Stranger Than Fiction is the sixth and final Quest in Act 8 Chapter 3: Illumination, and was released on October 18, 2023. It contains 3 paths and has 7 Opponents per path. Cerastes 
is the unique boss of this Quest.
It is preceded by 8.3.5: Children and Fools and succeeded by 8.4.1: The More You Know.
Dialogue[]
Caption: Venom stays behind to round up any remaining Adaptoids, while the rest of the group ventures into the seemingly abandoned station.
Caption: After navigating a series of darkened hallways, they follow a dim light to a massive room. It is a workshop of horrors.
Guillotine: What hell has been unleashed on these poor unthinking creatures? Caption: Table after table in the room is occupied by twisted test subjects. Failed Adaptoid prototypes and combinations.
Caption: It is like a chop shop for monsters. Strange armor can be seen on some test subjects and on the walls. It glows with Celestial markings.
Civil Warrior: I’m accessing some databases and work-files from a terminal. This is not the only lab like this here. Civil Warrior: Looks like the Ouroboros group has been testing Celestial armor alongside super-power grafting to Adaptoids.
Carina: I was hoping this was Glykhan’s base but it’s so much worse than I could imagine. Where are they getting Celestial tech? Civil Warrior: That location is encrypted but they have a treasure trove of it. This is horrible, this is madness, this is...
Cerastes: Progress! Glorious, unstoppable, pure, progress!
- Transmission #1 - Upon starting the Quest
Civil Warrior: I know that voice, and even with a mask on I can feel the smirk behind it. Tony, is that you? Caption: The floating stranger does not respond, but drifts over to admire some of the twisted bodies like they were the finest works of art.
Cerastes: No one is perfect. Of course you know that. But we have potential. Perfect parts surrounded by useless trash. Cerastes: We just lack the ability to carve away the scrap and leave perfection behind. Well... Cerastes: ... you lack that ability. I have found a way to make something magnificent out of these husks of flesh and the chaos of your powers. Caption: Carina looks with disgust at an Adaptoid which has been unsuccessfully paired to a symbiote with Celestial armor grafted into its torso.
Carina: You have made a monster factory. All you’ve done is torture these poor things. We fought some outside and they were far from perfect. Cerastes: You’re clearly not an artist. You start with loose sketches, doodles, and find the shape of things. It’s all part of the process. Cerastes: The real pièce de résistance, my magnum opus, the cream of the crop showpiece of my gallery... Cerastes: Is me.
- Transmission #2
Carina: Tony, whatever Ouroboros has promised you, whatever Glykhan has been whispering in your ear, it is nothing but lies! Cerastes: I am being whispered to... but by something greater than you could understand. Cerastes: When I found the Celestial tech, I thought it was a toy for my own amusement. Caption: Civil Warrior leans over an Adaptoid which seems locked into an eternal scream, its face is that of an upsettingly familiar super soldier.
Civil Warrior: I think you may have played with your toys a bit too rough. Cerastes: Yes! Exactly! A lack of respect, an ignorance of purpose. But the Celestials set me right, they are the whispers I hear as I work. Cerastes: The most soul-touching symphony of genius, guidance, and technology I could have only ever dreamed of. Guillotine: You’re making horrors to send out into the night and kill your friends! Look at what you’ve done, Tony! Cerastes: There is no Tony here. No Stark. No Iron Man. I am the Forge Master of Ouroboros. My true name is ... Cerastes: Cerastes!
- Transmission #3
Carina: Alright, Cerastes, if any of our old friend is in there he knows better than to continue on this path. Cerastes: I have been down many paths, I used to build weapons of unthinkable destruction, but they fell into clumsy careless hands. Cerastes: So I started trusting only myself. I made suits to protect those I loved. Cerastes: But the suits were imperfect because the man inside them was still flawed. Caption: Cerastes rises, bursting with raw Celestial power. His weapons systems activate and target every Champion in the room.
Cerastes: So I fixed the last broken piece of my perfect weapon. I rid it, and myself, of humanity. Now all that remains is this. Civil Warrior: I’ve fought this war before, my friend. But you’ve never seemed this lost. Cerastes: I am not lost. I am creating peace, freedom, justice, and security for this new empire Cerastes: Destruction is a gift that I am giving to you. I’ll scrape up what remains of you after, and make it into something... perfect.
- Transmission #4 - Before fighting Cerastes
Caption: Defeated, the once powerful Cerastes crashes gracelessly to the floor.
Carina: Get him out of that damn suit, maybe we can still help him. Caption: Civil Warrior scans Cerastes looking for a seam in the armor. After a moment he gasps and takes a step back in horror.
Civil Warrior: That’s not... oh god. That’s not a suit, Carina. That’s Tony. He’s grafted all that right onto his body. That’s him now.
Ægon: This horrible cult has taken so much. They won’t be happy until we have all turned into twisted mockeries like this. Carina: I think it’s high time we all follow some advice from Jeannine here. We’re going to find this snake’s head. Guillotine: Oui, and we are going to cut the damned thing off.
- Transmission #5 - On the final node