When the tranquility of the Co-Prosperity Zone was shattered by a crimson rift tearing through the sky, even the leaves of the Tree of Chaos trembled with unease.
The rift was wider and more violent than the purple rift in the Critical Star Domain, its edges churning with viscous, blood-like energy. Wherever it passed, stars dimmed and disintegrated at a visible speed, like fruit being devoured. The Star Patrollers's probe turned to ashes silently as soon as it approached, transmitting only a final image—a dark shadow that blotted out the sky, slowly crawling out of the rift, its outline resembling countless twisted tentacles, its core gleaming with a greedy crimson light.
"They are devouring the energy of stars." Qing He stood atop the watchtower in the Co-Prosperity Zone, her longsword gripped tightly, grey-gold Power of Chaos swirling around her. "In the past three days, seven stars have completely extinguished, their trajectories perfectly coinciding with the Crimson Rift."
Meng Ke's dark red armor gleamed coldly, and the energy gathered on his axe blade made the air tremble. "The detector's final data shows that those shadowy figures have no fixed rules; they only grow stronger by 'devouring'—the celestial bodies they gnaw on are completely decomposed, even their atomic structures are broken down, and absorbed as the most primitive energy."
Xiao He looked at the fruit at the top of the Tree of Chaos. The gray-black sphere, which had been rotating steadily, was now pulsating violently, and its surface was covered with dense cracks. " The Tree Spirit said that this is a ' Star Devourers,' from the ' Entropic Universe' —a plane that ends in 'Ultimate Chaos.' They continue to exist by devouring the energy of other universes, leaving only absolute silence in their wake."
As soon as the words were spoken, a piercing shriek came from the crimson rift. The shriek did not travel through the air, but directly affected the souls of living beings. Many young cultivators on the edge of the Co-Prosperity Zone instantly turned pale and their spiritual energy became disordered. Immediately afterwards, dozens of crimson tentacles as thick as buckets shot out of the rift like venomous snakes and lashed out toward the nearest colony.
"Intercept them!" Qing He commanded, transforming into a streak of gray-gold light and charging forward. Her longsword swept across, Power of Chaos condensed into a massive wall of light, forcefully blocking the tentacles outside the colony. The moment the light wall collided with the tentacles, a sizzling corrosion sound was heard, and the gray-gold light dimmed at a visible speed.
"Their energy can disrupt the Power of Balance!" Qing He's heart skipped a beat. This was unprecedented—even the Shadows of Nothingness only devoured the laws, rather than directly dismantling the Power of Chaos.
Meng Ke's Crimson Fleet arrived just in time, unleashing thousands of energy cannons that rained down on the tentacles like a meteor shower. The cannonballs struck the tentacles, exploding in brilliant flashes of light, but only briefly halting their movement. The severed parts quickly reformed, even growing thicker.
"Physical attacks are useless!" Meng Ke roared, unleashing a dark red arc of energy from his giant axe, severing a tentacle in two. "Their regeneration rate is even faster than the Power of Destruction!"
The inhabitants of the colony began an emergency evacuation, the light of starships weaving a chaotic spiderweb across the starry sky. But more tentacles were emerging from the crimson fissures, some entangling the evacuating starships, their hulls melting silently and becoming shimmering specks of light on the tentacles; others burrowed into the interior of stars, rapidly cooling the once-fiery stars, their surfaces condensing into eerie crimson ice layers.
Xiao He looked at the Tree of Chaos. Grayish-black sap seeped from the cracks in the fruit at the top of the tree, dripping onto the ground and transforming into a resilient vine that stretched towards the crimson fissure. " The Tree Spirit said that the core of the Star Devourers is the 'Disordered Energy Source,' Tree of Chaos's primordial sap can temporarily freeze their regeneration—but someone needs to inject the sap deep into the fissure."
"I'll go." Qing He's voice was unwavering as she pointed her longsword at the rift. " Meng Ke, you lead your people to defend the colony's last line of defense; Xiao He, use the Power of Chaos to guide the vines and clear a path for me."
