Draco spoke genially to what were inevitably and understandably his adversaries, but they did not return his cordiality whatsoever, as one of the beings at the forefront of this group responded in a rude manner.
"Filthy human, how dare you call us friends? We have no friendship nor amiability with your treacherous race, and to dare suggest as such is an affront to us all." The fellow spat, revealing himself to be a relatively old man with gray-black hair, eyes as red as rubies, and a body covered with kevlar-like black armor that was scaly in nature.
He stood atop the visage of a giant black dragon which had spiky ridges, a relatively thick and muscular body, along with fierce crimson eyes that were fixed on the humans with undisguised killing intent.
"Now, now, Old Sigurd. There's no need to be so harsh with the lower Neanderthal lifeforms, they might explode from the sheer might of your aura." A mature woman in a skin-tight black polymer suit chuckled while covering her mouth, her lush purple hair akin to snakes that were ready to pounce.
She was currently gracefully hovering around the purple-colored horned serpent with two angelic wings on either side.
"Shut up, Minerva! Why are we wasting time here, Sigurd? Just hurry up and kill these runts and let's go back home!" An irritable male humanoid with dark red skin and two curved horns growing from his temples roared with impatience, his tall and muscular body bare around the torso and clothed in red synthetic armor around his lower body, pulsing with power.
He stood atop a planet that was barren and desolate, with countless jagged mountains and hills covered with black soot, while lava formed what should have been its "seas."
"Enough! We have spent countless centuries searching for the remnant spark of the wretched human race and finally traced them here. Before we extinguish the last light of this troublesome race, wouldn't it be prudent to let them understand their mistake?" Sigurd, the one in the lead, said forcefully, his aura brooking no room for debate.
Surprisingly, the others became silent and docile, even the irritable fellow not daring to do anything but frown slightly and fold his arms.
Sigurd leaned forward slightly atop the black dragon manifestation, the slitted pupils of his red eyes boring into the man who radiated a familiar aura and stood at the forefront of humanity—Draco.
"You want to know your mistake, human?" he asked, his voice calm, chillingly paternal.
Draco made an expression of ponderance, then shook his head. "No, not really. You look old and decrepit, who knows how long you'll yap on for, Gramps? Why not come take a nap, we have plenty of nursing homes down planetside."
Minerva giggled under her breath while the red-skinned brute snorted, releasing steam from his nostrils, his lips unable to resist curling upward. Meanwhile, those on Draco's side had their lips twitch, with someone speaking through the shared comms.
"Boss, Draco is at it again…" Number 10—the short man with multiple giant arms—muttered, now left with only two arms that were struggling to fend off attacks, his right leg exploded into pieces of flesh that floated in space.
Sigurd froze at Draco's taunts, then closed his eyes to control his temper before opening them once more, revealing a cold smile.
"Indeed, typical of the human race. You forget your place," Sigurd remarked mildly, flicking a finger forward, which released a beam of black light.
That light was not aimed at anyone present, but at the orbital station, which had begun overloading its core to create a supermassive explosion that would hopefully swallow everything within range and take down their foes with it.
The black beam of light connected and did not pierce through the orbital station, but instead spread out to coat it in its light.
Then, the next second, the entire orbital station… disappeared.
A behemoth construction the size of a moon that had cost humanity countless resources and effort to build over the years, gone just like that.
Minerva's lips curled as she hovered beside her winged serpent with lazy amusement. "Woow~ it's always a treat to see the might of Destruction Energy of the Dragon Ancestor in action!~"
Draco did not take his eyes off Sigurd, but spoke in a deep tone that was no longer full of teasing. "Commander Baines? Connor, are you there?"
No response, not even static.
"Boss… I think old Shadowheart is… gone." The voice of Number 9 of the Great Ten sounded through the comms, a bit hoarse.
That was normal, as the fellow was now reduced to just a head and neck floating in space, being kicked around by malicious alien enemies that wanted to shatter the last of the rebound shield.
