Sparkle let out a low, suppressed giggle, her shoulders shaking slightly.
"Heehee~ this is… far too entertaining. It's more fun than any play."
Vita covered her red lips elegantly with the back of her hand, excitement flickering in her eyes as she replied softly:
"Indeed… The threads of fate are tangled so tightly, the tides of emotion so turbulent. Dearest sister, don't you think this is the most exquisite form of 'fun'?"
Bibi Dong's ragged breathing gradually calmed. That mouthful of clotted blood she spat out seemed to carry away the last fragments of her madness and futile obsessions.
She lifted her hand, using the back of it—stained with divine blood—to roughly wipe the corner of her mouth, leaving a stark purple-red streak.
She raised her head. Her icy purple eyes refocused on Qian Renxue's face, her voice dipped in frost:
"Good… very good, Qian Renxue. This is the path you've chosen yourself… I hope you don't regret it."
Qian Renxue met her gaze without the slightest hint of retreat. Her golden eyes were clearer and more resolute than ever before as she answered firmly:
"My choices are my own. Whether the road ahead leads to paradise or the abyss, I, Qian Renxue, never regret."
"Hmph."
Bibi Dong snorted coldly. She struggled to stand upright, staggering from the severity of her wounds, yet she still forced herself to maintain the pride belonging to the Rakshasa God.
"You won this battle. This realm is yours now. But listen carefully—I will never submit to you. Not now, not ever."
This was her final bottom line and her last shred of dignity.
Hearing this, Lu Jingming's smile only grew more relaxed and congenial. The arm he had wrapped around Qian Renxue's waist did not loosen. His tone was as warm as if discussing a trivial family matter:
"I think Your Holiness has misunderstood."
He intentionally paused, then casually switched to a more intimate form of address.
"You are Xue'er's mother, after all. Naturally, you are also my future esteemed mother-in-law. As juniors, how could we possibly force you to bow your head?"
His voice was gentle, yet allowed no refusal.
"So long as you no longer do anything to endanger the empire or harm Xue'er, you will remain the highly revered Supreme Empress of the Spirit Empire, one of the mightiest deities on this continent—enjoying endless honor and freedom. As for everything in the past, we can turn the page here."
Leaning in Lu Jingming's arms, Qian Renxue listened to him so naturally calling Bibi Dong "mother-in-law," and heard the future he was sketching for her and the empire. The last trace of unease in her heart quietly faded.
She did not refute him. Instead, she relaxed even further into his embrace, using action to show her support.
She knew well that a mere alliance was far too fragile. Only through tighter bonds—marriage, family, shared interests and a common future—could the two of them be truly bound together, giving her a secure backing she could rely on.
For the continuation of the Angel clan, for the long-term stability of the Spirit Empire, and for her own heart that had wandered alone for far too long—even if her feelings for him were not yet deep at this moment—she still chose, without hesitation, the path that offered the greatest security.
Hearing Lu Jingming's words, which sounded respectful yet neatly arranged everything, Bibi Dong felt another surge of dull pain in her chest—but she forced it down.
She stared hard at Lu Jingming, then glanced at Qian Renxue's unwavering expression. In the end, it was as if all the strength had been drained from her, or as if she had finally recognized that the situation was beyond saving. She closed her eyes in despair, then slowly opened them again. The frenzy and sharpness in them had faded, leaving only a deep, humiliated, yet inescapable fatigue and coldness.
"…Fine," she said at last, her voice dry.
"A game is a game. I lost. My strength is inferior, and my scheming is lacking as well. Since I am defeated, I will submit to whatever you decide."
She deliberately emphasized the word "decide," with a hint of bitter irony.
"But don't expect me to obey your every word. And don't think for a second that I will bless the two of you."
In the end, she chose to retreat down the slope offered to her.
Death?
She did not fear it—in fact, she sometimes thought it would be a relief.
But if she died, Qian Renxue would lose a potential support, and Hu Liena would lose her backing.
If she lived, even if it was only under the hollow title of "Supreme Empress," with her Rakshasa Godhood and her role as mother, she could at least retain a sliver of influence. She could still watch from the shadows and guard from the dark.
Since Qian Renxue was dead set on marrying this man, then at the very least, they were, in some sense, becoming "her own people." The thing she feared most seemed, for now, to have been eased.
