Past | Library
Celestia stands in the main hall of the library, her eyes fixed on a painting of King Arthur. She gazes at it in silence for a moment, then walks away, entering a private chamber.
The room is simple—just a table, a bed, and a chessboard, frozen mid-game.
She sits down quietly, fingers interlaced, and lowers her head. A memory aches back into her mind. Arthur's voice echoes.
"Celestia… I will die. You've been blinded. Let me lend you my eye."
Her crimson eye glows faintly.
"You will see them. And if something happens… I'll grant you a favor, for your loyalty. My oldest friend."
Celestia clenches her fist tightly.
"We broke the rules… the rules of this world. That's why it escalated."
Her voice sharpens as she stands.
"I'll hunt them down—all of your puppets. I'll break every rule. Your heavenly position is poison to me. I'll kill you… and your old world. All your entities. Everything—will—be—dead."
She narrows her eyes.
"You'll regret what you did to Camelot."
She mutters a word under her breath.
"XeCaliber."
A scythe materializes with a hum of dark light. She swings it without hesitation—beheading the Queen chess piece on the board.
"You can't run from yourself, Eden."
Emberium
Ryusaki's body collapses. Every life within him fades.
Celestia steps forward cautiously.
"What… is going on?"
Mephisto whispers beside her, unease laced in every word.
"Celestia… something's off. Some energy is… entering him. Faint but... it's there."
Suddenly, a shockwave bursts from Ryusaki's corpse.
His body jerks upright—eyes flashing gold, veins darkened and crawling. His body regenerates completely. No heartbeat. Just… movement.
Celestia tightens her grip on the scythe.
She strikes.
But before the blow lands, a sword—glowing pure yellow, like a blade of light—forms in Ryusaki's hand. In a flash, he slashes toward her eye.
Celestia moves—but too late.
"ARGHH—!"
Blood bursts from her face as her eyelid is sliced clean in two. She stomps the ground in pain.
"Again… again and again. Why every time, this thing?! Last time it was in Scotland. Egypt. Camelot. Why do you keep existing?!"
Ryusaki responds in a cold, mechanical voice.
"Eliminate Rulebreaker."
Celestia lifts her arm to the sky.
"Mephisto… last time I had teams to finish these things. Now… I'm alone."
The entity that was once Ryusaki raises his sword. Angelic, golden wings burst from his back, displacing his former dragon wings. The sky shifts into a divine hue as golden liquid rains softly to the earth.
Then, with one motion, he raises his sword high.
And slashes.
The atmosphere splits. Reality bends—then shatters. A shockwave rips through the world, vaporizing everything in its path.
Silence.
Celestia stands among the rubble, her scythe crackling with strained power. She surveys the field—no spirits, no remnants, no ghosts.
"I see... You're cutting off my power."
She thinks, then gently taps her foot to the earth.
Another flash.
Another slash tears through the air—not even touching her—but slicing behind her armor.
Her eyes widen. She doesn't heal.
"That's different… from the other entities."
She exhales, nods once.
"Mephisto—come out."
The reaper rises behind her, vast and shadowy, glowing like a storm.
"My soul… and yours. Let it burn."
Mephisto hesitates.
"What are you planning? That's madness."
Celestia's eyes burn red.
"Eden… you said Rulebreaker?"
Ryusaki's gold eyes lock on hers.
"Eliminate Rule Breaker. Soul Killer: Activate."
He surges forward, golden sword flashing.
Celestia braces herself. With all her might, she blocks—and with a surge of will—kicks him far away.
"Mephisto…" Celestia laughs, a low, unhinged sound from deep in her chest.
"I learned young. It felt good to fight. To kill. I was death incarnate. The control over life and death—it was beautiful."
She steps forward, her eyes gleaming dimly under the golden sky.
"In Camelot, Mephisto… when I met you, Arthur, and Merlin… they gave me purpose."
She shouts into the wind, her voice shaking the air.
"Eden! You're right! I'm human… and I've lived a long, long life! I broke some rules!"
"Celestia, you are—" Mephisto tries to speak, but she's already falling to her knees.
Her expression shifts—eyes empty, lips curled into a smirk. The smirk of someone finally done pretending.
Ryusaki stands up and watches her closely. For the first time, fear flickers in this entity's golden gaze.
"I'm out here discussing philosophy with mass murderers, warlords, fanatics..." Her voice drops to a bitter whisper. "How far I've fallen. I used to talk about saving the world. About ending control. Lies. All of it."
"Celestia—"
"Mephisto. Kill every trace of death control in my body. Use it. Burn it as fuel."
She clutches her chest, breathing ragged. "I want to feel true pain again. I want to feel the threat of death. Shut down the numbness spells."