Sigurd nodded once, as if acknowledging a student's answer. "Indeed, your friend among this group of elders of your race is 'gone.' Under the power of my pure Destruction Energy, he was not even reduced to atoms, for those atoms were disintegrated into nothingness."
His smile widened while the already freezing void of space seemed to grow colder, because every human listening through the comms understood that this person could also point at their home planet and likely beget the same fate, but chose this elaborate invasion to send a message.
What no one among the human race understood was… why?
The being with immense power that stood atop a dragon seemed keen on giving the answer, as he began speaking slowly and deliberately, as if he wanted every human to hear and memorize this information.
"In the beginning, there was a singularity of the highest energy, and that core was called Origo, an existence of endless energy. Its power created thought, and this thought became will, where this will eventually became existence."
Minerva waved lazily. "Oh please, don't start from the cosmic fairytale. The lower beings' brains will melt."
Sigurd's eyes sharpened as he glanced at her, and Minerva's mouth snapped shut right away, her body trembling slightly.
Sigurd mechanically continued. "Origo created an administrator, a being with maximum authority over its laws. Your predecessors called him 'Deus' in your myths, and you were not entirely wrong."
Some emotion entered his voice by this point. "Deus was very calculating and knowledge-hungry, so he created experiments—experiments on the scale of entire universes!"
"From what little we know, at least two universes came before ours, where each had a shepherd—a god—and each failed its intended purpose for the experiment."
Sigurd chuckled. "Don't worry, they still exist. It is not so easy to destroy what is created, at least not thoroughly."
His amusement disappeared the next moment as his eyes glowed. "After the two failures, he created our universe, and the purpose of the experiment shifted, for he created us without a shepherd."
Sigurd paused for a moment as his voice lowered.
"The experiment was simple. A universe was created without a ruling deity, a throne left empty, and the question was whether any life could climb high enough to claim it."
Saying this, heavy breathing could be heard from the various patriarchs, even Minerva licking her lips with desire. Clearly, this 'cosmic fairytale' was something they believed in and each aspired to greatly.
"Wait, so you're saying I have a chance?" Draco suddenly interjected, his eyes alight with interest, making the humans chuckle knowingly despite themselves.
Sigurd casually glanced at him with disdain, then retorted, "How ignorant. How could a mere thing like a sub-human attain such a grand position?"
"What the fuck did this asshole just call us?" Number 8, the crazy fellow with the axes and insane regenerative ability, asked angrily.
His voice sounded distorted, since his head had been knocked into his torso and was unable to come out, making his further attacks very inaccurate.
Sigurd smiled with amusement. "You feel I am insulting you? But it is the truth. I say this not even as a member of a superior race, but from the perspective of your own species."
He pointed toward the humans as a whole.
"You creatures… are not the original form of humanity."
Everyone's face changed at that, this claim more shocking than even the sudden invasion.
Sigurd's voice became wistful. "All of our species, including your predecessors, were born in the center of our universe's core galaxy, the place where the strongest races gather."
He spread his hands to either side in majestic revelation.
"The Gerdo Galaxy!"
Minerva sighed dramatically, but her eyes glittered, while the others either smiled, nodded, or felt moved, proud of their origin as the centerpiece of this universe's power structure.
Sigurd continued. "The Gerdo Galaxy is not a peaceful place. It is a battleground of hundreds of sapient species, each armed with gifts, bloodlines, conceptual power, and instincts refined by creation."
He paused again.
"And then came your forefathers."
His gaze swept across the human line. "Your Original Human Race was physically weaker than most of the galaxy, with little in terms of unique traits. You did not breathe fire, you did not manipulate concepts, nor did you command elements as naturally as the others."
He raised two fingers. "But you had two things: Assimilation and Control."
He lowered one finger. "You could take the traits of other species through propagation and adaptation, then merge what you acquired into yourselves. You possessed the ability to steal what you lacked and call it evolution."
Minerva chuckled softly. "See? Even their greatest talent is theft. Isn't that adorable?"
Sigurd continued without acknowledging her, lowering his other finger. "And Control—the unity of body and mind. The perfect synchronization of will, energy, and flesh."
