Past 1: Chapter 4 part 4 The Stellaron Enigma

PAST 1: SHEREE BACKSTORY Chapter 4, Part Four: The Stellaron Enigma The chaotic battle smoke from the destruction of Enchainer-Alpha slowly began to settle across the shattered stone floorboards of the ancient abandoned temple. Standing firmly among the crumbling brick structures, Reaper 800 stepped directly over to the six silver-disguised dark knight impostors who were pinned down tightly by the team's paralysis devices. His intense blue eyes narrowed into an icy stare behind his white tech-skull mask as he rested his heavy gauntlet on his weapon belt. Reaper 800: "Okay, let me ask you guys something. We will all set you free under our cosmic tracking files, but one major decision relies on this. We need to ask you one question: what was Drago's true plan right from the very start?" Dark Knight 1: [Coughing violently against his armor plates, raising his visor in pure defeat] "Lord Drago... he was planning to steal something from the very beginning. He did not actually want to take over the physical boundaries of the kingdom! He didn't care about the throne room, but he wants something infinitely worse. He wants a hidden Void Hunter weapon so incredibly powerful it can recreate core matter..." King Aurelius: [His amber eyes widening in absolute royal horror as his white ponytail twitches] "Oh no... so that is what that green-skin prick is after after all this time!" Reaper 800: "What is it, Aurelius? Tell me. You clearly know a piece of secret history that the rest of this raid team doesn't." King Aurelius: "It is a specialized, legendary prototype weapon forged explicitly for my daughter. When she uses the cosmic power of that specific Void Hunter weapon, it activates the unique Aetherlight element, which is dynamically synthesized based on the Lumiflux element and the Imaginary path. The official classification name of that cosmic weapon... is Photonic." The moment the name of the weapon left the King's lips, the atmosphere inside the temple ruins turned completely freezing cold. Liang Huàn and Remielle Dan instantly tightened their grips on their weapons, their faces dropping into pure, unbridled fury at the mention of the forbidden multi-element engine. Liang Huàn: [His cyan eye lenses flashing with cold medical rage as freezing white steam vents from his Glacial Scalpel cane] "You have got to be kidding me! A weapon that synthesizes Lumiflux and Imaginary energy into an Aetherlight output? If a greedy, power-hungry monster like Drago gets his hands on a high-spec Void Hunter weapon of that caliber, he won't just tear down this kingdom—he will destabilize the molecular structure of this entire sector! The Void Hunter Guild specifically locked those elemental configurations away because they are a threat to reality itself!" Remielle Dan: [Her natural white angel wings flaring violently as her mechanical weapon wings hover over her shoulders, her short pink hair casting a wild shadow] "Are you serious right now?! Photonic was forged as Sheree's birthright and ultimate protection tool, and that green-skinned snake thinks he can just crawl out of the shadows and steal it for himself?! Over my dead body! No secondary alchemist is going to weaponize an elite Void Hunter relic on our watch. I'm going to rip his experimental notes to pieces and beat the absolute crap out of him the second we breach that inner sanctum!" Before the Void Hunters could even finish processing the weapon parameters, the second captured minion let out a weak, trembling whisper from the dirt. Dark Knight 2: "There is... there is something else he is actively hunting down inside the castle vaults. There is a strange anomaly hidden deep in the lower grid that makes the local Ethereal monsters go absolutely crazy. I don't even know how to properly describe it to a god... but Drago has it anyway. It looks like pure, unfiltered cosmic light, and it takes the exact shape of a floating ball of light." Reaper 800 froze dead in his tracks, a massive shockwave of pure psychological panic hitting his system beneath his mask. He spun around violently to face the high-elf king. Reaper 800: "Aurelius... tell me you did not bring a literal Stellaron onto planet Earth and lock it inside this dungeon!" King Aurelius: [Rubbing the back of his neck with a highly embarrassed, comically sheepish anime grin] "I sure did! Because I needed to keep it completely safe from the wrong hands across the star systems, and I never expected this terrible situation would ever happen to my people!" Reaper 800: [Slamming his fist onto a crumbling pillar in absolute deadpan frustration] "You are one dumb idiot for bringing a Stellaron here! That means