Primordial Heir: Nine Stars

Lux continued deeper into the ancient forest.

The farther he traveled, the quieter the world became.

The songs of birds disappeared.

The rustling of small beasts faded.

Even the wind seemed reluctant to pass through this place.

Towering trees blocked the sky completely, leaving only scattered beams of sunlight piercing the darkness.

Prana...

It was several times denser than before.

His silver eyes calmly swept across the surroundings.

”...”

There.

Not one.

Not two.

Many.

Their presence was heavy.

Patient.

Watching.

Crack.

A branch snapped.

The forest erupted.

Boom!

Gigantic figures burst from every direction.

Unlike the werewolves from before, these monsters possessed bodies resembling armored apes. They stood nearly four meters tall, their muscles covered by dark gray plates that resembled natural armor. Veins of emerald light pulsed beneath the plates, feeding their immense strength.

Their forearms were oversized, ending in claws capable of tearing through steel.

Most importantly...

Each one radiated a powerful Law.

The Law of Earth.

The ground shook as twelve of them surrounded Lux.

One pounded its chest.

Another slammed both fists into the earth.

Boom!

The forest floor erupted.

Stone pillars burst upward beneath Lux.

His wings spread.

Flash.

He vanished before the spikes reached him.

The pillar exploded instead.

Chunks of stone rained across the forest.

Lux remained airborne.

His staff appeared in his hand.

The monsters didn’t wait.

Three leaped simultaneously.

Despite their enormous bodies, they moved with astonishing speed.

Their fists descended.

Lux crossed his staff.

Boom!

The collision echoed across the forest.

His body shot backward dozens of meters before stopping in midair.

”...Heavy.”

The monsters didn’t give him time to recover.

The earth beneath him twisted.

Stone dragons erupted upward, jaws wide open.

Lux extended one hand.

Light blossomed.

Dozens of radiant arrows appeared.

”Go.”

Twack!

Twack!

Twack!

The arrows pierced the stone dragons.

Cracks spread through them.

Moments later—

Boom!

They shattered into countless fragments.

The nearest monster arrived.

Its fist glowed with compressed earth.

Lux met it directly.

Boom!

The shockwave flattened hundreds of trees.

Both exchanged blows without retreating.

Punch.

Palm.

Kick.

Staff.

Each collision produced another explosion.

The monster’s physical strength rivaled his own.

The other eleven joined.

The battlefield descended into chaos.

The forest collapsed around them.

Stone walls rose.

Mountains of rock fell from above.

Lux weaved through every attack, his movements precise and economical.

He struck joints.

Necks.

Solar plexuses.

Every blow carried concentrated light.

Even so...

These monsters endured.

Their natural regeneration was extraordinary.

Broken bones healed.

Crushed muscles recovered.

Deep wounds sealed within seconds.

Lux noticed it immediately.

”...Regeneration.”

One monster suddenly seized his right arm.

Another grabbed his left wing.

A third swung both fists.

Boom!

Lux’s body smashed through several massive trees.

Before he could recover—

A claw descended.

Slash!

His left arm flew through the air.

Blood scattered.

Silence followed.

The monsters roared.

Lux landed on one knee.

His severed shoulder bled steadily.

He looked at the wound.

Then...

He calmly looked up.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of panic in his expression.

Only calculation.

”...I see.”

His Law surged.

Light gathered around the severed shoulder.

Instead of sealing the wound...

It expanded.

Threads of radiant energy intertwined.

Bones formed.

Muscles followed.

Veins.

Skin.

Within moments—

A completely new arm emerged.

He flexed his fingers once.

Perfect.

The monsters hesitated.

Instinct told them something was wrong.

Lux slowly raised his regenerated hand.

”So that’s the limit...”

Light spread beneath his feet.

His Domain returned.

White radiance silently engulfed the forest.

The monsters charged.

They intended to overwhelm him before the Domain fully expanded.

Too late.

The white world swallowed everything.

Inside the Domain...

The rules changed.

The monsters immediately felt it.

Their wounds no longer closed.

Their regeneration...

Had stopped.

Lux’s silver eyes reflected the glowing world around him.

Cold.

Unmoving.

”The nature of light is creation.”

He took a slow step forward.

”It is also decay.”

’’I did something like this with my holy form, now gotta implement it in larger scale.’’

The Domain trembled.

The gentle radiance darkened slightly.

Not in color.

In feeling.

The restorative nature of the Law of Light inverted.

Instead of nurturing life...

It consumed vitality.

The wounds covering the monsters began widening.

Muscles shrank.

The emerald glow beneath their armor faded.

Their breathing grew heavier.

Every heartbeat weakened them further.

One monster roared and forced its regeneration.

Nothing happened.

Lux calmly walked toward it.

The creature swung desperately.

He sidestepped.

His regenerated arm caught the monster’s wrist.

His other hand drove the glowing staff into its abdomen.

Shing.

Light entered the body.

Not explosively.

Quietly.

The creature’s flesh rapidly withered around the wound.

Its muscles dried.

Its skin cracked.

Its enormous body weakened before Lux’s eyes.

He pulled the staff free.

The monster collapsed.

The others attacked together.

Stone walls closed from every direction.

Lux flapped his wings once.

The walls shattered before reaching him.

He disappeared.

Flash.

Appearing behind another monster.

His palm rested lightly against its back.

”...Fall.”

The inverted Domain surged.

The creature’s vitality drained violently.

Its movements slowed.

Its knees buckled.

Before it touched the ground—

Lux was already elsewhere.

Every movement flowed naturally.

Every strike carried purpose.

No wasted effort.

No unnecessary violence.

One monster attempted to flee beyond the Domain.

It never reached the boundary.

A spear of light pierced its leg.

Then another.

Then five more.

Its body collapsed.

The Domain quietly consumed what remained of its strength.

The leader roared.

Stone armor covered its body completely.

Its size increased.

It charged like a living fortress.

Lux finally stopped retreating.

The monster’s fist descended.

Lux answered with one of his own.

Boom!

The earth split beneath them.

The leader’s eyes widened.

Its arm...

Had cracked.

Lux stepped forward.

One punch.

Two.

Three.

Each strike shattered another section of stone armor.

The creature swung wildly.

Lux slipped beneath the attack.

His glowing hand touched its chest.

”...Enough.”

The Domain concentrated at a single point.

The inversion reached its peak.

The leader’s regeneration, once its greatest strength, became its greatest weakness.

Its own life force unraveled.

Cracks spread across its body.

Its muscles shrank.

Its towering frame gradually collapsed inward.

It reached toward Lux one final time.

Its arm stopped halfway.

Then fell lifelessly.

Silence returned to the forest.

The Domain slowly receded.

The white radiance dissolved into drifting particles.

Lux stood alone among the ruined landscape.

His regenerated arm looked no different from the original.

He opened and closed his hand once before resting the short staff across his shoulder.

His silver eyes swept across the battlefield.

Twelve powerful monsters.

None remained standing.

He quietly exhaled.

”...There are still flaws.”

Regenerating an entire arm had consumed far more prana than he preferred.

His Domain’s inversion was effective, but maintaining it against opponents of similar strength would rapidly exhaust his reserves.

There was still room to improve.

Without lingering any longer, Lux walked deeper into the ancient forest.

Somewhere ahead...

A presence far stronger than the monsters he had just defeated had begun to stir.