Hearing Adrian's words, both Mariska and Xeolze didn't know what to even say. They exchanged a bewildered look. A lonely wanderer helping them like this was something they had never faced or even expected in their entire lifetime.
For millions of years, the Elyrian race had known nothing but the cruel hierarchy of the universe, a reality where the strong devoured the weak, and where no entity of profound power ever intervened without demanding an exorbitant price in return.
Mariska asked again, her voice trembling slightly against the silence of the void, "Lonely wanderer? Still, why would an existence like you risk the wrath of a Major Sect for us?"
Adrian looked at her. His eyes softened marginally, though the cold fury he had felt earlier still lingered at the edges of his mind. He replied, "It's more of a personal reason. I learned about the Life-Blood pills, and I felt the entire process highly disagreeable for me." He let out a slow exhale, his mind flashing back to the countless times he had fought to dismantle similar tyrannies, from the Aethelian Empire to Morka's suffocating grip on the Virelith Galaxy. "A system built on the endless harvesting of sentient life offends my bottom line."
Mariska shuddered at the mention of the pills. Xeolze's hands instinctively tightened into fists, his knuckles groaning within his shattered gauntlets. The horror of their existence was something they carried every second of their lives.
Before they could speak or express their gratitude, Adrian shifted his focus to the practical matters of their survival. The Ethereal Providence Sect, led by an enraged Navira, would undoubtedly be mobilizing their tracking arrays and hunting parties at this very moment.
Adrian asked, "Where is your star system? I can take you to your homeworld before the Providence Sect sends their hunting team into this void."
Mariska smiled bitterly and replied, "We do not have a homeworld, Senior. Our planets were bled dry and stripped from us millions of years ago." She looked down at her bloodied hands, the weight of their tragic history pressing down on her shoulders. "Our only home is a cage we built ourselves."
Adrian's expression turned solemn. He understood the cruelty of the universe better than most. The strong did not merely conquer; they consumed entire civilizations until nothing but husks remained.
He asked, "Where is it? I will take you back there... and if you agree, I can offer you a better place for your civilization." He looked directly into Mariska's eyes, offering a promise. "A place you can live free, without being treated as livestocks, a place where every life is respected."
Mariska and Xeolze couldn't believe it. The sheer magnitude of the offer paralyzed them.
For a moment, Xeolze even felt if this was a trap performed by the Ethereal Providence Sect. His instincts screamed that this could be an elaborate ruse designed by Navira to finally uncover their hidden sanctuary and take control of the last remnants of their race. But thinking back to the situation that had happened within the Providence Hub, especially feeling the intent released from Adrian when he conversed with Navira, Xeolze couldn't fully doubt Adrian.
The words can be faked, but one's intent is not something that can be faked easily.
"A place where we are not treated as livestock..." Mariska whispered, the words sounding almost foreign on her tongue. She looked up at the vast, indifferent expanse of the universe, a universe that had never shown them an ounce of mercy. "Does such a place truly exist in this universe?"
"It didn't," Adrian said quietly, "So I created one."
The statement sent a shiver down Mariska's spine. Yet, Xeolze remained cautious, his primary duty as a guard demanding that he protect his Princess above all else.
He drifted slightly in front of Mariska, placing himself between her and the white-grey robed man. "Senior, please forgive me for my blunt words. In our current situation, it's hard for us to believe and trust anyone."
Adrian looked at Xeolze. Instead of being offended by the suspicion, a faint, approving nod escaped Adrian. He respected the guard's vigilance. Adrian himself had navigated the lethal politics of the universe with extreme caution, refusing to blindly trust even the Void Emperor and the Great Sects.
"You should not apologize for caution," Adrian replied, his tone mild and understanding. "Trust is a luxury the hunted cannot afford. If you had blindly accepted the words of a stranger simply because he saved you, I would have questioned how your race managed to survive this long."
He allowed the silence to settle between them for a moment, giving them the space to breathe, to think, and to evaluate their reality without the pressure of his overwhelming authority.
