Awakening

Sargeras—surely none of you were unfamiliar with that name. Perhaps he had yet to make a name for himself in the current Astral Realm, but in the future Dark Void and even the Twisting Nether, it would be a name that thundered through the ages.

Of course, at this point in time, this yet-unknown big shot was still in another peculiar state. Curled up, he seemed to be passing through one dream after another. These strange dreams had already continued for who knew how many ages.

As the endless dreams continued, a sudden sharp pain struck from behind. The abrupt pain made this big shot frown slightly, while the continuous, vivid dreams seemed to become hazy and distant.

"Eh? That didn't work?" Looking at the enormous crater that had appeared on the form below, Vanidak withdrew his right hand, scratched his head, and said in confusion, "Strange. Didn't Aman'Thul wake me up by going 'biu' and firing a beam of light at me? Nothing wrong with that. Why did it only make a crater without getting any reaction?"

Aman'Thul, who had no idea about the bizarre thoughts in his brother's head and refused to take the blame, would probably have grabbed him by the collar and roared if he had known: "That was me transferring my power to wake you up! How can that possibly be the same as your shockwave, which is obviously meant to destroy things?"

"Forget it. I never expected Aman'Thul's method to be reliable even once." Seemingly coming up with a new plan, Vanidak swiftly began drawing runic patterns.

"If hitting him doesn't work, then I'll be gentler and wake him up with noise. Mm, that'll do."

Sargeras, who had just endured intense pain, gradually recovered. Of course, the result was that his dreams no longer seemed as clear as before. The dreams that had appeared to envelop him now became faint and indistinct, replaced by a wonderful sensation. He felt as though the world he was in had grown larger, more vibrant, and more real.

Just as Sargeras marveled at this wondrous change, a strange voice suddenly entered his soul:

"Cosmic Superman~ Cosmic Superman, hurry and open your eyes, I am... Zoffy~"

"Wake up quickly and come back with me, Cosmic Superman!"

The sudden voice jolted Sargeras's soul. Feeling the power within the voice resonate inexplicably with his own soul, Sargeras suddenly felt a trace of familiarity. It seemed to be a feeling he had not encountered for a very long time. It was unfamiliar, yet Sargeras liked it. For some reason, however, the strange voice's words made him suddenly restless, and an urge to fight surged in his heart.

Just as Sargeras was still pondering the changes within himself, a different voice suddenly came through. Though it had changed somewhat, Sargeras still recognized it as the previous voice. He heard the other party shout:

"Even that didn't work? Looks like I have to get serious. Sleep your xx, get up and party!"

Immediately afterward came violent shaking. Sargeras felt his entire body spinning rapidly, accompanied by constant overturning. The high-speed, irregular motion made Sargeras feel utterly miserable. Finally, he could endure it no longer. He began gathering his power, wanting to break free from it all.

Looking at the planet before him, now covered by a silver web of light, Vanidak rubbed his chin and muttered, "He still didn't wake up at that speed? Do I... need to use more force?"

Just as Vanidak extended his sinful hand, intending to follow his inner thoughts and apply more force, an angry shout came from within the planet: "My name is... Sargeras. I am the guardian of the stars!"

A massive blue sword emerged from the planet's interior and cleaved apart the silver web of light. Then, amid a tremor, a giant rose from the split planet. The giant had bronze skin and long black hair falling over his shoulders. He wore a suit of blue plate armor covered in runes and gripped the greatsword that had split the planet. Shortly after appearing, he turned and locked onto Vanidak, who had been trying to observe from the sidelines.

"What a ruthless guy." Vanidak muttered under his breath, then approached with an utterly serious expression and said to the newborn Titan, "You did it, my brother. You answered my call. Now, you are one of us as well!"

He then extended his right hand and introduced himself. "My name is... Vanidak. I am the master of space."

Sensing the familiar yet intimate aura emanating from the stranger before him, Sargeras considered for a moment before replying, "Yes, my brother. I now understand my mission as well. I am equally glad to join my kin."

Sargeras then looked around and asked with slight confusion, "My brother, have you seen any suspicious beings? Before I truly awakened, it seemed that some dangerous fellow attacked me."

"Oh? Oh, but I only just arrived myself and didn't find anything. Perhaps it sensed my presence and fled beforehand." Hearing Sargeras's question, Vanidak replied without changing expression.

"I hope I catch him someday. I'll tear him into eight pieces to avenge this."

"Mm, of course. If I run into him, I'll help you too. We can mince him into pieces, even."

