SS #3: Agent of the Void

Chias, Chochica Empire:

Lian, a blonde woman with blue eyes sat on a comfortable sofa and breathed out heavily.

“What a mess...”

Recently, Nazar had been accused of great crimes and he asked her to represent him in the court. He trusted her so much that he placed such a heavy weight on her shoulder.

Although she was inexperienced, she was confident in her skills. After all, she was programmed with every skill and it rarely failed her. And this was one of the rare occasions.

“Haaaaa...” she let out a heavy sigh.

Skilful, huh?

Thirty-two years ago, the Chochica Empire finally succeeded in creating artificial Chochicans who were stronger, faster, more durable and smarter equipped with hundreds of skills to make them more efficient. Furthermore, they had unlimited magic to do just about anything. The perfect weapons.

But no matter how powerful they were, they were weapons. Disposable weapons that are bound to be used to the bitter end.

A few years ago, there was a large battle in the universe and naturally, this empire was dragged into it.

The Chochica Empire sent its best soldiers to battle the robot invasion. And all of them died. Wiped out completely as if they were ants.

Only one of them survived.

Lian.

She was saved by the man who raised her, Baros.

He ordered her to stay away from the main fleet.

An act of cowardice, but it guaranteed her survival.

“Hrm.”

She looked down at her own body.

It was a heavily modified body to be the strongest and most sexually appealing.

But she hated that.

Indeed, she was made as a weapon, but it did not mean she liked what she was forced to do. From missions that forced her to use absolute magic or missions which forced her to seduce people of any calibre, she hated all of it. The mission might have been a success and the villain defeated, but the pain residing in her body was something she could not get rid of.

“Thinking about us, are you?”

Her train of thoughts derailed when she heard a voice in her room.

Although she was staring at the window from her sofa, she did not notice the other person before she spoke.

“!!”

It was a beautiful petite woman with black hair and blue eyes in a skin-tight armour sitting in the window like a cat. Her long hair flowed in the night’s wind.

Her face with well-toned muscles formed a smile.

When did she…?

Lian’s body froze in surprise as she saw the woman whose body was covered in a light blue aura.

“!!”

No, wait.

“You are wondering how I am alive, right?”

The woman descended from the window and stood in front of Lina with a hand on her hip.

The tall woman smiled thinly, like a cat.

“I need your help, Lian, Darkstar is back,” she got straight to the point in an exasperated tone.

Lian slowly stood up with stiff movement.

“No, no, how are--”

“Let’s do that later, please?”

Lian’s mind was filled with dozens of dozens of questions. Why is this woman alive? And how is that other person alive? They both should be dead, so what is happening here?

“...”

Lian let out a soft grunt as she pushed aside all her feelings and the questions.

“What do you mean Darkstar is back? I killed him.”

The woman shrugged with a weary face.

“I don’t know, he claims to be the agent of the Void, the dark God.”

“...The what?”

She did not know how to react. This was too much for her and it did not make sense.

“...”

Her mouth opened then closed like a goldfish, lost for words.

Lian then let out a sigh with a slight shake of her head.

“Fine. Fine, I will help you, Ark.”

The brunette woman smiled widely.

“Thanks, sis.”

“But,” Lian seriously narrowed her eyes, “tell me everything.”

“Alright, alright,” Ark raised both of her arms as if surrendering. “I will tell you everything there is.”

Lian frowned.

လလလ

Vegic 9, The Vegica System, Chochica Empire:

“So, how are you alive?”

“Mm, he saved me right before I died. He said the others were dead and reviving them could cause problems for them, but it wasn’t too late for me.”

“...” Lian looked down.

Lian knew who it was.

Him. Nazar, the King of the Chochica Empire. The Supreme God of everything.

“Since then, I have been staying in the Vegica system as its protector. He stationed me here as it’s supreme protector since this system is in the same vicinity as the Fynn system.”

Fynn system is a star system with five small planets at the edge of Draco 15 - known as Sombrero Galaxy on Earth. The star system is notoriously known for being inhabited by the Insrills, a race of pirates who causes chaos to explorers across the universe.

“Someone has to protect these offshore sites, no?”

It made sense to her.

It made every bit of sense to her.

However!

