Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

Chapter 234: Chapter 234: The Past

The vacuum of space was completely silent once again. The golden dust of the shattered Stairway to the Heavens dissolved into nothingness. Neo floated alone in the dark void. His breathing was heavy. The black and gold hellfire slowly retracted beneath his skin.

​He had done it. He had blinded the heavens.

​But the absolute exhaustion of channeling the First Dragon’s true power was catching up to him. Neo closed his eyes. He ignored the terrified messages flashing across his Vanguard command interface. Then commanded his consciousness to sink inward, plunging deep into the center of his own soul.

​He only opened his eyes inside his spiritual domain.

​The world inside Neo was split perfectly in half. To his left, an endless ocean of black water burned with golden hellfire. To his right, a crystalline landscape of pristine white marble rested beneath a sky of liquid silver. This was the Sanctuary of the Twin Ancestors.

​Two colossal figures waited for him at the border between light and dark.

​As Neo approached, the giant beasts moved. Their massive draconic forms shrank and condensed until two humanoid figures stood before him.

​Eragon, the Light Dragon, wore shinning golden armor. His golden reptilian eyes burned with chaotic amusement. Drogon, the Dark Dragon, wore black robes. His dark hair flowed like a river of starlight, and his expression was a mask of infinite sorrow.

​"Haha, You actually broke the bridge," Drogon laughed. "I told you he was the one, Eragon. I told you this mortal had the madness required to carry our legacy."

​Eragon nodded slowly. "You have achieved the impossible, Neo. You have severed the parasitic cord that fed on the mortal realm. But you must understand. This is only the beginning of the true war."

​Neo crossed his arms. "I felt your fury when I swung the blade, Eragon. It was not just anger at the gods for attacking my empire. It was ancient. It was deeply personal. I want to know exactly what I am wielding."

​Eragon stopped laughing. The golden flames in his eyes flickered, replaced by a cold, bottomless hatred. He looked at his brother.

​Drogon sighed softly. "It is time we told him. He has proven his absolute resolve. He deserves to know the origin of his power, and the true sin of the Prime Deities."

​Neo stood in silence, waiting.

​"Before the Zenith Empire, before the mortal races, and long before the Pantheon claimed dominion over the stars, there was only the Primordial Spark,"

Drogon’s voice was heavy with the weight of eons.

"From that spark, my brother and I were born. We were the cosmic balancers. Eragon was the Light of Creation. I was the Dark of Entropy. Together, we built the foundation of the universe."

​Eragon stepped forward. "And like those incests, We did not need worshippers. We were absolute. We created the first generation of gods to serve as caretakers for the lower realms. Aethelgard, Thalassa, Korvan. They were supposed to be gardeners. We gave them fragments of our authority so they could guide the mortal worlds."

​"Then they grew greedy," Drogon continued. "The gods realized that mortal faith could be converted into a synthetic form of divine energy. They realized they could become completely immortal if they harvested enough worship. But the mortal realm was fragile. To build their eternal God Realm, they needed a permanent, inexhaustible power source."

​"So they needed a Source," Neo said coldly.

​"Yes," Eragon growled, clenching his armored fists. "They needed the strongest Source in existence."

​Drogon raised a hand and the sky above them shimmered, projecting a massive, hazy illusion of the distant past. Neo watched as the memory played out above them.

​He saw the Twin Creation Dragons in their true, magnificent forms. They were resting peacefully in the center of a newly formed galaxy. Suddenly, thousands of glowing golden chains erupted from the void of space. The original gods, the ones who were currently trapped with Azathoth, surrounded the dragons.

​"They called it the Covenant of Betrayal," Eragon whispered in rage and agony. "They invited us to a grand cosmic banquet to celebrate the birth of the hundredth mortal galaxy. We trusted them. We consumed the nectar they offered. We did not know the nectar was mixed with the tears of the Primordial Horror."

​Neo watched the illusion as the dragons roared in agony. The poison crippled their divine cores. The gods moved in, chanting ancient spells of binding. Massive stakes made of condensed cosmic law were driven through the wings and spines of the mighty beasts.

​"Yet,They could not kill us. Our existence was tied to the fabric of reality itself. If we died, the universe would instantly collapse into nothingness. So, they did something infinitely worse."

​The illusion shifted. Neo saw a terrifying structure hidden in a realm devoid of light or time. It was a massive, mechanical prison the size of a solar system. The bodies of the Twin Dragons were chained to the very center of the machine.