Drago is about to transform into something infinitely worse than a standard S-Rank Enchainer! My cosmic visions were right all along—a Stellaron-fused Enchainer boss is going to be incredibly hard to eliminate... and honestly? I love it! Yes, I absolute love it! This is turning into a literal epic trial boss fight! You guys get it, right?!" Remielle Dan and Liang Huàn instantly broke out into hyped, cheerful shonen grins, raising their weapons high in pure excitement over the prospect of a legendary, multi-phase trial, while King Aurelius stood between them looking completely blank and bewildered. King Aurelius: "I want to know just one thing... what on earth is an epic trial boss fight?!" Dark Knight 3: "It is literally the ultimate tier of cosmic combat! Absolutely every seasoned warrior tests their mettle against those massive parameters! No wonder you don't know it, considering you're a high-born king living under a rock!" Dark Knight 4: "And by the way, King... your daughter did successfully escape our capture parameters earlier through the courtyard haze. We have absolutely no idea where she is hidden right now inside the breaking ruins... but she is out there because of your squad's arrival." King Aurelius: [His royal aura flaring into a terrifying, bright golden heat as his eyes turn fierce with parental rage]"Where is my daughter?! Where is she at right now?! Answer me, you scoundrels!" The dark knight went completely silent, trembling under his gaze and refusing to speak another word out of fear. Reaper 800 stepped up, leaning his skull mask close to the fifth minion. Reaper 800: "One more critical question before we march into the boss chamber. Tell us exactly what Drago did to her while she was locked in that room." Dark Knight 5: "Fine! Fine, I'll tell you what happened! Please don't delete my data profile!" Dark Knight 6: [Hissing from the side] "Shh! Do not tell him! Lord Drago will completely eliminate your entire family pool if you leak the alchemical files!" Liang Huàn: [Clicking his cane down with absolute, freezing sub-zero authority] "No one is ever going to eliminate you in this zone. That is not the way of the Void Hunter guild. Unless you are dealing with the Krampus Compliance Authority fleet... they will eliminate you without a trial. But they are not on this planet today. Speak." Dark Knight 5: "I was standing right there inside the inner sanctum when Drago conducted his experimental trials with his mysterious staff. He was holding his fancy golden staff... the one with the distinct shape of a wolf head on the top crest." Reaper 800: [Looking over at Liang Huàn with a grim, knowing nod] "I knew it. We have the right tracking line, Liang. That golden wolf head staff they are talking about... is my stolen Deep Green Staff that Vantablack left behind in the wastes." Dark Knight 5: "All I know is he zapped her face layer with a glowing alchemical potion, experimenting relentlessly to forge the perfect capacity shift formula. Then, he poured the completed light green potion directly into the royal dinner wine. I don't know what happened next... but the second dark knight knows the rest of the delivery layout." Dark Knight 2: [Nodding weakly from the ground] "Well... I did hand-deliver the food tray directly to her bedroom cell earlier. She ate the meal completely, and then she drank the corrupted wine down to the very last drop. Right after that... her body code locked up, and she started to transform into that equine beast form before your squad breached the temple gates..." Reaper 800 slowly straightened up, his plasma blade humming with dark purple Havoc energy as the full weight of the conspiracy settled over the raid team. The path was clear, the Stellaron trial was live, and it was time to hunt Drago down! [The temporal screen snaps back to the live IPC broadcast studio lounge, where the watch party is completely losing its mind over the merged timeline data entries.] Boothill: [Slamming both cybernetic fists onto the table, his gears whirring wildly] "HOLY FUDGING SHIRT! The anger from those Void Hunters was legendary! Hearing them stand up for the princess's weapon legacy just completely raised the hype ceiling for this trial!" Acheron watched the screen with wide, deeply impressed eyes, her cheeks blushing even harder as she recognized the true, devastating majesty of King Aurelius's broadblade arts and battlefield leadership. Aventurine simply smiled, collecting his pile of gold coins with a clever smirk, while Madame Jade slowly picked up her dropped ledger pad, completely stunned by the sheer, unhinged power gap between a Triple-S Rank boss and two trolling Aeons under the pulsing light of the Time Crystal!