(Su Yang’s POV, Planet Su Prime)
Su Yang sat in his room with his head between his hands, as he tried to think of ways in which he could help the Su Clan and his father in this time of crisis.
He wondered how he could contribute to the ongoing defensive efforts, and how he could take part in them, even though the elders had dismissed him as too young to shoulder any significant responsibility.
’Leo is the same age as me.... He shoulders a lot of responsibility, so why can’t I?’ Su Yang wondered when suddenly, the sound of rushing footsteps emerged from outside his room.
*Step*
*Step*
*Step*
Suddenly, interrupting his private thoughts, was a messenger who rushed into his room with a scroll in his hand.
"Fresh report from Planet Nemo, my lord," he began, his breathing hurried, as he unrolled the parchment with trembling fingers.
"Nemo?" Su Yang lifted his gaze, his tone casual at first, as he leaned back in his chair and gestured for the messenger to continue.
"Yes, my lord. The Evil Cult has captured it."
The messenger reported, as Su Yang let out a long sigh.
"That much was expected, with how little infrastructure we left behind, that planet was sure to fall," Su Yang said, his voice calm and unbothered, as his eyes drifted toward the window where the banners of the Su still fluttered, though their colors had begun to fade in the sunlight.
"But, my lord... there is more." The messenger interrupted, as he shifted his weight before speaking again.
"A few hours after the Cult’s occupation, the Yu Clan descended upon Nemo, seeking to claim it for themselves.
Yet despite the lack of proper defenses, despite no walls and no shields being raised, the Dragon Army stood firm.
They fought in the mud and the trenches, and against all odds, they drove the Yu Clan away."
Su Yang’s lips parted, but no words came, as the weight of that statement settled over him.
"The Yu... were pushed back?" he asked at last, his tone softer now, as though he sought to confirm what he had just heard.
"Yes, my lord. Not only pushed back, but routed," the messenger answered, lowering his head further. "The Cult has defended Nemo against a Great Clan. It was a bloody, desperate fight, but victory was theirs."
For a long moment, silence filled the room, broken only by the faint rustle of the scroll in the messenger’s hands.
Su Yang’s thoughts raced, for he realized that the rumors about the Cult being weak scavengers were exaggerated.
The Cult’s impression in the wider universe was that they did not have the strength to win a dog-fight, and that they relied on their superior technology to hold onto their lands.
However, for them to repel the Yu Clan without proper planetary defences set up suggested otherwise.
’They did what we could not... they defended a world we abandoned,’ Su Yang thought, as his chest tightened.
The weight of that realization pressed down on him, as he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, a bitter truth rising within— that perhaps the Cult, mocked as scavengers and outlaws, were now forging themselves into something far greater, while the Su Clan, once mighty, continued to fracture and retreat.
’Will we regret not recruiting the Cult’s help?’ he asked himself, as doubt lingered.
’If they are such a capable force, maybe we should have conceded more planets to them, seeing how they managed to capture Nemo by themselves. Perhaps refusing them outright was a mistake... a big one at that’
Su Yang thought, as he involuntarily began to play with his storage ring, inside which was the private crystal communicator Leo had given him.
’I wish the day I actually have to use it never comes. But in case it does, will you truly come to our aid?’
He wondered, as he raised a palm and dismissed the messenger for now.
—----------
(Meanwhile Raymond’s POV, A small distance away from the periphery of planet Juxta)
Raymond received the most unexpected call on his crystal communicator, when out of the blue, it was God Mauriss himself who expressed interest in meeting him.
So far in his entire life, Raymond had not spoken to the deity more than once, and that single conversation had taken place under his father’s strict supervision, back when he was only a child and too naive to even grasp the weight of such an encounter.
"This is not good... Mauriss the Deceiver setting up a meeting with me can never be a good sign. I must avoid meeting him at all costs, or I’ll surely be dragged into one of his sinister schemes" Raymond thought, his pulse quickening as his father’s old warnings resurfaced.
According to the stories he had been told growing up, if there was one person he must never provoke after Soron, it was Mauriss The Deceiver, for the man was as cruel as he was cunning, and had no regard for the life of others whatsoever.
"Is it possible that he has figured out my secret?" Raymond wondered for a tense moment, his expression tightening, before shaking his head in firm denial.
"No, it’s impossible. I don’t release even the faintest energy that could expose me as a Demi-God. My concealment is absolute and flawless. There’s no way Mauriss knows who I am. But then... why does he want to meet me?" he mused, pacing across the cabin as unease gnawed at his thoughts.
The more he considered it, the clearer it became that regardless of Mauriss’s true intentions, agreeing to such a meeting would be reckless. The Deceiver’s name alone carried danger.
"I must inform Father about this... Father will know what to do," Raymond muttered, as he steadied himself and turned sharply on his heel.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
Striding toward the ship’s command deck, he ordered the pilot to redirect their course at once toward the Eternal Garden, the urgency in his voice leaving no room for hesitation.