Wanderer Ch 31: Power Stolen. A Promise For Revenge!

Pain. Agonizing, ceaseless pain.

I could barely hold onto consciousness, the energy draining from my body like a shattered star bleeding light into the void. I had never felt this weak before. Never. My kind did not suffer. We did not know exhaustion, nor helplessness. And yet, here I was, my power being siphoned away by these insignificant creatures—creatures that would have been nothing more than dust beneath my heel on any other day.

But that day would come.

The rage inside me burned like a dying sun, flickering only because my body refused to sustain it in this state. When I got out of here—and I would get out of here—there would be no mercy, no hesitation. The destruction I would rain down upon them would not be reckless, not mindless. It would be precise, calculated, and justified. The stars themselves would tremble at the fury I would unleash.

I forced my heavy lids open, my vision blurred but still vast enough to take in my surroundings. Before me loomed a planet—a small, red world suspended in the vastness of space. My lips parted, my voice hoarse from weakness.

"W-what's happening?"

A voice answered, not from my sister, not from my kind, but from one of the insignificant ships hovering near my face. A hologram flickered to life, and before me stood a man cloaked in black, his face hidden behind a mask that gleamed like polished obsidian, his eyes glowing red like the dying embers of a dying star.

"Greatness," he said, his voice modulated, reverberating through the open void.

I barely had the strength to snarl at him, but I did. "Who are you?"

The masked figure chuckled, the sound low and measured. "A man with vision. A man who understands the waste of potential that you and your kind represent." He tilted his head slightly. "So much power in your hands, and yet, you do nothing with it but indulge in the meaningless whims of your existence. But in my hands..." His voice darkened, dripping with conviction. "I will turn it into something greater. I will bring order to the chaos of this universe."

I growled, the sound deep and rattling despite my weakness. "My power is mine. My sisters' power is theirs. You—" My breath hitched, pain flaring through me as the ship's cursed restraints drew more energy from me. "You have no right."

The masked man shook his head. "You don't even know where your power comes from, do you?"

My body tensed. What kind of ridiculous—

"You exist, but for what purpose? You destroy, you wander, you consume, but to what end?" he continued, his voice dripping with mockery. "Do you know what you are? Do you know why your kind drifts through the void, searching, hungering? You don't, do you?"

My fingers clenched, my nails digging into my palms.

"Your existence is empty, filled with nothing but pain. But I will change that. I will give it purpose."

I bared my teeth, even as the last vestiges of strength were drained from me. "You speak as if you have a choice."

The masked man let out an amused breath. "I always have a choice." Then, raising his hand, he commanded in a cold, firm voice, "Fire the cannons."

My body jerked as a surge of energy—red and burning—charged through the ships, igniting the vast darkness of space with its glow. I could feel my sister's agony ripple through me as the beams of crimson energy erupted from the fleet and slammed into the planet before us.

The world shattered.

Molten rock and debris exploded outward in a fiery inferno, pieces of the doomed planet hurtling into the void like silent screams. The force of the blast sent tremors even through my colossal frame, the light burning so bright that, for a moment, it drowned out the emptiness of space itself.

My lips parted, not in awe, not in fear, but in sheer, simmering rage.

The masked man watched, his expression unreadable behind his mask, before letting out a quiet chuckle. "Do you see it now, Thalassa?" He gestured toward the crumbling remains of the world. "This is destruction with purpose. Not meaningless chaos. Not reckless indulgence. Precision. Intent. The first step toward true order."

I stared at him, my breath shallow, my body barely responding to my commands.

"You and your kind destroy for the sake of amusement. For relief from the monotony of your cursed existence. But I?" He turned slightly, the red glow of his eyes flickering like dying stars. "I will bring meaning to this universe."

I forced myself to glare at him. "And your first target is?"

The man let out a soft, knowing laugh. "Why, the universe itself."

My heart, weak but still burning with fury, pounded in my chest. This fool. This arrogant, insignificant fool. He thought he could use my power? Control me? He thought he could dictate the fate of existence?

I swallowed the pain, swallowed the humiliation, and let my lips curl into the faintest, weakest smile.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I thought."

The masked man didn't respond immediately. He merely tilted his head, observing me as if I were nothing more than a specimen beneath his gaze.

But deep inside, past the pain, past the exhaustion, past the draining of my strength, I clung to something he did not know.

Hope.

I had sent out a call. A weak, desperate call.

But my sisters would hear it.

And when they came, not even the remnants of this fleet would be left to float among the ashes.