Galaxy's First Ruler

"AUNT!!!"

The finger-length fairy materialized in the Queen's chamber and dropped Boudicca on the floor.

The moment her feet landed, the bloody figure of Boudicca lunged at the towering Queen Eluned standing a few feet away from him. Eluned's eyes had gone red from the sheer raging Mana coming out of them. But her wrath wasn't pointed at Boudicca.

As Boudicca ran towards her, shouting maniacally, she stumbled and fell at Eluned's feet. The Queen's feet were bare, but they were so clean that not any footwear could enhance the beauty they had about them.

"Humph!"

Queen Eluned harrumphed, and with her breasts heaving up and down, she jerked her finger at Boudicca.

A green wave of Mana, like an immense waterfall, covered Boudicca, healing all her wounds and fatal injuries. Alas, even Queen Eluned and Boudicca knew these injuries were nothing compared to the word Fallen in Boudicca's Record.

Boudicca, with her face down, again shouted.

"Aunt! You must save him. Save him..."

Eluned raised her brows and scoffed.

"Heh! Do you think I got you out of there without a price?! Do you have any idea who IT was there? Do you think you could even leave that place if IT didn't want you to?"

"This..."

Boudicca snapped her head towards Eluned, hearing these questions. Her face had become an incarnation of horror. A sudden terrifying thought came rushing to her, and a rough voice came out her throat as he stood up, holding Eluned's hand as if in a trance.

"After so long... Aunt, after so long, I saw a hint to get her back..."

Boudicca's eyes looked into those of Eluned's and brokenly continued.

"... If you can only save one life, then let me go back there and bring him here alive."

*

Sha ran through Shadow World like a child after an ice cream truck.

Her hand was grabbing Aldrich's ankle, and as he couldn't move, his entire body flailed around like an exaggerated cartoon figure. The shouts coming out of his mouth were completely ignored by drooling Sha. Aldrich could feel there was only one thing in her mind.

"Daddy... food... will... get away."

"SHA! LET ME..."

This was the limit to which he could shout in the Shadow World, anymore, and it would feel like something had permanently glued his teeth. Aldrich was truly angry this time, less because of Sha's behavior, and more from her timing. He was just about to learn something which had perplexed him for a long time. And though Aldrich would never mind finding this answer out by himself, he wasn't on Barren Earth anymore.

Any and every mystery could become another irresistible and indefensible weapon in his hands. When the time would come, it wouldn't matter how he had got his hands on that mystery, to begin with.

Aldrich's white eyes fumed in sheer fury when Sha stopped and peeked her head out. Soon she pulled out Aldrich and let him fall at the top of the steep rock. Before doing anything, Aldrich took a big step towards Sha and spoke out through gritted teeth.

"Sha... Explain yourself."

Sha's eyes were wide, looking in a certain direction, but it seemed she had too sensed the anger in Aldrich's voice. Sha pouted, and giving Aldrich an innocent look, she replied.

"Ah?! Explain... what... Daddy?"

From the way she kept looking down, avoiding eye contact with Aldrich, it was clear that Sha knew she had something wrong again. Aldrich lifted the Pillar of Footprints, making Sha flinch, and just as it seemed Aldrich was about to smash her head, he gently tapped it on her forehead.

"I lost an enormous opportunity, bigger than this task."

It seemed this gentle tap and Aldrich's calm words were enough to make Sha cry. Her blue eyes became teary, and her nose became watery. Sha massaged her forehead and pointed at Aldrich before shouting out.

"YOU... Daddy... you... never tell... Sha... anything. How... Sha know... by... herself... Sniff!"

Sigh!

Aldrich sighed, seeing this tantrum, and with this sigh, he let go of all the pent-up anger. The point was, he needed to make Sha understand her fault. If every time she kept letting her hunger get the better of herself, then it would harm her and eventually Aldrich's plans, too.

Aldrich shook his head and took a glance at his surroundings.

Whoosh! Swashhh!!!

All around him was a layer of a turbulent sea. Waves, hundreds of meters high, were crashing on the rocky island Aldrich and Sha was standing on. There was nothing in sight farthest into the dark horizon. In the sky, there was still a blurry hint of the moon, and serpents getting pulled were few and far between.

The island they were standing on was like a congestion of many massive rocks, forming a hill. Suddenly, when Aldrich was still taking in all the terrain and its potential use for the upcoming fight, everything went blurry in his eyes. His footing slipped, but before he could fall, Sha lunged at him and held him up.

"DADDY..."

"Tch!"

Aldrich somehow stood up, and he could feel the strength leaving his legs and his entire body as if someone were sucking it away. His Divine Sense was only a few minutes away from running dry, and after that, it would be a blessing if could even open his eyes.

"How much longer..."

Aldrich asked, almost leaning on the tiny frame of Sha. Her eyes had become dry from the sudden shock and the traces of extreme worry couldn't be hidden any longer. Sha slowly brought Aldrich near to a rock and made him lean on it. She looked towards the east and pointed in that direction.

"Daddy... there... 15 seconds."

15 seconds weren't much, but it was enough for Aldrich to do little things. He sent a trace of Mana into the FIR and took out many HP, MP, and SP potions.

Gulp!

Aldrich poured all of them down like water in his throat, and as he felt some vigor coming back to him, he saw a fluctuating silhouette in the distance. Even before the full image of this serpent could be seen by him, Aldrich felt a wave hitting his face, lifting the corners of his lips in an evil grin.

This wave wasn't wet, and it wasn't the foaming water of the surrounding sea.

This wave... was the wave of Darkness.