The Shining Star Above The Heaven
Chapter 613: Is This the End?

Chapter 613: Is This the End?

A deep voice echoed from the massive eye, its sound resounding across the sky as the eye fixed its gaze on the Barisan continent. Its attention shifted toward the central area of the Everlasting Silent Forest, as if trying to peer beyond the barrier that shrouded it.

Everyone outside the continent’s barrier who heard the voice felt their ears on the verge of bursting. Blood streamed from many as the pressure tore through their eardrums. The cultivators above the sea who were closest to the eye felt their heads ring as their ears ruptured under the pressure. Not even the highest levels of cultivation could protect them.

They had already stopped maintaining the barrier after the earlier impact, swept away by the overwhelming force from the impact. Now, with this voice alone damaging their bodies, maintaining the defensive wall was impossible.

Tarius’s energy was pouring out, causing panic across the sea.

"Get back, get back! Don’t let that energy touch you!" shouted one of the cultivators.

However, not all of them could retreat quickly. Many were still affected by the voice, their heads ringing, their ears bleeding. Those left behind were swept up by the energy. In an instant, their bodies shriveled, as if something had drained everything from within, leaving only bones behind.

"Uwahh!"

"Fall back! Anyone who can still move, help those who can’t!"

All the cultivators who witnessed the effect of the energy were horrified. They scattered in a panic, flying as far as they could. None of them could focus anymore, unsure of what they feared more, the eye in the sky or the energy that was killing them one after another.

The leaders of many factions had already retreated further from the Impassable Region, their eyes fixed on massive eye. Sweat trickled down their foreheads, and their faces turned pale with fright.

What they saw, and what they felt, was unlike anything they had ever sensed in their lives. Even without thinking too deeply, they already understood, the thing in the sky was something they could never hope to face.

"Is this our end? How are we supposed to fight that thing?" one of the leaders asked, his voice trembling with despair.

No one answered. There was only silence. All of them truly felt that the end was near. Their gazes remained locked on the eye, because they didn’t know what else to do. Some had already begun to wonder if escape to another part of the universe was possible, but was it?

Could they really escape from that thing? They knew that the moment the eye appeared, it had already sensed everyone here. Their only hope was that it wouldn’t give them special attention. They could only hope it would see them as nothing more than ants, unworthy of notice.

And true to their guess, the eye had instantly become aware of every presence surrounding the continent the moment it appeared, but it didn’t care. To the eye, they were no more than specks of dust.

Its attention was fixed on something within the Barisan continent.

However, it seemed the eye couldn’t see beyond the barrier, which made its voice resound again.

"I know you’re here, rebellious dragon and phoenix! Surrender yourselves, or face a merciless death!" the voice boomed, its red iris glowing with a furious light. The pressure intensified, now focused entirely on the Barisan continent.

The barrier shone brightly as it struggled to withstand the force. Seeing this, the eye’s glow burned even brighter.

"What a pathetic display of weakness! The mighty ancient divine dragon and phoenix now hide behind a formation to shield themselves. You’ve fallen so low that you rely on external means for protection," the voice thundered.

And with that, the glowing red eye suddenly unleashed a beam of red light.

The red beam of destruction struck the barrier directly, causing it to tremble. The Barisan continent shook once again, and everyone had already taken cover. None of them wanted to look at the eye, they felt nothing but despair and horror, even at the mere sight of it.

All they could do was hope that whatever was protecting them would not break. By now, everyone on the continent understood that something was shielding them, a powerful barrier was holding back the destruction.

They wondered if it had been prepared in advance. Perhaps it was a secret project by the major powers of the continent, designed for a moment like this. But no matter where it came from, that barrier was the only reason they were still alive.

The eye, seeing that its attack had failed, did not stop. The red beam vanished and not long after, black lightning crackled across the surface of the eye. A thunderclap echoed across the world, and the lightning carried a power beyond anything this world had ever known.

Rumble!

Boom!

Countless strands of lightning rained down on the barrier, as if the continent were caught in a doomsday storm. The strikes came without pause, one after another, and each bolt held power far beyond the reach of even the strongest beings in this world.

The barrier trembled even more violently as it endured the increasingly powerful strikes from the eye. Its light shone brighter, as if it were pushing itself to the limit to hold back the assault.

