AN: Star Wars fans, please be easy on me, okay? I made this chapter based on my understanding of the canon lore.
Then I mixed in my planned story plot for the future of this fic.
So really, I hope the diehard fans won't bury me on this.
PS: This chapter also has the future characters that I kinda hinted at from the previous chapters. This chapter is actually an important foundation for the future, so I hope you will like it!
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Three years ago, Alden Estate, Asterisk, Chronicle Universe…
The fifteen-year-old Noah watched through the holocron as the old Jedi Temple burned. Flames consumed towers that had stood for thousands of years while clone troopers marched through its halls, their white armor reflecting the fires around them. Blaster bolts tore through corridors that had once been filled with younglings, scholars, knights, and masters.
Jedi fell across the galaxy as the betrayal continued. Some died without ever understanding why the soldiers they had commanded throughout the Clone Wars had suddenly turned their weapons against them. Others sensed the danger only moments before it arrived. Starfighters opened fire on their own generals, clone battalions surrounded isolated Jedi, and the Chancellor declared the entire Order enemies of the Republic.
Then the recording showed a hooded figure walking into the Temple at the head of the 501st Legion.
The holocron did not immediately identify him, but Noah already knew who he was.
Anakin Skywalker.
The Jedi Knight. Hero of the Clone Wars. The Chosen One.
And the man who would eventually become Darth Vader.
Noah remained silent as Anakin walked through the halls of the Order he had once served. His face revealed almost nothing of what he was feeling, but Noah could not look away from him. This was someone who had once been called a hero, someone who had fought beside the Jedi for years, only to abandon everything when fear for the person he loved pushed him toward a promise the Jedi could not give him.
And when his wishes were not answered, he chose the Dark Side instead.
The recording continued. The Republic became the Empire, the Jedi Temple was emptied, and the survivors scattered across the galaxy. Some disappeared into hiding while others continued fighting. Some surrendered, only to be hunted down anyway, while others were captured and broken until they became servants of the same darkness they had once opposed.
The holocron moved farther back through history and began displaying the names of Jedi who had fallen to the Sith across thousands of years. Knights who sought forbidden power for noble reasons. Masters who believed they could control the Dark Side without being consumed by it. Padawans who mistook anger for courage. Heroes who became tyrants while continuing to insist that everything they did was necessary.
The names continued appearing. Dozens became hundreds, and hundreds became thousands. Noah followed every one of them.
He remained seated in the middle of the training dojo at the Alden family estate, separated from the main dojo by several reinforced walls. The room had been specially constructed after Phainon insisted that the original training area was nowhere near durable enough for their lessons. Noah's father, Haruto, had agreed rather quickly after witnessing Phainon accidentally cut through three training posts, a stone lantern, and part of the garden wall during what Phainon had confidently described as a "basic demonstration."
Haruto had not been angry, and that had somehow frightened Phainon considerably more than if he had been.
For now, however, the reinforced dojo remained completely silent. Only Noah, the holocron, and the man leaning against one of the wooden pillars occupied the room.
Phainon stood with his arms crossed, his white coat hanging loosely around his shoulders. The golden ornaments decorating it reflected the blue light of the holocron, while the unusual lightsaber resting at his waist remained partly concealed beneath the fabric.
He said nothing.
For the entire recording, Phainon had simply watched his Padawan study the history of the Jedi Order's fall. Though to Phainon himself, much of that history did not feel nearly as distant as it probably should have.
Eventually, the recording reached its end. The final image showed the flag of the Jedi Order being lowered and replaced by the banner of the Galactic Empire. Then the projection disappeared.
"Master," Noah called out.
Phainon raised a brow. "Hmm?"
"Does the Dark Side make us stronger?"
The question sounded simple enough, and Phainon answered without hesitation.
"Of course not."
"Hmmm…" Noah tilted his head as he looked up at him. "Then why did so many Jedi become Sith?"
He activated the holocron again and gestured toward the countless names appearing within the projection.
"Why did so many people who trained their entire lives in the Light Side still fall to the Dark Side?"
Phainon said nothing.
"And those who didn't fall were killed by people who used it." Noah's voice remained calm, but the Force around him betrayed the thoughts in his mind. The air grew heavier, pressing lightly against the walls of the reinforced dojo.
His eyes returned to Phainon. "Just what is the difference between the Sith and us?"
