Glitch...
Rip...
Badum. Badum. Badum. Badum...
Space slowly ripped apart as darkness poured out in multitudes. Ti itself seed distorted as everything froze in place.
Absolute zero.
Nothing moved.
Within a dark pool with no end in sight, a feminine figure could be seen walking slowly. Each step caused space to tremble around her. Each step sent cracks spreading across planets.
Each step diluted reality itself.
Each movent made dinsions crumble.
Her eyes were cold, her gaze carrying such terrifying chill that anyone who dared look into them would forever be lost within that frozen mont of ti.
Her steps were precise as she gripped her sword tightly.
Her expression held pure killing intent.
This was Chu Su.
She had undergone her transformation and been reborn anew.
With Ariya’s death, she was now alone with her master, Eli.
But her heart could not calm down.
She was filled with such fury that the building around her began falling apart bit by bit.
"Master..." Chu Su called out softly.
The space before her trembled slightly before Eli appeared, her face carrying a warm smile.
"You succeeded," Eli smiled brightly.
But she could no longer find that sa joy within Chu Su’s eyes.
Slowly, Eli’s expression softened as she sighed.
"Chu Su..." Eli called gently.
"Master, I am fine."
"But I just broke through. I need soone to help get used to my power," Chu Su spoke.
She gripped her sword harder as a soft chi echoed.
A subtle wave spread outward.
Outside, entire universes shattered under the pressure as Chu Su narrowed her eyes slightly.
Then she stepped aside as a portal opened before her.
"There is a child nad Zerath there. At this point, he has only just begun, but he will grow into a terrifying god," Eli spoke calmly.
"Go and see where he started from. Soon, you will be moved into the future, where you will challenge him."
Chu Su frowned slightly.
"Why can’t I just fight his future self?" she asked.
"You will understand later," Eli replied with a aningful smile.
Chu Su simply nodded before entering the portal.
Watching her disappearing figure, Eli muttered softly,
"You are filled with too much hatred..."
She sighed.
It was her fault.
She had allowed Ariya to die at the hands of that demon.
But Chu Su...
Hatred could only take her so far.
She still needed to think about herself.
Eli only hoped this journey would beco sothing aningful for her.
************
Elsewhere..., at a far away universe...
Plop... plop...
I could hear the large drops hitting the ground, like heavy raindrops.
A small puddle had ford, red, and for a brief mont I could see my reflection before it was distorted by the constant fall of the crimson liquid.
In that fleeting mont, I saw one of my eyes gone, half of my face chopped away, and a dimly lit, deep violet eye staring back at .
A deep gash ran across my chest as my thick blood fell to the ground. I could sll the tallic scent and taste it faintly on my lips.
On my knees, I felt my world shatter. My ego was bruised, corrected.
"This wasn’t supposed to happen..." I muttered as blood dripped from my lips.
Yes. None of this was supposed to happen. This world was supposed to bow before ... it should have been just another mission.
My na is Zerath, and I am the Collector. I move between worlds, from planet to planet, with only two missions: collect the world’s Origin Core, containing the history and evolutionary path of its dominant race, and take the strongest, most attractive female for my Master.
It had always been simple. at shortest, I was done in a day; at longest, a week. I never failed. No one, except my Master, could defeat physically.
I had grown arrogant because of it. I didn’t even make plans anymore....just attack, take over, complete the two goals, and leave, leaving the planet destroyed. But who knew that today I would receive a harsh reality check?
Here I am, on my knees, battered. A long gash ran from my shoulder blade to my upper abdon, my organs dangling, blood gushing. All I could see was red.
My head was constantly ringing from the side blow to my left ear. Half of my face had been chopped at various angles and degrees. My eyeball was missing.
All of this—done by a single being.
Aluma. The goddess of this world. My first encounter with a race that could challenge my Aethernox race. I always believed my race was the ultimate one or at least i was invincible, until she revealed the truth I had never known, the reality is hadn’t discover.
"You dare defy a god?" A mocking female voice rang out, cold and chilling. Instantly, a shiver ran down my spine.
Aluma spoke, her voice carrying a divine authority I had never heard before.
Thump.
I felt a familiar weight on my head as my neck was pressed down.
Aluma pressed her foot onto my skull.
"I don’t know which wretched race you co from, but one must know who the superior is and who the slave is," Aluma said—and then, the weight disappeared.
Before I could relax...
Boom.
Crack.
Thud.
My face was kicked, the force breaking my nose as I was lifted and finally slamd onto my back.
The bright sunlight hit my eye.
"Ngh... ha..."
Heavy panting escaped as I felt my heartbeat slow. Once mighty and thunderous, it now faltered, and with it, my limbs went numb, my body heat rapidly dissipating.
