Stahl’s face went white.
In that instant just now, he had seen a vision of the entire Starborn clan sinking into death.
At their level, they possessed an instinctive prescience for crises that threatened the survival of the tribe.
"Elder, this power far surpasses an ordinary God-Rank being!"
"What should we do?"
Nisos glanced toward the horizon where the oppressive aura was growing and snorted coldly.
"No matter who he is, if he dares to violate the Starborn clan, he must be prepared to endure our thunderous wrath!"
"Even if the enemy is overwhelmingly powerful, our Starborn maintain an age-old friendship with the Draconic Isle of the Stellar Plains — the Dragonfolk will not stand idly by!"
At that moment two figures descended: Grand Steward Cooper and another Elder.
"Nisos, who is this person?"
"Such a terrifying aura?!"
"Stahl, do you know which clan has caused this trouble?"
The Elder’s voice was heavy, threaded with a barely concealed terror and anger.
Nisos shook his head, his expression darkening.
"I don’t know his identity, but clearly the visitor bears no goodwill!"
"Our people haven’t traveled to the continent these past years — we haven’t provoked anyone!"
The Elder’s brow tightened. His intuition screamed alarm. Without hesitation he crushed a feather suffused with Starshine — the signal to awaken the slumbering Starborn guardian!
At that same second, the terrifying pressure from the distant sky struck with a thunderous impact.
Even the aftershock of aura change the four top Starborn felt caused their faces to change drastically.
"Bad!!"
"Hurry!"
"Raise the Constellation Shelter Array!!"
Nisos roared. The enemy exceeded their worst expectations. Only the ancient, inherited clan protection array might give them a sliver of hope.
Hum—!!
A dazzling curtain of light stitched from innumerable Starborn runes flared from the clan core, instantly enveloping their domain. Stars cascaded across the barrier, emanating an indestructible, ancient might.
The raising of the great array alarmed every Starborn soul; panic rippled outward. It had been countless years since the Constellation Shelter had last been activated — its awakening meant the tribe faced annihilation.
But the shield that had long given them solace did not protect them for long.
The figure that had approached the barrier simply raised his fist at it — calmly. No ornate spells, no thunderous incantations — only the most elemental force concentrated into a single blow.
Boom!!!
A single, simple punch, yet it carried the cataclysmic power to shatter worlds. It smashed against the light curtain with unforgiving force.
Crack!
Rumble——!!
The supposedly immortal Constellation Shelter shattered like fragile glass. The sound of fracturing made one’s teeth ache. Runic lattices imploded; enormous fragments of energy rained down like meteor showers across Starborn lands, striking the earth and triggering detonations and blood-curdling screams.
Above, the four — Nisos and the other Elders — stood stunned, their faces frozen with disbelief and despair. Their greatest bulwark had proven utterly inadequate before this presence.
The figure stood before them like a god descended to the mortal plane. Black hair whipped in the wind; his eyes burned with an icy, murderous flame.
"Which of you are the Starborn Elders?" Leo’s voice scraped across every soul in the place, laced with blatant killing intent.
Two Elders trembled and forced themselves forward. "Honored one, we are the Starborn Elders," Nisos managed with difficulty.
Two Elders? Leo frowned slightly. He produced a wanted notice he had acquired en route; Lilith’s face illuminated it clearly. Seeing the poster, Leo’s killing intent nearly burst loose. The temperature around them plummeted to freezing.
"Come. Tell me."
"Who issued this bounty?"
Each word came squeezed through clenched teeth. Nisos instantly went pale. His body shook uncontrollably; his lips moved but no sound came out. The other Elder pointed at Stahl and shouted.
"Honored one!"
"This bounty was issued by him personally — it does not represent the Starborn clan as a whole!"
Stahl watched this unfold. Seeing Leo’s human visage and connecting the dots, a dreadful realization detonated inside his mind. His knees went weak; he collapsed, face drained of color. It was over. Lilith’s kin... had arrived.
Leo’s cold gaze fixed on Nisos. In the next instant he reached out and, without touching, gripped the elder’s throat with invisible force. He lifted Nisos like a chick from the ground. No matter how the elder struggled, his Starborn might — even up to God-King level — had no effect.
"Have mercy!"
"A misunderstanding! It was all a misunderstanding!!" Stahl howled as he felt the breath of death grinding his soul.
A cold smile curled Leo’s lips. "A misunderstanding?" he repeated. "For a hundred years my daughter Lilith has been hiding beneath the stars because of your bounty. You expect me to call that a misunderstanding?!"
Those words struck like thunder in the ears of Stahl and every high-level Starborn who knew the truth. Nisos’ eyes filled with endless regret, but it was too late.
Ah—!!
A piercing scream erupted. Without warning, transparent flames flared across Nisos’ body. The fire seared his flesh, bones, even his soul!
"Not bad — the bones still aren’t as hard as your bragging!" Leo sneered. He forced his mind into Nisos’ — a brutal, intrusive search with his overpowering mental strength.
The screams echoing above the Starborn domain chilled every ear that heard them. Very quickly, Leo learned the whole truth.
When he discovered that these winged folk had intended to refine Lilith into a potion for life extension and to break their own bottlenecks, all of Leo’s suppressed fury detonated.
"I’ve changed my mind!" he declared. "To merely kill you would be too cheap!"
With a casual motion, Leo tore open a rift in space. He flung Stahl’s burning, wailing soul into it.
It was a temporary pocket of time-space he created — a small plane full of endless torment and pain. Stahl’s spirit would be forced to suffer eternal agony there.
Watching Elder Nisos vanish into nothing, the Starborn below fell into a deathlike silence, praying that their godlike visitor’s wrath would be sated.
But Leo’s eyes swept again across the crowd — the look in them clearly promised a comprehensive reckoning.
At that critical juncture, an ancient aura stirred slowly within the Starborn clan’s core sanctum. A hoary voice sounded.
"You have already slain one of my Elders — is that not enough?"
The Starborn Guardian had awakened.
Hopes flared in Stahl and the others’ eyes. This was a High-God level being, a power that could overturn the heavens — perhaps it could drive back or even slay the intruder!
Leo snorted derisively, his murderous intent unchanged. "Enough?" he replied coldly. "If even a hair of my daughter is harmed, even if I must wipe your Starborn clan from this firmament, my hatred will not be appeased!"
At these words, humiliation and rage washed over every Starborn face.