Qingque looked at her colleagues—those who once slacked off like her, even gambling together over Emperor's Jade—now completely insane, beyond all persuasion. Terrified, she trembled.
As a clever diviner, she understood everything about the present crisis, yet she could not make a choice.
All of this was driven by the instinct to survive. When faced with such a brutal selection, everything became frenzied—including herself.
But she was fortunate. She had not been harmed by the monsters.
To be precise, only a small portion of people had not been harmed by them. Out of ten, if three were unharmed, that was already fortunate.
This meant those targeted far outnumbered those spared.
And so, those spared were no longer regarded as colleagues or friends, but merely as life-saving talismans.
When this truth first became apparent, many—both strangers and acquaintances—had tried to seize her as a shield.
It was only thanks to her wit and quick feet that she had escaped~
In the end, no matter the race, the human heart could not withstand this test.
The third eye on Fu Xuan's forehead glimmered faintly as she let out a deep sigh.
Her hands pressed together.
"Failing to sever brings calamity. Qingque, go find a safe place to hide. Do not worry about my safety—"
"Understood, Master Diviner! I'm running!"
Before Fu Xuan could even finish, Qingque bolted toward the safer areas of the Divination Commission, without a moment's hesitation.
To hesitate even a second would be disrespectful to the Diviner-General.
After all, the Diviner-General was the Alliance's strongest diviner. Past and future, formations and strategies—all lay within her grasp. Qingque only needed to obey.
Fu Xuan's lips twitched faintly. That Qingque—slacking off daily was one thing, but even in a crisis she showed her cowardice…
Still, it was her order. Without it, even if timid, Qingque would have stayed, even if she could offer little help.
"Ah…"
Fu Xuan turned her hands, chanting softly.
"Manifestation follows form—unite as one."
At once, the entire Divination Commission was covered by a massive purple formation. A power of restraint descended. Those who had gone mad were instantly bound, their actions restricted. Their minds were forcibly calmed, returning them to clarity.
"Now, listen to me."
"This is a disaster that no one can change. Whether life or death, it is left to fate."
"Stand firm to the end. I will protect you until the very last moment."
She had already divined the outcome with the Matrix of Prescience when the black beast tide first erupted.
In this universal catastrophe, the Xianzhou Alliance would not be annihilated. But its population would fall by eighty-six percent.
Even if she exhausted all her strength, she could only reduce that figure to eighty-five.
But even a single percent meant hundreds of millions of lives.
"Master Diviner!"
"Master Diviner, I don't want to die!"
Fu Xuan remained calm. "This is disaster. Nothing can change it. Even if you seize a comrade as a shield, you may escape once or twice—but can you escape forever?"
"Do not fear. I will remain with you."
As Diviner-General, how could she not know what mistakes her subordinates had made in the past?
Though some great wrongs had not been committed intentionally, they had been done nonetheless.
Take, for example, a steward in the Sky-Faring Commission, who out of selfishness failed to distribute resources properly. Those deprived of resources might die at some point in the future.
Or a craftsman in the Artisanship Commission, who embezzled a little public money, reducing construction quality. Later, many might perish because of that weakness.
Even the smallest immoral act, through the cycle of cause and effect, could bring death to others.
Even knowing and not reporting was considered equal guilt.
She fully understood the mechanism of this beast tide now.
Those who survived completely were at minimum those who had never truly endangered the lives of others.
All who had ever threatened another's life had become residue to be filtered out of civilization.
Although Fu Xuan had temporarily forced clarity upon them, in the face of survival instinct, reason would soon scatter again.
The defensive formations outside the Divination Commission were meaningless before the Abyssal monsters.
One after another, Abyssal beasts crawled out from violet-black space rifts.
In the blink of an eye, the Divination Commission was overrun.
Amidst the piercing screams and monstrous roars, the Divination Commission gradually fell silent.
Not even two system hours later, the Abyssal monsters lost their targets and slowly withdrew.
