Time lost its anchor in the silent cage Taviel meticulously wove.
Mark, the son of a star who once illuminated the galaxy, was now merely a hollow shell floating in absolute nothingness.
The whispers of the Great Old Ones were no longer an external invasion, but poisonous vines growing from the deepest cracks of his consciousness, entangling his remaining fragments and weaving illusions of ultimate despair.
The whispers, like ice water, seeped into his shattered mind.
"Look at them... your comrades for whom you sacrificed everything..."
The deep gray void twisted, and illusions descended, incredibly real.
Allen stood in the center of the Crown of Stars' magnificent council hall, adorned with the splendid sash bestowed by the Council of Elders, his face bearing a coldness and detachment Mark had never seen.
He spoke to Mark's broken image in the holographic projection, his voice cold as iron.
"Mark's radical approach has proven to be a disaster for the Alliance. His era is over. The Resources Committee will ensure the Alliance moves towards a more stable and efficient future."
In his hand, he held the broken pen.
That was the weapon symbolizing a complete break!
Eve's figure appeared, her psionic aura emitting an ominous purple glow, her eyes hollow, leaning against Trigg.
Trigg's mechanical prosthetic arm casually stroked her golden hair, and her gaze towards Mark's phantom was filled with disdain and loathing.
"You are just... an outdated nuisance."
Her lips moved silently, conveying a piercing coldness.
Rudy was drunk and incoherent in a corner of a dirty space bar, roaring wildly into his communicator.
"Mark? That self-righteous idiot! If it weren't for him leading us to our deaths, I'd still be free in my lab! He deserves to rot in a cosmic dumpster!"
The sound of a breaking bottle was jarring.
The army of ten thousand, in the illusion, transformed into a grim courtroom.
They wore tattered prison uniforms, their faces gaunt, but their eyes burned with malice. They accused him in unison, their voices merging into a grating noise.
"It's all your fault! You killed us, you abandoned us, you don't deserve to be a leader!"
Countless withered fingers, like arrows, pointed at Mark's soul.
"Look... everything you protected... despises you..."
"Your sacrifice... is worthless..."
"You... are completely forgotten... abandoned..."
Whispers and illusions intertwined, like billions of poisonous needles, repeatedly piercing Mark's last vestiges of consciousness.
The despair of loneliness, betrayal, and complete negation cut deeper than the blades of the Silent Slayer.
He felt his very existence being stripped away, denied, and turned into nothingness by these real betrayals.
The belief in protection collapsed, the reasons for fighting disintegrated. He was like a stubborn rock thrown into the sea of nothingness, sinking continuously under the cold and pressure, his points of consciousness growing weaker and weaker, about to be extinguished completely.
The illusion suddenly shifted, grand to the point of suffocation.
The planets he had once protected, the brilliant galaxies, the prosperous civilizations, like paintings thrown into strong acid, rapidly dissolved and decayed before Mark's eyes!
Stars dimmed and went out one by one, like candles blown out.
Vibrant planets instantly turned into scorched earth, vegetation withered, rivers dried up, and cities became twisted, smoke-emitting ruins.
Countless beings turned to ashes in silent wails, their fear and despair forming a tangible black torrent that swept across the starry sky.
Space itself began to twist and tear, revealing the churning, unnameable chaotic colors behind it. The massive, writhing, shadowy body of the Great Old Ones, composed of countless doorways and tentacles, slowly squeezed out from this wound in the universe.
Its will, like viscous ink, greedily smeared, covered, and devoured the last bit of starlight.
"This is... the end of what you protected..."
"All things will eventually... return to silence... return to Us..."
"Your struggle... accelerated... the end..."
The final image froze on the Great Old Ones' shadow completely covering the entire universe, turning it into an eternal, cold, meaningless absolute void.
Mark felt himself to be a part of this void; his consciousness, memories, name, emotions...
Everything that constituted Mark returned to oblivion in this ultimate devourment, a darkness that erased even the concept of existence, gently and irresistibly embracing him.
Sinking... endless sinking...
Just an instant before his consciousness was about to completely dissipate and merge into that ultimate void.
A voice, gentle, loving, carrying the scent of sunshine and grass, like the first spring breeze piercing through endless glaciers, sounded without warning in the deepest part of his soul.
"Mark, my little star... it's time to come home for dinner..."
It was his mother's voice!
Not the coldness of an illusion, but the warmest, most real echo from the depths of memory!
This voice was like a giant rock thrown into still water, stirring ripples at the bottom of the ocean of consciousness. Immediately, more memory fragments, forcibly suppressed and buried by the Great Old Ones' whispers and despairing illusions, like a awakened galaxy, suddenly burst forth with brilliant light!
His father, wearing his faded plaid shirt, squatted on the backyard lawn in the sunset, patiently teaching his young son to identify a ladybug with his rough but incredibly warm large hand.
