Chapter 6
2329words
The expected collapse and fear never came.
On the contrary, as those chaotic, violent energy particles flowed through her body, she felt a... unprecedented comfort and clarity. Like a long-lost child who had finally returned to her noisy yet familiar homeland.
Her psychic power, her innate perceptive ability as a "Harmonizer," was not only unsuppressed in this chaotic energy field but received an astonishing amplification.
In her perceptual world, those energy turbulences shown as deadly traps on instruments transformed into clearly visible, colorful "strings." Some "strings" were stretched tight, filled with an aura of destruction; others flowed gently, relatively safe. The entire universe, in her eyes, became a readable musical score.
Their assault craft, under Nikolai's piloting, began heading toward the most chaotic region at the galactic core.
Soon, they entered an area filled with invisible energy traps. These traps were silent, but once touched, they could tear the assault craft into pieces in an instant.
Radars and detectors had completely failed in the face of inaccurate physical laws.
"Left! Evade three units to the left!" Serena suddenly shouted, her eyes tightly closed, as if using a deeper sense to "see" the path ahead.
Nikolai didn't hesitate in the slightest, pulling hard on the control levers with both hands. The assault craft slid sideways at an extreme angle, almost grazing an invisible energy fault as it passed. In the very next second after they left, that space violently collapsed inward, forming a miniature black hole that devoured everything.
"Ahead, energy strings are tangling, reduce speed! Pass through the gentlest string at the bottom!"
"Received."
Nikolai responded in a deep voice, his expression focused to the extreme.
One gave commands, one executed with precision. In this deadly restricted zone where even deities would keep their distance, this small assault craft moved like the most agile fish, brushing past death time and again.
Their cooperation had reached a level of tacit understanding beyond language and logic, at the soul level. Nikolai, for the first time, completely entrusted his life to another person—an Earth girl whom he had viewed as a "specimen" not long ago. And Serena, in this extreme trust, felt the value of her own existence.
After hours of heart-stopping navigation, they finally reached the core area of the energy tides.
Here was a relatively calm "eye of the storm." In the center floated a pulsating unknown crystal emitting an eerie purple light—clearly, it was the source causing the entire star system's collapse.
However, before they could approach, the calm space around them suddenly rippled.
Over a dozen strangely-formed creatures, composed of pure energy, emerged from the ripples. They had no physical form, their bodies like flowing light and shadow, yet they emanated an extremely dangerous and hungry aura. They were interdimensional predators born from these chaotic energy tides.
"Prepare for battle!"
Nikolai set the assault craft to automatic hovering mode and drew the energy gun from his waist. The battle erupted instantly!
These creatures were extremely fast, able to bend space at will for short-distance jumps. Nikolai was battle-hardened, with godlike marksmanship, every high-energy particle beam precisely hitting its target. But there were too many of them.
During one evasive maneuver, a creature appeared silently behind him, its sharp energy claws slashing viciously across his side!
"Hiss——"
The specialized spacesuit was torn open with a huge gash, blood instantly staining the silver-white fabric red. Nikolai let out a muffled groan, turned and shot down that creature, but the intense pain and blood loss made his body suddenly sway.
“Nikolai！”
Serena let out a terrified scream.
When she saw Nikolai injured, saw the cold sweat seeping from his face due to excruciating pain, the last thread of "human rationality" in her mind—concerning vigilance and the distinction between friend and foe—completely snapped.
What remained was only one most pure, most instinctive thought—he cannot die!
She rushed over regardless of everything, using her frail body to shield Nikolai. She had no weapons and almost no fighting capability, but she spread her arms, like a mother beast protecting her young, facing those menacing energy creatures with the most resolute posture.
She reached out her hand, clumsily and forcefully covering Nikolai's abdominal wound, trying to stop his bleeding in this most primitive, most human way. She opened the emergency communication on her spacesuit and called to the distant flagship in a tearful, chaotic Imperial language: "Medical... medical assistance! He's injured! Hurry!"
