Last Man On Earth When There Is No Earth ?

Sector twenty one, planet Gorgola, Tiga one, Seven

"Oh. Hi, Aley, it's been a while…"

"… lord Seven?"

Seeing the toddler sitting on Lilia's l.a.p speak to him so casually a surprised expression, one he didn't know he's capable of making, was drawn on his face.

"Don't mind the details" I don't want to explain this on phone "it's rare for you to call, is it that urgent?"

He usually takes the time to travel here when he has something to report to me, but it seems this time it's not something he could put off until he's here.

The third day after I turned to a baby. I was slowly growing back and my voice cords had developed so I could talk. I was relaxing on Lilia's l.a.p when Estel came to report a call from Rajol Aley, our contact in the IU. Of course I was in no shape to respond so I tried making an excuse, however what android 22 had for me didn't seem like something that could wait as he insisted on talking to me.

"… Understood. I won't ask for the details" said the human like robot "I hear governor Astragali is with you. I wish for him to hear this as well"

"well…" I allowed him to stay on the surface and since the planet is on lockdown he can't leave yet. Hopefully no misunderstanding will arise from that decision. "I will call him right away, wait just a minute" I looked over at Estel who was standing to the side and saw that she was already on the task.

Two minutes later Thawr appeared on a separate window. He appears to be relaxing while having some tea and I could tell he isn't that bothered by his stay on Gorgola. His calmness was shattered the moment he saw my face causing him to spill his drink as he coughed.

"W-what… cough… what happened to you?" the black Zesionien asked.

"Not now" I said "Aley has something important to report"

"A-ah! Rajol Aley, it's quite rare of you to call" Thawr wiped his face as he spoke "is it that urgent?"

"Indeed, governor Astragali" Aley nodded solemnly "it is a matter of the utmost urgency as it concerns the Intergalactic Union Summit we previously discussed"

The IU summit huh. The entire reason we went on that trip to Layl. We were supposed to gather allies in order to help us reevaluate the laws concerning slavery so species that don't belong to the union are protected as well. After what happened with the white cloaks and Feather it would be hard for us to get anyone's trust, which was scarce to begin with. Thawr handled many more planets since he has more connections and experiences, not to mention that very few people know he's the mythical beast Ard.

"After the events on Layl there was a discussion about delaying the summit" well, knowing I would attend must've scared a lot of people. Is he trying to polity tell me to withdraw from it? "However before a decision could be made something else took place."

"Huh?" both Thawr and I took a much more serious mindset from that point. Something else happened after that catastrophe. Something big enough to overshadow it.

"The fifteenth sector has two of the most important locations in the entire know universe" Aley spoke "first is Layl, the homeworld of the Bouma, one of the most technologically advanced races in the union. The second is-"

"Habs" Thawr said, interrupting Aley "the prison planet which houses the union's correction institutions…"

"Indeed" Aley nodded.

Oh yeah. I completely forgot about it. The fifteenth sector had that kind of place. Most of the Verta clan members who had criminal records went there to get clean. From what I was told it's practically hell where the universe's worst are gathered. Once there it's impossible to get out without the help of really big backers.

"Twenty five days ago, not long after the Layl events, planet Habs faced complete destruction"

Though we were carefully listening to every word he said with nothing to distract us it took us a few seconds to fully process that phrase. Our eyes went wide at the revelation. Lilia, Estel, Thawr and I, all of us paled hearing the grim news.

"From your reaction I could say the news have yet to reach your world"

"Wait! Hold on for a moment…" an entire planet? Destroyed? Just when we managed to avert that fate from another in the exact same sector?

"Seven…"

I took a deep breath to calm myself. A planet being destroyed could only mean one thing; a mythical beast. We already know those things happen however for one to appear just when we left the sector, anyone could guess it's most likely related to us.

"I think everyone here understands where this is going" I said, trying to be as serious as possible despite my childish voice "so, who was it?"

"We identified only one of them" Aley said.

"Stop! You mean there us more!?" Lilia asked a question we all had in our minds as we tried to keep calm.

"We counted three but we couldn't be sure" Aley replied, his expression stone cold.

Three. Three out of twelve. Three planet destroying calamities in one place. Images of Feather's rampage played in my head and I suddenly felt sick. What the hell is happening?

