The Wanderer drifted away from the ruins’ orbit. The journey back to Earth felt heavy, not only because of the ship’s damage, but because of the weight of the information they had just uncovered.“The data from that library...” Sari began softly. She still held the panel on her wrist, staring at the intricate graphs. “It reveals more than just the Predators. It’s the bigger picture of the destruction that has spread across the universe.”“And the Collectors are only a small part of it,” Raka added. He could feel the core of his Cosmic Light pulsing, giving him flashes of the patterns he had seen inside the library. “All those civilizations that were destroyed... Earth is one of the few that still has a chance.”“Including Ark,” Sari continued, rotating her panel to display the new and much larger star map they had obtained. “The planet where every life essence was gathered. A genetic vault for the universe. And all the clues point there.”Raka stared at the map, then glanced toward Ka

“Bara?” Sari repeated, stunned. She tore her gaze away from the flickering screen and looked at Raka. “How is that possible? Wasn’t he captured by the Collectors?”“I don’t know the details,” Raka answered, his voice hoarse. He could feel a strange resonance from that energy signature, a warmth tangled with a chilling sense of dread. “But I can feel him. Very strongly. Something has changed in him. His energy... it’s different.”Amid the panic consuming the cockpit of the nearly destroyed Wanderer, Kaelan’s voice came through the intercom, tense and strained. “Your Highness, the Devourer King’s ship is getting closer. We don’t have much longer before we’re overwhelmed. Ark’s energy field is open now, but we need to get away from here immediately!”“No!” Raka shouted, his instincts screaming at him. He felt the core of his Cosmic Light trembling, not only from exhaustion, but from something else. Something familiar, yet terribly wrong. “I can’t just abandon Ark. Too many lives depend o

The Wanderer moved through a heavy silence, its dim cabin lit only by the flickering control panels and the faint glow of passing stars. Sari sat in the pilot’s seat, her gaze fixed on the navigation screen as she tracked the energy trail that had now become unmistakably clear. Beside her, Raka sat upright, his hands clenched tightly, his eyes carrying a mixture of hope and anxiety. Behind them, Kaelan occasionally glanced at the sensor display, unease written plainly across his face.“Bara’s trail is getting stronger, Raka,” Sari broke the silence, her voice soft, almost a whisper in the void. “Very strong, but also... chaotic. Full of distortion.”“I can feel it,” Raka replied, his breathing slightly heavier. The Cosmic Light within him stirred in response to the nearness of Bara’s energy. It was different from what he had felt from the Collectors or the Predators. This was the echo of a friend, trapped inside a darkness that did not belong to him.“He’s on a ruined colony planet,”

“Division is the key,” Raka repeated Bara’s words, his voice barely audible beneath the hum of the fragile engines aboard The Wanderer. He gripped the Architect’s artifact tightly in his hand, feeling its pulse growing stronger now, like an echo finally finding its source.“The key to what, Raka?” Sari asked from the pilot’s seat, her eyes still tracking Bara’s energy signature, faint but steady. “What did you see in that data?”Raka closed his eyes for a moment, allowing the flood of information he had just received from the artifact to wash through his consciousness. The Architect’s sacrifice, his attempt to resist the void, had hidden a darker side beneath it all. A plan twisted by desperation.“The Architect... he wasn’t only trying to protect,” Raka began, his voice heavy. “He created something too. Something he hoped would become a weapon. But it turned against him.”“You mean... the division?” Sari asked, glancing at the diagram displayed on the main screen, a complex map showi

“I can’t believe we have to do this,” Sari said, her voice heavy with sorrow. Her eyes remained fixed on Raka, her expression filled with doubt. “Reducing your power... it feels like throwing away our hope.”Raka looked at her, trying to project a confidence he did not fully feel himself. His fingers reached for Sari’s hand, gripping it tightly. “This isn’t throwing away hope, Sari. It’s a strategy. We’ll come back stronger. In a different way.”Deep in his heart, Raka wondered. Will I still be myself without the Cosmic Light so tightly woven into my soul? Will Earth still see me as its protector, or just an ordinary man who has lost his power? The questions weighed heavily on his mind, a cold fear creeping down his spine. But he could not show it. Not in front of Sari, not in front of the Summoner, not in front of anyone.A strange pulse of cosmic energy drew their attention, interrupting Raka’s thoughts. The light from the dimensional gate created by the Summoner burned brighter, pu