Supreme Paragon Reborn: Humanity's Rise To Galactic Supremacy-Chapter 354: The Remorseful Queen And Her Hollow Guardian
Besides the current Emperor and Michael in his first life, there was no recorded data of any other human cultivator ever ascending past the King or Queen realms. It was safe to assume that Seer was destined to become the first Empress humanity had ever known.
"Me? An Empress?" She breathed shallowly.
Naturally, the very idea had never occurred to her. If anyone capable of challenging the current Emperor were to appear, he would kill them to ensure his rule.
"If I may be so bold to ask..." Seer met the Echo’s blazing gaze. "What happened to me originally?"
Shaking his head slightly, the Echo answered.
"The Emperor killed you, purely out of suspicion. I reckon it was his paranoia forcing him into rash decisions, though I suppose he has that to thank for remaining at the top for so long."
Strangely, Seer wasn’t surprised. She had always known her time near that man was limited. And if she lived longer than she was ever meant to, it would have been only because of Michael’s Echo...
Her guardian.
"Is that so? Then how do I become an Empress? I don’t want to be a burden..." Her voice faltered, growing unexpectedly weak.
Finally relaxing after waking, she became aware of a crushing heaviness in her existence. Similar to a mortal gasping for thin air. Yet for her, every pore of her body screamed in terror. Unable to lift a finger, she felt her heart begin to ache, her limbs trembling uncontrollably.
The Echo’s voice ran out.
"As always, the process remains the same. You cultivate, achieving breakthrough after breakthrough until you reach enlightenment. Why do you think I’ve allowed the corpses of so many Titans to linger around us? The spiritual energy their bodies emit will help accelerate your ascension."
Abruptly, Seer felt overwhelmed. So much power was there for the taking, yet she found herself unable to even begin the meditation process.
"Perhaps I went a bit overboard." The Echo remarked. "Since the spiritual energy is overwhelming you, we’ll relocate to somewhere less... intense."
The very concept was new to her. Was there really such a thing as too much spiritual energy? Wasn’t it always better the more potent the energy was?
Sensing her doubts, Michael’s Echo explained.
"It’s like a mortal breathing pure oxygen. If you do it long enough, your body will deteriorate and you’ll die, no matter how beneficial it’s supposed to be."
Queen Seer nodded, biting her lower lip slightly.
"B—But I... I can’t move."
He drew closer.
"I never expected you to."
In a single, fluid motion, he lifted her in a princess carry, beginning to walk away from the heart of the Titans’ graveyard.
Seer was flustered for a moment, never having felt so vulnerable. But all her anxiety faded when she gazed into the emotionless darkness of his helmet.
Now elevated off the ground, she could see the bodies of the Titans in more detail, and a shocking realization hit her.
"Have aliens like this really existed?" She whispered. "No matter how I look at it, they’re dragons."
The Echo’s answer came swiftly.
"Indeed, there are countless races. To complicate matters further, the Dragon’s race is among the contenders for world domination—" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Several deafening roars interrupted, followed by ominous shadows sweeping across the sky.
All belonging to powerful Titans, with one towering presence at the front... an Ascendant.
The dragon flock instantly pinpointed their location due to the Echo’s overwhelming aura.
When Michael’s Echo began his rampage, a group of the smarter aliens broke away from the main force and retreated to search for reinforcements.
"Human!"
Enraged, the Ascendant roared, eyes shining with bloodlust.
"You dare slaughter my kin upon my own homeland?!" The dragon bellowed in a language they could understand. "I, Drakonic the Fifth, an honorable soldier of the Eternal Lady, condemn you to an eternity of torture!"
Remaining utterly unimpressed, the Echo stepped forward.
Beheaded at a moment’s notice, the Ascendant’s body toppled to the ground.
The next step the Echo took split the spectating Titan in two perfect halves, killing them on the spot.
"As I was saying..." He continued, not minding the interruption. "A Primordial tier alien is leading them, causing their unchecked population. The dragons are inherently greedy and arrogant... much more so than any human. So they are not to be underestimated."
"..."
When the killing intent finally faded, Seer was taken aback to find that, without thinking, she had instinctively wrapped her arms around the Echo’s neck. However, seeing that he didn’t seem bothered by it, she made no effort to release him.
The fallen aliens had formed a blood-soaked lake, rising up to the Echo’s waist, forcing him to move through it.
"This... this is a bit overwhelming," Seer admitted. "Not to mention, it must be frustrating to be stuck with someone as powerless as me, holding you back just so you can ensure my safety."
His steps never faltered.
"I am merely an Echo. A fitting end to my sorrowful existence, to lose the one and only thing I ever managed to hold onto... my humanity. On the other hand, you are the only human among us. It’s only right that your safety takes priority." He paused briefly. "My condition is irrelevant."
For the first time, Queen Seer wasn’t able to offer any guidance. Merely looking at the soul of her tormented guardian filled her vision with nothing but a bottomless abyss of pure darkness.
"From the outline of Michael’s soul, I believed summoning you would be like calling a god... Someone who could fix humanity’s deepest mistakes with just a flick of their finger. But instead, I brought forth a tortured soldier like you. Clearly, your time was over. You were meant to rest. And yet, here I... pulled you back into existence, just to save our kin, forcing you to relive the agony of life once more."
Grief-stricken, her white blindfold soaked with tears, two trails running down her face.
"Even now, when I think back on it, I can’t find any other solution to our predicament. Fate has told me so. I—I... am so sorry."
For a brief moment, the Echo gazed at her peerless face, his gaze returning to the front a fraction of a heartbeat later.
"It’s too late to be sorry."
