History.

[soulist]

WORLD HISTORY:

The year is 30039 and the universe is at war with itself. Planets from all galaxies have suffered and have been destroyed by an organization known as the Ossarian Herald. They are a cult that spans the entire universe looking for their god, a being known as Nox Verga. It is said that Nox and it's counterpart Arx Verga were two brothers born from the big bang. Nox was the being that brought darkness into the universe while Arx was the one to bring light. Together they formed and shaped the galaxies, fighting one another for eons to create and destroy worlds. Nox created black holes from his blood to devour the blood of Arx which made universes, planets, and stars. However at some point, in the year 29999 Arx's influence went missing and Nox was able to slowly spread its influence throughout the universe, resulting in a type of virus that infected people and caused them to destroy and ravage their own planets.

That’s where the Voban Corporation comes in. It is a panning universal corporation designated and set on upholding its motto of sustaining all forms of life human, alien, or in between regardless of status or wealth. They were firm supporters of Arx Verga and in consulting with the being they upheld his motto of safeguarding planets. The Palma Ult, Vega Nox, and Yander Sol were all ships built and designed to carry life through the many leagues of space. They were essentially state of the art new technological advancements dubbed as “moving planets” with anti-gravity shield technology built into its core to avoid the pull of other planets around them while being able to sustain its own. They were created by the finest scientist in the entire universe and they did their job very well. Planetary capacity was becoming increasingly harder to come by as sun’s died out and black holes increased in size as well as the emergence of Nox's eviler schemes such as the deadly space virus that was said to put entire planets under his control. In order to combat Nox the three moving planets were created as well as something called soulists. Individuals granted the powers of using Arx's influence to consume consolidated portions of Arx's power that arose from very specific things (such as historical events) to nonspecific things (such as elements, animals and other things). These 'souls' gave soulists powers to enhance their bodies, create weapons from their own souls, and summon great power to fight Nox and his evils. The use of the power of soulists was not limited to fighting though. It was also used to collect the various souls living hidden on plants to preserve the history and knowledge within those planets as they passed off into oblivion. All of these threats combined made a soulist's work rather hard but enjoyable and profitable too. The Palma Ult's soulist academy is the one we are most most concerned about because that is the start of Cyrus' story.

PERSONAL HISTORY:

Cyrus was born on board the Palma Ult. His parents Madelica and Yatz were two very ordinary, very middle class, types of people. They were of a race known as Hanvenies from the country of Hanventz on the planet Joracium. Hanventz are known for their multi-colored hair and light colored eyes. They are also known for their ability to withstand treacherous conditions, as their planet was mostly uninhabitable by nature. His people’s DNA is comprised with what is known as Extremophile DNA. This DNA provides both chemical and physical protection to otherwise detrimental conditions, which makes it easier for them to live in harsh environments. What this means is that Cyrus can survive in harsh conditions known to be detrimental to human life.

Granted unlike extremophiles he does not need these environments to live, obviously, but the fact stands that he should be able to be thrown into said environments and live for a long period of time, whereas many would instantly perish. He isn’t invincible and he’s still quite capable of being harmed by bullets, swords you know the standard stuff because he is still very much in a sense 'human', just a little different than most. Cyrus is different from most people not just in DNA but also in how he was born. Cyrus was born as what people on Palma Ult called ‘imperfections’ they were labelled as such because most people chose to have their children born with the best and most perfect genes. But people who could not afford or did not believe in such a mindset often had their children normally and without any DNA control or subjectivity. Cyrus was born without his left eye, arm and leg. Essentially he was thought to be a freak and would never amount to much in society due to his current state. Cyrus’ parents didn’t want that for their child because he was their only one so they begged for one of the royal families of Palma Ult to help him. Not wanting to be seen by the public helping such a person many of them declined and turned their backs on the two parents. Until one day a man showed up by the name of Yergen Crautz, he told Cyrus’ parents that he would sponsor and help the boy by giving him robotic limbs under the condition that he work for the Crautz family as one of its up and coming Soulists. Without any reason or means to say no Cyrus’ parents agreed to the exchange in order to hopefully send him off into a direction that would benefit him and they allowed Crautz to take him under his wing. The condition was that Cyrus would leave his family and be reborn under the Crautz name.

