On the final night before the jump ended, Kane locked himself in the Sanctum. The Bishop's core was finally breaking.
[CORE ASSIMILATION: 99%... 100%]
[EVOLUTION INITIATED...]
[RANK 7 (PEAK) \rightarrow RANK 8 (EARLY - VOID-DEMIGOD)]
Kane's body didn't grow larger. It grew denser. His skin took on a metallic, obsidian sheen. His hair turned white as bone. When he opened his eyes, there were no pupils—just a swirling vortex of the Cosmic Ocean.
[NEW TRAIT: THE STAR-EATER'S GAZE]
(You can now see the 'Mana-Threads' that hold the universe together. You can cut them.)
He stood up and walked to the viewport. The Warp-tunnel was fading.
"Sully," Kane whispered into the mental link. "Bring us out. Wide-spectrum broadcast. Tell them we're here."
The Mercy of Silence lurched as it dropped into real-space.
Ahead of them was Aurelia. A golden sun surrounded by a colossal ring of light-collectors. And between them and the sun stood the Golden Fleet—ten thousand ships, each one glowing with the arrogance of an empire that thought it was immortal.
"Sarge," Vance said, stepping onto the bridge, his new armor humming. "That's a lot of targets."
Kane gripped the arms of his throne. The black veins on his neck glowed with a predatory violet light.
"Good," Kane said. "I'm starving."