Silence followed.

Not the peaceful kind.

It was the suffocating silence that came after catastrophe, when the mind refused to accept what the eyes had just witnessed.

The colossal black hole hung in the sky like a wound carved into reality itself. It did not rage or roar. It simply existed, and existence around it bent in submission.

Ships that had been moments away from destruction drifted helplessly, their formations flickering. Cultivators stood frozen on decks, weapons half raised, mouths open, eyes locked on the impossible scene unfolding above the Sitria Ocean.

The demonic octopus thrashed violently.

Its tentacles slammed against the sea, against ships, against nothing at all. Entire sections of its massive body were being pulled upward, stretched thin like molten tar as the Void singularity devoured it piece by piece.

The demonic cultivator atop its head finally stopped laughing.

His face twisted in horror.

"No… no, no, no…" he screamed, clawing at the air. "This is impossible! This beast was bound by abyssal law! Who are you?!"

His voice cracked, rising into hysteria as the black hole tore through the binding formations etched into the creature's flesh. The demonic runes shattered like brittle glass, their power reduced to meaningless fragments.

The cultivator dropped to his knees.

"Stop! I surrender! I surrender!" he shrieked, his voice breaking as chunks of his life-bound beast were stripped away. "I stole it, yes! I stole the pagoda! But I never meant to fight a monster like you!"

Vahn did not answer.

He stood at the edge of the Red Talon's deck, cloak snapping softly in the distorted wind, eyes cold and empty. His face carried no hatred, no anger, no pleasure.

Only intent.

To him, this was not vengeance.

This was not justice.

This was not even a battle.

It was a demonstration.

The Void surged.

The black hole expanded slightly, just enough to remind everyone present that its restraint was deliberate.

The demonic octopus let out another scream, this one lower, weaker. Its massive body began collapsing inward, layers of corrupted flesh peeled away as if skinned by invisible hands. The ocean beneath boiled, steam rising as abyssal energy was forcibly extracted and erased.

On the decks of nearby ships, mercenaries dropped to their knees.

"What… what kind of power is that…"

"That is not Earth Immortal."

"That is not even Immortal Realm standard."

"He is erasing essence itself…"

Zutian stood frozen, his greatsword slipping from his grip and clattering against the deck.

His throat felt dry.

He had fought beside Vahn.

He had laughed with him.

He had invited him casually into Crimson Hawk.

And only now did he realize how close he had been to something incomprehensible.

Renka's fists were clenched so tightly that blood seeped between her fingers.

Her sharp, calculating mind tried to rationalize what she was seeing.

Failed.

"That is not a technique," she whispered. "That is a law."

The demonic cultivator screamed again, his body now being dragged upward by the same invisible force devouring his beast.

"No! Please! I can be useful! I know secrets! I know Azure Dragon Sect's vault paths! I know their elders' weaknesses!"

Vahn raised his hand slightly.

The black hole shrank.

Just enough.

The octopus let out one final, broken shriek before collapsing completely, its remaining mass torn apart and consumed until nothing remained but ripples on the ocean's surface.

The sea fell unnaturally calm.

The black hole vanished as if it had never existed.

The sky healed.

The clouds resumed their slow drift.

Only then did Vahn step forward.

He crossed the air itself, walking calmly toward the floating demonic cultivator, whose body trembled uncontrollably as he hung suspended by invisible Void pressure.

Vahn stopped in front of him.

Their eyes met.

The cultivator sobbed openly now.

"I… I beg you…"

Vahn's fist moved.

Not fast.

Not slow.

Precise.

The punch landed squarely against the cultivator's abdomen.

The impact did not create a shockwave.

It created silence.

The demonic cultivator's body folded around the strike as if reality itself had buckled. His scream cut off instantly as Void energy flooded into him, suppressing his cultivation completely.

Vahn struck again.

And again.

Each blow landed with surgical efficiency, not killing, not maiming, but breaking the cultivator's will piece by piece. His bones cracked audibly. Blood spilled into the air, instantly evaporated by Void pressure.

The mercenaries watched in stunned terror.

Vahn's face never changed.

This was not cruelty.

This was enforcement.

When he finished, the demonic cultivator hung limp, unconscious, his cultivation sealed so thoroughly that even an Immortal Sovereign would need time to undo it.

Vahn released his grip.

The body fell onto the Red Talon's deck with a dull thud.

Alive.

Captured.

Only then did Vahn turn around.

His gaze swept across the battlefield.

Across the shattered ships.

Across the silent mercenaries.

Across Crimson Hawk.

Every eye locked onto him.

"Secure the prisoner," Vahn said calmly.

His voice carried effortlessly across the sea.

Zutian swallowed hard.

"Yes… yes. Understood."

Crimson Hawk moved.

Slowly at first.

Then with urgency.

Chains were placed. Seals activated. The demonic cultivator was dragged away like a broken animal.