Cyrus was taken in but they treated him more like a slave than an honored member of their family. The Crautz family despised Cyrus to the point where the eldest son, Koram, abused and humiliated Cyrus on a daily basis. Yergen wasn’t always around to see it but one day he came in to see Koram and his friends holding both Cyrus’ leg and arm and taunting him with them. Yergen was furious and from henceforth he shipped Koram away to some other house in Palma Ult. It essentially severed and caused a rift in the Crautz family and led to many rumors about Cyrus as a result. But he learned how to ignore people and their taunts from his years under Koram’s abuse. From then onward Yergen took care of Cyrus and trained him to become an exceptional soulist. It was when Cyrus was 13 that Yergen set Cyrus off to his prodigious boarding school for soulists in the country of Alastia. Cyrus would remain there until he was 17 years old and embark on one of his very first missions to the planet Earth.

Soul Searched: Book One

It’s on December 2nd when Cyrus and his team of soulists consisting of him and four others descend upon Earth to retrieve a medium powered soul in Tokyo. The soulist ship leader Amantaka sends Cyrus and his fellow soulists down to Tokyo to go on a routine retrieval mission. The mission was going fine until the soul that was deemed to be nothing more than a category 2 soul suddenly changed to a category 5 soul, which is an unprecedented happenstance in terms of how souls work. Because souls are essentially fixed conglomerations of left over feelings/thoughts/power from a specific place. It also appeared to be able to move, which is also an anomaly in terms of souls. They were making headway to the source of the soul when the group got split up. Mal’dai and Thraxis were left behind to fight off a group of monsters drawn to the soul’s energy, while Cyrus and Aedan made their way towards the strange soul being held atop a ruined department store. When they finally found what they came for they were stopped in their tracks by a woman who belonged to the renegade group known as the Ossarian Herald. They were thought to be fake and things of myth by many soulist’s on the three ships however this brought to light the truth about what has been happening. Prior to this mission the Ossarian Herald’s operatives were all high end soulists who were at the top of their class in all their respective subjects. However one by one each year during missions those soulists had begun to go missing and while the search parties were thorough in their investigations they could never quite figure out what happened to them. Cyrus recognized the woman as being Astra Telemare who was a top end soulist of the defensive class. She was well beyond their league and Cyrus and Aedan were both defeated at Astra’s hand and the soul was taken. After the botched job of retrieving the soul Amantaka allowed Cyrus and his crew to take a break and to train at the company’s private island. Cyrus, due to his failure to obtain the soul, declined and instead stayed behind to work on figuring out more about the Ossarian Herald. The rest of his crew decided to stick together and to help research as well, much to Amantaka’s chagrin. It became apparent that Amantaka didn’t want them to delve any deeper into the matter therefore he basically sent them on various miscellaneous missions however one can only protect their charges for so long. So it was around April when Cyrus got a tip from an anonymous person saying that there were black market deals of souls going down in the city of Herborgia, a prosper seaside trading port in the country of Dunam. Wanting to prevent what happened on Earth from occurring again Cyrus leaves on his own to go to Dunam by himself without telling anyone his whereabouts. The first mistake he made, which would change his life forever.

