Beast Sovereign: Rebirth Of The Star Age

Chapter 6 — Echoed Beneath The Nexus

The night had not yet faded, but the academy was already whispering his name.

Rumors spread like sparks through dry air, the boy who tore the arena apart, the anomaly who wielded the stars. To some, he was a myth reborn; to others, a threat disguised as a student.

Rian ignored it all. He moved through the dim corridors in silence, the glow from the wall panels reflecting faintly across his skin.

I'm starting to think peace doesn’t exist for people like me.

Lyra waited by the transport gate, dressed in her field uniform. The faint blue from the emergency lights caught in her hair. When she looked at him, there was no judgment in her eyes, only the weight of someone who already knew what he carried.

“You sure about this?” she asked quietly.

Rian nodded. “Selene’s data can’t wait. If the chamber beneath the city is tied to the Star Core, then the longer we stay here, the more the Nexus will notice the signal.”

Lyra keyed the panel beside her. The air shimmered, forming a translucent portal.

“Then we go now, before the Director changes his mind.”

They stepped through.

The underground city was nothing like the bright halls above.

Beneath the academy’s pristine towers lay a labyrinth of collapsed domes and broken conduits, where the hum of the old world still lingered in the pipes. Water dripped from the ceilings, echoing like a heartbeat lost in time.

Rian walked ahead, his steps deliberate. The faint pulse from his core guided him, steady, insistent, ancient.

I'm starting to think this place remembers me.

Lyra followed close behind, her scanner flickering in her hand.

“This entire sector predates the Nexus era. No records mention its existence,” she murmured.

“That’s because it wasn’t built by them,” Rian said softly. “It was buried by them.”

They reached a circular gate embedded in the wall, its surface carved with intertwining sigils, lines that shimmered faintly in response to Rian’s presence. The moment his hand touched the seal, the light pulsed like recognition.

The gate opened.

A rush of cold air poured out, carrying with it a faint, melodic hum, like a voice singing through the metal veins of the ruins.

Lyra froze. “That resonance… it’s not mechanical.”

“No,” Rian whispered. “It’s alive.”

The chamber beyond was vast, a hollow sphere of glass and stone suspended over a sea of light. Dozens of crystalline pillars rose from below, each one flickering with fragments of constellations. At the center floated a single object: a black crystal, its surface pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Lyra’s breath caught. “The sealed core…”

Rian stepped forward, feeling the vibration in his chest grow stronger. Every step echoed like a memory, each pulse answering his own.

I'm starting to think I was meant to find this.

He reached the platform where the crystal hovered. Its glow brightened, as though recognizing his energy.

Suddenly, the air rippled, and a projection shimmered to life, a faint silhouette formed from starlight.

“Rian,” it said, voice distant yet achingly familiar.

He froze. That voice…

It was from another age, a fragment of his old world. The Sovereign of Dawn, his former comrade.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the voice continued. “The seal holds what remains of the Star Realm’s heart. If you awaken it, this world will remember the war.”

Rian’s throat tightened. “Then maybe it’s time they did.”

The projection flickered, distorted by static.

“Balance was bought with sacrifice. Don’t let the cycle begin again.”

Then it vanished, leaving only silence.

Lyra stepped closer, her expression unreadable. “What did you see?”

He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes lingered on the crystal, its surface swirling with faint galaxies. “A reminder,” he said finally. “Of what we lost.”

Before Lyra could reply, a high-pitched tone cut through the air, her wristband flashing red.

[Alert: Unauthorized energy detected. Security units inbound.]

She cursed softly. “The Director’s already traced us.”

Rian turned toward the gate. The tunnel they came through flickered with red lights, movement, voices, the metallic clank of approaching drones.

I'm starting to think this was never just exploration.

“We can’t fight them all,” Lyra said.

Rian looked back at the floating crystal. “We don’t need to.”

He raised his hand. The lines of light etched across the floor flared to life, reacting to his will. The hum became a low roar as energy surged through the pillars, linking one to another in a brilliant chain of radiance.

Lyra shielded her eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Finishing what they started.”

The chamber trembled. Fragments of light spun into orbit around him, stars collapsing into his palms. His core flared, and for a heartbeat, the boundary between man and celestial blurred.

Images flashed across his vision: the fall of the old world, beasts turning to starlight, the shattering of the Astral Gate.

I'm starting to think I was never supposed to survive that night.

Outside, the first drones burst through the passage, weapons locking on target. Lyra stepped forward, summoning a shield of blue light, deflecting the initial shots.

“Rian!”

But he was already lost in the resonance.

The crystal’s pulse synced with his own, a perfect harmony of memory and power. The sigils under his feet expanded, their design spiraling outward until they filled the entire chamber.

A deep voice echoed, layered over his heartbeat.

[System Override: Star Nexus Protocol – Reactivation Sequence Initiated.]

The drones froze mid-step, their systems glitching under the sudden surge. Blue sparks danced across the chamber as circuits overloaded.

Lyra’s breath caught. “You’re rewriting the Nexus grid…”

Rian’s voice was calm but distant. “Not rewriting. Remembering.”

Above ground, alarms blared across the academy. Every terminal flickered. Students and instructors looked up as holographic screens filled the air with a single symbol, a silver wolf’s sigil wrapped in constellations.

Within the Director’s office, the old man watched in silence.

“So it begins,” he murmured. “The Beast Sovereign returns.”

Back below, the light reached its crescendo. The crystal split open, releasing a wave of pure energy that rushed through the chamber like a storm. Lyra was thrown back, catching herself against a pillar.

Rian stood in the center, his aura blazing.

For a heartbeat, she could see it, the phantom shape of a colossal wolf forming behind him, its body woven from galaxies, its eyes like twin moons. The power was overwhelming, yet breathtaking.

I'm starting to think he really is the one from the legends.

Then, just as suddenly, the light dimmed.

The crystal fragments drifted down like falling stars, fading into nothingness. Rian staggered but stayed standing. The markings on his arms glowed faintly before receding beneath his skin.

Lyra approached cautiously. “Are you… still you?”

He exhaled. “I think so.”

She gave a soft, almost disbelieving laugh. “You just triggered a global alarm and reactivated a thousand-year-old artifact, and you think so?”

Rian smiled faintly. “That’s the best answer I’ve got.”

They stood in silence for a while, surrounded by the fading glow.

Then Lyra’s tone softened. “Whatever happens next… you know they’ll come after you.”

“I know,” Rian said quietly. He glanced up at the hollow sphere above them, where fragments of starlight still drifted like embers. “But this world needed to remember. Not all light should stay buried.”

Lyra nodded slowly. “Then we move. Selene will cover our trail.”

As they turned toward the exit, Rian paused once more, looking back at the shattered core.

The pulse was gone now, but in its place lingered something new, a faint whisper, almost like a promise.

I'm starting to think the stars are waking again.

He took a final breath, then followed Lyra into the dark.