According to legend, the master of the Human Empire possessed an innumerable array of powerful weapons, and in his private arsenal there were as many terrifying divine weapons capable of destroying kingdoms and planets as the stars in the sky.

And at certain moments, the Lord of Humanity will also select the right beings from among these most powerful weapons and give them to those who can harness their power and gain his trust: the latter is often several times more difficult than the former.

Such a gift may have happened many times in countless years, including the Whispering Lord of Death of the Fourteenth Legion of Astarte, but among them, there are very few that are truly known and sung by the people of the world, and among these few examples, the most famous are the two spears of the gods.

The spear of the Sun God, held in the head of the Forbidden Army's Ten Thousand Men at all times: Waldo, in the unshakable palm, this powerful weapon in the name of the Sun God, allowing the Chief Forbidden Army to see the memories in the mind of every opponent he killed: whether it was humiliation, pain, or beauty, all kinds of sinful emotions in the world accompanied the killing, washing Waldo's spirit over and over again, making him the purest, breathing, and wielding a sharp blade only for the emperor. And it doesn't really lose all humanity.

The other powerful weapon, independent of the Spear of the Sun God, but complemented by it, is the Bacchus Spear, the most powerful and hated weapon of Riemanruth, the king of Fenris and the Space Wolves, and is only used on the most urgent battlefields when forced to do so.

And this divine weapon also has its own great power: whenever the drunken wolf lord tears through his silly illusion and reveals his brutal and cunning fangs, accompanied by his ferocious hunt that can never be pounced, every opponent and king who is injured by the Dionysian spear, no matter how powerful, ruthless, and depraved, will involuntarily fall into the pain called memory and sobriety, face the most vulnerable part of his heart, and return to his original self.

In many cases, this is even more terrible punishment than death, and the blade in the hands of Riemanrus, which inherits the name of Dionysus, the god of wine, in ancient mythology, contains the power of the Lord of Mankind himself, so that such a terrible punishment can befall every injured opponent, no matter how powerful he is.

No matter how resolute it is.

Even if a god is a weak god who walks in the mortal world and has not yet awakened himself, he will never be able to escape.

——————

As Skanderbeg landed in the first drop pods into a world of steel encased in blood and death, it felt a long-lost emotion, one that had not been present in its colossal heart for at least five hundred years.

No, calm down.

Find the Lord.

It's not over yet.

The emperor is still ...... The empire will never come to an end.

Hold your horses!

It commanded and urged itself, and on its hideous head, unprotected by a helmet, a pair of dark and scarlet pupils swept through the ruins of the barren battlefield as fast as it could, and in the next breath it found the location of its lord.

Without any hesitation, Skanderbeg turned into a black lightning bolt and came behind his lord, and behind it was more and more forces that were approaching.

The figure, the figure it had sworn hundreds of years ago to follow and be loyal to the end of time, stood there.

Skanderbeg walked behind the emperor of his race, and felt a trace of ancient memory: it was in this posture that a thousand years ago, it stood on the highest peak of its home planet, listened to the emperor's oath, and made its own vow.

That was a long time ago, but despite this, in all these centuries of allegiance and killing, it never repeated the oath.

A true vow only needs to be solemnly told once, and it is enough.

"Lord."

It bowed its head and saluted respectfully.

And in front of it, its lord, the emperor of Randan, did not respond, it just looked indifferently at the [Destiny Engine] that could no longer be recovered, indifferently watched as a steady stream of painful souls poured out of that cage, and because of the almost insoluble pulling power of this terrible machine, it could not escape too far: they could not escape, but they could not be put into use.

Souls, those souls, those souls born and fallen in endless pain and distortion, they are hordes, they are unstoppable, their numbers bring absolute power that can easily crush any arrogant king and kingdom.

Even the most greedy, vile and vicious Spider Empress would not dare to rashly bite this hot tonic without making all preparations, because such a huge power could make her strong enough to face any blood relative, but it also had the possibility of completely tearing her apart.

But now, in the face of another powerful being, in the face of the Emperor of Randan, they could do nothing: they were in pain, they roared, they let out endless vicious curses and curses with the dry roar of their souls, they broke out of the visible cage and were trapped in a new one, they rushed at the alien king in a rage, but they hesitated in the face of its power and momentum.

The Emperor of the Xenomorphs didn't even bother to give them a look, it just watched in silence as it watched its own hopes, its own efforts, and now only its ruined body remained, and it looked at it and didn't speak for a long time.