The reaper hesitates, towering above her, his skeletal hands slowly reaching out and resting on her shoulders. Her aura pulses—unstable, thick with rage.
"This is madness!" Mephisto mutters, the dark mist coiling tighter.
Above them, the sky burns gold. Divine light pours down.
Celestia stares at it, defiant.
"Ryusaki—or better… Eden now. This is your wake-up call." Her voice rises, sharp and angry.
"I kept telling myself I did it for the world. For Arthur's vision. But that's a lie. A beautiful, poetic lie."
She clenches her fists, teeth gritted in manic determination.
"It was never about saving anything. I just… wanted to fight something strong. Wanted to kill something that could kill me."
Her eyes scan the field. Nothing but ash and silence.
"Everyone else is dead. There's no one left to hold me back."
Ryusaki doesn't speak. He watches. Like a predator studying a storm, fearing that he will become the prey.
"CELESTIA— I CAN'" Mephisto tries again.
"NOW!" she screams.
The reaper obeys.
"Soul Gathering—Soul Burn."
Pain explodes through her body. Blood pours from her mouth, her back arches, her limbs tremble. Her breathing halts—then returns with a furious laugh.
One eye burns crimson, brighter than before. The other—black—twists into a white scythe-shaped pupil. No skulls. Just a blade.
She rises, staggering to her feet, smiling wide and broken.
"Celestia… is back."
Mephisto's form dissolves into black dust and surges into her chest. Her scythe ignites, roaring with black and white energy, nearly blinding.
Something deep within her shifts.
And then, she laughs. Not like before.
This time, it's manic. Uncontrolled. Ecstatic.
Ryusaki surges forward, wings tearing —but Celestia warps already behind him, her scythe raised, hungry for his neck.
Steel screams against steel.
He blocks with inhuman reaction speed, sparks flying as their weapons clash mid-air.
Celestia grins wide. "Misarie—Aedth."
She pushes him back with a single swing, then follows instantly with another. A black trail coils behind her scythe like a shadow seeking death.
Ryusaki blocks again—at first, without concern. But his eyes flick to his forearm. The flesh is disintegrating, vanishing in fine wisps of smoke.
His expression darkens.
They collide again—clash after clash—fury and fire bursting at each impact. The air bends under the pressure. Their blades burn with power beyond logic.
Celestia rushes forward—one ruthless slash sends Ryusaki spiraling skyward. He stabilizes mid-air, flaring his golden wings, but Celestia is relentless. She leaps after him without hesitation, a storm given form.
The golden liquid in the sky pours across her left arm. Her skin dissolves.
She laughs harder, her scythe spinning with glee.
She fights through the pain. Through the burning. Each strike becomes heavier, faster. Ryusaki tries to hold his offense—but he's being pushed back. Her onslaught is too brutal. Too unpredictable.
"Targeting Celestia—Gold Void."
The sky responds. Hundreds of golden blades form overhead, aimed straight for her.
She doesn't flinch. She doesn't evade.
Celestia roars and slashes upward. One by one, she cuts the golden swords out of the air—screaming, unhinged, a beast reveling in destruction. Blood pours from her arm. She doesn't stop.
High above, Ryusaki raises his sword to the sky.
The heavens vanish. Everything turns black.
A massive blade—a sword the size of a mountain—descends from the darkness, its edge screaming toward Celestia.
She plants her feet.
"Come on," she laughs. "Was that all?"
The sword slams down—splitting Emberium in half.
Celestia stands heavily scratched. Blood spilling out from her ear. With a defiant howl, she cuts through the atmosphere itself. Opening a gate to a different realm.
Over a hundred skeletons rise from the gate. Her scythe spins into the sky and tears open another breach between realms.
From the void, a skeletal giant emerges—colossal, towering like a skyscraper. Its skull burns with ghostly fire.
"I kill everyone. Even giants. And when they fall—" she lifts her hand, "they follow me."
The skeleton raises its hand to the sky—then smashes it toward Ryusaki.
He remains midair, eyes sharp and focused.
Below, her army grows.
The skeletal hordes leap upward, scaling the gigantic blade descending from the heavens. One by one, they leap from it—blurring through the air at impossible speed.
Just before they reach him—white dust. Vaporized. Cleansed by his aura.
All except one.
One orange-glowing skeleton keeps climbing.
Ryusaki moves to flee—but the massive skeleton catches him, locking him in place.
His eyes narrow.
The orange skeleton ignites, bursting into fire.
It leaps.
The sky explodes like a second sun—burning everything.
The giant skeleton shatters—ten thousand bone fragments raining across the ruined city.
Smoke clears.