73 Cosmos

Diana stood on the deck, her purple sparkling at the massive thrusters, which was emitting stellar energy.

Her face also flushed with excitement, as if she had found a massive treasure.

'Is the ship powered by an actual star?' Leaning forward on the railing, she wondered, looking at the thrusters propelling them forward through the white clouds. 'How the hell did Lord accomplish this? What exactly is principal for this? The thrusts' design is strange, yet somewhat cool. Is this something that can be mass-produced?' Her mind was filled with thoughts and new ideas.

As a knowledge emperor, she can infer right away that the ship is propelled by stellar fuel.

This discovery astounded her to her core; after all, she had previously thought the steam engine was miraculous, but within a few years of that discovery, she saw this, which could render the steam engine obsolete.

For a brief moment, she felt a contraindication and unrealness in reality, as if two engines did not belong to the same era or epoch, yet here they are, perplexing her.

She wished she could rush to the helm and ask her lord about everything. But she restrained her desire because she knew Earth Mother was also present with her lord.

Diana sighed in frustration and looked out the window at the passing clouds and setting sun to distract herself.

'That's beautiful...' The scene completely captivated her.

The sun's twilight blurred through the clouds, shading the sky a mix of orange and yellow. It was kind of enthralling as she immersed herself in it.

But, someone suddenly hugged her from behind, placing his head on her shoulders and whispering through her ears in dismay.

"Diana, you didn't seem too excited when you looked at mine. But now, you are beaming with delight at the sight of freaking metal thrusters."

Diana rolled her eyes at that. She was also aware that he had been staring at her for some time. She didn't bother to call him out either.

She then spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her hands wandered around his body, looking into his golden eyes, she said ambiguously.

"I argue that. How about we do it again, so you can check it very clearly this time."

"Really?!" Lucas beamed.

"In your wet dreams, idiot." Diana's face went blank, and she pushed him away from her embrace and walked away.

"Diana…" As Lucas followed her, he drawled. "We haven't seen each other in a long time, you know I'm always thinking about you..." His eyes were sad and painful.

"Oh?!" Diana cut him off, turned to look at him, and scoffed at his act. "The sympathy card isn't going to work with me anymore..." She wasn't going to fall for it, but as his expression became more pitiful, her heart began to waver. "Fine. Not here. We can go to the capital after this trip. We'll have all the time in the world at that time." She sighed, defeated.

"That's more than enough..." Lucas beamed once more, his sad and pitiful expression gone in an instant. He walked right up to her and wanted to kiss her, while holding her all to himself.

Knock!

"Am I disturbing anything?" Blaise inquired, leaning against the ship's wooden hull.

"You are." Lucas was annoyed at being interrupted.

"You are not." Diana followed with a smile, earning an angry glare from her love. But she ignored him and asked. "What is it?"

"Lord said we should all go inside the cabin. We can't stay out any longer. We have arrived at the point where we will enter the astral world." Blaise informed, his face expressionless, even after seeing them like this.

"Why are we going there in the first place? What did the Lord say?" Lucas inquired, finally recalling the reason for their gathering.

"The Lord wishes to show something to us." Diana replied, her arm folded, while his mind raced with possibilities.

Blaise looked at them in silence for a moment before saying. "The lord just told me that he will show us the source of Edward's suffering to us."

The atmosphere became heavy, Lucas's lethargic expression became solemn, and Diana's mind raced with numerous guesses and thoughts.

Edward Grant is the angel of temperance, one of their friends, and they have been there for each other through thick and thin throughout their time in the Lord's legion of light.

However, as the fourth epoch dawned, his condition began to deteriorate, and he told them and his lord that he began to hear murmurs coming from the starry sky.

Their lord's solemn expression after hearing that only served to emphasise the gravity of the situation. The lord then took him to his kingdom, and that was the last time they saw each other.

Following that, whenever they inquired, their lord simply stated his dire situation without further explanation. They did try to find the source of the problems, but it was ultimately futile. This entire situation left a throne in their hearts.

'Outer gods...' Diana's expression was baffled as she thought suddenly. She had no idea why this phrase came to mind.

She learned this from Artisan and her lord's conversation, when she and her lord visited Artisan before the war.

However, she had an inkling that this was related to Edward's problem and the reason for their trip to the astral world.

But before any of them could say anything, the entire ship rumbled, and their lord's voice echoed around the ship.

"Get in right away. We're about to enter the astral realm."

They didn't waste any more time and went into the cabin as the ship began to shake even more.

___________________

At the helm, Aucuses steered the voyager with both hands, his gaze fixed on the vanishing clouds. His heart was racing with excitement and nervousness.

"Do you need help?" Lilith inquired, seeing that they were at the crossroads of the astral and material worlds.

Even though the engine was perfect, the ship's ability to travel in the astral world remains in doubt. And, there is a simple solution to all of their problems; they can use their authority to protect the ship while travelling in the astral world.

But she can tell Aucuses would not be happy about that. She can also see that he wants the ship to be able to travel on its own.

And she discovered something interesting about Aucuses: he dislikes taking shortcuts, preferring to slowly experience things he likes. He didn't care how much time and effort was required; just like with this ship, he really didn't need to go through all of this; he could have simply used his authority and all of his problems would have been easily solved, but here he was.

"No." Aucuses refused. "I want to see if it is successful."

