Kevin stood in the void outside Herta's office viewport.
Space stretched around him. Silent. Cold. Beautiful in the way only emptiness can be.
He reached up. Fingers closing around the pendant. The metal was warm. Like it remembered being something bigger.
He unclasped it. The chain slipped free.
For a moment, he just held it. A tiny necklace floating in his palm. Harmless. Unassuming.
You'd never guess what it really was.
Then he threw it.
Not hard. Just a toss. The pendant tumbled away from him, catching starlight as it spun.
And grew.
And grew.
Inside her office, Herta moved before she thought about it.
She was at the window. Hands pressed against the glass. Eyes locked on the pendant.
It tumbled. Caught light. And then
It exploded outward.
No. Not exploded. That wasn't the right word.
Unfolded.
Metal bloomed. Hull plates materialized out of nothing. Engines formed in geometric perfection. The structure expanded, each piece locking into place like it had always been there. Just waiting.
Five seconds.
That's all it took.
A necklace became a warship in five seconds.
Herta's mind was already racing. Mass-to-energy conversion. Dimensional compression. Quantum storage. She ran through every theory she knew.
None of them worked.
The math didn't add up. Couldn't. You couldn't compress that much matter into that small a space. The energy requirements alone would—
Her fingers moved. Holographic displays appearing. Recording everything. Breaking down every frame.
"Fascinating."
The word came out quiet. Almost reverent.
Kevin glanced back.
Their eyes met through the glass.
Herta's lips curved. Just a little.
He knew she was watching. Knew she'd seen it all.
Good.
Her hand lifted. A small wave. Not quite goodbye. More like a challenge.
Figure this out if you can.
Kevin turned away. Pushed himself toward the ship.
Herta stayed at the window. Watching until the engines flared. Watching until the ship vanished.
Then she turned.
Walked back to her desk.
Sat down.
The holographic recordings floated around her. Frame by frame. Second by second.
"Next time we meet," she said to the empty room, "you're explaining that. In detail."
Her fingers drummed.
"And telling me what else those rings can do."
The cockpit welcomed him. Lights flickered on. One by one. Console displays hummed to life.
"Welcome back, Captain."
Mei's voice. Steady as always. Warm in a way AI shouldn't be.
Kevin sat. The leather was cool. He settled in. Let himself relax. Just a little.
"Set course for the Luofu."
"Calculating route. Estimated travel time: forty-two minutes at maximum warp speed."
Kevin leaned back. Closed his eyes.
Just need to get back before they notice.
Simple.
Easy.
Nothing will go wrong.
"Route locked. Preparing for warp jump."
The engines hummed. Building power. Space began to twist around them.
"Initiating warp in three... two... one..."
The Hyperion shot forward.
Stars stretched into lines. The void blurred. Kevin felt the familiar pressure of the warp bubble forming around the ship.
Then settling.
They were moving. Fast. Cutting through space.
Kevin opened his eyes. Watched the streaks of light outside the viewport.
Forty-two minutes. Plenty of time.
The crew would still be dealing with Kafka. Still searching for answers. Still following the script.
He'd slip back onto the Luofu. Rejoin them. No one would know he'd left.
Simple.
"Captain."
Mei's voice cut through his thoughts. Sharp. Alert.
"Detecting anomalies ahead. Multiple signatures."
Kevin sat up. "What kind of anomalies?"
"Large. Organic-mechanical hybrid. Four distinct sources."
The displays shifted. Holographic readouts appearing. Six blips on the scanner. Big. Moving.
"Exiting warp for safety assessment."
The streaks of light slowed. Condensed. Solidified back into stars.
And there they were.
Six massive shapes hanging in the void.
Doomsday Beasts.
Kevin stared at them.
Each one was the size of a building. Grotesque amalgamations of flesh and metal. Arms that ended in blade-like protrusions. Heads with too many eyes. Bodies that pulsed with corruption.
Antimatter Legion creations. Born from the Destruction.
One was rare.
Two was a crisis.
Six?
"Threat assessment: Extreme. Recommend immediate evasive maneuvers."
Kevin didn't answer.
Just stared at them. Mind working through the problem.
Six Doomsday Beasts.
Right here. Exact path between Herta Station and the Luofu.
His route back.
One is random chance. Two is bad luck.
Six?
Six is deliberate.
The timing clicked into place. He'd left the Luofu. Created the Hyperion. Warped to Herta Station. And now, on his way back, six Antimatter Legion constructs just happen to be waiting on this exact route?
