Ery stepped through the gate into the Supre Sector alone, leaving Morgana behind to explore the Chambers of Knowledge.
The transition was imdiate and absolute. The bustling architecture of the grand magus district vanished as though it had never existed.
He found himself suspended within a vast sky of layered light.
This was no city.
Before him stretched an expanse of floating islands, each separated by careful distance, arranged in deliberate formation rather than random drift. Upon every island stood a private estate-so resembled palaces carved from white celestial stone, others appeared as ancient fortresses grown from living wood or shaped from dark crystalline material. Waterfalls poured endlessly into mist before dissolving. Terraced gardens flourished in impossible equilibrium.
It was serene and oppressive at the sa ti.
Every island radiated pressure. Even with his sharpened divine sense, Ery could perceive only the outermost layers. The mont he attempted to probe deeper, invisible formations deflected him without hostility but with absolute authority.
He understood.
This was not rely a restricted district. This was the virtual residence of the Supre figures of the Magus Alliance.
More than a hundred islands hovered within visible range.
He rembered the records. Fewer than one hundred Supres were publicly active. Many remained in long-term seclusion. So were never listed.
A refined chanical woman materialized before him and bowed.
"mber 18770. Please follow."
Ery complied without question.
They flew across the sky at steady speed. As he passed island after island, he sensed faint differences in law. One island shimred with starfire. Another resonated with oceanic tides. The variety was not aesthetic-it reflected each supre domain.
After several minutes, they approached an island whose gates bore twelve interlocking sigils.
The Zodiac.
Before Ery could announce himself, a voice resonated from within. "Enter."
The gates parted.
The mont he crossed the threshold, the environnt shifted again.
He stood before a stone palace atop a gentle hill overlooking an endless sea. The architecture mirrored the Zodiac Palace almost precisely.
He did not fly forward. Instead, a subtle force guided him toward the central hall.
Two figures were waiting for him inside the hall.
King Alduin stood at the center, hands clasped behind his back, his presence steady and immovable like the axis of a constellation. Beside him was a man Ery had never t in person-a pale, strikingly handso figure who appeared no older than his late twenties. A blood-red sigil rested upon the man's forehead, faintly glowing as though etched into his very soul.
His aura was restrained.
Yet it was no less formidable than Alduin's.
Ery had seen King Alduin many tis before. They were in a friendly terms, but the intimidation of standing before a true Supre had never faded-not in the past, not now, even after Ery had stepped into the Grand Magus realm. This was different from Rosin Karat.
The patriarch of Karat faction had been wounded, recovering, his Supre realm unstable. The two supre stood here whole. Complete. Vast.
The difference was undeniable.
Ery stepped forward and bowed with asured respect.
"Greetings, Elders."
The pale man observed him closely, crimson sigil glinting faintly as his lips curved into a thin smile.
"So this is him," he said, voice smooth and quiet. "The Savage Grand Magus."
There was no mockery in the words-only assessnt.
Alduin spoke casually, though the introduction carried weight.
"Ery, this is Lord Blood Sea, Supre Patriarch of the Bat Bloodline."
The na resonated imdiately.
Ery had heard it from Annara, and again during the gathering of the Serpent Lords. The Blood Sea ancestor had once suffered a mysterious assault similar to the attacks on the serpent and wolf bloodlines.
"It is an honor to et you, Elder," Ery replied calmly.
Blood Sea's smile deepened slightly.
"Look at that," he said lightly. "The young one has manners. No wonder you
favor him."
Alduin gave a faint smile.
The two Supres exchanged a few quiet words about Ery. Then Alduin's gaze shifted toward the entrance.
"She is here."
The atmosphere in the hall changed subtly.
A presence approached-not oppressive, not sharp, but radiant.
A woman entered with unhurried grace. She appeared around thirty years old, dressed in an embroidered crimson gown threaded with golden bird patterns that shimred like living fla. Her long hair flowed in deep red waves, and her eyes shone bright as fire-yet their warmth did not burn. Instead, it reached inward, touching sothing buried deep within Ery's soul.
When her gaze t his, he felt it clearly.
Curiosity.
Blood Sea gave a faint sneer. "Huh. Always likes to make an entrance."
Alduin ignored the comnt.
"Ery, this is Fairy Fenghuang, the Blazing Phoenix."
Ery bowed once more, just as respectfully as before.
"It is an honor to et you, Elder."
Fenghuang smiled gently, the expression carrying quiet authority.
Now, before him, stood three of the Twelve Half-Blood Supres.
The weight of that realization settled quietly in Ery's chest. He had expected a conversation-questions, perhaps a test, perhaps an explanation for why he
had been summoned into the Supre Sector so suddenly.
Before he could speak, Alduin simply said, "Let's go."
Ery blinked.
Go?
Where?