Lian gritted her teeth.

Why did he not tell me?

While he is the King and does not have to tell her anything, this affected her greatly. Ark was an ally, friend and to some degrees, even a sibling. He should have told her.

All the troubles they went through, Nazar understood that and sympathised, but why...

Why did he not tell me? Why did he station her so far out in the--

Seemingly realising what she was thinking, Ark shook her head with a smile.

“I asked him, don’t be so hard on him. No king should listen to a lowly citizen like me, but he did. Even Baros neglected us more than he did.”

“But still!”

Lian breathed out heavily.

“Leaving that aside, tell me more about Darkstar.”

“Hm, did you notice?”

The two of them were standing on top of a large building in the dark.

“The time.”

It was dark, so it was definitely night.

“!!”

But that was not right.

Lian tapped her skin tight armoured covered wrist a few times and checked the time.

“Morning… It's only 8 AM.”

“Yes, he ate the sun.”

Lian froze in her place, her eyes and mouth opened wide. She could not comprehend what she heard.

“That’s why I came to you. I need your help to reignite the sun.”

Lian sat at the edge of the building and let her beautiful legs hang down.

“…Just tell me everything, don’t leave a single thing out.”

Ark breathed out before she started to explain.

“You see, three days ago, he popped out of nowhere and said he had been resurrected by a dark God to be the agent of the Void. Yesterday he ate the sun and his power grew greatly. I, uh, did not want to bring it this far or get anyone else involved if possible, but I need your help to reignite the sun. I cannot do it alone.”

“Reignite the sun… I can do that but I will need some time to prepare.”

“What if we do it together? Shouldn’t that lower our time?”

“No, not at all. It will work for those who don’t have unlimited magic like us, so we do not need to do it together. But I would love it if you kept him busy for a while.”

Ark quickly sat next to her with almost teary eyes.

“Ugh, are you kidding me? He ate the sun, I can’t keep him at bay. Please.”

“...”

Lian sighed.

“I can never win against those eyes of yours.”

“Yes!” Ark stood up quickly and shot up an arm in victory. “I might not be as smart or powerful as you, sis, but my seduction techniques are unmatched.”

“Let’s get to work.”

“Yes, sis ☆,” Ark said with a wide smile - so wide, her white teeth could be seen as clear as a day - while she held out two fingers, making a peace sign.

“How is the spell coming?”

“??”

Her smile vanished as she tilted her head quizzically.

“The what?”

“The spell,” she said as if it was something very obvious. “The sun reignition spell.”

“Oh-h, that’s what you meant.”

“So?”

“So what?”

Lian frowned.

“Have you started preparing the spell?”

“Oh… OH!”

As if she finally realised something, Ark held her head between her hands and screamed.

“Nooooooooooo! I am so stupid. I did not think of that. ARGH!”

Lian rolled her eyes.

“Do you even know the spell?”

Ark looked up at the dark sky and started whistling.

“O-of course.”

Lian knew she was lying, so she stood up with a very angry smile.

Pinching her cheek with her right hand, she said, “Oh, should I let you face that devil then, instead? I am sure he would love to have the darkness crawl up through your nose and eyes and eat your insides. Oh, but don’t worry I can heal you right before you.”

Lian’s cold and angry tone caused Ark to shrink down in fear.

With teary eyes and on the verge of crying, Ark said, “Please, I am a useless magician, please don’t hurt me. Don’t do this, sis.”

Lian breathed out heavily again.

It’s all Nazar influence...

“Fine.”

“Yay!” Ark threw herself up in the air in excitement. “Thank you. But...”

That excitement slowly vanished.

“The spell.”

“Create a large magical circle on the moon, facing directly where the sun is-- Or was. Then start reciting the spell which connects you to the Angel of Light, Sureos.”

“A large circle on the moon,” Ark counted with her fingers, “that will take days unless I rush through it and-- How should the circle look?”

“Which is why I said I will do the reignition while you keep him busy for a short while.”

“You can lay waste to star systems, why not do both?” she whined to which Lian rolled her eyes.

Lian understood that Ark was never the best at using magic, but her base physical capabilities were unmatched among the others. She was the stealthiest, strongest, fastest and had the best seducing technique.

