"Hah... Haha... What the hell is this..."
The hoarse voice seeped from Chen Ye's blood-clogged throat. The confidence that once blazed within him had now turned to ash. All that remained was the emptiness that gripped his soul—a despair so profound it made him question the reality before him.
The young man had, through miracle and near-impossible fortune, managed to survive. But could this truly be called a miracle? Just moments before that terrifying hell descended, the Sword King had sacrificed everything—withstanding an attack capable of annihilating hundreds of S-rank and even SS-rank Hunters in the blink of an eye, like leaves consumed by hellfire.
That sacrifice had drained every last ounce of the Sword King's remaining strength, causing him to fall into helpless slumber with his power reduced to that of a pitiful E-rank Hunter. Recovery? Even that seemed like an impossible dream.
Before falling into complete unconsciousness, the Sword King could only plead for Chen Ye to immediately leave this cursed place. Unfortunately, despite having expended all his remaining energy, the former Transcendent couldn't erase the disaster that followed the deadly explosion.
The unnatural collision of mana had created radiation that transformed countless stretches of land into dead zones unfit for any form of life. The very air had become poison, the ground beneath their feet a curse. Anyone exposed would suffer horrific degradation—their body and soul slowly eroded from within.
Chen Ye, who had been closest to the explosion's epicenter, couldn't escape this terrible fate. Moreover, the side effects from using 'Blooming' were still writhing—black sakura flowers bloomed across the surface of his skin, beautiful yet deadly.
Within minutes, perhaps even seconds, his life would end.
But then...
A blood-stained yet gentle hand suddenly grasped his with fierce determination.
"?!!" Chen Ye's remaining eye—the other having been severely damaged—widened in shock.
Without warning, a warm, soothing flow of energy began filling every cell in his body. Though it couldn't heal him completely, the pain that pierced to his very marrow gradually subsided, offering some relief amid his indescribable suffering.
With great effort, he turned to look at the small figure who no longer resembled a human being. The girl's body was being consumed by a vicious purple aura, creating a sight so horrific it could make anyone vomit instantly. Her once-smooth skin was now peeling and burning.
Yet she didn't stop. The girl—who stood at death's threshold—never lost focus as she desperately channeled pure life energy into Chen Ye's body, simultaneously working to eliminate the deadly effects of the spreading Blooming.
"Ugh... Akh..." Chen Ye tried to force out words, but only meaningless, hoarse sounds escaped his cracked lips.
'You don't need to force yourself...'
That melodious, warm voice appeared directly in Chen Ye's mind. Hearing the tenderness and love radiating from that voice, Chen Ye could no longer hold back the tears he had long suppressed.
"Ukh... Ah..."
Tears mixed with blood flowed from Chen Ye's damaged eye. Here he was—so confident just moments ago, so certain of his strength. But what had come of it? A humiliating, crushing defeat.
Not only had he lost, but all members of the Yozakura Family had been slaughtered because of his incompetence. And worst of all—he couldn't even keep his promise to protect Yozakura Tsubomi.
'Sorry, sorry, sorry... I'm truly sorry...'
Chen Ye continued lamenting in profound despair, yet Yozakura Tsubomi seemed able to hear every word that poured from his shattered heart.
'It's okay... No one blames you...' That gentle voice flowed again, bringing warmth amid the darkness.
Chen Ye said nothing more, only gripping Yozakura Tsubomi's hand tighter, as if that grip was the only thing that could provide comfort in the hell surrounding them.
Unfortunately, that peace lasted only a moment. The sound of footsteps striking the ground with arrogance and terror slowly approached, bringing an undeniable aura of death.
A humanoid figure two meters tall emerged from behind the smoke and dust. Part of its body resembled that of an ancient, terrifying dragon—its entire form covered in purple scales that gleamed like steel forged in hell. A pair of magnificent wings spread wide, and a long tail ending in a sharp point dragged across the ground, creating deep gouges in the already devastated surface.
Golden eyes with vertical pupils sharp as blades gazed at them with the stare of a predator that had locked onto its prey. The aura of darkness emanating from the figure was so thick it could kill ordinary humans with fear from sight alone.
Demon Dragon Lord.
Its presence plunged Chen Ye's heart into an abyss of baseless despair.
