The stellar Styx. The number one danger zone of the world of gods.

It was a chaotic and dangerous place. Space storms that could shred a god’s body to smithereens permeated the outer area of the Stellar Styx.

It was given that name because those that were brave enough to try and uncover the stellar Styx's secrets died inside without exception. No one ever returned from it.

Baryon, the treasure spirit of the staff, the former body of Alpha, appeared near the outer area of the stellar Styx.

“I hope I’m not wrong about this.” Baryon thought.

He decisively entered the outer area without fear, never to be seen again.

***

Alwyn, Devinn and Kane were looking at the family of three. Alpha and Lin finally met their daughter Azura.

Kane and the little dragon were recuperating from their injuries while Devinn’s incarnation watched on the side. Devinn’s true body, that housed the Absolute unity prime reality, was outside flying towards the underworld coffin, the only safe place in the world of gods.

“What do we do now?” Alwyn asked.

Lin said: “We stay in this prime reality for the rest of our lives. There’s no need to go outside anymore and catch the attention of the other imperial clans. Darius was enough as it is.”

Alwyn asked: “Alpha. Did you not say that you wanted to find the staff that was refined out of your true body? How do you plan on doing that?”

Before Alpha could answer Devinn said: “The staff is not with Darius anymore. It managed to flee before I could get my hands on it. Besides, I doubt I had enough time to reach it before I could safely retreat.”

Alpha said: “Now that I know that Azura is safe here, we can go look for it with nothing holding us back.”

Alwyn nodded: “Alright. Let’s go then.”

Devinn had just reached the center of the star in which the underworld coffin rested. The area around the underworld coffin was cloaked from any godsense.

Devinn waved his hand summoning Alpha, Alwyn and Kane and his dragon from the absolute unity prime reality.

“I can roughly feel the staff’s location. I hope it’s not the place I am thinking of.” Alpha said.

“What? Is the place dangerous?” Kane asked.

“Very dangerous. It is the only place that no one in the world of gods wants to go to.It’s called the stellar Styx.” Alpha said.

“What kind of place is it?” Devinn asked.

“No one knows. All we know is that no one ever comes back from it.” Alpha said.

“It’s hard to imagine the staff taking such a risk. It must be desperate.” Devinn said.

“Desperate or not, it has to come back to me.Prepare yourselves. I’m going to teleport us near the stellar Styx. We can investigate its whereabouts from there.” Alpha said as a colorless element started appearing around them.

Alpha then teleported the entire group.

They arrived near the stellar Styx almost instantly.

“It’s huge. I almost can’t see the end of it. It must be as big as a universe.” Devinn remarked.

“I wonder what caused such a place to become like this. I can feel that it is no simple place.” Kane said.

Alwyn said: “Let’s move. The staff isn’t going to find itself.”

“I hope we can at least survive the outer area. The staff must not be very far.” Alpha said.

***

Inside the stellar Styx

Chaotic space storms rumbled. A staff snaked through the storms with caution.

“Damnit. I can feel Alpha’s presence. He’s come for me.” Baryon said.

Baryon had an advantage as he could hide in an object the size of which could be changed, making it easy to avoid the dangerous space storms.

***

Somewhere in the core region of Stellar Styx….

There were no space storms. Everything looked normal.

In an unremarkable solar system, there was a small green planet with its two moons.

The planet was called Greenleaf by its inhabitants.

After years of traveling through the dangerous Stellar Styx, Alwyn, Alpha, Kane and Devinn finally arrived near this planet.

“Who would’ve thought that this place existed? It’s a pleasant surprise.” Devinn remarked.

“Pray that we can go back home safely after this. It’s a miracle that none of us died. Those days in the Absolute unity prime reality really paid off by making our bodies almost indestructible.” Alpha said.

Alwyn then turned to look at the distant Greenleaf planet. He asked Alpha:“Any records of an alien lifeform in the Stellar Styx?”

“None.” Alpha shook his head.

Kane then said: “Let’s go take a look.”

They then moved closer to the planet.

Devinn teleported them to the surface of the planet in a desolate area.

“This place feels weird. Don’t you all feel that the origin energy is scarce from the moment we entered the stellar Styx?” Devinn asked.

“There is no known power source in the atmosphere, which means that those that live here probably don’t use magic.” Alpha said.

“We can only rely on our own reserves of origin energy. We can’t replenish it if we run out.” Kane said.

“There is not much left after all these years. What do we do?” Alwyn worriedly asked.

Devinn said:“You become mortals. Without origin energy to sustain your energy consumption, you have no other choice than to live like mortals do. As for myself, I do not have to worry about that. My power source, the arcane energy, it creates itself and keeps increasing in quantity. I can never run out.”

“We’ll deal with the problem when we find the staff. For now, let’s not use origin energy too much.” Alpha said.

An hour later, they could see the outline of a city.

They flew right above the city under the incredulous stares of the inhabitants.

“This is weird. They look at us as if they’ve never seen a flying man before.Some of them are even afraid of us.” Kane said.

“The further we went in the stellar Styx the less origin energy was present and this place it is devoid of origin energy. I guess that they don’t even know what magic is. Chances are that this planet is inhabited by mortals only.” Alpha said.

“These humans are irrelevant for now. Alpha. How far are we?” Devinn asked.

“Not far. I can feel the staff’s presence somewhere near this city.” Alpha said.

“Let’s keep looking then.”