He stared at Draco coldly, mocking, as if he could see through his tricks, and Draco himself felt like the psionic domain he was slowly unveiling to catch these aliens off guard was suddenly gripped by a giant hand.
"Control allowed the Original Humans to outlearn species who were born with gifts. It allowed them to master systems that should have taken other races ten thousand years in less than one."
Sigurd's voice became a knife. "With these two talents, your predecessors eventually rose to rule the Gerdo Galaxy, enslaving all living beings as your toys."
His voice deepened. "Every sapient species hates the feeling of being beneath another, so naturally, they united in uprising."
Minerva leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Oh, this part is fun."
"They launched a final war against your predecessors—an extinction war where only one winner was allowed and the loser would be annihilated from existence."
"So… we lost?" Number 4, Ao Shangtian, asked with a pale face, his voice hushed with horror.
Sigurd nodded. "Indeed, you lost."
"And in your last moments, your forefathers did the only intelligent thing your species has ever done when faced with consequences," he continued.
His eyes narrowed. "They ran."
The humans blinked in surprise, and Number 5 of the Great Ten stopped his fight with a puzzled expression.
"The old Joestar technique?"
Sigurd did not understand what that meant, so he ignored it. "Your predecessors had contingency plans, as they had searched countless galaxies, looking for worlds similar enough to your original homeworld to seed."
His eyes were filled with disdain as he glanced at the lovely blue planet nearby.
"And yet they chose a primitive backwater in a weak spiral arm."
"So we are the remnants of the human race?" Number 3, Ao Shuangtian, asked with a terse voice.
"No, you are mere shadows of them. Not only is your technology level lower, but your bloodline ability of Control has all but disappeared except for a select few, while your Assimilation ability has warped into something ugly," Sigurd corrected calmly.
One of the other patriarchs, a middle-aged-looking man wearing pristine white robes with angelic wings unfurled behind him, stepped forward, speaking quietly to Sigurd.
"Lord, I sense something in the air. If we do not strike soon, I fear some unknown change might occur."
Hearing this, Sigurd's red eyes flashed as he nodded. "Indeed, I also feel uneasy."
Saying so, he waved a hand, causing a wave of Destruction Energy to manifest that passed over the entire light-second range of the battle, wiping out every single instance of human life in the area at once, without consideration of anything else.
"I wanted to furnish you with the full tale so you could appreciate why you are being exterminated, but I would be remiss to give your species another chance at survival. Perish, humanity, and be the fuel that gives rise to the freedom of the Gerdo Galaxy!" Sigurd stated grandly, watching everyone slowly freeze in place, then slowly disintegrate into nothing.
But there was a sudden change, as three orange-colored glows lit up from the place where Draco, Eva, and Shuangtian stood, glowing brighter with each second as they began to tear a hole in reality.
The faces of the patriarchs shifted into expressions of absolute shock and horror, disbelieving of what they were seeing and sensing.
"No, it can't be! How can these sub-humans possess Eternal Power?" Minerva screamed and took a step back.
"What?! No, we must stop them! With that kind of power, they can rewrite fate and reality!" The red-skinned patriarch roared as he did not wait for anyone, channeling his full power into a blow targeting the three glowing lights.
The others suppressed their shock and also unleashed their full power, with the formerly calm Sigurd even burning his origin source to unleash his strongest blow of Destruction Energy.
BOOM! BOOM!
With a loud explosion and a bright fizzle of light, two of the orange glows, which had spawned from Eva and Shuangtian, were dispersed, unable to reform in time. Unfortunately, the group was unable to gather enough power to strike the orange glow that emerged from Draco, as it entered the tear in reality it created and disappeared, while pulling the other two dispersed glows along with it.
"NO!!!!" Sigurd bellowed, causing countless beings nearby to explode and perish, even those of his own race, but neither he nor the other patriarchs had the frame of mind to care.
For their worst fear had been realized: the human race still had a backup plan, and it was the most troublesome kind—one they couldn't guard against.