Julian tried to force the thought out of his mind but... it was already evident.
The alien commander, without showing any sign or foreplay that he would do so, brutally sliced the head of the old ruler with his sword.
Luiin gasped and looked away, while Julian could only stare in shock.
The head went off the neck of the old Zyrosain, blood sputtering as it did so, gushing out censoriously, like a dale had been let open.
Not a sound escaped from his mouth as he gasped, and Julian, looking at it once again, felt it gave him the creeps.
The commander turned to Julian and Luiin and said in a tentative voice — a voice so low it made Julian wonder if truly they were the ones he was talking to.
"Sometimes death is the best choice, but right now, it might not be."
The commander paused and started to walk around them in circles.
"You have a fine girl right here. So don't mind if I take her away—"
The last words the commander said were what Julian dreaded the most and so, suddenly triggered by it, he held Luiin, who was more frightened than he was, and broke into a run.
The commander paused and watched them run away, a vicious smile suddenly on his lips, his eyes gleaming with destruction.
"We'll never be apart, okay?" Julian reassured Luiin, who only nodded, her eyes now drenched in tears.
Boom!
It was from the commander.
Lacing his bulky fists, he jammed them on the ground, almost obliquely, like he wasn't even doing the act.
The wind halted in that split second, the ground cracked a bit, and then:
Whoosh!
A gust of wind drove through the air, towards Julian and Luiin, who staggered and almost fell.
It seemed to come with a seismic sound because that was the last thing Julian heard before he felt a series of punches towards his body.
It hit him hard and mad — like some insane monster was pouring out all its frustration on him.
It was the alien commander. At a speed faster than lightning, he was on Julian, punching him very hard.
Julian gave out cries of pain before the commander finally stopped, satisfied with the state he had put him in.
His face was bloody now, his eyes swollen, and he was so weak he only slumped to the ground after being beaten to stupor.
Luiin was crying, stretching her left hand towards Julian, her right hand firmly gripped by the alien commander.
The other alien dude watched the scenario, his face etched in:
'Oh don't mind me, I'm just indifferent.'
To show that the Zyrosains were extremely weak, the other alien soldiers in the spaceships in the sky didn't even need to come out, as the alien commander had instructed that he would handle the Zyrosains — and truly, he was doing so now.
And for the record, this was the easiest planet invasion they had ever done.
To the commander, he felt like he was fighting with the toddlers of ants, and quite frankly, it amused him — noting that they had always fought interplanetary battles, dimensional battles, and even intergalactic wars where they had to fight with their lives and be cautious and strategic and very skilled.
Now, it seemed like they were fighting against some beings ripped out from a children's cartoon.
The commander looked at Julian and said:
"We'll take your lover and leave you in this already dead planet, so you can slowly die. But if you get to survive, then you deserve to."
He snickered a bit and added: "I doubt you would."
Luiin was screaming his name:
"Julian, help me! Julian!"
Julian was so weak he could hardly speak, but when he caught sight of the commander dragging Luiin away towards a spaceship which was now ready to take off, he instantly stood up and briskly (more lethargic but nonetheless brisk) ran after them.
Luiin continued to scream like a maniac. Although no longer facing Julian, she stretched her hands towards him, screaming his name, her legs wriggling in the air.
"Julian!"
It was piquantly sharp and it pierced right into his eardrum.
"Help me, Julian!"
Julian had clenched his fists, ready to punch the commander and save his girl when a hard (imagine a mountain as a fist) blow went into his stomach.
"Huuuu!"
It flung him backwards, also jerking his vision, until—
THUD!
Just when he wanted to release the breath he had been holding, he extemporaneously crashed through the remaining structure of a building and hit his head very hard on the ground.
He was seeing phosphenes now, but he shook his head sideways (a painful act itself) and squinted his eyes forward.
He saw a glimpse of Luiin being shoved into the spaceship, her scream now very loud, even tearing through the air and echoing.
And him, well, he could only look, lying there, not being able to do anything, weak and out of breath.
He heard an electronic sound and then he heard a short conversation between the commander and the alien dude, which was:
"I think it's broken, sir."
"Broken?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then what does that have to do with me?"
"But sir, I—"
"Dispose of it this instant and quit bothering me. I've got a planet to invade."
"Yes, sir."
He heard the falling of something which landed with a clatter, like a metallic sound.
Julian watched the spaceship slowly lift into the air, and then soon it was up, following the others away.
He looked at the orange sky, his expression sober, tears trickling from his eyes.
Soon he began to cry.
He was the only one left; he was the last of the Zyrosains.
Everyone was dead and Luiin, someone that meant his soul and body to him, was gone too.
The atmosphere was suddenly gelid and to Julian, it felt like all this was precipitated.
Some minutes ago, he was about to kiss Luiin; now some alien guys had kidnapped her, killed everyone on the planet, beaten him to stupor, and then left him to die.
All in a matter of minutes.
It was unbelievable!
With this aching pain in his heart and this unbearable pain that came from the beating he had just received, he was certain he didn't have much time left.
Julian looked toward the place the spaceship had taken off and, squinting his eyes, could see the device the alien dude had dropped on the floor.
He blinked like a sloth and when he opened his eyes, to his utmost surprise, he saw the device that was far away from him now near him.
He was so stunned he gaped and slowly examined the device, questions flooding his mind.
Did it teleport to his direction? Did it fly? Did it speed at him?
It was about the size of a clenched fist, smooth and seamless, with no markings or visible openings. Its surface flickered faintly, almost like it was coated in liquid light, shifting colors that Julian had never seen in his entire life.
'What could this be?' he thought, not being able to move his bones, which he was certain were now broken.
Julian reached for it, the sphere pulsing just once, but it was enough to make Julian wonder if it was breathing.
Then fine lines appeared along its surface, glowing softly, forming strange symbols that moved and rearranged themselves in patterns he couldn't understand — ones that appeared to be cryptic.
Having no fear again, as he had decided that he would die any moment soon, Julian touched it.
A strange energy suddenly vibrated into him, a chilling sensation actually.
It seemed like the device was alive and it was watching him back.
Nothing happened, and just when Julian was about to take his hands off it…
…something happened.
Words suddenly floated in the air and a soft electronic voice read it:
---
Host recognized: Galactic Knight.
Command Authority: Unlocked.
[DING!]
[Apocalypse system activated!]
[Initiating Galactic Path.]