The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 543: The Light of Hope

After hearing Aldrian’s words, Emperor Durand asked him,

"So, what do you have in mind, young Aldrian?"

"As most of you know, I intend to unite all the major territories under one alliance to face the time of prophecy. This time, we can’t afford to be careless. We can’t be caught off guard like during the Great War three million years ago. We also can’t remain passive. We cannot just wait and let the devils carry out their plans until their god descends," Aldrian answered.

The others frowned.

"Their god? The devil god?" Emperor Herman asked.

Aldrian nodded and looked at each of the leaders gathered.

"After looking through their memories, their ultimate plan is to summon their god to this land—and only the devil lord knows how to do it. With only him knowing the method, all of Your Majesties must understand how dire the situation is, right? What if the attacks by the Seven Deadly Sins are part of a larger plan connected to the summoning?" he said.

But some of the leaders still seemed to have doubt on their faces.

"Young Aldrian, it’s not my intent to doubt your information about the devils trying to summon something, but are you certain it is their god? The being said to exist in higher realm? According to our records, such gods reside in higher realms and cannot descend to the lower ones. Even our realm cannot withstand cultivation that is too high—once we reach a certain stage, we ascend," Emperor Herman said.

Aldrian looked at the others and sensed that some of them shared the same doubts. Others—such as the three sect masters, Emperor Ladwin, Pope Claudius, and Venerable Karma Seeker—seemed to believe him fully without question.

"Then I will show you what I saw. You can judge for yourselves whether that being is their god or not. But I must warn you—do not let fear consume you after seeing it. Do not allow it to plant an inner demon in your heart. Do not let despair make you give up. Keep your mind as strong as possible. Once again—do not let fear or despair consume you," he said seriously.

None of them had ever seen Aldrian like this before. For him to speak this way, it could only mean the matter was truly grave. They then nodded.

Aldrian then closed his eyes for a moment as he created his domain. Using its power, he strengthened his illusion and trapped everyone inside the tent within it.

All the leaders were stunned—they couldn’t resist at all. In an instant, they found themselves in a completely different space, unsure whether it was an illusion or reality.

Their surroundings were unmistakably the Barisan Continent—the land where they had spent their entire lives. All of them floated midair, gazing down at the land from the sky.

However, what they saw was not the usual beautiful scenery of the continent, with greenery or mountainous terrain in sight. Instead, the sky was red mixed with black, stretching all the way to the horizon. The land below seemed covered by darkness, which kept expanding until it threatened to engulf the entire continent.

The atmosphere felt suffocating, and the energy was chaotic, filled with negative power. This place seemed more fitting to be called the devil world—there was no way normal living beings could survive in such an environment.

All of this made their hearts tremble, for they had never seen the continent like this before. Then they looked up at the sky and finally watched in horror something they had never witnessed in their entire lives. Their bodies turned cold, and fear nearly overtook them—until Aldrian’s voice resounded inside their minds once again.

"Don’t let fear consume you!"

They jolted out of their state of fear but still couldn’t take their eyes off what they saw. Sweat dropped from their foreheads as they kept staring at the firmament.

What they saw was a huge eye looking at them and the continent below as if they were mere ants or toys. The eye was enormous—almost as if it were the size of the continent itself, visible from every part of the land.

The red iris of the eye and its gaze radiated pure despair, and there was no way for them to fight this thing. Their instincts told them this, and their souls leaned toward giving up rather than fighting it. Their surrender came from the despair they felt—they knew they would never win against it.

This was their fate once that thing reached them: death if they resisted, but still death if that thing reached this continent. There was no escape from it.

Only death.

A split second later, their surroundings changed again, and they found themselves back in the tent. But the atmosphere had shifted—there was no happiness at all. No jokes, no smiles, no positive energy on their faces.

Pale, fearful, and full of despair—that was all that showed on them.

"Now do you understand the situation we’re facing if we don’t stop whatever the devils are planning?" Aldrian asked, making all of them turn to look at him.

There was only silence. They didn’t know what to say. Something like that ’thing’ could only be described as a god, just as Aldrian had said—or at least that was how they understood it. They didn’t know what kind of being it was, but in the short time they had seen it, they knew they were facing something beyond their ability to fight.

Aldrey and Irene’s faces were pale, and fear showed clearly in their eyes. They looked at each other and unconsciously held hands, seeking comfort after the horror they had experienced. Then, they looked at Aldrian.

Aldrian knew about this, yet he had shown no despair all this time. He spoke as if there was no problem. But how could he act like nothing was wrong when that ’thing’ might descend and bring doom to the entire continent? Was he just staying calm, hiding his anxiety behind a mask of composure?

Was this something Aldrian kept to himself, knowing that showing it to others would only spread despair?

All the leaders shared the same thoughts as Aldrey and Irene and couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Aldrian—someone still a teenager—already carried such a heavy burden and had never shown any weakness.

This made them, the older ones, determined not to lose to him. If Aldrian, much younger than them, could have such strong resolve, then they could too.

"Amithaba, this is truly a tribulation that the entire continent must face, but I still believe we have hope," Venerable Karma Seeker said.

"Yes, although what we saw is terrifying and depressing, I believe we still have a chance—a chance to survive that thing," Emperor Ladwin added.

"Heaven will not abandon us. Even if we face that thing, I still believe we are not entirely doomed. We must not let ourselves be consumed by despair and negative thoughts. The devils will like that and will take advantage of it," Pope Claudius said.

The others watched them and thought the three were simply trying to lift everyone’s spirits, which they appreciated. But they finally understood why after that when Emperor Ladwin, Pope Claudius and Venerable Karma Seeker explained their own prophecy—besides the well-known one.

Emperor Ladwin explained the spirit of the World Tree’s glimpse of another future, where a savior would come to their race—and Aldrian was the one who fit the description from that future. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Pope Claudius also explained another prophecy by Angelica, which spoke of a messiah who would come to this land and expel the darkness—and Aldrian was the one who fit that description.

As for Venerable Karma Seeker? He simply said that the brightest light that shines will be the one to expel the darkness. Essentially, he was saying the same thing as Emperor Ladwin and Pope Claudius.

After hearing all of that, they looked at Aldrian again—this time with something finally clicking inside their minds.

Is this the reason? No wonder he is so different from the others. There is no one like him. He is the chosen one! With those prophecies all pointing to the same figure, it seemed as if Aldrian was prepared by heaven as the central figure in the prophesied time.

Suddenly, a light of hope appeared inside their hearts. In the bleak future they had seen, there was a glimmer of light shining—a light that might be their way out from the darkness of despair.

Even if it sounded absurd that Aldrian alone could face that "thing," they had no choice but to believe. It was better to have hope than to drown in despair or swim toward uncertainty.

"All right, even though we caught a glimpse of the future, it is not certain. The future depends on what we do in the present. That future is only one possibility among many—depending on what we do or don’t do," Aldrian said.

They all found deeper meaning in Aldrian’s words. Emperor Ladwin was the first to ask.

"So, do you have a plan to make sure that future—the one where that thing descends—does not happen?"

Aldrian nodded.

"We don’t need to stay passive this time. We need to be braver. With the devils planning something big, we can’t always be the ones waiting," he said.

"Instead of waiting for the devils to carry out their plan, let’s go to them."

The others raised their eyebrows.

"Go to them? You mean—?" King Douwin asked. Aldrian responded with a nod.

"Let’s invade the Devil territory."

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