A shadow fell over . She stood close to four ters tall, radiating a pressure that seed to command all beings.
Her eyes glimred... sunlight bouncing off them like divine judgnt, an unblemished power that demanded all to bow.
She wore ancient warrior-like attire, barely covering her private areas, muscles gleaming under the sunlight.
On her shoulders rested an almost three-ter-long axe, the head itself a full ter. It was imposing, carrying both divine authority and a savage aura.
"I won’t kill you now. Enjoy the slow tornt as your life ends. Your body won’t be buried but left as a warning to arrogant races like yours," Aluma’s cold words lingered in my ears as she turned and left.
The sunlight struck my only eye as I squinted. mories surged, taking back to my landing on this planet...
---
Boom...
A blur shot past a planet with vast blue oceans and nearly 40% greenery.
A massive sun, over twenty tis larger than Earth’s, shone, and the planet—ten tis the size of Jupiter—lay ahead, the destination of this blur.
All space rocks and debris in its path were obliterated.
Finally, the blur halted at the exosphere of the planet.
It resolved into a humanoid form: two ters tall, clad in dark, tight armor of soft and hard material, with deep violet eyes.
This was Zerath the Collector, here for the planet.
Zerath floated, folding his arms, gazing upon it.
"Another pathetic planet for to destroy," he muttered as he descended, speeds easily surpassing twenty tis the speed of sound.
Glitch...
The mory shattered and overlapped with another...
Boom...
A fist, almost as large as his head, slamd him, his skull hitting the ground. Darkness followed, and he tasted the gritty sand.
---
"Am I going to die?" The mory receded, leaving only thought.
My heartbeat slowed until it was almost imperceptible, barely noticeable to even soone pressing their ear to my chest.
I began to accept my death... perhaps this was the end. Regrets lingered—my na left unknown, the destroyer of my race unpunished, my Master’s mission unfinished.
With that, my eyes finally closed, and my heartbeat ceased.
Seconds passed. Silence reigned. Only the faint fading footsteps of Aluma remained, like a distant beast walking.
Just then...
"Master’s mission..."
Vrooom...
My eye snapped open, the deep violet glow blazing.
I could feel my body being nourished by a terrifying energy.
My limbs reshaped, my organs rebuilt, as my cells divided and I regenerated.
My second eye was restored, and now two deep, glowing violet eyes gazed at the sun.
Whoosh...
Whoosh...
I could feel my cells rejoicing as warm energy filled . New strength coursed through my body. I felt stronger, faster, more complete than ever before.
This was one of the many perks of the Aethernox race. After every battle, as long as our body wasn’t fully destroyed, we could regenerate, heal our wounds, and with it, our new strength could triple, quadruple—or even more—depending on how terrifying our opponent’s attack had been.
For ... my opponent was a god.
Badum...
I felt my strong heart beat pick up as a grin spread across my face.
"I have tasted the power of a god..." I muttered, feeling a soft yet aggressive energy reshape my body, pushing beyond anything I had ever known.
In the distance, Aluma froze as she sensed a surge of energy behind her.
"Is he from a race that can regenerate?" she muttered, a smile crossing her lips.
"Well, it doesn’t matter. I will defeat him once more. This ti... I will make sure to kill him," she thought, dismissing it lightly.
But her grin froze. Her eyebrow twitched as she looked at the spot where Zerath’s body should have been, only to find it had vanished. The blood pool remained, as did the scattered organs, but there was no trail, no trace of footprints.
***
It was as if Zerath had simply disappeared.
"Where is he?" Aluma muttered.
Before she could react further, a terrifying wind slamd against her left cheek.
"Not good..."
Aluma didn’t have ti to respond before a horrifying force struck her.
Booom...
Dust rose like a veil as the ground sank a few inches, cracks spreading for hundreds of ters.
*******
Chu Su looked on indifferently. She could sense a coil of presence surrounding this "Zerath." One could call it luck.
Although Chu Su was not a Daughter of Destiny, her junior brother, Shen Ye, was. She used to sense this sa feeling around him.
So most likely...
Zerath would kill aluma...
But how?
Chu Su was already intrigued.
But then...
Everything collapsed as she appeared within another reality.
Just by being there, she could sense an overwhelming amount of dread, yet at the sa ti, she could also feel life itself.
"You are here. I have been waiting."
A magnetic male voice echoed out as Chu Su saw a dark-haired man overflowing with divinity.
Around him, universes floated endlessly. Realities themselves seed to bend beneath his existence.
He wore a long dark robe that appeared to be woven from countless laws deeply attached to it.
Even without anyone telling her, she already knew who this was.
Zerath.
************************
Cough cough..., hope you guys still rember "chu su"...
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