Why gather here first, only to move elsewhere together?
The question lingered, unanswered.
Without further explanation, the three Supres turned and exited the Zodiac
estate. Ery followed, maintaining respectful distance behind them. They rose into the sky once more, crossing beyond the familiar floating islands and
into a deeper layer of the Supre Sector.
The scenery shifted gradually.
The structured elegance of floating mansions gave way to vast terraces of
stone suspended in darkness. Massive rock platforms hovered like drifting continents, layered one above another. They flew through what appeared to be multiple tiers of suspended stone corridors.
Their destination lay beyond.
After several minutes of flight, a narrow pass opened before them, and as they
crossed it, the environnt changed completely.
Wilderness.
Dense jungle stretched across rolling terrain. Mountains rose in jagged formations. Rivers cut through valleys. The air carried the scent of earth and
rain.
And everywhere-beasts.
Tens of thousands of them.
Winged serpents circled overhead. Massive feline predators prowled the forest
floor. Herds of horned creatures moved in disciplined clusters across the
plains.
At first glance, Ery's instincts sharpened. But within a second, he recognized
the truth.
All were virtual constructs.
Yet their auras were anything but trivial.
"Who would choose to reside in such a place?" he wondered silently.
The three Supres flew toward an ancient structure. It resembled ruins at
first glance-a colossal stone pyramid whose exterior bore cracks and creeping
vines, as if reclaid by nature.
They had nearly reached the yard when the sky split with a roar.
The sound was primal.
From the distant horizon, a colossal shape launched itself into the air.
An ape beast.
Its body was composed of dark crystalline stone, jagged and reflective like obsidian. It towered over one hundred ters tall, each movent shaking the air itself. When it landed upon a distant ridge before leaping again, the
shockwave rippled through the jungle canopy.
The aura it emitted was staggering.
Raw.
Dominant.
It exceeded any beast Ery had ever encountered-except for the Leviathan
beast.
And yet-
Alduin, Blood Sea, and Fenghuang did not react.
They continued forward as though greeting an old acquaintance. The massive ape descended toward the palace courtyard, its body beginning to
shift mid-air. The towering crystalline fra compressed, shrinking rapidly.
By the ti it landed before them, the beast stood only three tis the height
of a human. Still enormous, still powerful-but no longer overwhelming in
scale.
Its features remained unmistakably simian, yet intelligence glead within its golden eyes.
The giant figure grinned broadly.
In contrast to his overwhelming physique and the terrifying aura he had displayed monts earlier, the giant ape's deanor shifted into sothing unexpectedly warm the instant he focused on Ery. His golden eyes narrowed slightly, not in hostility, but in careful assessnt, as though asuring the young grand magus against expectations ford long ago. "So this is the young wolf?" he said, voice rumbling like distant thunder rolling
through a canyon. "You are a little small for your reputation... well.. good to finally et you"
Ery steadied himself and bowed.
Alduin completed the introduction calmly. "This is Dawnstone Monarch, Sovereign of the Primal Mountain and guardian of the Ape bloodline." The na carried undeniable authority. Dawnstone was no half-blood walking
the path of humanity; he was a true hybrid beast who had ascended beyond
limitation. The apex of his lineage
Suprisingly, the monarch reveal that he was also the master of Harambe the Mighty Kong of the Magus Academy.
"My tiny disciple talks much about you." He laughed and clapped Ery's
shoulder with controlled strength.
As they entered the ancient looking stone structure, the ape Supre grew
unexpectedly chatty, speaking casually about his disciple who had apparently embarrassed him constantly at the Academy.
They soon arrived at the main hall, and there Ery encountered two more
Supre figures.
He had already t several within the last hour, and yet the sight before him
still caught him off guard.
One stood near the edge of the hall-a towering humanoid figure marked by unmistakable draconic features. Green scales traced along his forearms and neck, faintly shimring under ambient light. Curved horns swept backward from his temples.
A dragon hybrid Supre.
At the center of the hall, seated upon a throne carved from obsidian stone, was another figure.
His appearance was understated-neither fully man nor beast. A single horn rose from his forehead, and faint, tentacle-like tendrils writhed subtly along his
chin. The space around him felt slightly distorted, as though reality itself bent
in his presence.
Ery recognized him imdiately.
He had seen the statue.
One of the twenty-four Supre Emperors.
They called him the Stellar Beast Emperor.
What struck Ery most was not rely his presence, but the reaction of the
others.
Alduin inclined his head. Blood Sea followed. Fenghuang bowed gracefully.
Dawnstone lowered his towering crystalline fra, kneeling in respect.
Four Supres acknowledging one. The hierarchy was unmistakable.
But what unsettled Ery even more was the mont their gazes t.
Sothing deep within him surged.
A pulse.
Ancient.
The Star Devouring Beast stirred.
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