Chapter 49: The Whole Galaxy Feels Her Awakening

The ancient, glowing words remained suspended within Rhaevia’s consciousness, burning into her mind with absolute clarity.

[SOVEREIGN GUIDE DETECTED.]

The entire mental domain trembled violently. A wave of ancient energy erupted from the planetary formation beneath her physical body, expanding outward through the surrounding star system.

It did not stop at Planet V-17. It continued spreading across light-years, across star systems, and across the entire known domain.

For the first time in centuries, countless high-level Guides and Sentinels simultaneously felt something they could not explain. On a distant military world, a 3S Sentinel abruptly opened his eyes during meditation, his mental domain shaking violently.

"What was that?" he gasped, clutching his head.

Across another star system, a legendary Guide dropped the data tablet in her hands. Her normally stable mental pathways suddenly surged with unpredictable resonance.

She looked toward the viewport with wide eyes. "Someone... someone just awakened."

In an Imperial military training facility, several elite Sentinels collapsed to one knee. Rushing instructors crowded around the gasping soldiers in sheer panic.

"What happened to you?" an officer demanded.

"We don’t know!" a cadet choked out, clutching his chest. "Our mental frequencies are fluctuating on their own!"

One of the Sentinels slowly raised his head, his face completely drained of color.

"It feels like... like something just looked directly across the galaxy," he whispered.

The psychic disturbance continued spreading through space without slowing down. Every high-level Guide capable of sensing planetary-scale mental fluctuations felt the same impossible presence, ancient, vast, unfamiliar, and strangely commanding.

Meanwhile, inside the headquarters of the Imperial Church, an enormous crystal orb suddenly illuminated with blinding crimson light. Hundreds of priests and spiritual scholars turned toward the sacred instrument in sheer alarm.

The normally stable spiritual orb began outputting readings that had never appeared in recorded history.

[UNKNOWN SPIRITUAL DISTURBANCE DETECTED.]

[ORIGIN: PLANET V-17.]

[SPIRITUAL FREQUENCY: UNCLASSIFIED.]

[DIVINE-LEVEL COMPARISON: DATA INSUFFICIENT.]

The senior priest standing before the glowing crystal went still.

"Planet V-17?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Another priest hurried toward him with an archived data slate. "That world has been restricted under high-level military seals for three hundred twenty-seven years!"

"Exactly," the senior priest replied, staring at the crimson-gold light filling the vast chamber. "Then why has something deep beneath its mantle awakened right now?"

No one could offer an answer.

Far beyond Imperial territory, another dramatic reaction was already unfolding. The Federation’s deep-space observatories detected a massive energy event, and entire sensor arrays overloaded simultaneously across multiple defense stations.

[ENERGY EVENT DETECTED.]

[ORIGIN: PLANET V-17.]

[ENERGY TYPE: UNKNOWN.]

[OUTPUT: BEYOND CURRENT MEASUREMENT RANGE.]

[WARNING: PHENOMENON CONTINUES TO EXPAND.]

The Federation’s senior scientific council immediately convened an emergency meeting.

"This isn’t a standard planetary phenomenon," one scientist whispered, his hand trembling as he adjusted the astronomical projection.

"What do you mean?" a councilor demanded.

"The initial energy wave just crossed three entire star systems in seconds," the scientist replied in horror.

A suffocating silence filled the council chamber.

"It’s still expanding," a technician added from his console.

Across the Imperial capital, emergency reports began arriving one after another at High Command. The Imperial military received the Federation’s sensor warnings, while the Imperial Church transmitted its spiritual disturbance report.

Military satellites in orbit reported the awakening of Planet V-17. And then came the most alarming update of all.

[Zerg activity detected across previously dormant territories.]

Entire Zerg kingdoms that had remained silent for generations suddenly became active. Massive biological structures opened across desolate moons, dormant Zerg fleets awakened in deep space, and ancient nests began producing enormous numbers of soldiers.

Zerg monarchs across distant territories lifted their armored heads simultaneously. Something had called to them across the cosmos, something they had been waiting eons to serve.

The Imperial Family received the consolidated intelligence report inside the highest-security chamber of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor stood before a massive holographic projection of the galaxy as red warning markers flared continuously. Planet V-17 sat at the exact center of the storm.

His expression became increasingly grave as he studied the map. "How many star systems detected this disturbance?"

"All major observatories across the sector, Your Majesty," an officer reported, bowing deeply.

"The Federation?" the Emperor asked.

"Confirmed, Your Majesty," the officer answered. "Their fleets are mobilizing."

"The Church?"

"Confirmed," the officer repeated. "The Holy Council has declared an emergency meeting."

"The Zerg?" the Emperor pressed, his voice dropping into a dangerous register.

The officer hesitated, swallowing hard. "Multiple Zerg kingdoms have become active simultaneously."

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the red cluster. "And the source?"

"Planet V-17," the officer whispered.

The massive chamber fell into silence. Then, a encrypted report materialized on the central display.

[IDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL: RHAEVIA RYTHUNDEIR.]

[CURRENT CLASSIFICATION: UNDEFINED.]

[SOVEREIGN GUIDE SIGNATURE: DETECTED.]

The Emperor stared at the name floating in golden light.

"Rythundeir..." he murmured.

He remembered the forbidden archives hidden beneath the palace. He remembered Project Genesis, the sealed planet, and the ducal family that had unknowingly raised the person now standing at the center of a galaxy-wide disturbance.

Meanwhile, aboard Raevor’s flagship, red warning alarms continued sounding across every deck. Rhaevia remained standing at the center of the ancient formation, her physical body surrounded by swirling azure and crimson energy.

Raevor watched the readings in silence. Every sensor had failed, and every measurement system had become useless.

Yet one fact remained undeniable. Rhaevia’s awakening had been felt across the entire galaxy.

Raevor’s expression gradually hardened into cold steel. He understood with absolute clarity what this meant for her future.

She was no longer merely an academy cadet, nor was she merely a 3S Guide. She had become something every major power in the universe would desperately want to control, study, protect, or eliminate.

She was now the ultimate political target.

His wrist terminal suddenly chimed with a sharp, high-priority alert. Raevor looked down at his display. A dark red Imperial seal materialized across the glass interface.

[CLASSIFIED IMPERIAL DIRECTIVE.]

His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. The encrypted message opened automatically.

[BY ORDER OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY.]

Raevor’s strict expression became even colder. The next line of glowing text appeared beneath the seal.

[BRING RHAEVIA RYTHUNDEIR TO THE IMPERIAL PALACE.]

His long fingers tightened around the metal frame of the terminal until his knuckles turned white. Then, another message flashed onto the screen, one carrying an even higher, absolute Level Black security classification.

[ADDITIONAL ORDER.]

Raevor read the final line of text. His dark eyes became dangerously, lethally still.

[MAJOR GENERAL RAEVOR VEYR IS FORBIDDEN FROM INTERFERING.]