Upon The Star Altar

In a universe scorched by the boundless ambitions of Star-Lords, compassion is a luxury the poor cannot afford. Human lives are worth less than rusted scrap, and hope is the most lethal poison. For Arlo and Lana, a young couple barely nineteen years old, survival in Remnant Village is a daily humiliation—a desperate struggle to protect their four-year-old son, Azril. ​But the universe never asks for permission to take what it wants. ​One evening, while Arlo prostrated himself in the dust to beg for his son's future, Azril saw a "falling star" behind a dying ancient tree. Driven by innocent wonder and a desire to help his family, the toddler chased the light. It was no miracle; it was a silent dimensional rift that swallowed him whole, leaving behind nothing but a cracked wooden toy in the dirt. ​Azril was cast into The Sanctuary—a dimensional wasteland born from the lingering karma of a Transcendence being. In this realm where physics are broken and time is a cruel master, Azril was forced into a state of Eternal Meditation. For three hundred years, his body was ground into stardust, his spirit forged in absolute void, and his severed limb reconstructed with a Cosmic Aura that defies the laws of the heavens. ​Only one year has passed in his home world. Arlo and Lana are now just twenty years old, still clutching the cracked wooden toy of a son who vanished only twelve months prior. ​But when The Sanctuary finally rejects an anomaly too powerful to contain, the figure that steps out is no longer a helpless child. He is a young man with eyes as deep as the abyss, draped in the aura of Void Stillness (Step 3). ​The world shall know him as the Void Demon. But to Arlo and Lana, he is still the boy who chased a star—only this time, he returns with an oath that will shake the thrones of gods: ​"Whoever dares to make my parents shed a single tear shall find their entire galaxy plunged into eternal silence." "I will be posting this story on RoyalRoad.com" https://www.royalroad.com/profile/961975