The Arbiters of Justice quickly transitioned into a full war footing. With the entire Solar System now under their dominion, they had the ability to directly conquer the planets of other civilizations. The main problem with the war was the sheer distance between the Selvan homeworld and Earth. Sam had done some digging on the Interweb and found out that the Selvan’s homeworld had shifted around after the advent of the System. In fact, much of the universe had.
Originally, Tantalos’ description of the Selvan homeworld being “five star systems away” meant that they would have been found in the Epsilon Eridani system, which was the fifth furthest star from Earth before the System. Now, everything had changed. Distances between stars and planets had increased, as well as their size. The Selvans could now be found around 25 light years away. That was an immense distance, and even with Sam’s portal abilities, it would take too long to reach. Besides, if he wanted to conserve enough energy to get there, he would only be able to bring himself.
Instead, much of the faction’s wealth had gone into the construction of a large-scale portal array that could bridge the gap. Unlike most of the buildings that the Planetary Core could create, this one took over a week to be finished. Rather than simply being a building, it was an incredibly potent magical artifact that interfaced directly with the local elemental planes.
Sam had done a bit of research into elemental planes, finding out more about the dimensional spaces. He had visited one in the Tower, the Gemlands, but wasn’t well versed in their nature.
According to the literature he could find in the Interweb, there were a near infinite number of elemental planes, but some of them were larger than others. The twelve largest planes were known as the Prime Elemental Planes, and represented the entirety of each of the twelve fundamental elements. Offshoots broke off frequently, usually representing smaller aspects of the greater elements. That was where the Gemlands had come from.
Most of this would have been a purely academic curiosity, except that most higher end teleportation arrays worked by delving through the elemental planes of Darkness. The most powerful arrays could cross entire universe, using the Prime Elemental Plane itself, but the version Sam’s faction had acquired used localized dimensional spaces. There were fifteen Dark elemental planes within the higher levels of reality that the low end teleportation array could access, but only three of them reached all the way to the Selvan homeworld.
The portal loomed over the city, hovering in low Earth orbit. It was about five miles across, able to accommodate any ship that the faction could muster. Before it could be used, it had to be charged up with ridiculous amounts of mana, tens of billions of points worth. Everyone in the faction had contributed, but it still took days to fill up a single charge.
The massive disc of metal and crystal had slowly brightened as its charge was filled, until it looked like a second sun hovering over the city. A shimmering film of rainbow light had gathered within it, brief flashes of locations beyond Earth flickering over it. Once, a spectacular close up view of a black hole’s event horizon had covered the entire portal, leading some of the citizens to think the end of the world had come.
A good portion of the faction’s fleet waited above the portal disc, ready to depart whenever the time came. On those ships waited the expeditionary force assigned to the Selvan war. They referred to themselves as such, rather than an army, because they were made up of the mid tier warriors of the faction. All of the elites were staying behind to defend the Solar System from invaders, while Sam alone led the war against the Selvans. It was a good opportunity for some leveling for those not yet at the peak of F Rank. With Sam’s Authority, they would be almost completely safe, unless the Selvans had a few hidden D Rank elites. Sam highly doubted that.
The city felt far emptier than before, with most of the guards replaced by robots spat out by the various defence posts constructed by the Planetary Core. They had been upgraded significantly since their first use against the Legion, and could produce a limited number of E Rank robots. While they had none of the bonuses that a real cultivator would have had, they were still stronger than most F Rankers and capable of defending the faction against most threats. When D Rankers came, Jacob was ready. He alone was about as useful as the rest of the Solar System’s defenses, save perhaps for Graxus, who ruled over Mercury.
The Gytharki leader hadn’t made much contact with the rest of the faction, focusing his efforts on establishing a new homeworld for his people on Mercury. Sam had touched base a few times, but Graxus needed little help from the rest of the faction. He had offered his services in dealing with the Selvans, but Sam had told him to remain in the Solar System to deal with any threats that came its way. Between him and Jacob, Earth would be safe from pretty much anything short of a C Ranker or a high D Rank elite.
The day finally came to leave, the brilliant sun blazing in the skies above as if to signal the beginning of its expansion across the universe. The Solar System had been united and the Milky Way was soon to come. An empire had been born, one that would carry humanity to the stars and beyond and ensure that Earth would never die, even if the planet itself crumbled away into dust. As long as a single Earthling breathed, the spirit of Earth would stay alive.
Sam stood alone, hovering in the sky in front of the swirling portal. The vista of outer space shone through the film of energy, promising endless possibilities out in the inky void that was the wider universe.
“People of Earth!” Sam roared. “We stand at a crossroads between the past and eternity’s maw! Earth is poised on the brink of ascension, its domain sweeping out into the universe. We are the agents of that ascension, the vanguard of the Terran Empire. While one of us still lives, the Sun shall never set upon our homeworld!”
A thunderous cheer rose up from the massed spacecraft, F Rank lungs powerful enough to send sound out through the armored plating of the vessels and into the calm morning air.
