Once again, Li Lin and Zoe, accompanied by the Star Spirits, approached the Forged Star Dragon King with apologies.
It had been years since Li Lin had last met with him, but for a Celestial Dragon of the Stars, even a blink of the eye was barely enough. For this being, whose brief rests span millennia, the concept of time was entirely different from that of humans, and the Creator Gods, who had existed since the beginning of the Void, cared little for those tiny, fleeting moments.
Aurelion Sol had long since sensed the growing irreconcilable rift between the Star Spirits, and he knew the curse of the Star Crown was gradually weakening. It wouldn't take long—just a few thousand years, or a handful of blinks for the curse to fade completely. When that time came, Aurelion Sol would finally unleash the wrath he had been nurturing for millennia.
Having waited for over a thousand years, he was eager to witness the fall of the Titans. Naturally, he rejected the Star Spirits' insincere apologies. As an entity born in the depths of the Void, one that had gifted the stars their light, he did not need the "charity" of these lowly beings.
However, just at that moment, the Star Crown atop Aurelion Sol's head shattered into countless golden fragments, like a meteor shower, and the curse was fully lifted.
The conflict with the primordial gods of the universe had become irreconcilable. In order to ensure their own survival, the Star Spirits had taken the dangerous step of breaking through the barriers of the universe to travel into the parallel dimensions.
The entire universe could feel the excitement of Aurelion Sol's return, a being eager to tend to the many works he had created, and to meet the companions he had once encountered while roaming the cosmos. But before that, the "small beings" before him still required his assistance.
"Void?"
After hearing Li Lin's detailed explanation of the Void, Aurelion Sol turned his gaze towards the Rune Lands, falling silent for a moment. Soon, his starry blue eyes gleamed with sudden understanding.
He had learned much about the other dimension. When he had this thought, he could immediately access much of the knowledge he desired, but it was limited to this universe, the one that had birthed him.
"Mindless, detestable beings who stray from the path of life... The Star Spirits once drew on my power to create the Ascended, plotting to counter this war, I suppose?"
There was a hint of surprise in the voice of the Celestial Dragon.
"They don't belong to this dimension, yet they can pass through the barriers of space into the material world. This is something your Void Watchers could never accomplish."
After a brief pause, Aurelion Sol's form compressed in an instant to match the smallest size of the Titan God Mech, and he summoned a portal. The only difference was its color—it was not gold, but its principle was identical to Zoe's Star Realm spell.
The other side of the portal opened to the depths of the Wailing Abyss beneath the Frozen Abyss. The distance between stars was innumerable light years, but in the face of the divine power of a Creator God, that vastness was instantly shortened, allowing for an immediate arrival.
As one of the highest-ranked beings in the universe, Aurelion Sol did not need to descend in a physical form like the Star Spirits or Soraka, who suffered through the agony of lowering their divine essence to endure the strain of the magical forces. No, Aurelion Sol could simply materialize in his true form, and the stars within him would ensure that the planet would remain unharmed by his presence.
The creatures of the Void, which had been swarming from the cracks in the Abyss, soon took notice of Aurelion Sol's presence. Enchanted by the energy far surpassing the planet's, these aberrant creatures, which exceeded the common Void Spirits but still acted on instinct, surged toward the Star Dragon King, hoping to consume this celestial miracle.
Aurelion Sol, however, merely sneered in disdain. With a thought, his mastery over the Star Realm magic swept over the creatures, obliterating them instantly.
It was at this moment that the deep rift between dimensions, already sealed off by the World Runes under Li Lin's command, began to crack open again. From the corrupted core of the Void, an ominous and powerful consciousness surged forward. This was far beyond anything the Void Watchers could muster. Even the Intelligence Core could not predict the magnitude of this force.
The barrier between worlds was torn further apart, but this time, instead of a continuous flood of Void creatures, what emerged was something much darker—a twisted hunger, one that sought to devour everything that "existed."
Just as Li Lin had suspected, the Watchers were not the true rulers of the Void. Above them, there were far more terrifying beings.
Even with the protection of the World Runes, Li Lin was still momentarily stunned by the sheer terror of this presence—far more powerful than the Void Watchers. Even Zoe, usually calm and composed, lost her usual smile and her face turned grim.
"Few beings are capable of understanding the complexity and subtlety between different realms, let alone the limits of time and space," Aurelion Sol muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought. "To think that there is another force capable of shattering time and space in this world, how fascinating."
His voice remained as calm as a still pond, yet every word was filled with awe at the power capable of tearing apart the very fabric of time. "Hm! To think that such a being dares to mock me in my own plane... So, World's Chosen, all we need to do is deal with this one, right?"
Without waiting for Li Lin's response, Aurelion Sol raised a clawed hand and drew forth raw essence from within himself, adding a pinch of starfire. In less than a second, the starfire ignited the raw material, causing it to explode into a blazing, radiant light in his palm.
Though not in the material world, creating stars was an effortless feat for the Forged Star Dragon King. Moreover, in this passage between two dimensions, he had no need to worry about the Rune Lands' inability to withstand the energy of a fully formed star. He had no need to control his power.
In the blink of an eye, Aurelion Sol hurled the miniature burning star as if it were a javelin, followed by a breath that scattered stardust in all directions. The instant the star pierced through the dimensional rift, a torrent of starfire cascaded from behind.
The dazzling brilliance illuminated the otherwise pitch-black Void, so intense that the human eye could hardly comprehend its beauty. In the space between dimensions, there was no material to impede the passage.
Aurelion Sol, who had momentarily broken free from his freedom, was now facing another force capable of ripping through time and space, and he could barely contain his excitement. He didn't notice that his energy had spiraled beyond his control, and a trace of his aura spilled over into the Rune Lands.
Ascended, Demigods—no being native to the Rune Lands could withstand the force of such a star. Even the planet itself, starting from the Howling Abyss, was on the brink of collapse, unable to bear the energy equivalent to a supernova.
The Void did not consume the planet, but Aurelion Sol's energy spillover nearly destroyed the Rune Lands.
Had Li Lin not received a warning from the Intelligence Core and swiftly flown out of the Howling Abyss, using the World Runes to reverse time and stabilize the planet, the planet would have been lost.
Fortunately, Aurelion Sol's assault on the Void came quickly and ended just as swiftly. Within seconds, he was back in front of Li Lin, no longer in the form of the revered Celestial Dragon but as a formless, abstract mass of energy that even Li Lin struggled to describe.
"I've dealt with that being," Aurelion Sol's voice resonated, "At least for the next ten thousand years, the Void will not pose any threat to this world."
(End of Chapter)