Galaxy's First Ruler

A point of light was flickering into the immeasurable space, letting out a burst of lights from time to time.

And just a few meters away from it, another point of light was heading towards it, with a steadfast conviction. The intensity of light coming off this second point of light was almost the same, but it's flickers seemed more sinister.

These points of light were the two galaxies named Milky Way and Andromeda.

The Milky Way Galaxy was as silent as it had been since its formation. Stars were forming and dying, letting outbursts of a supernova. Yet from an outsider's perspective, all was mute. And why wouldn't it be? Any sound coming in and going out was getting filtered by the transparent film covering the entire galaxy.

But even after this film's presence, things and a few strange beings kept seeping in and out of the Galaxy. The Dukes, patrolling the edges of four separations and the galaxy, were always in search of these abominations.

Contrary to the choking silence outside the film covering the galaxy, there was an uproar within it. The reason for this uproar was three-way.

The first news that had taken every Dreamer at and above Viscount Rank by surprise was related to a tournament. A tournament that would be held on a galactic scale. It won't matter if one was a member of ancient Houses, normal families, or a runt of society. All would be eligible to test their might in this tournament.

The exact details and timings of this massive tournament had yet to be conveyed to the Dreamers. The only thing that could be said with certainty was that none above Count Rank would take part in this. But the most outrageous were the rewards of this tournament.

Even if one was to disregard the responsibility that would be given to the selected winners, an official rank within UGF would be worth the trouble. Not all had a House behind them, providing them potions and Items, necessary to survive every Random-Allocation. And in return, handling newbies from Barren Earth seemed nothing. Especially when most of them would be turned into Recordless.

But many had bigger dreams, and even mightier ambitions. The Ancient Houses knew what it meant to be noticed by a Duke. All nobles had met or seen a Duke once in their lifetime, or at least the lucky ones who hadn't died on their very first raid. They knew a tournament of this scale wouldn't happen in a single turn. And it might last more than a few weeks, spanning many elimination rounds.

It didn't take for these Houses to start strict training of their family's talents. If only one of the many could reach the final round, it would be like bringing their House in the eyes of the King Ranked Beings.

A priceless feat!

The second piece of news didn't come as a surprise to Houses closer to the Royal Families. But it shook the Galaxy, nonetheless.

The Dukes of the third Kingdom had confirmed that Queen Eluned was harboring a spawn of the Galactic Traitors, claiming the child as the daughter of her elder sister. The rumors of her "niece", and now dishonorably discharged Boudicca, using the Divine Spirit Golden Luan, had been found true.

The waves upon waves of rage that had gone through the common people and Dreamers alike was deafening. All the three Kingdoms had asked for an account for this heinous crime from the Kingdom of Life-Authority. And it didn't come out as a shock when all Kingdoms sent dignitaries to pressure Queen Eluned to hand over Boudicca to them.

All weren't quite in favor of the Queen within the Rhiannon Royal Family, too. Even though there wasn't another Duke who was close to becoming a King or Queen. The talks of usurping the current Queen were prevalent enough for them to reach the common people of the Kingdom.

There were even more rumors. A rumor stupefying enough to shock the nobles. It was spread from mouth to mouth, whispering in ears, that the ancestors of the Royal House were considering Boudicca's public execution. An execution that would finally make them wash away their hands from their troubling past.

The third news wasn't as widespread as the previous two. But those who had heard it found it the most baffling of the three.

Exactly one week ago, a House of the Kingdom of Swordless got ambushed by the Hallowed Phantoms. Now, the Phantoms kept causing these troubles throughout the galaxy. But what stood out in this event were the persons involved.

To start with, there was the Head of the House, who had ranked up to become an Earl. Then there was the Marquess called the 10th Sword of The Impenetrable Shield, Harold Sindri. But that wasn't all, as there was a third Marquess. And even though he wasn't as strong as Marquess Harold, he was a Retd Commander of UGF and had an Ancient House behind him.

The official statement that had come out was that both the Marquess had sacrificed their lives. And with them, they had taken down every last wretched phantom they could. The shower of medals on the late Marquesses could have drowned any high-ranked Dreamer in shame.

Up to this, it wasn't as mind-blowing. It wasn't the news but the facts hovering at its edge that had made all hearts pound with curiosity, fear, and... terror.

When the teams of lone Dreamers went to the Planet, called VR-252, hoping to scavenge, they relayed what they saw from one to the other. And it didn't take long for this horrifying story to reach all the dirty lanes of the Kingdom.

The Planet, also called Rosalia, was gone.

Yes, it just wasn't there. Like a ghost, it had disappeared from its known coordinates.

When these scavengers let the UGF and Kingdom know of this, force after force of Dreamers came to scour the entire sector. But they couldn't find any hint of its movement or any fluctuation of Mana.

Even in a Galaxy, where Bloodshed had been ravaging lives of all beings since time immemorial, the vanishing of a Planet of this size wasn't a common sight.