The Lumina Star System is known as one of the most beautiful regions in the galaxy. There, the planets do not rotate in orderly orbits but are arranged randomly, hanging in the cosmic expanse like scattered jewels.
The light from distant stars shines brightly into the planetary atmospheres, creating a spectrum of colors that feast the eyes of anyone passing through.
In the midst of that beauty, a giant formation warship was slicing through the silence of the vacuum. The ship belonged to the Cloud Dust Palace, the number two power dominating Planet Veridia.
On the deck of the ship stood an old man in a clean white robe with gold embroidery forming cloud motifs on his collar and sleeves.
The man was Serez. On his chest, a silver badge shaped like an exploding star glowed dimly—the mark of his identity as an important person in the palace, a Star Ascendant Step 2: late-stage Stardust Strata.
To a star ascendant of Planet Veridia, Serez was a figure not to be offended, a grandmaster who could shatter mountains with a single flick of his sleeve.
"Master, is Planet Veridia always this beautiful when seen from above?" the voice of a young girl broke the silence. The girl's name was Yelan, one of the gifted disciples of the Cloud Dust Palace.
Serez smiled thinly, his eyes staring at the emerald-green Veridia in the distance. "Beauty is the purest form of energy resonance, Yelan. Remember, the more beautiful a place is, the greater the secrets it hides."
However, Serez's smile did not last long.
Suddenly, the resonance alarm on the ship blared loudly. The atmosphere that was previously calm suddenly felt heavy, as if all the oxygen in the area had just been sucked away by an invisible entity. The space above their ship began to vibrate violently.
CRACK!
A terrifying rift in space appeared out of nowhere. The rift was dark, dense, and emitted a cold aura that was deeply foreign to anyone who used star energy.
"Master! What is that?! Is it an attack from the Black Sky Palace?!" Yelan screamed in fear. Other disciples began to scatter, their faces pale as ghosts.
"No... this is not an attack," Serez whispered, his hands trembling. "This is a pure dimensional tear. What kind of power could do this?"
From within the darkness of the rift, a shadow lunged out with a speed that defied logic. The shadow struck the void, creating a shockwave that made their giant ship shake violently.
"Look! There is someone there!" a disciple shouted while pointing toward a dark speck floating above Planet Veridia.
That figure was Azril.
Azril stood in the middle of the vacuum. His hair was pitch black, grown very long and disheveled as if it had not been cut for centuries.
His clothes billowed in the cosmic wind. His body looked thin yet solid, radiating an aura of extreme exhaustion, as if he had just crawled out from the depths of the lowest hell.
Azril drifted for a moment. His empty eyes slowly began to focus. He looked at his hands, then at the planet below him.
Where is this? Azril thought. His last memory was the bloody struggle to escape the Sanctuary dimension. He had expected the warm sight of Remnant Village, not a cold expanse of stars and a strange warship.
Azril turned his body and stared at the Cloud Dust Palace ship.
Thump.
Serez felt his heart stop beating for a moment. Azril's gaze was not just a look; it was an invisible mental pressure. Serez, an arrogant Step 2 Star Ascendant, felt like an ant being stared at by an ancient predator. There was no killing intent from the man, yet his very existence was a threat to the order of the planet.
"Master... that man... he is terrifying," Yelan whispered with trembling lips.
Serez swallowed hard. He knew that if this strange man wanted to destroy their ship, he would only need a single breath. With his remaining courage, Serez stepped to the edge of the ship and bowed respectfully—a gesture he rarely performed for anyone on Veridia.
"Sir... are you alright?" Serez's voice sounded hoarse.
Azril remained silent. He stared at Serez with eyes that were cold and flat.
"Ahaha, please forgive my rudeness. My name is Serez, a Master from the Cloud Dust Palace. I am a late-stage Step 2 Star Ascendant," Serez continued, trying to break the tension even though his inner soul was screaming to run away. "May I know... what is the name of the honored Sir?"
Azril stayed silent. Not because he was arrogant.
Three hundred years inside the Sanctuary without speaking to anyone had robbed him of his ability to socialize. His brain was trying to process Serez's voice, trying to find the meaning of those words within his dusty memories.
He had forgotten how to move his tongue to form words, he had forgotten how to smile, he had even forgotten how to express himself. To him, Serez's face was merely an object, not a living being inviting him to speak.
Because his mind was only focused on one thing—returning to Remnant Village—Azril decided not to waste time. Without uttering a single word, he darted down toward Planet Veridia's atmosphere with a speed that created a sonic boom in the vacuum.