"[I'm impressed you managed to make someone as powerful as Cecilus Segmunt into your supporter, Yozakura Tsubomi]"
The Demon Dragon Lord spoke with a voice that thundered like lightning. Though appearing calm and controlled, thick purple liquid dripped slowly from several parts of its body—evidence of wounds that refused to heal.
The gash across its chest still gaped open, refusing to close despite the immortal creature's repeated attempts to heal itself with its regenerative powers.
"[But it doesn't matter. I'll recover completely once I devour you. As for you...]" Its gaze shifted to Chen Ye with a look of utter contempt. "[A human unworthy of being called alive. I'll deal with you after I'm finished with this girl.]"
"Ugh..." Chen Ye forced his broken body to rise, but it was futile.
His right eye leaked fresh blood as he could only helplessly watch the Demon Dragon Lord slowly approach Yozakura Tsubomi, who still faithfully held his hand.
'Please... Someone... Help us...'
Chen Ye wept in total despair, pleading to fate, to the heavens, to anyone who might still care about their plight.
—And his prayer was answered.
Whoosh! Boom!
A sword of energy formed from pure fire elements shot at lightning speed toward the Demon Dragon Lord. However, the sword vanished before it could touch its target, swallowed by the aura of darkness surrounding the Transcendent creature.
From behind the rubble and smoke emerged a short woman with disheveled black hair and dangerously glowing yellow eyes. In her hand, she gripped an orange sword that radiated warm light in the darkness.
It was Ji Xuanyuan.
But her condition was deeply concerning. Her usually neat black hair now hung in bloody tangles. The orange dress that had once been beautiful was now burned and torn everywhere. Her left arm had been completely destroyed, leaving only hanging flesh and broken bone.
From any perspective, she was truly at death's door. Even to stand upright, she had to lean on her sword planted in the ground.
"[The last member of the Yozakura Family, I see? But what can you do in such a pitiful state?]"
The Demon Dragon Lord regarded her with a mixture of interest and contempt, like a cat playing with a mouse before killing it.
Ji Xuanyuan didn't respond to the provocation. Instead, she looked at Chen Ye with a gentle smile that held thousands of unspoken words, then spoke in a calm voice.
"This is my final lesson to you as your teacher. So watch carefully, and remember what you witness today."
"?!!"
Hearing those words, Chen Ye's eyes widened in terror. Unconsciously, he wanted to scream 'DON'T!' as loudly as possible, but his broken body made him unable to move or speak.
He could only watch with tear-filled eyes as Ji Xuanyuan prepared to sacrifice her life.
"[I'm curious whether the last member of the Yozakura family still has any interesting tricks?]" the Demon Dragon Lord said.
Ji Xuanyuan remained silent, but the atmosphere around them began to change dramatically as she started whispering in a voice barely audible yet echoing to the soul.
"—It is the origin of change..."
"[?!]"
For the first time, the Demon Dragon Lord's eyes narrowed sharply, his instincts screaming danger.
And not without reason. The Transcendent creature sensed a new type of energy suddenly exploding from Ji Xuanyuan's body—energy he had never felt before, energy that seemed alive and moved with its own consciousness.
Even more terrifying, this mysterious energy began infecting all the mana scattered throughout their surrounding area! Like a virus spreading at light speed, the energy transformed all mana into its own, creating a terrifying vortex centered on Ji Xuanyuan!
What exactly was this energy?
The Demon Dragon Lord tried to touch and analyze the strange energy, but instead of merging or submitting, it attacked him aggressively! Like a starving parasite, the energy began eating away at his body from within, trying to transform and control every cell in his form!
Shocked. For the first time in thousands of years of existence, the Demon Dragon Lord felt something he couldn't understand or control. As a Transcendent creature nearly reaching Unknown Rank, it was utterly inconceivable that he couldn't identify this type of energy.
His eyes turned skyward, where Ji Xuanyuan now floated majestically despite her severely wounded condition. Her black hair billowed in the fierce wind, and her yellow eyes blazed with dangerous light promising destruction.
"—The impetus behind creation."
The orange sword that had faithfully accompanied her slowly disappeared, dissolving into beautiful yet deadly particles of light.
