Nestled deep within the North-Eastern Twilight Mountains, the enclave of the Astral Pri Clan sprawled like a living fortress of ancient wonder—a Galactic-ranked stronghold that had endured three world eras, controlling the heart of Astralis as their sovereign world.
The enclave was a self-sustained tropolis of white jade spires and floating crystal gardens, spanning ten million kiloters in a perfect do of mythic-ranked barrier crystal that shimred with unbreakable light.
Inside, SSS-ranked maids in flowing silver robes tended to opulent halls, while workers of the sa rank, maintained rune-etched chanisms that powered the enclave’s eternal defenses.
First Calamity warriors patrolled the periters in thousands, their auras like steady flas guarding the bulk of the clan’s strength: Third and Fourth Calamity cultivators who ford the core legions, Elders at Fifth Calamity overseeing strategies, and the Patriarch, Matriarch, and secluded ancestors at Sixth Calamity, their presences felt as distant thunder.
The clan’s strongest, a Seventh Calamity guardian, secluded in their private realm, ready to awaken if the barrier faltered. Among the younger generation, the male heir—Elias Astral, a sharp-eyed Fourth Calamity youth with a talent for spatial seals—trained relentlessly, his presence a beacon of future hope.
Outside the barrier, chaos reigned as hordes of invaders hamred relentlessly against the crystal do, their attacks rebounding in explosions of light and sound that lit the mountain peaks like false dawns.
Demi-human clans from Ironfang and Stormclaw hurled Calamity-grade lightning claws and crystal spears, each strike cracking the air but barely scratching the mythic surface. Abyssal Foxes unleashed voids of silent darkness that swallowed light, only for the barrier to reflect it back as harmless shadows.
Solar Foxes bombarded with golden solar flas, scorching the surrounding forests to ash, yet the do held firm, absorbing and dispersing the heat like a living star. Nocturne and Noctis vampires combined blood-Laws into crimson lances that pierced the sky, but the crystal rippled and healed instantly.
Even two Eighth Calamity elders (one a grizzled Noctis lord with a blood-sword the size of a mountain, the other a Noctis matriarch wielding shadow-veils that eclipsed the suns) joined the assault, their combined strike—a vortex of blood-shadow that warped space—bood against the barrier with galaxy-shaking force, sending cracks racing across its surface... only for the runes to flare and nd it in seconds, leaving the attackers drained and frustrated.
Inside the enclave’s central command hall—a vast chamber of glowing jade walls etched with three eras of ancestral runes—the clan’s key figures gathered around a massive projection crystal that displayed the outer assault in vivid detail.
The Patriarch, a stern Sixth Calamity elder with flowing white robes and eyes like ancient stars, paced slowly, his voice booming amid the murmurs.
"After two eras trapped in this forsaken pocket, the seals have finally weakened—we can return to Astralis properly!"
The Matriarch, his counterpart in elegant silver armor, nodded with a fierce smile, but her gaze flickered to the projection.
"Relief at last... our children can breathe true air, not this recycled essence," she said, voice trembling with emotion as cheers erupted from the gathered Elders.
The Fifth Calamity Elders shouted in joyous disarray—"Freedom!" one cried, while another laughed wildly, "The stars will tremble at our return!"—papers and artifacts scattering in the excitent.
Young Elias, the Fourth Calamity heir, clenched his fists amid the chaos, eyes wide with awe and impatience. "But look—these outsiders.... they may break the barrier before we can leave!"
The Patriarch’s face darkened as the projection zood on the Eighth Calamity attackers. "Those two Vampires... their strikes are too close. If that Eighth-rank pair breaks through before we escape..."
An Elder slamd the table. "We’ve waited eras—let them co! Our Seventh Ancestor will awaken if they breach!"
Chaos erupted anew—argunts flying, maps unrolling, so laughing in defiance, others shouting plans—pure, heartfelt pandemonium born of trapped souls finally tasting freedom.
Then the projection shifted, zooming to the background where a new group appeared: a bronze-skinned man with black wings and white hair, flanked by three vampire won and two n.
The hall fell into a stunned hush amid the lingering excitent, all eyes locking on the newcor whose presence seed to warp the feed slightly.
"Who... is that?" Elias whispered, the chaos pausing for a breath as the Patriarch leaned closer, brow furrowed.
-----
Ash and the rest appeared at the back of the scattered cultivators attempting to breach the barrier. There were far fewer here than in the valley.... perhaps a few thousand at most, clustered in wary groups, their attacks sporadic and cautious. The mythic-ranked barrier shimred like a wall of living crystal under the pure blue sky, runes pulsing with quiet, ancient power.
Connor couldn’t help the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Why don’t you just break the barrier again?"
Seth facepald so hard the sound echoed. ’Seriously... can’t you see this guy is a monster?’ he thought, glancing at Connor with pity.
He understood the jealousy... Sumr had chosen Ash, plain as day, but he was pushing it.
Raven’s gaze swept the pristine structures visible beyond the barrier the white jade spires gleaming, floating gardens blooming with light, no sign of ruin or abandonnt.
"I don’t think breaking the barrier will be the smartest idea..." she said quietly.
"Right," Katherine added, blonde hair catching the sunlight. "This place doesn’t look dilapidated at all... and I think I even see people on the other side."
Ash only stood with a smirk on his face. He knew well enough this was the ho of Astralis’s original humans—the Pri Humans. But what intrigued him was how an entire clan could be locked away on their own world.
’Hmm, I won’t attract too much attention... for now at least.’
He reached out, grabbing Raven and Sumr by the waist, Katherine slipping in close on her own. Then, Law of Paradox and Law of Space activated in perfect unison.
Reality warped with the barrier’s mythic runes flickering once, confused, as paradox turned "inside" and "outside" into aningless concepts.
They vanished.
Seth and Connor were left standing like fools, mouths open mid-sentence.
Ash and the three won reappeared on the spotless streets of the enclave, smooth white jade beneath their feet, the air rich with the fragrance of blooming light-flowers, and distant figures in elegant robes turning to stare in surprise.
Sumr’s black eyes were glued to Ash. "...You’re telling you could just bypass mythic-ranked barriers?"
He nodded casually. "Well... I used the Law of Paradox. Mythic barriers aren’t enough to keep out."
He let his mana sense drift outward, the enclave’s layout unfolding in his mind—countless Third and Fourth Calamity warriors, venerable Fifth Calamity elders, the imposing Sixth Calamity patriarch and matriarch, the dormant Seventh Calamity guardian, and the watchful young Fourth Calamity heir observing it all.
Raven’s hand tightened on his arm. "What’s next?"
Ash’s smirk softened into sothing almost polite.
"Let’s go et our new friends... It would be rude to intrude without speaking."
The three won exchanged glances (equal parts excitent and caution).
They followed him deeper into the enclave, footsteps echoing softly on jade streets that had not known outsiders in two eras.
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