Transcendent Resurgence: Regressing on an abandoned Earth

Scenes of a primitive world were portrayed before Zyrus's eyes. He was sure about his guess neither due to the beastskin clothes on the humans nor the rafts that they sailed on the sea. What seemed primitive in his eyes was something far more fundamental– the laws of this world.

Zyrus's consciousness was spread across numerous fragments of memories. There was no difference between the past, present, and future. Air, water, sunlight…everything was full of flaws in his eyes. The entire world seemed fragile like an aged bark of a tree. What he was seeing right now was a new sapling that was growing out from an old and decaying tree.

'The world follows the cycle of creation and destruction…'

A thought that was closer to a sigh resounded in his mind. Zyrus knew that this was the will of the star marked tyrant, and what he was seeing were the fragments of memory that made up the core of its existence.

Primate humans caught the fish while their children splashed the water and played with the manta rays. The scene looked strange at first glance, but it soon became apparent that both species had somehow formed a mutual dependence.

Zyrus knew that evolution had boundless possibilities. Any small change could create a butterfly effect and create a whole new path towards life. The humans on earth were the brightest example of that.

From tiny microorganisms to the founders of a civilization that conquered the whole planet, their journey was filled with twists and turns of evolution and natural selection. Those that weren't able to adapt to the environmental changes were annihilated forever. But be it the natural or man-made disasters, what if they were avoided? What if numerous species didn't went extinct and evolved into something else?

The manta ray the Zyrus saw was the result of one such probability. They were different from the ordinary fish that lacked intelligence. While others developed their fins and tempered their insides to swim deeper and longer, they instead chose to remain closer to the sky. While others developed their maws to tear apart their prey, they chose to develop their vocal cords to sing and laugh.

They were beautiful and carried a natural charm that attracted other fish. It was an innate ability similar to hypnosis. They bathed in the sun and sang under the starry sky during the night. Their lives were peaceful. They played all day and when they were hungry, their food would deliver itself with a single call.

But this tranquil life of theirs didn't last.

One day, they saw strange creatures floating towards them from afar. They had multiple heads and numerous arms with sharp pikes. At least that's what the manta rays thought at first.

Days passed by and they learned more and more about the new creatures. They were vigilant against the invaders that were stealing their food with strange seaweeds, but to their relief, they weren't attacked with the pikes.

The strange creatures followed behind them and caught the fishes that were called by them. The manta rays believed that the new creatures had an ugly voice. Not only were they unable to sing and call their food, they even scared away others whenever they opened their mouths.

However, there was one thing they were better at– catching fish. The manta rays could call a whole school of fish and barely ate a few before they ran away, but these creatures were able to catch them all with their strange seaweed!

At this moment, Zyrus was feeling every emotion that manta rays felt throughout their lives. This wasn't the first time his will was dragged to another source of origin, but this time, he was a 'colony' rather than an individual.

Snow fell and autumn wind swayed on the sea. Decades had passed since the two species encountered one another, and now, they had learned to live together.

Primate humans had domesticated the manta rays. Be it the ferocious shark-like creatures or gigantic squids, nothing was spared by the bows of men. The sole reason the manta rays survived was because they were both beautiful and useful.

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"It's really peaceful. I'm sure the aliens will invade now, right?"

'…'

There was no reply to Zyrus's words. He knew that it wasn't the star marked tyrant who was refusing to answer, it simply had to clue as to what 'alien' meant.

"It means that your world was destroyed from within."

'…'

Zyrus had seen many worlds fall as he killed the field bosses. Tauranox, Camazotz, Pugalo…all of them caused their world to fall either by their desire or in retaliation against the aliens. From how everything looked thus far, the current scenario was leading towards the former direction.

He watched the years pass and civilization develop, and soon enough, he found the answer.

The developing human civilization was invaded from the other side of the sea. Rather than an invasion, it was more apt to call it a massacre. Oceans were dyed red and horizons were burning in flames. Clouds of ash shrouded the sky while barrels of oil burned the ocean.

