The words "I found you" hung in the air like a sinister spell, a voice that seemed to rise from the depths of a void, seizing Rio's soul. The Starman's gray eyes, swirling with radiant lights, locked onto Rio, and terror spread through her like a cold poison. But suddenly, the Starman's eyes began to glow, a burning orange light, as if drawn from the heart of a dying star, consuming his gaze. The light was so intense it cast long, trembling shadows across the white stones of the courtyard, and the air quivered with its heat.
William, who until that moment had stood frozen like a statue of fear, suddenly roared with all his might, a cry filled with rage and terror that seemed to erupt from the depths of his being.
"Elian!"
In a fraction of a second, Elian appeared like a shadow before Rio, his black armor gleaming in the orange light. He swiftly drew his massive broadsword from beneath his cloak and held it before him, a shield meant to halt death itself. But before the deadly orange energy could surge from the Starman's eyes, Ayhan, with lightning-fast reflexes, shoved Rio back and leapt to the side. The orange energy shot from the Starman's eyes like a fiery bolt, striking Elian's sword and unleashing a deafening explosion that shook the enclosure. The blast sent dirt and stone fragments soaring, and Elian's sword, which had deflected part of the energy, could not withstand the immense force. Elian was hurled backward like a toy, crashing into the forest, splintering massive trees like dry twigs until he vanished into the darkness.
Moments later, as the dust settled, the Starman stood unscathed at the center of the courtyard. His black cloak seemed alive, like the night itself, and his eyes, now gray again, fixed on Rio. He moved toward her, his steps slow but heavy, as if the earth itself yielded to his will. Elves in his path were flung aside by a wave of his black hand, scattered like leaves in a storm. No one dared approach—he wanted only Rio. His face was cold and stone-like, as if his entire being was forged for one purpose: Rio's destruction.
Rio, sprawled on the ground, dazed and terrified, lifted her head. The Starman drew closer, each step pounding like a hammer on her heart. She crawled backward in panic, trying to retreat, but her legs refused to obey. Just a few steps away, a silver spear etched with strange patterns flashed like a meteor past the Starman's face. He stopped in his tracks, turned his head to the right, and saw Kato.
Kato, eyes blazing with fury, brandished his spear with a sudden, startling motion. With a shout, he struck the Starman, the force of the blow sending him staggering back a few steps. Kato then grabbed Rio by her clothes and, with superhuman strength, hurled her into the sky. For a moment, Rio floated in the air, her heart pounding in her chest, the ground receding like a nightmare below.
The Starman, his eyes now glowing orange again, turned his gaze toward Rio in the sky. The deadly energy was ready to fire, but Kato, with a savage cry, lunged at him, drawing his attention. A breathless battle began. Kato was a storm of steel, His spear was moving at incredible speed, his strikes calculated and lethal. He targeted the Starman's chest, arms, legs—each blow delivered with deadly precision. But the Starman, with inhuman movements, either dodged or deflected the strikes with his black hand, which emerged from beneath his cloak like a living shadow. His hand, as if made of something beyond this world, rendered each spear thrust as ineffective as a breeze.
Chaos reigned around them. The screams of women and the cries of children filled the forest. Elves fled in panic, soldiers hurriedly evacuating civilians from the enclosure. Even Talandril, the elf king, ignoring William and his family, used his radiant green magic to guide his people toward the forest. Adrina, spotting Rio in the sky, raced toward her landing spot. Just before Rio hit the ground, Adrina caught her in her arms, and they rolled together on the earth. Rio gasped for breath, her eyes filled with terror.
William, still rooted to his spot, stared at the clash between Kato and the Starman. He couldn't move—too many elves were in the way, and using his power would be dangerous. His red eyes blazed with rage and desperation. Suddenly, he shouted:
"Adrina, get Rio out of here!"
Adrina nodded, hoisted Rio from the ground, and, with Nadia, bolted toward the forest. But the Starman, whose eyes seemed to see everything, noticed their escape. In an instant, he slipped past Kato's defense with a swift motion. A deadly fist slammed into Kato's stomach, followed by a strike to his face that sent him flying back like a ragdoll. Kato hit the ground with a loud thud, blood streaming from his mouth, but he was still breathing.
The Starman's eyes glowed orange again, and a lethal energy shot forth. The orange beam sliced forward like a cosmic blade, cleaving elves in its path in half with gut-wrenching screams. Blood and cries filled the air, and terror swept through like a wave. Nadia, sensing the danger, leapt onto Adrina and Rio, knocking them to the ground. The deadly beam passed over their heads, striking the forest trees, cutting and obliterating scores of them in its path.
