It was difficult to describe how the audience felt when this character appeared on the screen.
The overflowing white-light background gave everything an unreal feeling of overexposure.
Combined with this guy's body, which was composed entirely of a few extremely beautiful lines.
His entire body didn't look human at all, but rather like a sculpture.
Then there was the simplest yet most extreme color combination of white and black, paired with a body formed from minimalist lines.
It was truly unforgettable at first glance.
After all, this kind of minimalist style was a little too artistic.
Looks. This was the greatest contrast the audience experienced while watching this PV.
Although by this point, the audience already had a pretty good idea in their hearts.
This person was probably also a Lord Ravager. But his appearance only highlighted this contrast even further.
That was, those associated with Destruction didn't necessarily have to look like the violent, destructive figures they had imagined in their minds.
There was the beautifully seductive Phantylia. The incomparably sacred Celenova.
There was also the playful man in a suit, and now this artistic "sculpture" woven from white and black.
This was far too different from the Destruction they had imagined.
According to what the audience had originally thought, the one who best matched their previous image of Destruction was instead someone like Ifrit, the Duke Inferno.
With the appearance of this new figure, the music became even more magnificent. One scalp-numbing blast of horns followed another.
The camera began moving upward. At just the right moment, the seductive voice of Phantylia, who had appeared earlier, sounded:
"When Irontomb finally breaks its shell..."
"the Erudition's calculations will meet the end."
A playful voice replied:
"But who can say that Akivili, on a new journey, won't bring another salvation?"
Celenova said lightly:
"Trailblazing always ends up igniting something, no?"
"Then, they'll achieve an even more majestic ruin"
The camera continued moving upward. Past Phantylia, the man in the suit, Celenova, and then the silent figure in black and white.
At the end of their line of sight was that pair of golden eyes, devoid of any discernible emotion.
Nanook.
He was at the very top, looking down upon everything. Just as he had been when the audience first saw him.
The conversation between Celenova, or rather, between the Lord Ravagers, was far too obscure.
The audience had no idea what exactly was happening.
But after Nanook appeared, they could at least sense that what this PV was describing had something to do with the plans of the Lord Ravagers, fragments concerning the end of the uuniverse.
That alone was enough to make their entire bodies tremble and goosebumps rise across their skin.
But the PV wasn't over yet!
After Nanook appeared and looked down upon all beings for a moment, the screen suddenly went black.
An unexpected voice suddenly appeared.
It was Lygus's voice.
On a stage where the Lord Ravagers had appeared one after another, Lygus had appeared at a seemingly inappropriate moment.
"Prisoner who picked up star fire..."
"If you are to become the first spark..."
"Then come and leave the cave with me and in that fable about the stars..."
"We'll pen the prelude of Destruction."
Along with Lygus' voice, Phainon drew his sword, standing amid the ruins and burning flames with his sword pointed directly at his enemy.
Although the background around him was an utter wreck, it still did nothing to affect Phainon's perfectly straight posture.
There was determination in his eyes, and beneath that determination was a towering rage.
That's right. This was the Phainon the audience was familiar with.
And as Phainon's opposing counterpart, Lygus, who appeared in the PV, was leisurely holding a cluster of flames in his hands.
When the final second arrived, Lygus tilted his head slightly.
Data flickered over his head for a moment, transforming him into another appearance the audience had never seen before.
The PV abruptly ended.
...
: You scared me to death!
: How are there still more heavy hitters!?
: There's so much information!!
: Honestly, I didn't understand it. All I know is that something huge is coming...
: Phew... Episode Four... just how crazy is it going to be!?
: This might be the most heavily foreshadowed PV so far!
: What does this mean? Lygus is Iron Tomb?
: Huh? Lygus is Iron Tomb? Did the PV actually say that?
: But everyone who appeared was a Lord Ravager. This is basically a Destruction faction PV. Why would they randomly put Lygus in it?
: Phainon was also in it. Does that mean Phainon is also a Lord Ravager?
: That's true... Then what exactly is this PV hinting at? Fuck, I'm so curious I'm about to explode. I really want to know!
...
It was impossible to cram enough information into a single PV for the audience to completely understand everything.
