Suddenly, for the briefest of monts, the billions of stars shining around Ricky dimd—each one as if bowing its head in silent mourning. The vast expanse of the cosmos seed to hold its breath, and in that pin drop stillness, a sense of universal grief swept over Ricky’s soul.
He watched the scene ahead, frozen in a dramatic silence. He didn’t realize it, but his tiny mandibles were trembling—not from the cold void around him, but from raw, primal terror. It felt as though the abyssal force on the horizon wasn’t coming to devour Axiom Dawn, but to consu him.
"Who is he...?"
The whispered words escaped Ricky’s mandibles unconsciously.
As if summoned by the question, a figure clad in radiant golden armor floated forth from the planet’s upper atmosphere, his presence like a second sunrise. Space itself seed to recoil and part around him as his form erged—each inch of his armor reflecting the star’s light with divine brilliance.
In his wake, the darkness lifted. The stars resud their shimr, yet none could outshine the sheer majesty of the golden man. His very presence distorted space—gravity bent, and light struggled to hold form around him.
And yet, neither the abyssal monstrosity nor the luminous guardian seed to notice Ricky or David, as if their existence was a trivial footnote in the script of gods.
Without turning his gaze from the battle unfolding, David responded solemnly.
"He is the protector of this world..."
There was a weight to his words, a grave finality that struck a chord in Ricky’s core.
Xhar’Thuun paid no mind to the glowing sentinel. The colossal void-creature twisted around the planet like a leviathan from a forgotten myth. Its nightmarish form swam through space with impossible grace—its sinuous length composed of an ever-shifting mass of darkness and billions—no, trillions—of screaming, devoured souls.
Each of its limbs pulsed with hate. Jagged tendrils writhed and undulated as if tasting the boundaries of reality. A thunderous, soul-wrenching wail tore through the vacuum of space, carried not by sound, but by raw psychic anguish.
The horror sank into Ricky’s spirit like a poison. He turned to David to speak, but the man in the tuxedo simply raised a single finger to his lips and hushed.
"Watch..."
At that mont, a voice bood across the cosmos. Deep. Ancient. Cold enough to still ti.
"Abyssal spawn... this is the farthest you shall go."
It was the golden man. His voice shattered the oppressive silence like a supernova. Then, without flourish, he extended his hand—and a sword appeared.
It was unremarkable at first glance, a rusted, jagged thing that resembled scrap tal more than a divine weapon. But the mont his hand gripped its hilt, the air shifted.
Wring.
Lines appeared. Delicate, hair-thin fractures in space radiated from him like a spiderweb spun by a celestial being. Each line shimred faintly, hinting at infinite sharpness. And yet... the planet remained untouched, protected.
"So strong..." Ricky whispered in awe, his voice barely audible. Though he floated lightyears away, he felt as though his soul itself had been split down the middle.
"You say strong, huh!"
David’s dry, mocking voice echoed beside him. It held a strange bitterness.
Ricky frowned. Though sarcastic, David’s voice lacked the usual mischief. Instead, it trembled with a quiet despair. A heaviness that even the golden man’s brilliance couldn’t dispel.
Before Ricky could respond, a deafening roar tore through space.
It wasn’t just sound—it was force, pressure, madness.
Ricky’s entire being shook. His compound eyes blurred. His mind scread as though struck by a thousand hamrs. The void twisted around him like molten glass. His antennae curled inward as if trying to block it all out.
Then—a gentle warmth embraced him. The sensation was subtle, like silk draped over burning skin. His mind cleared, the pain faded. Breathing heavily, Ricky turned to David with venom in his gaze.
The tuxedoed bastard smirked like he definitely could’ve helped sooner but chose not to.
Before Ricky could curse him out, Xhar’Thuun finally struck.
Dozens of massive arms surged forward, aiming to engulf Axiom Dawn. The golden man roared and t one of the limbs mid-swing, cleaving it with his sword. The severed limb disintegrated into wisps of soul-stuff—but Xhar’Thuun didn’t flinch.
It didn’t need to.
With unholy hunger, the creature opened its maw.
It was a spiral of endless void, a black hole given sentience and rage. The atmosphere distorted. Space shattered. Then, with no resistance...
The world was gone.
Axiom Dawn, the golden guardian, everything—swallowed.
A gaping hole in reality remained, a chaotic maelstrom of void storms. Wisps of gas scread and fled. Light no longer reached that place.
Satisfied, the abyssal monster withdrew into the shadows of the galaxy.
