The moment the knight, condensed from starlight, appeared, a majestic and chilling aura swept outward like a rising tide. He stood silently, as if he had been stationed there since the dawn of time.
Starlight swirled around his body, and his greatsword pointed diagonally at the ground. Though the tip was an inch from the soil, an invisible force pushed away the surrounding dust and filth.
"ROAR!"
Below, the Marsh Caiman-Dragon clearly felt this sudden, overwhelming pressure. Its lantern-like vertical pupils snapped toward the Starfall Knight. Within its furious roar, a trace of doubt and wariness was now mixed. This beast possessed a fair amount of intelligence; it could tell that this "tin can" covered in celestial armor was far more dangerous than the men riding the big birds.
After a brief standoff, the Caiman-Dragon's primal ferocity took over. It arched its back, its thick limbs tensing, and its massive body lunged forward like an out-of-control battering ram. It charged toward the Starfall Knight, cloaked in foul-smelling mud and a gale of wind. The sheer momentum seemed capable of grinding anything in its path into dust.
From the back of his griffin, Ed watched with his heart in his throat. The sound of the beast's charge was terrifying; he had no doubt that if he were hit by that impact, not a single bone in his body would remain intact.
Yet, facing this ferocious charge, the Starfall Knight remained motionless. It was only at the exact moment the Caiman-Dragon's fanged maw was about to touch his armor that he moved.
There were no earth-shattering incantations or flashy flourishes. The Starfall Knight simply raised the greatsword in his right hand. The flowing pale-blue mana on the blade suddenly flared, transforming into a dazzling sapphire starlight—it was as if he held a fragment of the night sky in his palm.
CLANG!
A deafening sound of metal meeting bone and scale rang through the swamp. The greatsword followed a trajectory that seemed slow yet was flawlessly precise, intercepting the Caiman-Dragon's path. That horrific impact—capable of shattering boulders and cracking the earth—came to a dead stop against the star-bright blade, as if hitting an immovable mountain.
The massive head of the beast collided with the sword, sending out a visible shockwave that caused the surrounding mud to ripple outward. Despite the dragon's immense strength, the Starfall Knight did not retreat an inch.
"So... so strong!" Ed gasped, dumbfounded. He had never imagined a human—or a humanoid figure—could withstand a full-speed charge from a Tier 4 Magic Beast with such pure, raw force.
Leylo's eyes narrowed slightly. He had a newfound appreciation for the power of the Soul Horn. The Starfall Knight had certainly not disappointed him.
The Duel and the Descent
Thwarted in its initial strike, the Caiman-Dragon grew even more frenzied. It thrashed its head wildly, attempting to tear the knight and sword apart with its horrific bite force. Simultaneously, its tail—thick as a steel whip—swept through the air toward the knight's waist in a treacherous arc.
The greatsword in the knight's left hand moved. A flash of blade, wrapped in sapphire starlight, perfectly parried the tail-swipe.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
What followed was a storm-like battle between knight and beast. The Caiman-Dragon used its massive size and home-field advantage to kick up mud to obscure vision, using claws, fangs, and its tail as lethal weapons from all angles. Every strike was heavy enough to split a mountain.
The Starfall Knight was like a monolith amidst a gale. His greatswords parried and countered, each swing carrying the weight of the heavens. Sparks flew as starmetal met dragon scale, accompanied by the ear-grating sound of friction. While the beast's armor was formidable, the knight's blades were no ordinary weapons. Every successful strike left deep gashes, oozing dark-green blood.
"My Lord, this... this Knight is magnificent!" Ed couldn't help but shout.
Leylo nodded, his eyes locked on the fray. He could feel that the knight's power was not infinite; every action drained the energy injected during the summoning. They had to end this quickly.
Sensing the pressure, the Caiman-Dragon's movements slowed as pain and blood loss set in. It couldn't comprehend what this unbreakable, unyielding thing was. Just as the beast lunged for a desperate bite and the two forces entered a brief deadlock, the starlight on the knight flared with unprecedented brilliance.
"Here it comes," Leylo whispered.
The Starfall Knight suddenly crossed his blades, knocking the beast's jaw aside. He bent his knees and kicked off the ground. His massive frame seemed weightless as he shot straight into the clouds! He carved a blue trail through the sky, reaching a hundred meters in an instant.
The Caiman-Dragon dazed for a moment, confused by the "escape." But a heartbeat later, it felt a lethal threat from above. High in the sky, the Starfall Knight's figure, encased in sapphire light, began to contract and shift, finally transforming into a dense, destructive Blue Meteor.
The meteor trailed a long tail of flame as it reversed direction and plummeted toward the beast with the force of a thousand thunderclaps!
"Starfall!" Leylo shouted instinctively. This was the move the knight was named for—his ultimate strike.
The Caiman-Dragon looked up, terror appearing in its cold pupils for the first time. It tried to dodge, but the meteor had locked onto its aura. The speed was far beyond its ability to react.
BOOM!
The blue meteor struck the beast's head with surgical precision. An earth-shaking explosion rocked the entire marsh. A shockwave of energy erupted from the point of impact, sending walls of mud dozens of meters into the air. The blinding blue light forced Ed to shield his eyes and his griffin to beat its wings frantically against the blast.
As the light faded, a massive crater occupied the spot where the beast had been. At the bottom lay the Tier 4 Marsh Caiman-Dragon. Its massive head had been split in two.
Instant death.
The Starfall Knight descended slowly. His starlight dimmed rapidly, his form becoming translucent. He gave a slight nod toward Leylo before his figure dissolved into shimmering motes of starlight, vanishing into the air.
Entering the Temple
"Gulp." Ed swallowed hard, his face full of awe. "That was... total destruction."
Leylo looked at the spot where the knight had vanished, deeply satisfied with the Soul Horn. "Alright, Ed. Let's head down and clear the entrance."
With the threat gone, Ed worked with renewed vigor. He cleared the last of the heavy stone slabs, revealing a dark, deep tunnel about two meters high and one and a half meters wide. An icy, damp draft wafted out, smelling of ancient decay.
Leylo pulled a fist-sized Magic Light Stone from his pouch, which emitted a soft white glow.
"My Lord, be careful," Ed whispered, gripping his sword. Unknown ruins were always deathtraps.
Leylo nodded and stepped into the passage. Ed moved quickly to take the lead, positioning himself half a step ahead to shield his Lord. Moonlight remained perched on Leylo's shoulder, her golden eyes scanning the dark. To Leylo, the cat was his most reliable insurance for this trip; he knew that if things truly turned life-threatening, "Great Lord Moonlight" would intervene.
The walls were not rough-hewn but made of polished stone blocks. Despite the moss, the expert craftsmanship of a bygone era was still evident.
"My Lord, this place feels incredibly old," Ed's voice echoed hollowly.
"Mmhmm," Leylo replied, his sharp eyes taking in every detail as they descended into the heart of the temple.