Three hours earlier…
Prince Volengi slowly spiraled through the vast unknown.
He bathed in the silence, eyes wide open. Loafing in space was a little guilty pleasure, one that he almost ranked higher than tasting the fine wines from his home planet, Santari.
It was ironic. His friends would tease him if they knew he floated in space seeking peace and quiet, considering that everything their species stood for was the antithesis. In fact, they almost viewed such tranquility as a disease since they became restless when there wasn’t a valuable planet to abuse, overthrow, and pillage.
But Volengi's desire for silence was motivated by a specific reason. It wasn’t for anything pathetic such as needing time alone to recharge or to wallow in self-pity and dwell on the past. It was, of course, to remind himself of his greatness. Every accomplishment and victory down to the minute detail needed to be replayed in his mind.
Why? Because it was valuable evidence.
Evidence of why he was who he was, why he was feared, why he was respected, and why he had earned the right to become one of the closest organisms to perfection.
Like most Solarians, Volengi’s base form was seemingly unimpressive, relying on crimson metal armour to protect soft charcoal skin. He had a thin yet incredibly dense body and his face was characterized by triangular scars, featuring two orange eyes, short black hair, and an angular nose. At a height of six feet and five inches, with no overly striking features, he appeared as average as they came by the universe’s standards.
But he preferred it that way. Intimidation through looks was overrated. It was all show and no substance.
Volengi silently zoomed across the galaxy until he plunged into planet Santari’s atmosphere and crashed feet-first onto an orange, beach terrain.
He waited patiently. Then, a rhythm drummed in the distance.
Thud-thud.
Thud-thud-thud.
Singing harmonies accompanied shortly after. The initiation had begun.
Thud-thud.
Thud-thud-thud.
Volengi punched the air in time with the music, alternating between fists. He cartwheeled before unleashing an onslaught of kicks, punches, and elbows at an astonishing speed. All the while, the tempo and volume of the music intensified.
Thud, thud
Thud, thud, thud.
Thud, thud.
Thud, thud, thud.
The Solarians unveiled themselves by removing their invisibility cloaks, having formed a circle around him. One by one, they ceased playing their drums and singing until only one remained.
It was the Solarian King, his father.
The frail, old man played a complex rhythm on the drums, and Volengi mirrored the pattern by performing a series of punches, kicks, and flips in a precise sequence. Each move was part of a ceremonial war dance that had been passed down for countless generations. He shouted a fierce battle cry as he rapidly kicked the air three times. With each kick, a different element was released: a ring of blue flames, a strange black metal, and a bolt of lightning.
The drums ceased.
“Kneel,” his father said.
Volengi obeyed. The ring of Solarians followed suit.
“Today is a special day. It is the beginning and the end. As king, it has been an honour to lead you, but my time has come and a warrior more than worthy will take my place. My son, stand up.”
Volengi followed the old man's final command, filled with pride.
“You are ready. I have no advice. Only a reminder: Continue our ways and follow our ancestors’ instincts.”
“Of course, father.”
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They exchanged a smile.
A Solarian’s worst fear was to die through natural causes and his father was no different. It was considered pitiful to pass away peacefully. Battle and chaos lived in their veins and thus they believed it was better to be obliterated from the universe. The desire was inherent for them all, equal to breathing air.
Therefore, to honour his father’s life and simultaneously celebrate the coronation, Volengi had to destroy him along with one useless planet in a single attack. The action was customary, compulsory, and a death fitting for a king who had ruled for thousands of years.
His father rose into the air until he reached the outermost layer of the Solarian planet’s atmosphere while Volengi widened his stance and rose one arm up high. Black, viscous liquid dripped from each finger while a small ball of white light materialised in front of his palm. Gradually it expanded until, one blink of an eye later, it expanded to the size of a fatal meteorite.
Volengi’s orange eyes glowed and squinted as he searched across the universe for a good target, his vision rapidly shifting from solar system to solar system. A Solarian’s sight was one of their most feared abilities, allowing them to see without light and scour almost every crevice of the universe. Once they found a target, there was nowhere to hide.
He looked for something safe yet good enough to link with his father's end. The planet needed to be large but not too large, have life that wasn't intelligent enough for interstellar travel, and, most importantly, it needed to be a slug planet.