William could bear it no longer. With a swift motion, he waved his hands, and a massive ring of fire, like an enraged sun, formed around him. The flames roared toward the Starman, engulfing the enclosure in a sea of fire. Smoke and screams filled the air as elf soldiers hurriedly evacuated the last civilians from the area.
Moments later, as the flames still raged, glowing eyes emerged from the inferno—orange, cold, and merciless. The Starman stepped out of the fire, utterly unscathed. His black cloak, untouched by the flames, and his silver hair, still motionless, gleamed as before. He seemed neither of this world nor bound by its laws. His eyes locked onto Rio again, who now lay on the ground with Nadia and Adrina, gasping and staring at him in terror.
The Starman took another step, and the earth seemed to groan beneath him. Nothing could stop him—not William's fire, not Kato's spear, not Elian's sword. He was absolute, a force that seemed to have come from the stars to end Rio. Rio, sprawled on the ground, felt her heart nearly stop with fear.
Emerging from William's sea of fire, the Starman paused after a single step, standing motionless like a statue of pure darkness. His black cloak, as if swallowing light and heat, rippled around him like a living shadow. His silver hair, like strands of moonlight, remained still, and his star-like gray eyes fixed on one point: Rio. His gaze was lethal—not from anger or hatred, but from a cold, merciless void, as if devoid of any emotion. He cared for nothing and no one—not the elves' screams, not the lingering flames, not the chaos around him. Only Rio mattered, as if his entire existence was created to hunt her.
Suddenly, Talandril, the elf king, roared like thunder across the enclosure:
"My soldiers!"
In a fraction of a second, hundreds of elf soldiers in gleaming silver and gold armor surrounded the Starman. Their long spears glinted in the dim sunlight, their eyes filled with resolve and fear. Several elf mages in green robes, wielding carved staves topped with glowing crystals, stood among the soldiers, hands poised for deadly spells. Nearby, massive Gumaras—white-furred beasts with golden stripes—appeared, their roars shaking the ground. Their short horns swayed, and their yellow eyes locked onto the Starman, ready to charge. What had been a joyous gathering moments ago was now a battlefield, thick with tension and the smell of earth and smoke.
On the other side, Kato, still gasping from the Starman's brutal strike, struggled to his feet. Blood dripped from his mouth, but his dark eyes burned with fury. He dragged himself to William's side, glancing at Ayhan, who now stood by Rio, Nadia, and Adrina, sword in hand, ready to defend. Kato took a deep breath, turned toward the Starman, and focused entirely on him. At that moment, Elian emerged from the dark forest, his steps heavy but determined. His black armor was scratched and dirtied, but his fiery red eyes blazed with resolve. This time, instead of his broadsword, he held a long, slender blade that gleamed like a star in the faint light. He stood beside William without a word, his gaze screaming his readiness to die for his lord.
At the same time, the ground beneath the Starman trembled. Massive roots, like living snakes, burst from the earth with a sound like the forest's wail. Talandril, in his dark green robe, eyes resolute, raised his hands, guiding the roots. Each thick, moss-covered root, glowing faintly, stood ready like a spear poised to strike. Soldiers, mages, Gumaras, and magical roots—all were prepared for a battle that might determine their life or death. It had been years since the last encounter with the Star people, but memories of bloody wars lingered in everyone's minds—tales of fields strewn with corpses, cities reduced to ash in an instant, and beings nothing could stop.
But the Starman showed no reaction. No fear, no hesitation, not even the slightest movement. He only stared at Rio, who was now crawling on the ground, desperately trying to back away in terror. His eyes, as if imprisoning galaxies, drew her soul like twin black holes. His presence was so dreadful it seemed to poison the air, making everyone nearby feel their heartbeats slow. He was not just a person but an embodiment of the end, a force that seemed to have emerged from the depths of the void to annihilate everything.
For Rio, the world spun like a nightmare. Fear had consumed her entirely, and her body no longer felt like her own. Her hands trembled on the dirt, her breaths short and ragged, and the only question stabbing her mind like a dagger was a single word: Why? Why her? Why did this being, who seemed like death itself, want only her?
The grand elf enclosure was now a hellscape of fire and smoke. Red and black flames from William's magic had blackened the white stones of the courtyard, and the air reeked of earth and blood. The Starman, standing at the center of this devastation, was like a shadow of death. His black cloak, as if woven from the darkness of the void, reflected no light, and his silver hair, like strands of extinguished stars, remained still. His star-like gray eyes fixed solely on Rio—a cold, merciless, impenetrable gaze. He paid no heed to the elf soldiers, the mages, the massive Gumaras, or the fire and screams around him. Only Rio existed for him.