His father's gentle, encouraging smile was full of pure love and trust.
"See, Mark, life is wonderful, isn't it?"
Earth, his youth.
The noisy school bell, the smiling faces of friends with their arms around each other's shoulders.
"Hey! Mark! What are you dawdling for? Our usual spot, the new pizza place, no seats left if you're late!"
The summer heatwave, the rustle of bicycle wheels on asphalt, the sweetness of iced soda, the unrestrained jokes and horseplay among friends...
That was the carefree and genuine friendship of youth.
His first awakening of power was not fear, but to protect the startled classmates behind him. Facing the out-of-control school bus, his body instinctively burst forth with astonishing strength.
At that moment, it was not a burden, but the awakening of responsibility and ability.
In the smoke-filled ruins, that calm, almost ruthless man extended his hand to him.
"Kid, if you want to live, follow me. Your power shouldn't be wasted here."
It was Allen, and the starting point of fighting side by side.
In the Ark's medical bay, despite her own weakness, she used her psionic abilities to guide the chaotic energy storm within him.
"Don't give up, Mark, we're all here."
Her eyes were a lighthouse in the darkness.
Rudy's loud laugh as he clapped his shoulder.
"Haha, well done, boss! This old ship was worth repairing!"
It was the heroism and trust between comrades.
His father's faint face before his death, his clouded eyes holding his last concern and pride.
"I'm sorry, son... you've always been my pride..."
The scene shifted.
An old man with white hair and a kind face, yet bearing immense 滄桑, sat on a hillside of a vibrant planet, surrounded by children.
He pointed to the brilliant galaxy, his voice calm and full of power.
"... Darkness never disappears, children, but as long as we remember what we fight for, and what we protect, the light will never go out."
Behind him, an ancient statue, made of stardust, vaguely stood.
A young warrior, raising a burning fist.
That was the legacy of the Protector.
...
These images were no longer scattered fragments; they converged like a rushing river of stars, forming a torrent that flowed through his entire life!
From an ignorant child, to a passionate youth, to a warrior bearing heavy responsibilities, and then to an old man symbolizing tradition...
Countless Mark Graysons emerged and merged in the starlit sea of memory.
Home... friends...
Earth... life...
These simple yet incredibly profound words, under the washing of the torrent, shone like polished stars, emitting a deafening roar.
They were no longer abstract concepts to be protected, but the cornerstones of his existence.
They were the source of his power!
They were the ultimate reason for his fight!
The whispers of the Great Old Ones tried to counterattack, and the illusion of the universe's end surged again, but this time, they crashed against an indestructible dam built of countless warm memories, genuine emotions, and the weight of life!
"No—!!!"
A roar, silent yet shaking dimensions, originating from the very core of his soul, exploded in the deepest part of Mark's consciousness.
This was not an outburst of anger, but a declaration of existence!
It was the ultimate awakening of the will to protect!
I am Mark Grayson!
I am a child of Earth!
I am a brother to my comrades, a protector of life!
My existence is defined by these bonds, and my power burns to protect these beautiful things!
In the void, the floating wreckage suddenly erupted with a light that made the entire pocket universe tremble!
His molten gold eyes were no longer dim, but transformed into two concentrated, burning stars of endless life force!
Wherever his gaze fell, the Great Old Ones' illusions were ignited and torn like a cheap curtain!
The stellar core within him, once deemed depleted, was at this moment completely ignited by the will to protect, no longer relying on external starlight, but originating from the deepest part of his soul, his most fervent love for life, for home, for bonds!
Power was no longer a trickle, but roared and surged like the primordial fire of the Big Bang, in a stance that could incinerate all things!
Taviel's meticulously designed energy barrier melted like ice and snow before this power born of existence!
The congealed blood in countless wounds instantly vaporized, turning into burning stardust. Powerful regenerative force repaired and reshaped this body, which had endured too much suffering and responsibility, at a visible speed!
Muscles rippled, bones hummed, and every inch of his skin seemed to flow with the radiance of liquid gold!
He floated up, no longer drifting, but like a new god awakening at the center of the universe.
His posture was the starting stance of a punch!
The target was not an enemy, not a barrier!
It was this cold, void universe itself that imprisoned him, denying life and bonds!
It was the Great Old Ones' blasphemy against the meaning of existence!
Mark, without reservation, condensed and focused this newfound, ultimate power within his right fist—a power that transcended pure physical limits, forged from countless living emotions and vows of protection!
No technique, no holding back!
Only the Fist of Protection, infused with childhood innocence, youthful passion, a warrior's responsibility, the wisdom of old age, and the absolute determination to protect everything in this moment!
A strange phenomenon occurred!
The moment he threw his punch, three distinct phantoms appeared and overlapped around his body.