So, after the PV ended, MiHoYo's official website released information and images concerning the Lord Ravagers.
This information was enough to drive fans across the entire world completely insane today.
...
Inside the screening hall.
Thalia and Sophia sat in the hall, still savoring the shock from just now.
"I feel like I understood it, but at the same time, it feels like I didn't understand anything at all..."
"But... but this sense of shock is different from all the previous PVs."
Thalia murmured.
"Same here. I never expected all the Lord Ravagers to appear like this." Sophia also held a hand against her chest, still trying to calm her emotions.
These two indeed had more thoughts about this than the other fans.
Amid their shock, they subconsciously put themselves into the situation and began thinking about the connection between Destruction and Amphoreus.
"MiHoYo's official website released all the Lord Ravagers!?"
"It's true! Let me see! One... two... three... no, wait, why are there so many!?"
"Seven?"
"I don't think that many appeared in the PV?"
A commotion suddenly broke out inside the screening hall. All kinds of shocked voices rose one after another.
Thalia and Sophia quickly reacted as well, taking out their phones and staring at HOYO's website.
Oh, right. MiHoYo's official website was also blocked in Greece.
The official website they were currently viewing was hosted in France.
Thalia opened it on her phone.
Sure enough! The most eye-catching things on the official website were that row of stunning images and text.
[Bestow the Cruelest Joke of All, Witness the Most Absurd Annihilation]
[Lord Ravager · Asat Pramad]
[Savage White Flame, Pierce Through the Deepest Darkness]
[Lord Ravager · Zephyro]
[The Stars Listen to a Prayer of Despair, Gathering of Grand Death]
[Lord Ravager · Celenova]
[Sun Devourer That Chases the Light, Extinguish Ten Thousand Stars]
[Lord Ravager · Luxbane]
[Ignite the Warforge, Turn Your Enemies Into Voidrangers]
[Lord Ravager · Archforger]
[Seize the Body, Manipulate the Mind, Set a Self-Destructing Trap]
[Lord Ravager · Phantylia]
[Upend the logic of inorganic lifeforms, Turn technology to scrap metal]
[Lord Ravager · Irontomb]
Beneath every image was a detailed record of matters related to these Lord Ravagers.
And among them, the most shocking information was undoubtedly the first to directly point toward the true nature of the Lord Ravagers.
[Destroyers of the Paths]
The audience finally understood why every Lord Ravager they had seen was so different from the others, each possessing such a distinct identity.
The mocking Asat Pramad represented the destruction of the Path of Elation.
He spent hundreds of years using one malicious joke after another to destroy people, destroy worlds, and destroy the very meaning of all existence.
He mocked the passing of all things equally.
The black-and-white, simple yet extraordinary Zephyro was the most terrifying of them all.
He is obsessed with the final moment of annihilation, the beauty of absolute erasure. Piercing planets and annihilating star systems required only a single moment.
According to the nightmare of a Self-Annihilator, at the end of all things, with nothing left to destroy, Zephyro hurled himself into IX's divine corpus, followed by a single, violent beam of white that pierced the endless dark.
The destroyer of Nihility, Zephyro... merely reading this description was enough to make it impossible for the reader to imagine just how terrifying he was.
And with this, everyone instantly understood why he was most terrifying of the Lord Ravagers.
Next came Celenova.
Unlike the other Lord Ravagers, whose origins were difficult to trace, Celenova's origin was beyond doubt.
Nanook personally ignited a world of harmony and elevated her from the ashes of the Eternal Centurion.
For eons, she has followed the path of the "Cancer of All Worlds," the Stellarons, spinning a web of death across the stars.
Some say she alone among the Lord Ravagers knows the truth of the Stellarons, or worse, that she's the one planting them.
Below these Lord Ravagers whose identities and roles were relatively clear, there were others for whom there was no definitive evidence, but whose purposes could still be guessed with reasonable certainty.
Archforger.
The one who forged the Voidrangers, suspected to be the hidden forgemaster behind the Legion. His authority and physical form were speculated to be closely connected to Preservation.
Phantylia.
A member of the Heliobi, obsessed with enticing civilizations into the abyss of self-destruction. Judging by her previous destructive actions against the Xianzhou Alliance, this Lord Ravager's target might be the Hunt.