Around them, other mercenary groups stared in disbelief.

Some backed away.

Some lowered their weapons.

Some looked at Crimson Hawk with naked fear.

The hunt was over.

And everyone knew who had ended it.

The return voyage was tense.

No one joked.

No one drank.

The Red Talon cut through the ocean in near silence, the weight of what had happened pressing down on every soul aboard.

Vahn stood at the bow, staring out at the horizon.

Behind him, whispers spread.

"He hid that power…"

"He could have wiped us out too."

"Was he ever one of us?"

Some admiration crept in.

Some fear.

Some resentment.

Parnis, newly recovered but still bruised, stared at Vahn with hatred burning behind his eyes.

"That power should belong to Crimson Hawk," he muttered. "Not him alone."

Renka heard him.

She turned slowly.

"If you speak again," she said quietly, "I will personally throw you overboard."

Parnis fell silent.

That night, as the ship drifted beneath alien stars, Vahn finally spoke.

He gathered Crimson Hawk's core members on the upper deck. Zutian. Renka. Squad leaders. Veterans.

They stood in a loose circle around him, uncertain, tense.

Vahn looked at them one by one.

"Today, you followed me," he said. "Not because of rank. Not because of obligation. But because survival demanded it."

No one denied it.

"The Immortal Realm is not fair," Vahn continued. "It is not honorable. It does not reward effort. It rewards power."

Zutian frowned slightly. "What are you saying?"

Vahn's gaze hardened.

"You are mercenaries," he said. "Tools used by empires and sects. When you are useful, you are paid. When you are inconvenient, you are erased."

Silence.

"You saw how Azure Dragon Sect treated this incident," Vahn went on. "They issued a bounty not because they feared the thief, but because they feared losing face. To them, you are disposable."

Renka crossed her arms. "We know that."

"Knowing is not enough," Vahn replied. "Accepting it is not enough."

He stepped closer.

"I am offering you something else."

Zutian felt a chill. "What?"

"Control," Vahn said. "Resources. Territory. Influence."

Some laughed nervously.

"Ambitious words."

Vahn did not smile.

"I do not intend to remain a mercenary," he said. "I intend to build power. And those who stand with me will rise with me."

Renka's eyes narrowed. "You are talking about rebellion."

"I am talking about inevitability," Vahn replied. "Astralis is vast. It cannot watch every corner. Power grows where opportunity exists."

The wind howled softly.

Zutian stared at him for a long time.

Then he laughed.

A low, rough laugh.

"I knew it," he said. "From the moment you accepted my invitation without hesitation. You were never here to follow."

Renka inhaled slowly.

"You are stronger than us," she said. "Far stronger. That much is clear."

She met his eyes.

"But strength alone does not lead."

"I know," Vahn said. "That is why I need you."

The silence stretched.

Then Zutian stepped forward.

"I am tired of fighting scraps," he said. "Tired of bowing to sects that see us as dust. If you truly plan to seize something greater…"

He extended his hand.

"I will follow."

Renka hesitated.

Then nodded.

"I will help you lead," she said quietly. "But if you ever treat Crimson Hawk as expendable…"

Vahn met her gaze evenly.

"I will not."

And just like that, Crimson Hawk changed.

Not through ceremony.

Not through blood.

But through acknowledgment of power.

The following days were unlike anything Crimson Hawk had known.

Vahn did not rule by intimidation.

He planned.

He reorganized squads. Redirected missions. Cut wasteful contracts. Established intelligence cells. Opened discreet trade routes.

He identified resource bottlenecks.

Supply chains.

Political pressure points.

He treated Crimson Hawk not as a gang, but as a foundation.

Renka handled logistics.

Zutian handled morale and enforcement.

Vahn handled everything else.

And Crimson Hawk began to grow.

Their final stop was inevitable.

The Azure Dragon Sect headquarters.

A floating mountain fortress wrapped in blue-gold formations, its gates guarded by cultivators who barely spared Crimson Hawk a glance.

An elder received them.

His eyes were cold.

"You have returned the thief," he said dismissively. "Good. Leave the treasure."

Zutian frowned. "And the reward?"

The elder laughed.

"Mercenaries do not negotiate with sects," he said. "Consider it an honor that you were involved."

Renka's face darkened.

"That was not the agreement."

The elder waved his hand.

"Leave before you embarrass yourselves."

Vahn stepped forward.

The elder finally noticed him.

"What do you want?"

Vahn raised his hand.

The Void stirred.

Across the hall, a sealed pagoda trembled violently.

Then vanished.

Gone.

Ripped directly out of the sect's vault and into Vahn's grasp.

The elders froze.

Vahn looked at them calmly.

"This belongs to the one who took it back," he said. "Next time, honor your word."

The Void receded.

Renka and Zutian stared at him, speechless.

The elders could not move.

Crimson Hawk turned and left.

And the Azure Dragon Sect learned something they would never forget.

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