The Frozen Star
Scene 1
"You truly do not care for this war, do you?"
I sat upright atop the Kunlun's back while focusing on Artemis.
She had been silent for most of the journey.
Still handling her side of the formula while I continuously supplied solar energy into the stellar pathways developing around her Moon Maidens and planetary spirits.
The Kunlun drifted through the Astral Realm like a whale swimming through black water, its massive body swallowing loose streams of stellar essence while stars reflected across its white scales.
Artemis finally glanced toward me.
"Depends," she answered lazily. "Sometimes I care. Sometimes I don't. It just depends on the opponent."
She reached into Nyx's shadows and pulled out an apple casually, having apparently learned from the Kunlun that almost anything could become a substitute if one understood how to pull from darkness correctly.
"Against you people?" she continued. "There's still very little reason for me to care about your drama."
I snorted softly.
"That arrogance will eventually become your downfall."
Silver moonlight instinctively gathered around her body.
I waved it away before it could fully form.
"I would call it a lack of reason to care," I corrected. "You and Athena fighting over the Queen Throne does not suddenly entitle me to become someone's future king."
My voice sharpened slightly.
"Whether you or her takes the seat, my Domains will remain largely unaffected. Learning new stars—or what you call Domains—only furthers my understanding of Endings. So no, I am neither interested in nor threatened by which one of you wins."
Artemis's silver eyes narrowed immediately.
"Then why are you requesting that my Moon Maidens remain aligned with you?"
I rubbed my face tiredly before answering.
Because she still did not understand the scale of what I was offering.
"If my warriors are going to embody stellar bodies properly, then they require moons and planetary spirits," I explained. "I am already being generous by offering you first claim over Neptune."
Her expression shifted slightly.
Good.
"At the end of the day, Neptune remains mortal in spirit," I continued. "You will gain sixteen direct followers tied directly to your growth as Moon Mother."
The Kunlun rumbled softly beneath us.
"Mine begin at the First Order because I want them to experience mortality first. Yours will begin directly linked to your conceptual structure."
I leaned toward her slightly.
"Sixteen sub-domains connected directly to your growth."
The silver light around Artemis trembled faintly.
"Yet you still require my solar energy to complete the formula," I said. "And if you dislike the gift Juris forced me to stop hoarding for myself, then I will happily reclaim their spirits and complete their births within my own Domain instead."
The silence afterward stretched long enough for the stars around us to dim slightly.
"So please," I finished calmly, "stop confusing what you understand with what I can do."
Her moonlight surged violently again.
"You still haven't realized which Domain Juris and I share as twins," I said with a grin. "Yet all of you somehow think you'll beat us."
Artemis glared at me.
I simply laughed.
"Look around you," I continued, spreading my arms toward the endless Astral Realm. "This miracle we call the Golden Cycle should not exist in the first place."
My tone quieted.
"You, Apollo, Juris, myself… none of us should have reached this point under Fate properly."
The stars reflected faintly across my robes.
"So when you arrive at a board earlier than expected while simultaneously more oppressed by Fate than planned, you do not wait for the perfect opportunity."
I looked directly into her eyes.
"You take the first step and accept the losses afterward."
The Kunlun continued swimming forward silently.
"Only Concepts can truly claim existence across cycles and pantheons," I said quietly. "Whether it is Chronos or Zeus ruling the heavens, we have always existed beneath the same sky since it first formed."
Artemis remained silent now.
Listening.
"Only one being carries the title of Emperor properly," I continued. "Neither Zeus nor Chronos truly possess it."
My grin widened.
"So tell me, Artemis… will you take the opportunity now?"
The stars around us pulsed faintly.
"Or will you wait until Athena forces me to start taking her offers seriously?"
Her face flushed red instantly.
"You truly are the Devil's brother."
I laughed loudly at that.
"He commands Devils and Demons exactly as a man should."
The mental image of Juris standing surrounded by monsters while looking terminally bored nearly made me lose composure entirely.
Artemis muttered several insults under her breath before focusing harder on the final stretch of our thousand-year journey.
Scene 2
Juris POV
"Are you serious?"
Hebe practically stood up from shock.
The other goddesses around her immediately stopped speaking to stare at us.
I adjusted my suit cuff calmly while standing within the temple I had gifted them inside the developing city of Hades.
"Yes."
Hebe looked like she was moments away from collapsing from stress.
Whether the gift originated from Hera or Apollo did not matter to me. The usefulness of the goddesses combined with the conceptual Domains inside those scrolls created a new pathway entirely.
"Thank you, cousin!"
The words nearly exploded out of her.
I raised my hand before she could continue.
"Concerning Apollo's worship," I said calmly, "I will allow it under one condition."
The entire room quieted.
