Youri didn't move at first.
The words had already been spoken, yet they echoed in his mind as if they had just begun, repeating, tightening, pressing against something deep inside him that he had buried long ago.
The Altopereh is calling your name.
The air in the study felt heavier.
Colder.
For a moment, he simply sat there, staring at the screen, at Alan… but not really seeing him. His hand moved slowly, almost unconsciously, rising to his face as he leaned forward, fingers pressing against his forehead as if trying to hold something back—something threatening to break through.
Then his body shifted.
Not forward.
Back.
The chair creaked beneath him as he staggered slightly into it, his posture losing that quiet composure he had built over the past two years. The man who had learned to sit in peace… was gone in that instant.
What remained was something older.
Something sharper.
Something far more dangerous.
Youri lowered his head into his hand, his voice coming out low, strained, carrying a weight that had not been heard from him in years.
"Prime Minister…"
A pause.
"I thought I left that part in my past."
His fingers tightened slightly against his face.
"What brought you to the decision to ask me for something like that?"
On the other side of the screen, Alan did not answer immediately.
He took a slow breath, his posture unchanged, his gaze steady—but there was something deliberate in the silence he allowed to settle between them.
Then he spoke.
"Duke," he began, his tone calm, controlled, "I hope you understand when I say this—those who serve this empire are bound to serve it until death."
A slight pause.
"And that does not exclude nobility either."
Youri didn't respond.
But his hand dropped slightly from his face.
Listening.
Alan continued.
"But I will explain why this decision was made."
The screen behind him shifted slightly as data flickered into view, fragments of reports, battle recordings, analysis logs—ghosts of the past resurfacing.
"You were present the day of the incident," Alan said. "You understand the magnitude of the threat we faced. A single ship. A single Orbiton."
His voice lowered slightly.
"And yet it shook the empire."
Youri's jaw tightened faintly.
He remembered.
"That event," Alan continued, "led to the exposure of the traitor Trevor Mosioh."
A brief flicker of irritation passed through Youri's eyes.
"His escape," Alan added, "left something far worse behind."
"The empire cannot function under the shadow of an enemy it cannot locate," Alan said. "And so… we acted."
Youri's gaze lifted slightly.
"Through intelligence operations," Alan went on, "we were able to trace his escape route."
The screen shifted again.
Coordinates.
Regions beyond Terrian control.
A marked zone.
"We found where Trevor fled."
Youri's expression hardened.
"And the Emperor made a decision."
A pause.
One that carried weight.
"He ordered the total annihilation of that region."
Youri's head lowered slightly.
"…of course he did," he murmured.
Alan did not react.
"They sheltered a traitor," he said. "They share his fate."
Another silence.
And then—
"You know there is only one God Unit capable of carrying out such an order."
This time, Youri didn't respond at all.
Because he already knew the answer.
Alan continued.
"We attempted to awaken it."
Youri's fingers slowly tightened against the edge of the table.
"Three pilots were deployed and the three died"
"No sync threshold," Alan said. "No activation. Immediate neural collapse."
Another pause.
"The fourth…"
Youri slowly lifted his head.
"…survived."
Alan's eyes met his directly.
"Barely."
The room felt colder.
"He never reached synchronization," Alan continued. "But before losing consciousness… he repeated a name."
"Youri Kronos."
For a moment—
Nothing moved.
Then Youri leaned forward slowly, his eyes locking onto the screen, something unreadable burning behind them now.
"We believe," Alan said, "that the Altopereh is not dormant."
"It is waiting."
Youri stared at him.
"For you."
The words hung in the air like a blade.
Youri exhaled slowly.
Then leaned back again, shaking his head faintly, almost as if rejecting the very idea.
"I'm sorry, Prime Minister…"
His voice was quieter now.
But firm.
"I swore to my wife… and to myself…"
A pause.
"I will never step foot in that machine again."
The words were final.
Clear.
For a brief moment—
Alan simply looked at him.
Then he blinked once.
And something shifted.
"Is that so," Alan said quietly.
His tone did not rise.
"Then I will show you something."
The screen behind him changed instantly.
A new schematic appeared.
Large.
Complex.
Unfamiliar.
Youri's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A weapon," Alan said.
The display zoomed in.
A massive cannon structure mounted onto a warship—layers of energy conduits, charging cores, focusing arrays.
"Developed by the same intruders we encountered two years ago."
Youri's posture straightened slightly.
"Our intelligence confirms," Alan continued, "that this weapon is capable of mass destruction on a scale we have not seen before."
The image shifted again.
Simulations.
Impact projections.
Entire fleets erased in a single discharge.
"If fired," Alan said, "it could wipe out an entire battalion of ships in an instant."
Youri's expression darkened.
"And we believe…"
Alan paused.
"…it is already operational."
Then Youri spoke.
Low. Controlled.
"So what does that have to do with me?"
Alan didn't hesitate this time.
His eyes locked onto Youri's.
"If Altopereh does not deploy…"
A pause.
"…we will send someone else." "Someone you know very well."
The air in the room shifted.
Subtly.
Dangerously.
Alan leaned forward slightly.
"General Leonora Kaelthorn."
The chair screeched violently against the floor as Youri shot to his feet.
His hand slammed against the table with a force that echoed through the room.
"What did you just say?"
His voice wasn't raised—
It was something worse.
Sharp.
Cold.
Dangerously controlled.
Alan didn't flinch.
"It's simple," he replied calmly.
"If you refuse…"
A pause.
"We will send your wife."
Youri's eyes burned now.
"She cannot refuse," Alan continued. "Because it will not be a request."
Another pause.
"It will be an order from the Emperor himself."
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Then Alan spoke one final time.
And this time—
There was no softness left in his voice.
"Trust me when I say this…"
His gaze did not waver.
"If that weapon is fired…"
A beat.
"There will be no saving anything after that."
"Only destruction."
"…the same destruction you bring."