**Galaxy Sector: Jagan**
**Planet: Helen**
"Finally."
"My cure… to this accursed trait."
A deep voice echoed across the star-soaked void.
It belonged to a handsome, white-haired man seated atop a planet-sized creature—though to the beast, he was no larger than an ant. The creature was a **World-Devouring Whale**, a cosmic monstrosity whose existence once inspired terror and awe. Now it lay still, its age of swallowing planets at an end.
The man lifted a beautiful crimson blade.
"Have a drink, Cil," he murmured.
Blood seeped from the colossal corpse, drawn to the blade until it coated the weapon like a living veil. The sword hummed, glowing in satisfaction.
Dax returned his gaze to the dead whale.
"So hungryyy…"
Saliva slid down his chin. His eyes shimmered with a predatory madness.
Like a starving beast, he began to eat—tearing into the creature with inhuman joy. It was almost comical. He ate so deep he vanished into the whale, continued devouring from the inside, and tore his way back out.
This ritual was familiar to him.
This man was **Dax Godfall**, the **Black Researcher**.
Blood drenched him by the time he was halfway through the beast, but he didn't stop.
"Hungry… so hungry."
Silver flames erupted from his body, wrapping him head to toe.
Dax looked up, a charming smile stretching across his blood-soaked face.
"The second stage has begun."
Covered in gore, he looked less like a man and more like a demon birthed from hell—smiling beautifully. The flames hovered above his skin like a perfectly tailored suit.
"Synthesis," he whispered.
Veins bulged across his body.
In an instant, the remaining mass of the whale **rewound** into him, folding into his flesh as though it had always been a part of him.
His new form took shape—no longer human, but something cosmic.
Blood-red skin.
Patterns of distant stars swirling across his body.
_This…?_
This wasn't the plan.
His goal had been simple: steal the absorption system of the World-Devouring Whale and fix his cursed trait.
"This outcome…" Dax stared at his hand. "Inerous, what is the current condition of my body?"
A soft voice echoed in his mind:
`Master, a battle has broken out between Insatiable Hunger and your newly created Absorption System.`
"Hm. Good. I'm still on the right path."
He crossed his legs mid-void and floated into a lotus position.
**Woosh!**
The silver flames intensified, igniting like oil tossed onto fire.
Then—silence.
The flames settled on his pineal gland, burning gently like a silver star.
Two halos manifested above him: one black, one silver.
In catastrophe, he ascended—stepping into the realm of a **Trait Emperor**.
The black halo convulsed.
Its suction force exploded outward, capturing a drifting asteroid and crushing it into powder in an instant.
"Hmmm."
Dax hummed calmly as the nourishing energy seeped into his being.
He was entranced—utterly unaware of the carnage forming around him.
He drifted toward a nearby planet.
Descending from orbit like a falling god.
**BOOM!**
Hovering inches above the surface in lotus position, a shockwave erupted beneath him, shredding the terrain.
Then the world screamed.
Craters ripped open.
Dust clouds spiraled violently before being sucked inward.
The ground split and collapsed in waves.
A sound like the death cry of nature shook every mind on the planet.
Alien life shrieked as their bodies failed—many bursting instantly, others dying in agony.
Survivors threw themselves to the ground, begging for a way out of the nightmare.
Dax floated deeper—toward the core.
Like a dragon inhaling, he drew a long breath.
Soft glowing wisps peeled off the planet's core and crumbled into his nose.
The collapse accelerated.
Soon, only a quarter of the planet remained.
Then—
**Bluuu!**
A massive gold-plated starship burst into the sector, radiating dominance.
"What the hell is this…?"
A man in golden military attire stepped out. Not human—purple skin, two tentacles on his forehead, and a long, sinewy tail.
His power was immense, but his caution was greater.
"What an apocalyptic scene…" he muttered, face twisting.
He raised a floating nine-layered lens to his eye—
—and instantly paled.
"No, no, no… we need to get the hell out of here!"
He sprinted back into the ship.
Inside, his assistant asked what happened.
He didn't answer verbally.
Instead, the screen lit up with an image of Dax—crimson, star-marked, flames writhing around him.
Her face drained white.
"St-Starry White Demon…" she whispered. "Commander, please—we have to blink out of here. I-I still have loved ones…"
The commander didn't need persuading.
The ship blinked far, far away.
Meanwhile, Dax's silver halo pulsed.
The flame of Synthesis touched Insatiable Hunger—
and the devouring vanished instantly, as though it had never happened.
Silence.
Dax opened his eyes.
And in that moment—
**he exploded into stardust.**