Wanderer Ch 23: Arrival Of The Black Blades, Its Time To Leave!

(Jack)

The explosions were constant now, a relentless assault of light and noise. My eyes flicked back up to the massive being who had apparently been chasing me through the galaxy. The Krugar fleet was giving it everything they had, unloading their firepower on her immense form, but judging by her annoyed expression, it was doing... absolutely nothing.

She wasn't in pain. She wasn't even concerned.

No, the look on her face was one of mild irritation, like someone swatting at a particularly persistent mosquito. I glanced at the Krugar fleet again—hundreds of ships, maybe thousands, all darting like angry hornets around the enormous figure. The smaller, faster crafts zipped at speeds I couldn't even track properly, leaving streaks of light in their wake. I muttered under my breath, "Incredible..."

It was. Even though I was terrified out of my mind, the scientist in me couldn't help but marvel at the spectacle. That fleet could have leveled my entire colony in seconds, and here it was, throwing everything it had at her, and... nothing. Just an irritated expression.

As impressive as this cosmic light show was, a little voice in the back of my head kept reminding me of something critical: I couldn't breathe in outer space. If she got too distracted by all this and stopped... whatever she was doing to keep me alive, I'd be dead before I could say "vacuum of space."

"Ko Jaro, where are you?" I muttered, glancing around. No answer. My stomach tightened. That idiot better not have gotten himself killed.

A sudden shadow fell over me, blocking out the ambient glow of stars and explosions. I froze. Slowly, I turned around, and my heart nearly stopped.

It was her.

A crimson eye, larger than anything I could fathom, filled my entire view. It was so close I could see the faint, almost imperceptible texture of her iris, the way it shimmered like a pool of liquid fire.

"Gulp," I said aloud before I could stop myself.

Her voice rumbled through the void, so massive it made my bones feel like they were vibrating. "I always forget how small you little things are."

"Things," I muttered under my breath. "How nice."

Her booming voice came again, and this time I swore I could feel it in my teeth. "Oh, did I upset you?"

My blood ran cold. She heard me. She actually heard me. What were these things?

The massive eye began to pull back, further and further until the details of her face became distant and blurry. Even with her size, I had to strain to make out her expression. Pale white skin, smooth like marble. Long, flowing black hair that shimmered like silk, drifting around her face in zero gravity. Her lips curled into a smirk—almost playful, as if this whole ordeal was just a game to her.

Then, her face erupted with explosions.

Her right eye narrowed, her smirk fading as she tilted her head slightly. "How rude," she said, her voice sharp with annoyance. "Don't you know it's rude to attack a woman's face without reason?"

I blinked, staring in disbelief. "Did she just—"

Before I could even finish the thought, her massive hand rose with a smooth, deliberate motion. The movement was so fluid it was hard to process how something that big could move so gracefully. Then I noticed it: a dark energy swirling around her arm like a storm.

"What the hell is that?" I muttered, stepping closer to get a better look.

The swirling energy grew more intense, and suddenly I felt it—a force slamming into me like a wall, sending me stumbling backward. I braced myself, clutching my chest as I gasped for air.

"Wind?" I managed to say, my voice shaking. "No... cosmic wind."

Her body seemed to shimmer, faint wisps of steam rising from her pale skin like she was burning from within. Then, as if the universe itself decided to call it a day, massive black swords materialized around her.

No, calling them swords felt inadequate. These were monoliths of death, each one the size of a planet, sharp enough to cut a world in two.

"The hell?!" I shouted, barely able to process what I was seeing. Goosebumps ran down my arms as the sheer scale of it hit me.

And she wasn't even breaking a sweat.

The black-haired giant smirked, her crimson eyes narrowing in delight as the massive energy swords hovering around her surged forward. I couldn't even track their motion—they were too fast, streaking across the void of space like black comets.

The first blade collided with the Krugar fleet, and an explosion of orange and white erupted, tearing through dozens of ships like they were made of paper. One by one, the massive vessels disintegrated, their debris scattering like glitter against her immense form.

Another blade followed, slashing horizontally and obliterating another cluster of ships. The precision was terrifying, as if she were swatting flies with a blade the size of a continent. Every explosion sent ripples of light that reflected off her pale skin, making her look like some ancient goddess basking in the destruction.

"Oh no..." I whispered. My chest tightened as I watched the fleet—so advanced, so powerful—get reduced to nothing but glowing fragments.

From above, the booming voice of the other giant, the brown-haired one, pulled me from my daze. "Good of you to help," she said, her tone almost mocking.

I snapped my head up toward her, my heart pounding as her golden eyes bore down on me like twin suns. Her expression was unreadable—calm, disinterested, yet somehow piercing, like she was dissecting me with her gaze.

I didn't think. I just ran forward, my feet pounding against the smooth surface of her palm. "Please stop!" I yelled, my voice straining to rise above the chaos.

Her head tilted slightly, her gaze shifting fully onto me. For a moment, I thought she didn't hear me. Then, slowly, her massive eyes blinked, the movement so deliberate it felt like the world paused around her.

"You have me, don't you?" I shouted again, desperation creeping into my voice. "Please don't hurt them anymore!"

She didn't say anything, just stared down at me. Her silence was somehow worse than anything she could've said. It felt like she was deciding something—judging me, weighing me in some cosmic balance.

I still couldn't wrap my head around it. She was too big. How could someone so enormous even see me, let alone hear me? I was a dot in her palm, a speck on the edge of existence, and yet her focus was entirely on me.

"Eclipsa, let's go," she finally boomed, her voice cutting through the void with authority.

The black-haired giant—Eclipsa, apparently—turned toward her sister, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Her name's Eclipsa..." I thought to myself, the name sticking in my head.

"What?" Eclipsa pouted, her voice somehow louder, more petulant than before. "We're not destroying the planet?"

"No, we're not," the brown-haired one—Thalassa, I assumed—replied, her golden eyes never leaving me.

Eclipsa groaned, her pout growing more exaggerated as she folded her arms across her chest. "You're no fun," she muttered, though the faint amusement in her expression betrayed that she wasn't too upset.

My legs felt like jelly, and my heart was racing, but I couldn't help the small wave of relief that washed over me. They weren't destroying the planet. They were leaving.

"T-thank you," I stammered, looking up at the monolithic figure above me. "Thank you so much."

Thalassa didn't respond, but the way her eyes lingered on me made me feel like she was memorizing every detail of my tiny form. Her gaze wasn't cruel, but it wasn't comforting either—it was like she saw something in me that I couldn't understand.

Eclipsa sighed dramatically, her dark hair shimmering as she turned away. "Fine, whatever. But next time, I get to do what I want."

Next time? The thought sent a shiver down my spine. But for now, I was alive, and the planet below was safe. That would have to be enough.