Then every living thing on that massive world felt it.
Their cultivation began dispersing. Their life force started unwinding. Their souls separated from their bodies. It wasn't violent—it was inevitable. Like watching a film play in reverse, existence itself retreating.
Billions of Cinderfiends across the planet suddenly realized they were dead. Had been dead. Would be dead. Time became meaningless as Death Rule rewrote their timeline.
Lord Ashclaw—the Supernova Rebirth demon who'd planned the invasion—was in his throne room when it happened. He'd just received news that the invasion had failed, that all his forces were being slaughtered.
Then he felt it. Death. Not approaching. Already here. Already happened. Already inevitable.
He had just enough time to scream—"WHAT—"—before his entire existence was erased.
His cultivation: gone.
His soul: dispersed.
His body: returned to fundamental particles.
A Supernova Rebirth realm demon, extinguished like a candle.
And he was just one of billions.
The planet itself began cracking. The Death Rule energy had penetrated to its core, rewriting the fundamental bindings that held matter together. Cinder's Rest—a world that had existed for millions of years—shattered.
Not an explosion. A disintegration. The planet simply stopped being a planet and became a expanding cloud of debris.
Elapsed time from beam release to complete planetary destruction: 2.8 seconds.
A world the size of 600 suns, destroyed in less than three seconds.
Every demon on it: dead. Including one Supernova Rebirth realm commander. Billions of lower-realm Cinderfiends. An entire civilization's population: extinguished.
Elder Samsara watched the debris field expand with emotionless eyes. Then he made a collecting gesture.
Spatial arrays activated across light-years of space, his spiritual sense guiding them with perfect precision. Every demon core—from the Supernova down to the Stardust level. Every treasure that had survived the planet's destruction. Every artifact, every resource, every material of value.
All of it flowed toward him, compressed into a single storage ring.
The ring—a simple jade band—now contained the wealth of an entire demon civilization. Cores worth quintillions of spirit stones. Artifacts accumulated over a hundred thousand years. Resources harvested from countless conquered worlds.
Then Elder Samsara teleported back to Telstra.
Time elapsed at Cinder's Rest: 47 seconds total.
He appeared above the capital district again. A representative sent by Gaia—a Planetary Core realm administrator named Zhao Wei—stood waiting, having been notified 0.1 seconds before Elder Samsara's arrival.
"Elder Samsara!" Zhao Wei bowed deeply. "On behalf of the Federation, thank you for—"
Elder Samsara held out the storage ring. "Distribute according to contribution. Those who fought get first priority. Standard Federation protocols apply."
Zhao Wei took the ring with trembling hands, immediately scanning its contents with his spiritual sense. His face went pale.
"This is... Elder, this is worth..."
"Approximately 847 trillion spirit stones at market value," Elder Samsara said calmly. "Plus cultivation resources sufficient to advance three thousand Red Giants to Star Fusion realm. The Supernova core alone could create ten new Supernova cultivators if used properly. Distribute it fairly."
"Yes, Elder! Absolutely! Thank you, Elder!"
Elder Samsara nodded once, then prepared to teleport away.
"Elder," Zhao Wei called out. "If I may ask—will there be retaliation? Other demon factions might—"
"There won't be," Elder Samsara interrupted. "I killed their Supernova commander and destroyed their entire world. Any demon faction that sees what I did will think very carefully before attacking humanity again. This is called 'deterrence.'"
Then he vanished, teleporting back to Primordial Depths to continue his treasure hunting.
Total time away from the secret realm: 1 minute, 23 seconds.
The True Power of Humanity
News of what happened spread across Telstra within minutes.
In the city where the families were heading, public terminals displayed the information:
INVASION REPELLED - ZERO CASUALTIES
Elder Samsara Resurrects 4 Million Dead
Demon Homeworld Destroyed in Retaliatory Strike
Cinder's Rest - Population 4.7 Billion - ELIMINATED
People stared at the screens in awe.