"For how long are you going to hide like rats inside that formation?! This pathetic barrier can’t protect you!" the voice roared, louder than before, while the lightning grew even more violent and fierce.

"You two still don’t know when to give up. You’ve already lost! Your universe is ours!"

The thunderclaps boomed louder, echoing across the world. The barrier shook harder under the relentless lightning.

And then, what so many had feared finally happened.

Crack!

A sharp cracking sound came from the barrier, a sound that, at this moment, brought nothing but dread to the entire populace. Amid the raging lightning storm, the crack was even more vivid, as if the barrier could no longer endure the onslaught.

By now, most of the population had fled, running in every direction in search of any place they believed might be safe from the eye’s gaze. They ran and hid wherever they could, clinging to the thought that if they couldn’t see the eye, perhaps the eye couldn’t see them.

But there were others, those who had already accepted whatever fate awaited them. They remained where they stood. Though they didn’t dare look up, fearing that the eye might draw out their very souls, they stayed still, letting the wave of panic sweep past them.

Those who had families held each other tightly, bracing themselves for what was to come. Many wept as they prayed to the heavens to save them, hoping, desperately that someone, anyone, could stop this and let them survive the apocalypse.

More and more began to think of Aldrian, wondering where he was in this moment. Some even prayed to him, begging for him to come and save them.

Rumble! Rumble!

The thunderclaps still roared violently, crashing over one another, and then—

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sharp sound of something breaking echoed across the continent. Horror spread as people realized what it meant, the barrier protecting them had finally shattered.

In several places across the continent, the lightning pierced the formation and struck the ground. _{fr eewe(b)nove.l.co\m}

Rumble! Boom!

The ground trembled as divine energy began seeping into the continent through the hole in the barrier. The energy started to spread, though something seemed to slow it down, enough to briefly catch the eye’s attention.

But the eye didn’t care. It chose to ignore it, as the energy was still successfully entering the continent. The areas closest to the breach were the Ivory Empire, the Demon Territory, the Atria Empire, and the Buddhist Sect’s territory.

Though the spread of energy was hindered, it eventually reached the ground. The moment it touched the land, that area became a dead zone. Trees, grass, even the earth itself, anything that held the slightest vitality, was erased, as the energy rapidly spread to the surrounding regions.

The worst part was that some areas still inhabited by living beings. Both beasts and humans, were not spared from the energy. Several villages, and even small towns, were caught in its path.

There was no escape. Most of the people in these places were mortals without cultivation, or had cultivation too low to protect themselves.

"Run! Don’t let that thing touch you!"

"Ahh!"

"Mother!"

Cries of panic echoed through the air. The elderly struggled to save themselves, children were separated from their parents, and the young shoved one another in a desperate bid to flee. It was a scene of pure chaos.

How could they not panic? All of them had seen what happened to any living being touched by the energy which appeared to them as the very embodiment of death. Wherever it passed, bodies were drained dry in an instant, left behind like brittle, withered twigs.

In the Devil Territory, the allied forces received panicked reports from their homelands. The energy had already begun entering the continent. Even when cultivators tried to resist it, their defenses were quickly corroded. The energy tore through everything as if nothing could stand in its way.

The leaders didn’t know what to do. At this moment, they were powerless. They wanted to return and help, but then what? They couldn’t stop the source of the energy. They couldn’t stop the eye.

They could do nothing.

There was no way to stop it.

The only thing they could do now was hope that Aldrian, who had seemingly vanished, would come. Emperor Ladwin had asked Sylphia about Aldrian’s whereabouts, but she was unable to reach him.

This left her shaken, panic rising alongside a creeping sense of despair. Had something happened to him? They had all just seen him fighting... but now, she couldn’t connect with him at all.

Sylphia looked up at the eye, her gaze steady despite the fear, her hands clasped tightly together.

"Aldrian, where are you?" she whispered, her voice trembling as a single tear fell from her eye.

"Is this our end?" she thought. But then—

From her eyes’ reflection, something appeared in the sky—something that left her stunned.

In fact, it wasn’t just her. At this moment, every being across the continent—no, across the entire world and beyond, anyone who could see the sky, saw it too.

A breathtaking phenomenon had emerged. One so beautiful, it would be forever engraved in their memories.