"Dreaming of turning people into void rangers? Lord Ravager… what audacity!" Blake closed the tome and slowly walked beneath Jing Yuan.
"Wow… reinforcements saving the day at the critical moment. Phantylia's done for!" March 7th celebrated early. As everyone knew… halftime champagne was never a good idea.
The next second, Phantylia swatted Blake away with her fan.
Stelle, March 7th: …
"No!!!"
"Pontiff Blake! How do you drop the ball at the key moment?!"
"Oh~ I get it." Stelle's eyes cleared instantly. She explained to March 7th: "This is what they call 'cool for three seconds.'"
"The battle shifts—stay vigilant." Welt was steady as a mountain. With Adrian's pre-battle Eternity blessing, he seemed even more cautious.
Dan Heng still monitored Jing Yuan's state. Phantylia couldn't harm him yet, but the hard CC was ridiculous—once controlled, escape was impossible.
Now… they needed a hero to step up and distract Phantylia.
This duty… naturally fell to Stelle.
"Huh? Dan Heng, will this really work?" March 7th's gaze darted between them. It seemed she was the only one in the dark.
"Leave it to me… Hey, Phantylia! Dare to come down and spar with me?" Stelle hurled her fire lance. This time, no Eternity weapons—just her own strength.
"Hehe~ Benefactor, provocation won't work on this little lady~"
Phantylia reminded again: to blast Blake away, she'd burned four special-effect milk teas. Five left—unsure if enough.
"Hmph… Lowly pest, taste a swing from the Galactic Baseballer!"
"Pathetic." Seeing Stelle rushing in and scratching damage, Phantylia sneered, refocusing on Jing Yuan.
"General… shall we start over?"
Phantylia concentrated, flooding Jing Yuan with lethal Destruction energy.
"Hahahahaha~ General, where's your proud Divine Lord now? Without The Hunt's blessing, you're just an unremarkable insect."
"Hmm?"
After waiting, Phantylia saw Jing Yuan unscathed—no Destruction traits at all. She was baffled.
Wait… when did The Hunt general switch to Voracity? So absorbent for real?
Stelle seized the moment, activating the Eternity hourglass. A powerful suction erupted, invisible chains binding her and Phantylia to Jing Yuan.
"Hahahahaha! Mine to command!" Stelle felt endless power. A pale red Fool's mask appeared on her arm, syncing invisibly with the hourglass necklace.
The Fool's mask acted as a converter, ensuring no harm to the body. For some reason… Stelle felt the mask siphoned a bit for itself.
"No… wait!"
Phantylia tried cutting the transfer, but too late. Jing Yuan turned the tables, using her own power against her.
To prevent Phantylia from feeling hollowed out and collapsing into a husk—too anticlimactic a defeat—at the critical moment…
"Yo yo~ Here I am! Missed me in this short time?" Blake's voice was a shot of reassurance, piercing everyone's hearts.
"Lord Phantylia, let me help!"
Blake waved grandly. Familiar routine: he poured his Eternity energy into Phantylia without reserve.
"Don't come near me aaaaaah!"
Phantylia was on the verge of tears. How did they devise such a perverse method?!
She thought ample Destruction energy would turn Jing Yuan into a void ranger. But behind him was a cheat-level vacuum! Even without Eternity arts on Jing Yuan, Stelle's aid made him immune.
Crucially… Phantylia couldn't escape the forced transfer. Only depletion ended it—humiliating defeat.
So, the kind-hearted, universally praised Pontiff Blake acted!
He sustained Phantylia's energy, topping off any loss. As an Emanator, imaginary energy was his endless supply.
"Everyone! Now…"
"Wait!" Blake halted Jing Yuan. "I'm not the only one here. There's a special friend too."
"Miss Tingyun, use that move on her!"
Blake shouted outward, one hand fueling Phantylia, the other unlocking the blessed land's seal.
From the mist emerged lively fox ears first. By silhouette alone… Tingyun herself.
March 7th rubbed her eyes in shock. "Huh? Miss Tingyun? For real… or am I seeing things?"
"Benefactor, lend this humble one a hand." Tingyun flourished her bone-gathering fan. Her expression was serene as fresh snow on a pool.
The usual smiling lips lost warmth, as if all joy froze into crystals, sinking into bottomless eyes.
"Got it!"
The Fool's mask surged again, redirecting all energy to Tingyun.
Phantylia's hollowing experience aside, the instant drain let Stelle truly feel it—her confident face twisted in agony.
Tingyun's fingertips gripped the fan frame. She wielded the fan weapon Freesna had pre-modified… As the church's priestess, no signature skills? Unthinkable.
Well, just reshaped her staff into a fan—essentially the same.
...
Next, Phantylia truly tasted a fate worse than death. Tingyun bombarded her with fan cannonballs—low damage, pure scratches, but max taunt.
Stelle, stuck as middleman, left the scratching to Dan Heng and crew.
"Uncle Yang, put in some effort." March 7th complained mid-fight.
"Ahem… Old bones, still warming up."
Welt brushed it off. With Emanators and an Aeon present, no need for him to try. Same if Himeko were here—railgun out of range.
"Wait… keep this up, isn't Pontiff Blake the one getting hurt?" Mid-scratch, March 7th realized.
"March, trust Pontiff Blake. See? General Jing Yuan and I aren't worried." Stelle looked up, fully adapted to the fill-and-empty cycle.
"Wow… No wonder he's general. That endurance isn't ordinary."
March 7th glanced at Jing Yuan, bound mid-air by the Arbor, smiling awkwardly…
Wait, why did the Arbor's color darken? Illusion?
Seeing Tingyun tire, Blake cut the supply.
Boom!
Phantylia's body exploded instantly. Blake, predictably, got blasted away again.
"Well done, Hunt general. I lose only a casually forged body… How long can you hold?"
Feeling Abundance power draining endlessly, Phantylia's heart stormed. But as Lord Ravager, face couldn't fall!
"Hehe~ The Xianzhou's destruction nears."
"Begone, Destruction pawn. Tell the Legion: The Hunt's vengeance… will come!"
Phantylia turned to flee without hesitation.
"This meaningless farce ends."
The next second, a voice more reassuring than Blake's rang out!