Path of the Extra Chapter 416: Beneath the Eye of the Cosmos

"Ugh..."

Jasmine’s skull pounded. Instinctively, she grabbed her head with both hands, emitting a soft groan of discomfort.

Noticing her head resting against a smooth, cool stone surface, Jasmine’s eyes eventually creaked open.

"Huh...? Where... where am I currently?" she inquired, her voice wavering with disorientation.

"This is a garden I frequented whenever I sought mental clarity."

Her head whipped around towards the familiar voice.

Pollux stood nearby, arms crossed, leaning against a pillar of the colonnade. A peaceful, almost wistful smile graced his features.

It was then that Jasmine recognized she too was leaning against the elegant, dark-trimmed colonnade.

She shifted her gaze forward.

And all she could manage was to gape in utter astonishment.

"Wow..." she breathed, attempting to absorb the incredible sight.

Beyond the colonnade they occupied, a garden unfolded with such unbelievable magnificence it seemed less cultivated and more conjured. The pathways were fashioned from broad expanses of dark, gleaming stone, each segment adorned with concentric filigree that captured and retained the astral light, causing the very ground to shimmer with a muted, ceremonial luminescence.

Nothing within this space exhibited the crass profusion of an earthly garden.

Every line had been meticulously arranged.

Every flower had been placed with the precise deliberation of a court that believed beauty, to be worthy of power, must also be exact.

Jasmine’s eyes began to water.

Flanking the avenue on both sides, exotic flowers ascended in dense clusters of silvery stems and ethereal leaves, their petals imbued with a cool, cyan luminescence. They didn't merely shine; they radiated a clear effulgence, as if each blossom cradled a captured star. The light they cast was subtle yet pervasive, spilling onto the stone in gentle hues of pale viridian and watery blue, tracing the undersides of leaves, highlighting the edges of balustrades, and catching in the silvery channels meandering between the flowerbeds.

The atmosphere was thick with a fragrance so refined it bordered on the abstract—a blend of night-blooming jasmine, rain on marble, and the faint, metallic sweetness of something Jasmine couldn't quite identify.

Then, finally summoning the courage to lift her gaze from the surreal beauty before her, she beheld something even more indescribable.

The sky.

Or perhaps it was more fitting to say the sky found her.

It stretched out above in a panorama so vast it dwarfed every earthly conception of night. This was not mere darkness dotted with stars, but a celestial empire in ceaseless motion. Great violet nebulae drifted across the heavens like tattered imperial banners, luminous at their edges and deepening into bruised indigo at their cores. Constellations blazed with an almost conscious brilliance. A colossal planet hovered low on the horizon, its surface striped in subdued amethyst and smoked pearl, encircled by a faint corona that gave it the appearance of a watchful, sealed eye gazing from the firmament.

Smaller celestial bodies—some encircled by rings, others mere polished points of rose-gold fire—reposed in the distant reaches of the empyrean, lending the entire celestial vault a dizzying depth that made it feel as though one might fall upwards into it.

"Ha... haha... hahahaha..."

A peculiar, hollow laugh escaped Jasmine’s lips, and for reasons she couldn't comprehend.

Feeling like an insignificant ant witnessing something it was never meant to see, Jasmine lowered her head in a wave of shame.

...It was overwhelming.

Here and there, lanterns stood sentinel along the paths on graceful iron stands, though they were hardly necessary. Their flames burned a steady violet, not fueled by wick or oil, but contained within multifaceted crystal enclosures. Between them, tiny specks of amber light drifted, rising from the flowerbeds and lingering in the air like fleeting sparks from an unseen forge.

It created the illusion that the garden itself was breathing—slowly, imperceptibly, with the immense patience of something ancient beyond mortal dynasties.

Jasmine was unsure how to react.

Unsure what to utter.

She felt too much.

Nothing about the garden suggested ease. It inspired an awe too intense to be described as comfort. Its splendor was flawless, certainly, but also subtly intimidating, as though it had been meticulously cultivated by beings for whom beauty was inseparable from absolute authority. This was the kind of place where emperors might stroll alone in the deepest hours of the night, their robes rustling over starlit stones, while above them entire worlds kept silent vigil.

A place where the flowers illuminated not in welcome, but in silent observation.

A realm suspended between paradise and artifice, between reverie and regulation—where the universe, in exquisite orderliness, had been compelled to blossom within palatial confines.

"Ah..."

A faint sound escaped her lips.

"This... this is simply..."

A chuckle emanated from Pollux as he observed her, clearly delighted by her reaction.

"My own reaction was no different when I first arrived here."

