--

Tens of thousands of flying swords flew around, slicing apart thread and bugs all the same.

Cedric's killing rate evened out with the production of his enemies, taking this battle into some sort of a standstill.

There were no doubts that this battle was intense. Both sides didn't plan on showing mercy to the other.

At some point, Cedric employed the power of his sword intent to start limiting the space that the giant bugs could use. He took advantage of the sharpness of his sword, intending to claim a piece of the land little by little for himself.

He left flying swords on the ground, acting like beacons and pins, radiating with sword intent. Whenever bugs or silk threads come close to them, the sword intent within them reacts and cuts them off.

Furthermore, Cedric summoned even bigger swords that actually threatened both the Silk Mother and the Silk Spinner. The sharpness these swords emitted was enough to make them feel the threat of death closing in; therefore, they increased their production even more.

At the rate of their production, they could've amassed enough army of bugs and silk to engulf a solar system or two in just days. Anybody with well-functioning eyes could see that. It's just that it's Dawnbringer who's standing in their way, preventing this from happening.

This made a lot of people dread 'The Horde' even more. They weren't as strong or as heroic as Dawnbringer. They can duplicate what he's doing. So if they ever found themselves in this kind of situation, all they could really do was either fight or run and hope that they would survive.

Cedric repeated his method on the previous floor.

He once again laid down a massive formation. This time, it did take longer because he had to cover more ground and there were more enemies around. But in the end, he managed to do it.

Schwing!!

The crisp and loud screech of steel resounded throughout this ruined world, startling everybody.

Then, from beneath Cedric, who's standing at the very core of the formation he laid down, an incredibly massive sword rose to the heavens, releasing unparalleled might that swallowed and overwhelmed everything else.

Cedric's figure looked like an ant compared to the sword he summoned. The sword dwarfed even the huge Silk Mother herself.

All bugs felt instinctive terror within the depths of their existence at the appearance of that sword. Some even directly fell over dead.

Cedric's sword intent sung out loud, dominating and overwhelming everything that both the Silk Mother and the Silk Spinner had created since coming to this world.

In front of that sword, all else was trash. It's the sole existence that only mattered between the heaven and the earth.

The solemnity and grandness of that sword, once again, stunned everybody.

Even the councillors of the Divine Council were surprised. Thinking that an Immortal Warrior like Cedric shouldn't have been able to produce anything near the strength he's outputting now.

This sword might even pose a threat to the Universe Masters. That's how serious it was. And for an Immortal Warrior, especially with a largely unknown background, a feat like this was highly unusual.

Yet at the same time, all the swordsmen who were watching Cedric, once again, praised Cedric endlessly in their hearts.

Time and time again, he showed them just how vast and profound the Sword Path was. The more they saw, the more overwhelmed they felt, but at the same time, it also inspired them like no other.

Some even started worshipping Cedric, calling him the Sword God.

Alas, their voices couldn't reach Cedric now, as he was solely focused on ending this fight before any surprises happened.

Raising the sword he's holding, Cedric rose to the skies at the same time when the gigantic rising sword behind him unleashed a blinding radiance.

His sword intent screamed, and the sound it made killed all of the Silk Spinner's children without any exceptions. As soon as they died, their bodies started disintegrating; their ashes were then scattered by the wind, wiping them out of existence as if they were never there.

The sword intent also caused damage to both the Silk Mother and the Silk Spinner. The threads they held all started melting like snow, and the gigantic sword was the blazing sun.

It was then that they both felt the threat of death coming closer even more.

But before they could do anything, Cedric, having already decided to end this as soon as he could, swung down the sword in his hand.

And the incomparably large sword behind him followed suit.

Schwing! Boom!

With a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a structure that large, the gigantic sword slashed downwards, passing through both the Silk Mother and the Silk Spinner, all the way to whatever's left of this world.

The Silk Mother and the Silk Spinner felt their thoughts freezing up as they saw the gigantic sword swinging down at them. In their perception, the sword's movements were slow. But at the same time, as much as they wanted to defend themselves, they found it impossible.

Their thoughts and senses have been completely dominated and overwhelmed by that sword. So much so that they couldn't even muster enough will to stop it from killing them.

It sliced everything in half. Nothing was able to slow it down even for a microsecond.

The attack ended just as abruptly as it happened. An explosion followed suit, one that ended both the Silk Mother's and Silk Spinner's lives.

What remains of the world had also been engulfed by that explosion, and so did whatever foul mess the bugs left behind in their wake.

To others, it would look like Cedric decided to wipe out everything, ensuring that not even a speck of bugs was left. And that would make sense. It is, after all, better to wipe it all out. It's impossible for this world to recover anyway.

However, Cedric had different thoughts.

In truth, he didn't intend to destroy this world, even in its current state. His sword only cuts through the targets that he wanted cut. Cedric sliced the bugs and the mess they left behind. The chain reaction extended to the world, but its intention was only to wipe out the mess left behind, not to destroy the world.

The explosion that followed wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Cedric already did what's expected from him and so much more. All the power and chaos left behind by what he did should cause new life to bloom after all this destruction.

It's going to take some time, sure, but eventually, this world will be reborn and might even be better than its previous self.

Alas, Cedric doesn't plan on staying here to witness that happening.

In his mind, he had already done what he could; his conscience was clear. Whatever happens next is no longer in his hands.

He didn't even stay behind to witness the explosion engulfing everything. The appearance of the portal leading back to the platform of cubes already appeared, meaning that his job here was done.

And Cedric wasn't one to waste time, so he left right away.

**

"Spread out and scatter."

"Kill him."

"We can't let him grow any more than this, or else he'll become the next Nicholas Welsh!"

"Kill him!"

"Ambush, assassinate, kill! Do anything and everything to make sure that he dies as soon as possible!"

These words were heard by all members of 'The Horde' in their subconsciousness.

It came from their 'Mother,' the one who gave birth to them all, and her orders were more like an edict to them. One that must be followed and had no room for rejection.

'The Horde' is a hive mind, sort of. Their consciousnesses are all connected with the 'Mother' at its absolute core. However, they're not connected at all times, or else every creature of 'The Horde' will turn insane or crazy. They only tap into the hive mind once they have something important to report or do.

The Heavenly Star's Millennial Tournament, being an event this grand, of course, attracted the attention of other creatures as well. 'The Horde' was no different.

And for creatures that wanted nothing but to devour all life to improve their own, the Horde found humans an exceptional source of nutrients because of their strong reproductive abilities.

The Horde wants to enslave humans, turning them into cattle to raise as their future food source.

This had been the plan for so long now, yet the Horde couldn't have expected humans to be so resilient. They failed, time and time again. And at some point, humans even successfully fought back.

Now, they occupy one of the five known Chaos Realms and have grown strong enough to pose a serious threat to the existence of the Horde.

A deep-seated grudge has been formed between their races, and one couldn't rest until the other was wiped out from existence.

The emergence of Dawnbringer proves that humanity's future was about to face another surge. And obviously, this was bad news for the Horde; therefore, Cedric needed to die yesterday.

They couldn't allow him to grow any stronger than this; otherwise, the Horde would surely suffer.