Chapter Ten: The One Who Watches From the Sky
The hospital trembled with fading aftershocks.
Dust drifted from the collapsing ceiling.
Emergency lights flickered weakly.
The smell of scorched stone and ozone lingered in the air.
Aiden sat on the shattered floor, Maya cradled against his chest.
Her breathing was steady now—soft, rhythmic—but her skin still glowed faintly, like moonlight trapped beneath her skin.
He brushed her hair aside with trembling fingers.
"…You're safe. I'm right here."
But the truth slammed into him like a hammer.
She had awakened a celestial power strong enough to terrify an SSS-Rank creature.
And someone—
something—
had called to her from the sky.
Aiden felt the memory echo in his skull.
"Someone… someone is calling me… from the sky…"
He swallowed hard.
This wasn't just mutation.
Not like the variants.
Not like the monsters.
Not even like his Heavenly System.
Maya's power…
was something older.
Something cosmic.
Something that made an SSS-Rank titan retreat.
A faint hum filled the broken hallway.
Aiden straightened, instincts flaring.
"Who's there?"
Light pooled on the ceiling—
not sunlight, but a thin, circular ripple of shimmering silver.
A whisper escaped the ripple.
"Found… you…"
Aiden's heart nearly stopped.
The voice was feminine.
Calm.
Echoing as if spoken from beyond atmosphere.
A second ripple appeared.
Then a third.
All three circles rotated slowly, forming a pattern—like a celestial sigil carved directly into reality.
The System blinked wildly.
[WARNING: UNKNOWN CELESTIAL INTERFERENCE]
[SOURCE: EXTRA-REAL ENTITY DETECTED]
[RISK LEVEL: ABSOLUTE]
Aiden rose to his feet, placing Maya gently behind him.
"Show yourself," he growled, energy crackling faintly around his fists.
The ripples expanded.
A blurry figure appeared within them.
Not a monster.
Not a zombie.
Not a celestial beast.
A woman.
Tall.
Graceful.
Her long hair flowed like liquid starlight, and her eyes were twin suns hidden behind a soft veil of white.
She wore armor made of shimmering constellations, and behind her floated seven star-rings, each glowing with immeasurable power.
Aiden's breath caught.
She wasn't human.
She wasn't mutated.
She wasn't from Earth at all.
The woman looked down at Maya with unreadable emotion.
"So… the First Star's vessel finally awakens."
Aiden stepped in front of Maya, fists raised.
"I don't know who the hell you are, but don't touch her."
The woman paused.
Then, to Aiden's shock—
she bowed her head slightly.
"You misunderstand. I am not your enemy… not yet."
Aiden narrowed his eyes. "Then who are you?"
Her seven star-rings glowed.
And she spoke with a voice that shook the broken hospital walls:
"I am Lyrielle.
General of the Celestial Dominion.
Guardian of the Heavenly Gate.
And the one who has hunted the First Star across thirteen worlds."
Aiden's blood went ice-cold.
"'Hunted'…?"
Lyrielle floated closer—feet never touching the ground.
Her gaze softened as she looked at Maya, unconscious on the floor.
"Your sister is no simple child. She carries within her the spark of the First Star—one of the ancient beings who defied the Heavenly Emperor."
Aiden clenched his jaw.
"Don't call my sister a spark. She's Maya."
Lyrielle's expression flickered—surprised, almost impressed.
"You speak boldly, young Ascendant. But your bond with her is irrelevant to the heavens."
She extended one hand.
And the air vibrated.
"By law of the Celestial Dominion… the First Star's vessel must be retrieved."
Aiden felt his heart stop.
She was here to take Maya.
"No," he whispered.
Lyrielle stopped glowing, her armor pulsing.
"You have no authority to deny a celestial decree."
Aiden stepped between her and Maya.
"I don't care about decrees.
I don't care about your dominion.
You're not taking her."
Lyrielle sighed.
"Protectiveness… it seems the Ascendant trait runs deeply."
Golden sparks flickered around Aiden's fists, his aura rising instinctively.
The woman raised her hand softly.
"Do not attempt combat. I am SSSS-Rank. You are Level 5."
Aiden froze.
"…Four S's?"
Her eyes dimmed.
"I could destroy this entire city with a breath."
Aiden's fists trembled violently—but he didn't step back.
"I don't care."
Lyrielle stared at him… then slowly lowered her hand.
"You would die for her."
"Every time."
Silence filled the broken hospital.
Then, unexpectedly—
Lyrielle smiled.
A small, almost sad smile.
"You are… different from the others."
Her star-rings began to dim.
"The Dominion will not wait forever. When the First Star fully reawakens… the heavens will tear open this world."
The celestial sigils around her pulsed once.
"I will give you… time. Protect the vessel. Prepare her. When her star-heart ignites… I will return for the final judgment."
Aiden stepped forward.
"Wait—! What does that mean? What's happening to her?"
Lyrielle faded slowly like mist dispersing in moonlight.
And her final words echoed through the collapsing hospital:
"Protect her well, Ascendant…
for she will decide whether your world lives—
or burns."
The sigils vanished.
Silence.
Aiden dropped to his knees beside Maya.
He held her hand tightly.
"…I'll protect you," he whispered, voice shaking.
"No matter what the heavens say."
Maya's fingers twitched in reply.
The ground rumbled faintly—the SSS-Rank monster coughing weakly from deep underground.
Aiden's eyes hardened.
A war between heaven and earth had begun.
And he was standing in the middle of it.