"Hmm…" Phainon closed his eyes for several seconds. Then he opened one eye.
"The Force is the Force."
Noah stared at him, waiting for more, but Phainon simply nodded, as though he had just delivered the answer to one of the great mysteries of the universe.
Noah's cheek twitched. "That's it?"
"…No." Phainon scratched his cheek. "I was hoping the rest of the explanation would arrive after I started speaking."
"It didn't."
"Ahahahaha…"
Noah's expression went completely blank.
Seeing the dead look in his Padawan's eyes, Phainon cleared his throat and walked toward the holocron.
"Alright, alright. Let me try that again."
He stopped beside the projection and glanced toward the names still floating in the air.
"The Jedi often speak about the Light Side and the Dark Side as though they are two completely different things. Two separate powers standing against one another."
Phainon raised one hand, and a metal training sphere lifted smoothly from the floor.
"The Sith use the Force."
The sphere moved toward him.
"The Jedi use the Force."
With a slight motion of his fingers, he sent it drifting toward Noah instead.
"The Force itself does not suddenly become something different depending on who reaches for it."
The sphere stopped between them, suspended in the air.
"It connects everything."
Phainon looked around the dojo before gesturing toward the walls around them.
"This floor. The trees outside in the garden. The people walking through the city beyond this estate." His eyes softened.
"And to your father, mothers, brothers, and sisters. Everyone inside this house."
Then Phainon looked back at Noah.
"And to you."
The training sphere continued floating between master and student.
"The difference does not begin with the Force, Noah." Phainon tapped two fingers lightly against his own chest. "It begins here."
Noah closed his eyes and allowed the Force to spread throughout the estate. Almost immediately, countless familiar presences came into focus. He could sense where his family was and catch faint impressions of what they were doing.
Touya was in the workshop, surrounded by half-dismantled equipment. Mahiru was helping Elena prepare lunch. Renako appeared to be arguing with someone through a game communicator, while Haruna wandered through the garden following several spirits. Elfaria, unsurprisingly, was asleep on the couch in the living area.
Hayato was training with Satsuki in the main dojo. Karen was practicing a song in one of the upstairs rooms. Somewhere else in the estate, Ellen was making a passionate attempt to convince Celia that turning vegetables into candy should still preserve their nutritional value.
Noah almost opened his eyes at that one.
The Force flowed through all of them.
"The difference is not that a Sith possesses a stronger connection to the Force," Phainon continued. He lowered his hand, allowing the training sphere to settle gently onto the floor. "The difference is how they choose to reach for it."
Noah considered that for a moment. "So the Dark Side is a choice?"
"Sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" Noah blinked.
"Fear is not always a choice," Phainon said as he sat down across from him. "Neither is anger."
The blue light of the holocron reflected in his eyes.
"You can wake up angry. You can become afraid before you even have time to decide whether you want to be. You can hate someone before your mind has the chance to find a kinder answer."
Noah listened carefully.
"Emotions appear," Phainon continued. "That is simply what emotions do."
"Then feeling angry doesn't make someone a Sith?"
"Of course not." Phainon nodded. "If it did, I would have conquered several galaxies before breakfast."
Noah stared at him with a completely flat expression.
"Ahahaha…" Phainon gave an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… ehem. What matters is what you allow that anger to decide for you."
Noah turned his attention back toward Anakin Skywalker's image.
"He wanted to save someone," Phainon said. "Someone he was terrified of losing."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"That doesn't sound evil, does it?"
"…It wasn't."
"Not at first." Phainon's expression softened. He reached toward the holocron and changed the projection. Anakin's image vanished, replaced by the moment he knelt before Sidious.
"Fear told him he had no time."
Phainon raised one finger.
"Love told him he could not accept losing her."
He raised another.
"Power told him he could force the future to obey."
Then a third.
"And someone he trusted told him that the rules no longer mattered because his desire was more important than everyone else's freedom."
Phainon lowered his hand and looked directly at his Padawan.
"What began as love became possession. What began as fear became control. And what began as the wish to save one person became permission to destroy anyone who stood in his way."
"So the Dark Side is allowing our emotions to control us." Noah's hands relaxed over his knees.
"Partly." Phainon shrugged. "Although that explanation is still too simple."