He shut his eyes and spoke in a low tone,

"Legend has it that the first Emperor of the Starbloods erected this everlasting garden as a tribute to his brother, signifying a love as eternal as the garden itself."

Jasmine turned, her lips thinning into a straight line.

"Why have you brought me here...? Why not simply end my life? What is the purpose of showing me this if you intend to kill me... if you plan to kill my brother...?"

Pollux's smile gradually faded.

He approached her with an unhurried confidence and knelt, both knees touching the ground without any concern for dignity or personal space. As he raised a hand towards her, Jasmine recoiled, her body pressing more firmly against the pillar behind her.

"Hush. It is all right now, child."

His voice was gentle, almost paternal, and his fingers delicately wiped away the tears that had streaked down her cheeks before she even noticed them falling.

The instant she realized his action, a flush spread across her face. Embarrassment surged through her, yet she still gazed at him, bewildered by the tenderness in his eyes—by the concern he displayed.

"I never spoke of killing you," Pollux stated.

"It is not something I would ever do."

"But you would kill my little brother..." Jasmine's voice was rough, its edges trembling as if on the verge of sobs.

"There is no alternative. His demise is necessary."

"Why...?"

"It is the decree of the gods."

Jasmine stared at him, feeling lost and unnerved.

"I believed the gods favored him... A-Azriel... he is the Apostle of Death, is he not...?"

Pollux looked down with a solemn expression and sighed deeply, withdrawing his hand.

"Deities are enigmatic beings. I cannot fathom their thoughts... but I am aware of their animosity towards him. It's not merely the Ten Ancient Gods; every being bearing the title of god... they all harbor a hatred for him so profound it surpasses anything I could ever comprehend. I suspect all races—not just the gods, but every sentient species—desire his end."

Jasmine also lowered her gaze, her lips quivering.

"No..." she whispered.

Her voice shook so violently it was barely recognizable.

"The True Stars have already conveyed the prophecy," Pollux revealed. "His end is inevitable within forty-nine hours."

"No..."

"His own downfall stemmed from his arrogance, believing himself superior to all, and willingly walking into our trap within the Judged Realm. Had he remained on your homeworld, he would have been safe, shielded by the World Providence."

"No!" Jasmine's head shot up, tears now flowing unchecked. "I reject this! I refuse all of it! There is no way I will permit this to occur! He will not perish! Azriel will not die!"

She glared at him through tear-filled eyes, her face contorted with grief and rage.

"He is my brother—not some malevolent deity you all despise! He is my brother, do you understand me?!" Her voice cracked, shifting into something raw and sorrowful. "I will not allow him to die! I will eliminate all of you before that happens!"

Pollux observed her without a trace of mockery or anger. If anything, his gaze held only understanding.

He reached out to her once more, intending to wipe her tears, but Jasmine swatted his hand away.

"Do not touch me! If you despise Azriel, then I despise you! I despise everyone who despises my brother!"

She felt less like a formidable entity and more like a petulant child throwing a tantrum, but this only hardened her resolve. She had no other option. She had to act. She had to voice her protest, weep, do anything other than remain seated and succumb to the overwhelming helplessness crushing her spirit.

"I never claimed to hate him."

"What?"

Jasmine froze.

Pollux met her gaze and continued,

"I harbor no animosity towards him."

"Th-Then why...? Why must you kill him? Why are you even allied with them...? None of this makes any sense...!"

"Because our objectives align. Just as I can assist them, they can aid me."

"In what!?"

"His elimination."

Jasmine stared at him, as if the answer itself had inflicted a wound upon her.

"And how does his death serve your interests!? Why do they harbor such hatred for Azriel!?"

Pollux slowly stood, his expression grave, and looked upwards—towards a point Jasmine dared not follow with her eyes.

"...Apparently, there are numerous reasons to detest him. Most of them remain unknown to me. The gods themselves have endeavored to erase his existence entirely, leaving even me with scant knowledge. However, based on what she conveyed... and the revelations from the True Stars... he was the one responsible for sealing all the races."

"...!"

Jasmine's eyes widened in astonishment.

For a moment, she was utterly incapable of comprehending his words.

Pollux then let his gaze fall once more. Raising both his hands, he observed them, a sorrow so profound it felt utterly ancient welling up within him.

A solitary tear traced a path down his cheek.

"As for myself..." he voiced softly, "from the time before my conception, through my arrival into this world, and continuing until the very day I breathe my last, my entire existence has been inextricably linked to one solitary objective."

His fingers tightened into a slight clench.

"To end his life."