Those devoured by the Abyssal monsters were, in truth, not mostly dead.
They had merely been cast into the universe's dark side—the reverse face consumed by the Abyss.
Whether they could survive there was another matter.
After all, to the Abyss, they were labor.
Fu Xuan looked at what had once been three or four hundred people in the Divination Commission—now reduced to a scant few dozen. Her heart grew unbearably heavy as she lowered her head.
All who became diviners had passed through her scrutiny. Yet even so, only half were judged as benevolent enough by the beast tide's mechanism to remain.
The others who survived were scattered across the Xianzhou.
"Ah… powerless. No matter what we do, powerless. So be it…"
Fu Xuan let out a deep sigh.
"T-too terrifying… to survive… uuu…"
"They all disappeared… uuu…"
"Master Diviner, what should we do now?"
"Yes, what else can we even do?"
Fu Xuan spoke: "Now, all we can do is head to places the monsters have already left, gather the survivors, and then aid more survivors."
At the same time—
The crew of the Astral Express had ceased their futile efforts.
Himeko withdrew her power and raised her head toward the black beast tide blotting out the cosmos.
"Stop. No matter how many we try to save, it's useless. The moment we turn our gaze away, they are killed all the same."
Welt adjusted his glasses, his voice low and solemn. "Filtering civilization's residue… such a mechanism… to me, it seems a test of civilization itself."
In his original world, there had once been a similar mechanism for civilization's trial. But compared to this residue-filtering method, that one had been far crueler—it had sought not to purify civilization, but to annihilate it outright.
"Mr. Yang, Himeko, I don't have the strength anymore. Even if I wanted to fight, I couldn't."
March 7th rubbed her sore shoulders and pouted. The power of her Path within was nearly exhausted.
"And besides, the monsters don't even attack us. They're even afraid of touching us. We're just killing them directly, and even when they die, they don't resist. I feel like… maybe this isn't entirely right."
"After all… the ones those monsters attack are all guilty people."
She didn't want to just stand there watching so many people die before her eyes. After experiencing so much death, she knew she would have nightmares.
But even if she risked everything to save them, they would still end up dying. How could the Astral Express possibly kill all those monsters?
"Right, Stelle?" March 7th turned her gaze toward Stelle, who was holding down a monster like it was a big dog and petting it as if she were stroking a puppy.
"Eh! Why are you holding that monster? They give off such uncomfortable energy!"
For them—those untouched by harm—the aura of the Abyssal beasts only felt unpleasant. But for sinners, it was like flowers being dropped into acid.
Welt's face darkened slightly as he prepared to destroy the beast in Stelle's grip. But when he noticed it had no effect on her, he forcibly stopped himself.
"Stelle, do you not feel any discomfort?"
Pressing the bleeding hound into the ground like a pup, Stelle fiddled with its limbs as she replied: "Huh? Oh, no. Isn't it just an ordinary monster?"
"Strange though. Why can't I find any nails in them? Without nails, how do they have little monsters? That's so weird."
Dan Heng exhaled in relief. "Probably because of the Stellaron. Its power shields you from harmful forces."
March 7th nodded in agreement, her wide eyes blinking. "Right, since Stelle has a Stellaron inside, no little monster could surpass the Stellaron's corruption."
Stelle lifted the bleeding hound by its scruff and looked at Himeko, her eyes curved like crescent moons in a pleading smile. "Hehe, Himeko, look—this dog's actually really obedient. And besides Pam, the train has no pets. So why don't we…"
Himeko immediately understood and shook her head. "No. Pam doesn't allow pets on the train. If you can convince Pam, then I'll let you keep it."
March 7th put her hands on her hips. "Pam will never agree. Last time, the pet bird I brought from Ique was tossed out of the car by Pam. Heartless Pam."
"And besides, keeping such a scary-looking little monster… let's not."
Stelle immediately protested, pinching the hound's muzzle. "What are you talking about! Look, this dog's actually really handsome! Its horns are majestic."
