Galaxy's First Ruler

Chapter 252: The Rise of Shadow Homunculus (3)

BOOOM!!!

... Shake-Shake!!!

Sha never had a Rank, even though she technically was an Item.

From Common to Viscount, she had devoured many Items, regardless of their nature. But the most destructive and unimaginable thing that she had devoured was a Katana.

A Katana called Broken Faith, a King Ranked Item.

Just three words and it would have instilled such fear into the bones of a listener, that all life would seem meaningless. Dukes would sacrifice their dearest kin, and Kings would carry out a massacre to get their hands on such an Item. For even among them, King Ranked Items weren't commodities but blessings.

Sha, on the other hand, was a simple child. She didn't care if the Katana was Ranked Common or even if it had Ranked Emperor, she would have devoured it, nonetheless. To her, it was just food, given by none other than the one and only person she thought to be closest to her.

Her father, Aldrich Guo.

To her, everything about Aldrich was paramount. Of course, while doing such tasks, if she could get to eat delicious "food" then she would never shy away.

SHAKEEEE!!!

The world didn't cease to shake like a piece of dry bough amid a merciless storm for quite some time. And when it did, a mangled figure of dozens of meters long dark serpent got thrown out. The horn on its head had broken and dangled like a pendulum with a string of flesh sticking at its end. It's dark eyes felt lost in the darkness of night, and none could tell if they were open or close.

The most gruesome was its jaws. The lower jaw was gone. It just wasn't there anymore. It was nowhere.

Only a half part of a forked tongue was dangling out of its bloody throat, and there were two massive holes in its upper jaw. The holes looked as if a massive bull had punctured its skull from outside, not once, but many times, repeatedly.

But...

This Dark Horned Basilisk wasn't an actual body, it was a Divine Spirit, a manifestation of the Collective Subconsciousness of an entire race. It didn't matter if it had been disintegrated to pieces. As long as all Basilisks of the same race weren't annihilated at the same time, it wouldn't entirely die.

Aldrich's plan was never to kill it, to begin with.

He appeared on the rocky island, held by Sha over her arms. His gaze was like a hawk planted on the Spirit's body. Instead of falling into the sea, the crack again pulled it, making it go towards outer space.

The Darkness Domain had vanished, and the weakness that had run away returned, bringing along its wrath. Aldrich's entire body shook, and he could barely stand on his feet with Sha's and the Bo staff's help.

Cough!!!

A buried cough escaped out from his throat, and along with it sprinkled out drops of blood.

"Daddy... Sha..."

Aldrich shook his head, hearing Sha's worried voice. Now remained the most cumbersome task, which wasn't a part of his plan. This pull wasn't what Aldrich had accounted for. This pull was a variable that Aldrich would have to improvise for. And this pull was great enough to not let Sha devour the spirit in peace.

"No, it's beyond you..."

Aldrich walked away from Sha and towered at the topmost rock of the island as he saw his "prize" getting away from him.

Houuu!!!

The figure of the spirit passed over Aldrich's head like a missile, and though weak, a shout of conviction came out of his mouth.

"... Sha, Haha! Are you ready?!"

Sha's eyes didn't move away from Aldrich's straight back and his long white hair. Her fists were bleeding from her nails digging in her palms. And a gritting sound kept coming out from her mouth as her teeth rubbed against each other.

Two drops of soundless tears streamed out from the corner of her eyes. And as she plunged into Aldrich's long shadow, she replied.

"Always..."

A smile came upon Aldrich's face. The mask on his face was like a Devil incarnate, but under it was the same man. Aldrich Guo, the oddest creature living among the common people of a town called Leavenworth.

A son, a friend, a scholar, and now a...

Sigh!

Aldrich looked at his Stats, almost all of his Perception had run out. The moment it became zero, he would have to make a run for his life from the impending mutation. This was the moment where all his plans and all his struggle would culminate to. Things had been becoming rough and out of his hands after Chaos' arrival. But if Sha could devour this Spirit, then all the lost lives would have a meaning to him. All beings that had died, or had suffered worse, won't be in vain.

Aldrich brought his hands together and touched his palms as if praying to someone. As he closed his eyes, Sha's memories of the Devil, towering on the Pillar, came running to him. Although there was a difference between that Devil, wreathing in anger, and this Aldrich, the essence of the urgency was the same.

Cough! Cough!!

Two more coughs, two more showers of blood, but the smile on Aldrich was getting bigger and bigger. And just as the Basilisk was about to go out of his reach, words came out of his mouth as if stating the basic law of nature.

"All things in the Universe cower before my might...