"Your loyalty must remain with this city and its people."
Hebe nodded so aggressively it almost looked painful.
"We could eventually raise Underworld Goddesses ourselves to become Mortal Conceptual Goddesses," I continued. "But doing so from scratch would require centuries to match the standards all of you naturally possess."
My eyes drifted toward the scrolls.
"Expensive."
Then back toward them.
"But worth the price you are demanding."
The domains inside the scrolls held almost no direct value to me personally.
To Adamas, however—
They were foundations.
Low-entry conceptual laws like Flow, Sparkling, Sealing, Music, or Kindling represented the first steps toward greater laws Major Gods eventually embodied.
The basics.
The roots.
The easiest pathways for mortals to begin touching concepts without immediately destroying themselves.
"You will aid Adamas in preparing humanity," I finished.
Hebe immediately grabbed both my hands.
"We accept," she blurted out. "No matter the conditions."
The Domain around her trembled slightly from emotional overflow.
Fortunately, Music was among the safest Domains possible for emotional instability. Even the future concepts branching from it remained low-risk unless intentionally weaponized.
"Good."
I summoned several empty books into existence.
Each one bore musical notes across the covers.
"For now," I said, handing them over, "master your original Domains first. Then we can begin stepping beyond Fate's limitations."
The goddesses accepted the books carefully.
"Record music into them," I instructed. "Whether something qualifies as music remains your responsibility to define."
Hebe blinked.
She could not sense it.
None of them could.
But the books were proto-artifacts.
A new experiment.
Tools meant to grow alongside record keepers themselves.
If the concept succeeded, then I would possess a method of anchoring Recording across future cycles permanently.
Not through conquest.
Not through worship.
Through civilization itself.
Scene 3
I left shortly afterward, returning toward my office within the castle already completed inside Hades.
Tenebris insisted one of us always remain within the city.
Usually me.
He was almost constantly wandering the Stars while Ayin handled most day-to-day operations until the King selection concluded.
"Lord Juris," Mephistopheles asked while appearing in the form of an elderly mortal man. "Should I attach contracts to their souls retroactively?"
I glanced toward him.
"I could still use your words as justification if you record them properly."
"No."
He blinked.
"They possess greater value with free will," I answered calmly. "That is precisely why Ten imposed the rule that Hell cannot trick mortals into service."
Mephistopheles grinned wider.
"Only the willing are accepted," I continued. "And the only reason you are still alive after testing that rule is because Ten has not decided to throw you into the Sun yet."
His grin somehow widened further.
The idiot genuinely wanted to experience Ten's flames.
A concept he had developed as a possible route to stepping beyond Devilhood entirely and integrating directly into the Dark Sun itself.
"As you wish," Mephistopheles said. "I will still assign the Prime Four to monitor them."
"That is acceptable."
He bowed slightly.
"Now," I continued, "I have another task for you."
His eyes sharpened instantly.
"Since you are the only one reckless enough to repeatedly sneak into Zeus's Domain successfully, deliver Rhea my latest invention."
Mephistopheles looked delighted.
"You will remain there until she finishes examining it," I added.
The delight faded slightly.
Sneaking through a God-King's territory was dangerous regardless of experience.
Especially Zeus's.
Though Mephistopheles somehow treated it like a recreational activity.
"Cain."
Mephistopheles vanished into mist immediately as I summoned the violent one among my Satans.
The one I elevated by devouring the original Lucifer and Beelzebub.
Leviathan and Asmodeus were the only original Satans I preserved intentionally.
Meanwhile Mephistopheles continued empowering himself through contracts and the Hell Wars, aligning closer and closer to his True Self.
His ambitions had already shifted beyond Devils entirely.
Now he hunted God Souls.
Minor Demon Gods had already begun emerging among the Devils. Mephistopheles himself was now searching for Major God-level concepts capable of mimicking stellar bodies.
Jupiter was currently his favored target.
Cain, however, focused entirely on war.
He already understood his role.
Secure the northern regions.
Allow Bale's clan to complete the Trial of Kings.
Those who passed would receive land, authority, and a Minor God aligned to the Northern Wars.
The next mortal era was already being prepared.
Scene 4
Ten POV
"We're here."
I stood slowly atop the Kunlun as I examined the surroundings.
We had traveled several universes away from Earth to finally reach this land of dying stars.
Artemis had guided the Kunlun directly toward the exact location she failed to breach during her previous journey here.
"I can smell gods inside this one," I muttered while studying the frozen star before us.
An orange sun rested trapped within an iceberg larger than some universes.
A dead star frozen in conceptual ice.
"What did Apollo see when he divined this place?"
Artemis floated beside me.