"He killed an entire planet," someone whispered.
"Billions of demons. Gone. Just... gone."
"And he brought back our dead. Four million people who were dead are alive now."
"This is the Federation's power."
This was humanity's true strength on display.
Not just their technology—though Gaia's coordination was critical.
Not just their numbers—though mobilizing fleets across light-years in minutes was impressive.
Not just their organization—though their response protocols were flawless.
Their high-realm cultivators were genuinely, terrifyingly powerful.
A single Supernova could resurrect millions and destroy a planet-sized civilization in under two minutes. Total. The Eight Supremes were even more powerful—Universal realm existences who could reshape solar systems, fight across galaxies, manipulate fundamental forces of reality.
And this wasn't even humanity's full power. This was one Supernova who happened to be close enough to respond quickly. If the Eight Supremes had been present, the invasion would have been crushed in seconds, possibly before the first portal even fully opened.
At the end of the day: zero human casualties. Four million temporarily dead, all resurrected. The invading demon civilization completely annihilated, their entire planet destroyed, their Supernova commander killed instantly, 847 trillion spirit stones worth of loot collected.
The only real damage was infrastructure—buildings turned to ash, landscapes cratered, reality fractured in places.
But even that was being addressed.
Already, specialized Star Fusion cultivators who'd mastered Time Law were arriving at disaster zones. Their services weren't cheap—reversing time on a localized scale required immense energy and precise control—but the Federation could afford it.
These cultivators were essentially contractors. They charged per square kilometer, with prices varying based on damage severity.
Runar watched one of them work from a distance as their group flew past. The cultivator—a woman who looked middle-aged, wearing flowing robes inscribed with temporal runes—raised both hands and created a bubble of reversed time around a destroyed city block.
The effect was surreal. Inside the bubble, time flowed backward at accelerated speed. Ash flowed upward, reforming into buildings. Cracks sealed themselves. Debris reassembled. In thirty seconds, the entire block looked exactly as it had before the attack.
Then the bubble collapsed, time resumed its normal flow, and the restored buildings remained intact.
"Remarkable," Jake breathed, watching the process. "Time Law cultivation applied to civil engineering."
"Expensive though," Caspian noted. "I heard those contractors charge 50 million spirit stones per square kilometer of urban restoration."
"Worth every stone," Lirien said. "Can you imagine trying to rebuild all this damage conventionally? It would take years."
"The Federation will have Telstra fully restored within a week," Caspian predicted. "As if the invasion never happened."
This is cultivation civilization at its peak, Runar thought with genuine admiration. Not just power to destroy—power to undo. To resurrect. To reverse time itself. Humanity has truly mastered reality manipulation at the highest levels.
Reaching the City
They finally reached the nearest city—a mid-sized metropolis called Silverbrook, about 200 kilometers from where they'd been teleported.
The city's shields were still active, creating a shimmering dome over the entire urban area. Defense turrets remained deployed on rooftops. But the emergency had clearly passed—people were walking the streets again, albeit looking shaken.
Caspian landed their group in a designated arrival zone where emergency services were processing refugees.
A Planetary Core realm administrator—different from the one who'd met Elder Samsara—approached them immediately.
"Ambassador Stormwind," the administrator bowed. "And the Cross family. Thank the heavens you're all safe."
"We survived thanks to a hidden expert who teleported us away," Caspian said. "Millions of people."
"Yes, we've been receiving those reports. Gaia is attempting to identify who performed that miracle, but..." The administrator shrugged. "Whoever it was concealed their identity completely."
Runar kept his expression neutral. Celestia's eyes sparkled but she said nothing.
"For now," the administrator continued, "we're providing emergency housing and supplies. The academy entrance examination has been postponed indefinitely—likely two weeks minimum while we ensure all infrastructure is secure."
"Understandable," Jake said.
