Supreme Paragon Reborn: Humanity's Rise To Galactic Supremacy-Chapter 284: Preparing For The Worst

Back at the battlefield, moments before Michael and Claire were sent away by the Monarch.

Nicole, emerging from the alien’s battleship, locked her intense gaze on the second Monarch, who had the appearance of a fallen angel. Only to bear witness as Claire’s mecha was blown away.

"NO!"

She roared in raw fury, the machine dashing away with such speed that she couldn’t follow it with her naked eye.

Inside was Michael, the leader of the Indomitable Alliance, whom Nicole had recognized for his immense potential. Not to mention Claire, also known as White Angel, was with him as well! Two invaluable soldiers of humanity, with faith unknown, all because they had selflessly chosen to halt a foe out of their league for her sake!

Had they survived? If they had, they must have been heavily injured! Yet, given the current state of the battle, help wouldn’t be arriving to rescue them any time soon...

And all of this happened because of the cowardice of a single Monarch too fearful to face Nicole in a fair confrontation.

In response to the boiling hatred in her soul, Nicole’s eyes gleamed a menacing shade of crimson as she charged with terrifying speed.

Before the fallen angel could react in any way, a powerful fist collided with its side, sending it flying.

"Human! Become nourishment for my offspring!" The Monarch bellowed in anger, its tentacles surging toward her body.

However, the monster’s limbs couldn’t move more than a meter, halting in midair. So did its wings, arms, and legs.

"How?" The alien muttered in confusion. It was on the verge of evolving into a Titan! Was this woman, not even in the Queen realm, really capable of toying with it like that?!

Wordlessly, Nicole extended her arm, her palm slowly closing into a fist.

Instantly, the Monarch’s blood obeyed her command. The monster’s limbs twisted, bending at unnatural angles, its frame jerking in anguish. Sickening echoes of bones breaking penetrated the silent cosmos.

This was no easy feat. The alien fiercely resisted her control. Usually, Nicole refrained from abusing her family technique to such an extent, as it took a heavy toll on her. However, given her anger, she made an exception for this Monarch, in particular.

Eventually the struggles stopped, its body growing numb.

Both Monarchs had fallen under Nicole’s might.

Her victory was instantly acknowledged by both human and alien ranks alike. Humanity, fighting with spirits ablaze, pressed forward, while the Hreh’tar race began to desperately flee in fear.

Of course Nicole wasted no time, joining the aliens’ slaughter.

As for Michael’s crew, they were caught in a momentary debate.

Considering how tough Michael was, they were certain that their leader, and by extension, Claire, were alive. Yet, that did little to ease their worries.

"Sunshine! Do you copy?! SUNSHINE?!" And Bryce’s panicked shouts echoing across the shared comms channel didn’t help one bit.

It was understandable, as an old man, his greatest fear was losing his granddaughter. This wasn’t how it was meant to be! The old were supposed to be the first to go, not the young, still so full of life!

"What should we do?" Ruby’s shoulders dropped.

Richard frowned. Ava clicked her tongue. Enzo gritted his teeth. Leo cursed.

At the end Victoria came with a suggestion.

"Michael has placed his faith in us, so we will do the same. Don’t stop fighting and minimize the human casualties."

With her proposition reaching consensus, the crew followed her lead.

What Victoria had no way of knowing was that her approach indirectly saved her. The Emperor’s right-hand man had been monitoring her closely, waiting for a chance when she’d be alone and easy to abduct.

Nevertheless, while the crew fearlessly plunged into battle, Bryce, who had served as their operator, had other plans in mind.

Claire’s safety was all that mattered to him; he would burn the world down if it meant saving her. With the Monarchs defeated and the alien forces in disarray, he knew the crew could handle the rest. After formally apologizing to them, he severed the connection and rushed to save his granddaughter.

Naturally, the crew supported him. With his mind focused elsewhere, staying on the comms channel would only hinder them and provide little benefit.

"Wait for me, Sunshine! I am coming for you!" Bryce muttered as he hurriedly boarded a space shuttle.

As a Master, he was technically capable of operating a mecha. However, he could move much faster with a shuttle designed for travel.

Without hesitation, he sped off toward the location where Claire’s mecha had been sent.

"Before the connection was forcibly cut off, I caught a glimpse of Michael inside her mecha... At least he... should be able to keep her safe if something were to happen."

To no one’s surprise, the cosmos was unimaginably vast. Even with a general idea of where to go, finding a specific wreck of metal, hopelessly drifting in the middle of nowhere, proved an overwhelming challenge.

Slowly minutes passed, bleeding into hours.

Fortunately, being a cultivator, Bryce was capable of staying awake for prolonged periods with few to no side effects.

Roughly a day after leaving, he received a call.

"The battle is finally over. Humanity won," Ava’s voice echoed through the transmitter. "Any luck on your end?"

Bryce shook his head. "Regrettably, not yet."

Ava’s expression darkened. "Understood. We’ll begin the search right away. Send over the route you’ve traveled so we can track what ground we’ve covered."

Several more hours slipped by, the old man’s heart tightening with guilt due to the unbearable silence.

"Heavens, please... If you have to take someone, take me instead of her! With the constant war, she hasn’t even had the chance to experience love. It’s not fair for her to die so young!"

In that moment, as though answering his plea, Bryce’s gaze fell upon a familiar-looking mecha.

Gone was the once-pristine condition of the machine, yet he could never mistake it...

It was the trusty mecha his granddaughter had always relied on!

The exterior was visibly battered from the Monarch’s strike, but there was no further damage to suggest they had been attacked since. Bryce’s heart sank as he realized, with the thrusters broken and their energy drained, they were no different than sitting ducks, unable to move, with the cold slowly freezing them to death!

"Your grandpa is coming!"

Exiting the shuttle in a hurry, Bryce gripped the locked hatch firmly. With his cybernetic arm groaning under the pressure, he forced the lid open from the outside, allowing himself a clear path forward.

"Sun—"

Though the sight that greeted him, understandably, made him do a double take. After all, he had fully braced himself to find an empty cockpit or, worse, two cold, unresponsive bodies.

Instead, he found Claire exposed, her head submissively buried in Mr. BunBun, the plushie he had gifted her, with Michael hovering over her, both of them gazing at him in complete silence.

"..."

"This is, uh..." Claire scrambled for words awkwardly. "Us... preparing for the worst, just in case...?"

It was quite clear from her tone that she wasn’t entirely sure.

Bryce blinked slowly.

"I see. Pardon my disturbance. Don’t interrupt whatever you two were doing." He exclaimed, slowly closing the lid back into place.

Bryce stood motionless, staring at the hatch, until he was jolted awake by a sudden call.

"Any updates?" Ava echoed from the other side.

After a brief pause, a wide smile spread across the old man’s face. "Yes, it seems I’ll live long enough to become a great-grandfather, after all."

"...?"