She even pried open its snarling jaws deliberately.
"And it doesn't even have bad breath."
"Himeko~ let's just raise one pet on the train. Only having Pam is way too lonely."
But Himeko was firm. "No means no."
"Himeko~" Stelle clasped her hands at her chest, her big eyes glistening.
Dan Heng sighed, turning his gaze toward the shattered sky dome of the Xianzhou. The black beast tide flowed like a river across every sanctum of the vessel.
The once-glorious Cloud Knights had lost their will.
Without a purpose to guard—and not even sure if they themselves were considered benevolent—they either fought the monsters in mad desperation or collapsed, fleeing in chaos.
Screams, roars, wails, hysterical shouts, the blasts of energy cannons, and even flames igniting across some sanctums filled the air.
"Luofu Xianzhou… a place both familiar and foreign. But none of this has anything to do with me anymore."
Dan Heng turned away without a trace of nostalgia. To him, it was all nothing but an illusion.
He left without bothering about Stelle, who was still pestering Himeko to let her raise the bleeding hound, and walked toward the Astral Express.
Welt let out a sigh. "Ah, youth is a blessing…"
And he also sighed at the divinity and compassion of the Aeons from another universe.
Although the black beast tide spreading across the universe was cruel, wiping out at least eighty percent of the population, it left behind the purest.
It was like the stories of Earth's mythology, where God used a world-ending flood to wash away all evil, leaving only the chosen righteous.
"Himeko, please… I want to keep it. Look how cute it is."
Stelle clung to Himeko's leg, shamelessly pleading, even shoving the bleeding hound up to her face. The beast bared its fangs menacingly, ferocious—but admittedly, there was a certain majestic handsomeness to it.
Himeko sighed helplessly. "Fine. I'll allow you to bring it aboard. But you'll have to convince the conductor yourself…"
Stelle immediately leapt up, patting her chest with confidence. "Don't worry, Himeko. I'll definitely convince Pam."
March 7th tilted her head curiously. "Eh? But Pam is really stubborn. I've never seen Pam compromise. Stelle, how are you going to convince them?"
Stelle grinned mischievously, her voice dropping into a sinister tone. "Hehe… why, of course… 'Pam, you wouldn't want those little cakes you secretly hide away to mysteriously disappear, would you?'"
March 7th jumped in shock. "Wha—! That's so evil! Too mean! You're threatening Pam with their hidden cakes?!"
Seeing their antics, Welt couldn't help but smile faintly.
At that moment, Himeko spoke. "There's nothing more for us to do in the Luofu. Though we promised to fight the black beast tide together, it seems there's no longer any need."
"The Xianzhou generals are overwhelmed. We should quietly leave. Once the Alliance survives this calamity, we can send our apologies later."
"Besides, the Star Rails across galaxies have all been destroyed after the beast tide's baptism. We, the Nameless, must now blaze new trails to reconnect them."
Wherever the Abyssal power flowed, it erased everything, like formatting a disk. In cleansing the universe, it destroyed even artificial constructs.
The Star Rails laid by the Astral Express had been corroded by the Abyss. The routes once pioneered by Akivili across the Star Rail Universe were all destroyed.
Now, each galaxy was an isolated island, cut off from the rest.
Of course, this destruction of Akivili's routes had been deliberate on Noah's part.
As long as the influence of the old Trailblaze Aeon remained, how could a new one ascend the divine seat?
...
Clouds Crossing.
The Astral Express slowly departed from the Luofu.
Himeko clutched her chest as pure white light of Trailblaze radiated gently. Her eyes widened slightly.
"This is… the legacy of Trailblaze merging with me? And growing stronger?"
In her mind, information surfaced. If she could forge a new path, reconnecting galaxy to galaxy—
Then that would be the moment she ascended as the new Aeon of Trailblaze.
Himeko's voice trembled in disbelief.
"A new Aeon of Trailblaze… me?"
—
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