When a figure in black-and-gold armor landed beside the three, nearly half of the ten most powerful Espers in the galaxy were now gathered in one place.
‘Dragon Slayer’s’ senses had failed her, but she felt no negativity over it. Instead, she simply laughed. “It seems my hunting methods need an update. I’ve learned something new from you, old friend.”
“I am no one’s prey.” The newcomer’s voice was naturally deep and resonant, sounding particularly cold through the filter of his faceplate.
“Alright, let’s deal with this thing first,” Lei Ting interrupted. “We can talk about other things after the fight—and, it’s good to see you, ‘Starstream.’”
“...” Starstream’s posture remained cold and resistant. He silently turned his head away, offering no reply to ‘Sun Star.’
To an outsider, their relationship seemed strained at best. But in the eyes of ‘Dragon Slayer’ and ‘Emperor’s Blade,’ the scene was rather peculiar.
In the current galaxy, few had the capability to gather deep-level intelligence. Among those, even fewer knew that ‘Starstream’ had once used a fake identity to become friends with ‘Sun Star’... but, as it happened, both of them were among that select few.
What a coincidence, wasn't it?
Well, it wasn't really a coincidence—after all, only the powerful, those who were well-informed and dared to lay hands on secret information, could have made it here.
“So, who’s moving first?” Emperor’s Blade asked, drifting slightly to the side.
Starstream showed no intention of speaking. Lei Ting kept his eyes fixed on him. Dragon Slayer, meanwhile, had already begun to examine the shifting, erratic monstrosity encased in metal and soil with great interest. Everyone present, Lei Ting included, could see that the yellow spheres inside the crystals were the true ‘Gah.’
It wasn't the ‘Great Crystal Mountain’ described in the myths and legends of the Gah at all. It was a turbid yellow sphere protected by a crystalline outer shell!
“Do you have a plan?” Emperor’s Blade asked.
“Of cour—hey?!”
Dragon Slayer let out a startled cry as she was swatted away by the flat of Emperor’s Blade’s heavy sword. She was sent flying like a baseball, crashing into the black metallic planet. The red super-power energy surrounding her carved a crimson line through the darkness, its end scattering like a spray of blood mist.
“Good,” Emperor’s Blade said with perfect composure, ignoring the strange looks from the other two. “She’ll handle everything. As for us, how about we go have a chat with ‘The Devourer’?”
***
The Haglen Starry Waters was a sea, but it was also an artificial liquid planet. It relied on the super-powers injected by generations of Abryssacs for its shape, and on technological means to integrate it into the galaxy’s rotational and orbital paths.
Within its deep, restless interior, concentric circular star-rails were encased. Atop these rails sat buildings designed with an intensely oceanic aesthetic. Ornate aircraft wove between them; some were encased in bubbles held aloft by repulsive force fields, while others simply navigated the deep sea.
Upon these infinitely revolving star-rails that churned the seawater, creatures of various races walked the central avenues found on both sides of every rail.
Most of the humanoid beings there possessed aquatic characteristics. Some were so ugly it defied logic, while others displayed a haunting, fantastical beauty.
The star-rails turned, the shifting sense of space and cycle inducing vertigo. The seawater swayed, and the starry sky beyond became a blurred haze.
Then, the conch horn from the central royal palace sounded. Its ancient, distant, and long-drawn-out wail echoed through the entire ocean.
Everyone who heard that long blast knew that the current King of Abryssac, ‘Abryssac Tu En Spot,’ had reached the end of his life.
...Or so it seemed.
“King... King!!” A sharp scream rang out within the palace. “King! King Spot! What... what is happening to you?!!”
Inside the conch-shaped palace, in the council chamber at the very end of the spiral, seventeen or eighteen prominent Abryssac courtiers cried out in terror. “King! What... what is this?!”
Upon a white throne decorated with coral, seashells, and Haglen’s specialty gemstones, a handsome man with long hair held his forehead with one hand.
He was draped in a snow-white robe—intricate, elegant, yet light. The hem of the robe drifted out like a magnificent fish tail of blue-violet gossamer. This gossamer was actually colorless; the craftsmanship used to create it gave it a brilliant structural color reflection, similar to the wings of certain butterflies. In the eyes of different races, it would manifest in different hues.
His pale white eyelashes trembled slightly. His white hair, tinged with a hint of light pink at the tips, floated in the swaying currents. His robes drifted with the flow of water within the palace... Spot was so beautiful that he was the kind of person who required no cosmetic adjustments even in interstellar society.
Unlike the strange ‘beauty’ trait possessed by the ‘Headmaster,’ the King of Abryssac truly possessed a face that could make others willing to die for him based on looks alone. Correspondingly, his physique, while not burly, was not frail either—it seemed he had no flaws.
At least, that was how he appeared to those who valued aesthetics.
Though Crown Prince Arin was considered delicate and beautiful, his charm was not even one-ten-thousandth of his father’s.
But now, that pure beauty was being desecrated.
Centering on the King of Abryssac, who seemed to have fallen into a deep slumber, everything within the palace began to undergo a severe mutation.
Black mist diffused into the water. Lights flickered and died. Even super-power energy was forced into stillness, as if crushed by the heavy pressure of the deep sea...
