The void was silent.

Every being stood frozen, staring into the empty void where an entire Demon fleet had just… ceased to exist.

Only Adrian felt the cost.

He could feel the weight of it pressing down on his being, his mana drained to its edge. The Absolute Source Order had consumed him nearly to nothing.

It was not a simple thing to erase that many beings. Even he had never gone this far, not to the point of erasing Stellar beings alongside tens of thousands of SSS-rank warriors.

His power and his mana limit were still the same as when he fought Veythar. He hadn't grown much since then.

But Adrian didn't worry, because he had already created a solution for this.

Above the Origin Capital, the formation pulsed. White-grey mist seeped through it, condensing into streams that descended toward him, drawn into his Source Form, flooding his empty channels and filling them once again.

He murmured, almost to himself, "That's why I built you… to carry what I cannot."

He knew his limits, and he knew anything could come at him when he opened his clan capital.

To truly face those dangers, he needed to increase his personal mastery, not depend upon Source Form, since he could only maintain it for thirty seconds.

But that was something that would take him years. Until then, he could still face dangers and his clan could be in danger.

This was his answer, his safeguard.

He built the formation not merely as defense for his people, but as an anchor for himself. It could fill him with Source Essence, the same way ships filled vacuum with artificial mana.

The core, the massive Source Essence Crystal he had worked on for weeks, fed him and restored him. It could sustain him for hours, but only as long as he remained within its range.

Still, this was a temporary solution he came up with, and could only be used when he was within the range of this formation.

If he was stuck somewhere else entirely, then he could not depend on this. In those situations, only his personal mastery would help.

But for now, for this situation, this solution was more than enough.

...

Across the void, Kraxis stirred.

The Demon Lord, his armor cracked, his essence bleeding darkness, rose with a snarl.

Even he hadn't expected to see his entire fleet erased in an instant. For the first time in centuries, fear flashed in his eyes.

But the fear burned away quickly, consumed by bloodlust.

"You…" he rasped, laughter bubbling up, distorted with rage and madness. "You shine brighter than any prey I've tasted… that only means your death will taste sweeter!"

His essence erupted, domain of fire and shadow bursting out in every direction, twisting space itself into chaos.

Flames the size of moons roared to life around him. Shadows coiled like serpents, devouring the light.

"I'll tear the flesh from your bones and wear your ashes as my crown!"

And then, with a roar that shook the stars, he vanished.

Shadow Step.

He reappeared right in front of Adrian, his claws wreathed in fire and shadow.

The void split open as his barrage landed. Shadow tendrils lashed out, space ruptured, fire lances screamed through the vacuum, and explosions erupted like miniature supernovas.

Each strike carried the weight of a Stellar's full mastery. Each technique refined over millennia of slaughter.

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The impact blinded everyone watching.

When the glare faded, Adrian hadn't moved.

The Source Form shimmered faintly, his gaze calm. He bent every attack around him, dissolving before reaching him.

To him, it was effortless.

To Kraxis, it was maddening.

Kraxis poured everything, every domain, every technique, every scream of his dual essences, at Adrian, and it was like attacking an ocean with sparks.

Fire that could melt worlds washed over Adrian and simply… faded. Shadows that consumed light itself evaporated before touching him.

Space warped around Kraxis's claws, his strikes landing in empty void while Adrian stood untouched.

...

Across the capital, every being watched.

A Demon Lord's full assault reduced to nothing, while the man at the center didn't even flinch.

Lady Seris gripped the railings of the central command tower, her knuckles white.

"That's a Demon Lord," she whispered. "A dual-essence Stellar. Even those ancient cultivators with more than dual essences could not treat a demon lord like that."

Her voice cracked. "How is he doing it?"

Beside her, one of her commanders shook his head slowly. "He's toying with him."

Kaelith stood silent her eyes narrowing. She had seen this form against Veythar.

But this was different.

The Adrian before her now wasn't rushing to end the battle. He wasn't desperate.

He was toying with the Demon Lord.

"He's holding it longer than before…" she murmured.

An impossible thought went through her. Did Adrian become strong enough to use that strange form longer, within this two-month gap?

