3rd POV:
…
3 days before the opening of the Aurora Pocket Dimension
…
Samael still sat at the center of that same crater he had made over 3 weeks ago. In that time he had managed to become proficient enough in forming Void Essence shards that he could form 152 every second. He had thus formed a total of 167,272,073 shards, meaning he was 0.8448% of the way to filling up his capacity and forming his first Void Essence Star. Now that he had fully entered into the Chaotic Soul Acceptance Realm, he was able to fully sustain himself on his energy. He no longer needed food, water or even to breathe air. Samael got up and looked around. It was completely barren for hundreds of miles around him. The level of True Qi in the air was also abysmal. He had absorbed enough True Qi for someone with a low level cultivation technique to break through to the 5th stage of Chaos Accoetance Realm, yet he wasn't even 1% of the way to breaking through to the 2nd Stage. It became clear to him that his journey to the peak would take a lot more resources than what would normally be required.
Something felt off in the air, like the very air around him was dying. A suffocating feeling suddenly overcame Samael. Pure, primal fear overtook his thoughts. A killing intent honed in on him, then another, and then another. Millions of beasts were honed in on him. Samael's thoughts raced; "Had he been abandoned here by the Voidstar Clan to die? Had the beasts been purposely lured here to kill him? There were beasts everywhere, some of them were extremely powerful to the point that if they were to attack him he might as well lay down and die. He had to find a safe pllace immediately, his cultivation was still unstable from the breakthrough and he wouldn't be able to survive here for long.
Samael began to run in the direction of the Voidstar Clan grounds. It would take him months to get back there if the guarded portal wasn't open. As he got closer to the portal, he could feel the spatial fluctuations from the open portal, but something was off. There were no people around. No guards, no Voidstar Clan youths, not even an Elder. Samael quickly ran through the portal. What met him in the other side was pure destruction. Everything was gone. Something had passed through here, and whatever it was, it had been strong enough to completely destroy one of the Voidstar Clan grounds. Even tho this one was the grounds of one of the branch families, it still had Elders of the 14th Tier. It was a terrifying prospect. Samael desperately needed to make it back. His worry grew thick as he though of something happening to Augustus. Samael continued to travel east, towards the next branch family in hopes of finding anyone alive. As he was running along the road, he suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. A killing intent honed in on him. It was a massive Frost-Flame Tiger, one of the apex predators in this region. This one was in the lower middle of Tier 2, about equivalent to the peak of the Chaos Lord Realm. Logically Samael should run. He shouldn't stand a chance against a beast like this, but what choice did he truly have. If he tried to run he'd be killed, there was no hiding from a predator like this. His only choice was to try and kill it before it could kill him.
Samael brought out his spear from his spatial ring, and pointed it towards the Frost-Flame tiger. The tiger rushed forward, its sharp claws aiming to disembowel Samael with one swing. Samael moved to the side just enough to only get a shallow cut on his side. In retaliation Samael thrust his spear forward as fast as he could. The spear pierced the tigers shoulder and Samael ripped his spear up and out, in an attempt to cripple that shoulder. The tiger twisted its body and Samael's spear was sharply ripped out of his hands. Every move left after-images as they traveled at a speed far beyond what someone at Samael's cultivation level should be capable of. The shockwaves generated from every movement, the impacts shattering the earth around them and ripping the air apart. Samael jumped back, now weaponless as the tiger attempted another paw swipe. This time Samael wasn't lucky enough to dodge it, and it struck him square in the chest. A deep claw mark was evident on his chest as he tried not to pass out from the blood loss. Every attack Samael recieved from the tiger were imbued with the law of Frost-Flame, a higher level law, and the combination of an advanced water law and a fire law. It completely overwhelmed any attempt Samael made to counterattack using his own laws of water and Heavenly variant Lightning law. Thoughts of regret rushed through his head as he weakly moved his head to avoid another strike, and then, he passed out.
As soon as Samael passed out a ray of blue light burst out from his body. His eyes opened, but something was different. There was an arrogance not usually seen in his eyes, and they were a brilliant blue color. A smirk on his face as he looked at the tiger. Samael's black hair turned a pure white as the smirk widened. "It seems the prince is not yet ready to face a foe such as yourself, little beast. Worry not, little beast. I will make your death as painful as I can. For the young prince, I would slaughter the entire Dimensional Planes, let alone an insignificant beast like yourself." Samael's body lifted one of his arms, pointing a single finger at the tiger "Die, insignificant beast." In an instant the tiger's head vanished, reappearing in his hand. Its body fell limply to the ground. "Rest well, my prince, and may you soon return home…" Samael's arm fell back down onto the ground and his eyes closed. The tigers head disappeared from his hand as the color of his hair and eyes returned to normal. He was unconscious once more. Hours passed and his eyes opened once more. "Ow, ow, ow. What happened? How am I alive?" He muttered. Samael slowly rose into a sitting position as he looked around. Only a few feet from where he was sitting, lay the Frost-Flame tiger's body. "How did it…" Samael began, only to be interrupted by a howl in the distance. *I need to keep moving immediately, or I'm dead!* he thought grimly.*