So, she calmed her annoyance and breathed in a long breath.

Shouldn’t have objected to my original plan. In any case...

“I will reignite the sun which should weaken him temporarily since he is not expecting this - (or I hope so) - then together, we can beat him.”

“Yay! Thanks.”

“Since you cannot use complex magic, I hope you have--”

“Yes, don’t worry,” she replied with confidence. “I have mastered physical magic to it’s bestest. My physical prowess has been augmented a million fold.”

“Hm, since Darkstar does not have a physical body, I assume that’s why you lost so quickly.”

“Hrk!” she made a pained expression. “How did you know I lost?”

Lian smiled a knowing smile.

“It’s obvious. You tried to fight him but he overpowered you quite easily.”

“Erm...”

“In any case, I would suggest you pull out some of your silly stunts and keep him at bay for… How big is this sun?”

“Hm, I think it’s over 500,000 crits.”

In kilometres, it would be just over 1,500,000 kilometres.

“Hm,” Lian carried out some calculations in her mind, “buy me four hours, please. The circle needs to be as perfect as possible and the distance… Yeah, I might need to move the moon a little and freeze it so it does not rotate. Hm, yeah, that should get the job done. Perfect. I can do this.”

Ark watched dazedly while Lian spoke gibberish.

“Alright, I am set. Let’s do this. Just buy me a few hours.”

A light yellow aura appeared around Lian.

Her hair lit up with energy as they stood up.

“Umm...”

Before she could say anything, Lian flew up to the moon at an unimaginable speed.

“Sheesh, I thought I was fast,” she scratched the back of her head, “then again, she was the greatest among us.”

Her lips spread and formed a soft smile.

“What a dependable sister (even though you are the youngest).”

လလလ

Lian went to the moon, so Ark had no choice but to find a way to hold off Darkstar.

But how?!

She bit her lip as she narrowed her eyes.

Through the dark streets of Vegic 9’s Viola city, she glanced left and right to examine it.

Hm, I do sense his energy in this city… but where is he?

She ran fast, very fast across the streets, and within a few seconds, she managed to look at each corner of this small city. However, the man could not be found anywhere.

His energy is dwarfing everything on this planet and this has the highest concentration, but where is he? Could this be a decoy? But if it is, then he could be hidden just about anywhere in the world. And to do that, it will take me at least 30 minutes to search. In that time, he could possibly sense Lian and it’s...

Her thoughts trailed off as she bit her lips.

Lian always hated fighting but I dragged her into this mess and yet I cannot even do a simple task like this.

She moved again.

She ran and ran and ran across the city and analysed every corner many times over.

Minutes after minutes passed yet there was no answer.

Where?!

In this cold and highly concentrated city of void energies, Ark started to sweat vigorously. She wanted to stop Darkstar but she couldn't even find him.

So, what was she supposed to do now?

I cannot run forever and the darkness is growing greater, I will soon lose my ability to see.

Ark started to bite on her fingers as she thought.

The only way to do it...

There was one way she could find him.

But it was risky. She could die from it.

Life was precious to her, but the lives of millions is more important than her own.

“Perhaps...” she sucked in a breath.

She is a soldier-- No, a weapon solely created to keep the Chochican Empire and its people safe. There is nothing she can do but follow those orders.

Images of her old missions flashed through her mind. Images of her near-death experiences and how she overcame them. Images of no matter what she did, the best reward she could get was staying alive for long enough to go on another deadly mission.

She was a weapon, after all. She was meant to be expendable.

“Perhaps I must do what needs to be done.”

She has a choice now which did not in the past.

But!

There is too much at stake.

She hated the idea of dying but there were too many lives hanging in the balance.

Should she be selfish and save herself?

No, she threw away that thought immediately. I have come this far and involved Lian in it. I can’t go back.

She inhaled deeply.

I guess this is the end...

Ark rubbed her hands together, as she always did before a mission. It was her show of confidence and enthusiasm.

However, that was missing this time.

“Ark 13034 reporting for duty,” she recited her name and number to herself.

Unlike Lian, none of them had a name of their own, but they had a number. A number that was of their own.

But since there was only one ‘Ark’ left, she removed the name.

For the last four years, she had not uttered the number.

“Final mission log: I hated you all.”

