No one knew how long it had been.
In the endless drift through time, carried along by the Warp storm, the Eternal Soul eventually arrived in a strange region—a place without light or shadow, where everything appeared murky and indistinct.
Under the influence of the strange powers that permeated this domain, the ship and everyone within it began to warp and twist.
One moment, a crewman was human; the next, he might transform into some green-skinned, unknown creature.
Though their minds remained conscious, they could only watch helplessly as their own bodies reshaped into grotesque forms.
Despair crept in. Many felt as though they were witnessing the final chapter of their lives.
Then, a strange sound echoed directly in their minds—hoarse, distorted, like fabric being slowly torn apart.
Accompanying it were indistinct whispers.
At once, their thoughts grew heavy, their vision blurred. One by one, they began to succumb to drowsiness.
Even Captain Itt could feel himself sinking.
But then, the ship's AI, Senna, released an ear-splitting frequency designed to target human auditory nerves.
To the crew, it felt like steel needles being driven into their brains.
The shock of that illusory pain jolted them all awake.
In the same instant, the warping of their bodies ceased. Their flesh and bones reverted to their original forms, as though they had just crossed a deadly threshold.
Looking at his restored hands, Itt exhaled in relief. He rubbed his temples, preparing to check on the others—
But then his eyes fell upon the main screen.
He froze.
Outside, in the endless murk, five colossal humanoid silhouettes stood tall.
And between them floated a slowly turning sphere of light.
Their true height was immeasurable; the ship's sensors could not capture their full forms.
Their distance was equally unfathomable; no matter how far the Eternal Soul advanced, it never drew any closer, leaving only the illusion of being near yet impossibly far away.
Even without seeing their faces, the moment Itt beheld their outlines, a primal terror rooted itself in his soul.
Then came the voices—sharp, deep, resentful, resonant—each different, but all carried unmistakable meaning:
"It is time. Let us begin anew…"
"Then first, cleanse this worthless world…"
"I win…"
"It must be done…"
The crew understood instantly, despite never having heard such language before.
As the debate continued, one of the beings, crowned with the head of a bird, casually tapped the glowing sphere.
Like a fragile bauble, it shattered.
From within, the crew saw the image of a world—broken and scarred, populated by countless races: humans, elf-like beings, rat-men, and more.
The instant the sphere broke, that world's doom arrived.
A massive vortex opened at its heart, spewing forth endless Warp entities.
Like an unstoppable abyss, it devoured everything—space, time, matter—all broken down into raw energy.
Resistance was meaningless. No matter how the inhabitants fought, annihilation was inevitable.
Before long, the collected energy condensed into a single radiant mote.
"This time… let's make the game board bigger."
With that, one of the immense, bloated figures pinched the mote between two fingers.
It shattered.
Blinding light erupted.
And from that brilliance, galaxies poured forth like a spring, spiraling and expanding outward—
Until a vast new universe was born.
The crew of the Eternal Soul understood at once. Sweat trickled down their brows.
The birth of a singularity… was merely the remnant of the World before it?
And the Big Bang itself… began because it was crushed between two fingers?
Their worldview cracked beneath the weight of what they had seen.
It was Senna who finally broke the silence.
In her cool, synthetic voice, she spoke the obvious conclusion:
"Driven by the Warp storm, we appear to have followed the time-stream to its very end… to the moment before creation."
Itt stared at the five titanic beings and the newborn universe. His voice was low, bitter:
"Then these five… these so-called creator gods… may be the worst possible news for us."
Though shaken by their power, no awe rose in his heart—only the grim realization that beings who treated worlds as playthings were the greatest misfortune imaginable.
After a long pause, he asked quietly:
"They haven't reacted to us. Is it because… they cannot see us?"
Senna answered after a moment's calculation:
"Possibly. We are still within the time corridor, not fully outside it."
Itt nodded grimly. That explanation made sense.
His unease grew. "If we're still within the corridor… can we return?"
"It is possible—but the odds are slim. We've lost our original coordinates. Any attempt now would mean leaping blindly across billions of years."
Itt glanced at his crew. Their faces were pale, unsettled, yet still awaiting his order.
He clenched his jaw.
"Then we try. Better that… than lingering here."
"Acknowledged."
The Eternal Soul, its systems patched together by swarms of nanomachines, shuddered as its engines reignited.
It turned, plunging once more into the current of time, vanishing toward an unknown epoch.
None aboard realized that, as they departed, one of the colossal beings—a winged figure with nine pairs of wings—had already turned Its gaze upon them.
The truth was simple.
The gods had noticed.
They simply didn't care.
Like humans ignoring an ant crawling by their feet, these creators dismissed the Eternal Soul as beneath concern.
And besides, with only a glance, they already knew—this ship's future held a fate grim enough that no intervention was necessary.
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