Conquering the Stars with the Undead-Chapter 132: Astraeus

Astraeus sat alone in the command chair, the ship silent around him.

The vessel was unlike anything the empire produced. Its lines were sleek, not bulky, built for speed rather than war. Every surface hummed with technologies beyond comprehension, layered with magic on top, woven into the alloy itself. Spells that bent light, sound, and signal all crisscrossed in an impossibly complex pattern.

From the outside, there was no ship, only another patch of eternal darkness with stars occasionally twinkling.

Inside, the Archon of Space reclined with his chin in one hand, his pale eyes fixed on the view beyond the forward screen.

Out there, two fleets were becoming one.

The Blood banners were easy to see, crimson icons splashed across the hulls of their largest ships. Spines jutted from the vessels, more ornament than defense, gilded with runes carved in the name of sacrifice.

Their fleet was loud, brutal, and as unsubtle as the god who fueled them. Even across the void, Astraeus swore he could smell the iron tang of blood.

He had never been a fan of the Church of Blood. They were boisterous and loud, lacking any civility. That didn't bring him to hate them, however.

Astraeus didn't like to hate things.

Opposite them drifted Death's fleet, black as obsidian and far quieter. The ships glided like wraiths, every surface matte and cold. Rather than steel, its exterior was formed from a metal he couldn't name. Only the highest Death priests knew what it was.

Now the two drew together.

The empire would have called it an alliance.

Astraeus called it inevitability.

He tapped a finger against the armrest, the rhythm steady.

'It is as I expected. The churches have made their moves too openly, however, and now risk… cataclysm.'

The word was spoken with impossible authority that shook across his spacecraft, rattling the hull and making the fabric of space itself waver.

He paid it no mind, too enraptured with the spectacle in front of him.

He could already see how the fleets adjusted, their formations entwining.

Blood ships prowled in the front, their weapon ports glowing faint red as they siphoned from their crews. Behind them slid Death's constructs, silent escorts that would draw enemy fire and bleed momentum from any counterattack.

It was seamless, as to be expected from the plotting of Evander.

'How he managed to subdue Zagrian's bloodlust is a mystery, yet still within the lines of what was foretold.'

Astraeus frowned, his lips pulling tight.

"But how this will play out is yet to be seen."

His own voice was soft, devoured by the silence of the chamber.

The ship obeyed without command, sensors magnifying the scene. Astraeus watched the docking bridges extend, pale light arcing between vessels. Even from a distance, he could tell that this was not a mere military maneuver. Priests moved across the bridges, their robes clear against the glow of the stars, their heads bowed in synchronized prayer.

'A ritual? Here?'

It was a risky procedure to do a ritual in open space. A bridge was fragile, open to being damaged. It made boarding procedures difficult at the best of times, at least without a space mage.

It was what kept his church in such high regard; they were necessary.

He leaned forward, his long frame casting a shadow across the controls. The very air around him distorted faintly, threads of light warping and stretching as his power stirred.

'Space doesn't lie. Not to me.'

He reached with his will, extending threads outward. The void bent to his command, signals unraveling and traveling to him faster than light could justify. He was able to see the ripples of what was happening.

Mana laced the bridges, old and binding. Words were spoken, not for men but for gods.

Blood's chant was deep and guttural, like drums carved from bone. Death's answer was thin and cold, syllables whispered as if carried from across eternity.

Together, they fused.

Astraeus exhaled, his eyes narrowing.

'A treaty.'

He had not thought either god would be willing to concede, but here, before his eyes, they had found common ground. Two elements that were opposed had become unified.

Not truly friends, but bound by purpose, one that would cause untold trillions to die.

"Balance breaks again."

The details were vague, the mana purposefully concealed, yet he had seen such trickeries before. With a burst of intent, he condensed the space between his ship and the mages, allowing him greater access to what was happening.

Moments passed in tense silence, his expression unchanging, before he sighed.

He sat back, fingers curling against the armrest. His ship hummed, sensing his unease. Lights flickered along the floor, pulsing with energy. It could sense his hesitation and uncertainty regarding these recent shifts.

Astraeus knew that it would only take a single command, one wayward thought, and energy batteries with the condensed power of a star would reveal themselves, tearing across space and spearing the two fleets.

But he didn't order it.

His ship was strong enough to take on most vessels, but not the one Evander commanded. The Noctis Vrex was one of the few dreadnoughts in the galaxy and was a battle fleet combined into one.

He would need far more power to take it down, if he even wanted to risk revealing himself.

The Archon of Space had learned long ago that action invited notice, and he was not here to be seen. He was here to watch.

Just like he had done for years.

The fleets finished merging, the bridges retracting as full contact was made.

'Zagrian must be moving to meet the Priests of Death now, then.'

Astraeus tilted his head, his eyes tracing the long arcs of their combined formation.

It was elegant. Brutal, but elegant. The kind of unity that only desperation produced.

He wondered what it would be used for. A strike against the Emperor's fleets? A march toward the sectors yet to reveal their loyalties? Or perhaps they would charge the Elves, destroying them before they could intervene?

His lips quirked faintly.

'Space can contain all things, but even I cannot contain ambition.'

The thought lingered as he pressed a hand against the armrest, opening a hidden compartment. Inside rested a single shard of obsidian crystal, its surface alive with stars that weren't truly there. He held it carefully, watching the patterns shift.

This was his burden, and his reminder.

No matter what the others did, he served only the void. The endless, uncaring reach of space. It was his god, the being that gave him purpose.

Space never got involved. It encompassed all things, good and bad, just and unjust.

And yet, watching those fleets fuse, he felt a faint tremor of unease.

'If Blood and Death could set aside their differences, then what else might follow?'

His mind drifted toward the new one, the boy whispered about even in the hidden channels of the Archons. Death's Chosen. If the oracles were correct, he was unlocking the secrets of his powers at this very moment, trapped in the River Acheron.

'Once he returns, everything will change. Death will possess far greater power, as will the rest of us.'

He knew what the return would do, even if the boy did not.

A sharp chime interrupted his thoughts. The ship's console flickered, displaying a new set of readings. A large mana signature, faint but rising.

The merged fleet was preparing to move.

He set the crystal back into its compartment and straightened.

"Track them."

The ship obeyed instantly. Threads of light spilled across the main screen, mapping the fleet's trajectory. The lines bent through the void, curving not toward empire territory but elsewhere.

Astraeus frowned.

'That is outside both Death and Blood space, on the verge of the Great Empty. Now what would these two have to do there?'

The possibilities flitted through his mind. Secret artifacts, unknown spells, or even battalions of trained mages, hidden and waiting to be unleashed. Following would allow him the chance to discover it for himself, making the show more interesting.

However, Astraeus had survived this long because he knew when not to step forward.

He drummed his fingers against the armrest once, twice, three times.

Patience. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

That was what Space taught. Expansion before contraction, and an infinite cycle.

The void was endless, not because it acted, but because it endured.

He would endure as well.

The fleet vanished into warp, their forms dissolving into streaks of crimson and black. The stars returned to their steady watch, cold and indifferent.

Alone again, Astraeus leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. The hum of his ship surrounded him, low and constant.

He whispered to no one, his voice controlled yet troubled.

"I will wait."

His words drifted into the silence, swallowed like everything else.

It was a tough pill to swallow. He had been waiting for so long, watching without acting.

Like a puppet sitting on a shelf, dangling by a thread he could not control, witnessing a world he could not impact.

A voice loomed in the back of his mind, ancient beyond years and powerful beyond comprehension.

'Soon, my champion. Soon.'

That promise was all that kept Astraeus focused.