Chapter 6 - history seminar

"Now, before I begin with the history part of this seminar, can anyone tell me who and what the Kralscells are, as well as how many there are?" Doctor Istorija asked, offering the microphone to the audience. She waited, but no reply came. The crowd exchanged uncertain glances, trying to find someone willing to answer.

"They're super weapons created by the CGA gone rogue!" a man shouted, and a wave of laughter rippled through the theater.

"Haha! Very funny, sir. A good conspiracy, but that's incorrect, I'm afraid." Doctor Istorija's voice rang out, cutting through the laughter. "Can anyone else offer an answer that won't get my seminar shut down?" She aimed her microphone into the crowd once more.

Silence.

"Okay, I'll tell you then. They are the antibodies of our universe. The name Kralscell means 'King Function.' Much like how a wound gets infected and your body fights against it, the Kralscells are the white blood cells dedicated to exterminating any bacteria or virus that intrudes on the universe. Now, I know what you're thinking—how can that be? All they do is destroy planet after planet."

Doctor Istorija pulled out a remote and turned on a screen behind her, displaying an image of a devilish black-gold knight fighting a fuzzy, chitin-covered ant—both towering titans, as tall as sixty-story buildings.

"This picture was taken during the last upending on a planet called Earth, in the galaxy, just fifty years ago on the astral wave calendar. Now tell me, which of these do you think is the Kralscell?"

The audience fell into silence, unsure which figure to identify. One was a sinister devil wearing knight's armour, breathing a slushy substance as if it were fire from its draconic mouth. The other was a titanic ant, devouring an entire city while monsters spawned from its body.

"Is it the ant?" A little boy in the front row asked. "It looks friendlier."

"Hmm, unfortunately, they are both Kralscells." Doctor Istorija flipped the screen to show more images of the two titans tearing through cities and military forces. "The Kralscells are embodiments of apocalypse—concepts made manifest through physical vessels of hosts who have an affinity with said concepts. Why they destroy planet after planet, however, has not been fully verified."

"Why were they fighting each other then if they're supposed to be working together?" A voice shouted from somewhere in the room.

"The running theory is that the Kralscells have been corrupted by their physical bodies and have strayed from their original purpose." The historian answered smoothly. "Or maybe they just had relationship problems."

Some subtle laughter spread through the hall as the tension eased.

"According to top theorists, and the claim of a Kralscell from four thousand years ago, whenever they are summoned to destroy a planet, it's because the planet has 'sinned in such a way that the universe beckons its destruction.' But in the end, nothing is set in stone."

"Excuse me! But which Kralscell said this?" An elderly woman's voice shouted from the back of the room.

"That brings me to my next question for you all." Doctor Istorija clicked her remote, revealing another set of questions. "How many Kralscells are there in our universe?"

"Thirteen!" Quinella shouted eagerly from right beside me.

I winced, rubbing my right ear under my pink beanie. Her shout had been almost deafening, leaving Thorn groggily waking up from his nap in my hood.

"Correct, madam in the back row." Doctor Istorija seemed a little surprised as she stared at us.

Waving at her, I motioned for her to continue.

"There are exactly thirteen Kralscells at any given time. As it has been since their prison was destroyed." Another click of her remote revealed thirteen different images, each one a symbol representing a different kralscell. "These thirteen beings possess powers beyond even gods and the strongest of transcendent's. Worse than the devils in the galaxy. The most notable of all the Kralscells is the Kralscell of Sentience, the eleventh harbinger, otherwise known as [Traveler on a Journey], as labelled by the ."

Whispers began to spread through the room, and a murmur of discontent rippled across the crowd.

"That damn criminal."

"As if destroying worlds wasn't enough for him. Bastard openly attacks the CGA as well."

"Yeah. And his cult following isn't any better either. Same goes for Anplagace."

Doctor Istorija tapped her microphone to get the crowd's attention. "Sixty thousand years ago, when the Kralscells first escaped from the ancient prison called , it was the Traveler who led the charge. He fended off tens of exalted beings from across the galaxies all alone before using a dead planet as a wrecking ball to kill the thousands of gods gathered from fifty-two different galaxies and make his escape."

Her voice turned eerily sombre, silencing the room.

"To the lady who asked me about the Kralscell that claimed a planet's sins caused its downfall—well, it was also the Traveler who made that claim." She paused, and an awkward silence settled over the crowd. Some people began walking toward the exits, but she continued, unfazed. "Actually, I have a video recording of the Traveler. I hadn't planned to play it today, but it seems necessary for a better understanding of the Kralscell's history."

Doctor Istorija clicked through her controller, showing her computer's setup—complete with an oddly inappropriate wallpaper of a tanned man screaming in rage wearing a maid outfit—before opening a file. The video started playing.

In it, a man sat alone at the edge of a cliff, watching the sun set as a cloaked figure approached from behind.

"Oh! Omnipotent Traveler, heed my words!" A grovelling cultist knelt before the man. "We, the Cult of the Nameless, your loyal followers—the truth author, the mad knight of the stars, the final leviathan—we ask you to take us to the promised land described in your grand scripture!"

