Chapter 18: The Graveyard of Silent Gods
The cosmos was not silent.
It only pretended to be.
Beyond the crimson nebula that surrounded the star system, space twisted into a strange and haunting expanse. Floating through the darkness were fragments of planets, broken moons, and colossal skeletal remains that stretched for thousands of kilometers.
It was as if an ancient battlefield had been abandoned by time itself.
This place had a name whispered only in caution.
The Graveyard of Silent Gods.
Tharion drifted through the void with calm eyes.
The faint glow of distant stars reflected in his silver pupils as his long dark coat moved gently in the cosmic winds.
Around him, pieces of ancient armor the size of mountains floated endlessly.
Broken swords.
Crumbling thrones.
And the petrified corpses of beings that once commanded entire galaxies.
Tharion stopped.
His gaze fell upon one particular corpse.
It was colossal.
A titan whose body alone dwarfed a planet. Its skin had turned to cosmic stone, yet faint divine runes still flickered across its chest.
A fallen god.
Tharion raised a hand slowly.
The moment his fingers touched the air—
The cosmic laws trembled.
A ripple spread across the Graveyard like a stone dropped into an infinite ocean.
Suddenly—
A voice echoed through the void.
Deep.
Ancient.
Cold.
“You should not be here.”
The words did not travel through sound.
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They appeared directly inside existence itself.
Tharion turned his head slightly.
From the shadows of a shattered planet emerged a figure.
Tall.
Armored in black crystalline plates that reflected the stars like mirrors.
Two burning violet eyes stared through the darkness.
This was no ordinary being.
It was one of the Watchers of the Graveyard.
Guardians who had protected this forbidden region since the era when galaxies were young.
The figure stepped forward.
Space warped around his presence.
“Leave.”
His voice carried the weight of command.
“Even emperors do not trespass here.”
Tharion studied him calmly.
Then he asked a simple question.
“Who buried them?”
The Watcher’s eyes narrowed.
Silence lingered for several seconds.
Then the being spoke again.
“They buried each other.”
His gaze shifted toward the endless ruins surrounding them.
“This place is the aftermath of a war older than your civilization.”
Tharion looked around once more.
Fragments of divine weapons floated like lost stars.
The bones of ancient titans stretched across the cosmic horizon.
A battlefield frozen in eternity.
Then Tharion asked another question.
“Who won?”
The Watcher did not answer immediately.
Instead, he raised one hand slowly.
From his palm emerged a sphere of dark energy that pulsed like a dying star.
“The war never ended.”
The energy expanded violently.
Space cracked.
Galactic winds screamed through the void.
Then the Watcher moved.
His speed was so great that light itself seemed frozen in comparison.
In less than a heartbeat he appeared before Tharion, his fist carrying enough force to collapse a star system.
The punch landed.
The impact split the surrounding void like shattered glass.
Nearby asteroids disintegrated instantly.
Fragments of a distant dead planet were ripped apart by the shockwave.
But Tharion did not move.
He stood there calmly.
The Watcher’s fist stopped one inch from his chest.
An invisible force held it in place.
Tharion’s eyes glowed faintly.
“You guard a graveyard.”
His voice was quiet.
“But graves exist for a reason.”
The Watcher’s power surged.
Dark energy erupted from his body like a cosmic storm.
“Arrogant.”
His second attack came like a collapsing universe.
A blade of condensed void energy slashed across space.
Entire meteor fields evaporated from the pressure.
Tharion finally moved.
His right hand rose slowly.
Two fingers extended.
Then—
He performed a technique.
Celestial Severance.
A thin line of golden light appeared in the void.
It was almost delicate.
Almost harmless.
Yet the moment it touched the Watcher’s attack—
The void blade split into two perfect halves.
The golden line continued forward.
Silently.
Effortlessly.
The Watcher’s eyes widened.
Too late.
The golden line passed through his armor.
Through his body.
Through the shattered planet behind him.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then—
The entire planet split into two massive halves.
The Watcher staggered backward.
A thin glowing line marked his chest.
He looked down in disbelief.
“You…”
His voice trembled.
“What are you?”
Tharion lowered his hand.
“I’m looking for something.”
The Watcher coughed.
Dark cosmic blood drifted into space.
“You’ve entered the wrong graveyard.”
His body began dissolving slowly into stardust.
But before he vanished, he spoke one final sentence.
“If you seek the truth of this war…"
His fading eyes pointed deeper into the Graveyard.
“…then you must face the one who killed them.”
Silence returned.
The Watcher disappeared.
Only drifting particles of cosmic light remained.
Tharion turned toward the deeper darkness of the Graveyard.
Far in the distance—
Something enormous moved.
Something ancient.
Something that had been sleeping for millions of years.
And now…
It was awake.
Tharion smiled faintly.
“Finally.”
Then he stepped forward.
And the Graveyard of Silent Gods trembled.