While in Herborgia Cyrus is undercover as one of the many people who are trying to buy souls illegally and use them with devices called Almentech. Almentech is a means by which people who have not been trained in the soulist academy to wield and use souls in their everyday lives. Most soulists are people who have undergone a ritual to gain the ability to manifest their souls whether it be through willpower, loyalty or some other attribute like suffering a life threatening event and living. These rituals vary from planet to planet but they all include one thing…being infused with a small portion of Arx Verga’s essence. This essence, Almena, is from the depths of the Big Bang where Arx was born. Almena is cultivated and infused with a mineral that dampens its power to a degree and it's then injected into soulists so that they can absorb and use souls. Souls are also a part of Arx so it makes sense for the two to be compatible. Soulists are capable of manifesting pieces of their soul into weapons and armor. They can also eat and digest free formed souls that are found in the outside world. These free formed souls are Arx’s “gifts” to soulists in order to fight Nox and its influence. Soulists can be made from everyday people, however sometimes there are allergic reactions to Almena and that causes their powers to accidentally trigger and their powers to manifest beyond their control. This is a case of when the mineral content used to contain Almena is too low and the Almena begins to decompose its host. The Almena then proceed to go berserk and the mineral which contains their animation grows at a horrifying rate to try and stop the Almena from decomposing the host entirely. Essentially it turns their partially devoured hosts into horrifying crystal abominations. This is a dangerous and recurring problem throughout the flying planets and called Crystalitisis. Almentech is only promoting the issue by allowing people to wield a pure form of Almena, which is more powerful and gives people the ability to wield souls regardless of the dangers. The amount of cases of this happening has been increasing recently especially in Herborgia and the culprit is none other than the Ossarian Herald and their connections. Cyrus gets information from a man named Urenix Auther that a deal, in the form of a black market auction, for a few rare souls along with several pieces of Almentch is going to go down on the night of April 3rd. Cyrus only has a day to contact Amantaka, which he does and he infiltrates the auction house soon afterwards.

It all comes to a head when the night of the first auction begins and Cyrus finds himself in the backrooms of the house to which he spots Amantaka himself. He soon realizes that Amantaka is actually the leader of the Ossarian Herald and once they distribute these souls to unnamed soldiers they’re going to attack and capture all three of the Crautz’s soulist schools. Cyrus attempts to get away after being spotted by Urenix’ shadow guards, but runs into none other than Koram, Yergen’s son. Koram tells Cyrus that he won’t give away his position or that he knows about Amantaka and that he’ll distract the others to give him time to escape. Cyrus is successful in doing so, and he also manages to send a message to Aedan, but he’s eventually cornered and surrounded by Koram of all people. Koram tells him that he is the leader of the group of men and that he’s working with the Herald. Unfortunately Koram was in on the plan all along and was going to establish a new empire by overthrowing his father who so selfishly abandoned him. This is half-truths because Cyrus can tell that Koram is lying and has probably gotten himself in too deep with the Ossarian Herald. Cyrus tries to talk sense into Koram but in the midst of doing so he’s knocked out and taken away by Amantaka’s men. They knock Cyrus out and throw him into a cell in the basement of the mansion where the auctions were held. When he finally wakes up much to his horror both his arm and leg have been removed and he’s locked away in a cell. The days afterwards amount to him being tortured and abused since the Ossarian Herald knows he contacted someone, but the details of who it were are unknown, thus the subsequent torture. It’s the fourth day of his imprisonment that Koram and the others decide to take the unknown soul that was retrieved in Tokyo and force Cyrus to ingest it. They taunt and tease him that they’re going to sell his arm and leg and they also try to remove his eye as well. Koram shoves the soul into Cyrus’ mouth thinking it’ll immobilize him or do something else so they can retrieve his eye. Unfortunately the soul that was meant for Amantaka’s use was just used on his enemy and it ends up being a very powerful soul. More precisely it’s the soul of Souji Okita of the Shinsengumi. Cyrus’ newly acquired soul goes haywire as he wipes out half of Amantaka’s men inside. While on the outside Yergen and his enforcement officers breach Amantaka’s hideout. Aedan and the others find Cyrus who is unconscious and without his limbs and they regrettably allow Koram and Amantaka to escape along with his five top generals.

Cyrus is unconscious for a long time in the hospital, around a month, before he finally awakens. He finds out that the soul he has is extremely powerful but it came with a price and that being that he has Okita Souji’s illness of tuberculosis and it cannot be cured nor will it kill him. A prolonged and lifelong suffering to be exact, just another thing that Cyrus has to deal with. He reports to Yergen who is astounded and heartbroken to learn of his son's actions. But in the midst of this heartfelt conversation Yergen tells Cyrus that he’s going to promote Cyrus to Koram's intended position of being his next in line to inherent the Crautz academy. Cyrus is speechless and requests to take some time off to visit his true family. And with that the book ends.

