Sector 100 – Mid Region — The Destruction Pit Planet

BANG!

"Damn it!" Helen came crashing down from the sky, landing directly on her balcony with enough force to make the structure tremble. Without a breath's hesitation, she ripped off her black and gold helmet and hurled it downward with all her strength.

The moment it struck the floor, the impact shattered the marble tiles, leaving behind a deep, smoking hole before the helmet itself disappeared into the lower levels.

She stood tall upon the fractured balcony, surrounded by drifting dust and the echoes of her own fury. Her magnificent black-and-gold armor shimmered under the dying light of the twin suns, every line of its design radiating power and authority. Her flowing white hair whipped in the storm her own aura created, and her divine beauty — sharp and commanding — did nothing to ease the suffocating rage that burned around her. Her presence was overwhelming, like a burning star descending upon the world. Her anger… her sheer wrath… could have reduced entire worlds to ash.

It had been more than two decades since her faithful attendant, Serafina, had suggested they partner with the Centennial Cradle Empire — a suggestion that Helen had initially dismissed as madness. To work as "business allies" with another empire, to lend her might in exchange for resources… was that not a stain on her honor?

Their first mission together had been nothing short of torment — not because of the enemy's strength, though the battle had indeed been fierce. No, what made it unbearable was the humiliation. She had been forced to don the armor of another empire, fight under their banner, and act as if she were one of their soldiers. She battled two Nexus State wielders and twenty World Cataclysms, enemies she had no reason to fight, for the benefit of powers she did not owe.

For a proud ruler like Helen, that was the height of disgrace.

But after Serafina's endless pleading — and after receiving report after report of their empire's dwindling funds, collapsing infrastructure, and unpaid fleets — Helen's patience finally broke. She agreed. But only once.

That day would forever be carved into her memory.

When she appeared before her targets, they recognized the sigil of the Centennial Cradle Empire upon her armor and shouted in alarm: "Followers of the Cradle Empire are here!"

Their cries were not insults; there was no mockery in their voices. It was merely a call to arms — a reflexive warning to their comrades. But to Helen, that sound ignited something primal within her. Her pride, her fury, her humiliation — all exploded at once, and the sky itself burned.

By the end of that massacre, one Nexus State and thirteen World Cataclysms had fallen. The second Nexus State barely escaped with his life, vanishing into the dark void of space. To this day, he had never returned to his empire. Some whispered he was lost among the stars. Others claimed he died adrift. And some simply said he fled — terrified beyond reason.

Helen returned home drenched in victory yet consumed by shame and self-loathing. The fury boiling inside her was unbearable — she tore through her palace like a tempest, destroying nearly a quarter of it in blind rage.

Hours later, Serafina entered the ruins with trembling hands, eyes glistening with tears of joy. In her grasp, she carried a small spatial pouch filled with rings — not ordinary ones, but spatial rings of immense value. Each ring held one million Pearls, and there were over sixty of them.

Helen's rage vanished in an instant.

How could it not? She hadn't seen such a fortune since the day she departed from the Destra Galaxy. The shimmering glow of those rings — that raw, tangible wealth — made her heart skip a beat. It silenced her anger, quenched her pride for a moment.

From that day, she could no longer scold Serafina. Though she declared that she would never lower herself to such missions again, she took the treasure nonetheless. With it, she cleared her debts to the Interas Galaxy, purchased a second-hand fleet, and gathered an arsenal of weapons, armor, and equipment sufficient to arm one hundred thousand soldiers.

This time, she made one particular demand — all armor must be of a single color.

That marked a turning point in the history of the Destruction Pit Empire. For the first time ever, its army bore a unified color. For the first time, their empire owned a fleet of ships produced by the same manufacturer, perfectly coordinated and fully armed.

With that army, and with morale burning brighter than ever, Helen led her people to reclaim another world — raising their total number of planets back to six.

But soon after… everything stopped. Progress halted. Expansion ceased. The flow of money had dried up.

Eight long years passed after that first mission. The empire's coffers emptied. The last Pearl was spent.

Then, like a persistent whisper, Serafina returned to her mistress's ear, urging her to accept another contract. Helen resisted at first — furious, proud, refusing to crawl back to those who had ignored them for so long.

"The Centennial Cradle Empire will never trust us again," Helen said bitterly. "We vanished for eight years. They've surely forgotten us."

But against all odds — by some miracle or twist of fate — they were accepted once more.

A new mission. A new chance.

And that mission paid ten million Pearls.

All of it was spent within a single year — invested into talismans, medical formations, and healing arrays for her army.

Then came another mission… then another… the third, the fourth… the sixth.

By then, it was no longer about strategy or survival.

It had become a habit, a dangerous thrill she could no longer deny — an addiction.

The planetary empress who had lived in poverty for more than ten thousand years could no longer endure it — not even for another moment.

After all, anyone who had spent sixty million Pearls in just a few short years would never again lower themselves to digging through the crust of a barren world, searching for scraps of metal worth no more than five hundred!

The sixth mission had ended, and Helen wanted to scream once again that she would never do this anymore…

But when she looked upon her empire — at what it had become — and remembered that she had poured into it a total reward nearing one hundred and seventy million Pearls, hesitation struck her heart.

That amount, without a doubt, was enough to fill the treasury of a planetary empire for millennia. It was the sort of wealth rulers would boast about, the kind they would guard as a sacred reserve for ages, the foundation upon which their civilizations could rise and endure through any calamity.

Yet for Helen, who was building everything from nothing, those Pearls vanished almost instantly — consumed by the endless expenses of raising armies, constructing fleets, and buying energy stabilizers for her citizens. She hadn't even bothered to repair her own palace, pave new roads, or establish markets that might improve her citizens' lives.

It was as if she were throwing everything she earned into a bottomless abyss — a pit that would never, ever be filled.

And yet… because she had devoted every resource solely to the military, her forces had managed to reclaim two more planets.

The total count now stood proudly at eight!

Today, however, was no different from the countless days before.

The money had run out once again, and she had been forced to accept another mission — the seventh one.

Whoosh!

Behind Helen, a faint shadow flickered out of existence for a few seconds before returning, holding up a helmet.

"My Lady," Seraphina said in a strained tone, "please try to throw it in another direction next time! The foundations of the palace are starting to crack because of how hard your armor hits the walls after each mission!"

"Seraphina, not now!" Helen stormed into her chamber, her expression tight with frustration, and began stripping off her battle armor piece by piece — tossing each fragment aside with barely restrained fury.

"Well, at least you haven't sworn you'll skip the eighth mission yet," Seraphina teased, following behind her. She pulled off her own helmet and shook free her long, silvery hair tied in a high ponytail. "That's progress, right? Hehe."

"…!!" Helen froze mid-motion and shot a dagger-like glare over her shoulder.

"Alright, alright, I will shut up!" Seraphina yelped, stepping back a few paces and turning away, her hands raised in mock surrender. After a brief, uneasy silence, she began removing her own armor as well.

"...You were incredible today, my Lady," she added softly after a moment, glancing back over her shoulder. "With that level of performance, our reward should reach at least seventy million Pearls, if not more!"

"…You think so?" Helen's voice softened slightly as she slowed down, undoing the clasps around her waist armor with much calmer pace, thinking. "It's been quite some time since we've received such a grand bounty."

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