Skanderbeg bowed his head, and he waited for the command and words of the lord for a long, long time.

Until, it heard the old sigh.

——————

[We failed. 】

[Skanderbeg, we failed. 】

[The provocation to the gods is nothing but a struggle to kill oneself, and the search for fate is nothing but a predetermined comedy, with thousands of golden thrones in tatters, telling the fate of every challenger. 】

[But even so, but even if it is so ridiculous and pathetic, but the possibility of challenging it alone is the most precious treasure in the void, a priceless treasure that millions of races, empires, and civilizations have fought to the death to compete for. 】

[Every era, every cycle of rise and fall, is destined to have only one winner, he will get everything, he will master the galaxy, he will have the qualifications and possibilities to challenge and gamble against the deepest existence of those voids, and die with solemn promises and beautiful expectations for his race. 】

This is our mission, the only purpose for which we were born. 】

But now, I've failed. 】

[Skanderbeg. 】

[I failed to win the power of this challenge for my people, and we fell in the first round of this cruel game, and we lost all possibility of the future: we once had them, albeit so small. 】

But now, no. 】

[I only saw darkness. 】

——————

The Alien Emperor's words were old, like the most ordinary old man, with the most trembling voice, telling him something that he regretted the most.

And hearing this, Skanderbeg, the leader of the most powerful army of the Randan Empire, the legend of a thousand years of undefeated, and the most trusted blade of the emperor of Randan, finally raised his head.

The Emperor, its lord, how tall and beautiful it was, even the most superb artists that the Randan Empire could find, could not carve one-ten-thousandth of its majestic face.

In Skanderbeg's memory, it was as it should have been: all it saw was a withered figure, a most ordinary dwarf thing, a being taller and stronger than even the humblest slave of Randan: this was the emperor of Randan.

Every Randan warrior knows that when they look at their emperor, they see only the greatest warriors, the greatest commanders, the most heroic gods: only the most perfect image in their hearts, the aggregate of all the truth and correctness of the world.

But that's just an illusion.

Skanderbeg knew, and only Skanderbeg knew, that its lord was this rickety figure in its eyes: it had once been tall, it had been majestic, it had been more heroic and heroic than all the most boastful warriors combined.

Until that day, it made its own choice, and it carried empires, civilizations, and races.

The once hot blood has turned into a vast fleet, and the once heroic breath has turned into an army that is now sworn to fight to the death, and the hair and face have decayed, dripping to the ground, pouring out countless flying flags, and inserting the territory of the empire into half the galaxy.

This is its ruler.

The Emperor of Randan.

Skanderbeg looked up.

It looked at its own lord, its only master, and it spoke, forcing its trembling lips to spit out.

"Yes...... But, my lord. ”

"It can't be."

"You're still here, you're still leading us, you're leading the empire, and we can't afford to lose victory and hope."

"We have more legions! We have more fleets! We also have hundreds of millions of warriors and tens of billions of subjects, each of whom will die for you, and will always follow in your footsteps until the end of time! ”

"You didn't fall! Lord! Then the empire did not fall! ”

"You are the Empire!"

【……】

And the only answer to it is silence.

[I have never been an empire, Skanderbeg, my dearest friend. 】

[I can't represent the empire, I can't represent my people, I can't represent every even the most ordinary Randan, all I do is to appear in front of them and make promises to them, about the sea of stars and the future. 】

[They believe in me, they choose me, and our cause will stand proudly in countless worlds and establish this great but bloody country. 】

[But this does not mean that I can represent anyone, yes, my orders can make every soldier leave his family, let every piece of steel be cast into a battleship, and let every child and bloodline receive relevant education from an early age, and become the most ruthless and fanatical killer.] 】

[But, that's all.] 】

[This is my mission. 】

[My responsibility. 】

My Choice. 】

[My promise. 】

[Except no, my power. 】

[I don't have such power, no one can have such power: if anyone really can do this, it can only mean that my dreams and plans have completely failed, and I have become worthless garbage. 】

The Emperor of Randan looked at his most trusted subordinates, and after a long time, it slowly turned its head, and above them, the war continued: the human fleet had forced Randan's army away from Tux Five, allowing them to massacre the Randan landing force left behind on the surface, but despite this, the army of aliens stagnating in the void was still an invincible number, a number enough to make Johnson have to think about evacuation.

