LoopDarkness swallowed the last scream as the black door sealed behind them.
Silence.
A suffocating, endless silence—until faint blue starlight cracked through the void like veins across night. The hundred people floated weightlessly, suspended in a space with no floor, no sky, no warmth.
Only darkness.
And then… Orbis appeared.
Not walking.
Not floating.
He materialized, as if the void itself had fashioned him from pure thought.
His body was no longer blinding light.
No longer a shifting form.
Here, in his domain, he was a silhouette made of stars, humanoid in shape but infinite in depth. Constellations flickered inside the outline of his body, shifting like the sky turning seasons.
Some people gasped.
Some cried.
Some trembled silently.
Orbis spoke, and his voice made the void tremble:
"You who chose nothing…"
He raised a hand.
Starlight gathered in his palm, spinning like a newborn galaxy.
"…you now belong to me."
A man screamed,
"What do you mean belong?!"
Orbis snapped his fingers.
The man's soul tore visibly from his chest—glowing, screaming without sound—and then slammed back into his body.
The man collapsed, twitching on the invisible floor.
Orbis tilted his head.
"Interrupt me again, and your end will be less gentle."
Everyone froze.
He opened his hand again.
Hundreds of tiny fragments of starlight burst outward, scattering like shards of a shattered universe. The fragments swirled around the crowd, orbiting them like hungry fireflies.
"The universe calls them 'Constellations.'"
The lights drifted closer.
Whispering.
Hungry.
"Fragments of ancient powers… broken long ago. Useless alone."
He pointed at the humans.
"But inside you?"
The lights plunged into their bodies.
People screamed as their souls ignited—each chest glowing with a different constellation sigil: Orion, Hydra, Lupus, Draco, Cygnus, Phoenix, Vela, Crater…
Some symbols were dim.
Some burned brightly.
And a few flickered ominously, unstable.
One woman clutched her chest, sobbing,
"What… what's happening to us?"
Orbis drifted between them like a teacher inspecting new students.
"You are becoming Deviants."
A pause.
"My Deviant Slaves."
Gasps broke through the blackness.
Slaves.
He said it plainly.
Calmly.
And he enjoyed the way their fear sharpened.
"Each of you now carries half of a Constellation soul. A splinter of cosmic order… corrupted through me."
He tapped a trembling man gently on the forehead.
A mark ignited across the man's skin — glowing star patterns etched like tattoos, spreading down his neck and arms.
The man whimpered.
Orbis continued:
"This mark binds your soul to my domain. Should you disobey me…"
The mark on the man flared white-hot.
He screamed and fell limp—alive, but barely.
"…you will burn from the inside out."
The crowd backed away in terror.
Orbis raised both hands.
The void responded—forming a massive constellation diagram beneath their feet, a celestial arena where their glowing soul marks flickered like candles.
"Now listen."
The stars pulsed in rhythm with his words.
"Your duties are simple.
You will hunt, you will gather, and you will kill across the realms I send you to."
He smiled faintly.
"You are tools—collectors of what I desire."
Someone cried out,
"What do you want us to collect?"
Orbis's form brightened, constellations swirling violently inside him.
"Fragments," he whispered.
The void shivered.
"Fragments of Infinity."
He drifted backward, and a massive cosmic gate appeared behind him—its frame carved from stardust and broken galaxies.
"Those who survive will grow stronger.
Those who fail…"
He looked at the corpse-like man with the burnt-out constellation mark.
"…will be erased from existence."
The gate thundered open.
Orbis raised a hand, snapping his fingers once.
"Begin."
The hundred Deviants were pulled toward the cosmic gate, their new constellation marks glowing like cursed stars, their screams swallowed by the void—
—while Orbis watched with quiet satisfaction.
---
As the hundred newly-marked Deviants were dragged toward the cosmic gate, they suddenly staggered.
Each person froze mid-air, eyes widening, as a glowing square of light materialized before their faces.
A Notice.
A system window.
A soul-screen.
They blinked.
Some gasped.
Some screamed.
But one man—an old, scarredman —smiled.
The glowing window before him read:
---
[Name: WEDNESDAY]
Race: Deviant – Half Constellation
Mark: WODEN (The High One)
Weapon Imprint: Spear of Ygg's Fang
Role: World Interloper
Duty: Spread Doctrine. Acquire Followers. Poison Worlds. Steal Will Fragments.
---
Wednesday threw his head back and laughed—a deep, ancient laugh, full of madness and joy.
His eyes gleamed like a dying star.
"A spear, is it?" he rasped.
He gripped the manifesting weapon—long, cold, and humming with forgotten power.
"Hah! It's been centuries since my hands held something this honest."
Others around him were trembling as their own windows appeared:
---
[Every Deviant receives instructions:]
– You are bound to Mr. Orbis to carry out cosmic infiltration.
– You will be sent to countless realms.
– Your task: Infect them with belief in you.
– The more followers you gain, the more Divinity you awaken.
– Poison the world's Will. Steal its Fragments. Bring them to Orbis.
---
The words burned into their souls.
A terrified woman whispered,
"Followers? Do they mean… worshippers?"
A calm notification answered her question:
---
[Clarification:]
Belief fuels your Constellation. Influence mortals.
Rule them through fear, awe, or deception.
You are the seed of a new false god.
---
Cries erupted.
Some dropped to their knees.
Some clawed at their glowing marks, trying to tear them off.
They failed.
The star-tattoos only burned brighter.
Wednesday read deeper into his notice:
---
[World Grades:]
Dormant Worlds – Weak Will / Few Fragments / Easy Corruption
Stirring Worlds – Partial Will / Awakening Fragments / Moderate Corruption
Awakened Worlds – Strong Will / Active Fragments / Dangerous Corruption
Dominant Worlds – Full Will / Fully Awakened Fragments / Extremely Dangerous
---
A grin split Wednesday's weathered face.
"Worlds with no gods… and worlds with too many."
He closed the notice with a slow blink.
Another window appeared:
---
[Your First Target Will Be Assigned Shortly]
Spread your Doctrine.
Shape belief.
Defile the Will.
Collect Fragments of Infinity.]
---
Wednesday tapped his spear against the invisible ground.
The void shook slightly beneath him, recognizing strength.
He looked over the trembling crowd of Deviants.
"Stand tall, you frightened whelps," he growled, voice echoing in the black.
"You are no longer men or women. You are hungry stars."
A woman with a glowing Hydra mark sobbed,
"Why—why us? Why do we have to do this?"
Wednesday shrugged.
"Because you chose nothing. And nothingness is loyal only to those who command it."
He pointed the spear upward as the cosmic gate thundered open wider.
Orbis appeared behind them—now more enormous, more radiant, a living supernova in the shape of a man.
His voice cut through the void like a blade.
"Go forth, my Deviants."
"Seed belief. Steal worlds. Bring me their wills."
He raised a hand.
Their bodies ignited with constellation light.
"Your first realm awaits."
Wednesday smirked.
"Time to become a god again… even if only a false one."
The gate consumed them all.
The black realm roared.
And the Deviant invasion began.