A streak of grayish-gold light shot out once more, this time with Xiao He controlling the Chaos Vines in close pursuit. When the vines encountered tentacles, they unleashed grayish-black frost, freezing the tentacles in place and buying Qing He time. However, the Star Devourers deep within the rift seemed to sense the threat, and more tentacles attacked from all directions, some even transforming into sharp spikes, carrying destructive energy that Qing He's vitals.
"Now!" Qing He whirled around, her longsword plunging into the roots of the Chaos Vines. The gray-gold Power of Chaos and the gray-black Origin Juice instantly fused together, flowing upstream along the vines and tearing a passage through the gaps in the tendrils. She leaped into the passage, her Power of Chaos compressed to its limit, like a star about to explode.
Deep within the rift, the true form of the Star Devourers was finally revealed—a crimson sphere larger than a planet in diameter, its surface covered with countless open "mouths," each devouring energy drawn from the outside world. At its core, a pulsating, heart-like energy source emanated chaotic fluctuations that made even the Power of Chaos tremble.
"Found you." A resolute glint flashed in Qing He's eyes as she channeled all her Power of Chaos into her longsword, transforming it into a gray-gold pillar of light that pierced the heavens and earth. Instead of attacking the sphere, she aimed at the core energy source and swooped down like a meteor.
"Laugh--"
The moment the beam of light pierced the energy source, time seemed to stand still. The chaotic energy flow, as if encountering its nemesis, churned violently, and the "mouths" on the surface of the scarlet sphere closed, emitting painful groans. Qing He could feel the Power of Chaos colliding fiercely with the chaotic energy; her meridians felt as if they were being pierced by thousands of steel needles, yet the longsword in her hand continued to penetrate deeper.
"In the name of chaos, let it be!"
With a sharp shout, Qing He injected the last trace of Origin of Chaos into the core. Gray-gold light exploded within the energy source, like planting a seed in a chaotic swamp, quickly taking root and sprouting, enveloping the raging energy source layer by layer. The struggle of the scarlet sphere weakened, and the scarlet color on its surface gradually faded, revealing the docile energy flow that had been bound by the Power of Chaos.
As Qing He flew out of the gradually shrinking rift, the crimson rift behind her was slowly closing. The tentacles, having lost their core energy source, were like puppets with broken strings, turning into specks of light and dissipating. Although the swallowed star could not be restored, the remaining energy, guided by the Power of Chaos, re-condensed into a new star core, awaiting its future rebirth.
On the watchtower of the Co-Prosperity Zone, Meng Ke and Xiao He breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at Qing He's slightly pale face. The fruit at the top of the Tree of Chaos had stabilized, but a gray-gold pattern had appeared on its surface, as if shackles had been put on the disordered energy.
"Is it over?" Xiao He asked softly.
Qing He gazed at the closing crack and shook her head. "No, this is just the beginning. There won't be only one Star Devourers in the Entropic Universe; their 'disorder' is the natural enemy of all ordered universes."
She gripped her longsword tightly, the grey-gold light on its blade deeper than ever before. "But we have found a way to deal with them— the Power of Chaos is not meant to destroy disorder, but to shackle it with the 'chains of balance.' Just like the patterns on this fruit, allowing raging energy to become part of the cosmic cycle."
In the distant starry sky, the core of the Star Devourers, bound by the Power of Chaos, was slowly cooling, eventually transforming into a docile energy body revolving around the nova's core. Where the crimson rift had completely closed, a faint gray-gold mark remained, as if warning the uninvited guests from the Entropic Universe—
Here, there exists a force capable of restraining disorder.
But Qing He knew that the real war was yet to come. The shadow of the Entropic Universe had already loomed over this starry sky, and the next enemy to attack would only be stronger and more cunning.
She turned to look in the direction of the Co-Prosperity Zone, where beings of all races were rebuilding their homes on the ruins, and the vines of the Tree of Chaos had reached there, providing them with shelter.
"Get ready," Qing He's voice echoed in every corner, "What we must protect is not only the Co-Prosperity Zone, but the light of all orderly universes."
The moment the longsword was sheathed, another, more hidden rift was quietly opening in the distant sea of stars. This time, what flowed through the rift was a darkness deeper than scarlet, carrying the aura of "forgottenness".