Colt gave a heavy nod, full of solemn pride.
"Yes," he said. "You are my son. A Solarion seed planted on this backward little rock."
Elius kept his voice neutral, careful.
"Are you going to test to see if I’m worthy?"
Colt laughed once—a short, sharp sound that echoed eerily.
"No. It’s not who will test you."
He pointed a finger up into the sky, toward unseen stars.
"It is the Solarion Empire itself."
Elius tilted his head slightly, feigning innocence.
"I see."
But inside, his mind raced.
He’s lying.
He’s absolutely going to create circumstances to "train" .
To break .
To reshape into what he wants.
Colt strode forward, standing directly in front of him now, towering like a looming sun.
"Solarion blood," Colt said, his voice gaining montum, "is the strongest blood of all. It adapts faster than any power, any energy source, any mutation or cosmic anomaly. The higher your pride burns—the deeper your Solarion essence—the stronger you beco."
His fists clenched dramatically.
"You, my son, defeated Lava Scissor—a creature four levels higher than you! That act alone ans your Solarion Pride is extraordinary! In fact—"
He leaned closer, grinning.
"—you may already be stronger than I was at your age."
Elius bowed his head slightly, hiding his expression.
What a joke, he thought.
Still, he played along.
"But..." Elius said slowly, "what if I fail the Solarion Empire’s test? What happens then?"
Colt’s expression hardened imdiately.
"Failure..." he said, voice dropping to a growl, "ans extinction."
He gestured broadly to the horizon.
"This planet—Earth—would be deed a failure. A weak, tainted civilization. Not worthy to serve as a breeding ground for the Solarion bloodline."
He smiled grimly.
"They would erase this world without hesitation."
Sothing in Elius’s heart burned.
His fists clenched slightly behind his back.
Bastard, he thought.
Colt noticed, of course. He was too sharp not to.
But instead of punishing Elius for the anger, he explained further.
"Every race," Colt said, "seeks to reach completion. To be perfect. Those who are part of that journey are protected. Those who are not... are enemies."
He gave a little shrug, as if it were simply the natural way of things.
"Humanity," Colt said, "is not part of completion. They are, at best, tools. At worst, obstacles."
Elius bit down on the fury bubbling in his throat.
He forced his voice to sound asured.
"So if I want to protect this world... I need to grow stronger."
Colt smiled.
"Exactly."
"I see," Elius said softly.
A heavy silence fell between them.
The wind howled again, the air around them crackling with residual golden energy from Colt’s earlier blast.
Colt lifted a finger, wagging it like a parent scolding a child.
"But rember," he said, "Solarion Pride is supre. All these fake powers—the superheroes, the mutants, the ’Espers’—they’re nothing compared to it. Trash. False powers clinging to weak blood."
His voice grew colder.
"If you waste your ti training those powers, you will weaken your Solarion blood. You will risk failing the test."
Elius lifted his head.
He looked straight into Colt’s glowing eyes.
"Are you telling to abandon my other abilities?" he asked.
"Yes," Colt said without hesitation.
Elius didn’t even pretend to think about it.
"No," he said simply.
Colt blinked once, taken slightly aback.
Then he grinned, wolfish and dangerous.
"Don’t regret it," Colt said, his voice dropping into a purr. "When the test cos, and you fall short—don’t you dare regret it."
Elius didn’t flinch.
He took a slow breath, then asked calmly:
"You told about the seeds."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Am I your only offspring?"
And in the lingering silence that followed, the dead world seed to hold its breath once more.
Colt’s grin widened, a predatory stretch of his lips that made Elius feel like a mouse staring at a lion.
"Of course not," Colt said casually, not even attempting to deny it. His tone was so nonchalant, so self-satisfied, it sent a cold weight sinking into Elius’s chest.
The older man turned slightly, hands clasped behind his back, voice growing loftier, almost like he was teaching a particularly slow student.
"Do you really think," Colt began, "that I, a proud descendant of the Solarion Empire, would rely on just a single seed? A single attempt? No, no, no... It doesn’t work that way."
Elius stayed silent, only listening, but inside, a string of curses flared through his mind.
Damn you.
Colt’s voice turned philosophical, almost lazy as he continued.
