Chapter 79: The Enemy Beyond the Zerg

Rhaevia’s eyes snapped open as the vivid visions shattered into fragments. Her breathing came fast and uneven, echoing off the metallic walls.

The celestial palace was gone, along with the ancient battlefield and the burning civilizations. Only the dimly illuminated training deck remained around her, cold and pristine.

Raevor stood directly in front of her, one heavy hand firmly supporting her shoulder. His touch grounded her against the disorienting weight of countless remembered lifetimes.

"Rhaevia," he said. His deep voice pulled her back toward reality, slicing through the chaotic noise inside her mind.

She blinked several times, trying to focus on his sharp features. Her mind remained filled with memories of the True King, the ancient Sovereign, and battles beneath alien skies. She saw civilizations burning, and the same man appearing again and again throughout history.

She pressed a trembling hand against her forehead, feeling the heat radiating from her skin. "The King isn’t the enemy," she murmured.

Raevor’s expression immediately became serious, his eyes narrowing as he studied her face. "What?"

Rhaevia slowly lowered her hand, her gaze fixing on the cold deck floor.

"I thought he was," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "For so long, everything I remembered pointed toward him, the Zombie King, the ancient Zerg, the destruction, the war. But those memories don’t make sense anymore."

Raevor remained silent, keeping his grip steady on her shoulder to allow her time to continue. He waited, suppressing his own Sentinel instincts to demand immediate answers.

"The King and I fought each other," Rhaevia said, her eyes darkening with newfound understanding.

"But we also fought together. I remembered the ancient battlefield, the two armies, and the broken civilizations surrounding the celestial tree. Those words keep echoing inside me, "Because you always return."

She looked toward the vast expanse of stars visible beyond the observation glass. "He wasn’t always trying to destroy me," she whispered.

Raevor’s gaze sharpened, his jaw tightening as he processed her words. "Then who was?"

Rhaevia didn’t answer right away. Suddenly, another possibility entered her mind, far more terrifying than the thought of the True King.

"If the King and I were fighting across multiple lifetimes..." She slowly turned back toward Raevor, her voice dropping. "Then why did the war keep repeating?"

Raevor’s expression turned grim as the strategic implications registered in his mind. "Someone may have been keeping it alive," he answered quietly.

Rhaevia froze as a sudden shock wave echoed through her mental network. The ancient Sovereign Consciousness, long dormant in her mind, stirred violently. For the first time since the memories began surfacing, it responded without delay.

"Correct," the ancient voice echoed directly into her mind.

Rhaevia’s pupils contracted sharply. "Who?" she demanded silently within her mental link.

A heavy silence followed, thick and suffocating.

"The civilization beyond the war," the Sovereign Consciousness finally replied.

A cold sensation traveled down Rhaevia’s spine, making her shiver. "Another civilization?" she asked aloud.

"Older than the current human Empire," the Sovereign’s voice carried ancient gravity. "Older than the modern Zerg kingdoms."

Rhaevia’s heart began pounding against her ribs. "What did they do?"

The answer came slowly, laden with centuries of tragedy. "They manipulated both."

Her eyes widened in realization. "Humans and Zerg?"

"Both were influenced," the voice resonated inside her head. "Both were directed, and both were made to believe the other was the ultimate enemy."

Rhaevia’s mind raced as pieces of history rearranged themselves. The countless wars, the ancient Zerg, human military history, and even the apocalypse on Earth suddenly looked entirely different.

If someone had manipulated both civilizations, then the hatred between them had been deliberately cultivated.

And if that shadow civilization had existed for so long, the apocalypse on Earth had likely not been random either. Rhaevia’s fingers curled tightly into fists as rage bubbled up inside her.

"What about Project Genesis?" she asked the voice, her tone sharp.

The Sovereign Consciousness remained silent for several agonizing seconds before answering. "Project Genesis was created to prevent their return."

Rhaevia stopped breathing, stunned by the revelation. "Not to control me?"

"No."

Her eyes widened further. "Not to create the Sovereign?"

"No."

The direct answer sent a chill straight through her. If Project Genesis had been built as a shield, then what exactly had it been protecting the galaxy from?

Rhaevia remembered the assassins who had targeted her, their chilling words still fresh in her mind: The Sovereign must never remember.

She remembered the ancient records, the sealed laboratories, the artificial suppression of her Guide classification, and the constant attempts to erase her memories.

Project Genesis had never been a simple military experiment. Someone in the past had discovered the existence of this ancient civilization and tried to prevent its resurrection, but somewhere along the way, that original purpose had been corrupted and hidden away.

Rhaevia turned her head to look directly at Raevor.

"Someone altered my memories," she said coldly.

He nodded slowly, understanding the gravity of her realization.

"And someone has been hiding Project Genesis."

"Yes," she said, her tone growing icy. "And now something ancient is waking up."

Raevor’s eyes narrowed as he shifted his stance, adjusting his aura. "Then we need to determine who."

Rhaevia stared back out through the observation glass at the endless star field. For the first time, she wondered if humanity had ever truly understood the war it had been fighting for centuries.

Perhaps the Zerg weren’t the ultimate enemy, nor was the True King. They had all been pawns on someone else’s board.

Suddenly, her Sovereign Guide core pulsed violently inside her chest, with overwhelming force.

A blinding light flashed as a mechanical chime echoed in her mind:

[ANCIENT SYSTEM CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]

Rhaevia’s eyes widened at the sudden sensory overload. A massive holographic interface unfolded automatically before her, spanning the breadth of the deck. Complex, ancient symbols covered the glowing display, rapidly cycling through data streams.

Raevor immediately stepped beside her, placing himself between her and the sudden light while scanning the console. "What is that?" he demanded.

Rhaevia couldn’t answer as lines of ancient text rushed past her vision. The system continued processing at a terrifying speed.

[HISTORICAL WAR RECORDS: REASSESSING.]

[SOVEREIGN CONFLICT: REASSESSING.]

[PROJECT GENESIS PURPOSE: PARTIALLY RECOVERED.]

The entire metal floor of the training deck trembled beneath their feet. Rhaevia’s Guide core burned with ancient, terrifying power, radiating an aura that caused the surrounding lights to flicker.

Then, the rapid stream of text halted, leaving one final notification glowing brightly in the air. The letters burned in a deep, stark crimson:

[THIRD SOVEREIGN FACTION DETECTED.]