The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 525: Already Prepared

While Grand Duke Rivas is facing one of the most intense moments of his life, the situation on the border between the Vindas Empire and the devil territory is just as tense as in other places attacked by the devils.

At this time, inside the Flamecrest Grand Duchy, near a town close to the border, a battle breaks out as the devils try to attack. Fortunately, the Flamecrest family’s information network caught wind of devil movements at the border that seemed to be targeting this town, so they had already sent cultivators as support.

The devils had previously attacked several towns and villages near the border, prompting the Flamecrest family to strengthen their intelligence network to monitor any suspicious movement.

Before the devils could launch their surprise attack, they were already intercepted by the Flamecrest cultivators.

The battle is intense, as the devils seem to have no regard for their lives, attacking wildly.

Whoosh!

Rumble!

"Kill all these crazy bastards! Don’t let a single one escape!"

The rumbling sound of battle, followed by the shouts of the Flamecrest cultivators, intensified the clash as the devils continued their attacks using powerful techniques. Many of them had already transformed into their devil forms, making each strike even more destructive.

At a glance, the devils seemed stronger in terms of firepower, but the Flamecrest cultivators had the advantage in numbers, overwhelming them with a coordinated assault. However, the devils, buried under a storm of attacks from all directions, showed no concern for their injuries. They continued to retaliate with even greater force.

Even with their bodies shredded, stabbed, or cut, they did not stop. They launched crazed attacks, even using their own bodies as weapons just to land a single blow. Like rabid dogs that felt no pain, the only way to stop them was to kill them instantly.

Amid the chaos, one figure stood out the most. His sword and strength were overwhelming. His flame technique, combined with his swordsmanship, cut down devils in a single strike—igniting cheers from the Flamecrest cultivators, who shouted with high spirit.

Aldrey’s strength made any devil facing him seem like a child trying to fight an adult. No matter how they attacked, their blows could not reach him. The area around him had already become a field of fire—flames blazing so fiercely that any devil who tried to approach was burned even before the real fight began.

"Argh! You all will die! Glory to the Devil God!"

"The Devil God will descend! Hahaha!"

Their screams were mad and frenzied, but their bodies turned to ash moments later, consumed by Aldrey’s flame technique. His expression remained calm as he watched them disintegrate, unfazed by their wild shouts.

Soon after, the battle ended. The devils were eliminated thanks to the Flamecrest cultivators’ coordination and the surprise interception.

With the battle over, the Flamecrest cultivators began cleaning the battlefield, collecting anything useful from the devils before burning their corpses. Aldrey observed the process in silence, lost in thought as he reflected on the fight.

"They really acted like lunatics, throwing their lives away without hesitation. What made them like this? Has their god truly close to descending?"

"Is the prophesied time closer than we thought?"

His face turned solemn. He continued to observe the cleanup process when he noticed a silhouette—a lone figure in the distance. He narrowed his eyes, as the person was coming from the direction of the devil territory, which was a bad sign.

"All units, stop what you are doing and return to formation!" he shouted. He did not want to take any chances, whether the figure was truly alone or not, or whether it was a devil. The fact that this person came from the direction of the devil territory was already highly suspicious, enough for him to act with caution—even if it meant preparing the battle formation.

The figure kept approaching, and eventually everyone from the Flamecrest family could see him clearly. He was wearing a robe that covered his entire body, but they could still see his neck and mouth. They heightened their guard and prepared to unleash their techniques in case he suddenly attacked, but then the figure stopped not far from them.

Aldrey could not sense the figure’s cultivation, but his expression remained solemn. This figure might be hiding their power.

"State yourself! Who are you, and why are you in this area?!" he shouted at the figure.

But there was only silence, which made the situation even more tense. A few moments later, the figure slightly lifted his head and looked toward Aldrey and the others from the Flamecrest family. The moment Aldrey saw the man’s face, his expression turned grim—his face even paled slightly. He recognized who this figure was.