​Giant golden tubes were violently jammed directly into their hearts.

​"They built the Tartarus Engine," Eragon snarled. "For three million years, that machine has been violently pumping the divine blood directly out of our physical bodies. Every single drop of light and dark mana that flows through the God Realm is filtered through our suffering. They built their golden palaces on our eternal torture."

​Neo stared at the massive golden tubes in the illusion. He could almost hear the agonizing screams echoing through the silent void.

​"If your bodies are trapped in the Tartarus Engine, how are you here? How are you inside my soul?" " Neo asked quietly.

Eragon snarled and replied,

​"Because a cage built by cowards will always have a flaw. Fifty thousand years ago, the pain reached a threshold that fractured our very souls. A tiny, microscopic sliver of our consciousness managed to break off. We rode a pulse of harvested mana up into the God Realm, and then slipped down the Stairway to the Heavens disguised as falling stars."

​"We wandered the mortal realm as formless spirits. We were searching for a vessel. We needed someone with a soul strong enough to contain both the Light of Creation and the Dark of Entropy.

​Drogon looked directly into Neo’s eyes.

"And then, we found you. A mortal with a will made of absolute iron. We gave you the Dominator Core to let you become a conqueror who did not fear the heavens. The part where we asked you to conquer the universe for our collection was a lie. We just wanted see you strong and merciless."

​After hearing all that, Neo looked down at his own hands. He could feel the golden hellfire pulsing in his left arm. He could feel the pristine silver light resting in his right. He was carrying the fragmented souls of the true creators of the universe.

​The absolute cruelty of the gods was staggering. They demanded worship, they demanded obedience, and they demanded total submission from mortals, all while secretly acting as parasites feeding on chained prisoners.

​Neo clenched his fists. The hellfire and the holy light erupted simultaneously, violently clashing and swirling around his body in a storm of absolute power.

​"The Stairway is broken," Neo stated plainly. "But the Tartarus Engine is still running."

​"It is," Eragon confirmed. "As long as that machine operates, the God Realm will slowly recover. They will eventually find a way to pierce the veil and return to the mortal plane. If they find you, they will harvest your soul and return us to the engine."

​"Where is it?" Neo demanded. His voice left absolutely no room for debate.

​Drogon blinked in surprise. "The Tartarus Engine is hidden in the Deepest Hell, Neo. It is a dimension located entirely underneath the God Realm. It is guarded by the forgotten abominations the Prime Deities locked away to keep their secrets safe."

​"I did not ask what was guarding it. I asked where it is." Neo asked with a terrifying glint in his eyes.

​Eragon let out a booming laugh. He slammed his armored hand onto Neo’s shoulder.

"Spoken like a true Godking! The mortal wants to march into the deepest pit of the universe!"

Neo’s eyes turned dark.

​"They burned my planets, They slaughtered billions of my loyal subjects. And they dared to enslave the beings who gave me the power to conquer my enemies. I do not care if they are Prime Deities. I do not care if they command the laws of cosmic nature. I am going to tear down their entire realm."

​Neo looked back up at the illusion of the chained dragons. His expression hardened into a mask of pure, unstoppable resolve.

​"I will locate the Tartarus Engine," Neo vowed. "I will slaughter every single abomination standing in my way. I will break those cosmic chains with my bare hands. I am going to return your bodies to you."

​Drogon bowed his head. A single tear of darkness fell from his cheek. "We place our complete faith in you, Neo. You are the final hope of the Twin Ancestors."

​"Rest now, my mentors," Neo whispered. "The era of your suffering is coming to an end."

​Neo closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to rise. He pulled himself out of his soul space and returned to the physical world.

​He was still floating in the dark vacuum of space above the ruined Sector Four. General Vane’s escape pod was drifting slowly in the distance. The holographic projection of Zestia flickered to life on his wrist terminal.

​"My husband," Zestia said frantically. "The spatial readings are completely chaotic. Are you safe?"

​Neo looked up at the empty spot where the Stairway to the Heavens used to be. There was only endless, quiet darkness.

​"I am perfectly safe, Zestia. You assemble the elite strike forces. Tell the Vanguard engineers to begin constructing a spatial drill capable of piercing dimensional barriers."

​"A spatial drill?" Zestia asked in confusion. "But the gods are trapped. Where are we drilling?"

​Neo summoned the Sunfire Judgment Blade. He pointed the tip of the weapon down into the infinite abyss of space.

​"We are going to hell."

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