Galaxy's First Ruler

It had been 6 hours since the members of the Thousand Faces Guild entered the Dungeon.

The scenes within the Dungeon were full of excitement, the occasional laugh, and a showcase of power. Contrary to them, the world outside was even quieter. None knew why the world had fallen silent, but most of the Dreamers could feel this silence's heaviness. Maybe the source of this heaviness was because of the approaching Random-Allocation.

Or maybe the source of this heaviness was a single hall, occupied by the three Barons, scientists, and the world's prominent leaders. Despite the presence of the infamous Black Hand, all eyes had been staring at the vast screen and the man under it.

Mr. Santino, chairman of the World Space Administration.

The bald chairman had a trimmed beard and tall stature. But all could see the word 'Defeat' written in the chairman's eyes. For the first time in his career, Mr. Santino had no solution to a problem. And if he didn't have any solution, then it meant that none in the world could come up with any either.

"How long?" Baron Matsumoto Sho asked.

It wasn't apparent what the Dreamer had asked, but all questions had been pointed in one direction since the beginning. One of the scientists stood up and approached Mr. Santino. The answer to this question differed and shortened every time.

"3 days," the Chairman said, slamming the report back onto the table.

Baron Sho closed his eyes and rubbed the butt of the sword on his waist. None knew what he was thinking, but the tiny snowflakes appearing and vanishing around him could portray the conflict in his emotions. And the same confusion and emotions were visible on the other two Baron too.

On Sho's left, the Black hand had a swirl of black fog masking his face. But even Baron Logan felt this secrecy was becoming unnecessary. The time of the world's gaining strange abilities had barely crossed the mark of a year. And heaven's tribulation had already come knocking on its door. The only difference being one could have at least some hope to survive a heaven's tribulation.

Baron Edmund, sitting on the right of Sho, had been staring at the ceiling of the hall. He didn't know if it was a coincidence or not, but the Masked Menace's warning kept repeating itself in his mind. In a bleak but clear voice, words came out of his mouth.

"Can't we do anything?"

The hall was as silent as it could be. Who could dare to answer such a question when the stakes behind it comprised the entire human race. But in the end, someone had to say the words that none wanted to hear. The WSA's chairman approached his chair and, with a loud thump, slumped down within its embrace.

"What can we do? This 'thing' is like a machine running on a powerful engine. It keeps getting sped up towards the Earth. Just look at its size!"

Mr. Santino pressed a switch, and the blurry object's data flooded the screen. And the easiest thing to read was also the deadliest among them. This reading spanned the entire asteroid and the sheer value of it gave goosebumps to all who knew its meaning.

Baron Sho opened his eyes and saw the 200 km written across the object. Even after not being a man of science, he had a basic idea of the earth's limit. An asteroid of this size was big enough to wipe any trace of life on the planet.

"I am out of here."

All eyes moved towards Edmund as he pushed back his chair and meekly said the words. Everyone's breathing was already rough and heavy. And seeing the Baron leaving the hall like that made them again face the inevitable doom.

"Where?" Sho asked, and probably only he dared to.

"To find the person who might have some answers."

*

"KNEEL."

As Boomie's word reached the Chimera, its entire body became heavy. The pull towards the earth was so strong that it struggled to keep itself in the air. But even if it could resist the pull, the huge wings seemed to be incapable of supporting its increased weight. Succumbing to its fate, at last, the monster came crashing onto the lake of Lava.

BANG!!!

"Seriously? Kneel?" asked Aldrich, approaching Boomie from behind.

"What? Oh! You are the one to lecture me about names. Humph! It at least sounded cooler than just saying 'Gravity'," Boomie harrumphed.

Unlike Aldrich's, the Rumok on Boomie's hand specialized in Gravity manipulation. Unfortunately, Aldrich could only figure out the symbols to increase it for now. But it already seemed to be a tremendous boost in Boomie's fighting capabilities. Aldrich had theorized that Boomie could easily handle himself against a Baron with its help.

The Divine Beast tried to come out from the Lava pool but with its increased weight, it couldn't even move its head properly. Aldrich approached the pool with lava spilling out of it from time to time and stopped at its bank. To the amazement of Boomie and the Chimera, Aldrich crouched down and his hand reached towards the lake of molten rocks.

"BANISH."

The entire lake shuddered and the blast of heat coming out of it vanished. Without the heat, the lava solidified in a matter of seconds. And before the Rumok could lose its effect, the Crawler was already embedded up to its knees in the earth.

"Who… Who are you?"

The Chimera was so shocked that it even forgot to break out of its binds. The blurry shadow under Aldrich's feet squirmed as a long pole came out of it. But it wasn't the pole, it was the Stone Splitter. Aldrich approached the Crawler and looked up into its eyes. They had lost the madness and only the traces of fear and hate were visible within them.

Aldrich enhanced his strength and remembered the Item's stats. The Stats that had suited the Item of a Demigod.

[…

Item: Stone Splitter

Type: Heavy Sword

Rank: Rare

Durability: 3000/3000

Minimum Usage Condition: Strength 55

Description: A heavy sword that absorbs its wielder's strength

Item-specific Skill: Megaton Crusher

Item-specific Skill consumption: 300 SP

Item-specific Skill's Detail: Deals damage proportional to the increase in Dreamer's strength

Warning: The Strength absorbed would decrease with an increase in Dreamer's Rank

Warning: The Item's durability would remain unchanged

...]

The biggest flaw of the Stone Splitter was its Durability. Even if Aldrich could use unimaginable strength, there wasn't much he could have done if the Item couldn't handle the blow. But the Shadow Homunculus had eliminated this flaw.

Within Rare Rank, Aldrich could freely pour his strength into the beast-like weapon. The shadowy vapor emanating out of the sword churned in happiness. Aldrich jumped and reached the beast's eye level. His muscles wriggled as he raised the sword and brought it down like a judgment.

MEGATON CRUSHER!

As the sword's edge was about to crush the Chimera's head, in that fraction of a second, an evil smile came upon its face.

"Vengeance will be sought upon who defies the Divine. Humph! You think you can have sex with…"

BOOM!!!

The Shadow Homunculus wasn't an Item of patience. Despite Aldrich's command of canceling the Skill, it crushed all the Crawler's heads. The image of the next meal, after killing the Rare Crawler, had already occupied the intelligent Item's thoughts. Aldrich frowned, but before he could berate the Item, his forehead itched with a slight burn.

A purple tattoo of a goat's head and a snake coiled around its two horns flashed with an ominous glow on his face.