"I can open a portal right now and send you as far away from here as you wish," Adrian offered, extending his hand smoothly into the void. "Or, we can part ways here itself. The choice is yours."
Mariska stared at his extended hand. Her mind raced as she processed the freedom he was handing to her. He was actually giving them the option to leave. He wasn't demanding a reward for saving them, nor was he forcing them to take him to their hidden place. He was simply stepping back, proving through his actions that his offer came without the chains of coercion.
She thought of her father, King Elyras, who had spent millions of years agonizing over their slow extinction. She remembered his despair, his strict orders to remain hidden, and the heavy burden he carried because they lacked the power to fight back against a Lesser Major Sect whose leader stood at the second stage of consciousness mastery. Her father believed they were doomed to wither away in their gilded cage until the universe forgot them.
But now, standing before her was a man who possessed a consciousness so terrifyingly dense that he had crushed Astral Stage elders with a mere thought. If this man truly possessed the strength to defy the Ethereal Providence Sect, and if his philosophy actively opposed the horrific doings that had been done to them, then letting him walk away would be the greatest mistake their civilization could ever make.
As the princess and the future ruler of her civilization, for the first time in her entire life, she made a decision. She would no longer hide while her people were bled dry.
"No, Senior," Mariska said, her voice regaining the regal, unwavering tone of an Elyrian royal. "We will not part ways. If what you say is true, and if you truly oppose the monsters who hunt us... then my father, King Elyras, must meet the man who saved our lives today."
Hearing the resolve in his Princess's voice, Xeolze straightened, crossing his arms over his chest, silently supporting his Princess's decree. He had sworn to lay down his life for her, and if she chose to trust this sovereign, then Xeolze would follow her into the abyss.
Adrian lowered his hand as he heard this. He was slightly surprised to hear that this winged woman was actually the daughter of the King of her civilization. "Very well. Give me the spatial coordinates. I will open a portal directly to your father."
"You cannot," Xeolze interrupted quickly, stepping forward.
Adrian paused, his brow furrowing slightly in genuine confusion. "Why?"
"Don't take it wrong, Senior," Xeolze explained, his tone apologetic but firm. "Our hidden place is a micro-dimension, but it does not float freely in the intergalactic void. It is anchored to a very specific set of spatial coordinates. And that spatial coordinates are heavily guarded, and you cannot open a portal to it."
Adrian's curiosity was genuinely piqued. Micro-dimensions were complex structures, and hiding one from the relentless scouting arrays of a Major Sect required technology even adrian had never gazed upon. "And where exactly is this micro-dimension located?"
Mariska exchanged a brief, complicated look with Xeolze. It was the ultimate secret of their race, the only reason they had not been entirely wiped out by Navira's forces over the past millions of years.
"Senior..." Mariska said quietly, "It's within the Providence Hub."
Adrian froze for a brief moment. The sheer absurdity of the statement stalled his rapidly calculating mind.
He understood now why they couldn't open the portal. Of course, the Providence Hub had highly advanced formations and artifacts embedded to block external portals from tearing into their hub, but what shocked him more was the location of the micro-dimension itself.
To hide from a Major Sect inside the very headquarters of that Major Sect was a level of audacity that completely bypassed logic and bordered on madness. The hub was swarming with Astral Stage elders, scanning arrays, and the constant, oppressive presence of a sovereign at the Anchor stage.
A low, resonant sound broke the silence of the void. Adrian threw his head back and laughed.
The rich, genuine sound of his laughter echoed strangely in the vacuum of space, a stark contrast to the grim reality of their situation. He couldn't help but appreciate the madness of the Elyrians.
"The most dangerous place..." Adrian murmured, an admiring smile spreading across his face, "...truly is the safest."
He looked at the winged princess and her guard, his respect for their civilization growing exponentially.
"You haven't been running from them at all," Adrian said, "You've been hiding in plain sight."