"The waters of Purgatory run deeper than I imagined?"
Hearing Luo Shu's words, Nak immediately raised her guard to the highest level.
Hidden within Lana's body, she instantly contracted her power, silently reciting the revered name of the Demon God Vassago, ready to withdraw from the mortal world and slip into the crevices of the Abyss at any moment.
Yet her actions were ultimately a step too late.
Almost the moment she contracted her power, an immense, all-cleansing force descended from above.
A brilliant azure-white pillar pierced through space, falling straight from the heavens like divine retribution.
Without time to think, the Authority Embryo Nak possessed—Night—activated on its own, attempting to merge with the surrounding darkness.
Her form transformed into deep, inky blackness, preparing to scatter and blend into the environment.
But just as the darkness was about to disperse, Nak suddenly grunted, her form abruptly reverting, as if the surrounding darkness had rejected her fusion.
This all-too-familiar scene made her exclaim in shock:
"What?"
In her bewilderment, Nak immediately realised what this scene signified.
Concept suppression?
A unique phenomenon where the Divine Will actively suppresses surrounding concepts when Divine Authority is activated, manifesting its own power?
The heavenly thunder is a manifestation of Divine Authority?'
Realising this, Nak's eyes immediately filled with despair, to the point of abandoning resistance.
'Ancestor?' Lana, whose consciousness hadn't yet faded, was puzzled by Nak's lack of resistance.
Facing Lana's confusion, Nak only let out a bitter laugh:
'Too late, and it's meaningless now.'
The exchange in thought lasted but an instant. Almost simultaneously as Nak was expelled from the surrounding darkness, the descending pillar of lightning instantly engulfed Nak.
When the dazzling radiance finally dissipated.
Only a charred, motionless 'remnant' of uncertain vitality remained on the ground, emitting wisps of black smoke.
...
At this very moment, within the Divine Kingdom.
Using her own vessel as 'eyes', Luo Shu stood above the waters and beneath the thunderclouds, wearing a crown of thunder, gazing down at the scene of Nak's collapse as the brilliant white lightning in his eyes gradually faded.
Simultaneously, Luo Shu's form grew increasingly translucent, revealing Lacus's exhausted visage within.
"Is it over?" Lacus's voice carried heavy drowsiness.
As the question echoed, streams of fluorescent light gathered, and Luo Shu's figure reappeared, standing beside Lacus.
After manifesting, Luo Shu first retrieved a stamina-restoring potion from the Divine Kingdom's storage and handed it to Lacus to drink before replying:
"It should be over."
Luo Shu's tone held a trace of disbelief:
"Though I'm not entirely certain, the attack just now likely killed Nak's true body hidden in another world."
"What?" Lacus was equally stunned by Luo Shu's words.
Pondering his words, Luo Shu explained:
"After activating the Thunder Authority, I instinctively felt that the current Nak was merely a vessel. Even if destroyed, it might not eliminate the root threat."
"So, I wondered if I could use the Authority to eradicate Nak's true body lurking behind."
"However, the moment I merely thought of doing so, the Authority automatically activated and directly accomplished my goal..."
At this point, Luo Shu's expression turned slightly odd:
"Though it's just a personal feeling, my attack seemed to have followed the vessel and struck Nak's true body across worlds."
"Presumably because of this, Nak's vessel in the garrison retained a sliver of vitality, as most of the power crossed worlds to annihilate her true body instead."
"Is Authority really such an inconceivable power?"
Merely by thought, the Authority responds and accomplishes the task?
The power called Divine Authority is truly beyond comprehension.
Exhausted both physically and mentally, Lacus leaned against Luo Shu's shoulder, attempting to understand:
"So, you left behind an Apostle's vessel as experimental material?"
"More or less." Luo Shu nodded in agreement, then grasped Lacus's hand and asked, "How are you feeling physically?"
"My Spiritual Power and stamina are heavily depleted. It feels somewhat like staying awake for a full day and night back when I was ordinary."
After drinking the potion, Lacus carefully assessed her condition before frowning slightly:
"Based on my current physical condition, the duration of using Divine Authority after Possession shouldn't exceed 200 seconds. Otherwise, my Spiritual Power would likely collapse first."
"Is that so?" Luo Shu visibly relaxed upon hearing this: "So the optimal time for using Divine Kingdom enhancement after Possession is under three minutes?"
The 200-second limit represented Luo Shu's maximum duration when possessing Lacus with Divine Kingdom enhancement. His true form could likely sustain it far longer.
However, since Luo Shu had been in the Abyss world earlier and Lacus suggested testing the upper limits of power in this state, he'd chosen this risky method.
The test results seemed satisfactory. At least while possessing Familia members within the Divine Kingdom, Luo Shu could wield 'Divine Authority' for three minutes.
This meant that as long as Familia members remained within the Divine Kingdom, Luo Shu could provide near-Angel-level support. Though brief, such assistance would be overwhelming in the current world. Luo Shu doubted anyone could withstand three minutes of Divine Authority.
"We should test the endurance limits of Demigod and Elite Rank Familia members next..."
As Lacus spoke, the medicinal effects gradually took hold, bringing colour to her cheeks and vitality to her demeanour:
"Besides that, the battle-damaged space needs repairing..."
"Oh!"
Lacuse suddenly remembered something and said with amused exasperation:
"We should inform Miku and Serafall that they can stop hiding now."
Due to Lana's invasion, the hidden operatives weren't just Kurumi Tokisaki - Miku Izayoi and Serafall had also been concealed nearby.
Actually, Kurumi's exposure had been anticipated by both Lacus and Kurumi herself. Strategically, they'd used Kurumi as a decoy to conceal Miku and Serafall's presence in the City of Devouring Time.
However, when Nak subsequently demonstrated power surpassing that of Demigods and was revealed to have been lured by the hostile Apostle Guro, Luo Shu realised deterrence was needed to prevent a four-against-one ambush.
Otherwise, both Luo Shu and Lacus would have liked to test whether Demigods could overwhelm an Apostle. With Divine Authority as backup, they had the means to attempt it.
"In that case, recall Miku and the others. The situation's mostly resolved anyway, and we'll have plenty of opportunities to test the strength of Apostles later."
Luo Shu's suggestion was characteristically direct:
"Nak's still clinging to life. We can extract all remaining value by inputting the data into the Dream Simulation Chamber to analyse Demigod-Apostle disparities."
"Ah, this..."
Lacuse suddenly pitied Nak.
Not only tricked by that demon Guro, but with her main body dead and vessel barely alive, she'd become experimental material for Tabane Shinonono and others. Finally, her 'condition' would be fed into the Dream Simulation Chamber as training target practice.
Honestly, this is rather pitiful—so much so that even Lacus couldn't muster much hatred for Nak.
After all, aside from wrecking a few walls in the Hidden Management Department, she hadn't really done anything else.
'Oh, seems like the walls have already been repaired.'
Watching Kurumi Tokisaki reverse the damage to the walls with her time-manipulating ability through the curtain before her, Lacus felt even more sympathy for Nak.
At the same time, Luo Shu, who also witnessed Kurumi cleaning up the aftermath, sighed:
"It's time to end this."
"Yeah, it's time to end this." Lacus took a deep breath, then smiled. "Though I'm still a bit exhausted, I should be able to hold on until the end."
"Don't push yourself too hard."
"I know."
In that brief exchange, Luo Shu's figure vanished from the Divine Kingdom.