The first star that passed away extinguished two thousand years ago.
Four hundred years later, the mysterious Calamity of Heavenly Fall destroyed the civilization of the previous era, returning thriving cultures to ignorance.
Since then, stars gradually vanished, the Firmament grew dark and dim, and a new civilization rose from the starless wilderness, flourishing once more.
Yet, what accompanied this were war, death, destruction, and hatred.
The flames once aimed at the Firmament were used to slaughter the people of enemy nations, and the raining clouds once engineered to alter deserts were turned into floods that engulfed the land.
Humans once again began to kill each other for wealth and power... but no one looked up at the sky.
They lost the Guidance of the stars Above the Sky, forgetting the awe of gazing upon the Milky Way.
They were all prisoners.
One thousand six hundred years after the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, a young child awakened memories of his past life.
He wanted to break the Cage, to throw off the shackles.
He wanted to become a star.
To return to Above the Sky.
"I don't care about how the people of this world live, whether they're well-fed or not, whether they can dress warmly or live comfortably, whether they have dreams or hopes. I don't care about their loves and hates."
"I just want to go Above the Sky."
——Ian.

At this moment, Ian truly felt incredulous—an unfathomable incredulity.


Some might consider it an overreaction, but in the Terra Universe—the Ether Universe of the Astral Gods—the existence of Aether itself is the foundation of all things.


It is Aether that integrates the form of the stars, and Aether that constructs the origin of all beings... Simply put, in the Aether Universe, before the diffusion of True Ether, the entire universe might have only had the life form of Star Gods. It was with the presence of Aether that humans and other carbon-based life forms, metal-based lifeforms, and various other different life forms emerged.


Without Aether, the form of the entire universe is unimaginable to the current life.


However, with the diffusion brought by The End, the 'External Universe' that continues to invade 'Inside the Cradle' is a 'dead silence' without any Aether.


Ian stared at this scene, motionless, his gaze unwavering.


Chapter 2016 - Chapter 25: The Prophet Leading to the Future, the Sage Who Changes Everything