The alarm was not a mere bell; it was a psychic resonance that hummed through the very foundations of the Thorne Estate. It was the "Void-Siren," a warning system keyed to the specific energy signatures of the monsters that bled through the fabric of space.
Alistair let go of Seraphina's hand, his eyes tracking the descent of the flaming vessel. It wasn't landing; it was falling, a jagged streak of obsidian and violet fire cutting across the starlit sky. It crashed into the "Green Sector," a lush, forested buffer zone between the noble estates and the industrial refineries.
"Elowen!" Alistair shouted, his voice cutting through the rising panic of the household servants.
The elven archer appeared instantly, her golden bow already unslung. "Young Master, the Duke has ordered all family members to the bunkers. The ship is an Imperial Scout—but it's infested. The energy readings are chaotic."
"My father is already on his way to the crash site, isn't he?" Alistair asked, grabbing a dark leather duster from a nearby chair. He didn't wait for an answer. He knew Valerius Thorne. The man was a Knight to his core; he would head toward the fire, not away from it.
"He is. And you are to go to the shelter," Elowen insisted, though her eyes betrayed her curiosity at Alistair's lack of fear.
"If that ship is what I think it is, the bunkers won't matter," Alistair said, his mind racing through the historical data he'd gathered from his "memories" and the library. "That's a Vanguard-class vessel. They carry AI cores that contain the navigation charts for the lost sectors. If the Void-monsters get hold of that data, they won't just attack Aethelgard—they'll find the coordinates to every Thorne refinery in the sector."
He looked at Seraphina. She was pale, but she didn't tremble. Her "Spirit-Sensing" was likely telling her exactly what Alistair already knew: the monsters were already emerging.
"Stay with the guards, Sera," Alistair said, his tone softening for a brief second. "I won't be long."
"Alistair, you're seven!" she whispered, her voice a mix of terror and awe.
"Age is a biological constraint, Seraphina. I've outgrown it."
The Crash Site: Shadows and Steel
Alistair and Elowen moved through the forest with a speed that would have been impossible for any normal child and guardian. Alistair used a basic Tier 1 Wind-Step spell, but he modified the mana-flow to create a vacuum pocket in front of him, reducing air resistance to near zero.
As they broke through the treeline, the scene was a nightmare of fire and twisted metal. The scout ship had carved a half-mile trench into the earth. Steam hissed as the ship's coolant leaked into the soil.
At the center of the wreckage stood Duke Valerius and a squad of Thorne Knights. They were surrounded.
The "Monsters" were not beasts of flesh and bone. They were "Void-Walkers"—creatures that looked like shattered glass held together by purple smoke. They moved with a twitchy, unnatural speed, their limbs elongated into jagged blades.
"Form the Phalanx!" Valerius bellowed, his massive claymore glowing with a fierce white light. "Don't let them breach the hull! The AI core must be preserved!"
Alistair watched from the ridge. He saw a Void-Walker—a larger, "Alpha" variant—creeping along the top of the ship's wreckage, positioned directly above his father. It was camouflaged, its body refracting the firelight to become nearly invisible.
"Elowen, the Alpha. Ten o'clock, atop the primary thruster," Alistair commanded.
Elowen didn't hesitate. She didn't ask how he had seen it. She drew her bow, the string humming with green energy. Sshkt. The arrow was a streak of light, but the Alpha moved, the projectile glancing off its crystalline hide.
"It's too fast for standard projectiles," Alistair muttered. He closed his eyes, his "Genius" mind calculating the monster's movement patterns. It wasn't moving randomly; it was vibrating at a high frequency to phase through physical attacks.
Alistair reached out his hand. He didn't use a wand or a staff. He tapped into the Silver Pulse.
F = \frac{m \cdot \Delta v}{\Delta t}
In his mind, he applied the laws of kinetic force to mana. He didn't just want to hit the creature; he wanted to disrupt its frequency.
"Elowen, fire again. Aim three inches to the left of its core. I'll handle the stabilization."
As Elowen released her second arrow, Alistair snapped his fingers. A localized gravity well formed around the arrow mid-flight. The monster tried to phase, but the gravitational distortion anchored it to the physical plane.
The arrow pierced the Alpha's core. The creature shrieked—a sound that felt like metal grinding on bone—and shattered into thousands of harmless shards.