Silence returned, hollow and final.
Only after a long pause did David speak again.
"How is it?"
Ricky’s compound eyes remained fixed on the hole. He didn’t move. Didn’t blink.
The image was etched into his mory—burned into his soul.
His voice was hollow when he answered. "Very horrifying..."
He still felt cold. As if so part of him had died alongside the planet.
Then, gathering his courage, he asked the question that ate at his core.
"...Why didn’t you stop the monster?"
David, unsurprised, smiled bitterly.
"I can kill him... and yet... I can’t kill him."
Ricky blinked, antennae twitching in confusion. "What do you an?"
David’s eyes darkened with ancient mories. He looked into Ricky’s soul.
"Millions of years ago... when the first Xhar’Thuun was killed—do you know what happened?"
Ricky’s instincts scread. He didn’t want to know. But he still asked, "What?"
David’s voice was quiet.
"Ten more appeared on the sa day. When all ten were killed... a hundred ca. Then a thousand."
"It was only then we realized... these things cannot be killed."
Ricky’s thoughts churned. Dread swelled inside him. The question ca unbidden.
"Where do they co from?"
David answered without pause.
"The Abyss."
Ricky hesitated. "What... is the Abyss?"
This ti, David rely shook his head.
"The Abyss involves too much karma. Best not to ask."
Then, as if sensing sothing, David’s eyes sharpened.
"But know this: once the Abyss becos aware of your existence... all the wild Xhar’Thuun will hunt you."
Ricky’s eyes widened. "Huh?! Why ?!"
It wasn’t disbelief—he believed David. But he couldn’t understand why. What the hell had he done to deserve this?
David chuckled.
"Because you... are the key to opening the gateway to the Abyss."
"Key? Gateway? What the hell does that even an?!" Ricky groaned, antennae twitching in frustration.
His head hurt. His soul hurt.
Then suddenly sothing inside of him snapped.
"You know what? Fuck it all..."
This drama wasn’t for him. Abyss this, Xhar’Thuun that. He was a peaceful mosquito. All he wanted was to absorb so lifespan and maybe live a quiet undead life.
David laughed—genuinely, this ti.
"It appears I was wrong..."
He had thought revealing the danger would spark urgency in Ricky. Fear. Determination.
But this mosquito didn’t think like that.
"You’re right. You can’t dictate terms to people like us..."
Then, with a knowing smile, David waved his hand.
And just like that—they were back.
The hall was exactly as it had been. Still. Silent. However sothing felt different.
Ricky blinked and scanned his surroundings. David was gone.
So were the two maids and the duck.
They ca and left without a sound, as if their only purpose in coming here was to play with Ricky heart.
Relief washed over him like a warm bath.
That bastard had clearly toyed with him. Dragged him into so grand cosmic drama. Ricky was just a little mosquito! He had no intention of saving worlds or battling cosmic horrors.
Let the universe burn. Just don’t touch his lifespan stash.
He wasn’t the only one relieved.
The Guardian Spirit of the inheritance ground also exhaled in silence, sensing David’s absence. A pressure lifted from her ethereal shoulders.
Ti passed in uneasy quiet.
A few more contestants arrived. One man. Two won. Each radiated the unmistakable energy of Third Stage cultivators.
Ricky watched them enter, but his heart wasn’t in it. His thoughts lingered on what he’d just seen.
Then... another figure entered the hall.
And this ti, Ricky recognized her instantly.
Noctyss.
The air grew colder.
The trial was about to begin.
anwhile Demon Queen stepped into the hall, her face a mask of confusion and caution. Her eyes swept the room, locking onto Ricky—and then, with narrowed eyes, she strode toward him.
"Master? How are you here...?"
Her voice trembled with genuine bewildernt. Just monts ago, he had ordered her to explore the crevice first. And yet now, he was already here, standing before her as if he’d been waiting.
Ricky tilted his head, antennae twitching with curiosity.
"What do you an, why am I—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
A realization struck him like lightning.
Wait... she’s only entering now?
He glanced at the entrance, then back at her.
Sothing was off.
He had returned from David’s cosmic nightmare, endured that bizarre vision of apocalypse, and stood in this hall for what felt like minutes. And only now... now she entered?
A slow grin crept across his mandibles.
Ti... formation?
It was the only explanation that made sense. Sohow, in the span of their separate journeys, ti had flowed differently.
Ricky folded his wings behind his back and let out a thoughtful hum.
"This inheritance ground... is a little more interesting than I thought."
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