The lights never turned off for Soren. Rather, him fainting only made him see more than if he was simply awake.

Despite his exhaustion, pain, and overall misery, he for some reason remained… conscious? No, it was a state of being that was hard to describe. He was not himself during those moments, but someone else instead. A stranger living a stranger's life…

The lives he experienced were all rather short, but vastly different from each other. A farmer, a soldier, a prostitute, a begger. A noble, merchant, priest and knight… All mundane but interesting in their own depressing ways. And yet, the narrative didn't revolve around them specifically. Each vision was but a singular brick, layered infinitely to construct something… more.

He could witness the passage of time—the changing of the seasons—between each life. And what was even more interesting was the fact that this sequence wasn't singular. Thousands of these timeless strands were all playing simultaneously in his mind, all weaving into each other like a vast web of history.

Soren was certain that he was simply dreaming, but the lucidity of it all still left him with a sense of awe and wonder. His mind was rapidly absorbing these scenes, but it became clear that each life he experienced could not fully be recalled after it was finished.

Eventually, however, he did reach the end. The seemingly endless tapestry of lifelong experiences had come to its final play. The yarn had run out of string.

The final life he entered was one of a king, overseeing a vast and plentiful kingdom. One plagued by internal wars and strife. As he sat upon his lonely throne, a swarm of knights—each carrying a differing sigiled banner—blasted through the chamber door. Their swords were aimed at their former liege as the blood of the royal court servants painted the marble floor red.

Watching this display of cruelty, the king remained calm under the weight of his extravagant crown. Years of dodging conspiracy after conspiracy had certainly grounded his judgement. Indeed, the sword that dangles above the throne was now close to piercing through his heart. His rule was most certainly finished.

As he lifted his frail arm one last time, the knights flinched and took one step back. Despite all the power they held in that moment, the knights were afraid of the old and cruel king. His shadow loomed over them, like a dark cloud of misery and death.

He pointed at the knights and said in a quiet yet loud voice:

"Let this be my final decree: the one who takes my life shall be crowned the next king."

The knights exchanged uneasy glances, each waiting for someone else to act first. But before any of them could move, the sharp whistle of an arrow split the air. Their hollow gazes beneath the metal visors snapped back to the old king who was now struck clean through the heart.

"I shall take the crown," a commanding yet somber voice echoed across the death-filled chamber. All the way at the back of the crowd of knights, an archer stood alone, adorned in light chainmail and holding tightly to his radiant silver bow.

As he stepped forward, the banner knights before him parted, granting him passage without uttering a word. Step after step, he advanced toward the throne. Through the eyes of the dying king, Soren studied his face—blonde hair swept neatly to the side, and cold blue eyes that seized all they looked upon. He held a somber expression, one filled with chilling calculation and ambition.

Suddenly, the dying king began to chuckle, letting the blood drip from his lips. "May the sword dangle closer to your heart than it did mine."

The solitary archer said nothing. He picked up the crown quietly and wore it, turning to face the bloody chamber.

"Give us the crown, Joshua." One of the knights said—gripping tightly to the pommel of his glowing sword. Their bravery had returned after seeing the dying king unable to resist.

Sighing again, Joshua lifted his bow and aimed it at the greedy knights.

As the dying king's vision slowly began to blur, Soren watched as radiant flashes of light colored the chamber, followed by screams of agony and pain.

Eventually, silence returned to the throne room. The fight had ended just as quickly as it began. The dying king looked up one last time at the bloody archer standing upon a pile of metal-clad corpses and smiled.

"I too once tried and failed at ending the cursed Banner Wars. I am sure your killer will hear the same from you, as well."

The solitary archer glanced at the dying king with madness burning in his eyes.

"The squabbles of man will no longer plague these harsh lands. For I have the Mother of Silver on my side."

The words echoed faintly before darkness finally overwhelmed his vision. The old king was dead.

The visions were over.

Soren awoke loudly amidst heavy breathing and cold sweat. He jolted up from his bed like a spring.

Glancing around nervously, his familiar room finally came into view. There was nothing for him to say at that moment. All his thoughts were occupied by what he had witnessed…

It felt as if a thousand years had slipped silently by… The memories of every life he had experienced continued to flash across his mind before finally disappearing. Soon, Soren began to recover—remembering who he really was…

Before he could think any further, he noticed his Soul Weapon was still actively hovering beside him. Its golden, radiant pages shimmering for all to see in the darkness of his room. The mysterious fountain pen was actively chronicling new entries.

What?... How is it still active?

"It's been active since two days ago." Tazzith's voice reached him through the void.

"Two days…" Soren quickly recalled what led to him fainting. The Whispering Dream's assault on the Temple of the Stars…

Judging by the fact that he had been allowed to rest peacefully for the last two days, it was fair to assume that Solyara managed to resolve the issue. Though, he was still unsure of the complete state of things. Did Venessa survive? What about the other sisters of the temple? Myrin too…

Although he was uncertain about these things, there was one thing he was definitely certain of. The Whispering Dream… His goal this time was never to capture or kill Soren.

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His target was always Cassia…

I should have expected it… After all, her strange behavior was clearly due to some kind of premonition that she was seeing.

His chest tightened the more he thought about it. Cassia… this entire time has been trying very hard to commit suicide. Whatever the Whispering Dream wants from her must be so damning, she was desperate enough to end her own life just to not allow him the opportunity…

Still, knowing that her goal could still be achieved by killing him instead meant that he too was related to it. And the prophecy he was able to extract from Sienna's fate star proved this.

Staring down at his own hands, Soren silently began to plot his next move. Eventually, he sighed then glanced at The Records once more.

