CHAPTER 18 — THE GOD FRAGMENT STIRS
Deeper Into the Wailing Valley
Cedric advanced through the broken realm, each step echoing through the canyon of silver rivers and skeletal mountains. The air thickened with divine pressure. Even Arhenos dimmed.
"Cedric," Arhenos warned, "the next guardian will not be like the Sovereign Shade. You are stepping closer to Aztarion's will."
Cedric rolled his shoulders.
"Good. I need something stronger."
He wasn't walking for power.
He wasn't walking for glory.
He was walking for his mother's life.
---
THE CORE OF THE DOMAIN
A colossal archway made of twisted ribs loomed ahead. At its center, a vortex of starlight rotated slowly—like the pupil of an ancient beast.
Cedric stepped through.
The world shifted again.
He emerged into a vast arena of floating platforms, suspended above a storm of stars.
A throne stood at the center.
Something sat on it.
Something wearing his father's face.
Cedric froze.
"A… Dad?"
The figure tilted its head, smile stretching unnaturally.
Its eyes glowed with pure cosmic hunger.
"Cedric Aaron Feraldo," it whispered in a dozen overlapping voices, "my beloved vessel."
Arhenos gasped.
"Cedric—THAT IS NOT YOUR FATHER."
The thing stood. Its shadow stretched across the arena like living smoke.
"I am Echo Aztarion. The memory of the Devouring God."
Cedric gritted his teeth.
"You used my father's image."
Aztarion's Echo smiled wider.
"It is the form your soul desires most to see. I shape myself from longing."
The throne evaporated.
The god-fragment stepped forward.
"And you… are here to be claimed."
---
THE TRUTH OF ARIEL FERALDO
Cedric's fists clenched.
"Where is my real father?"
The Echo paused, amused.
"Ah. That one."
Cedric's heart pounded.
The Echo pointed upward, where the storm of stars churned.
"He stepped into a Rift that touched the same place I do. His body fell… but his soul?"
It flicked fingers.
Fragments of memory swirled around Cedric—
A man screaming as divine light tore him apart
Reaching toward something he couldn't see
A tiny orb of light clutched against his chest—
Cedric.
"As he died," the Echo said softly, "he begged the gods to spare the child in his wife's womb."
Arhenos whispered, horrified,
"Ariel Feraldo bargained with Aztarion… before rifts even existed…"
Cedric trembled.
His father traded his soul—
for him.
The Echo leaned close.
"Ariel lives inside the Devouring God's belly. Aztarion keeps his soul as tribute."
Cedric's vision blurred with rage.
"You're going to pay for that."
---
THE GOD-FRAGMENT AWAKENS
The arena shook.
Aztarion's Echo shed its human form.
Bones elongated.
Flesh dissolved.
Its body became a shifting mass of constellations and fanged shadows.
A crown of horns emerged from the void-smoke.
"Let us see," it thundered, "if the Vessel can ascend."
Divine pressure crushed the air.
Cedric's knees dipped—
but then he stood tall.
Golden rings spun behind him.
Phantom wings spread.
GODSLAYER FORM 1 — FULL MANIFEST (FIRST TIME)
Arhenos whispered, awe and fear mixing,
"He's forcing a full manifestation… with only 12%…"
Cedric's voice echoed with divine resonance.
"I only need twelve."
He pointed Astral Razor forward.
"Come."
---
THE BATTLE BEGINS
The Echo moved first.
A beam of void-light screamed across the arena.
Cedric vanished—
reappearing on the Echo's flank—
and slashed.
KZZZRRT—!
His blade cleaved part of the fragment, but it regenerated instantly.
The Echo roared.
"You cannot cut a concept you do not understand!"
Cedric grinned.
"Then I'll learn it."
He moved again, faster, faster—
Each step cracked the air
Each slash sent shockwaves across the platforms
But the Echo grew stronger each time he struck it.
It was learning him, too.
Arhenos yelled:
"CEDRIC! You must break its divine pattern or it will assimilate your essence!"
Cedric's breath came heavy.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
"I have one technique left…"
The Echo charged.
Cedric's core ignited.
He whispered—
"Astral…"
The symbols behind him multiplied. His wings flared outward into a halo of golden distortion.
"SEVER — GODBREAKER ARC!"
Time fractured.
Space folded.
The Echo's attack froze mid-air.
Cedric slashed upward.
The blade cut not the body—
not the soul—
but the contract binding the Echo to Aztarion.
A howl tore through the realm as the god-fragment split in two.
---
THE ASCENSION TO 15%
Divine energy rushed into Cedric.
His body shook violently.
His soul blazed like a newborn star.
Arhenos shouted,
"CEDRIC, STOP—YOU'LL OVERLOAD—"
Cedric roared and forced the energy into his core—
—and the world exploded in light.
When the dust settled, Cedric knelt on the shattered platform, trembling, glowing faintly.
His evolution bar surged.
Divine Vessel Stage 1 → 15%
Arhenos stared, stunned.
"You… survived. You absorbed a god-fragment without dying."
Cedric stood weakly, gripping Astral Razor.
"I told you…"
His eyes burned with fierce determination.
"I'm taking a god's essence."
He sheathed the sword.
"For my mother."
---
THE FRAGMENT'S LAST WORDS
The Echo's fading form whispered as it dissolved.
"Aztarion knows you now…"
Its voice quaked with fear.
"And he is… excited."
Cedric's expression hardened.
"Let him come."
The realm shattered—
the Rift collapsed—
and Cedric fell back into the real world, unconscious but victorious.
End of Chapter 18