In the vast expanse of the cosmos, an ethereal land floated through the vastness of space. Its blackened ground stretched beyond the horizon, dwarfing entire planets with its size.

At its center was a solitary, simple-looking throne. A young man sat on the throne, his presence calm despite the cosmic storms that swept across the land. With his eyes closed, he exuded an aura of deep serenity as if in communion with the universe around him.

The boundaries between space and time began to tremble, and the fabric of reality itself bowed to an unseen force. A silvery light shone, and a wormhole formed in the space.

From within emerged a being of breathtaking grandeur, a silver dragon that dwarfed the stars and planets with its enormity. Its scales shimmered with a brilliance that shined brighter than the galaxies, casting a spectral glow on the blackened land. Its wings, like immense celestial webs, spread gracefully, carrying the majestic creature as it descended to the ground.

The silver dragon descended before the throne, his regal form and eyes brimming with ancient wisdom staring at the young man on the throne. With a bow, it bowed its head in reverence to the existence before it.

"Master Izuds," its voice rang out, brimming with deep respect and reverence as if it echoed from a distant time.

The young man's eyes slowly opened in response to its call, revealing an infinite abyss of shimmering galaxies inside them. The universe seemed to dwell in the depths of his gaze, the very cosmos caught in the embrace of his eyes.

"Elzrir. Get up."

His voice and aura seemed out of this world. Even sitting on this throne with the universe as a backdrop, his presence only seemed to be amplified.

The silver dragon obeyed, his form rising elegantly, overlooking the throne and the young man before him. Still, despite his imposing stature, his presence could not eclipse the young man.

"What is the situation in Universe 22?" asked the young man.

"The Humans have started a war with the Vrals," replied Elzrir.

"This shouldn't have happened this early. What happened?"

"One of the Vrals was discovered when she opened spatial rifts on the humans' home planet."

"Strange. This didn't happen in any of the previous cycles."

"Should we intervene?"

"No. Let them go to war all they want. Did you get any information on the Fragment of Origin?"

"No. I'm sorry, Master. I searched all possible locations in the different universes, but I couldn't find any trace of it," Elzrir said, lowering his head.

A slight reaction appeared in the eyes of the young man that resembled a universe. It was only a simple reaction, barely perceptible, but the silver dragon's body started to tremble.

"It doesn't matter. We still have time," said the young man while raising his right hand.

A silvery light shone on his palm, and a stone made of a mysterious mineral with complex patterns on its surface formed above it before falling at his feet. The next moment, another stone was formed, followed by another.

In a short period of time, a hundred stones had been formed before the silver light around the youth's hand faded. With a wave of his hand, the stones flew towards the silver dragon.

"Distribute them to the different races. We need to accelerate the propagation of spatial rifts across the universes."

"Yes, Master," Elzrir replied, drawing the stones into a space inside his body. He spread his wings before crossing a wormhole, disappearing in an instant.

Being alone again, the youth looked at the universe before him.

"At this speed, it will take another 100 years before everything ends. I must speed up the process and find the missing Fragment of Origin."

His gaze fell on his right hand as a peach appeared above it. An iridescent light emanated from it while an ancient aura invaded the area.

Dark clouds began to form above the land.

"To think that even after all this time, the Celestial Peach is able to intimidate the laws of this universe. How pitiful. The days I was threatened by you are gone long ago since you let them die without doing anything. Don’t try to ruin my meal. You are just a worthless remnant," he whispered, taking a bite of the peach in his hand.

Before the clouds could even emit the slightest rumble to show the wrath of the heaven, the youth waved his left hand, causing the clouds to disperse the next moment as if they never existed in the first place.

***

Year 20 999 of the Aegis calendar, January 12.

In a Silver rank rift, far from the Aegis Alliance refuge inside a forest, a small blue ethereal form swims through the trees. Its shape resembled a whale with a horn on its forehead. The rays of the sun that had just risen passed through her form, making her glow slightly.

Suddenly, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her from behind. The little whale tried to struggle, but the pair of hands wouldn't let her go.

"Where do you think you're going? You know you shouldn't go that far from Kieran. Just because you can leave his spiritual world doesn't mean you can go wherever you want."

Runihoril, who was holding Luna in his hands, looked at her with a severe look. Luna made many moans, but Runihoril didn't let her go, walking slowly towards a structure built with earth walls that seemed to have grown out of the ground.

"Now is not the time to wander around, although I understand that you are happy to be able to leave his spiritual world."

Runihoril was talking to Luna, but his eyes were fixed on a dark cloud above the structure made of earth walls.

The cloud covered an entire part of the forest, extending over a diameter of 500 meters. The winds howled a sorrowful cry, and lightning danced in the sky. The pressure emanating from the cloud had driven away all the crystal beasts long ago.

Runihoril's eyes fell on a lonely figure. The Heavenly Tribulation in the sky seemed to want to eradicate his existence, yet his face was calm, not showing the slightest fear.

"To think that such a Heavenly Tribulation would appear for his breakthrough to the Silver rank. If the Heavenly Tribulations continue to appear with each of his breakthroughs, he could succeed in forming a good foundation to make a perfect breakthrough into the Transcendent realm."