Noah looked up at his master. Phainon was staring at the ceiling now, almost as if the right words might be hiding somewhere above them.
"With the Dark Side…" Phainon slowly moved one hand through the air. "You don't need to think about anything else."
Noah frowned. "What do you mean?"
Phainon reached toward the training sphere.
"If you want something…" The sphere suddenly flew into his palm violently. "Take it."
His fingers closed around the metal.
"If someone stands in your way… remove them."
The pressure around his hand increased.
"If you are afraid… destroy whatever frightens you."
The training sphere crumpled from his grip with a sharp metallic crunch.
Phainon opened his hand, allowing the broken pieces to fall onto the floor between them.
"If you are angry… make someone else suffer until the anger goes away."
Noah stared at the crushed metal scattered across the floor.
"The Dark Side makes things easier," Phainon continued.
"Easier?" Noah looked up at him.
"Yes." Phainon leaned back on both hands. "It gives immediate answers."
Noah glanced toward the shattered sphere again. "…But that doesn't mean those answers are better."
"Exactly." A faint smile appeared on Phainon's face. "Anger is very good at producing immediate answers."
"And usually bad ones."
"Not always." Phainon grinned. "Sometimes anger tells you that something is wrong."
He reached toward the fragments on the floor.
"That someone has been hurt. That an injustice has been ignored. That you have stayed silent or unaware for too long."
The broken pieces slowly rose into the air and began fitting themselves back together. Metal unfolded, dents vanished, and after several moments the restored training sphere settled gently onto the floor.
"Anger can wake you up," Phainon said, "but it should not decide where you walk after you open your eyes."
Noah absorbed his words for a moment before asking, "So what makes the Light Side different?"
"Self-control," Phainon answered, much more confidently this time.
Noah blinked. "Self-control?"
"Yes."
"That sounds simple."
"It isn't."
Phainon stood and began walking slowly around him.
"When you follow the Light Side, you still have to think about all the things the Dark Side allows you to ignore. You have to think about the person in front of you, the people standing behind them, and the people who will have to live with what you do after the battle is over."
He stopped beside the holocron.
"You have to ask yourself whether you are truly protecting someone… or merely satisfying your own anger."
Noah's eyes followed him carefully.
"You have to ask whether your fear is warning you or commanding you." Phainon rested one hand near his lightsaber. "You have to ask whether the enemy in front of you truly needs to die."
"And if they do?"
Phainon's expression became more serious.
"Then you still have to remember that their death matters."
Noah didn't know how to answer that.
"The Sith don't need to think about those questions," Phainon continued. "They act first, and their power rewards them immediately."
He raised one hand, and the Force answered at once.
Every training weapon in the dojo rose from its rack and hung suspended in the air around them. Noah could feel the pressure coming from his master. Phainon could have thrown them, shattered them, or reduced every weapon in the room to fragments without effort.
But instead, he slowly lowered his hand.
One by one, every weapon returned to its exact place.
"Self-control is not having less power," Phainon said softly. "It is having enough power to impose your will on the world… and still remembering that everyone else has a will of their own."
"…So that is what makes a Jedi?" Noah looked toward his Master.
"I think so."
"You think?!"
"Ahahaha. Sorry." Phainon laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "I know I'm not very good at explaining these things."
Noah gave him a completely flat look.
———
Back to the present time. Non-Administered World #97, Star Rail Universe…
"HAYATE-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!"
Reinforce Zwei's scream spread across Mahora.
"…Eh?" Sirin let out a hollow sound as she stared down at where Hayate had fallen.
Her mind simply refused to understand what had happened. Only moments ago, she and Reinforce had been evacuating civilians while Hayate searched through the Tome of the Night Sky for some way to stop the corruption. Then Hayate had suddenly shouted Noah's name, a flash of green light, and now she was lying motionless on the ground below.
"Hayate-chan! Hayate-chan! Hayate-chan!"
Reinforce Zwei flew toward her as fast as she could and immediately began throwing aside the broken pieces of stone scattered around where Hayate had crash-landed. Her tiny hands shook so badly that she could barely move the debris properly.
"Please answer me, Hayate-chan! Please! Open your eyes! Say something!"
But Hayate did not respond. Reinforce dropped beside her and grabbed her shoulder with both hands.
"Hayate-chan…?"
Nothing.
