"With such meager strength, who gave you the courage to invade the Erathia World Cluster?"
The Star Sentinel showed no hint of emotion as he saw the massive claw slashing toward him. Calmly, he raised his broad hand. One of the thirteen radiant halos behind him began to spin faster, and a vivid image of a flourishing world appeared within the halo, teeming with life and civilization.
As this wheel of light appeared, the Star God's hand extended outward. An overwhelming surge of law-based power emerged, with endless light pouring from the wheel behind him, forming a vast ocean of pure white. This ocean surged toward the foreign god, who called himself a "Demon Lord."
The sea of light collided with the black mist, resulting in a large-scale annihilation of both light and dark. However, the black mist was clearly at a disadvantage, steadily retreating. At the same time, the Star God's hand reached out and grasped the claw extending from the black mist, which had been aimed at him.
Crack!
A harsh, splintering sound echoed as the Star God's hand made contact with the claw. Fine cracks began spreading outward from where he had touched it. Then, in an instant, the seemingly formidable claw shattered under his grip.
The void fell silent, save for the sound of the sea of light devouring the black mist. The Star Sentinel, responsible for patrolling the Erathia World Cluster, stood expressionless as he gazed at the black mist, which obscured his perception. He couldn't gauge the exact strength of the being hiding within, only knowing that it was an epic-level entity. The specifics of its power remained unknown.
The earlier strike from the claw had seemed powerful and imposing, but after the clash, the Sentinel realized that the opponent had been bluffing all along. The force behind the attack was weak—barely stronger than a newly ascended epic. To the Sentinel, this level of power was nothing short of seeking abuse.
"I'll give you one last chance: are you sure you want to block my path?" A voice filled with false bravado rang out from within the black mist after a brief silence.
"Didn't your elders teach you to lower your head in front of those stronger than you?" The Star Sentinel was genuinely puzzled. It had been countless years since he'd encountered such a fool who couldn't recognize their own weakness. How had this individual even managed to reach the epic level? There were no such clueless individuals in the Erathia World Cluster.
What could be driving this entity to act so boldly despite being at a clear disadvantage? Did they have some mighty force backing them? Or perhaps they had gained their power so easily that their mindset hadn't matured to match it?
"It seems you're determined to stand in my way. Fine, then wait and see."
After spewing this last threat, the black mist, which had been steadily retreating under the pressure of the sea of light, began to pull back even more, indicating a retreat.
"Did I say you could leave?" Watching the receding black mist, the Star Sentinel found himself exasperated. Which race had produced such an idiotic epic being?
"You dare restrain me? I am the Four-Claw Demon Lord of the Demon Clan!" an incredulous voice echoed from the black mist. In its home world cluster, the Demon Lord was used to being treated with utmost respect by other epic beings. Few dared to offend it.
"..." The Star Sentinel remained silent, unwilling to waste words on such a fool. He extended his hand, piercing through the black mist, reaching directly for the demon's true form.
"You're courting death!" The enraged voice of the demon echoed from within the mist, and strange ripples of power began to surge, attempting to resist the Sentinel's grasp.
The black mist churned violently as wave after wave of shock radiated from within. The mist itself started to collapse in large swaths, revealing the demon's true form at last.
It was a massive, armored god-like creature, with four long, mantis-like metallic claws extending from its body. It had eight jointed legs beneath its shell-covered torso, and its head was covered in thousands of densely packed eyes. The creature was grotesque, twisted, and hideous, exuding an aura of malevolence.
However, one of the creature's four clawed arms was missing a chunk, and it was rapidly regenerating. The remaining three claws shimmered with lethal energy, slashing toward the Star Sentinel's hand. At the same time, beams of light of various colors shot out from the creature's compound eyes, targeting the Sentinel's body in a desperate attempt at resistance.