... ABSOLUTE PULL!!!"

Banggg!!!

The serpent's body jerked as if a loaded truck had applied an emergency brake. The Pulls were so great that its body stretched out in a straight line, and its pitch black muscles got ripped apart. And the sight of its long body, hovering in a motionless state in the sky, felt like an enormous painting.

"Aaahhhhhhhh!!!"

Aldrich let out a shout, and the veins on his face bulged up. The Rumok on his right hand kept flashing from blue to green and then again. And then again.

Rumok was like pressing a switch. The Almighty Push and Absolute Pull were also instantaneous.

To fight off the Pull from the gargantuan fissure, Aldrich had to keep using the Absolute Pull, time after time. The moment he would stop activating it, the serpent body would go out of his range, and his Perception would also run out for him to go after it. And this activation depended upon Aldrich's speed of thinking.

This sounded simple.

Only Aldrich knew how many times, in a single second, he had activated the Rumok for it to make the serpent hover at a single position. This was a task almost no Dreamer in this Galaxy could do. For it required one to fulfill many conditions. A mind trained for millions of millions of years. A Will, so strong, that it wouldn't break down from concentration on a single thing for long enough.

And a Class called Generalist.

Blood came running out of Aldrich's nose and ears, and through his eyes, Aldrich saw a blurry figure of Sha appearing over Basilisk's body.

Sha was a tiny child. Her face was an imitation, her hairs were an imitation, and her pearly eyes were an imitation. But the sense of urgency Aldrich felt, which was coming out of her through their shared bond, wasn't.

Sha's entire body turned into a blob of shadowy mass, and from this came out a mouth so big that it even shamed the serpent at which it was pointed.

"Arghgghhh... COUGH!!!"

Blood came showering out of Aldrich's mouth, and almost everything became black to him. He could never sleep, he could never lose consciousness, but he could die. Just as his hands separated and fell on his sides, Sha appeared behind him.

A broken voice came out of her mouth as she held Aldrich in her arms.

"Daddy... we... did... it. Sha... ate... ate... Sniff!"

'Haha! Was it delicious?'

Aldrich asked as he saw his Perception was on its last leg from dying away completely. This wasn't a loss of HP or SP, there was no potion to refill it. Aldrich could hardly lift his lips, much less speak out the words. The question that he had asked was just a share of feelings from him to Sha.

Though stiff, Sha let out a smile and nodded her head.

"Umu..."

'Take out Swordfish. Let's get out of this place for now.'

A dark spaceship appeared near the pair just as Aldrich asked for it. Sha lifted Aldrich and dragged him inside the spaceship. Aldrich took out a spare Baron Mana Core and threw it in the hollow opening of the panel.

[...

Mana fuel accepted

State the coordinates for the space jump...

...]

Aldrich put the coordinates of the El Cid Dungeon which he had got from Undead Gary, the Viscount he had killed, outside the dungeon.

Sha put Aldrich on the pilot's seat. As Aldrich saw the notification of coordinates getting confirmed, the entire spaceship lifted and hovered in the sky. The familiar countdown appeared in front of his half-opened eyes, and finally, Aldrich took a breath of relief.

[

4... 3 2

1

0

]

ZzzzzzooooooM!!!

The bill of the swordfish poked the space, making spatial winds and thunder seep out of it. And leaving behind the mutated world, it entered the Void like a ray of light.

But...

Unknown to Aldrich and Sha, just as the Swordfish broke into space, a hiss came out of the crack in the space outside the planet. Apparently, this loss of one spirit got detected sooner than Aldrich had thought it to be. It was all dark within the fissure, and aside from the occasional rustling sound, it was silent as the emptiness of space surrounding it.

To the horror and terror of all beings that had already been mutated, a giant snake-like pupil appeared behind the fissure. This pupil was a slit made of black glossy rock, within which fire raged out like lava streams. And it planted its gaze on the hole that was getting closed behind the disappearing spaceship.

The pupil soon disappeared, and when it seemed like that was it, a chaotic form came slithering out of the fissure. It was like a serpent, but there was no actual body to it. There was no actual color, no actual form. It was just a mass of chaotic information, almost transparent. But the feeling of doom it carried with it was as real as it could be.

Within a fraction of a second, this chaotic serpent reached the hole before it could vanish, and entered it.

Huff! Huff!

Inside the spaceship, Aldrich was taking a deep breath of air from time to time. Sha was sitting beside him, her blue eyes planted on Aldrich's tired face. Aldrich looked down at her and spoke out in his mind.

