Ultimate Destroyer

The abyss stretched before him, an ocean of endless black speckled with the dying embers of stars that had long since burned out. Varos Rael drifted through the void, his mind caught between the echoes of the past and the unforgiving present. His breath came in slow, measured intervals, each one a reminder that his oxygen supply was running dangerously low. He had escaped the wreckage of the derelict warship, slipping through the cracks of time itself to avoid the Eclipse Legion, but survival had only bought him a moment of reprieve. The hunt was far from over.

His visor flickered, data scrolling across the display in erratic pulses, distorted by the strain his suit had endured. His proximity scanners remained empty—no signs of the Legion pursuing him, at least not yet. That should have been a relief, but it only made him more uneasy. They did not hunt blindly. If they had not followed him immediately, it meant they were waiting, tracking his movements with precision only they understood.

He needed a destination, somewhere to regroup, to understand what was happening to him before the Legion struck again. His memories were still fragmented, like shattered glass held together by strands of something barely tangible. He knew he had fought before. He had wielded abilities that defied reality itself. And the Nihil Engine—the mere thought of it sent a cold shudder through him.

A pulse of energy rippled through his suit, breaking his thoughts. A proximity alert blared inside his helmet, sending a surge of adrenaline through his veins. Something was approaching—fast.

He twisted in the weightlessness of space, his suit's thrusters firing to stabilize him. The darkness around him shifted, and from the void, a structure loomed into view. It had been hidden within the vastness of space, undetectable until he was nearly upon it. Its form was a jagged silhouette against the starless expanse, a construct of ancient metal and shifting energy. It was neither a ship nor a station, but something else entirely—something forgotten.

As his momentum carried him closer, his suit's systems struggled to analyze the structure, but the data it provided was incomplete. Whatever this place was, it did not exist in any known records.

A single entry blinked across his visor: Designation Unknown. Power Signature—Familiar.

Familiar.

That word struck a nerve deep within him. He did not know this place, and yet something in him recognized it, as though it had been imprinted into his very being. He activated his suit's maneuvering thrusters, angling himself toward the nearest section of the structure that looked stable enough to land on. As he approached, he caught sight of strange markings etched into the metal—symbols that glowed faintly with a cyan light, pulsating like a dying heartbeat.

He reached out, his gloved fingers brushing against the markings, and the moment contact was made, the entire structure pulsed with energy.

The void around him twisted.

A gravitational force beyond his control yanked him forward, pulling him into the depths of the construct. His body tensed as he was dragged through layers of unseen barriers, his suit's systems struggling to compensate for the sudden shift. The darkness around him warped, becoming something else entirely—something ancient and watching.

Then, everything went still.

Varos staggered forward, his boots now touching solid ground. He was no longer in open space. He stood within the core of the structure, a vast chamber lined with floating monoliths of metal and stone, each inscribed with the same glowing symbols that had pulled him inside. The air here was thick—not with oxygen, but with something heavier, something that pressed against his thoughts.

He scanned the chamber, his visor struggling to process the environment. It was neither fully physical nor entirely ethereal, existing between states of reality. It was a place that should not exist.

And yet, he had been here before.

The realization hit him like a collapsing star. He did not know when, he did not know how, but this place was tied to him, as inescapable as his own shadow. His breath came faster now, his pulse hammering against his skull as fragmented memories clawed their way to the surface. He could hear voices, distant and fragmented, whispering names he did not recognize. He saw flashes of battle, of forces beyond mortal comprehension clashing in wars that had no victors, only survivors.

The Nihil Engine had been here.

That single truth sent a chill through his entire body. If this place was connected to the Engine, then it was not just a forgotten ruin—it was a remnant of something far worse. He had to move. He had to find answers before—

The air around him rippled.

He turned sharply, every instinct in his body flaring in warning. From the depths of the chamber, a figure emerged.

It was not Eclipse Legion.

This being was different—tall, draped in flowing armor that shimmered between states of matter, neither fully solid nor entirely incorporeal. Its face was obscured by a helm that bore no eyes, only a void where a visage should be. Energy pulsed through the intricate etchings on its armor, similar to the symbols that lined the chamber walls.

Varos stepped back, his stance shifting defensively.

The figure did not attack.

Instead, it spoke.

"Varos Rael," the voice echoed, layered with countless tones, as though a thousand voices spoke in unison. "You have come home."

The words sent a shock through him, not just because they were spoken, but because they rang with undeniable truth. Home. This place. He clenched his fists, his mind a storm of unanswered questions.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The figure tilted its head, as if considering the question. Then, it raised a hand, and in an instant, the chamber around them changed. The walls peeled away like the unraveling threads of time, revealing something beyond—a glimpse into a past long buried.

Varos saw himself.

Not as he was now, but as something more. A warrior standing on the precipice of oblivion, wielding power that defied the laws of reality itself. He saw himself leading an army against forces that should not exist, against creatures born from the void between existence and nothingness. He saw himself standing before the Nihil Engine, facing something that should have been impossible to fight, and yet, he had fought it.

The figure's voice cut through the vision.

"You were the first," it said. "The first to stand against the end. The first to fracture time itself in defiance of fate. The first to wield the power that even the Nihil Engine feared."

Varos staggered back, his breath sharp and uneven.

This was not just a forgotten ruin.

This was where it had all begun.

The memories, the fragments, the broken echoes of a war lost to time—it had all led him here. And if that was true, then one thing was certain.

The Nihil Engine had not forgotten him.

And soon, neither would the rest of the universe.