THE KING OF STARS

Chapter 69: THRONES OF JUDGEMENT

The second spear descended like the end of creation.

Space ruptured around it.

The underground ruin—already collapsing beneath the awakening of the Devourer—simply ceased to exist wherever the golden light touched. Mountains above them evaporated instantly. Entire rivers across the surrounding region exploded into steam.

And the spear was still falling.

Yun stared upward in horror.

That attack was not aimed at the Devourer.

It was aimed at everything.

The silver-robed woman's expression hardened immediately.

"Heaven is purging the entire zone."

Xie Ren looked genuinely stunned for the first time in a long while.

"That thing is going to erase half the continent."

"More," Shen Yu said quietly.

Golden chains across his body rattled violently now.

"The spear's locking onto causal spread."

Yun frowned despite the terror crushing his chest.

"What does that mean?"

Shen Yu's gaze remained fixed upward.

"It's not destroying a location."

A pause.

"It's destroying possibility."

The realization hit like ice.

The heavenly spear wasn't targeting land.

It was targeting futures connected to the Root's awakening.

Which meant—

Yun.

The Devourer moved before the spear landed.

Not quickly.

Not violently.

Simply inevitably.

Its enormous body shifted upward through the abyss while silver roots unfurled across reality itself. Yun realized with growing horror that the creature was far larger than he had initially understood.

The portion visible inside the ruin was insignificant.

A fragment.

Its true body existed somewhere beyond dimensional boundaries, pressing against reality from the other side like an ocean against cracked glass.

The countless eyes across its form turned upward.

Then the Devourer raised one hand.

The descending spear stopped.

The world froze.

Yun's breath caught in his throat.

The continent-sized construct of heavenly law trembled violently against the Devourer's outstretched hand while shockwaves tore across the sky above the ruins.

The heavens were pushing downward.

The Devourer pushed upward.

Reality screamed between them.

The silver-robed woman looked pale now.

"Impossible…"

Shen Yu answered grimly.

"No. This is why heaven fears it."

The golden eye above the world narrowed.

HEAVENLY THRONES: DESCEND.

The sky split open.

Yun's synchronization marks exploded painfully as enormous gates appeared across the heavens themselves.

One. Two. Five. Nine.

Nine colossal golden gates unfolded above the world like divine monuments descending from eternity.

The pressure nearly crushed Yun unconscious instantly.

Even the Devourer became still.

The gates opened slowly.

And figures emerged.

Not people.

Concepts wearing human shape.

Each one sat upon a floating throne forged from golden law and burning stars. Their faces remained obscured beneath divine radiance, but their presence distorted the world merely by existing.

The Nine Thrones.

Yun instinctively understood the name the moment he saw them.

Ancient.

Absolute.

Executioners of heaven.

The hunters beneath the chamber recoiled violently, several dissolving entirely from the pressure alone.

Even the black tide retreated.

One of the Thrones spoke.

Its voice contained neither emotion nor individuality.

Only judgment.

"Primordial contamination confirmed."

Another answered.

"Root synchronization active."

A third turned toward Yun directly.

"Heir candidate identified."

The final words descended like a blade.

"Eradication approved."

The silver-robed woman moved instantly.

"NO—"

Too late.

One of the Thrones raised its hand.

A single thread of golden light descended toward Yun.

Tiny.

Insignificant-looking.

Yet the moment Yun saw it, every instinct inside him screamed death louder than ever before.

Because unlike the spear—

This attack could not be blocked.

It was law.

Absolute heavenly law declaring his existence invalid.

Xie Ren stepped in front of Yun without hesitation.

The golden thread pierced straight through him.

Silence.

Yun's eyes widened.

"Xie Ren—!"

No wound appeared.

For one terrifying second, nothing happened.

Then Xie Ren's body began fading.

Like ash scattering in invisible wind.

His left arm dissolved first.

Not destroyed.

Removed.

Yun felt cold terror flood through him.

The Thrones were not killing him.

They were deleting him.

Xie Ren looked down at his disappearing arm and laughed once in disbelief.

"Well… that's new."

Yun moved instantly, grabbing him before more of his body could vanish.

The moment their skin touched—

The silver marks inside Yun ignited violently.

Threads erupted outward from his body instinctively.

Silver collided with gold.

The deletion stopped.

Every Throne became still simultaneously.

The Devourer looked toward Yun sharply.

Even the silver-robed woman's expression changed.

Because Yun had just interrupted heavenly law directly.

The world trembled.

The golden thread binding Xie Ren cracked apart.

Then shattered.

A shockwave exploded across the sky.

One of the Thrones suddenly stood from its seat for the first time.

Impossible pressure descended instantly.

The figure looked directly at Yun.

Its voice no longer emotionless.

Now—

It sounded furious.

"THE ROOT HAS BREACHED AUTHORITY."

The heavens roared.

Storms erupted across the world.

Far beyond the ruins, Yun sensed ancient formations awakening one after another beneath distant sects and forgotten lands.

Everyone felt it.

Something impossible had just happened.

Shen Yu stared at Yun with narrowed eyes.

"You overrode a Throne."

Yun looked horrified.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO."

"That's somehow worse."

The Devourer began laughing again.

Not mockingly.

Almost proudly.

LITTLE HEIR…

Its countless eyes gleamed across the abyss.

YOU TRULY ARE THEIR GREATEST FEAR.

The Thrones moved simultaneously.

Nine divine beings rose from their seats as golden law flooded heaven and earth.

The silver-robed woman's face lost all color.

"They're abandoning restraint."

The Devourer's roots spread wider.

The black tide surged upward in response.

And somewhere deep within the Root—

Something answered Yun back.

Not a voice.

Not words.

A heartbeat.

Massive. Ancient. Awakening.

Yun suddenly realized something terrifying.

The Root was not reacting to the Devourer.

It was reacting to him.

Then the first Throne descended from heaven.