"No…" Reinforce shook her harder. "No, no, no, no! Hayate-chan, wake up! You promised we would go home together! We said we would all go back together when this was over!"
Her voice broke as tears began spilling down her face.
"We were going to visit our Uminari City! We were going to show Noah-san around! We promised!"
Still, Hayate did not move.
"Please…"
Reinforce pressed herself against Hayate's chest, desperately searching for even the smallest sign of movement, anything that would tell her she was still there.
Nothing came.
"H-Hayate-chan…" Her breathing became frantic as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please don't leave me…"
"Ku… Kuha… AHAHAHAHAHA…!"
A cruel laugh suddenly cut through her pleading.
Not far from where Hayate had fallen, Voldemort was still standing despite the condition of his body. His robes were torn, blood ran across his face and arms, and simply remaining upright looked as though it required the last scraps of strength he possessed.
But none of that mattered to him anymore. His eyes were wild, and his lips twisted into a frenzied smile as he looked toward Hayate's unmoving body.
"Look at you…" Voldemort rasped. "All that power. All those miracles. All those people who believed themselves beyond death…"
He coughed violently and nearly collapsed, but forced himself upright again.
"And still… it only took one curse to kill you."
Above them, Sirin finally broke out of her trance. Voldemort's laughter and words tore straight through the numbness that had stunned her in place.
"Y-you…" Her hands began trembling as tears gathered in her eyes. "You…"
Voldemort slowly looked up toward her as the pink-purple light erupted around Sirin.
"YOU BASTARD!!!!!"
A tremendous wave of Nihility and Quantum energy exploded outward from her, blasting loose debris away and shaking the ruined ground around the World Tree. Space fractured behind her as countless portals tore open all at once.
Voldemort's smile disappeared as he saw hundreds of Archon Spears emerge from the portals, each one already aimed directly at him.
"DIE!" Sirin raised one hand, then she dropped it. The Archon Spears followed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Voldemort threw himself aside as the first wave obliterated the ground where he had been standing. He barely managed to land before another barrage came tearing toward him from every direction.
He raised his arm and deflected one spear, then another. But the third exploded beside him. The blast flung him violently across the grounds.
But Sirin did not stop. More portals opened around Voldemort, and even more Archon Spears emerged from them. He tried to Apparate away, but before he could disappear, the space around him folded shut and sealed off his escape.
"Do you think you can run away?" Sirin snarled through her tears. "THERE IS NO WAY I WILL LET THAT HAPPEN!!!"
She twisted her hand, and the space around Voldemort bent violently. His body was ripped backward and slammed into the ground hard enough to crack the pavement beneath him. Before he could even attempt to stand, another Archon Spear tore through his shoulder, forcing a scream of pain from him.
Sirin slowly descended toward him. She no longer looked like the playful girl who had been laughing beside Noah, Hayate, and Reinforce only minutes earlier. Her eyes were filled with fury, her hair floated behind her beneath the pressure of her power, and dozens of portals surrounded her like a crown. For a moment, she looked every bit like the Herrscher Queen she had once been during the Second Honkai Impact, the same terrifying existence responsible for the deaths of millions.
But unlike that girl from the past, Sirin was crying.
"You hurt Hachan…"
Another spear shot downward and pierced Voldemort's leg, pinning him against the ground. His scream echoed across the ruined grounds of Mahora.
"You tried to kill our Noah…"
Another Archon Spear struck beside his head and exploded, showering the surrounding ground with broken stone.
"And you're laughing?" Sirin descended even farther, tears continuing to fall from her eyes. "You dared to laugh after doing that to her?!"
Voldemort desperately tried to raise his hand, but Sirin noticed immediately. With a furious gesture, she tore his arm away before he could cast anything. His scream had barely left his throat when she seized him with her power, dragged him into the air, and slammed him against a broken section of pavement.
She did it again.
Then again.
And again.
Each impact broke more of the ground until Voldemort could barely remain conscious. By the time Sirin finally stopped, his body was left crumpled against the shattered pavement.
Sirin landed in front of him.
She should have stayed at a distance. Even through her rage, part of her knew that. Every advantage belonged to her as long as Voldemort remained trapped beneath her portals. Her Archon Spears covered every possible escape route, and a single thought would have been enough to erase what remained of him.
But right now, that did not feel like enough.
