Demons and taking over the Astral Verge in its entirety.

It must be done, he thought as he stood up and walked to his personal console. Tapping in his access key, he sent the signal for the nearly stripped mining worlds to be destroyed within his universe. All of the indentured servants would be slain, and caught by their newly constructed Soul Catchers at the bottom of their universe's singularity funnel.

Dozens of worlds can be sacrificed. We only must support our main centers of population. A few hundred thousand dying for the good of the Vanguard is a small price to pay.

Their numbers had swelled. Thousands of Dreamer Demons now stood at Tibalt's beck and call. They had already begun their offensive against a once-tentative ally. The Gyanv Alliance Coalition. With their new Dreamer Demons, the Gyanv had to spend a lot of resources to take them down permanently.

Unlike true Astral Demons, Dreamer Demons could not shed Essence, flee, and reform. They had to repair on-the-spot, and their Essence, or Souls if no Essence remained, is what fixed their bodies. Enough damage while they were stuck in place would effectively mean death.

Thankfully, Tibalt thought as he tugged slightly on a button on his dress uniform's sleeve, We have plenty of Souls to consume. He smiled the faintest of smiles, knowing that a single hive world back in their universe held a population of billions, and that alone was enough for a few thousand Dreamer Demons on its own. Weak ones, sure, but still more capable than a regular Dreamer.

"It is all coming together," he said to his colleague who was back on their home world, the empire's capital, back in their universe. "We have already set our sights on another universe, and will soon invade."

"Excellent," his colleague replied with a chuckle that carried sinister intent. "Should we proceed?"

"Yes." Tibalt turned off the communication array as he pondered the next steps in their grand plan. One that had come together really quickly after their coup given the new developments.

They would keep shipyards, manufacturing, and other facilities in their universe, along with the bulk of their civilian population. Everyone else; the undesirables, those who did not directly serve the empire's interests, would be given a brain implant to turn them into subservient soldiers. Then, they would be converted to Dreamer Demons. An army that could take over the whole of Layer 1 of the Astral Verge – or at least, a large slice of the infinitely stretching space.

Tibalt felt the Souls screaming in his chest, thrumming and keeping him full of energy. He hadn't slept or eaten in days. Mortal needs were gone. He was something else. Between mortal and immortal.

And it filled him with the greatest satisfaction. Demon Emperor of the Vanguard Empire has a nice ring to it.