My declaration echoed across the relay field as the gathered Transcendents and the two Eternals stood in silence. None of them reacted immediately. They were listening. Observing. Weighing the consequences of choosing a side.
I already knew the Eternals would not defect. Their existence was bound to Hollow Star in ways that went beyond survival or fear. They did not hesitate because they believed in victory.
But the same was not true for the others.
The Transcendents behind them were different. They still belonged to this galaxy. They still possessed identity, origin, and something to lose. They had chosen Hollow Star once. That choice could be broken.
That was who my words were meant for.
The armed Eternal stepped forward.
His movement was steady, unhurried, his weapon held at his side without tension. He did not prepare himself as an opponent would. He approached as though he were addressing an equal.
"I must say," he said, his voice calm and clear across the deathmist-filled space, "you are truly an anomaly. The power you wield is not something we can defend against."
His black, glass-like eyes held mine without wavering.
"But this relay," he continued, gesturing slightly toward the massive station suspended behind him, "has been attacked by a Saint before."
His gaze sharpened faintly.
"And it still stands. Do you know why?"
My eyes narrowed slightly as my perception expanded outward once more, examining the relay structure, the surrounding deathmist, and the deeper layers of the dead planet. I searched for hidden anchors, concealed constructs, or any external presence sustaining the relay beyond what I had already destroyed.
There was nothing.
No dormant authority waiting to awaken.
No reinforcement concealed beyond my reach.
Even the base station behind him remained silent, its defensive systems inactive, its structure exposed.
"Why?" I asked.
The Eternal studied me for a brief moment before speaking again.
"That question," he said calmly, "means you do not yet understand the depth of the game being played here."
His tone did not carry any mockery.
"What is your plan after reaching our headquarters?" he continued. "To destroy it? Do you believe no one has attempted such a thing before?"
He did not wait for my answer.
"Hollow Star does not depend on a single location. It exists across countless systems, countless worlds. Even if you destroy one base, another will replace it. Even if you eliminate ten, a hundred more will rise. You are attempting to dismantle something that does not rely on permanence."
His gaze shifted briefly toward the figures behind him.
"The problem is not your strength," he said. "It is your origin."
He raised his hand slightly, indicating the five Transcendents standing behind him.
"Have you ever seen an Eternal defect?"
He paused briefly.
"No."
His voice remained steady.
"But look behind me."
The five figures did not move. They did not deny it.
"They chose us."
"They chose to abandon the limitations of their origin - your universe."
"You call them traitors," he continued. "We call them those who understand reality."
His eyes returned to mine.
"Your world is weak. Your galaxy is fractured. It produces resistance, but it cannot sustain it. You may destroy this relay. You may destroy many more. But while you do, we will continue to expand. We will continue to replace what is lost. We will continue to grow."
"In the larger structure of the cosmos," he said, "you are still insignificant. A temporary disruption. A single particle attempting to resist a system that has already outgrown you."
He held my gaze without hesitation.
"No one here will follow you."
I chuckled.
"So many words," I said, meeting his black glass eyes, "just to say such stupidity."
I did not give him time to respond. My palm moved forward hitting his chest. There was no visible buildup. No surge of Essence spilling outward. Only motion. The impact detonated a fraction of a second later.
A compressed shockwave erupted from the point of contact, the air collapsing inward before violently expanding outward. The Eternal’s body vanished from in front of me and reappeared dozens of meters away as it tore through the line of Transcendents behind him. Their forms scattered on impact, some thrown aside, others forced to erect defensive barriers too late to fully absorb the force.
His body continued until it slammed into the relay structure itself.
The collision produced a deep, metallic boom that reverberated through the entire station. The outer hull buckled inward slightly at the point of impact, cracks spiderwebbing across the dark surface as the Eternal’s frame embedded into it.
I lowered my hand slowly.
Irritation lingered beneath my calm exterior, cold and steady. It was not his arrogance that bothered me. It was the truth behind his words. Beings born in this universe. Shaped by it. Given strength, identity, and existence within it. And yet they had abandoned it without hesitation.
Not out of coercion but choice. I exhaled slowly, letting the tension settle back into stillness.
My gaze shifted to the remaining Eternal. He had not moved from his position. He had witnessed everything. He understood exactly what had happened.
I could kill him.
I could erase both of them before either had the opportunity to respond. But that would accomplish nothing. I needed the coordinates for the path forward.
Without it, this would become exactly what the first Eternal had described. A prolonged search. A scattered dismantling of outer nodes while the core remained hidden.
I had no interest in wasting years tearing apart fragments. This needed to end at its source. And yet, being forced to restrain myself in front of enemies who deserved annihilation was... irritating.
This entire process, tracking, locating, destroying one relay after another, had already exceeded its usefulness.
My patience was thinning. I looked directly at the remaining Eternal. This time, there was no ultimatum in my voice. Only certainty.
"You will give me the coordinates."
The remaining Eternal did not react immediately.
He tilted his head slightly.
"I cannot."
His voice was calm.
"A deal was made," he continued, "and a deal must be respected."
His gaze did not waver.
"That is the rule, is it not?"
The question was not asked for an answer.
It was a reminder.
"This base will remain," he said. "And you will not destroy it."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
Then he fell silent.
And like the onset of inevitability, all my danger senses went haywire at once. The deathmist stilled first, freezing unnaturally in place. Then even the Essence around me faltered, its flow disturbed by something deeper.
The ground thrummed once beneath my feet, a low, ominous pulse, as if the domain itself was bracing.
My head snapped upward.
The sky cracked.
====================
Bonus release: 1 Chapter for every 100 GTs