Solanky finished merging with the primordial ancient dragon emperor's blood and rose to his feet. Elena's eyes widened, shock flickering across them for the briefest moment. Then her massive dragon form dissolved, reshaping itself into a humanoid figure — long black hair cascading to her waist, her appearance indistinguishable from an ordinary human of Earth. Both Gido and the grand elder stared in disbelief; neither had ever laid eyes on a human from Earth before.
Elena smiled, striking a deliberately cute pose that only unsettled the three of them further. "This form," she said, "is that of a young Asian girl in her early teens, from Earth and said. I've sealed my power down to the god emperor level, so unless it becomes necessary, I won't be relying on physical strength — I'll be using magic and spells instead." Solanky and the grand elder exchanged a look of alarm; on planet Sabiru, magic had long been outlawed, banned for interfering with the principles of science and defying its most basic laws.
The grand elder turned his attention back to Solanky, sensing his power now brushing against the threshold of an elementary god or devil — not quite there, but close. Solanky threw another punch, and the resulting shockwave measured three hundred times the strength of a half god. Both the grand elder and Gido stared in astonishment. Elena only rolled her eyes. "Show-off. When are we leaving? I'm getting bored." She turned to Gido. "Before we go, pass down your defensive body technique to him — he can't use third-grade techniques yet. And gather the others. We're leaving the castle."
Gido hesitated. "Why are we leaving the temple? Who's going to guard it once I'm gone?"
Elena waved her hand, and the separate dimension she'd created dissolved around them, returning the group to the temple proper. "Don't worry about that. I'll keep it inside my own dimensional space." Relief washed over Gido — the burden of guarding the castle was no longer his to carry. He stretched his arm into the empty air, and half of it simply vanished from view.
Solanky, still without his memories, had no idea what was happening. "He's retrieving something from another dimension," Elena explained. "That's why his arm seems to disappear — beings at the god of gods or devil of devils level can create an independent space effortlessly, to store their treasures and belongings." She reached out and grabbed the grand elder's hand playfully, and he jumped back in startled alarm. Elena burst out laughing at his reaction.
Solanky and Gido didn't dare laugh along — had it been either of them in the grand elder's place, they were fairly certain they'd have lost control of more than just their composure.
Gido tossed a smooth, inscription-covered stone to Solanky, telling him to study it on the journey home. Solanky caught it and tucked it into his storage pouch. The rest of the beings who wished to leave the castle for the outside world had already gathered behind Elena; the others remained sealed away within her own space.
"Time to go," the grand elder said, and the ship rose automatically, drifting to the spot where the castle stood.
"I could teleport us there directly," Elena said, "but I'll let you feel the strength you've gained the honest way — so long as you have the coordinates and have been there before." She lifted her left hand skyward, murmuring words in an unknown tongue, then pointed toward the ship. The moment her finger fell upon it, the vessel transformed — its length swelling from fifty meters to four hundred, its aging technology rebuilt and modernized in an instant.
"Science! The future, right?" Elena said, mocking, giggling as she settled into one of the control room's seats. Solanky laughed along. "Thanks to science, you get to sit comfortably while we fly ourselves there." He moved to take his own seat — only for it to vanish the instant he sat, sending him crashing to the metal floor. He shot Elena a glare, but she looked away, hiding her smile behind her hand, giggling. The grand elder only shook his head, set the coordinates, and teleported the ship away.
Two minutes later, the ship reappeared within the Fiery Crimson star system. Solanky's head spun from the sudden shift through space and time. Elena instructed the grand elder to seal his power back down to the god emperor stage to keep a low profile; he complied, sealing himself to the half step god emperor level, then guided the ship toward planet Sabiru. But before they came within a hundred kilometers of the planet, Gido asked to be let off — he wanted to carve out a dimensional passage linking the Fiery Crimson starfield to his own created space. He said his farewells and teleported away, eager to tour the outside world and eventually visit the god realm once his space was complete.
The moment they entered the planet's atmosphere, Solanky felt a warmth settle over him — the feeling of coming home. Elena watched the world quietly, a flicker of excitement in her eyes at the sight of the planet that had given birth to a source god bloodline. "You need to merge with every bloodline sample in that lab," she told him, "so your true bloodline stays hidden, even under testing." The grand elder made certain it was done. By then, the ship had already slipped into the capital of Makeke — though the city's radars couldn't detect it, thanks to the ship's magical upgrades, and Elena had wrapped an additional barrier around the vessel in case Solanky's bloodline flared during the process.
Once Solanky finished merging with the remaining samples, the detection signature of his blood shifted, taking on the properties of the bloodlines he'd absorbed. Elena smiled. "You've also inherited some of their innate talents. Consider them yours now." She dissolved the barrier, letting the ship become visible again as it descended toward the landing pad.
The clan's guards snapped to high alert, and the gathered clansmen stared in disbelief — the ship before them looked more advanced than anything in the Bayoka fleet. The grand elder disembarked first, Solanky and a handful of others trailing behind him. The guards dropped to one knee in salute; the grand elder nodded and told them to rise.
They did — though their eyes remained fixed on Elena. She smiled and looped her arm affectionately around the grand elder's, standing at five feet ten beside his towering twelve feet, looking every bit the cute little girl in contrast. Solanky watched the grand elder's reaction with quiet amusement. The elder himself kept his composure outwardly, though inwardly he thought, This Elena girl really is something else.
Elena had already used her magic to disguise the appearance of the mythical beings traveling with them, reshaping them to resemble ordinary Bayoka clansmen. Then, without warning, the grand elder scooped Elena up and set her upon his shoulders. Solanky's jaw dropped. Even Elena seemed caught off guard by the boldness of the gesture. The grand elder smirked down at her — and she smirked right back, a look that, for just a moment, made his heart skip a beat.