She wanted him to feel her hands around his throat. She wanted him to look directly at her. She wanted him to understand exactly why he was about to die.
Sirin crossed the remaining distance and grabbed Voldemort by the neck, lifting him from the ground with one hand. He choked weakly in her grip while another Archon Spear formed in her free hand, its tip slowly moving until it was aimed directly at his chest.
"Look at me." Tears continued falling from Sirin's eyes while Voldemort struggled weakly against her grip.
"I SAID LOOK AT ME!"
His eyes finally met hers.
Sirin tightened her fingers around his throat. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to end your miserable, useless life and send you straight to hell!"
A broken gasp escaped Voldemort as he clawed weakly at her wrist. Sirin narrowed her eyes when she heard the sound.
"What?" she hissed. "Do you still have something left to say, trash?"
Voldemort struggled for several more seconds before finally forcing himself to meet Sirin's eyes directly.
Then a small grin appeared across his face.
Sirin narrowed her eyes.
Despite the condition of his body, Voldemort slowly raised his remaining hand and pointed it toward her.
"…Avada… Kedavra."
Sirin's eyes widened as green light exploded between them. With both of them far too close to each other. She had no time to open a portal, no room to dodge, and no chance to move before the Killing Curse hit her directly.
Her grip around Voldemort's neck immediately loosened. The Archon Spear in her other hand disappeared, and the portals surrounding them began flickering out one after another as her consciousness started to fade.
Then her body began dissolving.
Because the body Sirin was using had been made from memoria, her form simply began breaking apart into countless particles of light, starting from where the curse had struck and slowly spreading across the rest of her body.
As more of her disappeared, Sirin's eyes went toward Noah. He still could not move. Both of his arms remained stretched toward the expanding purple wall, every bit of his strength committed to holding it back. If he abandoned his position now, the corruption would immediately surge toward the city behind him.
But in that brief moment, Sirin could clearly see his face.
The horror in his eyes.
The despair.
The helplessness.
Her expression softened as the last of her body began to scatter into light.
'Ah… I'm sorry…'
"No…" Reinforce looked up from Hayate, her face turning completely pale. "SIIIIIIIIIRIIIIIIIIIN-SAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Her scream tore across Mahora as the last of Sirin's form scattered into light. A small object slipped from where she had been and struck the broken ground with a faint metallic sound.
Clink.
Sirin's Herrscher Core landed on the pavement.
And just like that, she was gone.
Voldemort collapsed onto one knee, coughing violently as he clutched his damaged throat. His body was barely holding together after everything Sirin had done to him, but the sight of the Herrscher Core lying on the ground drew another broken laugh from his lips.
"Ku… kuha…"
He slowly lifted his head toward Noah. "Did you see that, Peverell…? Another one…!!"
He never got the chance to finish his words as his entire body was suddenly pulled upward with enough force to break his body to pieces.
"Ghk…?!"
An invisible force was holding him by his neck with such strength that the air immediately vanished from his lungs. Voldemort struggled helplessly as he was hung completely off the ground, then slowly turned his head toward the person holding him.
Directly in front of him was Noah. He didn't shout, scream, or even threaten. Noah's expression had become completely blank, almost empty, but his eyes were no longer their usual color. They had turned gold, burning with such intensity that they looked like two miniature suns staring straight into Voldemort's soul.
At the same time, Noah's hair began to change. Crimson spread through it from the roots outward until every strand had turned red.
Voldemort's eyes widened in fear.
While Noah's face remained almost completely expressionless... His power did not.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Imaginary Energy erupted from him in a violent wave, and the temperature across Mahora rose instantly. The invisible pressure that had been holding back the purple wall vanished at once, allowing the corruption to begin advancing again toward the world beyond it.
But Noah did not care.
For that moment, his attention remained fixed entirely on Voldemort.
Inside Starblazer, warning systems erupted across every display. At the same time, Arthra, Chaldea, the Sanctuary, and every Alliance observation post still connected to Mahora began registering the same impossible rise in Noah's energy.
His Sun Inheritance had reawakened.
But this was not the warmth that sheltered his family, nor the light that guided others forward. This was the other side of his Sun, the side that did not protect, but burned anything foolish enough to stand too close.
The destructive manifestation of his inheritance had come alive.
Blaze was burning.
And it was burning fiercely.
====== Chapter 237 END ======