Chapter 17 – Sixty Seconds to Slay a Star
The cavern shook like a world on the brink of collapse.
The Star-Eater Drake let out another earth-shattering roar, its crystal scales flashing with prismatic light, each gleam a shard of death. Its horns glowed with condensed mana, pulsing like miniature suns, and its maw radiated a furnace of astral fire.
Chen Yue stood before it, blade in hand, aura blazing brighter than the stars carved into the ceiling. The Nameless Core throbbed inside his dantian like a second heart, every beat flooding him with raw, uncontrollable power.
A timer burned across his vision.
[Time Remaining: 59… 58… 57…]
Sixty seconds. No mistakes.
Chen Yue's fingers tightened around his sword hilt. Astral light coursed down the blade, burning so bright that even Velira and Ayara had to shield their eyes. The air warped around him, the weight of his awakened Qi turning the cavern into a domain of crushing starlight.
The beast charged.
Its massive claws tore through the stone, leaving gouges big enough to swallow men whole. Its tail swung like a mountain whip, its sheer momentum splitting air with sonic booms.
Chen Yue vanished.
No—he moved, but so fast the eye couldn't follow. Phantom Star Step turned his body into streaks of afterimages, each flicker a fragment of light dancing between shadows. One heartbeat he was on the ground, the next he stood atop a crystal pillar, his blade angled like a sliver of moonlight.
"First Form—Astral Rend!"
He slashed.
Space screamed. A crescent of condensed starlight roared across the cavern and slammed into the Drake's neck. Crystal shards exploded in all directions, the beast reeling with a deafening bellow as blue ichor splattered the ground like molten sapphire.
Ayara gasped. Velira's eyes widened, disbelief flashing across her sharp features.
"His speed—" she whispered.
"It's beyond anything I've seen."
But the Drake was far from dead. With a roar that shook mountains, it lunged, jaws wide, fangs dripping molten energy. Chen Yue leapt again, his blade flashing in arcs of astral brilliance. The two collided midair, shockwaves detonating like thunderstorms, cracks spiderwebbing across the cavern walls.
[Time Remaining: 43… 42…]
Chen Yue gritted his teeth as the System's voice rang in his mind, cold and relentless.
[Warning: Muscular Microfractures Detected.]
[Overdrive Strain at 12%.]
Doesn't matter. He blurred again, streaking behind the beast as its tail whipped toward him. Phantom Star Step ignited once more, leaving illusions in its wake. The tail smashed through stone illusions instead of flesh.
"Second Form—Falling Star Slash!"
Chen Yue's blade carved down, severing one of the Drake's wings in an explosion of crystal and ichor. The beast's scream tore through the cavern, making even Velira stumble from the pressure.
Ayara loosed another volley of mana-charged arrows, her eyes blazing with determination. The shafts struck the raw wound where Chen Yue had cut, piercing deeper into the exposed flesh. Velira lunged next, her blade wrapped in frostfire, slashing across its foreleg and freezing the joint solid.
For the first time, the monster faltered.
Chen Yue appeared before its chest, aura flaring like a supernova. His breath burned in his lungs, every vein screaming under the overload, but he didn't care.
[Time Remaining: 26… 25…]
"THIRD FORM—ASTRAL CATASTROPHE!"
His sword swept in a circle, and for an instant, the entire cavern seemed to dim—then explode in blinding light. A storm of star-forged slashes cascaded on the beast, hundreds of strikes landing in less than a second, each detonating like a collapsing sun. The Drake roared in agony, its armor shattering, its body staggering.
But it didn't fall.
With a roar of desperation, the beast reared back, its horns blazing brighter than ever. A surge of condensed astral flame built in its throat, a beam of annihilation ready to erase everything in its path.
Velira's face went pale. "It's channeling everything—it'll blow the whole cavern!"
Ayara's eyes widened with terror. "Chen Yue—stop it!"
[Time Remaining: 12… 11…]
Chen Yue's muscles tore with every movement now, blood dripping from his lips as cracks raced across his skin like broken porcelain. His vision blurred, but his mind was sharper than ever.
One strike. All or nothing.
He drew every shred of Qi, every last fragment of the Nameless Core, and thrust his blade forward.
The ground beneath him shattered.
The air warped.
Even reality screamed.
"FOURTH FORM—STARFALL ANNIHILATION!"
He became light.
Not metaphorically—his body exploded into a comet of pure astral brilliance, streaking across the cavern like a shooting star, piercing through the beam of flame, and driving straight into the beast's chest.
For one breathless instant, the world froze.
Then the Drake detonated.
A tidal wave of blue ichor and shattered crystal ripped through the cavern, a storm of annihilation that reduced stone pillars to dust. Ayara screamed, shielding her face as Velira threw up an ice barrier, cracks webbing across its surface under the sheer force.
And then—silence.
Chen Yue stood alone in the settling dust, his sword buried in the cavern floor, his body trembling like a string pulled too tight. The Drake lay behind him—a shattered husk of crystal and bone, its core flickering faintly before dying out.
[Time Remaining: 0.]
[Override Terminated.]
[Backlash Initiating.]
"Tch—" Pain exploded through him like molten chains. His legs gave out, blood flooding his throat as his vision went dark around the edges.
He collapsed.
"Chen Yue!" Ayara's voice tore through the ringing silence as she darted to his side, catching him before his head hit the ground. Her eyes brimmed with panic as she shook him. "Stay with me—please, don't—"
Velira was there too, kneeling beside him, her jaw tight, her hands already glowing with frost to cool the fever burning his veins. "Idiot! You nearly killed yourself!"
Chen Yue coughed, a faint smile tugging at his lips despite the agony.
"But… I won… didn't I?"
Ayara's eyes blurred with tears. Velira turned away sharply, muttering curses under her breath.
And then—a shadow fell over them.
Selene.
She walked through the smoke like a vision of moonlight, her silken hair untouched by dust, her amethyst eyes glowing faintly. She stopped before him, gazing down with an expression he couldn't read—soft, dangerous, and something else entirely.
Without a word, she knelt… and pressed her lips to his.
Ayara froze. Velira stiffened, her eyes going wide.
The kiss was brief, but it burned like molten starlight, sending a rush of warmth and power surging through his shattered veins. When Selene pulled back, her gaze was molten, her voice a whisper that caressed the air.
"That," she said softly, "is your reward… and your curse."
Ayara's fists clenched at her sides, her face pale, her breath trembling. Velira's aura flared with killing frost, the temperature plummeting as cracks of ice split the ground.
"You…" Velira's voice was like a blade drawn from ice. "You dare—"
Selene rose slowly, her smile calm and infuriatingly serene. "Do not glare at me, little snow wolf. You're welcome to fight for him… if you think you can win."
Ayara bit her lip, her heart hammering, tears burning her eyes—not from weakness, but from something far more dangerous.
The cavern trembled again, but this time, it wasn't the Drake.
It was the tension between three women—and one broken man lying in their midst.
End of Chapter 17 – Sixty Seconds to Slay a Star