Chapter 803: Fixation on Death
On a rogue planet drifting through the void beyond the galaxy designated BK-789 by the Kriwon Universe, cosmic energy quickly converged at a single point, spiralling into a portal. From it, a battered and bloodied young man fell out, followed closely by a crimson-eyed young woman with black hair streaked with silver.
She moved faster than his fall, catching him before he hit the ground and gently lowering him onto the dusty terrain just as the portal closed behind them.
This woman, Lostvayne in humanoid form, sat with her knees tucked behind her in seiza position and placed Arthur’s head on her lap to elevate his upper body as she spoke.
[Master. Subspace.]
Arthur, barely conscious, exhaled a deep breath before opening his subspace. Lostvayne calmly reached in, already aware of the exact location of the bag she needed within the expansive space, and retrieved it without a word.
From within, she pulled out two crystals with flickering flames sealed inside, pressing them against Arthur’s body and shattering them both.
The flames erupted instantly, sweeping over his injuries, consuming the blood and shredded flesh as they began their work.
She then reached under his torso and located the embedded fist still lodged through him, pulling it out in one go and immediately shattering a third crystal directly inside the open wound.
"Ugh...!"
Arthur groaned in pain as the flames filled the hole in his torso, his flesh beginning to twitch and writhe as the regeneration began.
Lostvayne then bent the ambient cosmic energy to her will, feeding it into flames to amplify their effects. It was the most she could do since she had no healing abilities whatsoever.
[Try to control your breathing,] she muttered in a low voice.
Arthur’s chest heaved, ragged breaths spilling from his lips as blood continued to pour out faster than the flames could close the wound.
Seeing this, Lostvayne gathered more cosmic energy, silently considering using the last life crystal in the bag. But just as she made that decision, the bleeding began to slow.
She turned her gaze to Arthur’s chest, confirming that his heartbeat, though faster than normal, was still there.
Her hand returned to the slowly healing cavity, feeding more cosmic energy into the flame-wrapped wound.
Gradually, Arthur’s breathing began to stabilise, and he seemingly slipped into unconsciousness.
Lostvayne kept up her cosmic energy infusion, letting the healing flames do their work undisturbed, ensuring that every trace of damage was being repaired down to the cellular level.
It was only then that Celestia, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke.
[Lostvayne.]
Without lifting her gaze from Arthur’s torso, Lostvayne replied calmly, [I assume you have questions regarding this humanoid form of mine?]
But Celestia’s response came as a surprise.
[Not exactly. I’ve always known you could do that.]
At those words, Lostvayne blinked, her crimson eyes widening in visible surprise. She finally looked up, but Celestia continued before she could say anything.
[I’ve known for over a decade. I just never understood why you didn’t use it. Anyway, my question is about something else, though it’s still related.]
She paused momentarily, then asked, [Why a female form?]
Lostvayne was silent for a moment, clearly still processing the unexpected revelation that Celestia had known all this time. But Celestia, misreading the silence, asked.
[Do you perhaps... like Master?]
That finally snapped Lostvayne out of her daze. She glanced down at Arthur once more before replying in a flat tone.
[Well, obviously I do.]
There was no embarrassment or hesitation in her voice, just a matter-of-factness. She was puzzled that Celestia would bring this up now, of all times, while she was busy trying to keep him alive.
[I mean, if I hated him, I wouldn’t be doing all this.]
Then, realising something, she added a clarification.
[Well... that’s only if you meant it in a non-romantic sense. But if you didn’t, then I’m afraid the answer is no.]
Celestia’s voice took on a tone of mild curiosity. [Then why the female form? You’re supposed to be androgynous, if I’m not mistaken.]
[The situation was urgent,] Lostvayne replied plainly. [I randomised it, and this is what came out. It was a 50-50 chance.]
[...I see,] Celestia muttered quietly.
And just then, Arthur’s strained voice rang out, questioning the two Ego Weapons.
"What the hell are both of you talking about?"
Lostvayne, unshaken, simply returned her gaze to him.
[We’re discussing whether or not I possess romantic feelings towards you, Master,] she replied calmly. [I wonder, what’s your take on the matter?]
"...Why is my opinion needed...in this conversation?"
Arthur asked between breaths, and Lostvayne, lifting one hand to rest over his chest, replied.
[Well, you’re quite attuned to how others feel about you. So I figured you could just apply that sense to me.]
Arthur didn’t even bother answering. He only rolled his eyes and heaved another deep sigh.
Lostvayne, with a faint, nearly imperceptible smile, shifted her attention back to the wound in his abdomen and said,
[You’re going to need to ask your uncle to replenish your supply of healing flame crystals. Preferably... without your mother finding out. I doubt you’d like her reaction if she knew you needed more.]
Arthur huffed out a weak laugh.
"Of course I can’t let her know," he muttered.
For a moment after he spoke, silence lingered.
Then, in a quiet voice, Lostvayne said, [Master, I hope you understand why I stopped you from killing that god.]
Again, silence followed.
