Earth's Greatest Magus

“This… this is the Heavenly Sentinel… It’s a Heavenly Tribulation!”

High above Eclipse Island, the swirling violet storm condensed into a colossal, indistinct figure, its form shaped from lightning and void. It had no true face, yet every being present felt its gaze fall upon them with cold, absolute judgment. In its hand, a spear of condensed tribulation lightning formed- longer than a warship, brighter than the sun, humming with a destructive law that made even grand magus tremble.

Then it hurled the spear.

For a single, terrible heartbeat, the Storm Lord hesitated.

If he dodged, the Astiel grand pavilion below-along with thousands of guests- would be erased from existence.

With a roar, he expanded his domain. Blue lightning burst from his body, forming a colossal spear of his own as he punched upward to meet the descending judgment.

The two forces collided.

The sky exploded.

BAAAMMM!!!

Sound vanished for an instant, replaced by a blinding sphere of light that swallowed the clouds themselves. Shockwaves rippled outward, shattering lesser barriers across the island and throwing dozens of weaker magi off their feet.

When the light faded, the result was clear.

The violet tribulation spear had won.

The Storm Lord’s lightning construct shattered, and the remaining force crashed into him directly. He crossed both arms to block, but the impact still blasted him downward like a falling star, crashing into the distant gardens in a storm of debris.

Gasps and screams spread through the gathered factions.

Before anyone could even assess whether the Astiel Grand Elder still lived, the Heavenly Sentinel raised its arm again.

A second spear formed.

“Defensive formation! Now!” shouted one of the Astiel elders.

A renowned Astiel formation grandmaster leapt into the air, summoning a dozen assistants-half of them grand magus. Arrays unfolded in layers beneath the descending lightning, golden sigils interlocking into a radiant shield dome over the northern quarter of the island.

But Eclipse Island was a pleasure retreat, not a war stronghold. Its formations were decorative, ceremonial-not built to withstand heavenly wrath.

The spear struck.

BAAAMMM!!!

The layered barrier held for less than a breath before shattering like glass. Formation discs exploded into fragments of light, backlash tearing through the formation master’s meridians as he coughed blood and descended from the sky. Several of his assistants dropped with him, their auras flickering weakly- or going out entirely.

Panic spread.

“This isn’t a performance!”

“Run!”

Ships began launching from the island’s edges as lesser factions fled in terror, abandoning all decorum.

But not everyone retreated.

A figure shot upward, replacing the Storm Lord’s position in the sky.

An elder of the Heaven’s Will Sword Sect, junior brother to the famous Sword Duke, and one of the few three cosmos grand magus presence among the guests.

“Dont be afraid!… I’ll handle this!’ He shouted.

His long blade shining with golden radiance, stepped into the path of the next forming strike. Sword intent erupted from him like a rising sun.

“One strike to sever fate. Two to cut karma. Three… to defy heaven!”

He slashed once-then again-then a third time. Each stroke carved a crescent of golden sword light that detonated against the descending lightning, explosions chaining across the clouds. The tribulation spear finally broke apart, but the sword elder staggered, aura dimming as he was forced to descend, breathing heavily.

The third bolt of tribulation lightning descended with a fury that dwarfed the previous strikes, its violet core surrounded by spiraling arcs that ripped open the clouds themselves as it fell. The air screamed. Space distorted along its path, leaving ripples like cracks in glass.

This time, several figures moved at once.

A high-ranking cardinal of the Papal Church rose into the sky, his white robes whipping violently in the storm winds, three radiant seraphs forming a triangle behind him. Their wings unfolded in blinding brilliance as the cardinal lifted an ancient chalice etched with divine scripture. He began to chant in a resonant, sacred tongue, each syllable turning into rings of golden light that extended outward.

The chalice overflowed with holy radiance.

A vast barrier shaped as a translucent cathedral dome manifested over the northern district of the island, stained-glass patterns flickering across its surface as divine runes locked into place.

The tribulation bolt struck.

Light devoured light.

BAMMMM!!

The impact rang like a cosmic bell, the holy barrier shaking violently as violet lightning spread across its surface in spiderweb fractures. The cardinal’s face paled, veins bulging at his temples as he poured more power into the artifact. Behind him, the seraphs cried out in unison, their wings shedding feathers of light that burned away in the storm.

For a breathless moment, the barrier held.

Then the lightning dispersed in a rain of fading sparks.

A collective exhale swept through the crowd.

But the tribulation cloud did not thin. It grew darker.

“Heavens… it’s not over…”

“Why is it this strong? Did someone break into the Supreme Realm?!”

Their questions were answered with a deafening roar that shook the marrow in

their bones.

This time, five colossal lightning bolts formed at once, descending side by side

like the fingers of a divine hand closing into a fist. Each one carried enough destructive force to obliterate a city.

The Storm Lord shot back into the sky despite the blood staining his robes.

Lightning erupted around him as he expanded his domain to its limits. To his left, the Heaven’s Will Sword Sect elder rose again, golden sword intent blazing

like a second sun. To his right, the Papal cardinal steadied himself midair,

chalice trembling but still glowing.

More grand magus joined them, domains overlapping, artifacts rising,

formations layering in desperation.

Then the five bolts fell.

The sky exploded.

Blue lightning, golden sword arcs, and holy radiance collided with the violet

tribulation force in a chain of detonations that turned the heavens into a battlefield. Shockwaves rolled across Eclipse Island, flattening decorative towers and shattering terraces. Countless guests were forced to their knees, some coughing blood from the sheer pressure.

The Grand Overseer joined at the last second, summoning a massive ethereal being that rose behind the defenders like a guardian spirit.

Four of the five bolts were stopped.

One was not.

It slipped through the collapsing layers of defense, its trajectory unaltered as it plunged straight toward the Astiel grand pavilion at the northern edge of the

island.

It hit.

BAMMMM!!

A column of violet destruction erupted upward. The explosion ripped a crater into the heart of the complex, debris and dust billowing skyward in a choking

storm.

Yet strangely… the island did not break apart.

When the smoke began to clear, trembling eyes turned toward the center of

the devastation.

There hovered an ancient, rune-covered stone pagoda, still radiating sealing

power.

The tribulation lightning had struck it directly, and the artifact-or whatever lay within-had absorbed the last of the impact.

A thin crack ran down one of its carved sides, glowing faintly as energy leaked

through.

The pagoda trembled violently, its runes flickering out one by one.

Then it burst open from within.

A surge of verdant and violet energy blasted into the sky like a pillar connecting

earth and heaven. Broken fragments of sealing light scattered in all directions as a figure shot upward through the fading smoke.

Aura blazing. Soul force roaring like a newborn star.

Emery had broken free.