CARS was practically the size of a mini planet, and as yet under the murderous bombardments from hundreds of treacherous children's starships, the massive space structure still shuddered terribly. Each and every compartment rang with a terrifying explosion, and the massive and sturdy crystal dome and prisms creaked under the massive quake and the energy-infused crystals started bursting one after another, a stinging odour permeated across the corridors as arcane energy floated about in a cloud of mist.
Along the way, the combat team encountered a fight much more difficult than expected. The one stopping them was not Hao Ren and his crew, but the station's security measures that was activated: Glowing arcane guardians, combat droids with countless of metallic tentacle, and turrets popping out from the walls and the roof. These seemingly random items had a combat capacity beyond their expectation, and the elite soldiers had paid a bloody toll against the unmanned units. By the time they got towards a catapult channel where the void outside was faintly visible, the combat team was down to less than one-third of its original compliment.
"Damn it.... what are these things...." The sceptre wielding commander cursed as he held his arm. "When did this mysterious force appeared in this universe...."
"They probably came from another world," the prisoner recalled the unusual strength Hao Ren and his crew had as he warned hurriedly. "I heard that they were talking about going between worlds. Beware, they would risk everything to take me back."
"Leave that until after we get out of here alive." The commander grumbled as he led his men dashing through,
At the same time, they felt a very unusual shudder from the floor.
The walls on both sides and the ceiling suddenly changed shape at the same time and were closing in.
"They are trying to lock us in!" the commander roared. "Everyone, move! Move! Get out of here!"
Even as self-proclaimed 'Gods', the treacherous children still had self-preservation instincts. As doom was just before them, everyone exploded into lightning speed. The prisonr too was surprised that he still had such strength after being incarcerated for so long. He quickly rose into the air and dashed forward, with wind whistling by his ears as the encroaching ceiling and walls disappeared from his sight, and turned into a blurry mirage. A few beams shot out from behind, and he heard the death cries of his kin. The tentacled droids may have already caught up with them, but he did not look back. What was the use of it? It'll just cause everyone to perish here.
So he flew as fast as he was able to. The last ten meters, the last five meters, the last meter, and in a blink of an eye, he was now free.
He went through a very thin light membrane, and this was probably the space station's filtering screen. After stepping into the void, only then did he let out a sigh of relief. The voice of the commander that saved him appeared in his head. "Seems like only two of us made it out alive."
The now-free treacherous child turned back to look at the space station that held him captive until today, and search for the spot that led to his escape. He saw a blastdoor that had just closed, and some golden blood spurted out from the seams of the blastdoor, turning into quickly condensing blood mist.
Behind him some distance away, the golden starships still continued to bombard the space station's seemingly impregnable energy barrier.
A small shuttle quickly flew towards them, and the shuttle had a curved lobster-like shape to it. The commander tapped the prisoner on his arm. "Lets make our move. I'll explain to you everything once we are back on the ship."
The prisoner nodded, but as he saw the shuttle he popped a curious question. "A planetary fighter craft? Why is it used here?"
"...This world has already been upended, you'll definitely have many questions waiting to be answered." The commander shook his head. "That war was ten thousand years ago."
They got on to the shuttle and under the cover of friendly vessels they safely got back onboard the flagship. As they step into the ship, only upon seeing the familiar decorations and floating sculptures did they two heave a sigh of relief, as they had survived a brutal and harrowing prison break.
Once their target was secured, the fleet immediately broke off, and the massive gilded starships initiated another warp jump just like how they came. Once the universe outside fully faded to black, the commander only then asked the soldier that he had just saved. "What's your name?"
"Nacruel." The newly freed treacherous child was still drowning in his euphoria from the breakout, and answered reflexively. After then, only did he remembered to ask the whereabouts of his kin. "Where did you come from? And for us to have such a fleet... Is our people still flourishing?"
"I'm curious to know what did those people inside the space station told you."
"They said that our kin had been completely eradicated by divine wrath." Nacruel frowned. "And they said that it was ten thousand years ago. As the Solenne Gateway was trapped in a time flux, I remained in time for ten thousand years."
"They were not completely lying." The commander nodded. "This is indeed ten thousand years later. As for us... This is a very long tale. Wait till we get back to our base then I'll let you see what's left of us. That war had destroyed almost everything, and our people came out worse of it. The remaining people and technology had long deviated."
As he said, the commander smiled. "So when we got news that the Solenne Gateway had suddenly reappeared, and when we detected the traces of space-time distortion and your trail, everyone was escatic. You are now a living treasure, and as you had lived through the war, you know many things that we don't."
The commander noticed Nacruel's indecision, and patted him on the shoulder. "You need to remember the honour of our people, and not be broken by such tribulations. Now what we need to do is to rebuilt our glorious past, and everything you know is important to us."
Nacruel gave the action of patting his a confused look, before nodded slowly. "... I will give my all for the rebuilding of our divine civilisation."
He then quickly reminded the commander, "You need to be wary of those within the crystal space station. While this may be a setback for them, they'll definitely seek retribution at all cost. They have powers beyond what I've seen, and that space station is just a very tiny part of their massive strength. Their leader even have a very revolting stench to him, and it smells like something to do with the old gods."
The commander just gave a light nod before leading Nacruel deeper into the starship. On the way, Nacruel noticed that the manpower on the ship was very minimal, and everyone was in a hurry. There were no chatter between them at all, leaving him perplexed. "Even the 'Divine Spirit' class ships are so sparsely manned?"
"That war took a bloody toll on us, and those survived were affected by the Goddess' curse. Even after ten thousand years, our population never recovered." The commander explained, rather murkily. "So now what we need to know is how our warriors ten thousand years ago had obtained the power to fight against the Goddess. We need to regain this power, or our people will perish under the curse."
"The Goddess' Curse?" Nacruel slowed down his footsteps. "And you don't even know what happened in the war?"
"Yes, the Goddess' Curse not only took our lives, it had also caused distortions in our memories and cognitive abilities. Those who had survived the war quickly withered away, and did not leave much knowledge behind." The commander explained it in very simple terms. "So how did the warriors of yore overcame the power of divinity? We had only found runes from the equipment left behimd, but they were only effective against the Goddess' own weapons, but not herself. This left us very perplexed, without such a powerful strength, how did the warriors ten thousand years ago accomplished the feat of god slaying?"
"Have the Cosmic Progenitor abandoned you all..." Nacruel had a very confused tone in his voice. "That can't be right... It had already infused divinity into our spirits, and our resistance to divinity and divine magic should be permanent..."
"The Cosmic Progenitor?" The commander's voice suddenly rose, and he quickly realised his slip up and immediately put on a stern look again. "We only know of the name, but no longer know its origins."
"Can our people no longer hear that voice?" The great voice from the Origination of Worlds? Nacruel stopped and his expression changed immediately before turning glum. "I've always felt something was weird..."
"I can understand. You have been apart from us for almost ten thousand years." The commander responded with a nonchalant nod. "Let me bring you to meet the leader on this ship.He will have plenty to ask, like the whereabouts of the sword that slew the Goddess."
Nacruel did not say anything, and just stood there impassively. The commander raised an eyebrow as he turned back. "What's wrong?"
"I admit, I have underestmated you." Nacruel stared into the eyes of the 'commander'. "I never thought you'd be so cunning."
Before Nacruel, Hao Ren shrugged. "So when exactly did I got found out?"