Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent! - Chapter 444

Chapter 444: A voice
Alex approached the massive black sphere cautiously. It hummed with an ominous energy, its dark surface seeming to ripple like liquid as he got closer.

The Celestial Orbs, which he originally sought, were somewhere beyond this barrier—yet the sphere itself felt like something far more dangerous.

Before his hand could make contact, a deep vibration pulsed through the chamber, and Alex recoiled. A crack in the black surface widened slightly, revealing a dull red glow deep within.

“Foolish mortal…”

A voice, deep and filled with contempt, echoed from within the sphere.

Alex’s muscles tensed.

He instinctively gripped his blade, scanning the chamber for any new threat, but saw nothing except the ominous sphere before him.

Alex’s eyes narrowed as he took a step back from the sphere, his pulse quickening.

“Where is that voice coming from?”

He muttered, gripping Virtue’s Edge tighter tighter.

“Right in front of you.”

The voice responded, clear and booming, reverberating through the entire cavern.

Alex froze, staring at the massive black sphere in disbelief. The planet—it was the planet itself talking to him!

His mind raced as he processed what was happening.

First, the idea that a planet could have a soul, something he’d barely wrapped his head around—and now, it was speaking to him?

“What the fuck is going on?”

He muttered aloud, his confusion mixing with a surge of adrenaline.

Planets weren’t supposed to talk. They weren’t supposed to have voices.

The black sphere pulsed again, as if responding to his thoughts. “You dare intrude upon my core and question my nature, mortal?” the voice growled, low and menacing, as though the entire planet itself had become sentient, watching his every move.

Alex’s heart pounded, but he wasn’t about to back down. “This… you… you’re the soul of the planet?”

“More than that,” the voice hissed, its tone laced with disdain. “I am the planet itself. And you, insignificant insect, have dared to trespass upon my very essence.”

However, like something must have clicked in the planet’s mind, its tone completely flipped.

“You…”

The voice spoke again, but this time there was something strange in its tone, a hesitation.

“You are the ones who have been cutting into me. You… dare to come back after defiling my core?”

Alex blinked.

Defiling its core? What was it talking about?

Then it hit him.

The Red Demons.

They had been mining the sphere, cutting out pieces of it for those Celestial Orbs. Alex glanced at the marks and cuts across the sphere’s surface, now glowing faintly with a red hue.

The Demons had damaged it.

Realisation hit like a hammer. The planet was confused — it thought he was one of them!

“You’ve got it wrong!”

Alex said, raising his voice.

“I’m not with the Red Demons. They’re the ones who were mining you for those Celestial Orbs, not me.”

The ground trembled, but the voice seemed less certain now.

“You… lie. You all seek to tear me apart. Piece by piece… I feel you, scraping at my essence. Stealing my soul.”

Alex’s jaw tightened.

The pieces were falling into place. The Red Demons had been harvesting chunks of the planet’s soul—these Celestial Orbs—causing damage to it in the process.

That’s why it was acting this way, lashing out, confused and angry. The Demons had wounded it.

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

Alex said cautiously, lowering his blade slightly but staying on edge.

“The ones who did this—they’re dead. I killed them.”

The sphere pulsed with a dim light, the anger still present, but wavering.

“Dead…? But why then… do you stand before me? You seek to take more of my soul, just like the others…”

“No.”

Alex said firmly.

“I came here to stop them. I didn’t even know what you were until just now. They were the ones cutting into you, taking pieces of your soul. I’m not like them.”

The cavern went eerily silent for a moment. The planet seemed to be processing his words, its confusion palpable. The red glow flickered, uncertain.

“My soul… fractured. My power… stolen. You are not like them, yet… you stand in their place. Why should I trust you?”

The voice was less aggressive now, but still laced with suspicion and pain.

Alex took a deep breath.

“Because I didn’t come here to break you apart. But if you keep seeing me as one of them, we’re both going to have a problem. And trust me, I don’t want to fight a whole planet.”

The sphere pulsed again, slower this time.

“If what you say is true… then my enemy is already gone. Yet, I remain broken.”

Alex glanced at the faint scars on the sphere, where the Red Demons had cut out pieces of its soul.

“I think the damage they did… it messed with you. Those orbs—they were pieces of your soul, weren’t they?”

“Fragments… yes.”

The voice answered, quieter now, as though contemplating.

“They took what was mine. And now I… I am incomplete.”

Alex exhaled, his grip on his sword loosening.

“Then maybe we can help each other. I didn’t come here to break you. I came to figure out what those Demons were doing, and now I know. They were using your power, your essence. But I’m not here to take any more.”

There was a long pause before the planet’s voice rumbled again, this time with less hostility.

“Perhaps… Perhaps I have misjudged you. But know this, mortal—my wounds run deep. If you are truly not my enemy… then prove it.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed.

“And how do I do that?”

“Return what was stolen. Restore my soul.”

The planet’s voice was still heavy with pain, but there was a flicker of hope.

Alex glanced back at the chamber littered with the bodies of the Red Demons. The Celestial Orbs… he’d have to find a way to gather them, to give them back. It wasn’t what he’d planned, but if it meant avoiding a fight with an entire sentient planet, he’d take the chance.

“I’ll find a way.”

Alex muttered to himself.

‘I’ll just have to hope for this planet’s sake that none of the Celestial orbs were transported off-world yet…’