Chapter 337: Birth of Native God
The invaders bypassed the Vanguard healers entirely to track the cosmic power radiating from the silver threads wrapped around Julia.
Krug planted his boots between the advancing horde and the mattress. Igniting his violet fire would incinerate the entire room and erase the final soul fragment. He forced the elemental magic deep into his core and relied entirely on his physical mass.
He stepped forward and drove his armored shoulder into the lead attacker. The impact launched the pale figure across the ward, pulverizing its spine against a stone pillar. Two more cultists lunged for his legs. Krug crushed a skull beneath his heel and delivered a brutal backhand to the second creature.
Kronos stepped into the fray, bringing his broadsword down in a clean arc. He severed an elongated arm reaching for the bedposts.
"They track the bandages." Kronos ripped his blade free from a collapsing body. "Keep them away from the silk."
Krug grabbed a leaping cultist by the throat and slammed the invader into the crater wall. The creature thrashed wildly, its elongated fingers clawing at the star-iron plating. Krug squeezed his gauntlet, snapping the neck instantly.
He tossed the lifeless body back into the dark tunnel and crushed the final attacker under his boot.
Silence returned to the ruined infirmary. Krug wiped a streak of pale blood from his visor and turned his attention to Julia.
A glass beaker on a nearby surgical tray shattered into tiny fragments. Steel instruments rattled violently against their metal stands. The physical environment warped around the mattress.
Krug stepped closer to inspect the bindings. The silver threads of the astral silk glowed with a blinding intensity. Void energy actively bled out of the restrictive fabric and funneled directly into Julia’s swollen stomach. The unborn child siphoned the cosmic magic straight from the seals.
Julia convulsed in her sleep. Dark, bruised veins spread outward from her abdomen, pulsing in sequence with the draining energy.
"The vessel is failing." Krug stared at the shifting light. "The infant is consuming the restraints."
Up in the orbital sanctuary, Rubedo watched the live feed on his primary monitor. The telemetry data scrolling across the screen confirmed the biological anomaly. The infant mutated within the womb, absorbing the cosmic parameters of the void magic to fuel its own gestation.
Rubedo rested his chin on his knuckles and analyzed the shifting numbers. He possessed the power to extract the infant prematurely to secure the final soul fragment immediately. Allowing the unnatural gestation to conclude would delay his recovery, offering a completely undocumented biological asset in return.
"Maintain the perimeter." Rubedo tapped his console. "Do not interfere with the absorption."
The silver threads binding Julia dissolved into falling gray ash. Violet energy cascaded from the frayed silk and spiraled directly into her swollen abdomen. She shrieked, arching her spine off the mattress as the cosmic magic flooded her nervous system.
Krug gripped his greataxe and stepped away from the bed to monitor the erratic energy spikes. The white light of her Herald core violently clashed with the consuming void magic inside her womb, fracturing the stone tiles beneath the furniture.
Julia collapsed onto the mattress, her eyes rolling back into her skull. The blinding light beneath her skin sputtered and died entirely. The newborn child slid onto the bloodstained sheets, wreathed in a shroud of absolute darkness.
Opening its eyes, the infant revealed solid pools of shifting cosmos, identical to the endless expanse of the orbital sanctuary. Small tendrils of violet energy curled around its tiny fingers.
The newborn possessed the biological form of a human child merged with the terrifying density of a true deity.
It crawled across the ruined linens and turned its gaze toward the ceiling.
Up in the sanctuary, Rubedo watched the primary monitor. The telemetry data confirmed the birth of a Native God of the Void. Channeling his authority through the communication terminal, he projected his presence avatar directly into the Gildreath medical ward.
The towering violet silhouette materialized at the foot of the bed.
The infant looked at the glowing avatar. Raising a tiny hand toward the projection, it let out a bright, echoing chirp. The noise bypassed the physical room and resonated directly inside Rubedo’s mind.
The newborn recognized him as its conceptual creator, anchoring its newly formed divinity to the Sovereign of the Spiral.
Julia gasped for breath and pushed herself up on trembling arms. She stared at her empty hands, discovering her spatial magic was not responding. Dragging her gaze across the sheets, she saw her child reaching for the glowing violet projection.
"Give him back." Julia reached across the mattress as tears streamed down her pale face.
The holographic avatar tilted its head. Rubedo looked at the shivering woman. Her power was weak, yet he confirmed the fourteenth soul fragment still pulsed weakly inside her chest.
The infant had consumed her magical authority during gestation to construct its own core.
"He belongs to the void." Rubedo’s voice vibrated through the stone walls of the infirmary. "You provided the incubator. Your utility is finished."
Julia lunged for the newborn. Krug moved instantly. He grabbed her by the shoulder and pinned her firmly against the headboard. The infant ignored its biological mother entirely, crawling to the edge of the mattress to grasp the edge of Rubedo’s projected robes.
"You took everything." Julia struggled uselessly against Krug’s grip. "You took my life, and now you are taking him."
"You threw my life into a pit." Rubedo stared at the weeping woman. "Your child will serve the exact empire you tried to destroy. I will leave you alive to watch him build it. And don’t worry, I will take good care of him. You can have him for now as he needs his mother."
Rubedo turned his glowing eyes toward his Apostle. "Krug. Relocate her to a secure room deep inside the inner palace. Post a permanent guard outside the doors. She is a prisoner with a very specific job."
Krug hauled Julia off the ruined bed. Kronos stepped aside to clear a path into the corridor. The infant babbled happily, reaching tiny fingers toward the fading violet projection as the Vanguard secured the new asset.