"This planet, Earth... it’s a ssy little thing. A primitive, fractured world with a thousand different races, sub-species, hybrids, and mutations. Humanity alone has so many variations—bloodlines twisted by wars, cosmic radiation, ancient magic, hidden beast ancestry, and dinsional tears. And then, of course, there are the others—werewolves, vampires, elentals, psychics, you na it."
He chuckled darkly.
"Each race, each bloodline, carries different potential. Different strengths, different weaknesses. How could I possibly know where the greatest vessel might erge if I planted only one seed into one bloodline? That would be foolish. Inefficient."
Elius clenched his fists behind his back, nails digging into his palm.
So you played god, he thought bitterly. Scattering your offspring across the world like you’re sowing weeds.
"And so," Colt said proudly, "I spread my legacy across them all. Humanity, yes—but not just humanity. Mutants, psychic families, even beast-kin and vampire aristocracies. I left seeds wherever there was potential, wherever there was a chance that sothing strong could arise."
He tilted his head toward Elius, his golden hair fluttering in the dead breeze.
"Understand this, my son. This world is nothing but a proving ground. A garden. And you—you are the first flower to bloom."
Elius forced himself to maintain a blank expression even as his heart hamred in his ears.
Taking a slow breath, he asked carefully, "So... does that an I have brothers? Are they as strong as ?"
Colt laughed, deep and rich, as if Elius had just asked the most amusing question in the universe.
"No," Colt said without hesitation. "None of them have awakened their Solarion bloodline. Only you."
He stepped closer, boots crunching over the barren ground.
"Only you, Elius. The others... weak. Useless. Sleeping eternally within themselves, unaware of their potential. You are the only one who matters now."
Colt smiled warmly, as if he were bestowing a blessing.
"The fate of this entire planet is in your hands, my son. That is all."
Elius barely moved. Barely breathed.
He’s lying, he thought grimly, cold realization setting in like lead in his veins.
Because Elius rembered.
He rembered the comic.
The scene where Radiant Man—Colt—discovered another one of his "seeds" had awakened their Solarion bloodline.
A boy nad Keith.
And what happened?
Radiant Man personally hunted Keith’s other brothers down.
Branded them "useless anomalies."
And slaughtered them without hesitation.
Not because they are a threat to the Solarion Empire.
Not because they would fail any test.
But because their awakening wasn’t perfect.
Now, in this life, Colt had found an "ideal" offspring—Elius—and wouldn’t allow any competition, any impurity, to exist beside him.
It could an that his brother, Keith, or the protagonist of this world died too, despite having a Solarion bloodline.
Elius’s blood ran cold.
Does that an that he couldn’t gain a Solarion bloodline power from Keith?
Worse is, if Colt ever realized Elius wasn’t truly a Solarion-blooded being, but an immortal cultivator cloaked in deception, then—
I’m dead, Elius thought. I’m absolutely dead.
Imagine killing all your sons for a fake son?
A sudden gust of cosmic energy brushed over him, and instinctively, he suppressed every emotion, every reaction.
Colt stared at him for a mont longer, as if savoring the pride he felt. As if morizing the face of his "perfect" son.
Then, suddenly, his mood shifted.
"All right," Colt said, his voice bright and casual again, as if none of the heavy conversation had happened. "Let’s go back."
Elius blinked, caught slightly off guard.
"You already know what you must do," Colt said. "Train. Grow stronger. Awaken your full Solarion Pride. Pass the Empire’s test."
He grinned again, a little sharper this ti.
"And I won’t interfere much. I’ll let you grow as you see fit. After all, your planet—"
He gestured lazily to the distant ruins of Earth’s orbit visible in the horizon, the wreckage of old satellites and failed lunar colonies.
"—is in your hands."
Elius gave a slow nod, hiding the storm inside his heart.
Train, huh? he thought. You an suffer until I beco the perfect and ideal son for you.
He didn’t trust Colt’s words for even a second.
Colt stepped forward.
For a brief instant, Elius saw it—a glint of sothing in his father’s golden eyes.
Not warmth.
Not pride.
Possession.
And then, faster than sound, faster than light—
Swoosh!
Colt appeared behind Elius in a blur of speed.
A hand lightly tapped Elius’s shoulder, and before he could react, the world around them twisted.
The dead world, the broken skies, the silence—
Everything folded inward, swallowing itself.
And then—
They both disappeared from that forsaken place without a trace.
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