The Queen's miserable state quickly alarmed the Interstellar Peace Corporation. They could not tolerate their most luxurious flagship becoming like this, nor could they tolerate the immense blow this incident dealt to the company's reputation. An armed fleet was urgently dispatched from a nearby star system, heading menacingly towards this location.
Golden Threads clearly captured the fleet's movements, troop deployment, and estimated arrival time. You calculated coldly. The energy had been almost completely absorbed. It was time to make an exit. You had already used Golden Threads to find the next suitable vessel. It was an executive from the Interstellar Peace Corporation who had just killed several people on the Queen and was preparing to escape in his private escape pod amidst the chaos. You infiltrated his escape pod, and just before he started the engine, a powerful consciousness surged into his body.
[Body snatching, complete.]
At the same time, the puppet crew in the Queen's main control room pressed the pre-set self-destruct program. Soon after, just as the Interstellar Peace Corporation fleet arrived, preparing to clear out the cruise ship that had become a ghost ship—
Boom—!!!
A colossal roar that reverberated through the starry sky. The Queen, this luxurious flagship symbolizing the wealth and power of the Interstellar Peace Corporation, transformed into the most dazzling and expensive fireworks in the universe, witnessed by countless horrified gazes. The massive explosion's shockwave even caused the distant fleet to feel a tremor.
Meanwhile, you, controlling the executive's body, blended in with the lucky survivors who had escaped, disappearing into the vast star sea. This grand drama of the "Fall of the Queen," directed by you, was far beyond your expectations in terms of scale, cunning methods, and adverse impact. It not only caused immense physical losses for the Interstellar Peace Corporation but also inflicted irreparable damage to its prestige. Countless eyes across the universe focused on the demise of this "ghost ship."
[Just then, suddenly.]
A gaze from the dark side of the universe, carrying the will of destruction, locked firmly onto you. It was an indescribable feeling, as if the weight of the entire universe was pressing down on the depths of your soul. You knew you had been targeted by an incredibly terrifying existence. But unexpectedly, that feeling of being targeted was not solely fear. There was also a strange sense of… acknowledgement?
You had no time to ponder, as an irresistible force suddenly pulled you in. You felt everything around you become blurry and distorted. When you regained your senses, you found yourself thrown into a vast space filled with antimatter flames. This was the legendary War Furnace. Within the War Furnace, countless souls and monsters from the universe, yearning for destruction and burdened with sin, gathered. They fought and devoured each other; the entire space was filled with violent, chaotic destructive energy.
A grand, cold will, carrying a sense of scrutiny, resonated throughout the War Furnace. That was the will of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction. He declared that only individuals who passed the cruelest trials and displayed the purest and most unique "Aesthetics of Destruction" could become his apostles. A trial in the name of destruction began. In the War Furnace, survival was the only law.
You engaged in endless slaughter and consumption with other individuals thrown into this place. Surrounded by frenzied monsters and twisted souls, each attempting to tear and devour you. Fortunately, you were strong enough to barely survive in the War Furnace. You avoided overly powerful existences, focusing on relatively weaker opponents. Each victory was accompanied by the consumption of the defeated.
[At 1900 years old, your Heliobus Fire also began to undergo peculiar transformations during the process of devouring destructive energy.]
You discovered that you could combine the power of Heliobus with the destructive energy drawn from the War Furnace. Your flames began to burn with a deep, eerie black luster. The illusions woven by these flames were no longer merely false images. They could directly attack the target's mind and, to some extent, even distort reality. You could create the most realistic fears in your opponents' minds, causing them to self-destruct within the illusion. Or, you could have their bodies incinerated by your antimatter flames as their minds collapsed.
[At 2000 years old, this method of perfectly combining illusion and destruction allowed you to stand out in the War Furnace's brutal struggles.]
Many monsters that tried to devour you ultimately turned to ashes in the terrifying illusions you wove, filled with extreme despair. You were no longer merely a Heliobus; you were transforming into a higher, more terrifying existence. Time seemed to lose its meaning in the War Furnace. You only knew that the slaughter never stopped, and the devouring never stopped.
[At 3000 years old, you ultimately became one of the survivors of this cruel trial.]
That vast will of destruction descended once more. He scrutinized you, scrutinizing your unique path of destruction: "using illusion to leverage reality, disintegrating all things on a spiritual level, and inducing self-destruction." Then, He extended an olive branch to you.
Nanook invited you to become an Emanator of Destruction, one of the Aeons of Destruction.
What do you choose?
Accept.
Refuse.
At this point in the simulation, Orion was filled with nothing but ecstasy.
Emanator! Aeon of Destruction! This was the top-tier villain identity in the universe, second only to the Aeons, wasn't it? And also an Emanator of the Aeon of Destruction! This was much more exciting than being some pathetic, useless Flint Emperor!
Must accept!
I choose 1!
[You chose to accept the invitation of Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction.]
An unimaginably vast power surged into your core. Your form of existence was sublimated. You no longer needed to cling to any host; you could condense a more powerful and eerie form out of thin air.
[You were promoted to Emanator of Destruction and bestowed the name Huan Long.]
You felt stronger than ever before.
[You became an Emanator of Destruction, Villainy Points +500!]
Orion froze for a moment. What? I'm Huan Long? Is this real or fake?! He had originally thought it was just simulating a small-fry Heliobus that wasn't even human, so he didn't have high hopes, but he didn't expect it to be that Aeon of Destruction, Huan Long? This simulation is really something.
However, Huan Long also seemed to have a similar ending to Phantylia, getting beaten up by that group from the Astral Express, right?
Hmm… I must find a way to change this outcome.
Oh, right, is Huan Long female…? Oh, Heliobus doesn't have a gender. So, it means it can be either male or female?
Orion suddenly thought of a wicked plan. Hehe… Trailblazers, you're done for this time.