Galaxy's First Ruler

Aldrich's shout was like the sound of a bugle.

Boudicca, though completely shocked and confused, let go of Aldrich's neck and dashed towards Maya. But Boudicca's shock couldn't even be muttered in the same breath of Maya's stupefied expression. As she saw two bat-like wings materializing on Aldrich's back before flying away from them, she let out a deafening cry.

"BRING HIM TO ME!!!"

*

BOOM!!!

The exploding sound of two fists colliding sent out shockwaves after shockwaves, destroying the rest of the Manor. But Aldrich didn't turn to look at anything and just kept flapping the wings in some random direction, away from the Everlasting Tower. By now, Trifon's clone had already advised Earl Drago to remain hidden, letting Aldrich not worry about him.

Shuuuu!

Aldrich was about to change his direction one more time when the familiar sound echoed around him. The space in front of him turned like a mini sun, and Harold came out of it. As the Marquess hovered in the air, he shook his head and said.

"Disappointed… I am truly disappointed. You have shown such potential Aldrich. I even took you as my personal student. But you betrayed me. Didn't you for once think about our teacher-student relationship? And my daughter… my poor daughter. You broke her heart. Tch!"

".."

Aldrich didn't know what to say. Everything within Harold's heart was distorted to an unimaginable degree. It seemed it had been too long since Maya's control over him. Aldrich believed that even if Harold were to come out of Maya's influence, it would leave a lasting effect on him.

Ignoring Harold altogether, Aldrich raised both his hands out. But from an outsider's perspective, it seemed as if he was raising the Pillar to put up a fight.

The sound of fighting had become so loud that Aldrich couldn't hear a hint of rain, even though it was still doing a good job of drenching him. The dense clouds riled up and, for the first time, a bolt of lightning flashed over Aldrich and Harold.

Cr-rack!

Harold's face became ugly with pain and anger as he again shook his head and spoke out.

"It's futile, son. I admit you may be one of the best Dreamers at Viscount Rank. Your fighting style is that of a peak Dreamer, and you are intelligent enough to outsmart many. But even then you can't move a muscle in front of an Earl. Let alone a Marquess like me."

Cr-rr-rack!!

Harold was absolutely right, and who knew his limits better than Aldrich? There was no way for him to outfight an Earl and Marquess. But he didn't need to fight. The only thing that could make him worry was Harold's use of One Step Shunpo. And Aldrich wasn't so helpless against it, even though he couldn't use the Skill Change to its full extent anymore.

Aldrich hadn't raised his hands to put up a fight, to begin with. An ethereal and heavy sound came out of his throat. It felt like most of the sound didn't spread out but had gone to some unknown place, crossing an infinite distance.

"From the ashes of my Dreams…

… ARISE!!!"

The space rippled in between Aldrich and Harold. It was like a fissure had appeared there, and beyond this fissure was darkness, so heavy that it could crush planets to smithereens.

Under the squinting eyes of Marquess Harold, a black armored knight walked out. He had a blue cloak on his back, and there was an insignia of a golden crown on it. On his waist were two swords, and his eyes were like two red dots, like the glow coming out of a beast's eyes in the dark of the night.

This armored knight was Count El Cid, the Undefeated King.

"Summon?!"

From the way Aldrich's Arise Skill worked, none could tell that the beings brought back to life were undead. It appeared more similar to the highly common Summon Skill.

Dreamers could summon Crawlers, beasts, and even mythical creatures depending on their rewards. There were even cases of Dreamers summoning spirits of ancient heroes after having a contract with them. So for Harold to misunderstand it as an ordinary Summon wasn't foolish.

The yellow-eyed boy scoffed, shaking the hell out of his wet ponytail.

"Huh! And what good a Summon would do? Even hundreds like these can't help you stand up to me."

Aldrich put both his hands around El Cid's neck, making the wings on his back vanish. He gave an honest smile to Harold and said.

"Teacher, why would I need to fight you when I just need to outrun you for enough time?"

"Hahaha! And how will you accomplish that?"

As Harold laughed and retorted with the question, El Cid's hand went to the greatswords on his waist. The swords on his right gave out an icy burst of Mana, freezing the raindrops on the spot. From the left greatsword came out a lava-like heat, evaporating the surrounding water.

Cr-rr-rr-rack!!!

Another bolt of lightning cracked behind Aldrich, darkening the already dark El Cid's armor. And then, under the stupefied gaze of Marquess Harold, both Aldrich and El Cid vanished.

Shuuu!!!

Some miles away, El Cid reappeared with Aldrich clung to his back. But he didn't stop there. Sheathing the two swords again, El Cid's hands again tightened their grip on the greatswords.

Shuuu!!!

Shuuu!!!

…

El Cid kept using the false One Step Shunpo, but Aldrich knew it wouldn't take long for Harold to come out of his shock and catch up to them. As they reached some hundred miles away from Harold, Aldrich let go of El Cid, and the wings re-materialized behind his back. El Cid could already fly with the use of Skill, which didn't even use much Mana.

The only issue with his undead was that they came with a set amount of MP, HP, and SP. And it needed to be replenished, making it a boon as well as a bane for Aldrich.

Aldrich looked far and squinted his eyes. He faced El Cid and nodded at him.

"Keep him busy."

"Yes, My Lord."

*

After only a few seconds, Harold appeared, fuming with bloody murder in his eyes.

The first thing he witnessed after coming to this place was the hovering fucking Summon. Harold clenched his fist, and the image of a Red Giant Star appeared around it.

It was his Skill, RED GIANT EXPLOSIVE FIST.

Harold dashed and hurled this starry fist towards El Cid's chest and shouted.

"Fuck off!"

There was no defense against this fist. Even if El Cid was an Earl, he would have died under its might.

But…

El Cid had no intention of surviving.

Just as the fist was about to disintegrate El Cid, a cry came out of his mouth.

"For My Lord, Mana… EXPLODE!!!"

El Cid's entire body lit up like the twig of a blue candle. Harold's eyes went wide as he realized what El Cid had done.

"Self-Destruction?!"

Yes, this was the self-destruction of a Count. Before Harold could do anything, his fist had already collided with bursting El Cid.

BOOOMMM!!! Shake-shake!!!

The world quaked like the images in a mirror as a nuclear explosion decimated everything in miles. The glob of fire and smoke took over the sound of countless thunders among the clouds, and a man came bursting out from the explosion's center.

His right hand had a few cuts and bruises, but aside from them, he was completely fine.

Harold hovered in the air and looked at his right arm.

"Damn! What a fucker?! Now, where have you gone, Aldrich?"

Harold, ignoring the explosion, scanned for the traces of Mana fluctuation. But soon a sound came to his ears.

It was like a song, loud enough as if tens of thousands were singing it at the same time. Harold, stopped the Mana-scanning, and focused on the wordings for a moment.

"Ra ru ra ra la la…

Thou art King of Kings,

I worship Thee and Thy will…

.."