Chapter 246: First Contact
"...Eh, are you sure we're taking the right path, Jack? Because it is really starting to feel like we're lost."
"What do you mean I am the only one here without any sense of direction? You're the one that went to the path of the Devil, Xanthus."
"I know, I know, Miss Lu Yi. Sorry, it's just that I am starting to get impatient. How long has it been anyway?"
"What!? We've been roaming around for 20 years!?"
A young man with a bright, glowing golden hair was floating aimlessly in a vast and almost empty darkness. And even though the young man's mouth was moving, not even a single sound escaped from it.
But still, the young man continued to talk. If anyone could perhaps see him, then they would have thought that he was some kind of crazy person. But alas, right now, another presence other than the young man would be next to impossible…
...as the young man was actually flying in the vastness of space, at a speed even faster than light. With the young man's abnormally long hair, one could easily mistake him as a heavenly golden dragon looking for its prey.
"Do you really even know where we are going, Jack?"
[Ye--]
[Don't answer him, Judge of Karma!]
The vast and endless cosmos was dead quiet, but in the young man's mind, it was the complete opposite. lived the voices of 3 people-- gods, to be exact, and 4 if including himself.
[This is why baby Viel is starting to lose his respect for us because you keep answering him even if he doesn't say please!]
"But Miss Lu Yi--"
[No buts, young man!]
Before Viel could even finish his words, Lu Yi's voice completely drowned his head, [Just because you can use our powers instinctively already, doesn't mean that you can just talk back to us, such insolence will not be tolerated!]
"Can you please stop calling me baby Viel?" Viel could not help but let out a light breath as he shook his head, "I'm like 110 years old now or something."
[And I am more than a million years old, what are you if not a baby? What? A sperm?]
"That's--"
[Pft.]
Before Viel could rebuke, a loud snort thundered into his mind.
[Nice one, Yiyi.]
[What do you mean nice, Xanthus!? You're hugely at fault here that Viel turned out to grow up a thug!]
[Isn't it because of your endless nagging, you old hag!?]
[What was that!?]
[Calm yourselves down, children. We must remain peaceful through this unexpected challenge.]
[You're of no help, Judge of Karma!]
"..." Viel had no choice but to remain in silence as the different voices in his head completely drowned his own voice. But after a few seconds, a light smile slowly appeared on his face.
20 years ago, Viel left his home world in search of a new one-- a place called the Planet of the Gods. Jack was supposed to teleport them directly all the way there, but for some unknown reason, the place that Jack teleported them to was in…
...nowhere.
Viel was expecting to be in some place vibrant the next time he took in a breath. But alas, even with his eyes completely blind, Viel knew that they were in the middle of nowhere. And not just nowhere, but completely nowhere in outer space.
And now, they have been in nowhere for 20 years. If Viel knew that the universe was insanely huge, then perhaps he would have opted to stay home. Once again, Viel could not help but let out a sigh as he flew even faster.
"Sofia…" He muttered, "...If only you were here."
And so, once again, Viel found himself aimlessly roaming in the vast expanse of the universe. He wasn't even realizing how much time was passing anymore, maybe a year? Maybe more than that?
But the only thing he did now was fly and talk to the voices in his head. They stop occasionally, of course. Whenever they reach a certain galaxy, they try to search for any sign of life.
Jack, and even Viel himself, was capable of detecting life from as far as a billion kilometers away. But alas, there was none so far other than microscopic lifeforms that contained no soul nor any trickle of intelligence.
And so, once again, Viel continued to fly…
...Until finally,
[Viel, can you--]
"Hm," Viel instantly stopped his flight and nodded his head upon hearing Jack's voice, "I sense… life."
Viel turned his head towards a certain direction. His eyes, glowing in a golden color as they focused on the endless darkness in front of them. He was about to fly towards the life form he was sensing but chose not to do so.
Instead, he snapped his fingers. And as soon as he did so, the tattered clothes that he was wearing disappeared, replaced by a beautiful black ornamented robe that complemented his long golden hair.
"They are coming to us," he then said before trying to fix his abnormally long hair that was almost 2 times longer than his own body.
3 hours. Viel waited for 3 hours before the thing that he and Jack detected was finally right in front of him.
"...What is that?" Viel could not help but whisper into his mind as a colossal… something, bigger than a mountain, was right in front of him.
[It is a spacecraft, Viel,] Jack was the one to reply to him as the two other gods were also in awe of the colossal ship in front of them.
[It seems to be the ship of a somewhat advanced civilization]
[Thank you for stating the obvious, Judge of Karma.]
[What the fuck is a spacecraft?]
And as the voices in Viel's head were busy talking to each other, an opening suddenly opened on the so-called spacecraft. Although the opening might look small, considering the size of the spacecraft, the hole was probably big enough to fit a small hill.
Viel could not help but tilt his head from the sudden activity, confused as to what this spacecraft was currently doing.
"...Are we supposed to be doing something?" Viel tried to wave his hand. But alas, there was no response. He even summoned a light, forming it on the shape of a word and greeting whoever was watching them from the colossal spacecraft.
But after a few seconds, two smaller ships, similar to the colossal aircraft, came out of the opening.
"Ah!" Viel waved his hand even faster, clearly excited that he would finally be able to talk to someone other than the three inside his head. The two spaceships, however, just continued to float towards him without any indication of wanting to talk.
Instead, the two spaceships released some sort of net, quickly shooting towards Viel at an unbelievable speed. Viel, however, only blinked as he saw the net that was slowly coming to him.
Viel thought long and hard for a few seconds before,
"...Oh well," he then nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he let himself be wrapped by the net.
"...At least they seem friendly," Viel whispered as the two spaceships dragged him inside the colossal spacecraft.