CHAPTER 65: The Absolute Sovereign Mandate
(ARC 4: COSMIC DOMAIN & THE STARLIGHT BEACON)
The floor of the Grand Pavilion Ring shuddered beneath the localized, divine gravity of Ethan’s Void-Dragon Heart Core.
Captain Kargon—an Intermediate Void Sovereign who had slaughtered thousands across the lawless sectors—lay pinned to the cracked marble floor on both knees. His heavy red armor groaned under the crushing weight, his blue face flushed purple as he struggled to draw a single breath beneath Ethan’s glowing dragon gaze.
Seeing their captain flattened in an instant, Kargon’s twenty elite mercenaries panicked. Their hands flew toward their heavy plasma-casters and spatial blade hilts, intent on firing into the crowded pavilion!
"Fire! Kill those native—"
SWISH—SWISH—SWISH!
Before a single mercenary could pull a trigger or draw a weapon, Elena moved.
She didn't even fully draw her azure blade. With a flick of her wrist, her thumb pushed the sword guard up by a single quarter-inch, unleashing a hundred microscopic, razor-sharp spatial threads into the air!
BZ—ZZZ-T!
The spatial threads passed silently through the mercenaries' weapons, power cores, and meridian points. In less than a tenth of a second, all twenty plasma guns were cleanly sliced into neat, metallic cubes. Simultaneously, spatial sealing arrays ignited beneath their feet, paralyzing their nervous systems completely!
All twenty mercenaries dropped to the ground like cut marionettes—silent, immobilized, and completely harmless. Not a single alarm sounded, and the station’s automated defense arrays fifty meters away didn't even register a threat level spike!
The surrounding alien merchants, who had ducked for cover expecting a bloody riot, stared with their jaws hanging open.
"Twenty elite Void mercenaries... paralyzed in a blink without tripping the station guards?!""Her spatial precision... she didn't spill a single drop of blood or disturb the market stall!"
Elena sheathed her blade with a quiet, satisfying click, stepping gracefully beside her brother.
"The perimeter is clear, Ethan," Elena said calmly, her azure eyes cool and unfazed. "No station guards alerted, and no collateral damage to the merchant stalls."
"Nice work as always, sister," Ethan grinned.
He leaned down slightly, resting his forearm on his knee as he looked into Kargon’s bloodshot, terrified eyes. The mountain-crushing dragon pressure eased just enough to allow the pirate warlord to speak without his chest caving in.
"Ghh-k... w-what kind of monsters are you kids...?" Kargon wheezed out, his pride completely shattered, his voice shaking with primal horror.
"We are the heirs of Gabriel Sterling," Ethan replied smoothly, his tone dropping into a freezing, emperor-level sharpness that echoed directly inside Kargon’s soul. "And you just tried to threaten our home."
Ethan reached out, grabbing Kargon by the collar of his damaged armor and lifting the seven-foot warlord effortlessly with one hand.
"Here's how this works, Captain," Ethan said, his dark golden dragon pupils burning with absolute authority. "You are going to hand over the complete spatial intelligence ledger of the Northern Warlords—their trade routes, hidden outposts, and fleet strongholds. In exchange... I let you walk out of this station alive."
"I-I can't!" Kargon choked out, sweating blue slime. "Lord Malakor of the Northern Warlords will skin me alive if I leak the territory map!"
Elena stepped forward, her hand resting casually on her sword hilt. "Lord Malakor will skin you tomorrow. Ethan will erase your existence right now. Choose wisely."
Kargon looked from Elena’s razor-sharp azure eyes to Ethan’s glowing dragon pupils. He knew instantly that these two teenagers weren't bluffing; they possessed the power to wipe him off the galactic ledger without blinking.
"I-I'll give it to you! I'll give you everything!" Kargon whimpered, hastily tapping his wrist communicator to transfer a glowing, crimson spatial data-cube directly to Ethan’s imperial ledger!
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ NORTHERN WARLORD FACTION — STRATEGIC MAP RECEIVED │
├───────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ DATA TYPE │ CELESTIAL SPECIFICATION │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. HIDDEN BASES │ 14 Asteroid Mining Refineries & Fleet Outposts │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2. MAIN FLEET │ 1,200 Heavy Dreadnoughts (Stationed at Star Core) │
├───────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3. RESOURCES │ High-Grade Cosmic Adamantite & Raw Spatial Ore │
└───────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Ethan scanned the received data, a bright, triumphant smile spreading across his face. He tossed Kargon aside like a sack of scrap metal.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Captain," Ethan chuckled. He turned to the white-bearded elder of the Azure-Flame Sect, placing fifty high-grade cosmic spirit crystals onto the counter. "I'll take those Thousand-Year Stellar Lotus Seeds now."
The sect elder bowed till his forehead touched the floor, quickly handing over the glowing seeds with trembling, respectful hands. "T-Thank you, Young Sovereign! May House Sterling reign supreme across the stars!"
As Ethan and Elena turned and walked calmly back toward their shuttle, flanked by their power-armored guards, the entire market plaza parted like the Red Sea, every alien captain and merchant bowing deeply in awe and respect.
House Sterling had arrived in Sector 7—not as helpless cattle, but as absolute sovereigns of the new age.