Supreme Paragon Reborn: Humanity's Rise To Galactic Supremacy-Chapter 237: Second Haunting Memory Of A Supreme Paragon (4)
The shadows that had awaited at the edge of his vision crept closer. Silhouettes of all shapes and sizes seemed to cloud his vision. All bearing sinister smiles, either laughing wholeheartedly or sneering like they were moments away from pouncing.
Ignoring it all, Michael moved. His body moving on instinct. Before he realized it himself, he had boarded a spare shuttle tugged at the backline. Just large enough to take him back to the Sacred Order.
Before disappearing into his mad dash, he had gazed at the Emperor. His eyes blazing with a single question.
And the Emperor responded in his even voice.
"I am too busy to chase after baseless rumors."
He added after a brief pause.
"And even if a Titan really threatens them, I bear no responsibility. It is Nicole’s fault for deciding to bear a child."
The moment these words drifted into Michael’s ears, he found his memory distorted, like he himself was unsure how he managed to reach the quarters of the Sacred Order.
’Nicole is powerful and smart. If she notices something that is beyond her, she will flee.’
Michael told himself, witnessing the thick smoke that rose high in the atmosphere.
’But she is also righteous to her very core. Would she really flee, leaving the other residents of the faction to their death? Besides, would the fact that she is pregnant not slow her down significantly?’
Doubts began to assault Michael’s mind.
Along the way he noticed several members of the faction all running with pained expressions.
"Michael!" One of the men called him.
"We managed to flee, but somebody stayed behind to slow—"
The man’s voice faded. Unwilling to hear the end of the sentence, Michael strode towards the ruins.
His attire, soaked in blood from the endless battles he had endured, slowed him down. The fractured state of mind pounded relentlessly, sending waves of agony throughout his body. Yet he never stopped moving.
Immediately he noticed the eerie stillness around the fallen ruins. No signs of life anywhere in sight.
"Nicole!"
Michael shouted desperately, hoping to hear an answer back. Lifting debris caused by a recent battle, he searched for clues... anything that could point him to the right path. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
From his quick observation he realized that all of the rubble pointed in a single direction. Racing, he felt his heart beat erratically.
With a wave of his hand, he blasted a door that obstructed his way.
"..."
Only for his steps to halt, his breathing coming in shallow gasps.
There she was...
Regardless of the state of his mind, he could never mistake her stunning beauty. Her face sculpted to perfection, her vivid crimson hair, her breathtakingly striking eyes.
Something felt off... She lay motionless on the hard ground, the beautiful luster in her eyes vacant, replaced by an unnatural dullness.
"Nicole, I am back. I killed them... I killed them all for you."
He murmured barely above a whisper, taking steady steps.
Only to freeze, his feet stepping into crimson blood.
For a moment his mind seemed to clear just enough for him to realize the truth.
There was no sight of her beautiful soul.
"Nicole?"
Yet that didn’t deter him from calling out her name in hope.
His eyes slowly dropped to her stomach, where a large gash seemed to bleed. A thin umbilical cord still connected to the extinguished life that was meant to be his daughter.
"...Little princess?"
Michael waited... for anything. Confirmation or an answer of some kind to call out to him. Yet the unbearable silence stretched to infinity.
Burying his face into his hands, he whispered.
"It’s too late to be sorry."
His fingers traced his features as he gazed at Nicole’s fearless face, which bore no trace of hesitation even in her final moments.
"There is one thing I can do for them... It’s to win and keep winning until I attain our dream. A dream that she relentlessly clung to and gave her life for. I cannot afford to stop now, not after our dream has been smeared with blood... For there is nothing left for me to lose. I will make it a reality. I swear it. No matter the cost I must pay, no matter the sacrifices I must endure."
Away from the ruins of the Sacred Order’s base. A colossal meteor drifted into outer space, effortlessly bypassing all human means of finding its location.
With a size rivaling a planet, it served as the one and only stronghold of the Gros’fag race.
Unlike the other alien species humanity had faced until now, the Gros’fag didn’t strive to achieve world domination. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they simply didn’t have the capacity to.
With no Primordial and not a single Eternal among their ranks, their strongest force was a lone Titan. Formidable in its own right, but nothing compared to the behemoths that roamed the edges of the universe.
That was why the Gros’fag had chosen humanity as their target, striking with everything they had. They themselves could not hope to face the mightiest entities, with only a single man in their ranks who had ascended to the Emperor’s realm.
It was a way to reject the notion of the universe and tempt fate, proving that they too were forced to be reckoned with by conquering the human race that by all means was supposed to be their equal.
Discreetly the Titan, the Gros’fag’s ruler, returned to their base of operation.
"Almighty! We greet your return!"
The Monarchs left to guard the place greeted their ruler with a deep bow.
"Was the operation successful?" One of the Monarchs asked.
The Titan nodded.
"Indeed. Surprisingly, it proceeded even better than I had anticipated. The King guarding the place disappeared without a trace, most likely dead. That left a single Lord capable of opposing me."
The lips of the Titan curled upwards.
"A strong one she was... but in the end, it all proved meaningless before me. Now come, if we keep up the pressure, it won’t be long before humanity’s forces are exterminated."
Just then, a Monarch noticed something amiss, catching a glimpse of a figure in the far distance.
"Almighty! You have been followed!"
The Titan wasn’t pleased one bit.
"What? They managed to track me? Did the humans bring their forces to our base?"
Blinking repeatedly, the Monarch wondered if its gaze betrayed it.
"No..."
The alien shook its head.
"All I am seeing... is a single man."