Book Two: Soul Destroyed

The second book starts a year after where the first one leaves off. Cyrus is 18 now and working with his aids and living back home with his real parents to better learn and not push his limits in terms of actually fighting and training now. He's more or less gotten used to the soul within him but he's not as strong as he used to be. It's another peaceful day working on his parents farm when, via airship, Aedan comes to give him some worrying news.

In the city of Glendosa on the planet Yander Sol when they come across a soulist whose powers have been sealed away, which is the start of a new investigation. They run into one of Amantaka's men, Telemose Axrethi, who throws an orb made out an unknown substance at them. Thraxis intervenes but his powers wind up being sealed and Telemose escapes with the soulist. They report back to Yergen who replies that this has been a thing of large concern since this has been happening to soulists on all three planets. The orb that was thrown at them is apparently made from Nox’s impure form, much like Arx’s Almena, it is known as ‘decria’ which is said to be able to kill and devour the Almena within people. Decria hasn't been seen too much but there are cases and studies on it that have been done. The source of these bombs and items is unknown and Cyrus and his group are sent to look for it.

They find their way to the Black Eye Galaxy where they encounter illegal trading of decria and decria based materials being distributed by a woman named Aleria Undeti. Aleria is found out to also be an accomplice of Amantaka and part of the Ossarian Herald. She runs her own black market trading business which spans across multiple galaxies and universes. It's the one way how the Herald has been getting so many souls and also a lot of powerful weapons. In the midst of them being undercover they see Telemose with the soulist that was captured and they see him actually rip out and collect all the souls the man has ever been infused with. Telemose's rare Archangel Gabriel soul allows him to do such things, and this development leads to Cyrus pulling back his crew and returning to an outpost of the Crautz Corporation on the abandoned planet Mihiard in the Black Eye Galaxy. They contact Yergen and tell him what they've found out and he sends over the help from a top tier soulist by the name of Vera Klio. Vera is one of Yergen's personal guards and she is said to be on the level of Aleria in her prime days. With Vera's help and intuition they once again infiltrate Aleria's establishment but with the destruction of the decria intended.

Cyrus and Aedan are separated from Vera at some point while in their search for Aleria and her shipments to go out to the three moving planets. If those shipments make it to Palma, Yander, and Vega it could spell disaster for Crautz and the other soulist corporations there. They encounter Aleria and a fight ensues but the two of them are easily overpowered. Cyrus is knocked unconscious and he wakes to find himself and Aedan in what appears to be a cell of some sort. The walls are lined with dark matter stones and Aedan is being subjected to a grueling torture, wherein Cyrus is made to watch. Before they can be saved Cyrus' Okita soul activates, despite the dark matter in the room which is to prevent their powers from working, and he injures Aleria pretty badly. Aedan is injured to the point where he's no longer conscious and Cyrus has to fend off the guards by himself while carrying an unconscious Aedan along with him. He makes it as far as the shipment yard of the establishment when he faces Urenix Auther again. He recognizes him from the time in Herborgia and instantly makes the connection. His anger welling up instead him he goes after Urenix but is easily beaten by the other man.

Already past his limit Cyrus is about to fall unconscious when he's saved by Vera who pushes back Urenix's advances and leaves Urenix running. Aleria is also spotted and Cyrus, in a fit of rage for her cruelty towards Aedan, goes after her. Vera preoccupied with Urenix can't stop him and he follows Aleria into a corner. He kills her quite mercilessly, despite his own abject horror to the deed and not remembering doing it. Before her last dying breath she notes that his Okita soul has evolved far more beautifully than they had anticipated. But before he can ask what she means she dies and he succumbs to his fatigue induced by his TB.

Cyrus wakens from a nightmare in a hospital room on Palma Ult. Yergen along with his real parents are there, much to his surprise, but he can't seem to remember much of how he got here. Yergen explains that Vera brought the two of them back and that the shipyard was destroyed and the decria with it. However Urenix managed to get away, but in some good news some decria was retrieved and is being used to make antidotes for all the affected soulists. Cursing himself for his own lack of strength Cyrus asks to be alone, but Yergan apologizes to him for putting so much strain on him knowing his body's limits. Yergen also gives him an ultimatum on whether or not he wants to continue doing this, which leaves Cyrus speechless. Cyrus wanting to clear his head walks around the hospital in hopes of finding Aedan's room. He stumbles upon his friends sitting around a terribly bandaged Aedan who lost his right eye and two fingers on his left hand. Cyrus just watches from afar, unable to bring himself to confronting Aedan or the others, before he's about to leave he's approached by a man named Vivek Can'nalla who asks him if he wishes to join him and Vera on a separate mission away from the Crautz corporation for the time being. It would involve infiltrating some of Amantaka's distant outposts but it would in general help the Crautz Corporation in tracking the Ossarian Herald.

