novelnext The Descent of the Star: Echo of the Boreal Cradle
The Descent of the Star: Echo of the Boreal Cradle
(VUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMM!!!)From the epicenter of the collapse, where Melioris’s figure had fragmented, the boreal column of light did not merely rise; it detonated toward the zenith.
(FWASH-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!)
It was an eruption from which, out of the bowels of the earth, a torrent of lights gushed—mimicking the dance of an aurora, it ascended to the firmament in a sway of iridescent hues that defied the darkness.
♪♫♬ ♩♪♫ ??? ♪♬ ♩♫ ♪...
In the midst of the storm, an ascending prism burst forth, releasing a column of light like a pillar of pure existence that knew no bounds.
...♫ ♪ ♪...♩...♬...♪...
In the world of Ky'lar, the violet storm that had lashed out with elemental fury met an unstoppable force which, upon contact with the pillar, scattered the rain clouds.
... ♩♫♬ ♩♫ ♪♫ ??? ♬♫♪
The lightning bolts that once pierced the earth writhed and died out, unable to even draw near the pillar as a melody began to resonate...
...♪...♩...♪♬...
It did not come from the wind or the earth, but from the light itself.
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫ ♫ ♫
♩
♪
♩ — ♩
It was a melody that ascended, releasing a sense of absolute serenity and wonder; as if the firmament were opening to absorb a prayer written in pure notes.
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩ ♩
♪
♫
♩
♪
♫
♩
♪ — ♫
And with those notes, the true shockwave was unleashed.
(BOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUMMMM!!!) Like an invisible dome of pure pressure, it expanded from the pillar in every direction, scattering the storm clouds backward—violently swept toward the horizon as if reality itself were clearing the stage.
(WHA-RUUUUUUUUMMM-BLLE!!!)
That shockwave was not a mere gust of wind, but a roar of existence itself that made the very fabric of space vibrate. As the surrounding water rose in walls of instantaneous steam, and the thunder, which once dominated the sky, shattered into a dry echo—subjugated by the frequency of the boreal light... what remained behind as it slowly faded were thousands of filaments that sucked in the sunlight, devouring the clarity of noon within an eighty-meter radius of peaceful silence.
(TRAC! — ZIIIIIP!)
Yet, nevertheless, in the center of that dome of stillness, reality tore open to reveal the impossible.
(Vun... Vun... Vun...!!)
Beneath the firmament, the blue sky vanished, replaced by a deep, starry void where night had risen. Beneath the exact center of the stellar firmament, where the density of the void was at its purest, the light did not fully dissipate. Instead, what remained of the spot where Melioris had previously been reclining was a cocoon formed by an amalgam of boreal energy filaments—intertwining and unraveling in microseconds, pulsing with a slow, almost biological rhythm.
(Click... Tink...!)
The cocoon emitted a low-frequency hum that caused the surrounding light particles to orbit around it as if it possessed its own gravity, and its glow was not constant—shifting from an incandescent red to a deep blue, momentarily revealing silhouettes of faces and memories that merged before they could be recognized. Occasionally, small splinters of static crystal broke off from the cocoon’s surface and disintegrated before touching the ground. Yet, despite that, through the translucent and fluctuating membrane, a growing warmth could be perceived.
(Ssssssssss...!!) — (Tik!)
Upon the blades of grass that now shimmered with a silvery hue, small spheres of dew began to condense like tiny prisms in the middle of the night. A droplet slid down the stem of a wildflower, producing a crystalline sound as it struck a quartz stone. The wind, once a hurricane of destruction, subsided into an anemic and erratic breeze that caressed the surface of the cocoon of light. Upon contact with the air, the outer layer of the chrysalis began to crystallize more and more, becoming brittle.
(CRACK...!! — KLINK!)
That cocoon did not break like ordinary glass; instead, it fragmented into polyhedrons of light that evaporated before touching the ground, leaving behind a luminous trail as a longitudinal line—fine as a hair yet brilliant as a filament—coated the cocoon's surface. The sound of the rupture was a dry echo that vibrated through the ground, causing the light particles dancing in the air to swirl in concentric circles while, very faintly—almost merging with the sound of the wind—a real heartbeat began to resonate from within the cocoon.
(FWOOOOSH!!!)
Until finally, with a dull burst of liberation, the cocoon of light expanded outward, releasing a cascade of boreal filaments that fragmented into millions of motes of stardust, floating lazily in the wind surrounding the eighty-meter crater. The sound was a crystalline symphony—a metallic and ethereal tinkling that resonated in the silence of the "artificial night." And in the center of the whirlwind of disintegrated light, a figure began to emerge, but it was not of flesh and bone... yet.
There stood a silhouette of pure energy, a mannequin of cyan and magenta light that fluctuated erratically with an undefined form—a trace of existence that defied optics, but which little by little began to gain weight and definition beneath the stellar firmament.
(Ziiip! — Snap!)
With a fluid, almost choreographed movement, the figure of light began to contract. First, the torso gained a graceful curvature; then, the limbs lengthened, defining delicate thighs and arms while a cascade of residual energy flowed from what would be the head, solidifying into a mane that shimmered with its own light before gaining color. The air around him became dense and electric as the mythical transformation completed its cycle.
"... Mmm~"
Thus, as the boreal light that composed the figure was absorbed inward, revealing, inch by inch, the texture of skin, the softness of hair, and the unmistakable presence of a feminine form...
(Fff-shhh-uuh... k-ssst)
Yet, at that point, the whirlwind began to orbit unstably around the figure, as if there were some kind of "rejection."
(KRA-CHAAAS!!! — ZAP!)
At the climax of the transformation—just as the light seemed to have reached its purest and most graceful form—the air became saturated with crimson static, and the sound of glass shattering under immense pressure stifled the celestial melody.
(CLANG! — CLINK!)
As if reality itself rejected what was about to awaken, the boreal light filaments floating in the wind turned solid and heavy, transforming in a blink into ethereal chains that coiled viciously around the feminine figure. The chains tightened, emitting a metallic clang that echoed throughout the crater, forcing the silhouette of light to contract and collapse.
(Thud...!)
However, before completing their work, one of the chains fell, severed...
(Fff-shhh-uuh~)
This caused the last trace of energy to dissipate and the majestic feminine figure to vanish, leaving in its place—reclining upon the dew-soaked grass—the figure of a boy.
"Nngh... ah..."
Who, despite his clothing and small build, retained a beauty of androgynous features...
"Haaaah...!"
...undoubtedly feminine.