"We'll need to file damage reports for insurance purposes," Caspian said. "My ship was destroyed in the initial attack."
The administrator pulled up a holographic form. "Ship registration?"
"Stormchaser, registration Alpha-Seven-Three-Nine-Nine."
"Ah! Yes, I see it. You had comprehensive coverage with Stellar Shield Insurance?"
"Premium tier," Caspian confirmed. "Full replacement value plus dimensional cargo coverage."
The administrator's eyes widened slightly. "Well then. Your claim should process within 48 hours. With premium tier, you'll likely get 120% of the ship's value due to the 'act of war' clause."
Caspian's face lit up. He'd loved that ship, but... "120%? That's... that's enough to upgrade to a Class-B diplomatic vessel."
"Indeed. The insurance companies understand that Federation ambassadors need reliable transportation. Especially after something like this."
After Caspian finished his paperwork, the administrator directed them to temporary housing—a hotel that had been commandeered for emergency refugee accommodation.
"Everything is free, of course," the administrator explained. "Federation emergency protocols. You'll have food, shelter, communication access. Stay as long as you need."
The Hotel - Evening
The families ended up with two adjacent suites in a mid-tier hotel. Nothing luxurious, but comfortable. Clean beds, working terminals, a shared common area.
They collapsed onto couches, the adrenaline finally wearing off.
"I still can't believe we're alive," Lirien said softly. "When I saw that axe coming down..."
"We all thought we were dead," Seraphina agreed. She still hadn't let go of Celestia.
"But we weren't," Celestia said brightly. "Someone saved us! A mysterious expert!"
She glanced at Runar but quickly looked away, keeping his secret.
"Thank the heavens for whoever that was," Jake said fervently. "We owe them our lives."
"The entire planet does," Lirien agreed. "Millions of people saved in an instant."
"I hope we find out who it was eventually," Seraphina said. "I'd like to thank them properly."
Caspian nodded. "Though knowing how powerful cultivators operate, they probably prefer to remain anonymous. Good deeds without seeking recognition—that's the mark of a true expert."
"Still," Jake mused, "the spatial manipulation required... I've never heard of anything like it. Even Red Giants can't teleport that many people simultaneously."
"Maybe it was a Supernova who was passing by?" Lirien suggested.
"Possible," Caspian agreed. "With the secret realm open, there are powerful cultivators traveling through this region regularly. We were lucky."
Runar kept his expression neutral, silently grateful the adults had reached their own conclusions without involving him.
Celestia caught his eye and gave him a tiny smile. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
"Alright, everyone," Caspian said. "We're all tired. Let's just... rest. Process what happened. Be grateful we're alive."
"Agreed," Seraphina said. She finally released Celestia, though reluctantly. "Tomorrow we can figure out our next steps. For tonight, just... be together."
They ordered food—the hotel's restaurant was still operational, serving simple but hot meals. They ate together in the common area, talking about nothing important, deliberately avoiding the topic of the invasion.
Eventually, exhaustion claimed them all.
Jake and Lirien retired to their suite. Seraphina and Celestia to theirs. Caspian had his own room down the hall.
Runar lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind processing everything that had happened.
He'd broken through to the 3333rd stage. Mastered 184 Laws. Met the Universal Will. Killed multiple Red Giant demons. Saved millions of people.
And somehow, despite all of that, the most impressive thing he'd witnessed today was Elder Samsara casually resurrecting four million people and destroying a planet-sized civilization in under two minutes.
I still have so far to go, Runar thought. Supernova realm. Neutron Star. Black Hole. Quasar. Universal. The peak is still distant.
But I'm getting there. One stage at a time.
His terminal chimed with a notification. A message from Gaia, sent to all Telstra residents:
"The threat has been neutralized. All citizens are safe. The Federation protects its own. Always."
Runar smiled and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, they'd go home. Rest. Recover. Wait for the academy to reschedule.
But tonight, he'd just be grateful to be alive.