“The Selvans are the first obstacle to our salvation,” Sam continued. “While our future lies beyond the boundaries of this universe, a hard path lies ahead of us. Tantalos lies in wait, preparing to devour the universe whole. He will do everything in his power to make our departure a difficult one. I will strive to shelter us from that fate, but I do not stand alone. Every one of you is a son or daughter of this planet. If not in birth, then in spirit!
Sam raised Worldbreaker and with a titanic crack that echoed all across the city, a bolt of crimson lightning the width of a city block descended from the cloudless skies and struck the tip of the hammer. Sam let the electricity pass over his body harmlessly, discharging it towards the distance horizon.
Lowering the hammer, Sam pointed it at the portal and without another word, flew towards it.
A rumbling groan rose up from the spacecraft as their engines came online and they turned towards the portal. Sam smashed through a moment later. The portal felt like a soap bubble, a light popping sensation prickling at Sam’s skin as he passed through the other side.
He emerged into the blackness of space, a planet visible about a million miles before him. A watery sun provided the light for the Selvan homeworld, far weaker than Earth’s own star.
Sam grinned as the forces of the Arbiters of Justice emerged from the void behind him, ships snapping back into reality. Shadows began to gather around the Selvan homeworld, flying out from behind the planet and amassing between it and Sam. Strange, gnarled creations of bone and silk propelled by ethereal green flames jetted out into the void, heading for Sam and his forces.
Sam crossed his arms, waiting for his soldiers to make the first move. Each of the ships were outfitted with weapons and the largest one, the flagship, fired up its largest cannon. The metal shaft rose up to point at the center of the Selvan lines. A glowing orb of red flame formed at the end, compressing down into a tiny point. Then a ray of annihilation lanced out into space. It was as thin as a hair, but as it passed, a bubble of destruction exploded outwards a moment after its arrival. It struck the lead Selvan ship head one, all of the power and force expanding outwards upon impact.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
A sphere of red hot energy exploded in the middle of the Selvan fleet, wiping out hundreds of ships in a single go. The survivors returned fire, waves of spells flying towards Sam. While the Selvans were lacking defense, they certainly weren’t lacking in firepower. Some of the attacks coming Sam’s way could have punched a hole in an average E Ranker’s defences. Most of the ships wouldn’t be able to stand up to them.
Sam raised his left palm and a shield of Dao Energy snapped into place, over a dozen miles in length. The Selvan artillery fire slammed into it futilely, breaking against the implacable defence.
“Time to show them what we really have,” Sam muttered, lifting Worldbreaker above his head. A portal formed in front of him, another one popping into reality next to the Selvan fleet.
Sam brought Worldbreaker down, channeling his Dao through it. A hammer of pure force traveled through the portal, separating from the rest of Worldbreaker. Whereas the strike from the flagship had destroyed hundreds of Selvan ships, Sam’s attack wiped them out by the thousands.
A nova of lightning exploded above the planet, dozens of miles wide. Sam teleported into its midst, and with a roar, swung his hammer. Worldbreaker grew in the blink of an eye to its full size, and the titanic weapon smashed through the nearest ships, blasting them into atoms.
Sam hovered there, glaring down at the planet below. As he did so, the Terran ships fired in unison, a blazing wave of energy crossing the gap and impacting the Selvan fleet. The spider-aliens hadn’t been ready for the might of Earth’s fleet, powered by the wealth of a D Rank faction. Sam was sure that the crews were leveling up by the dozens, fueled by the constant slaughter. Although slaying an enemy by use of artillery or heavy weaponry incurred an essence deficit, so many Selvans were being killed that it hardly mattered.
The nearest Selvans turned their cannons towards Sam, enemy mages fueling the creation of vast orbs of elemental energy that seared through the empty void.
Sam crossed his arms, not bothering to block. The energy blasts washed over his skin like water over a diamond, not a single point of damage sneaking through. He was far too powerful for anything the Selvans could throw at him to be effective.
“Surrender,” Sam boomed, projecting his voice through space with enough volume to envelop the whole fleet. His Dao carried the noise through the vacuum, breaking the laws of physics to express his will.
There was no response for a few moments, and then a hissing voice oozed out from the ships. “Never. The Selvans will not submit to an inferior race!”
“Fine,” Sam growled. “Then there will not be a Selvan race. I have no particular hatred for you, but you declared war on my faction by sending a spy. Either surrender and join us, or die.”
“You are the one who will die, alien scum,” the disembodied voice said.
As it spoke, Sam tried to trace the voice back to its source, finding tiny waves of elemental energy extending up from the planet below. It was some variant of Fire, manipulated to function like electromagnetic waves.
“There you are,” Sam said, narrowing his eyes.
“What?”
Sam teleported to the planet’s surface, arriving in a dingy room filled with Selvans hunched over various machines. The largest of them was standing in front of some sort of microphone. He was the one whose voice Sam had heard.