"He said it felt like being watched," she answered quietly. "A one-eyed man fighting several Titanic beasts near God-King rank. Some stronger."
Interesting.
"A dead pantheon that sent away its treasures."
I frowned immediately.
That description felt familiar.
Too familiar.
I mentally ran through the list of pantheons destroyed by Chronos and Uranus throughout previous cycles.
Most could not compare to even future Silver Age gods.
Yet occasionally—
One or two figures emerged capable of forcing even a future Emperor backward.
A near miracle by divine standards.
Chronos and Uranus were monsters who should have stood beside Chaos within the Pantheon Creator class itself.
The fact Fate restrained them remained one of reality's greatest balancing acts.
"The description is too broad," I muttered.
The feeling in my chest worsened.
Then—
"Little Lord of the Stars."
I reacted instantly.
Darkness exploded outward as I grabbed Artemis immediately, covering her eyes while flooding her body with solar divinity.
Sound vanished.
Light vanished.
My own divinity overloaded her systems forcefully until unconsciousness claimed her safely.
Only then did I finally turn.
Hastur floated where I had stood moments earlier.
Star-robed.
Eldritch.
Watching the frozen star silently.
Thankfully his attention never fully settled on Artemis before I knocked her unconscious.
The amount of solar energy required to shield her properly from outer influence was absurd.
But necessary.
"No need for formality," Hastur said pleasantly. "This is merely a projection."
His voice felt wrong beneath the stars.
"Though I would advise never lowering your guard around my brethren."
The frozen star glowed faintly.
"I will shield your journey this time," Hastur continued. "The next journey, however, will be between you and the Stars themselves."
My stomach tightened immediately.
"That excludes the stars surrounding Earth, Little Lord of the Stars."
Then he vanished.
Just like that.
The true gravity of this journey finally settled fully onto my shoulders.
Artemis likely viewed this as another dangerous expedition.
I knew better.
The outer gods would gladly use any opening to break inward.
And me traveling beyond Earth's boundaries was bait none of them would ignore forever.
I sat down beside Artemis quietly while helping her refine the excess solar energy.
I did not reclaim it.
A waste perhaps.
But safer.
'Are you afraid?'
The whisper echoed from within me again.
The same voice constantly pushing me toward the Star Realm.
'Fear is normal,' it continued calmly. 'Even gods feel fear.'
I glanced sideways.
The figure beside me resembled a being made from light more than shadow.
'Running from yourself only worsens the backlash,' it whispered. 'Even the Cycles themselves are pushing you toward completing the descent from the peak.'
The frozen iceberg brightened.
A path of stars appeared across its surface.
Hastur had created an entrance.
Clearly hoping I would walk forward rather than retreat.
"Was it you or Hastur who placed this place here for Artemis to chase?" I asked aloud.
The figure laughed softly.
'A pointless question when you still cannot distinguish between yourself and me.'
Annoying answer.
'You will suspect me before Hastur,' it continued. 'Like always.'
True.
'Yet you will still descend into the Dragon's den regardless.'
Artemis stirred slightly.
I immediately severed the connection by surrounding both of us in Void Darkness before launching forward into the frozen star.
Scene 5
"Where are we?"
I lowered Artemis carefully onto the frozen ground.
The inside resembled an entire universe buried beneath ice.
The void itself had frozen.
Cold stretched infinitely in every direction.
The entrance behind us sealed almost immediately.
Good.
Hopefully no additional eldritch gods followed us inward.
Not that the dead pantheon here could compare to beings like Hastur regardless.
Even Emperors from weaker systems could not touch the hem of his robes.
I decided it was safer to keep Artemis unconscious slightly longer.
This time I layered life-infused solar energy around her, boosting her temporarily from Peak Minor God toward Low Major God rank.
A one-sided trick for me.
But useful.
"Let's find the stellar core."
The Kunlun transformed into a massive eagle covered in black-and-white flames.
Interestingly, the beast balanced my flame Domains more naturally than I could myself.
We launched forward.
Frozen planets drifted silently through the dead universe.
I ignored most of them.
Except Pluto.
Something about it felt wrong.
Then we found Earth.
Or rather—
A dead tree consuming Earth itself.
Its roots held several frozen planets suspended like dying fruit.
The moment I attempted approaching the tree directly, force pushed me backward repeatedly.
Annoying.
So instead I landed upon the surface.
Immediately, my senses screamed.
Decay.
Netherland.
Death.
The world beneath the tree stretched endlessly beneath gray skies while usurping Death Laws flooded toward me hungrily.
Not transition.
Not ending.
Not rest.
Usurping Death.
A land descended from Ice.
A civilization that had attempted to survive the end by freezing itself beyond it.
And now—
The moment my Death affinity touched the world—
The entire frozen pantheon became hungry.