Even if that "easing" filled her with suffocating humiliation.
The battle was over, and Bibi Dong accepted her defeat. The Spirit Empire fell completely into Qian Renxue's hands. With matters settled here, Lu Jingming left with Gu Yuena and the others. With Qian Renxue in charge, the Spirit Empire would, in all likelihood, quickly unify the Douluo Continent.
—
In the mountain range where the Slaughter City lay.
This range, soaked in blood and curses, welcomed today visitors of unprecedented power—and energy waves even more terrifying.
Hysilens and Cerydra appeared before a dark-red solitary peak.
Hysilens wore the deep blue Sea God's divine armor and held the golden trident. Boundless oceanic divine power flowed around her, and her deep blue eyes resembled the deepest seas, hiding monstrous waves beneath calm surfaces.
Cerydra stood quietly by her side, the ghostly blue flames on her imperial crown burning silently. Her eyes, which saw through the ways of the world, scanned this ominous land, as though analyzing something.
Their arrival immediately disturbed the statue-like figure atop the lone peak.
The blackened Kevin slowly lifted his head. His hollow blue eyes reflected no emotion, only a pure, all-encompassing killing will, enough to freeze the world.
The Asura Demon Sword in his hand seemed to sense provocation. The dark red blade vibrated with a low roar, and thick, viscous bloody killing intent spread like something tangible, causing the temperature of this world to plummet. Even the air felt frozen.
Without a word, the instant the extreme majesty of the sea clashed with the pure domain of slaughter, battle was inevitable.
"Hum—!"
Hysilens moved first. She pointed the Sea God's trident forward, and the Sea God's domain instantly expanded.
The originally dry, lifeless mountain range of the Slaughter City seemed to be dragged into an undersea world in an instant. Invisible pressure and an overwhelming abundance of water-element filled every inch of space, attempting to wash away and purify the nauseating stench of blood and slaughter.
Yet Kevin only slightly raised his Asura Demon Sword.
A thin, blood-red sword light appeared again, as if it could cut cause and effect itself.
It was identical to the one that had previously driven Xuan Zi back and slain a Super Douluo in an instant. Heaven and earth lost all color, leaving only that line traced by death.
But this time, it met its match.
"Sea God, Shockwave."
Hysilens's clear voice rang out as she stirred the boundless water within the domain with her trident. A ring-shaped shockwave, condensed to the extreme and deep blue in color, exploded outward from the tip of the trident.
Where the shockwave passed, space rippled violently like water, colliding with that blood-red sword light.
"Boom—!!!"
There was no deafening explosion, only a violent grinding and annihilation at the level of laws.
Blood-red and deep blue light intertwined and devoured each other madly, before both dissipated. The escaping energy sheared off and vaporized the upper halves of several nearby peaks.
With the first exchange ended, the blackened Kevin moved.
He stepped forward once. Space froze beneath his feet, and his form flickered like teleportation, appearing at Hysilens's front-left. The Asura Demon Sword thrust straight at her, shrieking as if tearing at the soul.
His attack was simple, direct, but contained extreme force and speed, and the Asura God's corroding assault upon the very origin of life.
Hysilens's body moved like a fish in water, elegantly and fluidly retreating. At the same time, she drew a perfect arc with the golden trident. The edge of the trident burst with the phantom of rolling waves—Thousand Ages of Emptiness.
The surging power of the sea, like a tsunami, surged forth to meet the demon sword.
"Clang—!"
Divine trident and demonic sword clashed for the first time.
Golden divine light struck bloody, murderous aura, producing a piercing metallic scream.
The terrifying impact drove Hysilens backward several steps, but her expression did not change. Light flowed over her Sea God armor, dissolving the killing sword-qi that attempted to invade her body.
Kevin, on the other hand, merely paused for a fraction of a second before raising his sword again.
At this moment, Cerydra, who had been watching coolly, finally made her move.
She didn't launch a direct attack. Instead, she raised a hand, and a ghostly blue flame danced at her fingertips.
"Torch the Laws of Old!"
An invisible force of law, like chains, instantly wrapped around Kevin's body.
It did not restrict his physical movements, but temporarily severed part of his resonance with the rules of slaughter in the environment.
