Usually, he wouldn't spend much conscious effort on scanning what lay beyond the bounds of this world, as it never changed at all. However, having lived here for too many millions of years, he had occasionally taken a glimpse and formed a general understanding of what he should be perceiving.
This time, he had made use of all technological means at his disposal to monitor his son's departure, therefore he had casually observed a part of the Lesser True Void in passing after Enmerkar and Shara had left this world. That was when a sense of unease had sprouted in his heart. It was almost akin to the uncanny valley effect: He knew what the void should 'look' like, but when he sensed it this time, he felt an almost imperceptible difference that he couldn't really put his finger on.
'... if I don't investigate this myself, then it might just drive me insane. Continuing to cultivate in this state is not going to yield much of a result–if anything at all.'
Making up his mind, he informed his remaining servants of his intentions, letting them know that he was about to set off. Then, he took a few high-tech devices with him and entered a secret teleportation chamber. Amongst what he had gathered, there was a communication artefact that could be used seamlessly even from within the Lesser True Void, a locating device able to point the way home, as well as a mysterious shard that he had picked up in his youth. It appeared to be some sort of metal, but the entire Enki Imperium had never managed to figure out much about it.
Putting in the coordinates which he wanted to arrive at, he closed his eyes, then a white light flashed a few times within tens of seconds. Although it had been impossible for him to get to his goal in one step, doing so in multiple ones was still a breeze.
Leaving a Teleportation Hub located extremely close to their universe's edge, he rushed outwards at his fastest speed, unable to be perceived by any passersby. When he arrived right in front of the beyond, he paused for a moment, then clutched the metal shard in his hand tightly, somewhat afraid to let go of it.
'Here goes nothing. I really haven't done this in a while...'
Taking a deep breath, he rushed straight into the void, yet it was as if he was wrapped in a protective bubble. No matter where he went, he wasn't directly assaulted by the Lesser True Void's influence, almost like it was making way for him–or as if he was currently in his own miniature Voidfaring Vessel.
The reason as to why he hadn't chosen to take one of those out for a spin was that even the one-person prototypes of it that he had requested to be made were inferior in speed to himself. Therefore, if he wanted to find out what exactly was causing him all of this anxiety, then hurrying along personally was the most efficient choice.
'What a dreadful place. It's no wonder I loathe coming here...'
Everywhere he looked, all that greeted him was nothingness. Until he made it close to another world or some drifting debris, this was all that he would be seeing. In his earlier days, he had frequently explored the endless void, aiming to discover more worlds that his people could take over. Then, once the Voidfaring Vessels were created, he refused to continue doing so.
It was both extremely boring, yet also incredibly dangerous. If he lost the shard, then he would never be able to return back home, dying right then and there. A single moment of inattention could prove lethal.
Fully aware of this, he kept his nerves taut and rushed into the distance, all the while scrutinizing everything that his perception came across–which, for the most part, was a whole lot of nothing.
-----
A day later, the Voidfaring Vessel under the command of Shara finally arrived at Enki XVII, where many more were already waiting for it. Whilst not all of them had come yet, the troops sent from the other worlds had been trickling in one fleet at a time. They were all gathered around a massive complex of metal structures and buildings hovering at about the same height as the Guarding Eyes, yet far larger–this was the world's Central Fortress.
Disembarking side by side with his uncle, Enmerkar smugly sized up the gaggle of experts waiting for them down below, all wearing sycophantic smiles. Every single one of them was a Grand General, the ones who held full control over their own world's military. Yet in front of the true top of the food chain, they could do nothing but fawningly lower their heads.
'Heh. It's good that they know their place.'
Despite not having an ounce of respect for these 'seniors' in his heart, he didn't insult them. Whilst he had pretty much caught up with them in his short few decades, he still needed them to be his high quality cannon fodder. That aside, their plentiful experience couldn't be fully disregarded, even by him. Ganzer might be able to do so, as most countermeasures would be powerless against him, but Enmerkar certainly couldn't beat them without breaking a sweat.
'Speaking of, where is that guy anyway? He did come with us... right?'
Not paying full attention to their welcoming committee, he scanned the crowd and shadows for any sign of his loyal friend, yet couldn't make out anything at all. That was until the one who he was searching for briefly appeared to roll his eyes at him, then re-entered the shadows.
'Tch, fine! I get it!'
Refocusing on the conversation that was going on, he looked at the leading Grand General–the one who was in charge of Enki XVII–and his uncle, who were currently exchanging intel.
"Sir, we have not detected any further movements by our foe. At the very least, they have not entered the surveillance range of any of our active Guarding Eyes. From our observations, we could gather that the Guarding Eye that he was on is still located in the same spot, yet all connections to it have been cut off. Any attempts at re-establishing them and activating the immediate self-destruct mechanism once more have been fruitless."
