Omega Ascension System[BL]-Chapter 293: _The Original

Elian’s POV

*****

"I..." He took a step back, still dumbfounded by the figure before him. In all her majesty.

The moon goddess.

He recognised that flowy silver hair, bemused smile and the way her silver white gown flowed behind her like starlight given form. She was divinity and beauty personified.

But... There was something wrong. Something different from the first time he saw her.

’System?’ he called out mentally but got no response.

What the fuck was he expecting?

Swallowing hard, he scanned his eyes around for a few seconds before bringing them back to the goddess. "Am I... Am I dead? Again? Is—"

"As straightforward as ever." Her soft laugh interrupted him. "Elian Ashford. You’ve... Changed. Grown since our first meeting. I’m impressed."

Impressed? Grown?

Elian blinked for a while before pulling in a deep breath. "You... You know I’ve been really troubled by a lot of things." As he spoke, he scrutinised her closely.

The things that made her "different" soon became noticeable.

Cracks surrounded the empty white space like shattered crystal. Her smile was still. Never shifting or twitching out of place. Like she couldn’t make it curve beyond that. Or... Didn’t want to?

Even her aura was different. Dimmer than the first time he saw her. During their first meeting, Elian had genuinely felt like peeing his pants. The only thing that gave him confidence was the injustice he faced before death.

"Troubled?" The goddess repeated, clasping her hands. "Oh, I know. Believe me. But other than all that, you’ve noticed it. Haven’t you?"

Elian’s brows knitted into a deep frown. "Noticed what? Your poor interior decorating sense during our meetings?"

She chuckled—a stifled, almost humourless sound. As if she was forcing herself—no. More like it was practised.

Gods, what’s going on?

"I’m glad the system was able to match your sarcasm in more ways than one," she muttered. "Unique for a soul like you. So much pain hidden beneath it. More mortal than some of the actual mortals around you."

His pulse stuttered.

Mortal...

"Please," Elian rubbed his forehead, taking a step back. "Is this real or not? Is my time in this life done? Are you here to claim my soul once and for all after I tried using the system to scan it? Because if I’m being honest, I..."

He paused, a lump tightening his throat. He was going to say he won’t mind dying. Won’t mind being reaped into whatever lies beyond this life.

However, the truth weighing on his chest was a huge contrast.

Despite the chaos, life was beginning to make some sense. He had goals. Dreams with two people he loved dearly and who loved him back in ways he couldn’t put into words.

Right now, death was something he had no preparations for. At all.

Maybe over a month ago when he got reborn. Not now.

"You enjoy the life you were given..." The goddess noted more than she asked, that distorted smile still stretching her lips. "Or more accurately... The life you took. The life you made."

She paused while Elian grew more uneasy. Then... She whispered in a voice piercing enough to cut: "Moon Blessed. Our Divine crystal’s perfect being. He who’s destined to reshape Evaros and Solara. And challenge the old gods."

Each word... each sentence... They made Elian’s breathing heighten by the second.

What did she mean by OUR Divine crystal? How was he connected to something he hadn’t even seen before?

Shaking his head, Elian sneered. "You told me the system will help me evolve. Into something beyond an Omega—"

"Beyond a mere werewolf." She suddenly bleeped, appearing just two meters in front of him. "Do you know the ancestors of the wolves? Our first children—the Lycans."

Elian remembered something he’s always seen in his stats from the system.

Dormant Lycan bloodline.

But how does that even explain why the goddess keeps using "we" and "our"?

"Lycans dominated the continent." She went on, taking a step forward. Elian took a step back in return. "Primordial Beasts. The closest things to our pure divinity."

"What do you mean by ’our’?" Elian snapped.

"Us."

"There is no ’us’. What are you—"

"Oh, child." She chuckled, shaking her head. "But there is. The original. The full essence of the goddess—before we fell."

Elian didn’t even try hiding his desire to leave. He didn’t know where. But it sure as hell beat whatever this was.

Turning around, he took two steps away... But gasped when she appeared in front of him. He turned to his left, and the same thing happened; her expression told him this wasn’t a game or a test.

It was real as fuck.

"A–Amara?" It was the final thing that crossed his mind. "Is this... Is this really—"

"That witch," the goddess mumbled. "Thinks she has the divine crystal wrapped around her fingers. That she has it all figured out." Her features glitched.

Actually glitched like a fucking hologram.

Elian noticed and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Gods, he should’ve just remained ignorant. He shouldn’t have tried digging into his past. Was it even important at this point?

"She’s only scratched the surface by helping your evolution." That sentence made Elian freeze. Completely.

The Ascension protocol?

"You’re the first piece of the original essence’s soul to gain... Individuality." She suddenly stepped forward, this time fast enough to grab his cheeks with both hands before he could avoid it.

Her touch was cold, silver eyes molten as they peered into him. Elian’s breath ceased, instincts running on overdrive. But he couldn’t even feel his mana core or connection to his mates here.

He was alone.

"Who’s..." He stuttered, deciding to play along. It was either that or he punched a goddess. And he really didn’t want to test her shaky benevolence. "Who’s the original essence? How am I a piece of their soul? How did Amara help my... Evolution? The Ascension protocol?"

She paused, blinking into his eyes. Still smiling in a way that made Elian feel lucky he couldn’t shit himself here.

He might’ve done it a hundred times over already.

"Before that." The goddess’s face flickered with some seriousness now. "Long before the Ascension protocol. The experiments from the witches that... Caused the Blight." A thumb brushed over Elian’s jaw. "That’s when you broke out. From the Divine crystal. Ten thousand years ago."

Elian’s mind spun with more confusion than he could bear. More questions he needed answers to—but articulating them into thoughts or words was Herculean.

Was she saying he... Is he ten thousand years old?

"When you reunite with the original essence..." The goddess suddenly lit up with blinding white light. She levitated off the ground, her fingers drifting away with her. "The Divine Crystal—only then will you obtain the whole truth. All I can offer you now are pieces."

She had to be fucking playing!

"Wait!" He yelled, struggling and failing to grab her hands. "The original? Who are they?! What really is the Divine crystal?"

Her face got swallowed by the blinding light—but her lips remained. And they no longer held a smile.

They held sorrow that wasn’t entirely hers.

"The Divine Crystal... Is the moon goddess’ remains." She uttered words that tipped over his entire world. "Our original. She whose remains fell on this continent. Who we sprung out from."

Elian’s eyes widened. His outstretched hands fell slowly, mind barely registering the entire white space collapsing around him.

The... The moon goddess he knows has been a piece of the main one all this time. An echo. A fragment here to guide him.

And the real goddess? She’s—

—dead.