Arthur stayed silent, and it wasn’t until a full minute had passed that he finally said, "Yeah. I do."
He understood perfectly.
It wasn’t something difficult to understand anyway.
He had hit his limits, and Lostvayne had known it. The injuries he’d sustained were critical, and though he’d still been standing, the truth was that he had been barely functional.
His divinity was depleted, his anti-divinity exhausted, and his cosmic energy not far from empty. His energy circuits had ruptured from pushing too much cosmic energy through them, and even now, some were still bleeding internally.
The moment Celestia had stopped being a weapon and instead became a crutch to keep him from falling over, Lostvayne realised Arthur couldn’t keep going.
Had he tried to finish Kalvaro off, he would have put himself in a position where he’d be too injured to escape by the time reinforcements arrived.
Kalvaro’s subordinates wouldn’t have hesitated to throw themselves at Arthur to protect him, after all.
Staying any longer risked suicide, not victory.
Besides, the nature of Arthur’s damage had already ensured long-term consequences.
Kalvaro’s arms were rendered useless, and parts of his body had been torn apart. The wounds caused by Arthur’s anti-divinity and destruction energy weren’t just physical, but spiritual.
Given the extent of the soul damage the god had suffered, recovery wouldn’t come easily. Even with all the help in the galaxy, it would still take years.
In short, the job was already done. Kalvaro wouldn’t be bouncing back anytime soon.
Lostvayne had simply chosen to value Arthur’s life over an unnecessary finish.
But then came the part she couldn’t quite understand.
[...But Master, you knew that as well,] she said quietly. [So why did you still try to kill him?]
There was no way Arthur hadn’t already considered what would happen if Kalvaro’s reinforcements arrived during that final strike. He would have known the odds. In fact, just moments after Lostvayne pushed him through the gate, their attacks had rained down on the spot he’d been standing, barely seconds apart.
Arthur didn’t answer immediately.
Lostvayne didn’t care and continued speaking, her eyes slowly narrowing. [Master, why exactly do you have a fixation on making sure all your opponents die at the end of every battle?]
The question sounded... strange.
Why wouldn’t he want them dead? They were trying to kill him, and he was trying to kill them. It only made sense that he wouldn’t spare them.
But the issue wasn’t about wanting them dead. It was that, in this case, Arthur had prioritised killing over survival, even when survival was the more logical choice.
Lostvayne would have been content speaking telepathically, but something about Arthur’s demeanour in that moment disturbed her. It was the reason she’d taken on a humanoid form and intervened directly.
Arthur remained silent, clearly unwilling to answer that question, but Lostvayne made it clear with her eyes that she wasn’t going to accept silence as an answer.
The atmosphere grew tense, and Celestia ’glanced’ between them, trying to think of something she could say to break the tension.
Eventually, Arthur sighed.
"To avoid leaving loose ends that could turn into problems later," he muttered.
The response caught both weapons off guard, leaving them momentarily confused.
Then Lostvayne quietly asked, [Are you referring to the possibility that that god might become your enemy again in the future, only stronger next time?]
"Yes," Arthur replied plainly.
[Do you perhaps think this way about every opponent you fight?]
Arthur didn’t answer Lostvayne’s question, and that, in itself, was an answer.
She stared at him, her expression calm and serious as she asked the next question.
[Why?]
Going into every battle assuming that the enemy might one day return stronger, and being willing to kill them no matter the cost. That wasn’t a casual battle instinct but a mindset.
To Lostvayne, this couldn’t be something Arthur developed recently. It had to have been there for a long time, and she’d just never noticed since the situation had never been this dire.
’There has to be a reason behind that kind of mindset,’ she thought. ’Did he see something in the future?’
She was just about to voice the question when Arthur suddenly spoke.
"Hey, Celestia. You remember Phirex and Girex?"
To the two Ego Weapons, the question sounded like a blatant attempt to change the subject. But when Lostvayne looked into his eyes, she immediately understood that wasn’t what he was doing.
Celestia seemingly realising the same thing, responded, [Yeah. I do.]
Of course, she remembered those two planets. How could she not?
The twin worlds, Phirex and Girex.
It was on Phirex that Arthur had first properly activated his Progenitor Authority, following his first-ever encounter with ’hostile divinity’. (Chapter 103)
It was also where he had, for the first time, ordered the death of billions through the complete destruction of two planets.
His justification had been that the people of Phirex had killed his subordinates. But even then, not just Celestia, but Lute, Lewis, and everyone else involved had quietly felt it was... excessive.
Arthur had already taken out the Emperors responsible for his subordinates’ deaths, so there was no need to wipe out the rest of the planet. It felt disproportionate, but none questioned him at the time.
But over the years, that incident had resurfaced for various reasons, and Celestia had begun to question what Arthur’s true motives had been back then.
Now, more than fifteen years later, she finally had her answer.
"If I told you that a future version of me projected his consciousness across time and took control of my body to make me give that order," Arthur said quietly, "would you believe me?"