Serez fell, sitting on the ship's floor, cold sweat flooding his forehead. "What kind of old monster is he... fortunately he did not target the disciples. If he were angry, perhaps the Cloud Dust Palace would have lost its genius disciples today."
BOOM!
Azril landed outside a settlement. Dust flew high, obscuring his vision. As the dust settled, Azril saw rows of wooden buildings that were dilapidated and old. From afar, the structure of the buildings looked similar to what he remembered of Remnant Village.
However, as he stepped inside, his chest felt tight. This was not Remnant Village. This was Nowhere Village, a slum village on the outskirts of the stone mountains inhabited by outcasts and the starving.
"Sir! Great Sir!"
Suddenly, dozens of people in tattered clothes swarmed him. Their faces were sunken, their eyes bulging from hunger.
"Help us, Sir! Give us food! You fell from the sky, you must be a god!" an old man cried while grabbing Azril's leg.
Azril froze. He felt suffocated by this crowd. Their dirty hands touched his ruined clothes.
His memories of warm human interaction from the past collided with the brutal reality in front of him. He wanted to speak, wanted to tell them to go away, but his throat only produced a dry, meaningless sound.
Suddenly, a golden light descended from the sky.
"Get away from him! Don't swarm the newcomer!" a melodious yet firm female voice shouted.
A beautiful woman in a sea-blue silk robe descended gracefully. Her long hair was tied neatly, and her face radiated an aura of purity that contrasted with the squalor of the village.
"A goddess! That beautiful sister is a goddess!" the village children murmured with sparkling eyes.
The people immediately released Azril and ran toward the woman. "Goddess, help us! We haven't eaten for three days!"
The woman smiled softly, though there was a trace of sadness in her eyes. She took out a storage box from behind her belt. With a wave of her hand, hundreds of loaves of bread and fruits came out of the box, distributed fairly to the residents.
Azril took advantage of that moment to withdraw. He walked away, out of the village, and sat on a large rock facing the dense forest ahead. He stared blankly at the horizon. His hope of meeting Arlo and Lana shattered as he realized he was on the wrong planet.
"Hey! Hey, you!"
Azril did not turn around, but he knew the woman from before was walking toward him. Her footsteps sounded slightly annoyed.
"Geez, after I saved you from that crowd, you just left? No thank you? What a lack of manners!" the woman said as she stood beside Azril, both hands on her hips.
Azril slowly turned his head. He looked at the woman with the same cold gaze he had given Serez. In his eyes, this woman was just another disturbance in the midst of the silence he needed.
"What's with that ugly look? Are you mad at me? Bleh!" The woman actually stuck out her tongue, mocking Azril with a silly and naughty face.
Azril was stunned. In the Sanctuary, no one had ever mocked him. This woman was the first creature in 300 years who dared to act silly in front of his face.
Azril remained silent. His face was as flat as a stone.
"Why are you just staying quiet? You're really weird," the woman sat on the rock next to Azril without fear. "Wait... you don't happen to be unable to speak, do you? Or is your mouth hurt because someone punched you?"
Azril furrowed his brow. He tried to open his mouth. His tongue felt stiff like wood that had turned to stone. He forced his energy to push his vocal cords.
"Ahmm... grrr..."
Only a low, cracked growl came out.
The woman fell silent for a moment, then suddenly exploded into very loud laughter. "Hahahahaha! It's true! You can't talk! What kind of person makes a sound like a starving bear? Hahaha!"
Azril felt something that had been missing from him for a long time—annoyance. He stood up, his hands clenched. Reflexively, his aura leaked out slightly, making the air around them vibrate. He felt like hitting the woman who was laughing at him.
"Heh! Heh! Violence is not good!" the woman immediately raised her hands, her face changing into a mock-pleading yet funny expression. "Don't use violence, I was only joking! You're so sensitive!"
Azril exhaled (or at least, that is what he tried to do). He realized there was no point in dealing with this strange woman. With one stomp of his foot, Azril shot into the sky, leaving the village and flying toward the highest mountain he could see.
The woman looked up, seeing the trail of light left by Azril.
"Hey! I'm sorry! I was just joking, you know!" she shouted. But Azril had already disappeared behind the clouds.
The woman stomped her foot on the ground, her lips pouting in annoyance. "Hmph! What is with that man? Is his brain broken? I already saved him from the crowd of villagers, but he acts cold as ice instead."
She shook her small fist at the air. "Just you wait if I meet him again! I'll hit his head until he can speak again! That disheveled man!"
Without them realizing it, the meeting in this small village was only the beginning of a resonance that would shake the entire Lumina Star System.
And Azril, the Void Demon, had just taken his first step in a world that considered him an anomaly.