Chapter 435: Just change species? I

With the passage of time, many things could be accomplished.

A single day in the Star Seas held within it the potential for empires to rise, for destinies to shift, for the impossible to become inevitable.

Time moved differently here, where stellar winds carried the whispers of a thousand civilizations and the light of dying stars painted stories across the Star Seas.

In twenty-four hours, measured by no single world’s rotation but by the universal pulse that all existence recognized, transformations both subtle and profound reshaped the landscape of power.

A single day passed.

And in that day, the ripples of Achilles’ actions spread outward like gravitational waves through the fabric of reality itself.

—

The Celestial Citadel of Luminous Grace stood as a testament to what could be achieved when architecture transcended physical construction and became an expression of pure stellar artistry.

Located within the Aurelia Prime Plane…one of the crown jewels of the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty, the metropolis defied conventional understanding of what a city should be.

Buildings weren’t built here. They were woven from captured starlight, each structure a symphony of luminescence that shifted between solid and ethereal depending on the angle of observation.

Towers spiraled upward in helical patterns that mimicked the structure of galaxies themselves, their surfaces rippling with aurora patterns that painted the perpetual twilight in shades of gold, silver, and cosmic violet!

Streets existed as rivers of condensed photons, solid enough to walk upon yet translucent enough to reveal the stellar void that served as the plane’s foundation.

At the heart of this impossible city, the Cathedral of Forgotten Stars rose like a prayer.

The main structure pulsed with a gentle rhythm, as if breathing, its walls composed of crystallized nebula essence that had been harvested from the birth-clouds of ancient suns.

Within those walls, patterns moved like living things, telling stories of soldiers who had given everything for the Sovereignty, whose children now sought meaning in a universe that had taken their parents too soon.

Inside the cathedral’s main hall, where pillars of frozen light supported a ceiling that showed actual glimpses into distant star systems, General Lydia Aurelius sat surrounded by a constellation of small, eager faces.

The children…twenty-three of them, ranging from barely walking to the cusp of adolescence, formed a loose circle around her, their bodies pulsing with barely contained mana that made the air shimmer with potential.

Each one bore the telltale signs of their heritage: eyes that held flecks of starlight, hair that seemed to move with cosmic winds that no one else could feel, skin that occasionally flickered with patterns that resembled stellar maps.

They were the orphans of the Infinite Radiance Sovereignty’s greatest warriors, those who had fallen in battles across the Star Seas and Butchering Grounds, leaving behind children too young to understand why their parents would never return!

“General Lydia!” A boy no more than seven cycles old bounced on his heels, his enthusiasm making his silver hair float around his head like a miniature aurora.

“Tell us about the Crimson Nebula Campaign! Master Theron said you defeated three Star Devourers by yourself!”

“No, no!” A girl with eyes like captured sunsets pushed forward, her small hands gesturing dramatically. “Tell us about when you negotiated the surrender of the Void Lich Collective! How did you make beings that don’t understand death understand defeat?”

…!

More voices joined the chorus, each child clamoring for their favorite story, their favorite legend of the general who had somehow found time between campaigns to ensure they had a place to call home.

Lydia’s expression, usually carved from determination and stellar authority…softened as she regarded them. Her golden armor had been dimmed to a gentle glow that wouldn’t hurt young eyes. The cape that usually billowed with stellar winds lay still, pooled around her like a protective circle that seemed to embrace all the children at once.

“Now, now,” she said, her voice carrying the same authority that could command armies but tempered with warmth that few outside this room ever heard. “What did we discuss about focusing on your studies?”

“But General…” several voices protested in unison.

She raised a single finger, and the protests quieted, though the disappointment was palpable in the way small shoulders slumped and lips formed exaggerated pouts.

“The applications of mana are not merely academic exercises,” she continued, her tone taking on the quality of a teacher who genuinely wanted her students to understand rather than simply obey.

Mana.

Evolutius Energy, Primordial Energy, Astral Energy…all were different forms of Mana!

“Each technique you master, each principle you internalize, these are the foundations upon which your futures will be built. The Sovereignty needs more than soldiers. It needs thinkers, creators, those who can see beyond the immediate battle to the peace that must follow.”

A tiny hand tugged at her cape. She looked down to find the youngest of them all, a girl barely four cycles old whose parents had fallen defending a refugee convoy from Vortex Spawn.

There more terrors than just the Kythernai Swarm out there!

The child’s eyes were too large for her face, giving her an almost ethereal appearance as she stared up at the general with absolute trust.

“Will you tell us stories when we’re bigger?” the little one asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lydia reached down, her armored hand somehow gentle as it smoothed the child’s dark hair. “When you’ve mastered your current lessons, when you can show me that you understand not just the how but the why of mana manipulation, then yes. I will tell you everything. Every campaign, every victory, every lesson learned through triumph and failure both. This I promise you.”

The children exchanged glances, a silent communication that spoke of determination renewed. Several of them straightened, their young faces taking on expressions of focus that would have seemed comical if not for the genuine intent behind them.

“Okay?” Lydia asked, though it was less a question than a gentle confirmation of their agreement.

“Okay!” they chorused back, and she could see in their eager faces that they would redouble their efforts, driven by the desire to earn the stories she would share.

It was then that the temperature in the cathedral shifted.

The children felt it first, their heightened sensitivity to mana making them aware of the presence before it fully materialized. Several of them gasped, instinctively moving closer to Lydia as shadows that shouldn’t exist in a building made of light began to coalesce near the main entrance.

The Butler materialized from those shadows like nightmare given form, though he clearly attempted to minimize his naturally terrifying presence.

Despite his efforts to appear non-threatening, several of the younger children whimpered, pressing against Lydia’s armored form for protection.

The Butler’s hidden gaze swept across the frightened faces, and something that might have been regret flickered in the depths of his hood. He bowed slightly..an apologetic gesture that seemed strange coming from a being whose very existence spoke of endings and absolute judgment.

Then, without speaking aloud, his consciousness brushed against Lydia’s with the delicacy of a master assassin sliding a blade between ribs.

“Forgive the interruption, General,” his mental voice resonated with waves that existed outside normal perception. “But news has spread across the Star Seas…”

Lydia’s expression didn’t change, maintaining the calm assurance the children needed to see, but her consciousness engaged with his on that deeper level where thoughts moved faster than light.

“What news could be so urgent that it brings you here, to this place?” Her mental voice carried an edge of protective warning. The Butler knew what this cathedral meant to her, what these children represented.

“The Taboo of Adrastia has been sighted in the Sovereign Void Imperium.”

..!

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