Luxbane.
A colossal creature known as the Sun-Devouring Beast, responsible for numerous incidents throughout the universe in which stars were extinguished.
The universe knew very little about this Lord Ravager. Even its target had always remained a mystery. They were simply called "Luxbane."
As for speculation surrounding it, the prevailing belief throughout the universe was that Nanook had prepared it to oppose either Voracity or Permanence.
After these six Lord Ravagers came the Lord Ravager intimately connected to Amphoreus.
This was also the first time everyone learned his name, Irontomb.
The introduction to Irontomb was extremely brief.
Everything pointed toward the inverse function of Erudition. He was regarded as the destroyer of the Path of Erudition.
After personally reading these records concerning the Lord Ravagers and combining them with the information revealed in the previous PV, everything instantly became clear.
The Lord Ravagers throughout the universe would all converge upon Amphoreus.
They would personally witness the fate of their colleague sealed within it, Irontomb.
Amphoreus was also not some "isolated planet in the universe," as the audience jokingly called it, but an actual critical point tied to the safety of the entire universe.
Not only that, the information concerning the Lord Ravagers also was very interesting to the audience.
Nanook's Destruction was meant to burn away the Paths themselves. Then, at the end of the universe, Destruction would come to an end alongside the universe itself.
Right. That was it. This was how Star Rail had always described the Paths.
Destruction shouldn't be the simple, crude destruction spoken of by Duke Inferno.
It was entropy.
It was the end of all things.
And that ending included destroying itself!
And so, every fan waiting for Episode Four was set ablaze by this revelation.
On MiHoYo forums, the audience had fallen into a frenzy because of the coming of Destruction.
...
: Oh my god!! Is Amphoreus really going to become the battlefield of a war between gods now?!
: Holy shit! Seven Lord Ravagers! Fuck!
: With so many Lord Ravagers moving together, there's no way the other forces in the universe won't react!
: There's seriously going to be rivers of blood this time!
: The Emperor's Scepter has once again become the center of the universe's attention!
: But if that's the case, can Amphoreus... really continue to exist...? Phainon... the pressure he has to endure is way too terrifying!
: I feel like even the Astral Express crew is in danger this time.
: Fuck! I can't even imagine how Episode Four is going to develop. How is Phainon's journey to save the world going to connect with the Lord Ravagers?! Aaaaaah! I'm way too curious!
: Episode Four! Episode Four! I need to see Episode Four right now!
...
Aside from their anticipation for what would happen next, many people were also furiously discussing the information about the Lord Ravagers.
....
: They're way too domineering, these Lord Ravagers!
: Every one of them has their own distinct style, and even their methods of destruction are completely different!
: Gotta admit, they're seriously cool!
: I'm so curious about the stories of how these Lord Ravagers were elevated by Nanook! There has to be some huge drama behind them!
: Exactly! Like how Nanook elevated Celenova from the ashes of the Eternal Centurion! Damn!
: There's so much story potential behind this.
: Asat Pramad doesn't look like an Elation guy at all. As the destroyer of Elation, why do I feel like he's not crazy enough?
: Stop guessing blindly. It's exactly these seemingly normal people who are the scariest when they finally go crazy.
: Speaking of which, judging by how things are developing, those golden threads in the PV seem to represent all the currently existing Paths. Nanook will probably elevate even more Emanators of Destruction later.
: Getting to witness that whole process feels pretty awesome but brain opening.
: Why is nobody talking about Zephyro? Zephyro is the most terrifying one, isn't he?! The text practically implies that Zephyro can pierce through IX! That's almost the highest level of combat power described so far, right?!
: As an Emanator of Nihility, can Acheron do that? A Self-Annihilator injuring IX... why does that sound like some kind of fantasy?!
: Both of them want to kill IX. I wonder which of them would be stronger if they fought.
: Don't make your sister laugh. No matter what, Acheron is still one of the strongest Emanators alive today... right?
: I think Zephyro looks way more badass!
.....
Of course, all these discussions about the Lord Ravagers would ultimately converge on the same topic, comparisons of combat strength.
In particular, the arguments over Acheron and Zephyro, who were stronger between them, were so fierce that they practically turned the whole forum upside down.