Adrian floated in the void, his body drenched in silence, the remnants of the battle still echoing in his bones. The demon sector stretched around him, empty now, stripped of the devouring domain that had consumed millions. Only darkness remained, and the faint shimmer of distant stars.
He reached into his spatial ring and pulled forth several mana crystals. They glowed with concentrated energy, pulsing against his palm.
He crushed them one by one, letting the mana seep into him, slowly refilling the vast emptiness inside.
But the hollowness in his mind remained.
A strange heaviness clung to him, not physical fatigue but something deeper, something within his consciousness itself. It felt as though a vital part of his will had been hollowed out, leaving him lightheaded and faint. His thoughts moved sluggishly, like wading through thick fog.
He frowned, crushing another crystal. But nothing changed.
He whispered to himself, "What is going on? I've never experienced anything like this."
The Guardian Spirit drifted toward him, its golden silhouette still quivering from everything it had witnessed. Even after returning to composure, it could not erase the shock of seeing a being wield absolute authority. Now, hearing Adrian's whispers, it felt genuine fascination stir within it.
It reminded the Guardian Spirit that Adrian was just a being who hadn't even entered the universe yet, hadn't stepped beyond the galactic barrier, hadn't faced the trials that awaited in the universe.
It spoke gently, "Having the 'authority' to issue an order does not mean you possess the energy to enforce it, nor the speed to survive after speaking it."
Adrian looked at the Guardian Spirit, his white-grey eyes focusing despite the haze clouding his thoughts. He understood the energy part. After all, when he used Absolute Source Order in the past, it always needed mana, and the cost varied depending on the target.
And the Demon Emperor was a terrifying target. He had devoured so many demons, even his replicas, living for thousands of years and comprehending countless concepts through consumption. His essence seeds spanned hundreds, and because of that, his mana capacity was extremely large. To erase a being like this, who could even be said to have similar mana reserves as Adrian, then Adrian had to use this much mana.
He could understand this.
But his mind, why that felt empty, was something he couldn't explain.
Adrian asked, his voice rough, "I understand the mana part. But why do I feel like fainting? Even after recovering some mana, this weakness doesn't go away."
The Guardian Spirit observed him for a moment, its form pulsing with consideration, "This is something you normally learn only after stepping into the universe. I should not reveal it now, but you are an exceptional candidate, and the circumstances are far from ordinary."
It drifted closer, until its radiance bathed Adrian's face.
"The battles of divine beings depend on multiple things: the divine concept they wield, the authority it grants, and lastly, the energy fuel for their spells and commands."
"By 'energy,' I do not refer only to mana. There is a second force as well, something far more subtle and far more important. We call it Willforce."
Adrian's eyes sharpened despite the fog. He had never heard this term before.
The Guardian Spirit continued, "This Willforce is the energy of mind, intent, resolve, and consciousness itself. Every action, whether you realize it or not, consumes a trace of it. Even casting a simple spell requires Willforce to anchor the mana and stabilize the effect. Most cultivators go their entire lives without sensing it, because it is intangible, unquantifiable, and ever-present."
Adrian listened, his mind struggling to grasp the concept even as understanding began to form.
"You commanded overwhelming authority and pushed it to erase a being like the Demon Emperor. That kind of exertion doesn't drain only mana; it burns through your Willforce as well. That is why you feel the way you do now."
"If you drain your mana, the consequences are purely physical. Your body weakens, your aura fluctuates, your strength drops temporarily. But if you drain your Willforce, the effects strike the mind. Clarity dims, thoughts blur, instincts dull, and even consciousness itself becomes unstable."
Adrian stiffened slightly, realization spreading across his face, "Every action needs Willforce… then even floating in the void requires it, doesn't it?"
"Yes," the Guardian Spirit confirmed, "Though the amount is negligible for simple tasks. Only extreme exertion reveals its cost."
Adrian tried to probe inward, to sense this mysterious force, but found nothing tangible. No reservoir, no pulse, no fluctuation.
"It was always there," he murmured, "yet I can't feel it. I can't measure it, or quantify it."
"That is the nature of Willforce," the Guardian Spirit replied softly, "It exists in all beings, yet lies beyond normal perception. It grows with your resolve, your state of mind, your comprehension of concepts, and the strength of your consciousness. It cannot be measured… yet it governs everything."