In its place, six different elements began circling her body—blazing fire, freezing ice, destructive wind, crushing earth, burning lightning, and devouring darkness. These six elements then formed six massive swords radiating terrifying and undeniable pressure.
The giant swords began spinning around Ji Xuanyuan like a tornado ready to destroy everything, creating a destructive harmony both beautiful and terrifying.
"—And cannot be restricted by forms."
WOOOOOSH...!!!
"[?!!!]"
The Demon Dragon Lord's always calm and controlled eyes now widened in shock and—for the first time—pure terror.
All his instincts now screamed warnings of true mortal danger! After all, even Cecilus hadn't given off such an aura of threat!
And then—
The entire sky filled with blinding bright light as a legendary creature formed behind Ji Xuanyuan.
Phoenix.
The eternal firebird appeared in undeniable majesty. But this wasn't an ordinary phoenix with the usual red or orange colors—this phoenix had six different colors, each representing the power of fundamental elements.
Fire, ice, wind, earth, thunder, and darkness...
These six elements merged into one magnificent phoenix entity possessing the power to annihilate anything that dared stand in its way!
"[I'll destroy that pathetic attack!]"
Terrifying dark mana began gathering in almost unlimited quantities by the Demon Dragon Lord. He then shaped this destructive energy into a beam of darkness possessing the power to annihilate entire empires in a single motion!
But Ji Xuanyuan only spoke with a voice calm yet filled with absolute authority:
"<
Ji Xuanyuan's calm voice echoed throughout all corners of the world, and the magnificent phoenix immediately dove downward at speed beyond comprehension, directly targeting the Demon Dragon Lord with determination to annihilate!
And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM.....!!
The two terrifying attacks collided in an explosion that shook the very foundations of reality itself!
But the battle didn't end instantly. Ji Xuanyuan's phoenix and the Demon Dragon Lord's devastating beam of darkness battled each other in a war of consumption—both trying to devour and destroy one another in a terrifying dance of death!
As a result of the collision between two transcendent powers, heaven and earth shook with unimaginable intensity. Endless flashes of energy struck in all directions, creating cracks in space and time itself!
Surprisingly, the Demon Dragon Lord's beam of darkness—an attack capable of annihilating nations—began being pushed back by the phoenix that continued expanding and strengthening!
"[What?! Impossible!]"
The Demon Dragon Lord's expression changed drastically, shock and disbelief clearly displayed on his face. Even more shocking, he felt his hands beginning to fade and crumble as he tried to maintain the attack!
For the first time in his long life, true fear began filling his soul.
"[You think an attack like this could kill an immortal being like me?!]"
The Demon Dragon Lord roared with anger and desperation. He poured all his mana into the attack, even drawing energy from other dimensions to strengthen it, but—
BOOOOOOOOOM...!!
The Demon Dragon Lord's expression turned to horror as he realized the phoenix wasn't weakening—it was growing more powerful and terrifying with every attempt at resistance!
His beam of darkness was gradually losing strength and couldn't provide meaningful resistance!
How... How could this be happening?!
The Demon Dragon Lord began panicking and desperately tried to mount a final resistance. He even created multiple layered darkness barriers that theoretically couldn't be penetrated by any attack, even SS-rank ones!
"Futile." Ji Xuanyuan's cold and indifferent voice echoed amid the chaos. "Edge of Taixuan isn't something that can be blocked by conventional methods. This is an attack specifically created so humans could fight creatures impossible to defeat. Edge of Taixuan will consume anything that tries to stop it. Every effort you make to resist... will only strengthen it."
Edge of Taixuan—besides being the fifth essence technique in the Art of Taixuan Sword, in the world of Honkai Impact 3rd it was an attack specifically created to harness Honkai Energy, an energy possessing the power to annihilate entire human civilizations.
In this world, Honkai Energy didn't naturally exist. But that didn't mean Ji Xuanyuan couldn't use it. After all, she possessed a Natural Stigma—a mysterious mark on her back capable of extracting and generating Honkai Energy directly from her own body.
Combined with Honkai Energy's unique properties that could infect and transform all matter, even intangible things like mana, Ji Xuanyuan could produce Honkai Energy in theoretically unlimited quantities by converting all the mana around her.
