The hum of the Pegasus-Riders was like a swarm of angry hornets. High above the Valley of Fallen Blades, twelve golden-winged steeds circled the iron-wood canopy, their riders clad in luminous white armor. These were the Sky-Wardens of the Sagittarius Covenant, elite aerial scouts whose arrows were forged from concentrated starlight.
[DETECTION: AERIAL THREAT] [TARGETS: 12 PEGASUS-RIDERS — RANK: C+] [ANALYZING MANA VECTORS...]
Solan stood on the highest obsidian peak, his tattered hoodie flapping in the cold wind. He didn't hide his aura anymore. The crimson runes on his arms were like glowing scars against his now-pale skin, pulsing in sync with the Fang of Ophiuchus.
"There he is!" a rider shouted, his voice amplified by magic. "The Abomination! Target his limbs—the High Priest wants the Void Heart intact!"
A rain of light followed. Twelve arrows of pure solar energy hissed through the air, converging on Solan's position. Each arrow was designed to paralyze, a "Star-Chain" spell woven into every tip.
Solan didn't move until the arrows were inches from his face.
"Phantom Step."
Pop.
The air where Solan had stood imploded with a faint, vacuum-like sound. The arrows struck empty stone, shattering into harmless sparks.
A hundred feet in the air, behind the lead rider, the space distorted. Solan appeared out of thin air, his boots touching the golden wings of the Pegasus for a fraction of a second.
"What—?!" the rider gasped, turning his head.
Solan didn't use his blade. He placed a hand on the rider's silver helmet.
"Crimson Aegis: Internal Burst."
A pulse of red plasma exploded inside the rider's armor. The man didn't even scream; he was ejected from his saddle like a stone from a catapult. As the Pegasus bucked in terror, Solan grabbed the reins, his Void energy turning the golden wings into a bruised, smoky purple.
[CORRUPTING STEED: TEMPORARY MOUNT ACQUIRED]
"My turn to hunt in the light," Solan whispered, his dual-toned voice chilling the air.
He kicked the corrupted Pegasus into a dive. The other riders scattered, their formation breaking in panic. They had never seen a "Null" move like this—teleporting through the sky, commanding their own sacred beasts.
"Formation Gamma! Fire at will!" the squad leader screamed, drawing a massive longbow made of celestial ivory.
A barrage of arrows filled the sky, but Solan was no longer where they aimed. He used Phantom Step again and again, flickering in and out of reality. Every time he reappeared, a rider fell.
Flicker. A wing was severed by the Fang of Ophiuchus. Flicker. A rider was pulled from his seat by a gravitational tether. Flicker.
Within minutes, the sky was littered with falling feathers and shattered armor. Only the squad leader remained, his Pegasus trembling as Solan hovered before him, standing precariously on the back of his own corrupted mount.
"Who... what are you?" the leader stammered, his ivory bow shaking.
Solan raised the Fang. The black glass blade was now dripping with captured Sagittarius essence, turning the crimson plasma into a sharp, piercing violet.
"I'm the one who's going to eat your stars," Solan said.
With a final Phantom Step, he appeared directly in front of the leader. He didn't strike with the blade. He reached out and snapped the ivory bow with his bare hands, then inhaled. The golden mana of the leader's constellation was literally sucked out of his mouth and eyes, flowing into Solan's lungs.
[ABSORPTION COMPLETE: SAGITTARIUS AGILITY DATA ADDED] [LEVEL UP: VOID NOBLE (STAGE 3)]
Solan let the leader fall. He didn't watch him hit the ground. He looked at his own hand—it was no longer shaking. The "human" fear was being replaced by a cold, calculative hunger.
He looked North. The forest was ending. Ahead lay the "Dead-Zone", the barren wasteland that separated the wilderness from the outskirts of the capital.
"Halfway there," Solan muttered.
He jumped from the dying Pegasus, falling hundreds of feet toward the earth. Just before impact, he used a final Phantom Step to land softly on the grey sand.
He was no longer just a fugitive. He was a calamity in the making.