Or was there something else at play?

In the Lexarian Embassy, Archscribe Morvain stood at the observation deck, his fingers trembling.

"It's like a child clawing at a mountain," he muttered.

In the Aethelian chambers, Castian simply watched, his expression grim.

He felt the pressure of Adrian's essence even from this distance. It pressed against his own essence seeds, testing it, weighing it.

He clenched his fists.

He knew how strong Kraxis was. The Demon Lord had razed star systems, slaughtered entire clans, and bathed in the blood of Stellars.

Even he could only stand equal against Kraxis in a prolonged battle.

Yet now Kraxis looked helpless.

"The Emperor…" Castian's voice was barely a whisper. "The Emperor made a grave mistake."

...

Kraxis roared, his power rising to its peak. Flames devoured the horizon, his essence ripping through the void.

He struck again, and again, furious, deranged, unrelenting. Each blow carried the weight of millennia, techniques refined through countless slaughters.

And then… Adrian moved.

Just one step forward.

The void around him cracked, hairline fractures spread outward.

Kraxis froze mid-strike, instinct screaming warnings his pride refused to hear.

A sphere of white-grey light began forming in Adrian's hand.

It pulsed with concepts. Every comprehension he'd ever attained, Space, Fire, Life, Lightning, Water, intertwined within it, layered, balanced, resonating.

The formation above poured essence into him, endless streams flooding his channels. His Source Form blazed brighter, no longer limited by empty reserves.

The void itself seemed to kneel.

Kraxis's flames guttered. His shadow domain trembled, recoiling from the sphere's radiance.

"What… is that?" Kraxis whispered.

Adrian raised his hand. For the first time in the galaxy, he spoke the name aloud.

"Starbreaker."

He threw it.

The sphere streaked across the void, a comet tearing through reality. The space it passed through shattered into fragments of light, folding and vanishing.

Kraxis tried to move, burned his essence, tore through space itself—

But it was like trying to dodge inevitability.

The sphere hit him square in the chest.

There was no explosion, no shockwave, just erasure.

The light enveloped him, and then… he was gone. Not scattered, not broken, simply absent.

It was as if he had never existed.

...

Every being watching stood frozen.

How could a Demon Lord, a being who ruled battlefields for millennia, be erased just like that?

Adrian himself felt it, the difference. Against Veythar, he'd struggled, burning through his reserves in seconds.

Now, sustained by the formation, he'd used his Source Form properly for the first time. Casting his Source Spell while maintaining the transformation.

He knew this was temporary and would only work when inside this formation. And even the formation had limits, the Source Essence Crystal could exhaust.

But he saw a glimpse of how powerful he could become when he grew stronger. One day, when his mana limit was higher, he could do this even without depending on the formation.

He smiled faintly.

Then… the cheers began.

From the Origin Construct to the farthest ships in orbit, soldiers raised their weapons. Their voices trembled with disbelief and joy.

The roar of millions echoed through the system, their faith unshakable now.

They had witnessed the impossible. Their Patriarch slaying a Demon Lord like a god.

Even the envoys felt it, the shift.

The demons were gone, and the Origin Capital stood.

Adrian floated to the apex of the Origin Construct, his Source Form fading, revealing his human silhouette once more.

He gazed down at his people, his clan, his capital. Millions of eyes looked back.

Aurelia chuckled softly, her gaze on Adrian. "Show off."

Thomas, still wreathed in his new Stellar flame, smiled wearily. Pride and exhaustion warred across his face.

Azrael simply nodded, his wings folding, an unspoken acknowledgment between two who understood the weight of survival.

And then, Adrian's voice carried across the entire system.

"To those who came to witness, to those who fought, to those who bled…"

His words rang through every Node, every ship, every heart.

"This is the Origin Clan."

The formation above pulsed in response, white-grey light rippling outward like a heartbeat.

"Let the galaxy know, this day marks the opening of our capital!"

The void trembled, and the Formation flared to life once more, a ring of white-grey light encircling the system, shining across the dark.

A thousand ships, a million eyes, and an entire galaxy watched as the man who erased a fleet stood alone, calm and radiant, atop his creation.