Chapter Twenty-Nine: Studying Corruption

After Gerhros fled, Phoenix dispatched investigators to examine the wreckage of Shagai Prime. It was soon confirmed that the Shagai swarm on this world had been annihilated; these mad worshippers of the Dark God had returned to their deity’s embrace.

Phoenix led his fleet away from the star system. The Shagai swarm had been the empire’s first target, but not its last; many other races, blinded by the Dark God, had fallen into his grasp as well.

Yet before departing, Phoenix discovered a handful of Shagai survivors, scattered across other worlds in the system—the last remnants of their kind.

These survivors, however, remained fanatically devoted to the Dark God. The empire’s templars attempted to sway their faith, but their efforts proved futile—even though the templars were masters of psionic power.

“How is the situation, Phase Engineer?” Gaskel turned to the engineer beside him. After Phoenix realized he could not reverse the survivors’ beliefs, he had transported them to Grashus, hoping the empire’s scientists might find answers.

“It is dire, Hierarch.” Phase Engineer Karax manipulated the console before him, his curiosity piqued by the Shagai swarm’s condition.

“Their bodies have been utterly transformed by dark energy; their genes are irreversibly altered, beyond even our technological ability to repair.” Karax tapped his interface, projecting the swarm’s genetic data.

Gaskel frowned. “What if we extract their consciousness?”

Karax shifted the projection. “That could be even worse, Hierarch. Their souls are most deeply affected. Our research shows that the physical changes stem from a transformation of the soul itself. If we extract their consciousness and place it in a new body, there is a ninety percent chance the new vessel will begin to become just like this one. If we housed them in a mechanical body, even the machine would succumb to this corruption.”

Staring at the twisted, shadowed soul on the display, Gaskel sighed. “So, there is no way for us to rescue these corrupted beings?”

“I’m afraid not, Hierarch.” Karax closed the projection and looked up. “But if we could obtain a Soul Gem, our research might finally progress—or,” he paused, “we might request intervention from His Majesty El. He should be able to purge this corruption.”

Gaskel pondered. The Soul Gem, one of the Six Great Gems, was ever shrouded in mystery. Though the empire maintained cordial relations with the Observers, they had never revealed the gem’s location. It seemed he would need to send someone to search in secret.

Drawing himself back to the present, Gaskel turned to the Shagai swarm locked within the stasis pod. Fearing they might summon the Dark God again upon awakening, Phoenix had confined them since their discovery.

“I understand. I will inform Artanis at once.” Gaskel sighed again. As long as hope remained, the empire could not stand idly by—both for the sake of these corrupted survivors and for all other races.

…

After receiving news of the Dark God, Artanis abandoned his magical experiments, instead waiting in his chamber for the summons of the Council of Light and Shadow. Not long after, as he meditated, he sensed a transmission from the Khala.

“Hierarch.” Artanis recognized Gaskel as the sender and greeted him respectfully.

“Executor, I’ll be brief. We have discovered a group of survivors corrupted by the Dark God. We are powerless to help them. Please relay this message to His Majesty El.” Gaskel’s grave tone echoed in Artanis’s mind, accompanied by the memory of his conversation with Karax.

Artanis swiftly reviewed the memory and nodded. “As you command.”

The exchange concluded, Artanis opened his eyes and rose, heading directly for El’s quarters.

El’s chamber had been arranged by Gu Yi, filled with an assortment of magical and technological artifacts. Yet El’s greatest interest was in the cuisine from various worlds.

After vanquishing the descending Dark God, El’s main consciousness returned to the divine realm, leaving only an avatar behind. But even as an avatar, he was the god of knowledge and wisdom; whether magical or technological, El could quickly master any artifact and just as swiftly lose interest.

Food, however, was different. Since crossing over, El no longer needed sustenance, but upon descending with his avatar and seeing the tea Gu Yi had prepared, memories from his previous life in the land of gourmands resurfaced. Though his body was now forged from pure energy, regaining the sense of taste was trivial for him.

Moreover, with a body of pure energy, digestion was unnecessary; after savoring the flavor, he could simply convert the food to energy and thus eat indefinitely.

Ahem. When Artanis arrived at El’s door, it opened automatically. As a true god in the mortal realm, El was fully aware of his surroundings, though he kept his perceptions confined to his own chambers out of respect for others’ privacy.

“Artanis? What brings you here?” El put down the spicy snack in his hand, his demeanor still elegant; such a popular delicacy among humans certainly had its merits.

“Your Majesty, the Council of Light and Shadow sends word of survivors corrupted by the Dark God. They are at a loss and hope for your assistance.” Artanis entered and bowed to El, the door closing behind him.

El nodded and stood. “Infected, you say? Let me see.”

Artanis assented, retrieving the stasis pod sent by the council.

After his message, Gaskel had delivered the pod to Artanis’s chamber, and Artanis had stored it in his phase space.

This phase space, a storage technology of the empire born in Khala Year 4500, worked by quantum-disassembling objects and storing them within a psionic matrix, reconstructing them when needed. The technique greatly aided the templars, allowing them to carry more equipment; rumor had it a Khalai engineer once concealed a colossal war machine in his phase space.

Of course, the technology could also quickly transport personnel. With the psionic matrix, the soul remained safe, though some templars disliked the idea of disassembling themselves, preferring traditional gateways instead.