CHAPTER 205: CHAPTER 205: FALU STAR

Many years ago, on the Faru people’s home planet.

This ancient forest is one of the few remaining settlements of the nearly extinct forest Faru people.

Between the branches of these giant trees, a multi-layered city has been constructed.

On the lowest level, there are hundreds of houses woven from branches and leaves.

The second-layer houses are built from clay and grass, while the third layer, the highest, is made from fabric... white fabric.

There are hundreds of bridges crossing between the trees and branches, but like the other parts of the city, these bridges differ according to the levels.

This small city is full of life, with some humanoid creatures wearing colorful cloaks busily engaged in various activities.

Some are transporting goods, some are working on their crafts, while others are just chatting or leisurely moving from one place to another.

There are also guards, who are tall males dressed in leather armor, wielding long spears.

Every creature passing by the guards shows them respect and gratitude for their protection.

These humanoids are quite small, about over 10 centimeters tall, but some of the guards are taller, around 20 centimeters.

A Faru rider is speeding towards this peaceful city.

He is a Warrior clad in green armor, his mount a giant cat that looks almost ready to collapse from exhaustion.

"In the name of the Sun! Those corpses have chased us all the way here..."

The Warrior muttered to himself as he rode around a group of about a hundred walking dead.

On his journey, he encountered a few Zombies but managed to dodge them in his charge towards his destination.

Seeing a flower-shaped symbol on the trunk of a large tree, he steered the cat towards it.

The beast sprinted at full speed, leaping and gripping the trunk with its claws, while the rider held tightly onto its back, the saddle straps securing him firmly in place.

The cat quickly climbed to the bottom layer of the city, known as Level 0, where the guards and stables are located.

The Warrior dismounted, handing the reins to a young Faru, then dashed towards the connection to the next level up.

He climbed up a rope hanging from the first level to reach there.

The Warrior’s beautiful red cloak fluttered behind him, revealing a pair of wings somewhere between butterfly and mosquito wings.

The Warrior ascended into the air, grasping the rope. With the strength of his wings, he swiftly reached the first layer, then hurried towards the connection to the second layer.

"Berries! Fresh berries!" an elderly female shouted.

Following a guard’s suggestion, the Warrior took a shortcut through the market.

There, some elderly Faru were selling their goods, which included various supplies and materials collected by their families.

Their wings had long since withered and fallen like leaves, so this was the only work they could do to support their families.

To the Warrior’s surprise, the market was bustling just like the rest of the city, with merchants selling fish, berries, nuts, and even edible insects.

The Warrior was particularly drawn to some fried red centipede larvae.

The aroma was incredible, a rare delicacy in his homeland! But he had no time to eat, so he rushed to the second layer.

As before, he climbed the rope to reach it.

The Warrior considered himself one of the few Faru capable of flying five meters off the ground.

But the second level is six meters high... so he floated up some distance before grabbing the rope and, with his wing power, quickly climbed to the next level.

Once there, he dashed straight towards the connection to the next layer.

Soon he arrived at the "Celestial Palace Residence."

The third layer, also known as the "Celestial Palace Residence," is the only layer where flying is allowed.

Its wide streets and equally wide bridges built from white fabric allow the Faru to fly without fear of death, for the higher they fly, the more difficult it becomes to fly.

And this fabric solved that problem, as Faru do not experience the same gravitational pull when flying over it as they do elsewhere.

Once airborne, the Warrior flew at great speed towards the Sun Palace, the residence of the city’s ruler.

Faru flying past him couldn’t help but stare at the Warrior’s beautiful and powerful wings.

Before entering this giant white building suspended like a spider web between two large branches, the Warrior was stopped by two imposing guards in gilded metal armor.

They were very tall, with severe expressions, each standing about two feet three inches or taller.

Their arms and legs were very sturdy, and their voices sounded more like some ancient beast than Faru voices.

One of the guards, seeing the visitor, shouted, "Halt! Who are you?!"

"I have a message for the Sun Priestess! The mountain Faru have been wiped out!" the Warrior said.

The guard involuntarily stepped back, shocked by the news he just heard.

The Warrior ran into the Temple, where some sort of ceremony appeared to be taking place.

A fragile-looking young woman, with long golden hair and equally golden wings, was dancing a ritual dance in the air.