No.
Phantylia.
She's an Emanator of Destruction. The Antimatter Legion answers to her. Doomsday Beasts are her tools.
And she's been traveling with the crew. Disguised as Tingyun. Close enough to notice when someone disappears.
Kevin's jaw tightened slightly.
She noticed I left. Probably the moment I jumped into space from the viewing platform.
And she put these here. Not to kill him—six wouldn't be enough for that. But to delay him. To keep him busy while she made whatever move she was planning on the Luofu.
Smart.
Keep the dangerous variable away from the board while you play your hand.
The beasts shifted. Massive bodies turning. Multiple eyes locking onto the ship.
They'd seen it.
"Captain, they're moving. Trajectory suggests imminent attack."
Kevin stood.
His boots were quiet on the floor. He walked past the nav console. Past the empty co-pilot seats. Down the corridor.
The airlock waited at the end. Circular door. Heavy metal.
Kevin stopped in front of it.
"Mei. Full power to shields."
"Confirmed. Shields at maximum."
He pressed his hand to the panel. The door hissed. Red light turned green.
The airlock opened. Mechanical groan. The inner chamber was small. Just enough room. Safety harnesses hung unused.
Kevin stepped inside.
The door sealed behind him. Heavy clunk. Air vented out. Pressure changed. His ears popped.
The outer door unlocked.
Opened.
Space rushed in.
Silent. Absolute.
Kevin stepped through.
Floated free.
The void wrapped around him.
Silent. Cold.
Six Doomsday Beasts hung ahead like nightmares made real. Each one building-sized. Massive. Terrible.
Their corrupted bodies writhed. Antimatter pulsing through twisted flesh and metal. Arms ending in blades. Heads with too many eyes, all focused on him now.
They saw him.
A tiny figure. Human-sized. Floating alone in the emptiness between stars.
One beast tilted its head. Eyes blinking in sequence. Analyzing. Assessing.
Then they moved.
All six at once. Closing in from different angles. Coordinated. Intelligent.
Kevin's eyes narrowed.
Six.
"It seems she didn't underestimate me."
His hands dropped to his sides. Fingers flexed once.
The rings pulsed.
Right hand: Ring of Finality. Seven domains.
Left hand: Ring of Death and Beginning. Six domains.
Thirteen paths. Thirteen weapons. Millions of souls carried within.
The first beast lunged from the right. Bladed arm sweeping wide.
A second came from the left. Coordinated attack.
Kevin didn't flinch.
His right hand rose. Slow. Deliberate.
The Ring of Finality flared bright.
Void.
The crossbow manifested in his grip. Sleek. Dark. Bolts crackling with purple energy.
Kevin aimed at the right beast.
Fired.
The bolt didn't travel through space. It simply ceased to exist in one place and appeared in another. Inside the Doomsday Beast's head.
Distance meaningless. Trajectory irrelevant.
The creature's skull exploded from within. Silent burst of antimatter and corrupted flesh spraying outward. Light and shadow.
The massive body went limp. Drifting. Already dissolving.
The left beast was still coming.
Kevin twisted. Aimed. Fired again.
Another bolt. Another instant kill. The second beast's head erupted, body jerking once before going still.
Two down.
The remaining four hesitated. Just for a fraction of a second. Recalculating.
Then they spread out. Flanking. Smarter now.
Kevin's left hand rose.
Thunder.
The katana materialized in a flash of electric blue. Crackling. Humming with barely contained fury.
Two beasts lunged from opposite sides. Trying to catch him between them.
Kevin moved.
Not fast. Instantaneous.
He was there and then he was beside the third beast. The distance simply stopped existing. The katana sang as it cut through the void.
A horizontal slash. Clean. Perfect.
The blade passed through the beast's torso like it wasn't there. No resistance. Just the whisper of steel and lightning.
The two halves floated apart. Sparking. Twitching. Then still.
The fourth beast's attack missed where Kevin had been. Bladed arm sweeping through empty space.
Kevin reappeared behind it. The katana flashed again. Vertical this time. Top to bottom.
The beast split down the middle. Clean. Precise. Lightning crackling through the wound before the pieces drifted apart.
Four down.
The last two backed away. Panic in their movements now. They'd seen four of their kind fall in seconds.
One swung wildly. Desperate. Massive bladed arm sweeping in a wide arc.
Kevin's right hand shifted. The crossbow dissolved into light particles.
Stars.