But the difference in power between the two was far too great. The demon's body was torn apart by the Star Sentinel with ease, with its head, eyes, and limbs being crushed under his hands. Despite this, the demon continued its resistance, hurling threats and insults at the Sentinel.
"You dare!" Just as the Star Sentinel was about to finish off the Four-Claw Demon Lord, two more clouds of black mist rolled in from the distant void. Each mist carried with it the unmistakable presence of epic beings, seemingly intending to intimidate the Sentinel.
"Are these your kin?" The Star Sentinel tore another limb from the demon's body as he asked this calmly, ignoring the demon's enraged howls and empty threats.
"You will regret this! Alien god, prepare to fall in this very starry sky!" The Four-Claw Demon Lord roared with crazed laughter, even as its body was being dismembered. Suddenly, a strange power surged from within, and multicolored light began to emanate from its broken form.
This battered shell, which had nearly been destroyed, began to regenerate at an alarming speed. Without using any blood or energy, the Four-Claw Demon Lord's body restored itself to peak condition. Its power, even, began to climb rapidly.
"Join me! Let's kill this alien god who dares offend the Demon Clan!" Fully regenerated, the Four-Claw Demon Lord bellowed in excitement, calling upon its kin to join in a combined attack on the Star Sentinel.
"You're wasting Source Power to recover from this?" The Star Sentinel was speechless at the demon's tactics. Though the three demons now surrounded him, he remained calm. The other twelve wheels of light behind him began to spin faster as he prepared to face the full assault.
...
The battle lasted less than a quarter of an hour. The halos behind the Star Sentinel gradually slowed to their normal pace, while three of them continued to pour waves of faith power into the Sentinel's form.
To him, this battle was nothing more than a warm-up. It was utterly boring and posed no real danger. That was the Sentinel's assessment of the skirmish.
The two additional demons that had arrived were no stronger than the Four-Claw Demon Lord. In essence, the fight progressed from him beating one demon to beating three, with little change. The only difference was that now, instead of one demon spewing threats, there were three.
Over and over, the demons repeated the same lines: "You will soon die," "You will experience endless suffering," and "You will be eternally damned."
The Star Sentinel found them endlessly annoying. Their voices buzzed incessantly in his ears, and he started to get genuinely irritated. As a result, he hit them even harder.
...
In the Grand Hall of the Void Multiverse, where the epic Titans and Seraphim gathered for discussion, a sudden silence fell over the room. All the epics turned their gazes in the same direction. Muria, sensing this, followed their gaze, though he saw and felt nothing.
"You all sensed it?" The Ten Ruling Sovereign spoke up. Muria, still confused, looked toward his mother, the Golden Dragon, who was equally clueless. Neither of them could perceive anything, dragging down the average awareness in the room.
"Yes, an unfamiliar epic presence," confirmed a Seraphim of similar rank to the Ten Ruling Sovereign, nodding. She had even witnessed the battle unfolding on the outskirts of the world cluster, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Though she had lived for countless eons and had seen all manner of strange and unusual events, the scene playing out now still amused her.
"Those are the demons chasing me!" Arista instinctively transformed into her Dragon King form within the grand hall, her primal instincts responding to the threat. But when she saw the more than thirty epic beings surrounding her, she calmed down, reassured by their vows to protect her.
"The Star Sentinel has already intercepted them," an epic Titan said, rising from his throne. But after taking a step, he sat back down, realizing there was no need for reinforcements.
"Are they really this weak? Only a few moves, and they're already getting beaten!" another epic Titan murmured quietly.
"Let the Star Sentinel capture those demons. We'll interrogate them," said the Abyssal Sovereign.
The Abyssal Sovereign wasn't particularly surprised by the Star Sentinel's easy victory. Though the Sentinel was constrained to the local world cluster, unable to leave for other realms, it didn't mean he was weak. Any being bearing the title of Star Sentinel, patrolling and guarding the world cluster, was far from ordinary. Even newly ascended epics didn't qualify for such a role.
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