The void stretched endlessly before me. My vision had become so vast that I could see details far beyond the solar system I was in. My perception extended so far that it could easily encompass an entire planet.
My body surged forward, the silver glow around me deepening as I released all restraint. This was raw speed, pure physical force carried to its limit. Space fractured faintly along my path, thin cracks forming and vanishing in my wake as I tore through the void like a living comet.
Asteroids drifted ahead, massive bodies of rock that would have once required navigation or avoidance.
I did neither.
I passed through them.
The first shattered on impact, disintegrating instantly as my body pierced through its core. The debris scattered outward, reduced to dust and fragments before I had already moved beyond it. Others followed, meeting the same fate as I continued forward without deviation, leaving a trail of destruction that dissolved into the silence behind me.
Distance lost meaning.
Stars shifted in my vision as I curved along their gravitational pull, not resisting it, but using it to accelerate further. I passed close enough to feel their heat, their immense pressure bending around me as I redirected my trajectory easily.
At one point, a gas giant loomed ahead, its massive form swirling with violent storms and dense atmospheric layers.
A smile formed on my face and I did not go around it.
I went through.
My body plunged into the storming atmosphere, the pressure and turbulence collapsing around me before being torn apart by the force of my passage. Layers of gas parted violently, a temporary path carved through the planet itself as I crossed it in moments, emerging on the other side without losing speed.
I continued forward through the void.
And finally the system appeared where the Naga home planet Kaalseris resided. Even from a distance, it stood apart. This was not an ordinary star system.
At the center of the system burned a single star.
Around it, only four planets existed.
They were not scattered across distant orbits like most systems. Instead, all four moved in unusually close proximity, their paths aligned with near-perfect precision, almost as if they had been deliberately positioned rather than naturally formed.
From a distance, they appeared nearly in a straight line relative to the star, their movements synchronized in a way that felt man made rather than natural coincidence.
Beyond them, encircling the entire inner system, lay a vast asteroid belt.
But this was no natural formation.
I could feel it.
A shield.
It stretched across the belt, subtle yet immense, woven into the very structure of the asteroids themselves.
Defensive runes were embedded everywhere, weapons hidden within drifting masses of rock. Between them, I could sense constructed bases anchored in place, manned and active, each one part of a larger defensive network that monitored everything entering the system.
The closer I got, the clearer it became. This entire system was a fortress.
The first layer reacted immediately.
Detection runes locked onto me, their scanning fields expanding as they attempted to identify the anomaly tearing through space toward them. Runes ignited across multiple platforms, defensive formations shifting in response.
I did not slow down. I passed through the first perimeter.
Barriers activated, dense layers of sealing and spatial distortion meant to redirect or trap anything attempting to breach the system.
But they simply shattered against my speed. My body tore through the barrier, the structure collapsing around the point of contact before stabilizing behind me, too late to stop what had already passed.
Alarms began to spread.
Across the system, structures lit up one after another. Massive defensive arrays rotated into position, channels of Essence gathering as weapons prepared to activate.
The second layer engaged.
Energy constructs formed in my path, shaped like massive serpents of pure Essence, their forms coiling through space as they attempted to intercept me.
I did not change direction and collided with the first one.
It burst apart instantly, unable to withstand the force. The others followed, their forms breaking under the same overwhelming pressure as I continued forward without pause.
The system reacted faster now.
Everything shifted.
Formations tightened. Pathways closed. Space itself began to distort, attempting to slow me, to redirect me away from the core.
But I was already past them.
At the center—
The planet revealed itself.
Kaalseris.
It was massive. Far larger than Vaythos. Green, blue and brown color dotted its landscape.
A silver glow surrounded it, not as a simple barrier, but as a layered shield of immense complexity. Runes the size of continents moved slowly across its surface, forming patterns that were both defensive and alive. The entire planet radiated power.
It was a throne.
As I approached, the space before the planet shifted. From within the silver glow, something began to form.
At first, it was just light. Then shape. Then presence.
A massive serpent emerged.
Its body was the size of the planet itself, coiling slowly in the void as it materialized fully. It was not made of flesh, but of condensed Essence, its form glowing with the same silver radiance as the planetary shield behind it.
The serpent’s eyes opened and locked onto me.
I finally slowed, stopping just beyond its reach and faced it directly.
Its massive form loomed over me, vast enough to eclipse entire regions of space, while I stood before it no larger than a drifting particle. Yet despite the overwhelming difference in scale, there was one undeniable similarity between us, the same silver radiance flowed across our forms, steady and absolute.
The serpent’s eyes remained fixed on me as its massive jaws parted slightly. When it spoke, its voice did not travel through air, but resonated directly through the void itself, deep and commanding.
"Who is the esteemed World Lord who has chosen to visit Kaalseris?"
A World Lord.
A title reserved for those who had stepped beyond the mortal threshold and become Saint.
"Billion Ironhart," I replied calmly, meeting its gaze without hesitation. "From the Order of Absolute."
For a brief moment, silence followed.
Then the presence shifted.
"Ironhart..." the voice echoed again, this time carrying a different tone. "Lord Ironhart. Our apologies for not recognizing you immediately."
The immense serpent began to dissolve, its colossal form breaking apart into streams of silver Essence that flowed back toward the planet. The layered shield surrounding Kaalseris dimmed and then vanished, the runes fading as the defensive state disengaged.
In its place—
Three figures stood in open space.
Xeron and two other Nagas beside him.