But now, at this moment, they have nothing to do with Emperor Randan.

It just looked at the [Destiny Engine], which had no possibility, and spoke in a muttered tone.

[This is Ran Dan's empire. 】

[Not the Emperor's Empire.] 】

——————

[They believe in me, Skanderbeg, they have chosen to believe in me, and they have been so for a thousand years, supporting my decisions, all my decisions: whatever it is. 】

It stepped on, slamming against the shell of the creation.

[Even if it's gambling.] 】

[The craziest gamble. 】

[It's a gamble to survive.] 】

——————

[I deceived everyone, Skanderbeg. 】

[From the moment this war fell into a tug-of-war, we had no possibility of victory, and we were lost. 】

[What I did was nothing more than a crazy gamble, I was gambling, I was betting on this transaction with the existence of subspace, countless slaughters and resentments, which can be exchanged for a truly powerful weapon of war, which can bless us to break through the layers of barriers of our opponents and rush to that place. 】

[That Divine Terra.] 】

It closed its eyes and remained silent for a long time.

——————

[It's over, Skanderbeg.] 】

[That human, that cold-blooded creature named Menger, he was right. 】

[Give the order, let the subsequent fleets all be disbanded, and let those fleets that have been forcibly recruited leave the battle sequence.] 】

[Tell them.] 】

[Scatter and flee for your life.] 】

[Escape, flee at all costs, even if it is to escape back to our home planet, do not stay at all, escape, escape to the darkest edge of the galaxy, avoid the pursuit of mankind and endless revenge. 】

[Then ......]

[Live. 】

[Live in the most terrible times when the most terrible race reigns. 】

The Alien Emperor gave his orders word for word, and rarely, or the only time, Skanderbeg looked up.

"My lord, this ......"

[Go for execution.] 】

[For my promises, my lies, and my gambles, they have drained their blood and tears, and have given their all and hopes. 】

[I failed. 】

[I dragged them down.] 】

[I can't, won't, and don't have any qualifications to ask them to do more.] 】

[As I said, from the beginning, I didn't have that power. 】

——————

The silence lasted for a long time, like the short, long echo before death.

"Really...... Is there no way, my lord? Can't even your wisdom think of a way? ”

[This was meant to be the last last resort, Skanderbeg. 】

The Alien Emperor stroked the [Engine of Destiny], which was already collapsing, and muttered to himself.

[Compared to humans, we are still too weak. 】

[Yes, my friend, I do have another way. 】

[These souls have not yet dissipated, they still possess great power, as long as we can trap them and attach them to a new vessel, we still have the possibility to continue this expedition. 】

[Until Holy Terra.] 】

[Or annihilation.] 】

The light called hope flickered in Skanderbeg's pupils for a moment, and then it took a sharp turn into something called consternation and despair.

It thought of something.

"My lord...... You ......"

[Yes, my friend.] 】

The Alien Emperor turned his head and smiled at his companion, a smile that was impossible to refuse.

We only have one choice, don't we? 】

[Let's just ...... The last thing I could do for my race. 】

Skanderbeg wanted to wail, wanted to pounce to stop, wanted to do everything: but it couldn't do anything.

It could only watch, watch its lord, its emperor, its everything, march firmly towards the most terrible cage, torture, torture, despair in the whole galaxy.

Emperor.

There was no hesitation.

It came there, and then, walking in, countless souls rushed over at this moment, drowning it.

Drowning everything.

——————

[In this galaxy, there are as many stars, as many kinds of suffering, as many kinds of responsibilities and as many kinds of sacrifices. 】

[Every race, when it longs to survive and grow in the stars, to fulfill its ambitions and greed, it has to face these difficulties, one after another. 】

[To experience, to suffer, to overcome.] 】

[I am your emperor, I am the one who led you and chose this path, these sufferings. 】

[I am a careerist. 】

[I'm a fantasist. 】

I am the guilty. 】

[I am arrogant. 】

[I can't do anything. 】

And now, my friend, this is the only thing I can do. 】

[When we face suffering, when we have to make sacrifices, when we must elect a pathetic character, to turn all hope, all despair, all responsibility, and all the future into a cage that can never be broken out, a shackle that can never be removed. 】

Someone has to take on all this. 】

[And I, I will use the power you give me, my only authority, to guarantee one thing. 】

[That person. 】

[It can only be me.] 】

(End of chapter)