Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 357: The Galaxy’s Champion

{The galaxy begins ultra-light warping}

*WAP*

Ezra disappeared.

Immediately reappearing, it took a few more seconds for his body to unfreeze.

{Ultra-light warp completed}

Rubbing his neck, Ezra looked around, annoyed.

"Just what is it with today? Where am I?"

Floating in a strange and unfamiliar part of space, Ezra’s gaze roamed the distance.

There was nothing to see, no planet nor asteroid nearby to take sight of, completely different from the environment beside Orion.

A voice called out.

"For how long are you going to stare?"

Booming, the voice came at Ezra from every direction.

Apprehensive, Ezra searched fervently for the being.

"Always remember to look down after looking up"

On instinct, Ezra looked down to see a bizarre sight.

A platform lay beneath him, plain as glass but slightly less transparent, stretching far and wide with nothing discernible atop it.

Landing, Ezra looks around for whatever brought him here, tapping the platform a few times to test its solidity.

"Hello! Where are you?"

"Right in front of you?"

A transparent sphere reveals itself, floating just meters from Ezra’s face.

Surmised to be about two thirds of Ezra’s head, the sphere lay still, allowing Ezra a clear view.

Instead of being completely transparent, the sphere was glowing, filled with innumerable glowing spots.

Looking closer, they were bitesize stars floating within a miniature expanse of space.

The sphere held within a galaxy of its own it seemed.

Letting off slight vibrations, the familiar voice rang out. "Surprised?"

Ezra shook his head slowly, looking around. "Not really. Today has been all sorts of weird"

"Is that so?"

"So, you’re the galaxy?"

"Yes, Not exactly, in human terms, I’m the galaxy’s nerve center, its core. But...how did you know that?"

"Oh yeah" It hit Ezra that the prompts weren’t something others knew about.

He shrugs. "Lucky guess"

"You must be wondering why I’ve brought you here"

Ezra nods.

From the transparent platform, a chair formed.

"Sit. We have a lot to discuss"

The moment Ezra sat, the core was momentarily startled and released a sudden force that surrounded Ezra.

"I brought you here because of the beacon of death you sent out but it seems there’s more"

"Hmm, you’re not an ordinary galactic human, are you?"

Before he could answer, the core changed the question.

"Before that. What did the Universe bestow upon you?"

"Yes?"

"I felt the Universe’s attention you for minutes before you let off that energy wave, what were you rewarded and why?"

"....You must be joking if you think I’ll divulge such information so easily"

The core paused. "Can I assume that it is why you have dimensional energy within you?"

Upon hearing that, Ezra slightly stiffened, tipping off the core.

"It seems I guessed right"

"Let me make this clear, I am not your enemy, the reason I brought you here is because your energy wave from early has put us all in grave danger"

"Why should I trust you?"

"You wouldn’t be sitting if I meant you harm"

"Hmm" that was true. "What do you mean?" Asks Ezra.

"Creating energy waves as a result of major breakthroughs or transformations is a thing of the norm, but yours was not"

"Most energy waves die out a distance from their originating solar system, very few go beyond that, and even if they did, none has ever gone beyond the boundaries of the galaxy"

"But yours will" the core says. "And when it does, it will alert beings from the outside of our position"

Loudly, the core spoke. "Do you now understand the situation? Because of your action, every soul in this galaxy is at risk"

"So I’ll ask again. What did the universe reward you and why?"

Sighing, Ezra replied. "I was rewarded a universe seed"

"That’s Impossible" the core refuted without hesitation. "It couldn’t have been a universe seed, the only ones given those are-

"Sovereigns"

"How do you?...No. Were you reborn?"

"Huhh?!" Blinking in surprise, the question set off a ripple in Ezra’s mind, breaking off from Zydrax’s words.

"So you were" the core confirms.

"Is it a common phenomenon?" Ezra inquires.

"Common enough for me to know off. What realm of power were you previously at?"

"Nowhere significant at least. I wasn’t even close to my current realm of power"

"Then how do you know about Sovereigns?"

"I was given a Title, Fledgling Sovereign"

"Fledgling Sovereign? I’ve never heard of such a thing"

"As it should be, I’m the first of my kind"

"Now I’ve heard it all. Though, it does explain magnitude of the energy wave"

"And what was your achievement?"

"I crafted an energy construct"

"Just how impressive is this energy construct?"

"I don’t know either, I was in the middle of testing it out when you forcefully brought me here"

"Wait, so you haven’t named it yet?"

"How do you know so much about energy constructs?"

"In the eons that passed, I’ve met several energy constructs, or energy system wielders as they call it, just like you. Although immensely powerful, most of them eventually perished either due to arrogance or abject stupidity, thinking themselves invincible"

A familiar voice enters Ezra’s mind.

[That’s strange]

’What is?’