Power had layers, and he had just touched one he had never known was there.
But Adrian set it aside for now. These were truths of the universe, things he could study later. Right now, he needed answers about something that mattered far greater than this to him.
He looked at the Guardian Spirit, "Who are you? And what did the Demon Emperor mean by 'our galaxy is caged'?"
The Guardian Spirit's glow dimmed for a moment, "What I told the Demon Emperor is the truth; this galaxy is not trapped. The barrier exists for protection from intergalactic conflicts far beyond your current understanding."
Adrian frowned. He had lived in this galaxy long enough to know one thing: nothing this powerful acted out of kindness. Beings who described themselves as guardians always possessed intentions, whether benevolent or self-serving.
Protection always came with strings attached.
"What's in it for you?" he asked calmly, "No one protects a galaxy for free. There must be a reason."
The Guardian Spirit hovered silently. By every regulation of its mission, it was forbidden from revealing these things. But Adrian stood before it as an anomaly never witnessed in universal history. And Adrian would soon make it to the universe, and withholding some truths felt pointless now.
The Guardian Spirit's glow steadied, "A long time ago, someone dear to my master was born in this galaxy. That being grew here… and eventually left this place for the universe. My master protects this galaxy solely because it is his friend's birthplace."
Adrian's mind stilled, A friend? Born here?
The galactic histories never spoke of this. Not in any archive he'd read, not in any knowledge Lexaria had shared.
So whatever this Guardian Spirit referred to should have happened far earlier, perhaps before the empires existed.
And at the same time, Adrian didn't know if the Guardian Spirit was telling the truth, but there was no reason for it to lie to a being like Adrian who had never stepped into the universe. What purpose would deception serve now?
The Guardian Spirit continued, "That is all I can reveal for now. The rest, you will learn when the path opens."
Adrian narrowed his eyes, "Path?"
"A path that will lead you beyond this galaxy and into the universe," the Guardian Spirit said, "Once you reach it, you will understand how fortunate this galaxy was to receive protection from the Void Emperor himself."
The name hung in the void between them.
Void Emperor.
Before Adrian could ask anymore—
The Guardian Spirit vanished.
It was exactly like how it appeared. Now, it left without him even able to detect it. No spatial fluctuation, no essence trail, no disturbance in the fabric of reality.
Just… gone.
Adrian floated there, stunned, his thoughts churning despite the fog clouding them.
Void Emperor. A friend who left this galaxy. A barrier that protected instead of confined.
There seemed to be so many things going on, layers upon layers of truth buried beneath what he thought he understood. The galaxy he'd grown up in, the war he'd just ended, the empires that ruled, all of it suddenly felt smaller, like pieces on a board he couldn't yet see the edges of.
But at least the greatest internal threat to the galaxy had ended.
He turned, slowly accelerating through the void towards Nyseren. His movement was sluggish; his mana had recovered somewhat, but his Willforce remained depleted, making even his focus waver. Spatial manipulation felt heavier than it should, his awareness of the surrounding void duller.
Hours later, he finally arrived.
When he entered the Nyseren Sector, he could already see the cheers rippling across stations and ships. Warriors were celebrating, their voices carrying across communication channels, their essence flaring in jubilant bursts.
Countless beings gazed at him with reverence bordering on worship.
They had witnessed the impossible. They could observe everything from a long distance, millions of warriors stationed across defensive lines, watching through scrying formations and essence sensors as Adrian confronted the Demon Emperor in the demon sector.
They saw the devour domain collapse. They saw the Demon Emperor, the terror of so many generations, erased from existence.
The war they were preparing for ended before it even started.
Entire battalions knelt in the void, pressing fists to chests in salute as Adrian's silhouette passed overhead.
And as Adrian drifted into the central command hall, the rulers rose to their feet.
Five, each commanding billions, each wielding authority that had shaped the galaxy for millennia. They bowed in unison to him.
Not a polite nod. Not a gesture of respect between equals.
A full bow, heads lowered, bodies bent forward in submission.
For them, Adrian was already the supreme emperor, and this incident just made it clearer. The titles, the formalities, the ceremonies, all of it was irrelevant now. Power had spoken, and the galaxy had heard.
And the fight that just occurred would become the most legendary chapter in the recorded history of the Milky Way.