As the final result, she successfully forced herself to use Edge of Taixuan—a technique that should only be accessible to those who had reached the Divinity stage.
Edge of Taixuan was an absolute attack that literally represented a type of assault that could not be avoided, could not be blocked, and could not be defined by any physical form.
The phoenix form visible was merely a visual manifestation because Ji Xuanyuan was utilizing her Divine Key—Xuanyuan Sword, the sword that had accompanied her for years.
Though it had a visible form, Edge of Taixuan wasn't something that could be stopped by brute force alone or conventional physical defenses.
After all, this was an attack that utilized the essence of divinity—an attack not limited by any form of creation such as physical barriers, imaginary landscapes, recognition concepts, mental states, or even real objects from microscopic scale to vast celestial bodies. This attack could transcend all limitations to reach a truly infinite level.
However, using an attack of this magnitude certainly wasn't without terrible consequences.
Edge of Taixuan should only be accessible when someone had reached the essence of 'Divinity'. But Ji Xuanyuan was forcing herself to use a technique far beyond her body's capacity.
Naturally, she had to pay dearly for this. One of the greatest sacrifices was her sword.
Xuanyuan Sword wasn't an ordinary weapon. It was a Divine Key - Key of Domination, a weapon forged from the Core of a being called the Herrscher of Domination.
Originally just an ordinary sword without any special abilities. But after Ji Xuanyuan resonated with it, the sword became a weapon capable of controlling six elements, thus earning the name Xuanyuan Sword.
Now, the Xuanyuan Sword that had become part of her soul had to be sacrificed to form an attack beyond all comprehension.
As for the other sacrifice she had to bear... it was 'Memory'.
The Art of Taixuan Sword didn't rely solely on physical strength or spiritual energy, but also required extraordinary mental power. Ji Xuanyuan's mind, though strong, hadn't yet reached the level required to create Edge of Taixuan without consequences.
As a result, most of her memories were slowly 'consumed' or 'burned' as fuel for this attack.
But... it didn't matter.
As long as this attack could kill the Demon Dragon Lord, losing memories wasn't too high a price for Ji Xuanyuan.
"[DAMN! DAMN IT! HOW CAN A MERE HUMAN POSSESS AN ATTACK THIS POWERFUL?!!]"
For the first time, the Demon Dragon Lord displayed genuine panic and terror. The Transcendent creature usually so calm and arrogant was now trembling in fear!
Because he truly felt that this attack could not only wound him—but actually kill and completely annihilate his existence!
But Ji Xuanyuan paid no attention to those desperate screams. She only continued strengthening Edge of Taixuan by absorbing all the Honkai Energy that flowed endlessly. As a result, terrifying purple lines began appearing across her skin—signs of infection from Honkai Energy intensity that had exceeded normal human body limits.
And with that—
"Return to the void from whence you came."
The phoenix with six elements spread its wings and roared with a soul-shaking voice!
BOOOOOOOOOOM...!!!
The unstoppable wave of heat and destructive energy broke through all of the Demon Dragon Lord's defenses with ease, like a hot knife cutting through butter!
The beam of darkness that had seemed invincible completely vanished under the breakthrough of the phoenix that continued growing and strengthening until it reached a diameter of ten kilometers!
Feeling true death approaching, the Demon Dragon Lord roared with a mixture of rage and terror, trying to fight back with all his remaining strength!
He couldn't accept this! He who would become Unknown Rank—how could he be killed by an attack from a weak human not even worthy of being his food?!
Terrifying dark mana was drawn from all dimensions he could reach and focused on himself. With desperate determination, he tried to forcibly break through the attack that imprisoned him!
But his efforts were futile.
Whether fighting directly, trying to defend with all his defenses, or even attempting to flee—Edge of Taixuan seemed to have locked his movement in space and time, making him unable to move even a centimeter from his position.
Even his legendary regeneration and immortality abilities no longer functioned when burned by the phoenix fire containing the essence of absolute destruction!
"[ARRRRGGGG!! DAMN HUMANS!!!]"
BLAAAAAAAAAARRRR...!!!
An explosion of full-spectrum light thundered across the entire sky, spreading with pressure capable of destroying reality itself. The surface of the land, already extremely dangerous and poisonous and full of deadly curses, became even more terrible with the presence of Honkai Energy contamination reaching chaos levels!
