"What kind of existence is this?" The young girl's face turned even paler, as the oppressive aura emanating from the outside world grew heavier, making it hard for her to breathe.
"This aura, if nothing unexpected happens, should belong to an Alien King," Muria said calmly. His composed expression brought the girl immense reassurance, helping her regain her composure.
However, as soon as Muria revealed the identity of the being causing the celestial phenomenon outside, the entire carriage erupted in panic. The family members accompanying him were instantly alarmed.
At their level, they naturally understood the implications of encountering an Alien King—beings capable of altering the heavens and the earth, akin to gods descending to the mortal plane. And now, such a powerful entity had set its sights on them.
No, to be precise, it had its sights set on Muria. Among all the people present, only Muria warranted the attention of an Alien King.
"You all stay here and don't wander off," Muria instructed.
"What about you?" Upon hearing Muria's words, Daisy immediately asked in a worried tone.
"I'm going to take a look and deal with it. I'll be back soon." Muria patted his sister's head and, without giving anyone a chance to say more, opened the emergency door and leaped out.
No longer needing the support of martial energy to lift him, Muria stepped into the void and soared toward the source of the celestial anomaly above the clouds.
The Alien King had made no effort to conceal its aura upon arriving. Instead, it had boldly displayed its power, resulting in the astonishing phenomena in the sky.
"Heh."
Muria raised his head. What met his gaze was a sky shrouded in purple-black clouds. The ground below had fallen into darkness, resembling the end of the world and evoking an overwhelming sense of oppression. Yet Muria felt nothing from this display.
During his time in Erathia, as he swept through the Synapse subcontinent and fought avatars of evil gods, the scenes he witnessed far surpassed this. Back then, lands fractured, magma erupted, and the skies were filled with thunder and fire. Compared to those apocalyptic battles, this was merely child's play.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Muria entered the mass of purple-black clouds. He released a portion of the manifestation of his martial domain, and an ocean-like torrent of martial energy surged from his body, forcing the surrounding clouds to disperse. Amidst the sea of clouds, Muria stood out strikingly against the gloomy sky.
After Muria unleashed his martial domain, streams of light began to radiate from the purple-black clouds. These streams converged before him, forming a massive purple-black sun. Within this sun, a towering and menacing figure slowly emerged, radiating an aura so intense it caused cracks to appear faintly in the fabric of space. The figure gazed down at Muria with cold eyes, as if confirming his identity.
After a brief inspection, this entity showed no intention of exchanging words with Muria. Instead, it extended its hand, and runic patterns, faint and star-like, emerged from the surrounding purple-black clouds. These patterns converged on its hand, forming a colossal palm that seemed to blot out the heavens as it struck down toward Muria, aiming to end him in one blow.
Seeing the Alien King's dismissive attitude, Muria couldn't help but smile. He raised his hand in response. Behind him, the sea of clouds surged, and countless stars appeared within it, forming a brilliant starry sky.
The radiance of countless stars converged upon Muria's hand, forming a palm that matched the Alien King's attack in magnitude as it rose to meet the strike.
Boom!
Purple and white collided, creating massive shockwaves of mingling purple haze and white light. Clouds dissipated, and the heavens and stars trembled. Both Muria's martial domain and the purple-black clouds created by the Alien King quaked violently, like an ocean caught in a tempest with towering waves.
"Hm?"
The Alien King, who had intended to strike once and leave, let out a surprised hum. It had not anticipated this outcome. The existence it believed it could obliterate with a single blow remained unscathed before it, even smiling as if mocking its ineffectiveness.
"To withstand my attack… Impressive. It seems my personal intervention was the correct choice. A being like you must be eliminated early; you cannot be allowed to remain." The Alien King, though inwardly surprised, maintained its composure. As a king, it could not afford to lose its dignity or momentum, even in unforeseen circumstances.
"Eliminate me early? You lack the capability." Hearing the Alien King's words, Muria's smile grew wider. To the Alien King, this human's expression was an obvious provocation.
"You are the most gifted human I've encountered since arriving in this world. I now understand your arrogance, but your talent alone is no justification for your insolence before me."
The Alien King spoke indifferently. To it, Muria was not on the same level, but surviving its attack had earned him the right to speak.
"This isn't arrogance—just facts."
"Seeing you now reminds me of my younger self. Back then, I was just as dismissive of everyone else. But when my world was destroyed, I realized how weak I truly was. I could do nothing but watch as everything I knew was obliterated."
Despite Muria's apparent defiance, the Alien King did not grow angry. To it, Muria was merely a dead man walking. Instead, the encounter stirred memories of its past, causing it to wax nostalgic.
"Don't compare me to you. When your world was destroyed, you were powerless. I'm nothing like you." Muria raised an eyebrow, correcting the Alien King's misconception.
Although Muria didn't know of any force that could destroy his world, he was aware of the numerous entities in the void eyeing Erathia. Yet, against such threats, Muria now possessed the strength to fight back, though it rarely came down to him.
"How pitifully ignorant you are. You have no idea how vast the world outside your own is. Like a cricket in a cage, your brilliance only stands out among your kind. In the greater cosmos, you are but a pitiful ant."
"No, the pathetic one is you—a stray dog whose home has already been destroyed."
Watching the Alien King posture and boast before him, Muria couldn't help but feel amused. A legendary-tier being lecturing him about the vastness of the cosmos was downright comical to someone who, unbeknownst to the Alien King, was an epic-tier entity playing low-level games.
"Ignorant human." The Alien King's expression soured. It raised its hand to strike again.
This time, it was certain Muria had exhausted most of his strength to withstand the first attack. There was no way he could survive another. After all, there was an insurmountable gap between their levels—like a chasm separating entirely different forms of life.
Yet the result once again defied the Alien King's expectations. Muria's counterattack—a beam of pure white energy—pierced through its colossal hand and struck its face.
Shards of chitinous armor, stained with dark, viscous blood, scattered through the air. The Alien King's head turned slightly from the force, and it slowly rotated back to touch the wound on its face.
Feeling the sticky sensation of blood and the faint sting of the wound healing rapidly, the Alien King lowered its hand and looked at the black blood staining its fingers. Then, it smiled.
"It's been a long time since I've been injured. To think a mere ant, a full tier below me, could wound me. You're remarkable. If you were to reach my level, you'd likely surpass me."
Though initially wounded out of carelessness, the Alien King showed no anger. As a ruler, it knew rage was useless.
"Unfortunately for you, I can't allow you to grow. You pose too great a threat to my kind. Someone like you shouldn't exist."
"You're right; someone like me shouldn't exist," Muria replied with a knowing nod. If not for his family's decision to target this world for its energy, a prodigy like his reincarnated self would never have come into being.
"So, you've accepted your fate." The Alien King found Muria's words odd but didn't dwell on them.
It could never have imagined that the person before it, who had just defied all odds, was actually an epic-tier powerhouse playing on a lower level. Its limited perspective simply couldn't comprehend such a possibility. Muria's display of defying expectations could only be chalked up to exceptional talent.
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