Cyrus agrees and heads out with Vivek, Vera and their secret operatives to conduct their own research on the Ossarian Herald.

Book Three: Soul War

This book takes place two years after the second book and Cyrus is now 20. He's been working with Vivek and Vera in secret, much to Yergen's objections. At the start of the book they're on a planet called Baz in the Messier 108 spiral galaxy. Cyrus is conducting an undercover operation making a deal with some associates of Amantaka's. They have a discussion about the war with which Amantaka wishes to start throughout several galaxies. They say he has a terrible connection to the being Nox and that Nox wishes to spread its darkness throughout the universe and claim all of them for itself. Arx has been sealed away for 40 years now and its powers grow weaker with each passing year it remains in the Ossarian’s hands. Before Cyrus can get any more details on the matter his cover is blown when a survivor from Aleria's shipyard spots him. Cyrus ends up having to fight and gets away with the help of Vivek. They both manage to get off of Baz but are followed by Amantaka's men. Cyrus and Vivek's ship is shot down and they land on a fallen planet by the name of Lenwey. They go into hiding there and in the meantime Vivek tells Cyrus a little about himself. Vivek used to be Amantaka's right hand man, before Urenix came in to take his place, and ever since then Amantaka has never been the same. Amantaka was an avid collector of rare and precious souls, ones that were meant to be cherished and not used for slaughter. Amantaka was a peaceful man until a tragedy in his life darkened that innocent and bright side of him. Vivek also explains that Urenix is abnormal and is probably hosting a small portion of Nox within himself. Before Vivek can explain anymore Amantaka's men manage to find them and Cyrus and Vivek head deeper into the ruins of whatever ancient civilization that once lived here. Cyrus happens upon a being there comprised of what appears to be nothing but souls. These are beings who are said to be deceased soulists who have formed abnormal attachments to their souls allowing them to persist without bodies. But this sort of thing was only a legend.

The being goes on to tell Cyrus that he was one of many scientists thousands of years ago to form a relationship and joint effort with the being known as Arx. Arx was a beautiful, pure, being who was found injured and hurt from a recent battle with its counterpart, Nox. Nox had always been the stronger of the two and Arx was trying to protect this galaxy again from Nox’s devouring virus. The scientists came into agreement and along with Arx, who allowed itself to be subjected to experiments, they created the very first soulist. Soulist’s were super humans meant to weapons and extensions of Arx to fight off Nox’s parasitic super virus, which devoured planets and universes whole, and was only thought to be of myth until now. Arx throughout the centuries, up until 40 years ago, was working with soulist’s to try and find a method to seal Nox away for good. However the being states that for forty years Arx’s influence has declined and that there has been little to no contact with him since then. The being states that Arx has probably been captured and sealed away and if not found and released soon the entire universe could be in peril.

Cyrus asks if Amantaka was a part of this group of scientists and he says that not him, but his great great grandfather, was. Amantaka's family line are beings who are merged between the two. They are cursed with Nox and also with the ability to wield Arx's power as well. Whereas most people cannot use Nox's power 'decria' because it’s far too noxious for the body to house it so having it inside their bodies kills them or corrupts them and puts them under Nox's hivemind like control. Amantaka's family line on the other hand keeps its self awareness for a time as the Arx portion of their powers suppresses it. Therefore the Amantaka line has been kept under tight surveillance because Nox could easily possess them and use them as vectors to spread its virus. 40 years ago because of the viruses increased devouring and corruption of his soul Amantaka sought aid with the being known as Arx Verga. Amantaka got the idea from one of his close associates, Urenix. However unbeknownst to Arx, Amantaka was already too far gone and under the control of none other than Urenix, who was Nox in disguise. Nox captures Arx and has Amantaka build a ship around the sealed being to keep people from finding out where it’s been sealed. That ship is the stronghold of the Ossarian Herald.

