The laughter from the Dark Gate grew heavier with every passing second, echoing across the Starfall Covenant headquarters on Earth. The very air vibrated under its weight, and the aura emanating from the gate intensified by the second. The assembled warriors, Valtherion Draven, and the elite of Earth, and veterans who had once trained alongside him—felt an instinctive, chilling dread. They could not see the figure emerging from the gate, nor could they gauge the relationship between Valtherion Draven and the entity that had arrived, but one thing was certain: the moment this figure stepped forward, it would change everything.
The warriors exchanged wary glances—Atlas Volkov, Liang Shen, Arjun Dev Singh, Eleanor Carteris, Azrael Ben-Kohen, and Ra-Khepri Pharaoh—all of them once contemporaries of Valtherion Draven, and now observing a side of him they had never imagined.
Valtherion Draven's laughter split the tension in the air. But it was unlike anything they had heard before. It was not a laugh of anger or cruelty, nor was it the laughter of dominance or calculated suppression. This was pure delight, childlike joy, the laughter of a being who had finally attained something he had longed for, and at this, even the most battle-hardened veterans felt a shiver of unease.
When the figure finally stepped from the Dark Gate, Valtherion Draven's speed became incomprehensible. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance, embracing the entity with a force that radiated overwhelming energy, and for the first time, the onlookers glimpsed Valtherion Draven's humanity. The figure in his arms was Bright, the lost son of Stephen Adarkwah, now returned, and astonishingly, a Cosmic Emperor Entity at Stage 5—3 levels above Valtherion Draven. The reunion was profound, powerful, and unthinkable.
Before the awe of the reunion could settle, another aura surged from the Dark Gate, an oppressive wave that pinned every warrior present to their knees. This aura carried an authority and fear that was not human—it was absolute. Slowly, a figure emerged. Not a man, but a woman, human in appearance yet radiating power that made the very air quiver.
Her skin was fair, her posture regal, yet her presence alone commanded the laws she had mastered. She floated effortlessly from the Dark Gate, her name a declaration of authority: Selara, a being at the first stage of Universal Sovereign called Cosmic Sovereign.
Above her head materialized a radiant golden ring, a halo of divine authority that pulsed steadily without touching her. Its presence radiated the raw essence of the Beast Law, near-perfect in mastery. Suspended around the ring, three luminous stars drifted in silent orbit: one deep, devouring black edged with violet—the mark of Darkness; another a shifting smoky silver—the essence of Shadow; and the third a crimson-gold hue, subtly warping space and hinting at mastery over Time. Together, the ring and the three stars formed a celestial crown, an unmistakable testament to her dominion over these laws.
As Selara stepped fully from the gate, the Dark Gate sealed behind her, and for a brief moment, the people of Earth could breathe. Yet danger was far from over. Valtherion Draven, still glowing with his Cosmic Emperor power, began briefing Selara on the crises Earth faced: the political turmoil surrounding the Matoyo A1 spaceship, the unending disputes between nations over its possession, and the establishment of the Staff or Covenant's main headquarters on the planet Eres.
Selara's voice, calm and commanding, cut through the room. "That was my husband's design," she stated, and the room fell into reverent silence.
Then came the questions that weighed on everyone's mind: Where is Stephen? Where is my husband? Why has no one sensed him? Why has he not appeared here? The room held its breath. No one dared speak.
Bright stepped forward, his voice betraying both awe and curiosity. "Since I returned, I haven't seen my father. Where is he?"
The revelation rippled shock across the room: Bright, the son of Stephen Adarkwah, stood before them, and beside him, Selara, Stephen's wife and the daughter of Zorvath. The legacy of the Adarkwah family their glory, their influence, their lineage was poised to rise again.
Valtherion Draven bowed deeply before Selara and spoke, "Stephen is gone."
Confusion and disbelief etched Selara's face. "Gone? How can he be gone?
"Dead," Valtherion replied, firm and unwavering.
"No! No! No!" Selara's voice trembled with shock and desperation. "That is impossible! I can still sense his aura! Where is his body?"
Valtherion Draven explained that the body could not be found, despite nearly a century of searching. High-level warriors could detect no trace of Stephen's life, and Maize confirmed that his heartbeat had ceased entirely. To the untrained eye, Stephen was dead.
Selara shook her head, refusing to accept it. "He is in a state of Pseudo-Death a false death. His body conserves the last 1% of his life essence, invisible to all sensors, making it appear as though he is gone."
For now, Selara set aside the matter of Stephen's life and death, turning her focus to the urgent threats approaching Earth. She connected with Maize, the intelligence system of the Starfall Covenant, only to discover that Maize had no additional information on the incoming fleet. With a measured voice, she instructed the warriors to rest and promised answers the following day, emphasizing respect and obedience.
After the warriors departed, Selara and Bright followed Valtherion to his mansion. There, Selara began assessing the power of Lin and Michael. She could feel Lin's Stage 6 Beast Master aura and noted the remarkable strength of his cultivation foundation.
Michael's Stage 9 Beast Binder aura also impressed her. She quizzed them on the duration of their cultivation, uncovering that Lin had spent nine years refining his Stage 6 Beast Master, while Michael had been a Stage 9 Binder for seven years. She smiled, recognizing Lin's foundation as the reason he had emerged victorious in the Starfall Ascension Tournament.
Selara then instructed them on the Beast Law, the core of interspecies combat mastery. "The Beast Law cannot be taught," she said. "You must sense it. Relax your body. Calm your spirit. Let your cultivation foundation respond. Only then will the Beast Menu reveal itself to you." Lin and Michael tried, but Selara ordered them to rest for one month, allowing their minds, spiritual essences, and cultivation foundations to mature before embarking on the next stage of their training.
The following day, Selara convened a meeting with all Earth warriors and world leaders. After listening attentively to complaints regarding the A1 spaceship, she declared decisively, "As the daughter of Zorvath and the wife of Stephen, I have decided that the A1 spaceship will be moved to the planet Eres, headquarters of the Staff for Covenant. I will govern the Staff until my husband's return, alongside Valtherion and Bright.
The room fell silent. No one dared oppose her authority.
Just as the gravity of her decision settled, Maize sounded an emergency alarm: a hostile fleet traveling at 50 times the speed of light was approaching, expected to arrive within seventeen hours.
Selara's eyes narrowed. The leading entity, Drakthul, of the Xylaran Family, had reached the early stage of Eternal Sovereign, already terrifying in the Universal Sovereign tier, commanding thirty subordinates ranging from 9 Galaxy Lord Stage to 10 Cosmic Emperor and 13 Void Monarchs .
Selara's voice cut through the growing panic, "If they come to visit, we will welcome them. If they come to conquer, we will fight. Our warriors may be limited in the Stella ranks, but the Galaxy Lords, Cosmic Emperors, and Void Monarchs will hold the line. For the three Universal Sovereigns, I will personally confront them if the situation becomes critical.
In the outer reaches of space, Drakthul's gaze fell upon Earth. A sinister smile curved his lips. "Finally," he muttered, "we have arrived."