The devastating attack even penetrated the ground hundreds of kilometers downward without stopping, as if seeking the end of the planet's very core!
In the midst of that unimaginable destruction, Ji Xuanyuan could only smile faintly—a smile holding both satisfaction and deep regret. Then her body, totally ravaged by Honkai Energy intensity, began falling from a height of tens of kilometers, accompanied by fragments of Xuanyuan Sword falling like beautiful yet sorrowful snow.
BOOOOOOOOOOM...!!!
***
"Ugh... sob... Sorry... I'm sorry..."
Chen Ye could only embrace the figure of Yozakura Tsubomi, whose form was no longer solid within his arms. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks as his eyes stared vacantly at the sky filled with brilliant light from six elemental forces soaring high above, as if mocking their defeat.
True, the Demon Dragon Lord had been defeated. But... could all these sacrifices truly be called a victory?
Chen Ye didn't know the answer to the question that burned in his chest. All he could do was sob while holding tightly to Yozakura Tsubomi's fading figure, as if afraid of losing her completely.
Fortunately, Ji Xuanyuan had previously channeled most of his wind element to protect them, minimizing the terrible aftermath of that battle. Without that protection, Chen Ye and Yozakura Tsubomi might have already turned to ash.
"I... cough... have to leave this place."
His body had now recovered—though not completely—but in exchange, Yozakura Tsubomi was no longer moving or communicating. Her breathing was weak, barely perceptible, and the warmth of her body was slowly fading away.
As for the thought that Yozakura Tsubomi had died... that thought never dared surface in Chen Ye's mind.
No... more precisely, he was afraid. He was terrified of considering the possibility that Yozakura Tsubomi had died because of him. He didn't want to lose her. The mere thought was enough to drive him mad.
With great difficulty and his body still covered in wounds, he tried to stand while carefully lifting Yozakura Tsubomi's body. However—
"[AHHHH! DAMN! DAMN! THAT HURTS SO MUCH!!]"
"?!!" Chen Ye's eyes widened in horror, blood seemingly freezing in his veins. He stared at the figure before him with uncontrollable fear. "Y-you're still alive?! Impossible!"
The Demon Dragon Lord was still alive!
This terrifying fact alone was enough to turn his face deathly pale. The massive body that should have been destroyed was now rising again, albeit in a truly pitiful condition.
"Ara? The Demon Dragon Lord's condition is truly pathetic. I feel sorry for your current state~"
A girl's voice with a teasing tone suddenly rang out, filling the suffocating silence. The owner of that voice watched the Demon Dragon Lord's condition—worse than death—with an amused expression.
Indeed... though the Demon Dragon Lord had managed to survive, it was only after sacrificing all his power and life energy. Even his soul was now so fragile it could shatter with the lightest touch.
The owner of that girl's voice was none other than Observer α, who now gazed at the Demon Dragon Lord with an amused smile.
However, the Demon Dragon Lord didn't pay much attention to how Observer α looked at him. Instead, he felt greatly relieved to see the creature's arrival and hurriedly spoke in a hoarse voice.
"[Help me capture that Yozakura Tsubomi! She's still alive! And if I succeed in devouring her, I'm sure I can reach Unknown Rank!!]" He spoke with complete madness, his eyes gleaming red with burning obsession.
Apparently, the thought that he would die if he wasted too much time had driven him to lose his sanity. So he could only beg for Observer α's help, abandoning his pride and dignity!
Chen Ye, on the other hand, felt crushing despair once again. He knew... at this moment, he didn't have even the slightest chance of winning. Though the true strength of that mysterious girl remained unclear, his instincts screamed that the creature was extremely dangerous.
But in the next second, his eyes immediately widened.
BANG!
A tentacle that appeared from nowhere suddenly created a gaping hole in the Demon Dragon Lord's chest, causing an explosion of fresh blood that sprayed in all directions like a fountain of death.
"[Y-you... What are you doing...?!]" The Demon Dragon Lord stared with extraordinary fear and disbelief.
He wanted to move to retaliate, but unfortunately... he was completely unable because the tentacles emerging from Observer α's advanced flying wheelchair kept ruthlessly tearing through his entire body.