And writhing shadows began to spread from beneath the throne.
Under the horrified gazes of the courtiers—who had been summoned today as if to receive the King’s final will—pitch-black tentacles covered in suckers crawled out from beneath the sacred, pure white throne. Every sucker was lined with rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.
They spread with incredible speed. Even when a quick-witted courtier shouted “Run!” and tried to flee, they were all coiled up by the tentacles in an instant. Within a dozen seconds, the entire chamber was completely occupied by tentacles.
The suckers opened. Muscle structures that had mutated into bottomless feeding maws writhed, their sharp teeth scraping away the flesh of the courtiers bit by bit. They were picky, consuming only biological matter, yet within seconds, they turned these loyal ministers—who had labored for the King of the Waters—into a pile of blood-stained clothes on the floor.
The Supreme Military Commander of Abryssac lasted the longest. He possessed magnificent scales and ornamental fins like those of a long-tailed betta fish. Even though he could not use his super-powers, he roared and charged forward with a decorative, sharp coral spear after rapidly broadcasting a flurry of danger signals.
“The horn has sounded! The lights outside the palace are all going out!”
The black tentacles grew infinitely, enveloping the entire palace. They stretched out from the water toward the star-rails in a world-covering tide. Once they latched on, they writhed greedily, devouring every visible piece of matter and pulling it into blood-red feeding cavities.
People on the star-rails screamed. The entire ‘Haglen Starry Waters’ was writhing and transforming. A monster as massive as a medium-sized planet grew quietly from the water, then devoured the vast ocean itself.
Its external structure was extremely regular yet revolting to behold. The lines of its carapace were so soft that not a single straight edge existed, yet it possessed sharp corners. Massive, symmetrical cruciform fins and countless tentacles spreading from beneath the shell danced in deep space...
Abominable creatures of unknown origin writhed in dense clusters, guarding this massive, eyeless monster near the heart of the galaxy.
And aside from the military commander, who was being slowly decomposed and devoured, no one in the world saw the beautiful man on the throne move. His body, fused with the throne, could find no release.
After this, he opened his eyes. Within those pitch-black, hollow sockets, the pale blue eyes that should have been there were gone, replaced by a thick, dark-red blood mist.
Perhaps that single movement was the final struggle of the former ‘Spot.’
Because in the next moment, he wore a smile... one of peaceful satisfaction.
At that moment, a name surfaced in the minds of everyone observing this gargantuan monster through various means:
‘Sea Lord.’
***
A scream of pure terror erupted from the depths of the Human Federation Medical Research Institute. Crown Prince Arin shrieked, emitting seemingly meaningless multi-channel sonic waves. They failed to harm anyone, but with the support of the translation system, the researchers and another group of people heard words like “Sea!” “Destruction!” “Annihilation!” and “Father!”
Though they didn't know what the hell those words added up to, anyone could figure it out with half a brain...
“Go check if something happened at the Haglen Starry Waters.” Angye’s brow twitched from the noise the fellow inside was making. He gave the order to his team and then added, “Yongdai’er...”
“If you dare make one of your damn ‘jokes’ at a time like this, I’ll pull your tongue out too.” Yongdai’er’s voice was as hard as a rock... no, as hard as a ‘Gah’ fragment.
“Oh.” Angye shut his mouth obediently.
A moment later, he spoke again. “If something really has happened... then we are truly being attacked from both front and back.”
“It’s not the first time.” Yongdai’er’s voice was incredibly cold. “Which great war in history didn't involve us being surrounded?”
“But things are different now. The Federation has a massive estate. Even with enough strategic depth, it’s hard for us to abandon our foundation and fight a guerrilla war.” Angye shook his head. “The monk can run, but the... what was it? The monastery can’t?”
“The temple,” said Mira, who had been watching Crown Prince Arin through the one-way observation port.
“Right, the temple.” Angye cleared his throat. “Anyway...”
“Vice Chairman! Something’s happened!!” someone nearby cried out.
“The Vice Chairman is fine.” Angye frowned, thinking this person was far too excitable. “It seems the intelligence is significant? Fine, send it to me.”
The next moment, a blurry video file appeared on the browsing interface of the optical computer recently implanted in Angye’s brain.
Looking at that giant monster—transformed from the entire ‘Haglen Starry Waters’—which could shatter a natural satellite with a single lash of its tentacles, and seeing the physical characteristics on it that clearly belonged to Void Spirit pollution...
Angye: “...”
“What is it?” Yongdai’er asked.
“........................” Angye pondered for a moment, then immediately folded. “Where’s ‘Sun Star’? Where did ‘Sun Star’ go?!!”
—Even though this thing didn't seem to have any intention of moving for now...
...This looks absolutely terrifying, ahhh!!!
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 星流 | Starstream | The title/codename of the black-and-gold armored Esper. |
| 海主 | Sea Lord | The name/title of the monster transformed from the Haglen Starry Waters. |
| 亚布里萨克·图·恩·斯波特 | Abryssac Tu En Spot | The full name of the King of Abryssac. |
| 虚灵污染 | Void Spirit pollution | A type of corruption or mutation mentioned in the text. |
| 光脑 | Optical computer | A brain-implanted computing device. |