Then, taking a deep breath, he pressed the lever near the wheel, increasing the output of stellar fuel, causing an enormous amount of energy to emit from the thrusters, propelling them into space.

The voyager began ascending at breakneck speed, the clouds vanished, and the setting sun grew large and high, revealing the curvature of the Earth.

This is the critical moment. The strange and wondrous astral world was right above us.

With a wobble, the ship entered the infinite cosmos, breaking free from the material laws and rules of Earth.

Aucuses' perception expanded. His perception of the astral world was far greater than that of others because he was a god of the Omnipotent and Omniscient pathways, which originated from the Lord of Astral World.

Now, he can sense the boundlessness of the cosmos and even obtain glimpses and visions of the cosmos beyond the solar system via astral authorities.

The astral world, in his opinion, was not magnificent and beautiful at all.

It was chaotic, as if someone had just decided to smash everything together without any order or plan. It was twisted, he felt endless malice from this infinite place, as if it couldn't wait to tear him apart, symbolically. It was terrifying, as he sensed the indifference, the cosmic indifference at that.

At the same time, it all felt...real.

He had no idea why he felt that way. It just came to him as he felt the astral world.

Aucuses shifted his gaze away from the starry space and toward the ship, which was being gradually covered by the authorities of the astral world. He waited for the final moment.

Finally, the authorities that can corrode the most in existence simply glazed over the remodelled ship, without affecting or corrupting it.

When Aucuses saw this, he let out a sigh of relief and slumped his shoulders. His heart was surreal. He finally succeeded.

"Congratulations." Lilith said with a smile.

Aucuses nodded to her and removed his hand from the wheel, then entered their route into a hologram and switched the ship to auto-pilot mode.

"You can all come out." He spoke loudly, his voice echoing across the ship. His angels finally left the cabin.

Diana, Lucas, and Blaise walked up to the railing, their wide eyes darting around the vast expanse of space filled with gleaming stars.

'Is this the Astral world?' Diana thought, her eyes wide with wonder. 'This is so different from what I expected. It's somewhat strange and terrifying, as well as, beautiful. What a contradiction.'

'Wait?' She bent down from the railing to get a good look at the massive planet below. 'Is that...?!'

Following her gaze, Lucas and Blaise looked down at the planet, reacting similarly to her.

The planet resembled a blue marble with white and black swirls. There were two continents visible on the surface, surrounded by vast oceans and islands, while a portion of the planet was obscured by dark clouds and ethereal grey fog.

The planet gleamed in the light of the sun, telling a magnificent and tragic tale. It was breath-taking in every way. It gave off a heavy felling, as if it held the history of countless years and numerous civilizations. It felt familiar to them, giving them a sense of security.

It also truly astounded them, when they finally realised,

This was their home.

"Do you know it's name?" Lilith asked, a gentle smile on her face, as she and Aucuses walked down from the helm and joined them on the deck, both gazing at the beautiful planet.

"Name?" Diana was lost. She knew they lived on a planet, but she didn't know what it was called. She was irritated by this revelation.

"Earth," Aucuses said as he looked at Lilith. "She is Earth."

'Earth' Their hearts were forever etched with that name. Their gazes was also drawn to Earth Mother subconsciously.

"Everyone.." Aucuses continued, capturing everyone's attention. "Before I show you something, we'll travel to the sun."

"We will pass through two planets, Venus and Mercury, before reaching the sun. If you want, I can stop the ship and let you explore those two planets. Aside from that, don't leave the ship because the astral world is a dangerous place for everyone below the gods. Finally, you are free to do whatever you want in the meantime, but please do not bother me or Ombella unless absolutely necessary." He instructed them, and they nodded solemnly, but their eyes couldn't hide their excitement at the prospect of exploring an entirely different planet.

Aucuses and Lilith then left the deck and went to his personal cabin.

His personal cabin was not extravagant or lavish, but rather modest and cosy, giving off a warm feeling, like being at home.

"Coffee? Rather than wine?" Aucuses asked Lilith. He had an urge to drink a hot coffee, rather than wine.

"Anything will do." Lilith replied as she walked towards his cabin's window, where she stood silently gazing out at the gleaming stars in the space.

Aucuses went to his cabin's kitchen and began preparing. He looked up at her, who was still staring at the stars, as the water boiled in the middle.

"Do you want to see the cosmos?" He suddenly inquired, his face mysterious.

"I would love to, but as if that is possible." Lilith turned to face him and noticed his smile. "Don't tell me..." She had an incredible guess.

"Look." Aucuses pointed out the window, while the entire dim room was brightened by a burst of colourful luminescence.

He used his authority of order to change the reality around the voyager, revealing glimpses of the cosmos that he saw through the authorities of the astral world.

Lilith turned to look out the window, her face illuminated by a rainbow of luminescence. Then, her divine eyes was filled with awe.

The vastness of space sparkled with swirling stars and colourful nebula clouds. The cluster of galaxies stacked on top of each other and extend into infinity. There were black holes, red giants, dwarfs, and magnetic clouds. They were all endless and infinite, full of stories and tales from civilizations and species as numerous as sand on the beach.

It was all woven together in the cosmic ocean, which contains all that is, has ever been, or will ever be.

Lilith felt a tingling sensation down her spine. A faint sensation in her heart. Her mind flashing with a distant memory of a long-forgotten past.

She became aware that she was staring at the greatest of all mysteries: Cosmos.