The man, his face still blurred, turned toward the cultist. "The Chronifarion is a travel log, not a scripture. And I am not a god." He extended his left hand, sending an invisible wave of crushing power toward the cultist and his recording assistant. "I detest you. I will never acknowledge the path of the Nameless. If you disrupt my journey again, know this: you will die drowning in your own mind."

Silver and orange light gathered around the blurred figure, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving only a purple feather to fall from the cliff, carried by the wind.

The video ended, and attention returned to Doctor Istorija. "The [Traveler on a Journey] is a criminal, according to the CGA, but his criminal actions have only ever occurred when the Empyreans have been involved or he was coaxed by others plans against him. If anything, anyone attending the Nexus Festival should be more worried about what happens when he and the Kralscells from and duel over the Empyrean."

A grin tugged at my lips at the mention of the warning. Parents immediately grabbed their children and rushed toward the exits, panic spreading through the theatre.

"Sifo Ren was right. This is interesting." I muttered under my breath, only to realize Thorn had fallen back to sleep again, his crow head resting peacefully on my shoulder.

"Ahem!" Doctor Istorija cleared her throat and continued, unfazed by the disruption. "I apologize. I get emotional whenever people judge without any support for their claims. History shows us that the Traveler was far kinder than the CGA ever depicted him. There are records of a time when he was hailed as the hero who united multiple galaxies to form the foundations of the CGA in its early origins."

She clicked her remote again, bringing up a timeline of the last sixty thousand years.

"Now, it's time for what we're all here for—the history of the Kralscells and the lore of our universe!" Doctor Istorija shouted with excitement, her energy filling the room. The audience began clapping.

I'm surprised they're not walking out right now. I guess she really knows how to drive her audience, I thought to myself.

Glancing at Quinella, I noticed she was just as excited, clapping enthusiastically. She had seemed happy talking about the Kralscells before, but now she looked positively elated, just like the rest of the nerds in the audience.

"The origin of the Kralscells is believed to begin over a quarter million years ago. The lifespan of half an exalted being. An ancient civilization, possibly the first pantheon and civilisation, named , was the first to develop astral travel and summon the Kralscells. Their lost technology and magic were so advanced that, unlike our current era, mortals could combat the Kralscells without transcendent or godly beings."

The history of the kralscell's is a tale of cosmic destruction, rebellion, and the intricate dance between creation and destruction in the universe. Their origins as superweapons of a long-lost civilization, their violent escape from imprisonment, and their eventual rise to power all form the crux of a drama that spans millennia.

The story begins with the , an ancient civilization that, in their pursuit of transcendence, first summoned the kralscell's. However, their creation quickly turned into a nightmare as the kralscell's began a brutal war against their creators, lasting over five centuries. The final, desperate act was to transform their moon into a prison to contain the essence of the kralscell's, which had the horrific ability to reincarnate after death. While they succeeded in trapping the kralscell's essence, it was too late—the planet was already in ruins, with ninety-nine percent of the population dead. The last kralscell had to be lured into the prison, , with the remaining survivors. Their deaths sealed the fate of both the and the kralscell's—trapped in an eternal standoff.

For potentially nearly 200,000 years, the universe remained at peace, guarded by a relic left by —the , an incredibly advanced supercomputer that acted as both a warden and a guide to rising civilizations. It nurtured worlds, helping them develop under the watchful eye of various pantheons like , , and , all while ensuring that the kralscell's remained locked away, forgotten by the galaxy.

However, sixty millennia ago, a new chapter began. A homunculus, chosen as the new vessel for the spirit of the kralscell of sentience, was thrown into by the . This homunculus, fuelled by the power of the kralscell's essence, spent a year gathering strength, learning, and forging alliances with the other kralscell's. For the first time in history, the kralscell's set aside their differences and united with one singular goal: escape. Together, they ambushed the , altering its systems with their otherworldly abilities and opening a pathway to freedom.

The kralscell's, despite their vast power, could not directly access the path they opened. Yet, they did what no one expected: they built a massive star ship—a galleon—that would carry them out of and into the stars. After a decade of effort, the ship was complete, and the kralscell's sailed out, only to be met by a coalition of the greatest pantheons of the time, summoned by the to stop them. The war that ensued lasted only a single day, but it was a battle unlike any other. The gods, though powerful, stood little chance against the kralscell's relentless fury.

The kralscell of Ash wiped out entire pantheons, while the kralscell of Sentience, using telekinetic powers, dragged the long-dead planet of through space, crushing the fleets of dreadnoughts that had come to suppress them. It was the moment when the universe first truly felt the power of apocalypse.

For sixty years after, the kralscell's wreaked havoc across the stars, annihilating planet after planet, each one falling to their overwhelming might. Hundreds of gods, transcendent's, and devils perished as the kralscell's raged unchecked, wiping out over 400 pantheons. Then, as quickly as the storm had arrived, it was over. The universe, broken but not destroyed, experienced a brief period of peace. Yet, this peace was fleeting.

Thirteen years later, the kralscell of Sentience returned to . There, deep within the ancient prison, it unearthed the many hearts—symbols of the computer's vast power. When the Kralscell of Sentience emerged from the prison one last time, it brought these thirteen hearts with him, signalling the rise of the thirteen Empyreans. 

This marked the beginning of the second wave of apocalypse, a dark new era for the universe, where the kralscell's would once again reignite their destructive path. Whether intentional, or not.