The man had a youthful, unblemished face—not too handsome, not too ugly, simply ordinary. To those who didn’t know him, he would appear to be just another passerby—unremarkable and easy to forget.

But to those who did know him, he was a nightmare. An abomination that should not exist. One of the most feared men on the continent.

"All of you, retreat! Escape!" Aldrey shouted to the others. But before anyone could move far, the man raised his hand and directed his open palm at the Flamecrest cultivators. A black matter suddenly formed in his palm.

In an instant, the space up to five kilometers in front of his hand began to sucked into the black mass.

The cultivators who tried to flee began to slow down, their movements strained. One by one, they were slowly pulled toward the man’s palm. Many tried to hold onto anything they could to stop themselves from being dragged in, struggling desperately against the force.

The trees, rocks, and the land itself—everything was being sucked into the man’s palm. It was as if his hand had become a black hole, devouring anything that came near.

Aldrey stabbed his sword into the ground, bracing himself as he stared at the man with a grim expression.

"The Gluttony Devil has appeared here!" he thought.

But Aldrey did not despair. He turned his gaze to the side, where, in the distance, a high hill stood. Suddenly, from behind the hill, a massive object emerged, soaring into the sky. Though it was shaped differently from those of the Atria Empire, but it was unmistakably a flying fortress.

Moments later, the flying fortress unleashed a beam of flame energy as powerful as a peak emperor-stage cultivator’s attack, directing it straight at the Gluttony Devil.

Whoosh!

The Gluttony Devil merely glanced at the incoming attack and extended his other hand toward it. Another dark matter, like a black hole, appeared in his palm, sucking in everything in front of it. The moment the attack from the flying fortress reached him, it was absorbed into the Gluttony Devil’s hand.

The attack, capable of obliterating everything, was sucked in as if it were nothing. Even the Gluttony Devil’s expression showed no concern. But the assault didn’t stop there. Another attack came from a different direction, aimed directly at Gluttony.

The sword slash, which carried the power of an emperor-stage attack, came at Gluttony. He instantly released his technique and jumped backward, narrowly evading the strike. The slash tore through the land where he had just stood, leaving a 15-kilometer-long trail of destruction in its wake.

Gluttony turned his gaze toward the man who had suddenly appeared and unleashed the attack. The man was clad in full armor, his face obscured, making it impossible to discern his identity. However, the divine grade of his armor and the sword in his hand revealed that he was from the imperial family.

A smirk spread across Gluttony’s face as he looked at the armored figure.

"This is truly surprising—the emperor himself coming personally to face me. What an honor," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

The man’s helmet opened on its own, revealing Emperor Herman himself. He looked at Gluttony with a solemn expression.

"To think there’s another rat trying to sneak in, and it’s a big one at that. Fortunately, I came, so I can kill the big rat personally," the emperor said, his tone fierce.

Gluttony smiled and glanced at the incoming flying fortress and the few emperor-stage cultivators that accompanied it. They formed a formidable force, enough to crush the entire devil’s forces stationed at the fortresses across the border with the Vindas Empire.

"You truly didn’t hesitate to waste all that resource just to face me," Gluttony said, his gaze shifting toward Emperor Herman.

"But it’s not yet time for us to face each other." Suddenly, his body vanished.

"Soon, when darkness engulfs the entire continent, that’s when we’ll face each other—when your despair arrives." His voice echoed one last time before silence fell.

"He’s gone," Emperor Herman said, as Aldrey let out a sigh of relief. Aldrey looked at the emperor with gratitude and gave a slight bow.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for lending your help. This is truly an honor," Aldrey said.

Emperor Herman turned to Aldrey, smiling at him.

"Aish, it’s nothing, just a small thing," he said, waving his hand dismissively.

Aldrey could only manage a bitter smile. How could it be a small thing when the emperor himself and his army had helped the Flamecrest family thwart the devils?

And he knew that the emperor had done it all because of Aldrian.

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