A slug planet was one that no one touched because it was widely considered by any passing by intelligent organisms as disgusting. Like a slug. There were no unique, valuable resources to be obtained on it. It had been taken care of poorly by the inhabitants, showing signs of pollution.
In short, slug planets weren’t supposed to exist. No one would care if they disappeared within the time frame of a snap of a finger. Type one civilizations or higher could step on them while scratching their butt cheeks.
“No,” Volengi muttered. “No. Too small. Too big. Too risky.” A smile played upon his lips. “Now what do we have here?”
The planet was big and horribly taken care of. For the most part, it was useless and its most intelligent life form seemed to be…
Volengi grinned, holding back a laugh. “Talking primates? You see something new every day.”
He closed his eyes, then a rapid burst of white energy emanated from his hand too swiftly for the majority of living beings to perceive. For less than a nanosecond, his home planet became a light bulb.
Already, his father no longer existed. The death felt too flawless and swift to be considered one. There was no corpse, with empty lifeless eyes. There was no pitiful, broken skeleton or even piles of ashes. It felt like an ingenious magic trick.
A death truly fitting for a king. Goodbye father.
Volengi let out a deep breath. “I am King Volengi!” he roared, raising an arm in the air. “My reign has begun!”
The Solarians cheered and punched the air as an invisible weight rested on Volengi’s shoulders. He was now in complete control of thousands of planets and the most powerful military army in the universe.
He crouched, digging a cup full of orange sand with a hand, then emptied the material slowly and laid on his back, both arms resting behind his head. The Solarian’s copied their new king, resulting in one long horizontal line and, together, they all watched the energy beam zoom faster than the speed of light.
Volengi knew the time until impact. The beam was a perfect, borderline unstoppable attack. Any asteroid or unfortunate living thing that happened to be in its course would be annihilated instantly. The destroyed planet would be his 359th, and the king did not include invasions or the extinction of a species. Destroyed meant destroyed. Gone without a trace, like it never existed.
Five minutes left…
Two minutes left…
Thirty seconds left…
Volengi sat upright, smirking. The primate species were lucky to be obliterated by the Solarian King. Clearly, the slugs couldn’t utilise the potential of their sun, and judging by their outer atmosphere, their fuel choices were laughable.
Ten seconds left…
They were barely worthy of his coronation. If the planet wasn’t located in the middle of nowhere and Volengi had passed the planet in a bad mood, he may have eliminated it out of pure disgust and spite.
One second!
Volengi sprung to his feet, rubbing his eyes. He floated a few inches off the ground. “Huh? What? This can’t… what?”
“He missed,” a Solarian said.
“No, it was on target,” Another Solarian replied. “It ran out of juice?”
“But that’s impossible.”
As the chatter continued, Volengi stared at the slug planet, still looking for traces of the energy beam. There was nothing, yet the attack had enough power to travel twice the distance.
“The new king missed!” Laxon bellowed, Volengi’s younger brother. “He couldn’t even destroy a slug planet. I knew he was weaker than a Globu kitten!”
Roars of laughter ensued. Volengi flew higher, turning to his subjects. “Someone interfered.”
Laxon flew to meet Volengi’s height, flipping twice on the way. He grinned goofily. “Obviously. But that’s not how it looks. Video footage is already online.”
Volengi clenched his fists so hard they shook. “Then we delete it.”
“Brother… You know how the internet is. The Arcanites are probably already stroking their tentacles to this shit as we speak. I can predict the headlines: Solarian King fails to destroy slug planet and disgraces father.”
“Show respect,” Volengi growled.
“My apologies, but it’s simply the truth, my king,” Laxon said, bowing deeply. “Our enemies are watching. How will you handle the situation? Shall I hire a PR team?”
Volengi glared. “This isn’t funny.”
Laxon gestured to the laughing Solarians down below. “Oh, but it is.”
Volengi facepalmed. He couldn’t believe what was happening. For the first time in seven hundred years, humiliation infected his mind. In fact, he had never been laughed at before to such an extent.
Volengi burst towards the skies. He wasn’t supposed to fail. Not like this.
“The ceremony isn’t over!” Laxon yelled. “Where are you going?”
“I need to step on a slug,” Volengi yelled back. “Don’t worry. It will only take a moment.”