The silence within the Citadel of the Eternal Tide was deceptive. While the outside world viewed the Helios-9 sector as a graveyard of celestial law, the interior of the palace was a furnace of evolution.
Aegis stood in the center of the Observation Spire, his silhouette framed by the flickering data of the Interstellar Sovereign Nexus.
The messages of the emperors continued to scroll in a frantic blur, a digital ocean of fear and speculation that he now navigated with the cold detachment of a shark.
"They have labeled me a Devourer," Aegis said, his voice cutting through the hum of the star-engines. "They speak of Tier 20 and Tier 21 as if they are heights I cannot scale. They believe that because I have no background, I have no foundation. They do not realize that my foundation is the very hunger they fear."
Bella walked toward him, her steps silent on the obsidian floor. She looked at the display, her eyes narrowing at the name Draven the Worldbreaker.