"The one we managed to identify is Lahab who was spotted a few years ago in the seventh sector." A side window appeared showing a bird's eye view of what looks like… a monkey?

"Sun Wukong?" I thought out loud.

I couldn't believe what I'm seeing. This is a joke, right?

"is this a joke?" I asked, just to be sure.

"What?" from his response I think it's safe to say it isn't.

We've seen a giant tiger and a phoenix before so when he said that a planet was destroyed I assumed this one would also be some massive monstrosity that somewhat resembles an animal but…

"This is the first time I see how it looks like…" though I was told sightings of Lahab were confirmed in the last century, this is the first time we're actually receiving a clear image. I was told catching it on tape proved to be impossible but it seems they managed to do so now.

The monkey king. This was the first thing I thought about seeing the pictures Aley provided us with. Some of them were blurry, but the clear ones showed a humanoid figure sitting on a cloud. He was covered in crimson fur, has a tail extending from his back, has big ears and is actually wearing what looks like clothes. His face wasn't visible but everything made him look like a halfway point between a man and a monkey, hence why I called him sun wukong.

What sealed the deal was the staff he held in his hand. Everything paints this image of the famous monkey king character seen in many works inspired by the famous journey to the west novel and Chinese mythology.

"So this is the mythical beast Lahab…" Thawr murmured.

"What about the other two?" Lilia asked.

"Sad to say but we were unable to get a reliable image from the data we managed to retrieve" Aley made another two windows appear "analysis say the light around them was distorted to a point where it was impossible to catch them on record"

One of the photos was completely white while the other showed some cityscape with a black hole at its center. The first thing that comes to mind is the classic struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, however this was a three way fight.

"I wonder who's on whose side?" I thought aloud. One would think that the monkey king and the shiny one are teaming up against some dark evil, however I don't want to make that assumption just yet.

"Sadly, we don't know. All we can be sure of is that there was a confrontation between the three and that Habs was shattered as a result. There are no survivors and the wave of destruction erased any hope of anyone escaping."

"I see…" this is bad. This is really bad.

I'm one hundred percent sure we will somehow be involved in this one way or another. I've already faced death enough times this year and I honestly don't feel like fighting cosmic calamities any time soon.

No, I don't want to fight them at all. If possible I don't want to meet any of them.

But who am I kidding. Everything to this point sounds like we're next in line. I will need to start making preparations very soon or we will end up toasted.

"Habs was an important asset and losing it caused much panic, however the appearance of four other mythical beast in such close proximity to lord Seven in such short time caused parties in the union to propose postponing the summit until we get a better understanding of the matter or at the very least until it is decided whether it's safe for such gathering to take place of not."

Again, it is understandable. Such big event sounds like the right place for whoever destroyed that planet to strike a second time. And we already know everyone is afraid of me being there, this must be the best excuse they could have gotten. But one thing still bothers me, if Habs' destruction happened mere days after what happened on Layl why is it just now that we're hearing about this?

"Hey, Aley, why did it take so long for this info to reach us?" the twenty first sector is indeed too far from the fifteenth, but isn't weird that an entire month passed before we're told about something this important?

"Unlike Layl, news about Habs hardly get any attention." Aley said, shrugging his shoulders. "What happened on Layl gathered more traction which led to the story being overshadowed."

"I see. Now tell me the real reason" a planet being saved will never be a story more worthy of reporting than one getting destroyed.

Hesitating for a while Aley closed his eyes and answered.

"… the information is being actively suppressed. With the calamity on Layl coming to an end the public believes life has went back to normal. If it is found out that other beasts are roaming around destroying planets unrest will rise and it could lead to more trouble even if on a lower scale."

Two planets faced inhalation and no one knew who might be next. I can see this leading to civil unrest that might end with an arms race in the hope of matching the power of a beast. Aley's report was a great help. Knowing that three beasts are active allows us to be on guard. First I will have to quickly retrieve Iris's body, then I must train to control its power better. I will have to convince Feather to help me as well. My only advantage might be that I can have more than one beast power at the same time.

Hopefully we won't have to fight anyone, however it's always safe than sorry.

"Thank you, Aley. Your report is much appreciated" I said bringing an end to this conversation.

"I'm glad to be of help" with that said, the communication was cut.