On the left was young Mark, wearing a grass-stained T-shirt, his face showing the stubbornness of a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, his small fist clenched, his eyes clear and resolute!
In the center was the current Mark, scarred yet resplendent, his molten gold eyes burning with flames that could incinerate darkness, his fist condensing power that could pierce dimensions!
On the right was elderly Mark, with white hair and beard, his face weathered but his eyes as profound as the universe, carrying the peace of understanding all things and the profound weight of protecting a legacy. His fist contained the sedimentation of time and an indestructible belief!
Three Marks, transcending the dimension of time, were united in mind and will!
Their fists carried the most powerful forces from their respective stages of life.
It was the fearlessness of childhood, the peak of adulthood, the enlightenment of old age.
They punched in unison!
The three fist shadows perfectly merged along the trajectory of the strike, converging into an ultimate fist imprint that transcended the concepts of time and space, shining with endless life force and the will to protect!
Where the fist imprint passed, the viscous void space was no longer distorted, but directly erased like a fragile soap bubble.
The pure black spatial cracks no longer spread, but instantly pierced through the entire visual field of the pocket universe, like a huge scar torn open in the universe itself!
Taviel's cold will only realized this power, which transcended Its comprehension, the moment the fist imprint formed!
Countless phantom doorways on the deep gray sky frantically flickered, attempting to mobilize the entire universe's power to reinforce and counterattack!
But everything happened in a dimension beyond Its reaction time!
"For, All!!!"
Childhood, present, old age—a triple voice resonated and roared from the depths of his soul!
The fist imprint slammed into the core of the smooth, dense spatial barrier, representing Taviel's supreme authority!
Bang—!!!!
A deafening roar, indescribable by sound, exploded on the soul level. There was no explosive light at the point of contact, only the purest annihilation!
The spatial barrier, like glazed glass thrown into a black hole, instantly covered itself with immeasurable, pure black cracks so deep they swallowed all light!
These cracks were not physical destruction, but a complete negation of the concept of space's existence!
The cracks spread at billions of times the speed of light. Wherever they passed, the reality of the pocket universe, like a pencil drawing erased by a rubber, instantly vanished into nothingness!
The deep gray sky, the viscous medium, the fundamental laws...
Everything was forcibly decomposed and reduced to the most primitive, violent dimensional turbulence!
The entire structure of the pocket universe let out a silent wail—the lament of its dimensional framework being forcibly burst by an absolute will of protection!
It was like a balloon burst by an internal supernova, disintegrating inch by inch from where Mark's fist imprint landed!
Rumble—!!!
The chaotic turbulence of the dimensional rift, like a breached flood, surged madly from the huge opening, instantly tearing, devouring, and completely annihilating the remaining fragments of the pocket universe!
Taviel's cold will, left here, like a candle in the wind, let out a silent, furious shriek, and was then completely torn apart by the violent currents!
Mark's figure, enveloped in a dazzling light like a stellar nebula, formed by pure life force.
From this center of destruction, the huge opening he had pierced through dimensions, like the dawn announcing a new era, violently rushed into the chaotic, energy-ridden dimensional rift!
The violent spatial storm tore at his shield, emitting a sharp howl.
Sound returned!
A chaotic torrent of colors assaulted his senses.
But none of this could shake Mark in the slightest!
He floated at the center of the dimensional storm, his whole body flowing with the radiance of liquid gold. His broken clothes turned to ash in the energy, and his newly formed, perfect body, as if cast from stars, glowed brilliantly.
His molten gold eyes, like swords that cleaved the heavens, pierced through the chaotic dimensions, locking onto the direction of an unknown universe.
A deep, calm voice, yet containing an absolute will capable of freezing galaxies, sounded in the dimensional turbulence:
"I am back."
Meanwhile, at Alliance Headquarters.
The Crown of Stars hall was brightly lit, with clinking glasses.
The grand post-war order establishment celebration was reaching its climax.
Chairman Warren, beaming, raised his glass.
"Let us embrace the efficient new era brought by Regent Trigg. The future of the Alliance is incredibly bright!"
Trigg stood beside him, clutching a silver briefcase, a smile of complete control on his cold face. On the surface of the case, a faint purple light flowed like a living thing.
He was using the "Mind Key" within the case to precisely inject the final mental directives into the deepest consciousness of several key Elders.
Eve was in the crowd, her face pale. She felt a strong pang in her heart, but could not find its source, only seeing the growing dullness and fanaticism in the eyes of the people around her.
The will of the Great Old Ones was reveling in the perfect control of this new puppet, the Alliance.
----------------------------------------
If you'd like to follow the story earlier than the public release, come join my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/TripleCrown07
There, you can read up to 40 chapters in advance, enjoy exclusive content, and help support me to keep releasing chapters more regularly.
Thank you so much for your support and for being part of this journey! ❤️