Nikolai leaned against the cold cabin wall, his consciousness becoming blurred due to blood loss.
He gazed at the trembling yet incredibly resolute figure standing in front of him, at her anxious face that looked like it might break into tears at any moment, and the ice mountain he had guarded in his heart for a lifetime, at this moment, completely and thoroughly melted.
Slowly, using all his remaining strength, he reached out his hand and grasped her small, cold hand that was pressing on his wound.
Serena felt his movement, turned her head, and met his eyes that were beginning to lose focus, yet were filled with dependence and trust.
"Don't be afraid..." he said in a feeble voice, his lips curving into a gentle arc that he himself hadn't even noticed, "As long as... you're here..."
Yes, as long as you're here.
In this broken, cold, hostile universe, as long as you're here, there's nothing to fear.
Serena looked at him, and all her fear, vigilance, and resentment vanished in this moment. She gripped his large hand tighter, as if wanting to transfer all her strength to him.
A cruel life-and-death test had made them completely let go of everything from the past. Their emotions, in this chaotic and destroyed star region, transcended species, transcended identity, and sublimated into something more indestructible than any material in the world.
Around them, those energy creatures seemed intimidated by the intense emotional connection erupting between the two, and they hesitated to advance.
And in this small, protected space, Serena just held the wounded Nikolai tightly, using her body temperature to warm his cooling body. He held her hand in his palm, as if holding his only... anchor in the entire collapsing universe.
In the chaotic core of the Talos star system, at the center of the eye of the storm, they finally saw the true face of that purple crystal.
It was not a natural crystal, but the artificial core of an ancient device so vast it made one's heart tremble. Countless twisted, metallic tentacles glowing with ominous light extended from the core, like the blood vessels of a giant beast, deeply rooted in the "strings" of this space. It resembled a cosmic-scale parasitic heart, each pulse frantically absorbing the life force of the entire star system, converting it into pure, twisted energy of destruction.
This device was "killing" the star system. And once its energy accumulated to the critical point, it would trigger a chain collapse affecting several star regions.
Just as Nikolai approached the device, attempting to analyze its structure, the ancient scar on his arm suddenly sent a wave of searing pain through him!
He looked down and saw that the scar was also glowing with the same eerie purple light as the core of the device. At the same time, he was horrified to discover that among the countless complex symbols engraved on the device's shell, there was a core symbol that was identical to the emblem representing "seal" secretly passed down in his Qin family.
A cold and absurd truth struck Nikolai's soul like a sledgehammer.
This terrifying device designed to destroy star systems... was actually created by his ancestors. And the mission passed down through generations of his family was not glory and conquest, but to guard this... original sin that should never be awakened.
However, the universe didn't give him much time to be shocked.
Dozens of massive space jump points tore open around them without warning! One by one, judgment-class warships, larger than the "Leviathan" and bearing the emblem of the Empire's Supreme Council, emerged like ghosts driving out of hell, surrounding their small assault craft.
The cold, emotionless ultimatum resonated through their communication channel:
"Commander Nikolai, you have violated the Empire's highest code. Surrender the 'unknown specimen' immediately, cease all resistance, and submit to judgment. This is your last chance."
Before them was an apocalyptic device on the verge of going critical; behind them, the judgment fleet representing the Empire's supreme authority.
Nikolai was truly cornered in an impossible situation.
He glanced at Serena beside him. Her small face showed no fear, only complete trust. He turned back to look at the ominous device engraved with his family crest.
In this moment, he reflected on his life. Fighting for the Empire, living for order. But that order demanded he destroy the universe's only hope standing before him. That loyalty was built upon lies his family had used to deceive the entire universe for tens of thousands of years.
He smiled. It was the utterly relieved smile of someone who had cast off all shackles.
"Serena," he turned his head and spoke with unprecedented gentleness, "do you trust me?"
"I do." Serena answered without hesitation, her eyes brighter than any star.
"Good."