The rocket hammer appeared. Impossibly heavy. Reality bending around it. Gravity warping the space nearby. Even light seemed to curve toward its mass.
Kevin swung upward to meet the descending arm.
The hammer met the beast's attack.
The impact was silent. But the shockwave was visible. Space itself rippled outward from the point of contact.
The arm shattered. Broke into pieces. The force traveled through the creature's entire body. Bones cracking. Metal warping. Structure collapsing inward.
The beast's entire torso caved in. Crushed by its own momentum redirected back into itself.
It tumbled backward, broken and bent at wrong angles. Dead before it stopped moving.
Five down.
The sixth beast was already fleeing. Thrusters firing. Desperate. Trying to put distance between itself and this human-shaped death.
Kevin's eyes were cold. Gray like storm clouds.
No.
You came here to stop me. To delay me.
You don't get to leave.
Both hands rose together.
Right: Binding.
Left: Corruption.
The chained blades manifested in his right hand. Multiple chains extending from a central grip. Each ending in a curved blade. They rattled softly, eager.
The scythe appeared in his left. Long handle. Curved blade that seemed to drink in the starlight. The edge wasn't sharp so much as wrong. Like it existed slightly out of phase with reality.
Kevin threw the chained blades with a sharp motion.
They shot forward like living serpents. Wrapping around the fleeing beast. One chain around an arm. Another around the torso. A third around its throat. The blades bit deep. Held fast.
The creature struggled. Thrashed. Trying to break free. Its thrusters fired uselessly, just spinning it in place.
Kevin pulled himself forward along the chains. Hand over hand. Moving smoothly. Closing the distance.
The scythe gleamed in his left hand. Waiting.
He reached the beast.
It turned its head. Multiple eyes wide. Fearful.
Kevin swung.
The scythe passed through its neck. Not cutting. Not cleaving.
Withering.
Where the blade touched, flesh decayed. Metal rusted. Color drained away. Life itself seemed to leak out like water from a cracked vessel.
The Doomsday Beast shuddered once.
Then went still.
Kevin released the chains. They dissolved back into light. The corpse began to drift, slowly breaking apart into dust.
Six down.
He floated there for a moment. Surrounded by the dissolving remains. Antimatter dissipating into nothing. Corruption fading like a bad dream.
Silence.
Just the infinite quiet of space.
Kevin's hands lowered slowly. The weapons dissolved. Particles of light scattering. The rings dimmed back to their usual faint glow.
His breathing was heavier now. Not exhausted. But not effortless either.
Seven minutes.
Maybe eight.
Longer than he'd hoped.
He turned back toward the Hyperion. The ship floated where he'd left it. Shields glowing faintly. Waiting patiently.
Kevin pushed off from nothing. Drifted back toward the airlock.
Airlock opened for him.
He floated inside.
Outer door sealed. Chamber pressurized. Hiss of air rushing back. Sound almost jarring after absolute silence.
Inner door unlocked. Opened.
Kevin stepped back into the corridor. Boots touched floor. Gravity reasserted itself.
He walked back to cockpit. Lights seemed brighter. Or maybe his eyes just needed adjustment.
"Captain. You've returned."
Mei's voice. Something in it. Relief? Hard to tell with an AI.
But maybe.
Kevin sat. Leather still cool. Like he'd never left.
"Status report."
"All threats neutralized. No damage to the Hyperion. Your biometrics show elevated stress markers but no injuries."
Kevin leaned back. Let his head rest against the seat.
"Good. Resume course to the Luofu."
"Confirmed. Calculating new route."
Engines hummed back to life. Space twisted.
"Warp jump in three... two... one..."
Stars stretched.
They were moving again.
Kevin closed his eyes.
Phantylia knows I left.
She tried to delay me.
Which means she's making her move. Soon.
Crew's walking into whatever she planned. And I'm not there.
His hands clenched on the armrests.
Need to get back. Fast.
"Mei."
"Yes, Captain?"
"Increase to maximum warp speed. Ignore safety margins."
Pause. "Captain, that is not recommended. Engine strain would—"
"Do it."
"...Confirmed. Increasing to 110% maximum rated speed. Estimated arrival time: twenty-eight minutes."
Twenty-eight minutes.
Kevin stared at the viewport. At blurred stars rushing past.
Twenty-eight minutes.
Then he'd be back.
Back with the crew.
Back where the real battle was about to begin.
Hold on, he thought.
Just hold on a little longer.
I'm coming.