Chapter 10: Apex of the Stars

Chapter 10: Apex of the Stars

The Doctor’s guess was right.

Defeating the level two Starbeast, the Terravaran—or rather, winning the final assessment on his own terms—that had been Tendou’s decision from the very beginning.

Whether this approach violated the original rules of the test… He didn’t care.

“Tendou!”

On the arena, hearing Caroline’s voice behind him, Tendou suddenly smiled.

Because he knew full well: her sudden call meant she had completed the task he’d asked of her.

Now, it was his turn to put on a show.

Boom!

Tendou unleashed his full speed, vanishing in a blur. For the first time, he completely widened the gap between himself and the Terravaran, retreating to a relatively safe distance.

“Liuli!”

“I—I know!”

At his signal, Jing Liuli—who had been circling warily at the edge of the battlefield—immediately darted in to take his place.

“D—Dream Corruption!”

Soaring down on her pillow mount, her fluttering coat slipped aside, revealing a glimpse of pajamas decorated with little bear prints.

In that instant, countless dream-butterflies poured from her sleeves, swarming around the beast’s head, shrouding its eyes.

Sudden blindness made the Terravaran stumble.

More than that, the butterflies carried a strange kind of star energy. The beast suddenly felt a heavy drowsiness press over it—an instinctive urge to lie down and sleep.

Tendou’s gaze sharpened. As the beast faltered for that brief moment, he shut his eyes, focusing—receiving the crucial combat data transmitted by Caroline.

[Target: Left foreknee. Old injury. Star energy circulation gap: 0.03 seconds.]

Moments later, Tendou’s eyes snapped open.

And he locked his sights squarely on the creature’s left knee—on that faint, hidden weakness invisible to any outsider.

He raised his hand. A small, violently rotating sphere of star energy began to condense at his fingertip.

The whirling orb spun faster and faster, its azure radiance reflecting off the sharp angles of his defiant face.

Sensing this new danger, the Terravaran grew agitated.

The haze of drowsiness shattered in an instant—its primal beast instincts screaming at the lethal threat concentrated within that orb.

“ROAR!”

The beast bellowed furiously, swiping away the butterflies blinding it, then barreled straight through Liuli, charging madly at Tendou.

But Tendou remained calm. His voice rang clear over the thundering arena.

“Stellar Technique—Azure!”

The blazing sphere at his fingertip shot forth at a staggering speed.

It streaked across the air in a dazzling arc of light—and struck, dead on, at the Terravaran’s left knee.

CRACK!

A brittle, shattering sound rang out. The beast’s vaunted rock armor split apart like brittle biscuits.

The spinning sphere drilled violently into its joint, tearing through rock-scales and piercing deep into its flesh.

“ROOOAR!!”

A howl of agony split the air. Pain wracked the creature as its momentum collapsed.

Its thunderous charge faltered—then, with a staggering misstep, it crashed down headlong.

BOOM!

The beast’s massive body slammed into the arena floor, shaking the entire stage with a thunderous tremor.

The arena fell into dead silence.

Every pair of eyes was locked wide in disbelief at the scene before them.

“Y-you’ve gotta be kidding me…” Chen Kong’s jaw practically hit the floor. “That’s a level two Starbeast…”

He couldn’t comprehend it. In the span of just a few breaths—the Terravaran, that insurmountable monster he thought unbeatable, had been driven to its knees before Tendou.

And it wasn’t just him. His sister Chen Xing, and even the dignitaries seated in the VIP viewing room—all of them were shaken by what they had just witnessed.

Clatter—

The canary-masked noblewoman’s champagne flute slipped from her hand, crystal shattering as golden liquid spilled across a gown worth millions of starcoins.

But she didn’t so much as glance at the stain.

Her flawless eyes were riveted on the youth standing tall in the arena, lips moving unconsciously.

“Incredible… truly incredible…”

“Three half-stars—none of them even first-order Starbearer yet—actually managed to wound a level two Starbeast.”

“Talent. Courage. Strategy. And above all, the composure to face death without flinching… This boy—no, this Tendou—he was born a leader.”

“If he hadn’t shouldered the lion’s share of the risk himself, no matter how refined their plan, against such overwhelming disparity in raw power they never could’ve seen it through.”

“One mistake—just a single flaw in the chain—and the entire plan would’ve collapsed. And Tendou, who had taken on the greatest burden, would’ve been the first to fall… fatally.”

“Masamune Tendou… are you really so certain you’ll never make a mistake? Are you truly unafraid of failure?”

The canary-masked noblewoman’s gaze was filled with awe and disbelief alike.

Even now, staring at the undeniable results, she could not understand why Tendou had chosen such a reckless path.

To her, his actions were not only dangerous, but yielded barely any benefit. By any rational measure, it was madness.

After all, if they had simply stuck to the exam’s intended rules—if they had just stalled, drawn out the fight against the Terravaran—then Tendou, Caroline, and Jing Liuli would have safely passed.

Yet he—ignoring Caroline and Liuli’s objections—had chosen a road no one anticipated.

He wasn’t here to stall.

Nor to pass by convention.

He was here to fight back. To shatter their assumptions. To prove that miracles did exist.

And now… that miracle, once only a theoretical fantasy, stood undeniable before their eyes.

“ROAR!”

On the stage, the Terravaran heaved itself upright.

Gone was the earlier ease and mockery from its beastly eyes.

What replaced them was bloodthirst. Rage. A violent, suffocating malice.