Nikolai looked at her deeply, as if trying to engrave her image into his soul. Then, he abruptly turned to face the enormous device, pressing the master communication channel of his flagship, making his voice resound across the bridge of every Judgment-class battleship:
"I, Nikolai, Commander of the Empire's First Fleet, refuse to carry out this order."
"From this moment on, I will no longer fight for the Empire's 'order.' I will fight for the universe's 'balance.'"
These words, resounding with conviction, completely declared his abandonment of everything in his past.
He cut off the communication, ignoring the thunderous fury of the imperial fleet, and instead reached out his hand to Serena: "This device needs two forces to be 'harmonized' again. One is the 'sealing' power from our family bloodline. And the other..."
"Is my 'harmonizing' power, isn't it?" Serena said, understanding immediately.
Nikolai nodded.
Serena placed her hand into his palm without hesitation.
"I entrust everything to you," she said softly, her eyes filled with fearless love and trust.
The moment their hands firmly clasped together, two completely different powers erupted from within them!
A golden light of sealing, full of dominance and order, rose up from Nikolai. While another gentle, pure white light, filled with life and compassion, radiated from Serena.
Two beams of light converged in the sky, spiraling, merging, and finally transforming into a massive column of gold and white light that penetrated heaven and earth, crashing violently onto the core of that ancient device!
"Activate... the countermeasure mechanism!" Nikolai roared with all his might.
The device emitted a painful wail as even more violent destructive energy surged forth, frantically backlashing against them. At the same time, the thoroughly enraged Imperial fleet began its first synchronized barrage!
Hundreds of high-energy beams, like swords of judgment, shot forth from all directions!
“Nikolai！”
Serena watched the barrage filling the sky, looked at Nikolai who was enduring the massive backlash with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and her heart was filled with an overwhelming force.
She unreservedly poured her power, her very soul, through their tightly clasped hands, completely connecting herself with Nikolai.
"In my name, by the strings of the universe..." her voice became ethereal and majestic, as if it was no longer her own, but some ancient deity proclaiming through her lips, "Let all things... return to balance!"
In that instant, her frail mortal body erupted with a brilliant white light so dazzling that even myths would struggle to describe its radiance!
A massive hemispherical shield, composed of pure harmonizing energy, suddenly expanded with them at its center! The shield resembled an immaculate lotus flower, firmly protecting the two of them within.
The synchronized barrage from the imperial fleet hammered against the shield, but only stirred ripples across its surface, unable to inflict the slightest damage!
She alone, with her mortal body, withstood the attack of an entire judgment fleet!
However, such a miracle came at an enormous price.
When the purple light of the core device finally dimmed under the harmonization of the golden-white radiance, when the violent energy tides finally subsided, when the entire Talos system was pulled back from the brink of destruction, that dazzling shield also shattered.
Serena could no longer hold on, having exhausted all her power, she collapsed softly, falling into a deep unconsciousness.
And Nikolai, due to forcibly activating his bloodline power and enduring the device's backlash, was severely injured, with half of his body burned charcoal-black by the energy.
The star realm returned to a deathlike silence.
The once chaotic energy storms had transformed into gentle nebulae. But those dozens of cold Judgment-class warships still surrounded them like a group of silent vultures.
Nikolai held the unconscious Serena, half-kneeling in the void. He raised his head, looking at those gleaming gun barrels, without a trace of despair on his face.
He lowered his head, looking at the pale yet peaceful sleeping face of the girl in his arms, feeling her steady breathing.
He had won. Together, they had won this grand gamble against the universe.
But he had also lost. He lost his past, his glory, and everything he had in the Empire. From today on, his name would forever be branded with the word "traitor."
He needed to bear the pressure from the entire world together with her.
A smile appeared on Nikolai's face, tired yet immensely satisfied. He lowered his head and gently, preciously kissed Serena's forehead with his dry, cracked lips.
Then, in a voice only the two of them could hear, he softly said:
"Let's go home."
