In the large Interstellar Warship that the disciples and Elders of the Profound Astral Sect arrived in, a joyous atmosphere was spreading out as a celebration had started even before they returned to their sect.
Barring the few poor disciples that lost their lives, there was much more good news that lifted the masses from their mournful ponderings as they looked towards an even brighter future.
The future looked very bright, as the Shining Son, William, had been able to finish in the top 50 of all the beings that participated in the Infernal Hunt, showing his grandeur once more as he put their sect in the spotlight.
But even more shocking was the one they had looked down upon and called a Wastrel all this time, surprising every single being observing the progress of the Infernal Hunt as he actually clutched a position in the top 10!
This was an extremely shocking revelation, as the higher rankings would always be filled with Void Realm individuals that were among the best of the best. The euphoria of seeing a name of a disciple of their sect in the top 10 rankings from all the surrounding powers reached its peak when they saw the disciple himself in question, Crixus, teleport back into the ship with a vibrant Elder Spacewarp in tow.
“OOOH!”
Triumphant howls resounded across the ship as they welcomed Crixus with the enthusiasm of a close friend, completely forgetting that this was the same being they were bad-mouthing just a few weeks ago.
William was watching this procession of joy in the distance as a confused expression covered his face, still trying to wrap his head around the enormous change in opinions that occurred in just a few days.
Noah glanced at all of these changes in expressions and the joy from the fellow disciples when his observations landed on the sole remaining Celestial Disciple that teleported back into the ship just a few moments before him.
Athena stood in one of the central positions of the ship, her vibrant dark hair tied in a ponytail as she talked respectfully with an old man that held a wizened expression that showed the experience of hundreds of years.
Athena seemed to be reporting something as she nodded her head, her gaze leading the gaze of the old man as she turned out and looked directly at Noah.
The eyes of the wizened old man, the Celestial Grandmaster, landed on Noah up close for the first time as a shocking aura locked in onto his body.
THUMP!
He could feel his heart momentarily miss a beat as the eyes of the old man felt like bottomless holes that were drawing him in, where he would sink and never be able to come out for an eternity!
This feeling only came and passed momentarily as he found himself breathing heavily thereafter, Elder Spacewarp coming to support him from behind as he looked with perplexity and slight caution at the Celestial Grandmaster that had entered into their ship.
This event brought silence into the ship as everyone on it began feeling the oppressive aura of the newly appearing being that shook them to their very cores.
The Grandmaster’s eyes shone with a gold light as he waved his hands, a golden light shooting out towards the position where Noah and Elder Spacewarp stood, another golden light covering his body and the body of Athena as all four disappeared from the Interstellar Warship.
…
The disciples watched on in shock as the other Elders shook their heads wyrily, waiting to see how this event would play out with the Esteemed Sir that had graced them with his presence and then left just as quickly.
In the Void of Space a few miles from the doorway leading to the First Hell where many sh.i.p.s were still anchored, a golden light bloomed as it formed into a protective circle that covered four beings.
The Celestial Grandmaster and Athena were looking calmly at Noah and the careful Elder Spacewarp who spoke first.
“How can we be of assistance, Esteemed Sir?”
The Grandmaster acknowledged Elder Spacewarp without replying as his gaze landed on ’Crixus’, his face adopting a radiant golden light as he released a question that brought a tremendous amount of shock to both Noah and Elder Spacewarp.
“Young man. How do you feel about joining a cause for something greater than your wildest dreams?”
…!
—
Fate.
It was a tricky thing that many beings tried to grasp and failed.
Yet there were those who felt like they had brought fate under their control and had gotten increasingly proficient at it.
They spent their days predicting the working of fate and trying to bend it to their own wills to serve their proposed purpose.
Fate continued to be studied even now as many still felt that they had not yet uncovered everything there was about it.
In a particular Celestial Star where a certain Grandmaster had recently left, deep beneath it near a hidden location, a being chained down in a golden cage with numerous golden rods piercing through his body was laughing wildly.
“Ha! Haha! Hahaha!”
Raucous laughter was coming from this being whose body was badly mutilated as numerous golden spear rods pierced almost every single position through his body and nailed him in the middle of the shimmering golden cage.
If a being that was just involved in the battle against the Infernal Aberration looked closely enough, they would be able to notice that the spear rods that nailed this laughing being from every single direction were eerily similar to the spears that a particularly powerful Celestial Disciple had used to end the life of the Aberration. The only difference was that the spears nailing down this being in a golden cage had been skewering this prisoner for the past hundred years, and yet his life force continued to thrum strongly.
Even as blood leaked from his body constantly and was drained through a small hole at the bottom of the golden cage, he continued to show an abundant life force that did not seem anywhere close to ending.
“Hmm! You fools really think you can play with fate as you wish?”
The laughter from the skewered being died down as he asked a question to no one, and received no answer. His imprisonment had finally brought him some entertainment, as his power was able to confirm that events were unfolding in a manner he never would have even predicted, but they were unfolding too beautifully!
They unfolded in such a stupendous manner that the imprisoned being withstood the pain constantly being inflicted from the spears and could not help but start laughing.
“The thing that you are trying to push away. The thing that you are trying to prevent with the best of your abilities. You will find that it only accelerates its path towards you faster.”
THUMP!…
The skewered being felt his heart beating stronger even after all these years as he smiled once again, having already been used to the pain of these golden rods a long time ago.
“Now we just wait for the passage of time.”
In the solitary golden cage, calm returned once again as an imprisoned being settled down and continued to slowly bleed once more.