Runihoril's eyes flashed with excitement as a commotion appeared in the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud.

Drops of water, seemingly innocent at first, began to fall, announcing the arrival of the celestial storm.

Unlike last time when he had to make an effort to resist the drops of water, this time, Kieran simply let them flow over his body as if he were taking a simple shower, not even trembling under their incessant impact.

As if the Heavenly Tribulation felt insulted, the clouds in the sky began to hum. Like a tidal wave, a seemingly endless amount of water escaped from the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud, descending upon this mortal land to bring judgment upon Kieran.

The tidal wave began to swirl around him, taking the form of a huge maelstrom, the waves of water that moved around him slowly changing until they became sharp blades of water that came dangerously close to him.

Kieran waved his hand, and giant flames emerged around him, transforming the blades of water that approached him into steam.

The temperature rose as he faced the onslaught of the Heavenly Tribulation. With his fire element, he embraced the maelstrom, transforming it into a torrent of boiling steam. The intense heat mingled with the surging water, creating an awe-inspiring spectacle of power that defied the heavens themselves.

The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud, seemingly offended by Kieran's audacity, intensified its anger. Nine colossal swords, formed from condensed clouds and infused with the energy of the heavens, materialized in the sky above Kieran. Each sword shone with an ethereal glow, resembling real weapons capable of shattering mountains.

"Last time it was dragon heads, and now it's giant swords?" a slight smile appeared on his face as he stared at the swords in the sky.

With a deafening rumble, the first giant sword hurtled towards him with unimaginable speed. His eyes narrowed, and he took the form of a lycan while calling upon his earth elemental ability. A solid barrier of earth materialized around him, acting as his first line of defense.

As the sword made contact with the earth barrier, a powerful shockwave erupted, shaking the ground beneath Kieran's feet. The earth shook, but the barrier held strong, dissipating the force of the sword and dispersing the heavenly energy it carried, which was slowly absorbed inside his body.

The second sword fell from the sky. Kieran joined both his hands together. An intense red light emanated from them as he slowly separated them forming a spear of condensed fire between them.

"Fire Spear!"

The sword and spear clashed for a moment before an explosion rang out, scattering both attacks into nothingness.

The third and fourth swords fell at the same time.

As both swords descended on him, Kieran remained calm, eyes sharp and focused. With quick, precise movements, he summoned his fire and earth elemental abilities to counter the heavenly assault.

For the third sword, he formed a circular wall of fire around himself, acting as a protective barrier. The intense heat created a powerful updraft that collided with the descending sword, causing the elemental forces to collide fiercely. The clash caused an explosion of energy, shaking the surroundings as Kieran stood firm within his fiery fortress.

Meanwhile, for the fourth sword, he called upon the earth to rise and form a series of stone pillars around him, arranged in a protective circle. The Heavenly Sword struck the stone defense, causing drops of water to fly and the ground to shake under the enormous impact. The earth pillars absorbed almost all the heavenly attack, leaving him relatively unscathed.

The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud, seemingly angered by Kieran's resilience, intensified its attacks.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh swords descended quickly, forming a triad of elemental threats, causing immense pressure to fall upon him.

He raised his right hand as the fire elemental particles in the surrounding area rushed into his palm, spinning in rotation above it. What looked like a mini sun quickly formed in his palm.

"Burning Sun!"

The three swords and the miniature sun clashed. The impact sent shock waves through the surrounding landscape, uprooting trees and scattering debris.

The Heavenly Swords gave way under the power of the miniature sun, slowly disintegrating into particles of water, leaving only a faint echo of their former greatness.

Kieran's breathing became ragged, but he stared at the last two swords in the sky, which were already falling towards him, giving him no respite.

A double-bladed sword appeared silently in his hands with pure black blades and perfectly balanced, a simple hilt but large enough to be easily handled in his lycan form. The double-bladed sword looked both exquisite and simple.

Tightening his grip on the hilt, a golden blue crystal essence erupted from his body, being drawn quickly into the two blades like two starving beasts, yet the crystal essence continued to emanate from his body, fueling more and more the two blades until they take on a golden shine.

Eyes fixed on the two giant swords coming down towards him, Kieran took a step forward and swung a slash.

"Earth Shattering!"

The world took on a golden hue as the two swords faced Kieran's attack. Numerous cracks began to slowly appear on the two swords before they shattered, causing an explosion of energy that pushed Kieran back hundreds of meters, destroying the earth walls structure that served as his shelter during his stay in the rift.

He slowly stood up, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground before looking up at the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud and smiling.

As if it were just a mirage, the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud slowly faded away as a translucent orb filled with Heavenly Tribulation energy fell from the sky before merging into his body.

Suddenly, Kieran felt fatigue overcome him as he gradually lost consciousness. He bit his tongue, trying to stay awake, but he couldn't do anything about the fatigue that was falling on him. He saw Runihoril approaching him in the distance, but he couldn't control his eyelids, which closed before fatigue made him completely lose consciousness.

 

 

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