[From what I perceived, this galaxy is definitely less than five hundred thousand years, and very rarely am I wrong]

[Besides, the core of a galaxy millions of years old would be much larger, as would its core space]

Posing it as a question, Ezra speaks, "This galaxy is millions of years old?"

"This iteration is merely Three hundred and sixty nine thousand years old"

"Iteration?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"You must understand that this galaxy you have been born into, the Halostar galaxy, has been reborn many times after its destruction"

"What?!"

"Like a plant that continues to grow so long a part of it stem remains planted, this galaxy has gone through numerous cycles of destruction caused either by internal, external forces or some random, obscenely powerful force"

"Each time, I gathered up all the energy and initiated a sequence that allowed this galaxy to be born anew"

"Why does it keep happening?" asked Ezra.

"There are plenty of reasons that I could mention, but in the end, it’s only happened simply because we were too weak to protect ourselves"

"Many times I was able to foster considerable strength, but we lost all the same. It was too much to ask for victory against ever growing foes whilst we continuously had to grow from nothing each time"

"Now, because of your energy wave, we might witness a new record for the shortest cycle of rebirth"

"Are you saying there is nothing that can be done?"

"There is, and that’s the second reason why I’ve brought you here"

The core’s tone went a notch higher. "Become this Galaxy’s Champion"

"The Galaxy’s champion?"

[Don’t]

"Huh?" Zydraxs sudden voice confused him.

"By becoming this galaxy’s champion, I will enable you to advance in leaps and bounds, granting you enough strength to wipe away any invader. Plus, you’re the best candidate for the position"

Ezra paused. "What’s the catch?"

"In return, you will be tied to this galaxy, unable to move beyond it for the rest of your life"

Ezra shook his head immediately. "I decline"

"Be patient, I’m yet to finish"

"While staying tied confined to a galaxy is not very favourable, with the universe seed, it could grow to become a new universe, and then you would have a whole universe to roam around in. Not a bad offer"

[I like how it’s not telling you that you’ll be unable to cast aside the Title once accepted, and it also seems to have misunderstood something]

"Hmm" Ezra caught onto that as well. "Is the universe seed supposed to be an actual item?"

"Of course...did something happen?" the core asks.

"The universe seed I was bestowed wasn’t handed to me in physical form"

"Then where is it?"

"Its embedded in my soul"

"How did it get there?!"

"The universe put it there"

"Can you access it then? Can you control it?"

"Not exactly"

"Then what plans do you have? Within a week, the energy wave will transverse beyond this galaxy, and less than a month after, you can be sure that a plethora of uninvited guests will be on our doorstep"

"Whilst destruction is all I have been able to look forward to, for it to happen this fast is simply pathetic, so hurry up and decide if you’re to help, or run away"

"I don’t understand" Ezra intones. "Why does the arrival of outside forces inadvertently mean the destruction of the galaxy?"

"Because that is the inevitable result of their actions" the core replied. "They will tear the place apart, scourging for any and everything valuable they can find"

"And there’s nothing you can do to stop them?"

"As the core of the galaxy, I am bound by universal laws, all I can do is place protectors to guard this place"

"If the guards are defeated, what then?"

"The intruders will be able to do as they wish with me"

"Ah..." Ezra now understood the dilemma and the reason the core was so agitated.

"That’s why we can’t afford to wait around for you to figure things out"

[Ezra Listen. I have an Idea, relay my words directly]

"What if I could fit the galaxy within the soul?"

"What?"

"Wouldn’t that solve the problem, since I’ll be able to move without restraint"

"It would, but..."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"How do you intend to achieve that?"

"I absorbed my entire planet within my soul before I came here"

"And? Are you really comparing a planet and a galaxy? Do you not know how far apart they are?"

After half a minute of silence, Ezra continued. "That’s why a very strong connection has to be formed beforehand"

"That Galaxy’s champion title, give it to me" says Ezra, stretching his arm forward.

"You’re not running away then?"

"Hurry before I change I my mind"

In seconds, the core brightened significantly, before suddenly releasing a stream of energy that smashed straight into Ezra, whilst still seated, causing him to glow like the afternoon sun.

"Hmm!"

Seeing him alarmed, the core spoke. "Calm down and just stay still"

Ezra relaxed.

"I understand what you’re trying to do, so I can’t do this haphazardly"

Five minutes later, the stream of light faded.

"It’s done, you’re now the Galaxy’s champion" says the core.

Unlike other big changes so far, this was painless. Throughout the process, the most he felt was a slight itch.

At the moment, he could feel a new connection to the core, this was what Zydrax was going for.

[Good] Zydrax acknowledged. [Let’s continue]

[Now...

"Now that a strong connection has been made with you, the core. All that remains is to establish a connection with the galaxy"

"What do you mean?"

"Send out a beam of light to connect every single planet"

"That beam will then end with me"

"You believe you can survive such an ordeal"

"Let’s find out"