The moment Xuan Mo felt that something was off, she retracted her hands and took a huge leap backwards. She looked at Ai Er Ge; the latter had lost his disguise the moment he touched the stone.
The mental power that had been supporting his body immediately disappeared, and he resumed his original form… the form of Elgeians.
The Elgeians were a Calabash-shaped race. Around the upper half were countless hair-like strips of mental power. In the lower half, there was a faint yellow bulb of light that was emitting countless thin strings of yellow. Outside the ball of light was a spider-web like net formed by mental power, supporting the body from the ground.
The coordinate stone was firmly attached to the lower half of Ai Er Ge’s body. The patterned veins on the stone glowed in crimson red. That was the Elgeian’s vitality emitting light with the last of its life.
If Elgeians had vocal cords, they would be screaming in utmost agony like how the blue plane beings would, they would scream and beg for help… but they didn’t, so Ai Er Ge could only express his struggle through his wriggling mental power veins.
“This is the feeling when you steal the vitality of other creatures, how is it, you like it.” Xuan Mo’s cold voice sounded. “Do you still think that you’re making a glorious sacrifice in the name of science and the goddess of wisdom?”
Ai Er Ge’s mental power veins danced in pain. He seemed to diffuse agony from his soul… if he had a soul that was.
“I want to see you die.” Xuan Mo said. “But the Great Coalition’s law prohibit the activation of the Galactic Door, even if the creature being sacrificed is an Elge. The life of all creatures is equal before the law!”
She took a few steps forward, her voice echoing in the cave, diffusing outwards in rings and rings, reflecting again and again. In the silent cave, she seemed to be the only creature alive, the lord of all.
“You should be glad right, that the law does not allow you to return, and the law demands that your life must be protected!”
After which, Xuan Mo walked forward, a blue light glinting in her hands. She wanted to use her mental power blade to sever the link between Ai Er Ge and the coordinate stone.
Just as her mental power blade was about to solidify and fly forward, a mental power shield suddenly burst from Ai Er Ge’s body as he tried his best to block off her attack. At the same time, the speed at which his mental powers were being absorbed increased. No longer able to defy the blue planet being’s gravity, he slowly drifted upwards, until he was suspended halfway between the floor and the ceiling of the cave.
All the coordinate stones seemed to be vibrating. Strings of red were dragged out from Ai Er Ge’s body, one after another, and sucked away. The coordinate stones glowed in a strange, malicious red light. In a moment’s time, the entire cave was as though engulfed in threads of red. In the centre, Ai Er Ge’s body emitted waves and waves of strong light. His body however visibly shrunk in size.
Xuan Mo squinted. She didn’t understand why Ai Er Ge rejected her help. Unless he wanted to die with the door?
However, she had no idea what the door would do after Ai Er Ge was sucked dry. If it were to continue in search for more energy sources, then all the blue planet beings in the cave, herself, and the blue planet beings nearby outside would die. This was a gamble that she didn’t intend to take on.
She continued creating her mental power shield. This time, she planned to create a casing that would wrap Ai Er Ge up and cut off all of his link with the Galactic Door.
Just as she was about to wrap her mental power shield, Ai Er Ge tried to stop her again.
“Don’t…” The voice that he transmitted to her with his mental power was very calm. “It’s very strong, you might get yourself sucked in too.”
Xuan Mo stopped her mental powers, laughing coldly: “Have you calmed down?”
“…I want to leave, that’s true.”
“But this is as good as commiting suicide.”
“I cannot stand and watch you ruin my last hope…”
“…”
“Abudory, seeing how I’m sacrificing my mental power to help you to return to the Great Coalition, when you’ve back, can you request to allow for the existence of the Elgeians?”
“You have always managed to live, it is your kind that has grown to become unsatisfied, and tried to use the Galactic Door to expand your designated space!” Xuan Mo was so angry she laughed, “Ai Er Ge, what’s the significance of your life?! Before the Coalition’s laws and interests, even my life holds no weight!”
“…” Ai Er Ge was the silent one this time, or perhaps he had ran out of strength to continue speaking.
“If you die, what will happen to the Galactic Door.”
“…it will stop functioning.” Ai Er Ge paused, and added, “and my life is not enough to activate it, so don’t worry… I, won’t ask for anything else… every race has its own fate…”
His body became tinier and tinier, as though his blood and bones was being sucked away… though this was no way as painful as Xuan Mo’s peeling off her mental outer skin, but it was close.
Xuan Mo saw his calm expression, seemed like he was already mentally prepared.
Xuan Mo was helpless to begin with. She had prepared to sacrifice herself in both attempts, but since Ai Er Ge had expressed his rejection, she was going to let him die with his mind at ease.
Her hands dropped and she looked at Ai Er Ge.
As the race that had been alienated and made an enemy of in the Great Coalition, the reason for their continued existence was not merely their abilities to survive, but also their unwavering spirit.
They lived on and on defiantly. Even though they weren’t accepted nor tolerated, they remained steadfast in their beliefs. Even at death, they pursued it.
He still didn’t want to admit the mistake that he had made, like every other Elgeian that had been put to death.
Suddenly, the larvaes in the cave started burning. Amidst the raging fire, the Insectoid creatures within the larvae slept on soundly. Those were the offspring of the Portelli Fire King Bees; they were born as a result of the Portelli Fire stones, and they also died as a result of activating the Galactic Door. This was also why even the Coalition-wide enemy, the Insectoid races, would not tolerate the Elgeians either.
After ensuring that all the people that had fainted were within the safety zone, Xuan Mo turned her attention to Ai Er Ge’s situation.
Ai Er Ge was only left with a thin slump suspended in the air as he struggled on, as though a half-emptied bag of blood. While still barely red, he was transparent and pale. His pink mental power membrane was thin enough it could dissipate into the air at any moment.
As a life-long enemy, Xuan Mo had never spared any emotions for this race. However, he was the only one that had made her feel at ease. If anything, she would only find this outcome a little bit of a pity.
Comments