Tendou’s strike had wounded it, yes—but the injury was shallow, little more than a scratch.

Yet that scratch had done what no heavy blow could: it had stoked the monster’s fury.

Now, the Starbeast was determined. It would teach these insolent mortals a lesson written in blood.

But as its gaze swept across the stage, the beast froze.

Its bloodshot eyes widened in… confusion?

Because Tendou was no longer in the arena.

He was outside the ring, lazily putting his shades back on—the same ones that radiated maximum smugness.

And then, with a grin, he actually waved at it.

“Yo, big guy. Still sulking? Don’t you get it? The exam’s over.”

“ROOOAARRR!!!”

The Terravaran’s fury boiled over. Its roar shook the protective barrier until it hummed violently, soundwaves rattling every corner of the arena.

Unable to exact revenge, unable to vent its humiliation on its true target, the beast slammed its claws against the ground over and over, the arena trembling beneath its futile wrath.

Only destruction remained to soothe its pride.

Watching the tantrum, Tendou jabbed a finger at it, smirking like the most insufferable brat in existence.

“He’s mad. Look, guys—he’s mad!”

“Some level two Star Beast it is… how can it lose its temper so easily?”

Caroline’s cat ears twitched, her tone calm as she said,

“Tendou, if you keep this up, you’ll end up getting the people after you killed.”

At that, Tendou only shrugged carelessly.

“What’s it got to do with me? My assessment’s already over.”

Hearing those words, the other Children of the Stars nearby all went pale.

They looked at the Terravaran on the stage, its eyes cold and its nostrils steaming, and felt a wave of cowardice.

After all, only an idiot would step up now and face the wrath of that beast.

But just then, Chen Xing suddenly strode toward the arena, the crimson in her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

Seeing her take the initiative to approach the stage, Chen Kong immediately panicked and rushed over, tugging hard at the corner of her clothes.

“Big sis, don’t go yet—it’s still furious.”

But Chen Xing didn’t even glance back.

“Let go.”

Normally, Chen Kong would have obeyed without hesitation.

Yet as he looked at the cold gaze and the steaming nostrils of the Terravaran on the platform, he made the rare choice to defy her words.

He stepped in front of Chen Xing, spreading out his arms to block her way.

“Sis, just wait… just a little longer, right now—”

Clang!

Before he could finish, Chen Xing had already drawn her crimson greatsword, its icy edge resting against his throat.

The sudden turn stunned not only Chen Kong, but everyone else present.

As his body stiffened under the blade, Chen Xing said coldly,

“Kong, do you know why I’ve always looked down on you?”

Her words were sharp, but the chill in her gaze cut even deeper.

And faced with her overwhelming will, the timid Chen Kong, unsurprisingly, faltered once again.

His hands slowly lowered, and for a long moment, he couldn’t utter a single word.

Watching this, the disappointment in Chen Xing’s eyes deepened.

She withdrew the blade from his neck and, in a voice heavy with resignation, revealed the true reason she had always scorned him.

“Hide if you want, Kong. You can run all your life if that’s what you want.”

“Your cowardice, your timidity—one day it will make you lose everything you hold dear.”

“But while you can hide, I can’t. Because if even I back down… where else could someone as weak as you run to?”

“So even if I know the next step leads straight into the abyss—I’ll still walk forward without hesitation. After all, there’s no one left standing in front of me.”

“Now move aside, coward. Don’t get in my way.”

With that, Chen Xing no longer spared a glance for the crushed Chen Kong and strode straight toward the arena.

Just as she was about to pass through the star energy barrier guarding the ring—

A voice suddenly called out to stop her.

“Hey, Chen Xing!”

A piece of candy traced a small arc through the air, landing squarely in Chen Xing’s hand before she even realized it.

Her pupils contracted as she looked down at the sweet resting in her palm.

“What’s with that ‘no one stands before me’ line? You trying to pretend I don’t exist?”

“Don’t forget—you’re second. I’m the one standing at the forefront of everything.”

Adjusting his sunglasses, Tendou tilted his head slightly, the lenses flashing with an irritating, cocky gleam.

Chen Xing’s crimson lips parted as if she wanted to say something.

But in the end, her pride refused to yield—she merely gave a cold snort in response to Tendou’s claim as the “pinnacle.”

Then, without hesitation, she stepped into the ring, facing the now fully serious Terravaran head-on.

The creature’s overwhelming aura bore down on her, and Chen Xing drew in a deep breath. She unwrapped the candy in her hand and bit down hard.

The way she crushed it between her teeth made it seem as though it wasn’t candy she was shattering, but Tendou himself.

‘…Still, it’s actually pretty sweet.’

Meanwhile, outside the stage, Tendou wiped away nonexistent sweat from his brow.

Phew—close call. He nearly let her steal the whole spotlight.

“No one left standing in front of me.” — seriously, Chen Xing, where the hell do you even come up with such badass, over-the-top lines like that?

If he hadn’t jumped in just now, once this episode aired, all the cool points he built up earlier would’ve gone completely to waste.

Good thing he’s quick on his feet—not only did he instantly throw out his own “badass” line, but he even managed to spin it into a shining display of his “humanity.”

Otherwise, the glory would’ve all been hers. Still…

As he watched Chen Xing’s crimson figure stand proud and resolute in the arena, a smile tugged at Tendou’s lips.

‘…What you just said was pretty damn cool, though.’

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