It was like altering the base code of a game, causing this body built purely for killing to experience a momentary lag and discomfort.
For top-tier powerhouses, even such a fractional opening was enough.
Hysilens seized the fleeting opportunity.
"Sea God, Dusk!"
She raised the Sea God's trident high overhead, invoking the resonance between sky and sea.
Not the sea of this world, but the boundless conceptual sea belonging to the Sea God's domain.
The sky abruptly darkened, as if dusk had arrived early. A colossal dark blue light pillar, forged from the purest oceanic divine power, fell like heavenly judgment from the heavens, aimed straight at the blackened Kevin, who had slowed for only one ten-thousandth of a second.
This strike contained the infinity of the sea and the finality of dusk.
For the first time, something akin to fluctuation appeared in Kevin's hollow eyes.
He sensed the threat in this attack.
He did not dodge, nor did he attempt a simple block.
Instead, from within his body burst a chill far more frigid and deathly than Rakshasa power—cold that could freeze time and end civilizations.
"Crack-crack-crack—!"
Centered on him, the ground beneath his feet, the space around him, and even the forefront of the descending Sea God's Dusk light pillar were instantly stained a strange ice-blue, then—completely frozen.
This was no mere ice. It froze energy, light, and even the rules themselves: an absolute zero domain.
This was Kevin's ice-snow authority, born from the power of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Parvati fused into him.
The gigantic Sea God's Dusk light pillar seemed to become a towering ice-blue crystal column, arrested mid-fall.
Yet the Sea God's power was ultimately boundless.
Only the leading edge had been frozen. The sea of divine power behind it continued to slam into the frozen barrier, producing tooth-aching cracking sounds. The ice shards shattered constantly, only to recondense in an instant, locking them into a terrifying stalemate.
Cerydra frowned slightly; this opponent was even more troublesome than she had anticipated.
She urged her law-authority again, trying to parse and weaken this ultimate cold.
Hysilens's gaze hardened. She felt the alien terror embedded in that icy authority—something not of this world.
She stopped holding back, driving the Sea God's power to its utmost. The light upon the golden trident grew ever brighter, clashing head-on with the freeze-everything chill.
Slaughter, ocean, ice-snow, and law—four utterly different yet equally powerful rule-forces collided, intertwined, and annihilated one another in this cursed land.
The sky alternated between bloody radiance, pure blue clarity, and an ice-locked wasteland.
The earth cracked, froze, and was scoured by cascading seas.
The fight had entered a white-hot stage.
Both sides scanned relentlessly for flaws, preparing the decisive next strike.
For the first time, the blackened Kevin's hollow eyes truly focused on his two god-level opponents. The blood-light along the Asura Demon Sword grew even thicker, as if about to drip.
Over the mountains of the Slaughter City, the sky itself was violently torn apart by three clashing lights.
Hysilens stood wrapped in colossal oceanic divine power, deep blue brilliance like the deepest sea. Each sweep of the golden trident hauled forth visions of rolling waves, bearing irresistible weight and purifying force as it crashed down on that chilling figure.
Her fighting stance was as graceful as a dance, yet contained the sea's unfettered rage.
Cerydra was like a calm chess player, standing at the edge of the battlefield.
The ghost-blue flame on her crown burned silently—the symbol of Law.
She did not attack recklessly, but constantly cast down commands of rule—Law: Shackles to bind his movements, Law: Weakening to reduce his defense, Law: Correction to occasionally deflect Kevin's lethal blows.
Her presence wove an invisible net of laws around Kevin, making every exertion feel constrained.
Their opponent—blackened Kevin—held the Asura Demon Sword, pure killing intent boiling from him.
Dark red sword-light crisscrossed the air, carrying the power to sever souls and taint divine thrones.
His movements were concise and efficient, like a perfect killing machine. With minimal shifts, he slipped through Hysilens's waves and sheared apart Cerydra's law-chains with the demon blade.
Kevin flung his sword, unleashing a storm of purple-black scythe-blades formed by wronged souls, pouring across the sky.
Hysilens met offense with offense. Dark blue pillars of finality thundered down from above, colliding with the onrushing scythes. The resulting blast flattened several mountains, gouging bottomless craters into the ground—one side reeking with sinister purple-black aura, the other lingering with the pure power of the sea.