"Ah~ Don't look at me with such hateful eyes." Observer α chuckled playfully. "Besides, this is all for the advancement of research, so you must be sacrificed~"
"[You bastard...!]" The Demon Dragon Lord had an expression full of hatred and unconsciously wanted to tear this bitch's body into pieces!!!
But unfortunately for him, Observer α was already prepared with her plan and immediately produced a cube emitting mysterious energy before forcibly attaching it to the now helpless Demon Dragon Lord's body!!!
"[?!!!]"
BOOOOM!!
The sound of a tremendous explosion immediately shattered the silence, accompanied by roars full of pain and suffering from the Demon Dragon Lord that echoed throughout the entire area!
"[AHHHH! BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BODY?!!]"
"Isn't this something you've always been looking forward to~" Observer α giggled with a soft voice that sounded absolutely terrifying to the Demon Dragon Lord's ears.
At this moment, the Demon Dragon Lord truly felt a fear he had never experienced before. He felt his identity slowly disappearing as every inch of his body seemed filled with something foreign and frightening!
"But to satisfy your curiosity, I'll answer your question~" Observer α spoke in a frighteningly teasing tone. "The cube I just implanted in your body is called a Wisdom Cube~ Simply put, that cube will record all information and data from the target, then can be transformed into a new living being~"
And now, imagine... she had already recorded all the abilities and powers of Yozakura Tsubomi, Chen Ye, and several other strong members, then combined them with the Demon Dragon Lord who had nearly reached Unknown Rank...
What kind of creature would be born from that terrifying combination within the Wisdom Cube?
"[Y-you've truly gone insane!!! You'll destroy everything!!!]" The Demon Dragon Lord was already horrified by Observer α's words, his voice trembling with fear!
Unfortunately, he could no longer say anything because... his consciousness was slowly being replaced by something else.
Something far more 'terrifying' and beyond the comprehension of any living being.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.....!!!!
Then an explosion of energy similar to [mana] but not [mana] shot high into the sky with devastating power. The Demon Dragon Lord's body was destroyed and completely vanished in an instant, along with his soul. Nothing remained of the Transcendent creature that had once been so mighty.
But instead, another creature appeared whose presence tore through the sky as easily as breathing.
Yes... literally, dimensional cracks spread across the sky in all directions like a giant spider web and... the creature that embodied terror and nightmares of all human evil was clearly visible through those gaps.
The creature was extremely difficult to describe with ordinary human words. It had dozens of colossal tentacles that seemed to cover the sky, along with several tails resembling legendary dragon tails and rows of giant swords scattered across its terrifying body.
Abstract. Perhaps that was the most fitting word to describe it, and more than that...
Its body size covered the entire sky within a radius of hundreds of kilometers. Even people from afar who accidentally saw it immediately felt horrified, and their bodies exploded from the terrifying gravitational pressure. Moreover, the dark mana mixed with chaos attributes caused the entire area to be destroyed in an inhuman way.
Unknown Rank.
An entity with Unknown Rank power had been born at this very moment. An existence that would change the world.
Observer α unconsciously laughed loudly seeing this. Even she felt her eyes nearly exploding just from looking directly at that creature.
'Ah... I'm definitely going to die here...'
Chen Ye's thoughts became completely blank. He watched the 'monster' behave like a newborn baby, with countless eyes monitoring the entire location with terrifying curiosity.
Chen Ye only felt as if the 'world' itself no longer supported his existence...
It was at that suffocating moment that...
"I see... even the world cannot protect the Son of Destiny when his enemy exists beyond the bounds of common sense, huh?"
A calm and indifferent voice was heard softly, but amidst the atmosphere filled with deadly silence, that voice was heard very clearly and carried a strange aura of authority.
Along with that, beautiful and sparkling ice suddenly grew from the ground, creating stunning crystal patterns. Chen Ye's stunned attention immediately focused on the figure of a masked youth with snow-white hair fluttering in the cold wind.
This mysterious youth was of course Lux... but unlike Chen Ye who had already sunk into despair, Lux still appeared calm and completely unaffected by the deadly radiation in this place thanks to his adaptation from the Divine Ice Emperor...
