The darkness ahead stretched endlessly.
No explosions.
No lasers.
No burning wreckage drifting through space.
Only silence.
An unnatural silence.
The kind that made everyone feel uneasy.
HE78 remained frozen in front of the console.
The message was still there.
CONNECTION REQUEST ACCEPTED
Vinh crossed his arms.
"Connected to what?"
"I do not know."
HE78 answered.
"But something answered us."
Inside Nyxara's ship, the exact same message was displayed across every monitor.
Velkar frowned.
"That's impossible."
Kraith rested a hand on his weapon.
"Maybe it's a trap."
Nyxara shook her head.
"If it were a trap, we'd already be dead."
Nobody argued with that.
Then space itself began to change.
At first, it looked like a ripple.
A tiny distortion spreading through the darkness.
Like a stone dropped into still water.
But the ripple kept growing.
And growing.
Until it became impossible to ignore.
A gigantic circular structure emerged ahead of them.
It did not glow.
It did not make a sound.
It simply appeared.
As if it had always been there and reality had only just noticed.
HE78 immediately stood up.
"No..."
Levi looked at him.
"What?"
HE78's voice became noticeably unstable.
"I recognize fragments of this design."
"It exists only in ancient records."
"Technology beyond Dejteo."
"Beyond Axians."
Nobody had time to ask further questions.
A force suddenly seized both ships.
Without warning.
Without explanation.
Every alarm inside the cockpit activated at once.
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
Levi grabbed the controls.
The ship didn't respond.
"What the hell?!"
Hongco immediately checked the systems.
"No damage."
"The engines are functioning."
"Then why aren't we moving?"
HE78 turned toward the main display.
"We are moving."
Everyone looked forward.
The circular anomaly was growing larger.
Much larger.
Their ships were being dragged toward it.
Velkar was experiencing the exact same situation.
He slammed his hand against the control panel.
"Nothing works!"
"The ship isn't responding!"
Kraith cursed loudly.
"I knew this was a trap!"
Nyxara ignored him.
Her eyes never left the phenomenon ahead.
Something about it felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not hostile.
Just...
Wrong.
Like seeing a door where no door should exist.
The distance continued shrinking.
Faster.
And faster.
Then—
Levi froze.
His eyes widened.
For a brief moment, he looked through the side window.
And saw another ship.
Not far away.
The silver ship carrying Nyxara's group.
Through the glass.
Through the darkness.
Their eyes met.
Levi saw Kraith.
Kraith saw Levi.
Neither spoke.
Neither needed to.
The hatred between them was obvious.
But something else was obvious too.
They were all being dragged into the same place.
Kraith's expression darkened.
"So they're here too."
Velkar followed his gaze.
His eyes widened.
"The fugitives."
Nyxara remained silent.
For the first time since beginning the pursuit, she wasn't thinking about catching Levi.
She was thinking about survival.
Because whatever this thing was...
It had stopped both ships as if they were toys.
Inside Levi's ship, Vinh finally noticed the second vessel.
"Oh."
"They got dragged in too."
Apoloziro narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting."
"Perhaps fate wishes to continue this conflict."
"No thanks."
Vinh immediately replied.
"I've had enough conflict for a lifetime."
The circular structure now filled most of their vision.
Its surface looked impossible.
Not metal.
Not energy.
Not matter.
Every time someone looked directly at it, it seemed to change.
Like their minds couldn't fully understand what they were seeing.
HE78 suddenly shouted.
The loudest anyone had ever heard him speak.
"WE HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE PATH!"
Everyone turned.
"What are you talking about?"
Levi demanded.
HE78's eyes flickered violently.
Ancient data streams flooded across his vision.
Fragments.
Broken records.
Corrupted files.
Half-forgotten warnings.
All connecting together.
For the first time.
Something sounded almost like fear in his voice.
"I know this place."
"No."
"I know stories about this place."
Vinh blinked.
"What place?"
HE78 slowly raised one mechanical arm.
And pointed directly at the anomaly.
"The Gateway."
Nobody understood.
HE78 continued.
"Ancient civilizations believed every journey eventually led here."
"A crossing point."
"A border."
"A place where paths converge."
Levi stared at him.
"You're saying this thing is real?"
"I am saying..."
HE78 paused.
"...nothing in my records explains how it should exist."
The silence that followed was worse than any battle.
Because enemies could be fought.
Lasers could be dodged.
Ships could be escaped.
But this?
Nobody knew what this was.
Nobody knew what waited beyond it.
The Gateway expanded further.
Its edges now stretched beyond what their eyes could follow.
Both ships accelerated uncontrollably.
The force pulling them forward became overwhelming.
Warning sirens screamed.
Metal groaned.
The stars themselves seemed to bend around the anomaly.
Then the first ship crossed the threshold.
Levi's ship vanished into the white light.
A fraction of a moment later.
Nyxara's ship followed.
And the universe disappeared.
Only endless white remained.
Then even that was gone.