The world was gone.
Not destroyed. Not erased.
But Shattered into nothing.
A sound—not of breaking glass, but of reality itself fracturing—ripped through the cosmos. The void trembled. Where once stars had danced and galaxies spiraled in graceful orbits, there was now only darkness—pitch-black, formless, and without time. This was no longer destruction, nor was it true death. This place was Nothingness.
Then came the soundless scream of a black hole devouring what little light dared remain. The remnants of a former creation were dragged into oblivion, like petals cast into a bottomless well.
And in that still, eternal void...
...he opened his eyes.
Two radiant violet slit pupils, set in the abyssal pitch of pure black sclera, pierced the Nothing. He breathed—not air, but the weight of infinite silence.
"So this is what he spoke of... the end which led to a beginning..."
Asteru's voice was soft, almost broken—neither surprised nor afraid, but haunted. He reached up instinctively, brushing a hand through messy black hair that fell to the nape, bangs parted across his forehead. But even that motion felt unreal. He couldn't feel his own skin. Couldn't sense his body.
"I can't even feel myself now... everything has ended... for a new beginning."
He was floating. Falling. Both, and neither. It was Nothingness, where all senses collapse.
But something stirred in his chest.
From beneath the fabric of his coat, he reached inward, his hand phasing into his chest. Then, he pulled out something blinding—a diamond-shaped nucleus, glowing like a thousand dying stars reborn.
A symbol ignited into existence: a neon-violet sphere, ensnared by eight tendril-like flames of motion, circling like serpents. The entire structure levitated above his palm, casting waves of purple firelight across his weary expression.
"Guess since I broke the cycle of End within the Nothingness... it's time to restart everything—with the exception of me."
He held it above his head—and dropped it.
[FSSSSHHHHHHH!!]
It plummeted. Novemdecillion light-years below, the orb burst open with a whisper that echoed in no space.
There, in Nothingness, something impossible happened.
From the glowing seed spread a radiant nebula of color—a kaleidoscope of crimson, teal, gold, obsidian—twisting and coiling into a single, small sapling 🌱.
And from it came light.
The sapling grew, curling into a swirling storm of glowing branches, absorbing essence directly from the Nothing. It grew outward—not up, but sideways—horizontally, across a plane invisible. When it stopped, its bark was a living tapestry—veins of gold, silver, and pale green, pulsing with divine sap.
It was the WORLD TREE.
Asteru floated down toward it, his coat flaring like the tail of a shooting star. He placed his hand on the trunk and whispered no words—only intent. From the center of the tree, a cavity formed, a bowl-like dent... and from that dent, light spilled forth, blinding.
[HRUUUUMMMMM!!] A divine resonance.
From the light emerged a woman. She unfolded from the wood itself, curled into a fetal embrace—legs drawn to chest, hair billowing in silver waves.
Asteru reached her, hovering inches from her glowing skin. He rested his palm on her forehead. Her form slowly solidified—her glow dimming as detail etched in:
—Long silver-blonde hair. —Cool silver eyes, still closed. —A serene expression, calm as the void itself.
"You will be called... Aetheria. The First Arbitrator. You can't hear me now, but one day, you'll remember this moment in your soul."
He exhaled slowly. He looked down at her body and gave a weary half-smile.
"Since you're naked... and your siblings will learn by watching, better to give you dignity."
With a wave, [FSSSSSHH!!], divine silk formed around her—a white-and-black uniform with long sleeves, a dark collar at the neck, a formal skirt partially untucked, and twin drills of hair tied by dark ribbons. Glasses slid onto her nose.
He lay her gently back into the cradle of the World Tree, now pulsing with new life.
"Rest... until the others awaken."
Then Asteru levitated into a T-pose, his coat flaring open. In his left hand, blue light burned. In his right, pink fire spiraled.
He fired them in opposite directions—[KRAAAAAAAHH!!]—to the far west and far east.
On one side, the blue light turned into a pink sphere, from which emerged a woman—Radix, the Arbitrator of Time. On the other, the pink light turned into a blue sphere, and from it emerged Libik, the Arbitrator of Space.
Their eyes were closed. Their bodies hovered in fetal form, waiting.
Then Asteru floated down to the roots of the World Tree.
"Time grows... Space expands. But excess weakens roots. To balance creation... I must make destruction."
He summoned a black orb wrapped in red aura, and cast it downward.
The orb sank into Nothingness and began devouring fragments of rogue particles, becoming the Abyss—a place of decay, the bottom layer.
"I will not create its Arbitrator... Abyss will create one stronger than itself."
Back at the trunk, Asteru placed a glowing sigil on the bark.
"When life begins... these marks will birth two more: one to record it—Biblia, and one to judge it—Dues."
Then he looked up.
"A home needs a roof... and a wall to defend it."
He clasped his hands—[SHHHH-TCHHH!!]—and created a dark ring. As he cast it upwards, the area turned from Nothing into a vast grey stone expanse known as the Dante Gate. There, within the Gate, a woman emerged—Altana, tan-skinned, adorned in veils, with three white wings on each side.
"Altana... Gatekeeper. No one shall cross unless it is willed."
Then, without further word, Asteru turned and flew—[CRACKK!!]—through the gate, out of the creation he had just formed.
Beyond the Dante Gate, he reached the fringe of Nothingness. He raised a hand, conjuring a floating rocky mass—an island suspended in void.
From its core, he built a citadel—Castle Noah. Its foundation was his own energy, its walls laced with infinite sigils that not even Arbitrators could comprehend.
He filled it with Knights—sentient beings forged from memory and will. Tireless, loyal. They docked the Castle to the Dante Gate with two colossal chains, and stood guard.
Asteru walked into the throne room. With a tired breath...
"Now... let it all begin without me."
He closed his eyes. The King of Nothingness slept.
Elsewhere...
The sigils on the World Tree glowed.
—Aetheria's eyes opened. —Radix and Libik awakened next, breathing for the first time. —Far below, in the Abyss, black tendrils munched rogue worlds, awaiting the one to rise. —Near the grey wall, Altana opened her eyes, standing before the colossal gate. Her wings pure white.
They did not know each other. They did not yet know him.
But their hearts beat... with his design.
And above all, Castle Noah floated silently, watching, waiting.
—The Beginning was made.