She forced a laugh as she closed her eyes.

Reciting a few words, her body lit up with white-blue energy.

Ark coughed, clearing her throat before preparing the final spell.

“Oh, Angel of Light, Sureos, grant me your power. Be the light to lighten this bleak world. Be the light that shines the blackest night.”

The energy around her grew brighter.

Her body and hair floated.

“SUPERNOVA!”

Astrosh, the God of Magic listened.

He heard.

And gave her magic.

“Ngh.”

Her skin burst outwards.

The bones clattered and muscles twitched as if it was a dam unable to hold the water in.

Just… ngh…

She thought she had time.

She thought she could release the light without her body being harmed anymore.

But…

Just a--

The clattering of the bones sped up before they broke and flew away. The muscles burst out into small pieces and flew through the air before falling flat on the ground.

The light around her had expanded outwards like an explosion, eating through the darkness across the city.

She was going to die.

She was ready.

She was close.

So, she smiled - or so she thought she did.

“Ohohoho, what a mighty blast of light and life,” a cold voice spoke in the middle of this supernova.

In the midst of this bright light, he stood still and black.

The man spread his arms wide as he started to hum.

“Mmm, perfect. I can taste this heavenly power.”

Ark could not hear him. She had lost her humanoid form and had become light itself. Her body was operating on a different frequency compared to Darkstar, so even if she tried, she would not be able to hear him.

“What exquisite taste-- Hrk!”

The dark man’s body started to glitch.

“This light… No, NO! Why can’t I eat it? It’s delicious so why--- Ngh.”

He fell to his knees.

Ark had no idea something had happened. Her body was gone and she had become light, so she could not see as she normally did.

...

She was physically the strongest but when it came to magic, she was no better than a novice. Only basic spells like teleportation and healing are what she can use.

When the fleet was sent to battle against the Annihilator drones, she was the slowest. She could not enhance her speed as the others can so she fell behind. So, when they all fell to their death due to an antimatter cannon that laid waste to the Behns system in Andromeda Galaxy, she survived because she did not reach it in time.

But she was not left unharmed.

A God saved her but he did not give her more power or enhanced her magic, he just saved her and let her be.

She did not hate her weak state because if she was as strong as the others, she was sure she would have died on that day.

Ark had come to like this life. Ark had come to like holding onto this name alone. It was hers.

...I...

But now she had become a light that was eating the darkness.

Her life as she knew it was coming to an end.

“No, no, what is happening to meeeeeeeeeeeeee??”

Darkstar wobbled as if it were boiling water.

His body moved like waves of water from one side to another.

He was not sure what was happening but he had a faint idea as to what caused it.

“Stop this damned light-- !!”

Above him, an orange light shone brightly on this dark world.

“WHAT?! The sun… How?”

Ark was floating like a ball of energy above the city, continuing to eat the darkness, including Darkstar himself. And with the sun shining brighter than ever, Darkstar’s power grew weaker and weaker.

But!

I can’t do this, Ark thought to herself in a defeated manner. Darkstar not only ate the sun but bathed every world in this star system with his darkness. No matter how much of this darkness is eaten, it still grows.

“Noooo. My work is not done yet...”

The man punched the ground.

“Dark God-- Void, please… Please give me more power. I must finish my mission.”

The darkness around him wobbled for a split second.

“Yes, yes, I will do it. I will bring an end to this system, Void.”

Darkness, the Living Darkness, Entropy, Death, Destruction, the Void. It is called by many names across the cosmos but its real name is Null.

When a multiverse reaches the end of its life, darkness [Entropy] comes and eats it, thus initiating a [Rebirth] sequence. Entropy comes for a universe and planet too. The shape and size may differ, but in the end, all roads lead to one destination: Null.

“As much as I don’t wish for this to be reborn, I must destroy it. Darkness must prevail before the light comes. So, please, give me more power,” he pleaded to the God listening above. “I will finish this for you.”

I must...

The God listening above did not speak.

The God merely watched from his throne.

But before the God above could grant him power, Ark moved.

EAT YOU!

She moved as everything around had stood still.

She moved fast as if she was the very light itself.

Ark shot a tentacle of energy at Darkstar.

Before Darkstar could react, she clutched to him.