The being states that no one in the Voban or Crautz families knew of this so when Amantaka became Crautz’s friend it was the perfect plan. Amantaka was also, on the sidelines, working as the leader of the Ossarian Herald and was on a mission to destroy and capture as many soulists as possible due to Nox’s control over him and turn them to Nox's side to be used as warriors for his growing army. Before he can ask anything more Cyrus asks the being to come with him and help him find Amantaka to stop him. Thinking that Amantaka still has a chance to break free from Nox’s grasp. The being agrees and states that his name is Lacielle Lnycis one of the most famous soulist's in history. Cyrus gains access to Lacielle's powers on top of his own and in the interim Lacielle gains a body. Vivek finally meets up with Cyrus to continue their escape.

They eventually escape Amantaka's men by taking most of them out and stealing a ship. They make it back to a Crautz ship, which was docked at a nearby planet but they keep the other ship to try and use it as a resource to figure out what Amantaka's next move is. Cyrus on the Crautz ship discuss things with Lacielle and everyone else. Cyrus asks Lacielle if he would tell Yergen about everything he knows and if he would help stop Amantaka. Lacielle agrees to and Yergan decides to help as well.

Cyrus asks Yergen if he knows about Amantaka and what happened to Arx and Yergen admits that he had his suspicions but couldn’t act on them due to how close Amantaka was playing his cards. Cyrus is annoyed that Yergen wouldn’t tell his comrades about this and he storms off, his illness begins acting up and he passes out again on one of the more secluded decks of the ship. He wakes up to find that Aedan is watching over him in the medical bay. The two of them talk for a while and Cyrus finally apologizes for not being able to protect Aedan and causing him to look the way he does now. Aedan is about to reprimand Cyrus when the ship is attacked by none other than Amantaka's men Glem'sorthos Contensti, Chathax Grensi and Koram. In the ensuing battle Koram attacks Yergen who, surprised by his son's actions, doesn't fight back and is injured.

Cyrus angered by this activates his Okita soul and knocks Koram out but ends up triggering his tuberculosis again. Yergen is then possessed by Lacielle and he manages to kill Glem'sorthos while Chathax and Koram make a hasty retreat. Cyrus and everyone quickly travel to a nearby planet, Blacure, where the get Yergen treated for his injuries. Unbeknownst to them Chathax tries to kill Yergen in his hospital room while the others are dealing with the havoc Koram and Telmose are creating in the city. However Chathax's plans are foiled when Lacielle possess him and kills him by unraveling his soul.

Telmose is also killed by Thraxis and Koram is captured and put into solitary confinement. Yergen is still recovering when they make it back to Palma Ult and in the interim Koram is being interrogated. They learn that Amantaka has been left alone on the Ossarian ship while Urenix, otherwise known as Nox now, is off on other planets spreading his vile disease. Lacielle brings up something that Arx told him one day during their time together and that this was the idea that they were trying to formulate to stop Nox. Arx said that the two of them have main “bodies” and should those bodies be destroyed or damaged it would effectively put them into stasis. If they find the main body and destroy it Nox can be stopped once and for all. Lacielle asks Cyrus for his help in finding his body and then he’ll help Cyrus fight Nox. Cyrus agrees while he leaves Yergen to rest and recuperate on his own.

Cyrus and Lacielle then proceed to go off on their own to find Lacielle's body. However in the midst of doing so they run into more Ossarian troops that are readying to attack the planets of Palma Ult, Vega Nox, and Yander Sol. Nox has amassed his army of over a million troops, most of them possessed and acting through his control, and his aim is to destroy Arx's allies the soulists once and for all. Lacielle and Cyrus head back to Palma to warn everyone of the impending war to come and they make plans to find the Ossarian ship and Amantaka. Cyrus uses a private channel, which Koram gives him the key to, to hack into the Ossarian Herald's stronghold ship the Vernies Bartha and he contacts Amantaka directly trying to draw out the other in a hope that there might still be something left of his former self.