After a brief exchange to get acquainted, the two reunited Titans set out on their journey once more. Sargeras's arrival seemed to give Vanidak, who had been holding it in for a long time, a certain kind of "release." Poor fellow—without anyone to listen to his verbal barrage, Vanidak had probably been driven nearly mad from bottling it up. Thus, the newly born Sargeras was honored to become his newest victim.

"Hey, hey, Boss Sargeras, are you always this quiet? Or are you just shy?"

"Don't take it too seriously. In a sense, we're both males, and I don't have any particular proclivities in that regard, so relax. You are absolutely safe, hehe."

"Oh, oh, what a shy brother. Say, your bronze skin reminds me of another Titan. Ah, lovely Eonar. I'm already starting to miss that green glow all over her body. You and she have the same-colored skin—does this healthy complexion happen to fit popular tastes? How strange."

Catching the important information hidden in Vanidak's words, Sargeras hurriedly asked, "Eonar? There are other Titans? Then the two of us are not the only Titans."

Vanidak stared at Sargeras as though looking at an idiot. That gaze made him very uncomfortable. After tightening his grip on his sword hilt, Sargeras finally heard the other party speak.

"Of course, my brother. Haven't I told you? Oh, sorry, I probably really did forget to mention it. I thought there was actually something wrong with your brain."

Ignoring Sargeras's dangerous glare, which looked like it wanted to chop him down, Vanidak continued, "There are naturally more than just the two of us Titans. We have plenty of family members." He began counting them off on his fingers.

"Besides Eonar, whom I mentioned earlier—oh, she's a girl who glows green all over. I mean literally glows green, so don't give me that skeptical look."

"Our temporary leader is called Aman'Thul. Heh, a Titan who isn't even that much older than me, yet insists on keeping a huge white beard. He's a pretentious show-off. You can't outdo him."

"Oh right, there's also an annoying guy called Norgannon. He's another pretentious show-off who keeps a huge white beard to act profound, and he's extremely cunning too. He's schemed against me plenty of times. I advise you to watch out for him as well. Even someone as smart as me can't beat him at his game, so a musclehead like you definitely won't be his match."

"Other than that, there's me: an elegant master assassin wielding deadly twin blades, possessor of the authority of space. Every spatial leap I make is the finest art. Ah, I'm almost in love with myself."

"Mm, although those introductions were somewhat strange, I roughly understand now. Are there any others?"

"Any others? Of course there is. There's you, isn't there?"

"I mean besides me."

"Then naturally... there are no more."

"No more?" Sargeras stared at Vanidak beside him with astonishment and asked, "You mean that including me, I only have five brothers and sisters now? Then how could you confidently say there were many?"

Vanidak gave Sargeras that familiar look as though he were an idiot and continued explaining, "My 'wise' brother, do you think Titans can be casually found by the roadside? Every Titan is born from a series of great miracles that are almost impossible to occur. Finding even this many Titans took us countless ages and passage through countless star regions."

After saying that, he added, "Of course, you are an exception. During my travels, I happened to pick up a stone tainted with a Titan's aura and followed that aura to find you. Don't look at me like that. I'm the chosen one. Finding a Titan during my travels isn't difficult, hehe."

Seemingly accepting this reality, Sargeras fell silent as well. After they continued onward for some distance, he asked Vanidak, "So where are we going, my brother?"

"Huh? You're asking me?" Vanidak looked at Sargeras with a startled expression.

"I thought you knew. I followed when I saw you start walking. Weren't you going somewhere?"

"..." Seemingly stunned by that answer, Sargeras suddenly did not know what to say. After holding it in for a long while, he finally said, "Then could you offer a suggestion, my brother? Should we continue your journey, or..."

"Ah, I see. What a headache." Vanidak scratched his head, seeming to have an idea, and said to Sargeras, "How about I take you to meet up with our other brothers and sisters? It would be a good chance to introduce you as a new member."

Sargeras's eyes lit up at this answer, and he hurriedly said, "That seems like a good idea. Shall we set out now?"

Vanidak, who had struck a proud pose beside him, seemed slightly displeased by his brother's excitement. He said to Sargeras calmly, "Don't get excited, my brother. Meeting up with them is quite a problem. We split up before for certain reasons. Without me, their guide through space, who knows where those blind fools have wandered off to."

"Then how will we find them?"

"Don't worry. Far-sighted Vanidak placed Spatial Beacons on them long ago. As long as I can sense the aura of my Spatial Beacons, I can swiftly jump to their side. This is my specialty!"

"Oh, that's wonderful. Then shall we leave now?"

"Mm... probably not, my dear Sargeras. There's a small problem now..."

"Mm?"

"Uh... the Spatial Beacons... have vanished. I can't sense their aura anymore. In other words..."

"I'm lost. Yes, that's right!"