Ark, who was a ball of energy, expanded greatly, swallowing Darkstar within her.

The dark God sitting above was not amused, “Hrm,” but he did not interfere.

Its agent was down, but it did not care.

The darkness had reached the planet. While it will take some time, the planets will fall in the end and that is the only thing that matters.

Ark cannot eat the darkness from the star system no matter how much she tries or how much she sacrifices. The end for this star system has been written and she cannot change it.

No one can.

Entropy is the natural end for a world, universe, and multiverse.

No matter what happens, no one can stop the darkness from doing what it must.

Ark will fail and the God above knew that, so it smirked.

“Arrgghhhhh!”

Although she had no body, she screamed in pain.

The man she had swallowed, his energies were lethal to her.

She knew her end was coming, but even then, she tried to fight back.

It was a suicide mission, to begin with...

Years ago, another sister of hers had to sacrifice herself to weaken Darkstar so Lian could kill him and even then, she had trouble completing the mission.

While Darkstar was weaker than before, he was still plenty dangerous to Ark.

But why is it...

She is a weapon.

She is meant to be expendable.

She is meant to kill herself when the mission calls it.

I don’t want to die. At least not in such a pathetic way--

Her thoughts derailed as the universe glitched.

『Absolute Wish』

On a small blue planet in a galaxy far far away, the most powerful ability had been activated.

In a split second, the world had started its rebirth phase without being destroyed or lives lost.

And…

The darkness… Darkstar… It’s all gone?!

The dark God watching from above clattered in fear. It had realised what had happened and it spoke one word in fear; "God."

While on this planet, Ark did not understand what had happened?

She was not hurting anymore because of Darkstar and the world was saved.

She questioned this current situation but no answer came to her.

“ARKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!”

Lian flew down from space with a worried look on her face.

She flew down and held out her hand.

Those beautiful blue eyes of hers lit up with energy.

Please don’t… Lian thought with horrified eyes. Please let me be fast enough...

“Dark to dark, light to light. Matter to matter, energy to energy. Hear me O’ Angel of Fate, Raziel, grant me your power,” she pleaded to the angels above.

Astrosh, the God of Magic listened.

He heard her.

And he granted her the power she needed.

Fate is the path a person is destined to walk. It is decided by the infinite number of possibilities available to them.

But with the right ability, even that can be twisted and rewritten.

“Fate, I command you...”

And so, she caught on to the threads of fate itself.

The threads twisted and Ark’s fate was rewritten.

The world glitched around Ark as she returned to her original form.

Ark, sitting on the ground, looked around with mouth half-open in confusion.

“I am glad you are...”

She heard a voice behind her so she turned around.

Looking back, she saw Lian whose back was to the sun, making it harder to see. But she could tell it was her sister.

“Safe...”

"What happened--"

Lian’s vision blurred as her head became light and fell to the ground.

“!!”

Ark moved as fast as she could and cushioned her fall. Ark carefully placed Lian's head on her thighs.

“LIAN!”

Arks, a large group of enhanced Chochicans, who has 「Infinite Life Force」, meaning they can use magic as much as possible without dying.

Magic is the ability where one trades their life force in return for interdimensional energy that twists reality to their very will.

Although they have 「Infinite Life Force」, it does not mean they will be left unaffected.

When magic on a high level is used, these Arks lose their consciousness. Sometimes even their bodies explode.

Ark knows that Lian is still alive, just unconscious but she was still worried.

And she felt responsible for her Lian's condition. She cursed her own weakness.

Her life force has been sucked out… She will need a lot of time to recover. But it could take years.

She had no confidence in the conclusion she arrived at.

After all, that was merely her wishful thinking.

Arks are powerful but they are not omnipotent. They have limits and once those limits are reached, they die.

Lian had to go beyond that line for her.

The guilt within Ark spiralled up as she bit her lips, which caused it to bleed.

What if I...

There was a spell, a spell that can let one person transfer their life to others but Ark does not know that.

"..."

DAMN IT!

Helpless, she looked up at the sky.

She shut her eyes.

“O’ Angel of Life, Esme, please restore her life.”

She does not know the spell, but maybe, just maybe, pleading to the angels above can help.