“Surprise,” Sam said, moving before anyone present could react. He arrived in front of the leader in a blast of wind, knocking everyone else back.
“Are you the leader of the Selvans?” Sam asked, batting aside a pathetic attempt at a punch with a single finger. “Do you have authority over your people?”
The alien towered over Sam, but in this situation, he was like an ant standing beside a giant. Still, he showed no fear, which was surprising. “Killing me will only make my people fight harder,” he chittered, trying to strike Sam again.
This time Sam didn’t bother to block. The Selvan’s hand broke on the side of his face. “Why would I care if your people fight harder?” Sam asked. “They aren’t strong enough to do anything, no matter how many of them there are. Why are you so confident that your species will survive this without surrendering?”
“We are the chosen of the Ancestor,” the alien said vehemently. “To surrender is to spit in his face. He visited us to tell of the scourge that you humans are upon the face of the universe. We were enraged at the thought that an inferior race might pose an issue to a being as great as him.”
“Why isn’t he here to defend your world, then?” Sam asked.
The Selvan leader paused. “He is-” the alien began. “He is-”
Sam realized what was going on. “You lot are so indoctrinated that peace will never be possible, are you? As long as you consider me to be your inferior, it doesn’t matter how strong I actually am. You’re completely insane.”
The Selvan attacked Sam once more, but this time Sam had had enough. He blasted the alien apart with his Authority, painting the floor with viscous green blood.
Before Sam could turn to the rest of the room, an invisible hand snatched him up and drove him through the roof. He flew up into the sky, unable to alter his trajectory. His Authority vanished, crushed so tightly that it was compressed all the way to his core.
An all too familiar voice whispered into Sam’s ear. “You took out the leader, so your role in this battle is fulfilled. Let’s leave it up to your followers, shall we? You considered them strong enough to come without support.”
“Tantalos!” Sam shouted, fighting against the unseen grasp. Of course, against the might of a peak C Ranker, no matter how suppressed, he couldn’t do anything.
“Hello, Sam,” Tantalos said, drawing out the words. “My favorite subject. You have provided me with more entertainment than I have had in a long time. Today will be the culmination, at least until the Universal Tournament.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sam asked, still fighting against the force holding him in place.
“I wouldn’t expect you to know this, but C Rankers are fundamentally different from everything that comes before,” Tantalos explained. “I will show you.”
A flash of bright white light enveloped Sam. When his vision cleared, he was still floating in space, but the planet beneath him wasn’t the Selvan homeworld. It was far larger, easily the size of a star. In the distance was the planet’s actual star, so large that it took up a good quarter of the sky.
Dozens of moons orbited the massive planet, coming in all shapes and colors. Some looked like Earth, while others were barren, rocky balls of rough hewn stone tumbling through space.
Tantalos stood next to Sam, his arms crossed. He was dressed in an open shirt and simple trousers, surprisingly modest for a C Ranker. The alien’s grey skin glistened in the sunlight, not a single imperfection visible on his body.
Sam reached out with his Authority on instinct, and to his surprise, Tantalos let him. There was something off about the whole scene in front of Sam. While everything he saw was real, confirmed by his Dao, it was heavily tainted with a specific concept. Slaughter. As it wasn't a naturally occurring Dao, its presence was far easier to detect.
“Where are we?” Sam asked.
Tantalos grinned. “This is my inner world. Upon ascending, C Rankers must prove that they have what it takes to challenge the heavens and carve a place into the universe for themselves. Creating an inner world means that you have truly broken free from the shackles of mortality and have become a higher being.”
“Why are you showing me this?” Sam asked. “Just to brag?”
Tantalos chuckled. “I have no need to brag to one as weak as yourself. I wanted to show you why I value you so much. Your actions have spilled oceans of blood, both in your own universe and in the wider Multiverse. As one of my subjects, all of that slaughter serves to feed me.” The grey skinned alien pointed at one of the moons, a tiny speck of red tinged rock that was utterly dwarfed by the planet behind it. “That moon is yours, Sam. You helped me create it. I am coming closer and closer to a breakthrough every day, and you are partially to thank for that.”
Sam’s face twisted in anger, but he stopped himself from saying something rash. “So this whole thing with the Selvans was meant to lull me into complacency, making it so that I left all of my strongest allies behind? You know this won’t ensure the Selvan victory. I believe in my followers.”
“Oh, so do I,” Tantalos said. “But the way things were going, you were about to wipe out the Selvans in a matter of minutes. Or at least, you could have. Now that you are gone from the battlefield, many more deaths will occur, further bolstering my strength.”
Sam gritted his teeth, but there was little he could do.
Tantalos waved his hand and the inner world disappeared, sending Sam back to the outside world. He floated over the Selvan homeworld, watching as projectiles arced between the two sides. He tried to move, but was completely frozen.
“Enjoy the show,” Tantalos said. “I certainly will.”
