Chapter 6: The Crimson Pursuit
The Human Border Territories were a dangerous place—a chaotic void filled with remnants of fallen civilizations, hostile alien fleets, and the ever-present threat of war. Despite the instability, humanity had long established dominance here, using their ever-growing military might to deter invaders.
One such protector was Commander Varian Wolfe, a 3⭐ Tier 20 Genetic Soldier, patrolling the region aboard the Iron Fang, the flagship of his fleet.
His second-in-command, Lieutenant Kael, stood beside him as holographic energy readings flickered before them.
"Sir, we have a disturbance near the outer borders," Kael reported. "A battle just took place"
Varian's silver eyes darkened. "Who was involved?"
Kael's fingers danced across the console, compiling the data. "The Scarlet Kiss Pirates—a subsidiary of the Succubus Clan. They were chasing someone. A human."
Varian's fingers tightened against his steel armrest. A human Evolver?
That changed things.
"Trace their trajectory."
A spatial distortion appeared on the readings—a newly opened void rift leading deeper into unclaimed space.
"Sir, the human entered the rift, but the Succubus fleet is still tracking him."
Varian's expression remained unreadable.
"If the Succubus Clan is violating human space, we will remind them why that is a mistake."
His Titan's Bastion Civilization stirred within him, the pulse of a colossal war domain resonating in his soul.
---
Aboard the Ebon Shard, flagship of the Scarlet Kiss Fleet, Lilith Nocturne lounged within her throne, her abyssal wings curled around her.
Her crimson-black aura pulsated, tendrils of dark energy licking at the air. She was one of the young Warladies of the Succubus Clan, a rising star among her people.
Yet, despite her station, unease gnawed at her mind.
Her master, Matriarch Xelaria, had once warned her:
> "The humans you've faced are nothing but second-rate warriors, bound to weak two-star Core Civilizations. The real monsters remain hidden. If you ever encounter a human with an Apex-tier civilization, you run. You do not fight. You run."
Lilith had laughed at the time. Humans were flesh-bound creatures, weak to seduction, prone to breaking under her techniques. They had no true supremacy in the cosmos.
So why—why did she feel cold dread creeping into her bones?
---
As the Succubus Fleet surged toward the rift, reality cracked apart.
From the void, the Iron Fang and its fleet emerged, flanking the Succubus ships with surgical precision.
At the helm stood Commander Varian Wolfe, clad in his Titanborn Monarch Armor, golden runes pulsing across its surface.
His voice echoed across the battlefield, unwavering. "You have violated human space. Turn back now, or face annihilation."
Lilith smirked. "And if we refuse?"
Varian did not answer with words.
Instead—he unleashed his Core Civilization.
Titan's Bastion Awakens
The void trembled.
A titanic fortress civilization materialized behind Varian—a planet-sized citadel, its towering ramparts bristling with cannons forged from collapsed stars.
From its depths, the Titan Legions emerged.
Colossal warriors, each standing hundreds of meters tall, descended onto the battlefield. Their runic armor glowed with ancient battle sigils, their movements carrying the weight of unyielding warlords.
Titan Warlords: Heavily armored behemoths wielding world-cleaving battle axes, each swing capable of sundering warships in half.
Titan Spearborn: Elite warriors who specialized in void-lancing javelins, capable of piercing through energy shields and tearing through enemy formations.
Titan Juggernauts: Siege titans, clad in fortress-like plating, capable of charging through entire fleets like living battering rams.
Lilith's pupils constricted.
This… this was not something she was prepared for.
---
Her fleet opened fire first. Scarlet Void Cannons blazed across the battlefield, their beams of hellfire energy searing through the darkness.
The Titan Bastion's defenses activated.
Aetheric barriers flared into existence, absorbing the attacks as if they were nothing more than raindrops against a mountain.
Then—the Titans charged.
A Titan Warlord descended upon the Abyssal Bloom, his massive axe cleaving through one of her escort ships with a single swing.
Titan Spearborn launched their javelins—the weapons ripped through multiple ships, the kinetic force alone reducing their hulls to shattered debris.
Titan Juggernauts crashed through Succubus formations, ignoring energy blasts, their massive fists crumpling entire vessels like paper.
The Succubus Fleet faltered.
They were getting slaughtered.
As the battle raged, Lilith Nocturne spread her wings wide, her abyssal power reaching across the battlefield.
A scarlet haze expanded, engulfing everything in sight.
This was her domain—The Forbidden Temptation Arts.
A technique inherited from the Succubus Matriarchs, refined through eons of seduction and war.
The moment it spread, the Titans faltered.
Their movements slowed, visions of overwhelming pleasure and despair flooding their minds.
Even the mighty Titan Warlords found themselves struggling, their iron-clad willpower tested as illusions of grandeur and submission fought to consume them.
Lilith smirked.
"Even Titans can be seduced."
But then—Varian Wolfe moved.
His towering presence remained unshaken, his golden eyes burning with unwavering resolve.
Not a single tremor of hesitation.
Not even a flicker of desire or confusion.
Lilith's eyes narrowed. "Impossible—!"
Varian's voice rang out, calm and absolute.
"Did you think your arts would work on a human?"
Lilith froze.
A human? Resistant to seduction?
That shouldn't be possible.
Throughout the cosmos, even the strongest warriors, from monstrous demons to celestial dragons, had fallen to the arts of the Succubus Clan.
But Varian was untouched.
Then, she felt it.
His presence wasn't just that of a single man.
He was a moving embodiment of millions.
---
The Soul of a Civilization
Unlike other beings, humans were not simply individuals with a single soul.
They were the sum of all the lives within their Core Civilization—a constant, flowing connection of past, present, and future generations.
A Titan Commander like Varian?
His soul wasn't one.
It was the will of an entire civilization.
Millions of voices. Millions of warriors. Millions of Titans.
All standing with him.
All screaming against submission.
Lilith felt an overwhelming pressure wash over her.
The seductive whispers of her Forbidden Temptation shattered like brittle glass.
Her breath hitched.
"What… what are you?"
Varian stepped forward, his Titanborn Monarch Armor glowing like the core of a dying sun.
"I am the will of my people. I am the unbroken spirit of a civilization that refuses to kneel."
His voice became a war hymn.
His presence, a colossal storm of defiance.
"Your illusions mean nothing to me."
Then—he struck.
A single, world-ending punch.
Lilith's vision blurred.
Pain erupted through her body.
The Abyssal Bloom crumbled.
She barely had time to teleport away before the flagship was reduced to ruins.
And for the first time in her life, she truly feared humanity.
Lilith, bloodied and shaken, sat within the emergency quarters of a retreating vessel.
Her mind was in turmoil.
Her master was right.
The humans they had faced before? Nothing but scraps.
If men like Varian Wolfe existed…
Then humanity was a nightmare waiting to be unleashed upon the stars.
And if a mere border commander was this terrifying—
What would happen when they faced humanity's true soldiers?
Her master's warning echoed in her mind:
"You do not fight. You run."
For the first time in her life, Lilith Nocturne ran.
The Succubus Fleet's morale collapsed.
They retreated into the void, fleeing before they could be completely destroyed.
Varian watched them go, his expression unreadable.
He had no interest in chasing them.
Instead, his focus remained on the energy signature leading into the portal.
A human Evolver had caused this.
Someone important.
"Track him," Varian ordered. "I want to know who he is."
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End of Chapter