Liu Ming's eyes narrowed as he examined the figure before him, his voice cutting through the still air. "Who are you?"
The figure, bruised and weary, looked up with steely determination. "My name is Hikari," he said simply.
Liu Ming and Kael exchanged a glance before Hikari began to speak of his past, his voice tinged with the pain of a lifetime lost. "You should leave this planet. It's already destroyed... there's nothing left here."
Kael, ever the curious one, couldn't hold back. "Who was that woman that killed your planet?" His question was pointed, demanding an answer.
Hikari's expression hardened. "She's Akane. A being from a higher domain." The words came out like venom, heavy with grief and anger. "She didn't just kill my planet. She wiped out everything. My home, my people, everything I loved."
Liu Ming stepped forward, his gaze intense. "And what is your goal now?"
Hikari closed his eyes for a moment, as if contemplating the weight of his own resolve. "To kill Akane."
A silence fell over them as Kael processed the words. Then he spoke, his voice steady but with an underlying curiosity. "Then you should join us."
Hikari blinked at him, his skepticism palpable. "Join you? What is your goal?"
Liu Ming answered without hesitation, his voice full of certainty. "I want to be immortal."
Hikari raised an eyebrow. "Immortal, huh? And what about you, kid?" He turned his gaze toward Kael.
Kael looked down, a little unsure, before shrugging. "I don't have any goal... yet. After Liu Ming achieves his, I might just live a normal life."
Hikari chuckled softly, closing his eyes as if to ponder the strange company he had found himself in. "Alright," he finally said, "I'll join you. But only because we share the same enemy."
After a brief pause, Hikari added, "We should head to Hajima Planet."
Liu Ming frowned, curiosity piqued. "How do you know about Hajima?"
Hikari let out a dry laugh. "I've been there before... for a trillion years. In that time, while I suffered, I explored, I trained—just with the hope that someday I would be freed."
Kael's eyes widened in disbelief. "A trillion years? And you remember everything?"
Hikari nodded, a somber smile creeping onto his face. "I remember every single detail."
Liu Ming's voice was filled with awe as he spoke. "1.1 trillion years… That's an unimaginable amount of time. You must be incredibly disciplined to retain it all."
Hikari's gaze turned distant, as if lost in the memories of those endless years. "It wasn't discipline. It was survival. The only way to keep from losing myself completely."
The weight of Hikari's words hung in the air, but Liu Ming broke the silence. "Alright then, Hajima Planet it is. But we don't have a portal."
Hikari smiled, a glimmer of confidence in his eyes. "Don't worry. We don't need a portal. We can fly through space."
Kael blinked in confusion. "Fly through space? I can't do that."
Liu Ming stepped forward, his voice calm and reassuring. "I'll create a layer of chakra on your body, Kael. It will allow you to breathe in space and protect you from the vacuum."
Kael's eyes widened in realization. "You can travel through space?"
Liu Ming nodded. "Yes. I can."
Kael, still processing the implications, asked, "Then why do you use portals?"
Hikari answered, stretching his arms with a slight grin. "Portals allow for much quicker travel. They cover vast distances in a fraction of a second. It's a shortcut."
Hikari closed his eyes for a moment, his aura intensifying as he covered himself in a layer of chakra. Liu Ming followed suit, a swirling energy enveloping him, and Kael hesitantly did the same under Liu Ming's guidance.
"Alright," Hikari said, a serious glint in his eyes. "Let's go to Hajima Planet."
With the air around them buzzing with energy, the trio prepared for their journey through space. Despite the uncertainty that lay ahead, one thing was clear: they were ready to face whatever came next, together.