Skyfire Avenue

Were it not for the fact that they knew this to be an enemy to their species, they would be stricken by its magnificence.

An Immortal Realm? Was this the paradise these monsters wished to build for themselves?

Kang Hui was similarly taken aback. He suddenly found himself questioning his doubt over the old tales. Before his eyes the aliens were establishing a new heaven, but an empty one. No gods roamed its vistas. All they felt was an impregnable quality.

No sooner had the throat crossed Kang Hui’s mind than the atmosphere of Europa gathered together. A glorious scene of golden clouds appeared before him, and from its depths appeared a single figure.

From the depths of space the admiral saw him, clear as if he were standing a few feet away. The bastion blocked the view for the Paragons, but they watched a stream of the feed on their communicators.

Monarch. Unmistakably, Monarch.

This was one different from his avatars. He was clad in an opulent robe of silk with a crown upon his head. Monarch looked like the Jade Emperor himself from the old Chinese tales. His golden attire was as stately as it was magnificent, silhouetted against the shining clouds behind. He looked transcendental.

Monarch’s ‘voice’ boomed far across space. “Witness this, the birth of an era; the era of new gods. Those who surrender will be lifted up as custodians of our new paradise. We will strive toward our goal of usurping the universe, together. Those who resist will be reduced to dust and lost to the darkness of time.”

The more he spoke the more it seemed like a tale from the pages of ancient history. This newly crafted utopia and its robe-clad master were exactly as they were described thousands of years ago.

Was it done? Was his ascension complete?

The Paragons surrounded Lan Qing and the others felt their hearts drop into their stomachs. They were a moment too late. Now they looked on helplessly at the culmination of the aliens’ plans. Three had become one, the Paragons shuddered to think how powerful this single being was.

Kang Hui sat silent on the bridge, staring at the scene unfold. He didn’t dare give the order to attack, he knew the calamity it would cause. Long ago the ships had put all power to their shields, though little help it would serve them. For now they just waited.

From a strictly scientific standpoint there was nothing to suggest this planet was a threat aside from its anomalous creation. Only, just then Europa began to move. It began by spinning, and picked up speed until it was kicked off its orbit. It slowly began to bear down on their position.

Needless to say it was a big deal when a planet shifted orbit. It was not a common thing to witness.

Turning An Lun from a planet into a bastion had taken the East years of toil. It was only possible because of the world’s molinite core. There had never been anything like it before.

In contrast to An Lun, Europa was several times larger. As it moved, it destabilized the whole galaxy.

“Do you still not understand?” Monarch’s voice was cold and distant. The golden clouds beneath his feet began to swirl like a tempest around him. As they watched his body began to grow.

In mere moments Monarch was a colossus. He was a pillar that literally joined heaven and earth. So large in fact that Europa looked less like a plant and more like a vehicle for this humongous god. The aura that had protected it adapted to fit.

Monarch was already several times the size of Tyrannosaurus. Although the Paragons could also grow in size, even at their largest they were infinitesimal compared to this monster.

“Attack!” Kang Hui shouted.

Tyrannosaurus, having had its main guns charged and ready, fired a salvo. A beam of supercharged energy headed right for Monarch’s mouth.

“Naïve.” He scowled at the humans with thick disdain. Confident in his abilities Monarch stretched out his right hand to intercept the shot.

He was going to block a bastion’s main weapon with his bare hand! Stunned, the humans looked on as he caught the attack in the palm of his hand. Instantaneously a while light appeared around Monarch and caused him to grow even further. Shots from other bastions and ships didn’t even made the golden aura ripple. Each blow was sucked up like water.

“I have already told you, this is paradise. You mortals have no power here.” Europa heaved Monarch forward as the beast thrust a palm toward Tyrannosaurus.

Dodging wasn’t an option. Monarch’s sheer size outclassed Tyrannosaurus by several times.

Boom- -! The force of the impact seemed to make the whole universe shake. The explosion that followed was almost deafening.

The first vessels to erupt were the support vessels in front of Tyrannosaurus. Their strongest shields meant nothing, they were wisps of smoke before Monarch reached them. Once his palm began to rip through the ones that were left behind showed them this was a real physical entity, not some illusion.

Whatever unfortunate crew was the palm when it passed were destroyed. Majestic ships became burning balls of slag in the blink of an eye. Nothing seemed to stop it, until Monarch’s strike eventually came into contact with Tyrannosaurus.

Bo-o-omm--! The explosion tore across hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Monarch power was beyond humanity’s worst expectations.

Tyrannosaurus shield only held for three seconds, then it was knocked away. An enormous palm print was embedded across one hemisphere.

Spectators all across space were silent. Tyrannosaurus was one of the most outstanding achievements accomplished by man. Never would they have thought to see the day when it would be swatted away like a fly, yet that is precisely what happened.

What they did not know that their precious ship survived only by the grace of Monarch himself. If he’d willed it, put all of his power into that palm, he could have eliminated Tyrannosaurus entirely.

Without Tyrannosaurus, Lan Jue and the other Paragons were revealed to the newly ascended deity.

Heron was screaming in from the side with its guns aimed on Monarch. On the other flank, Poseidon was doing the same. Both of them engaged with cannon fire. No one expected their shots to do any damage, they only hoped to give the sword bearers more time.

Middle Heaven was moving in quick from the rear. It was already glowing orange, all of the core was being tapped. It looked like a giant comet. Their shots were meaningless, so the bastions aimed to put themselves physically between the Paragons and this monster.

A sneer slithered across Monarch’s face. As the bastions were bearing down on him, suddenly he was gone.

No, not gone. Smaller. In a blink of golden light his massive form was gone and the bastions lost their target and were in danger of running into each other. Pilots raced to get the ships under control and avoided a collision.

Middle Heaven was still heading right for Europa. It was flung back by that thin but impossibly firm aura of golden light.

Monarch returned to the size of an average human and appeared before the Paragons. Light surrounded him, lent from Europa. He did not rush to attack, deigning instead to peer in curiosity at the streamers of luminescence that hung in the air. They’d already begun to weave themselves into the Banishing Strategy. He allowed the sensation to wash over him in silence.

Everyone was afraid. If this being could slap aside an entire bastion, what sort of damage could it do to them?

The Banishing Strategy also seemed to be nearing completion. Lan Jue and the others were lost within the blazing amalgamation of light. The only sign they remained was the odd flicker of their respective hues. However no one could be sure when – and if – the Strategy would be completed.

“Is this your means of defeating me? Indeed it does possess a peculiar quality. Even as a god I can sense the danger in it.” Monarch spoke as though he were musing out loud, or like a mouse teasing a rat it had caught. He was in no rush, he wanted to sate his curiosity.

“Let me take a closer look.” He lifted his hand and two figured appeared in a flash of light. One was the Violet Prince, and the other was the three-headed six armed abomination Lan Jue had fought against.

Both of them were surrounded by golden light as well.

“Try to harm them. Let’s see how they react.” Monarch cooed.

He looked down on the humans with eyes full of arrogance, even though he knew the sort of power Ultus contained.