Their gazes converged on him even as he reached uncharted territories of raw conscious cognition.
He had earned their intrigue.
A privilege of the highest order.
They peered at him from across the depths of human civilization.
No force could halt their gaze.
Not even the four-dimensional space-time manifold could impede their awareness.
It might as well have been transparent.
Yet, among the thirteen that glanced in his direction, one held deeper interest than the rest.
In the frosty depths of the cold Imperial Palace of the Britannian Empire sat a man.
An emperor.
A Transcendent.
A being of unfathomable power.
Not even the universe, in all its infinite glory, could contain the entire weight of his being.
He gazed at Rui with a knowing look before closing his eyes.
A single whisper escaped him.
