Chapter 56: Conviction

Carter's cold gaze intensified as he raised a hand, six radiant wings flaring out behind him. The space around him grew heavy, vibrating with an unseen force. Suddenly, the hundreds of hyper-cosmic beam cannons began to shudder on their mounts, tearing free from the ships with a violent force. With an effortless motion, Carter wrenched the massive cannons through space, clustering them together in a formation facing the very fleet that had launched them.

The soldiers on the ships and the generals in the lead ship's cockpit was a storm of frenzied cries as the aliens watched in horror, realization dawning on them. The metallic-scaled general's face twisted in disbelief, a look of raw defiance flickering in his eyes. "No, this is impossible… Those cannons can't be operated without the ships' energy core. He won't be able to fire them!" he shouted, trying to reassure the others, desperation edging his voice.

With his second hand extended, Carter channeled a swirling vortex of celestial energy into the cannons, powering each one with the steady flow of his own strength. The barrels glowed ominously, filling the dark expanse with a white-hot hue. As the energy surged, the hum of activation reverberated through the void, and panic rippled through the fleet.

Frantic commands filled the comms as the generals attempted to retreat. Yet, no matter how fiercely the pilots jammed the controls, their ships remained frozen, unable to move as if held by an invisible force.

"I told you all not to act recklessly!" General Sinith's voice rose, desperate. "Now you've doomed us! Did any of you think about what would happen if he turns toward our homeworlds next? If our families—"

"Enough of your whining!" the rock-like general shouted, slamming a stone fist into his console. "We need solutions, not noise, General Sinith! FIND OUT WHY WE CAN'T MOVE—"

The metallic-scaled general tried to rally the others, but his voice was cut short by the powerful telepathic message that flooded their minds.

"You all are so confident that if you just hit me with your toys, I'd be destroyed," Carter's voice echoed, cold and calm. "I've known your intentions since the moment you approached, and I've seen everything... especially you, General Morris."

Carter's piercing words left the bridge in stunned silence. Using skills obtained from his journey through the X3X prison—the Xilian race's x-ray vision and the mind-reading skill from the Solarian race—he'd seen and heard every strategic discussion, every panicked thought, every hidden plan. He knew their intentions with chilling clarity.

The metallic-scaled General Moris crumpled to the floor, eyes wide with fear. "No... no… this can't be. What kind of being is this?" He stammered, breath shallow as he processed the nightmare unfolding around him. The other generals, once filled with bravado, had fallen silent, the grim realization of their helplessness sinking in. All they could do now was await the inevitable judgment.

But General Sinith, seeing an opening, desperately called out, voice trembling but determined. "Wait! Please, great one, give me a moment!" she shouted, hoping against hope that Carter could hear them. "Please… spare us. We spotted an entity moving at an impossible speed, devouring our stars. We came only to protect our people—our survival depends on these stars. Even though we don't live on one, we need their energy to sustain our worlds."

The rest of the command deck held its breath, clinging to her words as a final chance.

Carter's voice reverberated through the minds of the generals alone, his tone measured but unsettlingly sincere. "You, General Sinith, were the only one here who sought to communicate first. It almost touches my nonexistent heart," he began, a trace of amusement filtering through. "But understand this: your naivety has led you to misunderstand me. I am beyond any notion of 'right' or 'wrong.' I abandoned that long ago. What I bring may seem like pure destruction, but where there is destruction, there is always potential for something new… and you all will help me bring that new, whether you wish to or not."

The silence that followed was absolute, his words sinking in as if they were edged with gravity itself. Sinith's eyes widened, her last shred of hope fading, while the other generals exchanged horrified glances. They now understood the depth of their miscalculation—escape was impossible.

With a sweep of his hand, Carter activated the hyper-cosmic ray blasters he had hijacked. Charged by his own immense celestial energy, the beams fired down on the fleet, their power magnified tenfold. In an instant, the ships were engulfed in devastating rays, their hulls dissolving into scattered atoms as the cosmic power obliterated them without mercy. It was over in seconds—hundreds of vessels reduced to floating debris, swallowed into nothingness.

New Equation Detected: Rapvik Race.

New Equation Detected: Earthoid Race.

New Equation Detected: Armilion Race.

More race equations streamed in, each feeding into his system. But Carter dismissed the notifications, focused instead on the conviction now rooted deeper in him. This encounter had shown him a glimpse of his potential—and the distance he still needed to cross to become truly unstoppable.