Valerius looked up, his eyes meeting Alistair's on the ridge. The Duke's face was a mask of fury and relief. "Alistair! I told you to—"
"Save the lecture for the debrief, Father,"
Alistair shouted, jumping down the ridge. He landed softly, the wind-mana cushioning his fall. "We need to extract the core before the ship's self-destruct sequence initiates. The Void-corruption is already at 80%."
The Discovery: Unit 0-RA
Alistair ignored the remaining smaller monsters, leaving them to the Knights. He sprinted toward the jagged hole in the ship's side. The interior was a labyrinth of sparking wires and flickering holographic displays.
"Young Master, it's too dangerous!" Elowen cried, following him into the smoke.
"Stay back, Elowen. The radiation here is tuned to elven physiology—it'll scramble your mana-veins. I'm a Thorne; my blood is insulated."
It was a lie, or at least a half-truth, but it kept her at the entrance. Alistair pushed deeper, his small frame allowing him to crawl through the collapsing bulkheads. He reached the bridge.
There, suspended in a vat of glowing blue liquid, was a sphere of polished chrome. It was the AI core. But it wasn't silent. It was screaming in a digital tongue.
"Identification required," a mechanical voice echoed in Alistair's mind.
"Alistair Thorne. Heir to the House of Thorne. Priority Code: Terra-Alpha-Zero," Alistair said.
He didn't know why he said it—the code just felt right, a remnant of a memory he couldn't quite place from his previous life's obsession with old-world mythology.
The screaming stopped. The blue liquid drained away.
"Code Accepted. Welcome back, Administrator," the AI whispered. "Unit 0-RA online. Warning: Location of 'Earth' remains lost. Current sector: Aurelian Empire. Status: Hostile."
Alistair grabbed the core. It was warm, pulsing like a heartbeat. As he touched it, a flood of data poured into his brain. He saw maps of the galaxy, the locations of ancient "Star-Gates," and most importantly, the blueprints for weapons that could kill gods.
He also saw a face. A woman with golden eyes, standing in a garden on a planet with a single sun. Earth.
"Alistair!" Valerius's voice boomed as he entered the bridge, his armor covered in purple ichor. He saw his son holding the core, the boy's eyes glowing with an intense, terrifying intelligence.
"I have it, Father," Alistair said, his voice cold and commanding. "And with this, the Thorne family will no longer be mere dukes. We will be the masters of this sector."
Valerius looked at his son—really looked at him. He saw the genius, the power, and the terrifying lack of hesitation. He realized then that Alistair wasn't just a prodigy. He was something the world hadn't seen in a thousand years.
"What is that thing, Alistair?" the Duke asked, his voice low.
Alistair looked at the chrome sphere in his hands. "It's the future, Father. And the key to our past."
The Aftermath: A Promise Kept
The fires were eventually extinguished. The Thorne Knights stood guard over the wreckage, while Alistair sat in the back of a luxury hover-carriage, the AI core tucked under his arm.
Elowen sat opposite him, cleaning her bow.
She watched him with a mixture of devotion and a new, darker emotion. She had seen him command the laws of physics today. She had seen him save her life and the Duke's. To an elf, who lived for centuries, such talent was more than just skill—it was destiny.
"You're staring, Elowen," Alistair said without opening his eyes.
"You are a strange master," she replied softly.
"Most noble children would be crying for their mothers after seeing a Void-Walker. You... you look like you're disappointed there weren't more of them."
"I am disappointed," Alistair admitted.
"Because it means I still don't know the full extent of the enemy's strength."
The carriage arrived back at the estate.
Waiting on the steps was Seraphina. She ran forward before the guards could stop her, throwing her arms around Alistair as he stepped out.
"You're safe," she sobbed into his shoulder.
Alistair patted her back, his expression softening. He looked at the AI core, then at the girl in his arms. In his past life, he had died for money. In this life, he would live for power—but he would use that power to ensure that this girl, this family, and this world never had to know the silence of the void.
"I told you I wouldn't be long, Sera," he whispered. "I have a business to build, and a wedding to prepare for. And I think I've just found the capital we need to start."
As he walked into the mansion, the AI core pulsed once, a hidden message scrolling across Alistair's internal vision:
[Objective Updated: Reclaim the Sol System. Progress: 0.0001%]
Alistair smiled. The journey was long, but he had time. He had the soul of a king, the mind of a scientist, and the heart of a protector.
The Thorne family was about to rise.