There was an Abyssal who fought bravely in the war.
He wasn't a celestial ranker, but he sure was patriotic. After finding that a noble of the Alpha Centauri star zone was participating in the war to hone himself, he chased down that noble.
Their chase spanned hundreds of light years. The noble almost escaped by the virtue of his spaceship's stealth and advanced speed system. It was apparently a model called ghost ship.
However, he was inexperienced and thus the Abyssal never lost him completely.
Finally, after months of a crazy chase, and crossing tens of thousands of star systems, they were on the edge of the star zone.
It was a star system with a single star and eight planets. There was even life on a blue planet..
The Abyssal was confused in the beginning. Shouldn't all intelligent civilizations be mapped?
Even if the civilization was only an A- level, it was still in the star zone's territory. Why did they not mark it?
But as he entered the star system, he threw back all his previous thoughts and gaped in wonder.
There was no aura!
How was that possible?!
Aura existed in every corner of the universe. How could an entire star system be devoid of aura? Even they, an S- civilization, were incapable of such a feat.
He really wanted to land on the planets and check it personally.
However, his target would escape.
He hesitated. This star system surely held a large secret. If he discovered it, their race could go further and reach S+ level.
But if he let go of his target, he'd lose significant military exploits. The army chief said that the Providence Trial committee demanded at least 40,000 res military exploits to even consider giving them the 'Jai protection'.
It was a gigantic sum.
Almost every top awakener died, and they were able to inch closer to the 40,000.
There were only two high awakeners left. Him and his friend.
To get to 40,000, at least one of them must succeed. But if both failed… they'd lose everything.
The Abyssal finally decided he couldn't leave the fate of his entire race on a 50/50 gamble.
But at the same time, he ordered his ship to detect the signals from the blue planet.
They reached the star, and the noble suddenly attacked him.
The Abyssal fought fiercely, but in the end, he realized the noble was about to escape.
So he used the star destroyer bomb and killed the noble.
The star broke into two, and the aftermath put him on death's door. His spaceship melted away, but in those final moments, it announced the results of its investigation.
There was at least an S+ civilization's legacy here.
S+!
Even the dying Abyssal almost came back to life. Metaphorically, at least.
But as he melted down little by little, he pulled the last bits of his strength and opened the secret messenger.
Before the mission, he wanted to message his family in his last moments. But now, he didn't have that luxury.
Even with all his efforts, he could only send three bits before he melted in the light.
Due to the damaged messenger, his message reached the Abyssals almost a 100 years later.
His final message became the final hope, and thus he was granted a posthumous title.
Ancestor Last Light.
His message was:
A12.29U202.S38A. S+ legacy.
*** *** ***
Abyss Emperor stared at the solar system's holograph.
At the bottom were its cosmic coordinates.
A12.29U202. S38A.
He shook his head and tapped the blue cube on the table.
It shone and displayed the reports.
'Low Dungeons are quickly being conquered. In a few months, every Low Dungeon would be under control.'
"Not bad. Do not provoke forces that would retaliate fiercely. Prioritize killing not so prominent, yet incredibly talented geniuses." He instructed, and the message was transmitted to the Abysses far away.
"Yes, sir!" A female voice came from the other side, full of reverence and… longing.
"You, out of the eight, have the highest talent and thus, the greatest chance to advance to Celestial Rank. Work hard, Hollow Queen." He encouraged.
"Yes, your majesty. I'll put my life on the line and train!" The Ruler of the Saturn Abyss, the Queen that never smiles, spoke in a cheerful yet determined tone.
"... Don't die." Abyss Emperor rubbed his forehead and checked the next one.
'Enigma is on a killing spree.'
"She is going to be an obstacle." Haedon remarked with annoyance and anger. "Do not let her destroy any other holy altar. If you do, be ready to face capital punishment."
"Yes… sir!" The Thunder King replied meekly.
'There was a federation wide announcement to find a boy named Varian.'
"Oh?" Abyss Emperor's interest was piqued, and he checked out the details.
"Tsk. What an unlucky fellow." He clicked his tongue and moved onto the next one.
This one seemed to be sent only a few hours ago. Unlike others, it was not presented properly.
It looked more like a rough writing draft than a professional report.
'Did something happen?' He wondered and after reading the first line, he stood up in shock.
"Did something happen, your majesty?" A few shadow guards spoke from the outside. Even though it was unnecessary, they still guarded his room from the shadows.
"None." He waved them off and read the report again.
And he read it again.
He didn't want to believe it. But reading it more times didn't change the facts.
'The mission to retrieve the remains of Ancestor Lost Light and capture the ghost ship failed.'
"I even suffered some injuries and sent my clone. How could it fail?" He muttered in disbelief, but soon adjusted himself.
"We can't verify anything. Maybe the spaceship to land in the Inner space was flawed from the start." He tried to reason.
"But to have both space ships flawed is truly unlucky." It was hard to convince himself that both of them failed.
But that was the only explanation.
There wouldn't be a Level 4 awakener who could kill peak level 5 and peak Level 6 clones...right?
"Emperor, your subject requests an audience." The blue cube shone and Haedon heard a trembling voice.
"Granted." He nodded and the hologram of an eight feet tall Abyssal kneeled on the ground.
Every part of his body was packed with muscles, and he looked like a war god of sorts.
However, his face was lightly pale. Paler was the line in his eyes.
"Demon King." Abyss Emperor spoke.
"Your Majesty, I sent my clone. I failed." The nightmare of earthlings, the ruler of Demon Abyss cried out.
"The other seven failed too." Abyss Emperor said curtly.
"But… I also failed to protect the holy altar." The Demon King choked up.
"Let me kill a Sovereign and a few levels 9s. That'd the best way to end my life."
His pleas were met with a furious gaze.
"How dare you?!" Abyss Emperor growled.
"Your Majesty?!" Demon King's voice shivered and, even though it was just a hologram, he felt true fear.
"Do you think your death is noble? No. You are only escaping from your responsibilities." Abyss Emperor glared down at him.
"And if you want to die, die like Ancestor Last Light. His final message let us find Solar System and when we get the S+ legacy, we can win the providence trials." He spoke with conviction, and his gaze intensified.
"Then till the next providence trial, we can continue to grow and even surpass the Zions." His tone turned serious.
"That, Demon King, is the thing to die for. Not some petty mission failure. Besides, our real enemies are here. If you die, die in a war with fairies or Zions."
After a brief silence, the Demon King's eyes were filled with splendor and he nodded fervently. "Yes, my emperor."
Haedon nodded lightly and checked the next report.
"Sorry for disturbing your majesty, I shall take my leave." He was about to leave when Abyss Emperor suddenly raised his hand.
"The situation here is intensifying. Prepare with 'him' to take down a human Sovereign. We might need to end the humans before the original deadline."