But thanks to this event, Lux's entire true purpose had already been achieved, and since his scenario was complete... this terrifying Unknown Rank entity was no longer needed in this world.
A card radiating a shimmering rainbow aura full of mystery appeared in Lux's hand with an elegant gesture.
But upon seeing Lux produce that card, the Unknown Rank entity seemed to sense great danger threatening its existence and without hesitation fired beams of pitch-black darkness capable of destroying countless large mountains!!!
WOSH! BLAAAAAAAAAR...!!!
That beam of darkness passed at an astounding speed, creating a brief pause before a deadly explosion that shook the earth occurred!
However—
That tremendous explosion failed to kill Lux because he had already transformed into a completely different form.
A majestic figure with an invincible aura full of glory.
His entire body seemed filled with beautiful sparkling purple crystals, accompanied by emerald green flows that gleamed like aurora and were filled with sharp silver thorns in several strategic parts, forming a defensive armor that perfectly covered his entire body.
And he extended his hand forward with a calm gesture—
—Then the miracle manifested.
As if borrowing all the energy from the stars in the sky and mana that had been mixed with various destructive energies, something like a small seed in his palm grew into something with invincible and absolute properties.
At that moment, the entire 'world' shook violently as if something far more terrifying was being born compared to that threatening Unknown Rank entity.
A feeling of deep fear and terror... The 'world' itself seemed to respond and condemn something being held by Lux.
But it wasn't just the 'world' alone. All creatures whose existence was no longer classified as 'pure human' also felt soul vibrations they had never experienced throughout their lives.
So they all unconsciously directed their entire attention to the location where Lux was currently.
Sword.
A sword that grew and continued to extend infinitely, produced by a new and revolutionary energy called 'Grain'—a particle whose nature was almost similar to Honkai Energy, but with fundamental differences.
If Honkai Energy was used by Herrschers to annihilate humanity and civilization... then Grain was used by the strongest creatures on each planet called Ultimate One to eliminate all life on a planet.
But this sword created from Grain... was not used to annihilate humanity, but rather... to protect humanity from threats that couldn't be overcome through ordinary means.
Yes... in accordance with the sword's nature of existence, which was 'destroying the world to protect humanity'.
And with that noble nature, the sword would carry out its duty in facing an entity capable of threatening humanity's survival.
An explosion of majestic and stunning blue energy could be felt by all living creatures across a vast area. Those unstable serrated spikes grew complex long drill-shaped blade sections from above and below like a legendary spear.
Its size was astounding as it had exceeded dozens or even tens of kilometers, like a sword of the gods!
A great and tremendous desire to protect humanity filled Lux's entire soul and body. As if responding to this sincere desire, he no longer hesitated. With a voice that was calm yet full of power, he spoke the true name of the sword he held.
"<
That calm voice, yet filled with power and majesty like a decree from a war god, echoed throughout the entire area.
At that moment, Chen Ye could only witness an extraordinary and unforgettable scene with stunned feelings.
Black light with stunning blue nuances shot at an astounding speed, breaking through all defense attempts made by the Unknown Rank entity, tearing through all obstacles including air and space around them, even penetrating the atmosphere to outer space.
Those terrifying dimensional cracks vanished in an instant, followed by the colossal body of the Unknown Rank entity letting out frightening screams—sounds capable of damaging the souls of any living beings who heard them.
Wave after wave of destructive energy filled the sky, causing hundreds of satellites to suffer severe damage as their systems tried to estimate one of the greatest energy intensities ever detected in human history.
There were no embellishments of immortality or concepts of deathless creatures or fate manipulation that mattered. All those concepts became meaningless before this sword's swing.
The nearly limitless body of the Unknown Rank entity could only directly receive that devastating attack, causing an explosion resembling a supernova that could be felt by all humanity in the world.
KAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOM...!!!
—And for a moment, amidst the bright light that filled his entire vision before his consciousness slowly faded, Chen Ye saw Yozakura Tsubomi's body being gently carried by the figure of a youth whose mask had shattered.
[Ding! Usage of Limited Template Character - Ado Edem (✯✯✯✯✯✯) has ended!]
[Next usage available: 06 Months, 31 Days, 7 Hours, 50 Minutes]