Nodding curtly at these revelations, Shara gazed into the distance, then narrowed his eyes. Even from here, he could vaguely perceive the structure that the enemy had seized from them, yet he could not penetrate inside, no matter how hard he tried. Furrowing his brows, he turned to face the Grand Generals again and shared his thoughts.
"It is clear that this man is expecting our counterattack, and is waiting for us. We cannot say what kind of preparations he has made, as even I cannot spy inside of his Guarding Eye. Evidently, he has set up a barrier of some sort which can keep our senses locked outside. No matter how we act, he will initially have the upper hand."
Pausing for a moment, Shara looked at Enmerkar, a minute smile gracing his lips.
"What do you say, my second in command?"
A bit taken aback at having been included in the discussion out of nowhere, the youngster froze for a moment, before his eyes sparkled with fervour. This was an opportunity for him to both prove his worth, as well as to accumulate experience and grow!
"The wisest approach I can think of is to bombard the target from afar, shattering whatever defensive measures might be in place. That way, we will avoid as many unnecessary sacrifices as possible. And if it won't work, we'll at least have probed a little, with next to no painful prices to pay on our end."
Nodding approvingly, Shara's smile widened. Even the Grand Generals all around were clearly in agreement, relieved that their Imperator's child was no fool. Many of them had wanted to recommend this same plan, therefore they saw nothing wrong with it.
"Good! Then we'll do exactly as you've said! Have the closest ten Guarding Eyes activate their Planetary Destruction Cannons. They all have to hit the target simultaneously, so factor that into the calculations!"
"Yes, sir!"
Saluting and quickly forwarding this order to his subordinates, the leading Grand General got busy. Meanwhile, the surveillance equipment on the Central Fortress was finally ready, now displaying a holographic image of the Guarding Eye that they were aiming for, as well as its surroundings. This way, they could witness the effects of their tactics in real time.
Approximately thirty seconds later, they got informed that everything was all set–so after one more confirmation, ten incredibly powerful Energy beams shot towards Theodore's 'hideout', ripping tears into Enki XVII as they travelled. Soon, everyone could see them appear within the observed area, then the impact occurred.
"Did we get him?"
Nothing but a red light illuminated all that they could make out, then their view finally cleared up again. Situated amidst countless tears in space, there was the Guarding Eye that they had targeted, still fully intact. Around it, a snowy-white barrier was fading out of view, before completely disappearing.
"... I shouldn't have said anything."
Muttering to himself, one of the Grand Generals guiltily stared at his feet, feeling like he had jinxed the whole operation. Fortunately for him, nobody was paying him any attention.
"Sir, at the moment of impact, we recorded a momentary fifteen percent drop in Energy concentration at all other Guarding Eyes, as well as here at the Central Fortress. Whatever it is that shields our foe, it is directly connected to all of Enki XVII's Energy Veins."
All colour draining from his face, the leading Grand General shared his troops' findings, realizing what this meant. Most of their vital infrastructure and fortifications had been built close to the greatest clusters of Energy Veins, which was why this matter was so easy for them to detect. However, just because they knew about it, that didn't mean that they were capable of doing anything!
They hadn't realized that their foe had interfered with the Energy Veins. How could they possibly battle him on this front then? They couldn't even tell if their structures were already compromised!
"If we want to crack this turtle shell open, then we'll have to allow the entire world's Energy Veins to be sucked dry for a moment. What an impressive feat! There is no doubt that going along with this will be playing directly into this man's hands, as well. Yet we don't have any other option. Marvellous!"
Unable to suppress his amazement at their opponent's tactics, Enmerkar blurted out his analysis of the situation, his gaze growing both more serious and excited simultaneously.
Evidently, their foe had mastered a kind of technique or technology that their civilization hadn't touched upon yet. If they could salvage the secrets to it from his corpse, or torture them out of his mouth, then that could catapult them forward another step!
"... let's do as he wants, then. Fire every single Guarding Eye's Planetary Destruction Cannon at him all at once. At the same time, let everyone prepare for a hostile takeover of our systems."
His expression grim yet resolute, Shara chose to go all in. Their probing had already revealed the only path forward. Even though they knew that it was a trap, they had to step right into it. This didn't mean that he wasn't confident in dealing with the potential fallout, though.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Following orders just like before, the leading Grand General passed along the message. Everyone present waited with bated breath, until almost two minutes later, when they got the confirmation that everything was ready.
Another ten seconds from then, more than a thousand Planetary Destruction Cannons fired in short succession, their space-rending Energy beams all trained on one location. At this point, not only them, but everyone currently in Enki XVII felt a deep sadness and 'heard' a pained cry. The World's Will was whimpering in agony from having this many major wounds ripped into the world simultaneously!
Feeling a hint of guilt for what they were doing, Enmerkar nonetheless kept calm and patiently stared at the hologram ahead, awaiting the result.
This time, the red flash of light was a lot more piercing to the eye, and lasted far longer. But nobody dared to tempt fate again–they all kept mum.