Ark knew it was silly, but every mortal, when hopeless, they look up to the skies and pray.

And so did.

She asked the Angel of Life for help.

Can her prayer be heard? Perhaps not, but she thought it was worth a try.

“Please, I beg you,” streams of tears started to flow down from Ark’s eyes as she wailed to the skies. “Puh-please!”

In the green, not blue, skies above the planet, clouds moved silently while the sunlight shone through them.

There was no answer.

There was no angel that heard her wails.

The God of Magic did nothing either. After all, she did not chant a spell but merely cried for help.

"Please..." Ark lowered her head as her shoulders started to shake. "Don't let her die."

But maybe, just maybe, somewhere far above the green skies, a certain beautiful Goddess heard her wails and Lian opened her eyes.

“Hng,” Lian groaned.

“!!”

Ark’s eyes widened as her heart swelled up with happiness.

With her teary eyes, she smiled widely.

“Thank the Gods.”

Ark breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Did we... save the world??”

“We...”

She hesitated to speak.

Clearly, it was not their efforts that got rid of the darkness, but she smiled widely and said, “did. Yes, we did save the world. We got rid of the darkness and this world is saved. The whole system is saved.”

“Ah...”

Lian smiled a relaxed smile.

“That’s good.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Now that’s out of the way...” Lian forced her hand to move. She pinched Ark’s red cheek. “Don’t get out of my sight again.”

“Hm?” Ark cocked her head to the right.

“Even if you want to stay and be the protector of this system, you have to report back to me at least twice a week.”

“...”

Ark blinked as she stared at him with a blank look.

“No matter what happens, you need to let me know what you are up to. Pretend I am your superior--”

Lian shook her head.

“No, I am your superior from now on. No matter what happens, you need to let me know of everything.”

“Umm… I am older, my rank was higher, shouldn’t I be the superior?”

“No, silly. That does not matter anymore. I am your superior and that’s the end.”

“Yes, yes, madam. I shall do as you require.”

“Good,” Lian smiled softly. “Good.”

“By the way, did you slow down time for yourself? You reignited the sun awfully quickly.”

However, Lian’s vision blackened as she closed her eyes again.

“Mm-hmm,” but Ark had gotten her answer. Before Lian’s vision blackened, it looked as if she nodded. “I knew it.”

Ark sat there with Lian resting her head on her thighs.

The world moved on, it had recovered.

Soon, the night sky fell over this planet but no one was scared. After all, the evil was defeated.

လလလ

Lian woke up and opened her eyes later that night, fully recovered.

She was back in her own quarters on Chias.

Ark had changed her clothes into something more comfortable.

Lian could smell a faint smell of food, so she concluded that Ark had cooked for her too, which caused her to scoff with a shake of her head.

“Hm?”

Next to her bed, on a small table, there was a letter.

Lian picked it up and read it out loud.

“”I hope you are feeling okay after you wake up. I accept your proposal, my superior. But two times a week… that’s quite a lot, don’t you think? Can I do once a week instead?””

Lian chuckled.

“”In any case, I have cooked for you so you can regain your strength. Remember the plory herb they fed us after each mission? I still have a few left, so I added that into it. You should recover faster now. I hope you like it. (Even though I am sure that it will taste terrible).” Yep,” she nodded with a happy smile. “I always knew that.”

After a small shake of her head, she continued to read out the rest of the note.

“”P.S. I love you, sis and thank you for your hard work.””

Lian stood up and walked through the room. Opposite her bed, there was a window.

She opened the window and looked up at the moon in the sky.

“Yes, me too.”

လလလ

On the far-away world Vegic 9 in a distant galaxy, her sister, Ark, looked up at the glowing moon and smiled while she ignored the city that was illuminated in beautiful lights.

She did not have to worry about that anymore.

The danger was gone, so she did nothing but look at the moon with a happy smile.

Everyone lived and she found her sister again.

She was scared to approach her so it doesn’t guilt Lian, but it seems she was wrong.

Does she regret not meeting her earlier? Indeed, she does.

But at least I got to meet her again, so I can leave that aside. No need for regret now. The past is the past, let’s leave it there.

Ark held her hand at the moon and sucked in a long breath.

“Until we meet again, sis.”