Her white dress fluttered in the gentle wind produced by her wings. Numerous mirrors reflected the sunlight streaming in from an opening in the ceiling, directing it right at the young woman.

The Warrior was stunned, the beautiful scene impacting him deeply, but he had no time to admire it.

Clenching his teeth, he ran into the center of the Temple and shouted as loudly as he could.

"Sun Priestess! I implore you to stop the ritual and talk to me! I have urgent news!"

"How dare you interrupt the ritual?!" a dozen Sun Maidens exclaimed.

They were women who could not become priestesses but served as her maids. They wore gilded cloaks that covered their faces and bodies.

"Enough!" the Priestess said sternly.

She swiftly descended onto the soft ground, walking towards the messenger: "Speak, brave warrior."

This brave warrior seemed to have lost the ability to speak, as he faced the most beautiful and enchanting creature he had ever seen.

After a moment of daze, the warrior recalled his purpose and knelt on one knee, reporting.

"Priestess! The Faru people in the mountains have been wiped out, led by an advanced lord, with many Heaven’s Children wrought massacre..."

Upon hearing the news, the Priestess felt dizzy, but before she fell, the Sun Maidens caught her.

"I’m alright..." she said, waving them away, though she could barely stand, she composed herself with effort.

"Sound the alarm immediately, the enemy will..."

Before the Priestess could finish, the bright sunlight no longer shone into the temple, and a monster’s huge and ugly face squeezed through a hole in the ceiling.

It looked like a combination of a bat and a deformed French bulldog.

The monster easily crashed through the ceiling and crawled into the temple, but the warrior had already drawn his long spear.

He lunged forward at full speed, thrusting it fiercely into the monster’s body. The monster swiped a claw at the warrior, but he easily jumped aside and then rushed forward, stabbing the forehead of the three-foot-tall giant beast.

A maid quickly pointed to the hole in the ceiling, shouting: "There are more enemies! It’s the Heaven’s Children!"

"Protect the Priestess, warrior! It’s your duty!" another maid shouted as a ball of light appeared in her hand.

The light sphere grew larger and turned yellow, and the maid fired a beam, scorching three Faru monster that looked like mutated bats.

The Priestess was about to join the fight, but the warrior immediately ran to her, and with a swing of his strong arms, he hoisted her onto his shoulder.

The Priestess struggled, demanding to be put down so that she could die with her people, but the warrior refused to comply and took her out of the palace.

Outside, the scene was like hell.

The entire sky was covered with black monsters that seized and bit the Faru people, and within two seconds, these Faru turned into zombies, starting to slaughter their own kind.

Many Faru people broke their wings on the fall, so most zombies could only walk on the ground.

Some even fell from bridges and street holes all the way to the ground. The monsters wantonly destroyed everything in sight.

Meanwhile, the warrior had descended to the first level.

The Priestess no longer resisted, only crying.

In the past twenty minutes, she had witnessed too much death.

However, her delicate face soon contorted with another shock and fear.

[Warning!]

[Planet population has fallen below the stipulated level!]

[End]

This planet will now be broken into fragments and absorbed by the Sea of Space-Time.

All life-bearing fragments will be frozen until they come in contact with the Ark or Moving Island.

[Good luck to you...]

"No! Impossible!" the Priestess screamed.

The sky suddenly split open!

Not just the sky, but the entire space was filled with black cracks. Then everything stopped...

The monster flying towards its prey, a drop of blood dripping from the mouth of a mutated creature, a guard about to pierce a wild beast’s throat with a spear...

The entire world had paused.

Most terrifying of all, the still living Faru people realized what was happening.

They couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and their consciousness was slowly fading away.

From the Priestess’s perspective—

She closed her eyes, falling asleep, but moments later was awakened by a system message.

[Alert!]

[Your fragment has come in contact with living entities, space-time thawing begins!]

Time started flowing normally again.

The monster grabbed its prey and tore it apart, and a guard’s spear pierced the creature’s throat.

It seemed as if everything was continuing from where it had stopped just moments ago, but that wasn’t the case.

All the monsters suddenly turned their heads eastward, as if crazy, charging towards a new destination.

The freshly infected zombies leaped to the ground, and those zombies that could still move after falling walked, crawled, flew, all heading eastward.

There, in the direction of the Shelter...