The manta rays were scared and lost. Their songs were turned into screams as their kinsman died one after another. Their playful swimming became a march for survival. What they didn't realize from the start was that this was nothing but a game for the humans.

Compared to the primitive tribe that occupied the nearby islands, the invading humans had a far more advanced civilization. The manta rays were no longer useful. Their beauty and hypnotic ability earned their survival, but it was a fate worse than death.

They were confined on the ocean and reduced to a plaything of the humans. They were forced to sing and cry while their life and deaths was decided on a whim. Such events were too common regardless of the world. Wars were inevitable as civilizations developed. The price of conquest was the lives of the innocent. Despite this, the intelligent species survived because they either forgot their past or forgave their enemies.

But what if they were unable to?

Even with his willpower Zyrus couldn't help but be affected by despair. If this was any unintelligent species then they would have felt nothing towards it. If this was an intelligent species then they would've felt rage and hatred after being treated like this.

But the manta rays were neither. They wanted to play and sing, and they felt sad when they were unable to do that. Sadness and Despair– the two emotions accumulated with every cycle of life and death.

Perhaps even the heavens were infuriated by the cruel and selfish act of the humans. Zyrus who now shared the same view as the 'colony' saw the retribution fall from the sky.

"No wonder it felt wrong for such a hypnotic ability and shared consciousness to exist," Zyrus muttered as his thoughts were turned upside down. He had believed that this world was lacking in mana and was similar to earth, but now, that couldn't be more wrong.

[I, Biamie, Shall Judge Your Sins]

A voice resounded across the whole sea. Golden thunderstorms raged in the sky as a pair of furious eyes looked down from the heavens. Zyrus had countless questions at this moment. What was the strength and power structure of this world? Who was Biamie? Why were his emotions enough to change the weather of the whole world?

Neither Zyrus nor those who lived in that world would ever know the answer.

An ivory spear descended from the heaven like a fallen star. Space was shattered and time ceased to flow wherever it passed. The entire world was turned into ashes in a single instance. Humans, fish, birds, plants…nothing survived. Nothing except the will of the colony.

Despair.

Zyrus felt an emotion that was so heavy and bitter that it was choking his neck. At this moment, everything repeated itself. The world was created once more, and for one reason or another, it met its end with the falling ivory spear.

The manta rays forgot everything, but the will of the colony remembered it. Under this strange and sad scenario, a new existence was born.

'It' was the Star marked Tyrant.

…

"What, that's it?"

"Yes. You would erase my despair if we were to proceed any further."

Zyrus and the star marked tyrant stood face to face in a blank space. Neither spoke anything further as with their intelligence, a single sentence was enough.

The star marked tyrant knew that Zyrus didn't really care about how the world ended and how it ended up in the sanctuary. All he wanted was its power.

"Indeed. It would be a pity if I erased your despair."

Zyrus had also realized that the star marked tyrant's core strength relied on despair. If they were to fight, then he had no choice but to use his void laws to erase the emotion of despair itself. Without the systems' restrictions, that was the only way the star marked tyrant could be killed.

He had thought that it was a single individual who could create multiple souls and bodies with their willpower, but the truth was different. The star marked tyrant was both and individual and a colony of manta rays simultaneously.

"If you want my power, then I have one condition. Of course, you can refuse it and kill me if you wish."

"As expected. Someone like you wouldn't have the desire to either live or die," Zyrus shrugged and gestured at the star marked tyrant to continue.

"My wish is simple. Promise me that you won't let the despair die out. I may cease to exist, but still, the new existence born from my source will carry on my despair. The more it is spread, the stronger they'll become…"

"Alright, I promise."

Neither spoke a word after this as the space had already started to crumble apart. This space was created by the will of the star marked tyrant, and its disintegration meant that it had accepted its fate.