Yet the blaze failed to do what the mage wanted. It was a flicker, gone like a match in wind. Uroboros raised her hand, and it thinned into air.

“Oz? If you desire answers, why not stand before me?”

Uroboros chuckled. The Obsidian Scepter tapped the beast’s brow, and the unending fire halted.

“My child, go.”

She bent, kissed the beast’s dimming brow, then leapt down and returned to the temple’s edge.

The beast of crimson and ash unfurled its wings. Its vast shadow was an apex predator, and the red‑haired mage’s source—dragon.

Inside that bulk, a core like a roaring furnace beat with force. It drove the beast into the battlefield woven with Demigod power, devouring Senro and the others’ attacks like a ravenous thing.

“Don’t get rash. That Crimson Dragon aura… it’s already above Oz.”

Duke Dion barred the mage who was about to charge. He watched the soaring shape and frowned.

Even he couldn’t deny the purity in that form—so pure it felt atavistic, nearing the ancestors, those legendary mounts of gods.

In the whole Demon World, such purity belonged only to Oz, a Demonic Knight, granted the Crimson Dragon Source by the Demon King to forge his great crimson blade.

Even so, this aura surpassed Oz and stepped beyond.

That was why Dion feared her. A living True God, yet the legends held no trace of her. Even with her stated origin, she was absent from the tales.

Whatever her strength was, why would a True God unacknowledged by mortals wield this power?

He had no time to think. A comrade’s cry pulled his gaze to the beast gulping the storm of Arcane Power.

Their standoff hinged on that black radiance. Senro had read it: pure conversion of True God power. Draw near, and the black radiance would shred them.

So Senro cast a resplendent celestial river, turned abyss, to oppose it.

Now, the devouring beast released that black radiance. It tore the storm open and plunged into that resplendent river of stars without fear.

“Like hell I’ll let you succeed!”

The assault rolled like a true Plague of Beasts. The giant folded its wings, cocooned itself, and shouldered a world‑ending barrage, inching forward.

Behind it, black radiance swept. On the field flattened by Demigods, silhouettes rose again. This time, clad head to toe in ink‑black armor.

This time, they followed the giant, under sky‑blanketing wings, advancing on Senro’s group.

A vast sea of thunder. Feral tempests. Torrential ice‑rain. Blazing fire. A blended Demigod barrage crashed over that army of shadows without pause.

The march didn’t stop. Slow, relentless, they closed in.

Within the resplendent abyss, a black legion moved in silence—deathbound and unwavering.

Any shadow the wings didn’t cover, once close to fading, was torn apart by its fellows without mercy, turned into their strength.

“Children of man, why not lay your trump cards bare?”

Uroboros laughed at the ceaseless Demigod barrage. Her tempting voice crossed the endless chasm and bloomed within their mindscape.

Their faces didn’t change, but unease pricked their hearts. On a battlefield, they wouldn’t be swayed by an enemy’s words. They were veterans. They knew.

Yes, they were holding back. Even unseen, you probe with speech, try to crack a foe’s resolve.

But such tactics belong to mortals who haven’t touched the gods’ domain. However strong, they had never faced a True God head‑on.

Who can say a True God can’t see through it all?

Seeing it go wrong, Senro at the center borrowed the stars without hesitation. Twelve golden phantoms gathered a new beam. Gentle to the eye, it weighed a thousand pounds.

The force jarred the black legion mid‑stride. Even the gray‑crimson beast halted. Its sky‑covering wings trembled and bowed under the burden.

“Astonishing. Star Remnant never fails to surprise. Since that’s so, I can’t let my child stop here.”

Black radiance flickered like a quiet streak of Thunder—eerie and still. In one breath, a black long‑spear rested in Uroboros’s hand.

The instant it appeared, Senro stepped back by instinct. She didn’t dare look. She turned away.

The others kept their assault as if nothing had happened. As the starlight bent the beast’s spine, they pressed harder, hoping to bury that unreasonable host within the river of stars.

“No—”

Senro’s warning died unsaid, shock frozen on her face. A black silhouette on the temple flashed like stray lightning and stabbed straight into the resplendent galaxy.

A crisp snap. Time stopped. Everything froze in the same heartbeat—the marching black legion, the raging Demigod barrage, even the twelve golden phantoms.

In the spear’s wake, with black radiance as its spine, a Ladder to Heaven unfolded and descended before Uroboros.

“Mortals forever reach for the gods’ domain. A billion years ago, and now, the same. A pity…”

The Obsidian Scepter floated at her side. She lifted her feathered hem and walked forward, slow and unsoiled. Bare feet stepped onto the endless ladder, ascending.

The celestial river, deep as a chasm, shivered. Silver‑white light tried to rush the ladder and engulf Uroboros.

She never stopped. Her lips curved in a tempting smile. A slender finger touched them—a hush.

The pure light went dead. Not a quiver. Even Senro’s aura vanished without a trace.

With the restlessness quelled, she was above the resplendent galaxy in a blink.

She was a social blossom in full dress, yet a sovereign none could touch. Contradictions swirled around her in perfect poise, as if she was born their harmony.

Uroboros took in Senro’s stunned face and smiled. Night‑black eyes appraised her like art, tinged with regret.

“Star Remnant, in every age, you choose the wrong side…”

She sighed. Jade‑white hands caught the Obsidian Scepter mid‑air. Like a smith’s hammer, it struck the Ladder to Heaven. The ringing shook the halted flow of time.

The resplendent galaxy capsized. Silver radiance was eaten by black radiance. Vast star systems cracked and fell as a storm of stars from the deep sky.

The black radiance, seal of a True God’s power, erupted. Arcane Power, absurd in magnitude, warped the very space. Scattered stars were prey, fading under a predator’s devouring light.

Time flowed again. The twelve golden phantoms collapsed at once. Not a scrap of resistance. They vanished like withered straw under a scythe.

The Demigods’ attacks fell from their hands. A force far above them severed their spells. Unreleased power backfired with the True God’s shock, surging into their bodies.

They were hurled away by the blast. Only Senro, who upheld that vast starfield, remained.

She fared no better. A bright line of blood traced her lip. The icebound heart‑world around her shattered.

Only the starfield held, propped by the deep‑blue eyes of stars. Even then, no stars remained within. Yesterday’s light was gone. Only darkness endured.

As Uroboros drew near, the True God’s pressure crushed down. Senro couldn’t stand it. She coughed blood and slammed to the ground like a falling meteor, gouging a massive crater.

Uroboros, who did it all, walked on as if nothing had happened. She stopped where Senro had stood and looked down on the few below.

“You lot. Die by your own hand.”