'It's ok now. Send me the memories of Marquess Nicholas and whatever you can get out of the serpent's spirit.'

Aldrich had been delaying this transfer of memories for a long time. This memory transfer not only took time but also made both Aldrich and Sha vulnerable. He could not take a chance like that. Even Sha, after devouring the serpent, had yet to digest its memories.

Sha nodded and was about to first deal with Marquess' memories when she jumped to her feet like a cat. Aldrich blankly looked at Sha. He could feel nothing because of the loss of Divine Sense. But even then, what could have come after the Swordfish which had used the Skill Light-Year Blink?

Aldrich didn't have to wait for long to find out the answer.

Tak-tak-tak-kat-kat!!!

Sha's teeth clattered, Aldrich's heart skipped a beat. For the first time, Aldrich was seeing terror written on her face. Sha slowly turned her head and looked into Aldrich's baffled eyes.

Time seemed to slow down as her right hand reached towards Aldrich's left hand. Aldrich didn't know why, but he also somehow managed to unfurl his fingers and grabbed Sha's wrist.

BOOOM!!!

The entire spaceship fell apart, and Aldrich hovered in the Void. Thunder roared all around him, and spatial winds howled in the distance. Aldrich tightened his left hand's grip on Sha's wrist, and his eyes fell on the chaotic serpent in front of him.

This serpent was like an infinite rope, whose other end couldn't be seen anymore. Aldrich's entire body shook as he felt the same Chaos out of it, which had made him almost mutate outside the Earl's manor. Its entire body was like an amalgam of chaotic information, which was about to lunge at him and Sha, devouring both of them in one go.

'This...'

Aldrich wasn't as clueless about it after seeing it. He immediately realized why this abomination had come behind them. He looked at Sha, who was also looking at him, and he realized he had miscalculated.

Yes, Aldrich had miscalculated, or it would be right to say that he hadn't calculated far enough. He knew that after losing a part, the owner of the spirit might come after him. And so he had made a plan to fight any being of the level of Divine Spirit Vritra. But when no one came, even after Sha had devoured the Basilisk, Aldrich didn't wait for anyone, either.

He had never thought that the Being behind the crack would realize the Basilisk's absence, and send this chaotic serpent to get it back. Aldrich would have definitely known this if he had heard the answer to his third question. Then, he wouldn't have tried to make Sha devour this Dark attribute serpent.

Just as the chaotic serpent was about to devour both of them, Aldrich shouted in his mind.

'SHA! SHADOW WORLD!!'

Crackkk!

A bolt of lightning passed by them, and Sha plunged in Aldrich's shadow, taking him with her.

There was no other opening in the real world anymore. But Sha didn't care. With Aldrich's hand still grabbing her wrist, she randomly dashed in a direction as fast as she could. And kept going faster and faster.

Hisss!!!

Thump!

This sudden hiss made Aldrich's heart thump, pumping blood, which had settled down after resting in the spaceship.

In the Shadow World, he was even more useless. Aldrich couldn't even turn his head back, but from the way Sha was gritting her teeth, he could tell IT was just behind them. IT was slithering towards them, and with every breath, IT was coming close.

'Sha... Sha, listen. The Scroll, throw the scroll at it.'

Aldrich sent out his thoughts, making Sha lose her momentum. This was the trump card Aldrich had planned for anyone that had come after him to claim the spirit. Alas, he had never thought it would be another KING himself. A black scroll appeared in Sha's hand. And without waiting for Aldrich's command, she threw it at the head of the chaotic serpent, only a few meters away from them.

As the scroll unfurled, a majestic golden shine came out of it, making Aldrich squint his eyes. Every cell in his body wanted him to kneel and submit to this golden shine. The Pillar of Footprints in his right hand thrummed with excitement, leaving his grip, and Justice prevailed in the Shadow World.

Hissssssssss!!!

The chaotic serpent hissed out and collided with the scroll head-on.

BOOOOM!!!

The scroll exploded out in countless blobs of shadowy mass, along with the head of the serpent. Aldrich, in awe, saw as the entire body of the snake disintegrated, covered in a golden shine.

"Wooohooo... Daddy... the best."

Sha let out a victory shout, raising her other hand, and a smile too came upon Aldrich's face.

Life was like this, sadness and grief for a moment, and then joy and happiness for another. But this cycle was unceasing, and it must go on.

The smile on Aldrich's face was genuine, but it vanished as soon as it had appeared. In the distance, as the last traces of the previous chaotic serpent disappeared, three more creatures came into the Shadow World.