"Show me what I've acquired."

The book listened to his mental command and began to flip through its own pages before finally landing on his usual status page. Soren's eyes, however, were drawn to the bottom where the event log was usually shown.

Event Log

New Entry Recorded: [The Fourth Age of Fantasia] (History)

New Entry Recorded: [The Final Decision] (Astrology)

New Entry Updated: [Sienna's Status Page]

New Entry Recorded: [Solyara's Status Page]

New Entry Recorded: [Venissa's Status Page]

"No wonder it's been [Record]ing for the past two days…" What he had obtained from witnessing everything there was to see in that fractal galaxy of fate stars was far too colossal to truly grasp.

The history of an entire age… A thousand plus years of culture, lives, experiences and events… All of it was entering the Fairy Court's library of knowledge.

He couldn't help but smile slightly. "Perhaps this is fate's way of honoring my wish… The decision I will come to will inevitably doom this world…"

He has yet to chronicle everything there was to see in Yarian. Time has truly never been on his side…

Shaking his head, he glanced at the radiant book again—this time issuing a different command. Out of all the members from Star Fate guild, he was most interested in obtaining Sienna's status page. Back then, he was unsure of why his [Eyes of the Fairy] never worked on her.

The answer to that question became clear during his last attempt to see the unseen. Due to Sienna's Soul Weapon being deeply connected to the Temple of the Stars, the powers of the Dungeon Shroud which obstruct any attempts at gathering information had naturally extended to her. But because he was able to directly use his abilities against her fate star, he was naturally able to bypass these protections.

The side effect of this was him obtaining more information than he could handle all at once…

As he waited patiently for the shimmering pages to flip toward what he wanted to see, another thought crossed his mind:

"Why is there one status page missing…"

From what he remembered, the Whispering Dream's information was also inadvertently obtained. But at the time, he couldn't read any of it due to [Record] acting as a filter since his focus was on obtaining the prophecy first.

"That shrewd bastard…" The child-like voice reached him once more.

Soren furrowed his brows. "Do you know something, Tazzith?"

"Indeed." The ancient demon sighed. "I can't be certain, but I believe he might have used the Avalon Ruin's Dungeon Core key."

"The key…" This was the artifact that the Whispering Dream had stolen. With its authority over the Nameless Mist, he had used it nefariously to achieve his goals countless times—first in Yarian against the Unblessed, spreading chaos across the Feylith Forest…

"Certainly, with its powers, Silmar could easily erase all traces of his information, even from the Beyond." Soren theorized, but he was confident he was right.

His frown deepened. We shall meet again, he said… The more he thought about it, the more he dreaded this fateful meeting.

Eventually, his eyes landed back at The Records, whose shimmering pages reflected what he desired to see:

Status

Name: Sienna Yvain

Race: Human

Age: 48

Vocation: Star of the Ending Dawn

Magi Rank: Magister (6th Circle)

Magi Affinities: Stars

Soul Realm: Layered Space (Dominion Stage)

Soul Weapon (???): Vessel of the Stars (Tier ???)

Skills: [Cosmic Prognosis] - Analyze the world's flaws. [Macrocosmic Layering] - Envision subspaces as you desire. [Celestial Whispers] - Let the voice ushering a New Age cloud your ears. [Fate Star Attraction] - Epoch Stars may orbit you instead. [Astronomical Revelations] - Witness the path carved by the Orbits of Fate. [The Star Temple] - Let space be your sanctuary. [Nebulous Manifold] - Let your form scatter into astral mist. [Orbital Reshape] - Command celestial bodies as their shepherd.

Blessings: [Witnesser of All, Stopper of None] (???)

Rune Collection: Does Not Exist.

Soren stood there motionless for a few seconds, trying to grasp what he was reading. Although the upper half of the information was familiar to him, it was the bottom half that left him speechless.

Nine abilities… How is that even possible?

According to his own theory, each Abstract Rune was supposed to give two default skills upon merging with them. Meaning, Sienna would either have to have three or four Abstract Runes in total. But clearly, the information provided goes against this notion.

Sienna… She has no Abstract Runes at all…

Usually, his Soul Weapon would simply outline a section with ??? if it did not possess that information, as shown in the status page. But in her Rune Collection section, it confidently declared that they did not exist at all…

"The Records never lies…"

But then he realized something else as well. Each ability and its description was far too unique. Usually, abilities that come from the same Abstract Rune share similar characteristics. His Heartdrinker Sigil's [Ophidian Transfer] and [Ophidian Insight] was one such example.

In Sienna's case, however, the abilities each revolved around a different concept, and yet, their overarching theme seemed to still converge on the same theme: Star Fate.

As he closely read each of their descriptions, he also became aware of their complexity. [Cosmic Prognosis] was likely the skill that allowed her to see Yarian's ruination, but its effects were wide enough to birth many possibilities. Worlds, after all, were colossal in size and hold together many things. A "flaw" in the world could be anything.

Similarly, [The Star Temple] was the skill that gave her authority over the Temple of the Stars. However, this ability might as well be classified with countless sub-abilities, similar to how his very own [The Faerie Court] grants him [Fictionalization]. The amount of power Sienna wields over this subspace with just this ability alone truly terrified him.

With it, the Whispering Dream was able to easily assume control over the entire temple, making Solyara, a literal Saint, partially unable to deal with him.

"Is such a Soul Weapon even possible?"

Abilities that are all unique, with no proper Abstract Rune to draw its governing principles from… Even The Records itself seemed to question its identity, placing ??? next to the Soul Weapon section as well as next to its tier.

Leaning back against the bed's headboard, Soren sighed.

"Perhaps our classification itself is wrong…"

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