Amantaka against Urenix's better judgment goes off on his own, drawing out the ships and Arx's current position. With its position given away the soulists of all three planets gear up to fight for the Ossarian ship and to release Arx. The fighting begins and Cyrus and his team along with Yergen and Lacielle board the Ossarian ship. They're confronted at some point with Chathax and Yergen and the others engage in a fierce battle. Cyrus and Lacielle go on ahead of the others when they finally encounter Amantaka alone. Amantaka immediately attacks them, repelling Lacielle, and injuring Cyrus by ripping off his robotic leg without mercy. Cyrus pleads for Amantaka to come to his senses and to tell them where Arx is. Amantaka, in a battle within himself, doesn't respond at first but then he points to the core of the ship but before he can say anymore Urenix stabs him in the chest. Seeing this occur causes Cyrus to lose control and to activate his Okita soul, he ends up losing control in his upset state and tears open a hole in the ship to Arx's prison. Lacielle fights against Urenix, who dissolves into Nox at the eruption of Arx from his prison. Cyrus goes to Amantaka as he lays dying and he tells Cyrus that he needs to let him die because he's under Nox's control and that he'll kill Cyrus if he doesn't move away. Cyrus doesn't believe what he's saying but Amantaka fights with himself as he proceeds to choke Cyrus. Lacielle forces Amantaka away from Cyrus with a blast of energy and he ends up trying to hold Nox down while Cyrus goes to free Arx. Nox disrupts Lacielle's being, apparently killing him in the process, and proceeds to go after Cyrus whom loses his left arm in the process to Nox's unrelenting attack. Before Nox can land the final blow on Cyrus Amantaka takes the hit for him, dying a few moments later. Cyrus goes for Arx's cell and using the sheer force of will he manages to free the other. Arx binds himself to Cyrus and proceeds to attack Nox. Arx then unbinds himself and tries to combine himself with Nox. Nox not wanting to lose shoves a shard into Cyrus' body which begins to contaminate him. Arx is kept from saving Cyrus who in turn tries to take out Nox's shard himself he manages to do so but falls unconscious immediately afterwards. Before he loses consciousness he sees the small portion of Nox disintegrate into nothingness

It's several months after the war and many of the Ossarian Heralds cultists are still fighting and trying to revive their master. However Nox was successfully stopped but not sealed away, only the small portion of itself disguised as Urenix was stopped but the core still remains. Cyrus has been in a coma since that day and has yet woken up, but once given a piece of Arx his condition slowly begins to change. Finally on the year since his battle Cyrus wakes up and finds Arx at his bedside before the others arrive. Arx tells him that because of Nox he's a being now like Amantaka who was both infused with his powers of light and Nox's powers of darkness. It made it easier for him to be a host to Arx or Nox and controlled by their influence. But Arx states that the Nox shard within him is kept in balance with Arx's own shard. Arx goes on to say that he will remain by Cyrus' side until Nox's shard can be completely purified. However Arx wants Cyrus to use the piece of Nox within his soul to seek out the core of Nox and to try and stop him once and for all. Arx also mentions that Cyrus can purify the places that have been infected with Nox by using the shard Arx gave him. Arx also tells Cyrus that he can tap into Arx's power and obtain some of his higher influence powers. Cyrus agrees to help the other but he wants to spend some time with his friends and family before he does so.

However before Arx can agree Aedan and the others burst into the hospital room and refuse to allow Cyrus to go on this mission alone. Cyrus overwhelmed with the kindness from his friends begs for Arx to allow them to join. Yergen agrees and says that from now on he'll give them his support by fending off the remaining Ossarian Herald supporters. And he then appoints Cyrus to a sergeant of his own special forces focused solely on finding Nox's core.

After several months Cyrus and the others are off on their journey throughout the universe together when he gets a strange signal in Spindle Galaxy. They follow only to be surprised to see that its none other than Lacielle who has apparently survived his ordeal at Nox's hands. Lacielle still holds Cyrus to his promise to finding his body so he joins them as well. And they return on their mission to rid the universe of Nox and his influence.