The Martial Unity

Ria stared into the window by her bed in her bunker with an engrossed expression despite the harsh light from the aftermath of the supernova. The smart windows were equipped with a brightness filter adjustment, allowing her to see things beyond just a murky sea of bright white, yellow, and red.

RUMBLE…

Tremors swept through the floor of her bunker periodically, cutting into the hum of air-conditioning and other systems running through the room. The air was clean and sterile, contrasting sharply with the dusty environment of the late Planet Amadeus III.

Her mind was immersed in thought.

About everything that had unfolded in the past day.

She couldn’t help but replay everything over and over. The series of events that unfolded since she got onto the planet. From the first step, to her intervention to save Sage Varis and her first meeting with that male homoararchnoid who took on a deep interest in her. Then, his later return was along with a female homoarachnoid who tried to kidnap her. Then, yet another even stronger homoarachnoid, one strong enough to take on Arastia for some period of time, who showed an intense obsession with her.

And then, the big boss of homoarachnoids herself came down, or up rather, to fetch Ria herself, requiring her father to show up out of nowhere to save her. It was a truly incomprehensible sequence of events, even considering her identity as the heir to the most powerful throne in all of human civilization. Besides, she was absolutely certain that this had nothing to do with her last name.

Each of the homoarachnoids muttered something about the universe in her eyes or something weird about that. She certainly liked the amber eyes that she had inherited from her mother, but she highly doubted the color of her pupils was what got these homoarachnoids to act so obsessed.

’There’s something wrong with me.’

At the very least, something very different, and particularly different, about her. Something that was apparently distinct and valuable enough that even a Transcendent being went out of her way to personally try to capture Ria. If not for her father arriving at the final moment, she would have been turned into an alien prisoner, most likely never to return.

And from what she could tell, Sage Sayfeel, Kane, and Arastia knew something about it.

She glanced around her bunker.

”Zzzz…”

She spotted her four drowsing teammates. They had crashed the moment the battle finally ended. They had been exhausted after a long and arduous battle trying to keep at bay an extremely powerful alien.

She didn’t sense Sage Sayfeel’s presence, though that meant nothing given how powerful his stealth was. Regardless, she knew that he wouldn’t answer her questions. Neither Uncle Kane nor Aunt Arastia did.

They had told her that, when the day came, her father would tell her himself.

”Screw that.” She snorted.

She would make him tell her. She deserved at least that much, especially since she had learned about whatever this thing was the hard way, after almost getting captured by an alien civilization that wanted to do god-knew-what to her. She couldn’t help but believe that he would just disappear like that without saying a word to her, though perhaps it was too entitled of her to expect the Emperor of the Kandrian Empire to be able to spend that much time with her.

Especially when she wasn’t alone.

If that was the case, then she would go back home, again, to have him spill the truth, face to face, if that was what she wanted.

”Going back to the Kandrian Empire so soon…” she muttered with a tone of dissatisfaction. ”But oh well.”

”Rgh…”

She turned towards Runark, who groaned lightly as he slowly got up with a groggy expression. His silver hair was unkempt, while his green eyes were hazy.

”Sorry, did I wake you up?” She asked with an apologetic tone.

”No, it’s fine, I got enough rest,” he replied softly, shaking his head a little as he stood up, stretching his body. ”…How much time has passed since everything ended?”

”About seven hours,” she replied, turning back to the window.

He raised an eyebrow. ”…Didn’t sleep?”

”…I couldn’t.” She heaved a sigh. ”After everything that’s happened. I couldn’t stop thinking about it all.”

Runark’s expression grew gloomier. He wasn’t even sure what to say. That was how bizarre it was. How dangerous it had been, for both of them, but especially for Ria.

”I’ve made up my mind.”

She spoke with a tone of certainty.

”I’m returning to the Kandrian Empire and not coming back until I get some answers.”

Runark raised an eyebrow, shrugging lightly. ”Alright. I’ll go back with you. To be honest, the only reason I’m here is for you.”

She smiled at him. ”Thank you. I’m sorry for dragging you with me anywhere. Especially when we just got back.”

”Don’t mention it,” Runark replied. ”I love seeing my mom. Would be good to see our other friends. Not to mention my godfather. And our friends.”

She nodded with a serious expression.

Everything after that was a blur, as far as she was concerned. Eventually, the Blood Arc did what it was supposed to, finding the Lagrange point and entering superluminal travel back to the Arima Star System and Planet Sarantel. From there, Ria planned to take the quickest set of trips back to Gaia Prime with minimal delays. She would be back home in a week to confront her father about the mysteries that surrounded her and get an answer.

She wasn’t sure, of course, about how those truths would change her life, if they would at all. It was possible that they were mundane truths. It was possible that they were extravagant. Regardless, she knew that she needed to know them. She was an adult, and she had the right to know information the ignorance of which could put her life at risk.

Time passed as the Blood Arc spaceship returned to Planet Sarantel after a brief but intense set of events.

Events that would change the future of human civilization.