Ascension of the last Celestial

After the massacre of the innocent goblins, Valerian walked through the dark corridors of the cave system. The silence he left behind was absolute, with only the sound of his own footsteps echoing off the damp stone walls. As he walked, he thought back to what he had just done, and how little he felt while doing it.

’There is nothing. No bit of guilt or remorse. Shouldn’t I at least feel a little bad?’

He actually stopped for a second, waiting for some kind of reaction from his own mind. A normal human would probably throw up or feel sick after killing hundreds of intelligent beings who were just trying to live their lives. But to him, it felt no different than stepping on a colony of ants that happened to be in his way. It was nothing more than a task that had to be done. A simple cleanup to avoid a hassle later when he moved deeper into the Voidwoods.

’And the new affinity... its powerful.’

The feeling of using [Event Horizon] was still fresh in his mana veins. It was a weird, heavy sensation, completely different from the sharp snap of his lightning or the fluid feel of his space magic. It gave him absolute control over darkness and gravity at the same time.

With a thought, a small ball of darkness appeared in front of Valerian, floating just above his left palm. It was pure black. Not just the absence of light like the normal darkness the cave goblins used, but an abyss that actively ate away at any kind of light it could get its hands on. Even the dim, blue glowing moss on the cave walls seemed to warp and fade near it.

Valerian activated the gravity part of the affinity.

Instantly, the air pressure in the corridor changed. All the loose rocks, pebbles, and heavy rubble on the ground began to shake before lifting into the air, flying straight toward the small dot of darkness. The moment the rocks hit the edge of the black sphere, they didn’t just smash into it, they were stretched out like liquid and then compressed into nothingness.

Parts of the ceiling broke off, pulled into the miniature black hole. Valerian closed his hand, cutting off his mana, and the dot disappeared. Everything that had been sucked inside remained gone, completely crushed and erased under the gravity inside the black hole.

Letting out a sigh, he continued to walk down the dark corridor.

’Maybe it’s my bloodline or race that makes me feel nothing for these murders. Since they are on a more cosmic scale, it’s probably influencing my thoughts and feelings.’

It made sense. Celestials and Cosmic Dragons weren’t bound by human morals. To creatures that could live for thousands of years and rule over stars, a cave full of goblins was completely insignificant. But there was no way for him to get an answer about his race and bloodline right now. The description of his title [Last Celestial] clearly stated that he was the last one alive. There was no one left to ask.

’But maybe I can find out more about my cosmic dragon side. There was that person when I transformed...’

The memory hit him clearly. The soft, tender touch of that person, who Valerian was absolutely sure was his mother, was burned into his mind. He could still feel the warmth she gave him when his body was breaking apart during the transformation.

’Maybe I can meet her again if I transform or reach back inside myself.’

But that had to wait. This wasn’t exactly the place to get lost finding out about the deeper secrets of his race. He was in the middle of a dungeon raid, and getting distracted in a dark tunnel was just begging for a stupid mistake.

As he walked down the corridor on his way to the next goblin ambush, Valerian experimented more with his new affinity, and it was truly amazing.

He could create normal constructs made from darkness like any standard darkness user, spikes, chains, or walls, but he could also add a crushing gravity to them. He could use it the way he did with the vanguard, just increasing the gravity around a person to pin them to the floor until their bones cracked. Or he could create a literal black hole that had a massive gravitational pull to drag everyone into one spot.

He also didn’t forget the time the spear attack from the goblin met his darkness barrier. Instead of just simply blocking the attack and clashing mana, the spears got swallowed and completely crushed by the overwhelming gravity before they could even touch the shield. It was the perfect defense. No kinetic energy, no shockwaves, just absolute deletion.

’I just hope the chief will be more of a challenge. Up until now, the only interesting part about this cave was getting the new affinity. The rest was a huge disappointment.’

Deep inside the cave system, at the very heart of the colony, was a cave that was far larger than any of the other ones. The ceiling reached over 500 meters into the dark, and the length was over 3 km. It was a massive underground kingdom, but unlike the crowded settlements closer to the surface, there lived only a single goblin here.

Yet, this single goblin was stronger than all the other ones combined. It was the chief of the colony, who recently broke through to SS-.

Still high on his newfound power, he lay on his massive bed made of beast furs, celebrating with multiple goblin women. As someone with his rank, his core gave him an insane amount of stamina and vitality, and he wholly abused this strong body to its fullest. He didn’t care about anything else right now; he just wanted to enjoy the absolute dominance his new rank gave him over the entire colony.

While he was enjoying himself, the heavy stone doors of his chamber burst open. A male goblin walked in, his breathing heavy and chaotic. He had black skin like all the cave goblins that broke past B+, and he wore a much more refined armor than the vanguard. He had a strong physique, standing as tall as Valerian, about 1.80 cm. He was one of the chief’s direct commanders.

Even though he walked in on his chief enjoying the intimacy, the commander didn’t bat an eye. He knew how cruel the chief could be, so his hard gaze was fixed solely on the massive monster on the bed.

"Chief, we have lost contact with our patrol squads near the entrance, as well as the entire settlement to the east. Something is wiping them out."

A heavy, annoyed breath escaped from the goblin chief. He aggressively pushed the goblin women aside, throwing them off the bed. As he stood up, his full might was revealed, and the commander instantly got nervous just looking at him. His heart started racing, his primitive instincts screaming at him to run.

The chief stood at a staggering 2.5 meters tall and had a body made up of only pure, dense muscles. Strangely, he didn’t have a single scar on his body. His skin was also black like the others, but his was deeper, more like staring into a bottomless abyss than just a dark place. It actively sucked in the light of the torches in the room.

He opened his mouth, and a deep, guttural voice rolled through the chamber, vibrating the very stone under their feet.

"Are you so useless you can’t even take care of a little intruder?"

The commander started to tremble in fear, completely unable to speak back or explain. The raw mana in the air pressed down on him like a physical weight, making even moving his limbs or breathing hard. The darkness in the chamber grew deeper, suffocating the remaining light as the chief opened his mouth again.

"If you are all so useless, I will just do it myself."

Suddenly, from below, a leash made from condensed darkness flew upward and grabbed the throat of the commander. The leash got tighter and tighter, cutting off his air instantly. The commander clawed at his neck, his face turning purple as he tried to break the shadow, but it was useless. As he slowly began to lose consciousness, the leash pulled him downward to the ground, and other dark tendrils moved up his limbs, holding him flat against the floor.

The chief walked over to him slowly, each step making the ground shake. He looked down at the choking goblin with cold, dead eyes. He snorted in disgust, placing his massive foot right on the commander’s head. With one powerful, casual step, he crushed the goblin’s head, making his brain matter and dark blood soil the floor.

He didn’t even bother to clean the mess from his foot. He just walked past the corpse to the side of the chamber where his personal armor lay. It was forged from thick, deep-earth iron, way stronger and more durable than the armor of any other goblin. Next to it lay a massive greatsword that was the exact same size as his 2.5-meter body and thicker than a person’s head. It looked crude, primal, and incredibly dangerous.

After putting on the heavy armor and throwing his gargantuan greatsword over his shoulder, the chief made his way out of his chamber. His eyes burned with rage, ready to kill whoever dared to intrude on his territory and disrupt his peace.