Both Aldrich and Sha became quiet and even forgot to run. Sha silently turned around, and with Aldrich's head still pointed in the serpents' direction, she dashed away. Alas, this time, there were no more of those scrolls. Although Sha had devoured it, once destroyed, it would take her time to bring it back into the world. And this time entirely depended on the level of Item she had devoured.

Hiss! Hiss!! Hisss!!!

Ignoring Aldrich, these serpents passed by him and coiled around Sha, like ropes.

Bang!

Sha's entire figure jolted as if she had struck face-ward into a wall. The serpents pulled her back towards the opening Sha had created to come into the Shadow World. And along with her, Aldrich got pulled, too.

"Daddy... Daddy Don't let go..."

Tears and snot came rolling out of Sha's eyes and nose. Even Aldrich didn't notice how she had spoken three words in a row. In his mind, there was only one thought.

'I should leave her. It isn't the time for me to face a King. I can use more Exp to make another Shadow Homunculus.'

But despite these thoughts, the grip he had on Sha's wrist kept tightening.

"Daddy... Daddy... Please don't!!"

Sha kept shouting out. Her other hand became a Bazooka and fired many rounds at the snake, but there was no effect. Her hand became a dark Katana, but though its sharpness cleaved into those chaotic serpents' skins, it couldn't slash them apart.

'It's just an Item. I am a Scholar, Psychologist, and a Researcher.'

Aldrich thought, but his teeth had already ripped off his gums. His eyes were bleeding from the pull he was exerting on Sha, and his head was throbbing from the anger coming out of his pores.

It was a struggle.

It was a struggle between a Polymath, and... a father.

Hisssss!!!

"Daddy... don't let... go. Sniff! Daddy... I won't eat much... Just... just a little."

Haha...

Aldrich let out a laugh... not in his mind, not out of his mouth, but in his heart.

Sigh!

'Yes, I...'

"Daddy..."

'Yes, I won't let go of a member of my family. I will never.'

In the dark Shadow World, the father and daughter looked at each other. The three chaotic serpents were like metallic chains, pulling them, jerking them. But among these jerks was a smile on their faces. Buried under the tears, Sha looked into Aldrich's white eyes and nodded.

"Umu..."

Things had suddenly changed in the perspective of all those who were watching this scene and reading about it.

Sha wasn't just an Item anymore, and Aldrich wasn't just Sha's owner.

Those who would threaten a person Aldrich cared for would vanish.

Those who would harm a person Aldrich cared for would disappear.

And those who would touch Sha would cease to exist.

'DEVIL... ARISE!!!'

Houuuu!!!

A sinister wind howled in the Shadow World, and a dark opening appeared beside Aldrich. Deep inside this opening, two golden points of light flashed, and a laugh came out, shaking Aldrich to his core.

"Heh Heh HAHAHA! You have gone soft. Now, pay the price for these useless emotions."

Aldrich fumingly gazed as the words echoed about him. The opening vanished just as mysteriously as it appeared, leaving behind the hint of that cruel laugh.

"Daddy... Sha..."

Sha was almost getting crushed by the snakes, and as she saw this scene, she looked at Aldrich. Her broken words rang out, but Aldrich laughed and let go of his anger.

'Don't worry, Sha. Daddy is still awesome...

... RECORD, I, the GOD OF WHITE AND BLACK, on the authority of my status as a Legend, request to sacrifice all my Skills, Levels, and Ranks, for lifting the seal on Broken Faith.'

A hole opened up on Aldrich's forehead, and the blurry image of Dark Sapling appeared behind him. Except for his Class-specific Skills, all Skills vanished one by one. Target Lock, All Proficient, World Scorching Dual Devastation, none remained. Such was the case with his Passive Skills, too.

But as the turn of Shared Vision came, a red notification appeared in front of him.

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[...

The Will of the OLDEST ONE has negated your sacrifice...

...]

'No... NOOOO!'

Aldrich felt... he didn't know himself what he felt then.

Sha gave him a gentle smile. As she saw her legs going out of the opening, she bit down on her lips.

"Daddy..."

'Sha SHA! DON'T LET GO!!!'

"Daddy... hehe! Daddy... Take care..."

'SHAAA!'

"Daddy... Sha I I love you..."

Sha's hand in Aldrich's grip twisted, and as Aldrich saw her getting ripped away from his grip, leaving behind nothingness, a scream came out of his mouth.

"SHAAAAAAAA!!!!"

*

Rise... Rise...

Rise...

Who would be the one to tell Aldrich?

Who would tell him that none in this universe could rise without falling first...

--------

END OF VOLUME 2: THE RISE OF SHADOW HOMUNCULUS