Daphania's mouth curled into a humorless smirk. "Then can we jump to his position and question him why he has failed to perform his holy mission?"
Her right-hand man did not dare to provide anything less than a satisfactory answer, but the truth was that he had nothing better to say. He shook, which Daphania could clearly perceive even if she closed her glowing eyes.
"SPEAK!"
"The coordinates that we have locked in are still within the outer range of the hazardous region in the remote star sector, Your Holiness. Jumping in rashly can easily lead to casualties among our supplicants and structural damage to our great vessel."
"Are you doubting the ability of our great flagship and my ability to navigate the currents of the universe?"
"I do not dare, Your Holiness! You are the Wearer of the Golden Crown! You are the Voice of the Immortal Gods! I have never questioned your ability to bring our great vessel to the target destination. It is just that.. a considerable amount of insignificant lives may be lost. The violent fluctuations of a direct jump will most certainly cause our great vessel to fall into momentary disorder."
Daphania dismissively waved her hand. "The poor and pathetic lives of slaves and supplicants are inconsequential to the Compact. It is their honor to die in this sacred journey. We have crossed hundreds of thousands of light-years in the span of just a couple of months. That is already too long. Each day that passes brings us further and further away from the heretic who holds our missing Sacred Scroll. Do I need to remind you of our priorities?"
Temple Protector Kravitz shook again. "Your Holiness, we will do our utmost to punish the thieves and return the Metal Scroll to its rightful place in our great temple! However… our powers might not be enough to lead us directly into the Nyxian Gap. We.. humbly request you demonstrate your blessed might and deliver our vessel to our chosen destination."
A heavy silence ensued after the man said his piece. If not for his exquisite control over his own body, buckets of sweat would have poured from his body!
Daphania pinned the temple protector with a stony stare. The man in question had lived for centuries and faced all sorts of beasts and horrors. Yet the attention he received from one of the Sacred Speakers caused him to lose all thoughts of resistance!
"If not for the fact that our current mission takes precedence, I would have crushed your body, devoured your blood and shred your soul into pieces for your incompetence!"
"Forgive us, Your Holiness!"
The Holy Daughter let out a disgusted sound. "I shall spare for now, if only because I still need a dog to handle our affairs at our destination in my stead. Let us get on with it, then. Hand me the coordinates."
The temple protector did not dare to delay and concentrated his mind. He transmitted an invisible signal from his head that bumped into the soft blue corona of the Holy Daughter.
Daphania did not even have to lower her guard. She directly extracted the coordinates from the air and already began to activate something hidden in her vast and powerful mind.
Her red-robed body began to rise to her feet. The black-robed supplicant that acted as her footrest did not dare to grunt even as her weight caused his spine to snap!
The blood-winged Holy Daughter strode forward, her heels slamming into the backs of one supplicant after another. She strode down the carpet of bodies until she reached a position that opened up a hole.
The supplicants who laid there in order to act as human carpets plunged into the hole and dropped into the depths of the pyramid temple without a scream!
Their fate was anyone's guess, but no one cared about their insignificant lives.
A head-sized orb of grey that was enveloped by glowing blue runes rose from the pit. The runes had been carved on the surface with absolute precision by the Holy Daughter herself!
Now, Daphania directly placed her palm against the surface.
An invisible control system activated that interfaced with her mind. She issued a large series of commands that already caused her vessel to turn into a hive of activity.
Soon, she fed the coordinates she received before issuing her final commands.
"Ghohocolabadis!" She shouted! "Carve your way through the fabric of space and time! Let no obstacle hinder you! Let no barrier halt you in place! Let the edge of the galaxy and the scum who live at our destination tremble at your passage!"
The pyramid temple and the entire high temple compartment shook as something massive began to move.
In fact, every compartment and section of Daphania's new flagship vibrated at this time!
The shaking kept getting more and more intense. A strong surge of energy descended across the humongous organic vessel. The pressure kept building up and soon the fluctuations grew too strong for the weakest people aboard the ship to bear!
Daphania and the high-ranking officers and officials at the top of the temple pyramid completely ignored the uncontrolled screams ringing throughout the massive compartment.
Instead, the Holy Daughter counted down an invisible clock. As soon as she saw that the time was right, she issued her most important command!
"Ghohocolabadis, consume the gift that I bestow you and tunnel your way to your destination!"
Her words triggered a pivotal process in a hidden chamber. A precious quantity of phasewater that was enough to make the MTA jealous entered into a large vein.
Seconds after this simple process took place, the entire vessel that Daphania was one started to warp and shift in a manner that was completely unnatural and out of the ordinary!
Ghohocolabadis was not a regular starship or warship!
Within a starry backdrop that was close the Komodo Star Sector, a massive living space worm wriggled its body. With a length of thirty kilometers, this artificially-cultivated 'ship' was one of the biggest megaprojects that the Five Scrolls Compact had completed in recent times!
Designed and grown for the express purpose of utilizing phasewater to cross unimaginable distances, Ghohocolabadis was one of the most powerful and massive starships that humanity had ever conceived in the last couple of decades!
Though the Five Scrolls Compact could have cultivated an even larger abomination, Ghohocolabadis was already more than powerful enough to serve Daphania's purpose.
What she required the most was speed. She had to travel from the galactic center to the outer reaches of the galactic rim in the most expedient manner possible. She could not let the trail of the Metal Scroll run cold due to any delays in reaching her destination!
Ghohocolabadis did not disappoint. After consuming enough phasewater, the giant worm gained enough power to breach through space!
The gigantic worm disappeared. Its entire, thirty-kilometer length seemed to dip into a space crack.
Moments later, the head of the giant worm reemerged in a vastly different region of space. Thousands of floating asteroids crushed into nothing as the massive worm emerged out of an unstable-looking space portal and emerged into the dark and anomalous region that was known as the Nyxian Gap!
"We have arrived!"