Kato, still gasping from the earlier deadly blow, wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. He gripped his spear tighter than ever, as if challenging death itself. With a voice trembling with rage and urgency, he said to William:
"Where are your daggers William?"
William glanced at Kato from the corner of his eye, his red eyes brimming with tension and focus. In a cold but heavy tone, he replied:
"I didn't bring them. I didn't think I'd need them."
At that moment, Talandril, standing amidst the smoke and fire in his dark green robe, raised his hand, ready to command his soldiers to attack. Hundreds of elf soldiers in gleaming silver armor had surrounded the Starman, their shining spears poised. Mages with glowing staves and ready spells stood at the forefront, and the Gumaras' savage roars shook the ground. But William suddenly raised his hand and shouted to stop Talandril:
"Wait!"
He knew they faced one of the most dangerous threats in existence—a Starman, perhaps even a Chosen. Any wrong move meant death for all.
The soldiers, though ready, were terrified. Their hands trembled, their spears wavered in the air, and their eyes were filled with dread. They stood against a being who seemed unbound by the laws of this world, a creature whose very name struck fear into the hearts of ancient warriors. Breaths were held, and a deathly silence blanketed the courtyard, broken only by the crackle of fire and distant moans.
Moments later, the Starman slowly drew his black hand from beneath his cloak—a hand that seemed forged from the darkness of a black hole's core, reflecting neither light nor anything else. His long, slender fingers, like living shadows, moved with a gentleness that seemed to mock time itself. But what followed was so swift that no one could see, no one could comprehend, no one could even recall—except Rio.
In an instant, all sound vanished. The crackle of fire, the Gumaras' roars, the mages' whispered spells—all were swallowed by darkness. Rio saw it with her own eyes: every soldier in the courtyard, including those on the defensive turrets, the mages with their glowing staves, even the massive Gumaras—all turned to black shadows on the ground in the blink of an eye. The terrifying shadows, as if their souls had been devoured, trembled for a moment, like spirits resisting annihilation, then vanished, as if they had never existed. The ground, moments ago filled with warriors ready for battle, was now empty, marked only by scorched cracks and black stains, like wounds the earth wept in terror.
Rio could no longer hold back. A scream tore from the depths of her being, a sound of pure terror and despair, like an animal trapped in death's grip. Nadia, beside her, eyes wide with horror, quickly clamped her hands over Rio's mouth and locked her arms around her neck like a vise, trying to stifle the sound. But Rio's scream was so loud and piercing it cut through the chaos of the battle. She thrashed with all her strength, her silver eyes brimming with tears and terror, her body trembling as if trying to flee this nightmare.
William, until that moment focused on the Starman, briefly turned from the battlefield to look at his son. His red eyes filled with worry and pain. He scanned the ground around the Starman but saw nothing but cracked earth and blazing fires. No trace remained of the soldiers, mages, or Gumaras—as if they had never been. But Rio, still struggling in Nadia's grip, stared at the black shadows on the ground, shadows only she could see, like ink stains that had swallowed the souls of hundreds of warriors. For a fleeting moment, they took the shapes of soldiers—spears, armor, faces frozen in fear—then dissolved like smoke in the wind.
William could not afford to be distracted any longer. With a voice trembling with rage and resolve, he said to Elian:
"Get ready. When the attack starts, I want you to get Rio and my daughters out of here."
Elian, his black armor scratched and dirtied, gripped his slender sword tightly. Without a word, he nodded, his fiery red eyes full of obedience, ready to give his life for his lord and his family.
But before them, the Starman remained motionless. Even after erasing hundreds of soldiers, there was no change in him—no fatigue, no anger, not even satisfaction. His star-like eyes stayed fixed on Rio. His gaze was a dagger piercing the depths of her being, as if drawing out every secret, every hope, every fragment of her existence and drowning them in its darkness. That look, more than anything, filled Rio with terror. She felt this being not only saw her but *knew* her, as if it had come from the beginning to find her.
Rio, now sprawled on the ground with Nadia still holding her tightly, felt her heart stop with fear. Her body trembled, her breaths like icy blades catching in her throat, and the only sound she heard was a whisper in her mind:
"You cannot escape."
The Starman took a step, and the earth seemed to groan beneath him. He was absolute, a force nothing could stop—not fire, not swords, not magic, not even the courage of warriors. And Rio, at the center of this nightmare, could only stare into his starry eyes, eyes that seemed to hold the end of the world.