Standing by the massive observation windows of their respective warships, Kiana and the others stared in awe at the unimaginable cosmic spectacle unfolding in the distance.
The lingering aftershocks of the planet's annihilation were spreading in absolute silence, in a manner that completely violated all known laws of physics.
The epicenter of the explosion wasn't a blazing sphere of heat and light, but rather a void of absolute, terrifying nothingness that transcended darkness itself.
The planetary membrane that had once enveloped the world looked like the shredded remains of a soap bubble. It flickered briefly with an eerie, sickly-blue phosphorescence before being entirely swallowed by the chaotic tides of the Sea of Quanta.
The very fabric of space bore horrifying scars. Spiderweb-like fractures spread across the dimensional plane. There was absolutely no sound; only an ultimate visual contrast and a continuously expanding wave of collapse silently narrated the complete and utter death of a world.
Inside the Helix Craft flagship, Fuli also gazed down at the magnificent, soul-trembling spectacle of ultimate destruction.
He whispered in awe, "Damn, that's a lot of fire. Way hotter than the Battle of Yiling—Ow!"
"That's enough out of you."
Vill-V retracted the hand she had just used to knock some sense into her meme-spouting idiot of a junior brother. Her fingertips lingered with a unique, highly alluring warmth and fragrance.
Considering she had just been habitually resting her hands beneath her breath-takingly ample chest, the source of that fragrance was self-evident.
Thanks to the precious time bought by the desperate Wardance squads on the ground, combined with the tireless teleportation efforts of Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon, practically all the Foxian slaves trapped on the Living Planet had been safely evacuated.
Although a very small minority hadn't made it out in time, Mobius had claimed she had a way to handle them. Given the do-or-die situation at the time, everyone had no choice but to trust the enigmatic, beautiful scientist.
There was no need to worry about Yunli, either. Not long ago, Bailu had sent a message confirming they had successfully secured the Prison Realm artifact sealing the girl.
They were just waiting for Fu Xuan to return so she could forcefully break the seal with her Origin Strike: Star Shatter.
"So, little brother, jokes aside, what's your actual takeaway from this?"
Vill-V leaned in with great interest, her collagen-rich, flawless face lighting up with a deeply inquisitive gleam.
"This is your first time witnessing the grand spectacle of planetary annihilation with your own eyes, isn't it? Do you want your Big Sister to use the workshop's latest equipment to snap a commemorative photo for you? I guarantee a fully immersive, holographic experience!"
"No need, no need. It's already been recorded."
Fuli grunted slightly, wincing as he struggled to pull out a smart holographic camera drone. The movement pulled at his internal injuries, causing him to suck in a sharp breath of cold air.
"To engage in a deathmatch with an opponent of Hoolay's caliber and only walk away with these 'minor' injuries is already enough for you to brag about for quite a while."
Vill-V smiled, raising her arm in a highly oppressive posture and smoothly pinning the boy against the cold glass of the observation window.
"But then again... just half a year ago, you were nothing more than an ordinary, powerless pretty boy. This rocket-like growth speed of yours..."
Her long, plump leg, tightly wrapped in a leather boot, naturally slid into the gap between Fuli's legs with an undeniably provocative flair.
"Should I start yelling, 'This child's potential is too terrifying!' and do something right now to nip this future threat in the bud?"
Her hot breath brushed against the shell of his ear. It was low, dangerous, and incredibly ambiguous.
"Ms. Vill-V!"
Hyacine, having just returned from washing a towel, panicked. Using both her arms and legs—along with Little Ica grabbing Fuli by the collar with its teeth—she desperately yanked the dizzy-from-cleavage boy out of Vill-V's encirclement.
"Li-bao's injuries are still very severe! He can't engage in strenuous physical activity right now!"
Since the three of them were the only ones currently on the warship's bridge, it fell entirely to Hya-bao to protect Little Li's chastity!
"Heh."
Vill-V wasn't annoyed in the slightest. She studied the young girl's highly anxious, worried little face with great interest and let out an inscrutable, weird chuckle.
"I'm fine, Hya-bao. Don't be so nervous." Fuli waved his hand dismissively.
He had only met this master of the Helix Craft a handful of times. Yet, looking at that beautiful face—which bore a striking resemblance to his own unscrupulous mother—it was genuinely impossible for him to feel any real animosity toward her.
Just then, the familiar glow of the Gates of a Hundred Worlds flashed nearby.
"My Lord!"
Castorice was the first to rush through the portal, her beautiful silver-purple gradient hair fluttering from her haste.
Following closely behind her, Tribios stepped out with graceful elegance.
Yep. Just the two of them.
With a sharp snap, the portal instantly closed, cleanly shutting Kiana and everyone else out on the other side.
Just like that, the small bridge was suddenly occupied by three Chrysos Heirs simultaneously.
Their gazes met in mid-air. A flash of tacit understanding passed between their eyes before they quickly looked away.
Watching this unfold, Vill-V's smile grew even more deeply amused.
"Oh! Cassie! My Cassie!"
Fuli, still lying flat on his back, obviously didn't notice the silent exchange. He simply yelled out happily.
"My Lord, I am here."
The young girl crossed the distance in three quick steps and dropped to her knees beside Fuli with perfectly practiced naturalness.
Reaching out, she carefully lifted his head and placed it gently onto her beautifully curved, incredibly soft thighs. Her stunning eyes were filled to the brim with concern.
"When you came over just now, did you ask the Luofu's tally officers? How many Wardance points did we rack up this time? Is there any hope of breaking the 100,000-point threshold?"
The moment Fuli spoke, everyone present nearly choked.
The boy himself didn't see any issue with it. A certain magnificent shrine maiden who ruled over Gensokyo had once said: One yen gets you swept away with a broom. Ten yen gets you a smile. A hundred yen gets you tea. A thousand yen gets you a grand banquet. Ten thousand gets you pushed down once, and a hundred thousand gets you the absolute ultimate S-tier treatment.
The most painful thing in life was being alive but flat broke. He had nearly lost his life over the past two days; wasn't it perfectly reasonable to expect his paycheck to go up just a tiny bit?
What? Destroying the Living Planet was supposed to be a disciple's tribute to Master Jingliu?
Screw that! I'm double-dipping!
"It's only been a short while since we last met, yet the Knight has once again accomplished a feat that forces one to view him in a completely new light..."
Lying on the floor, Fuli sensed someone else approaching. Opening his eyes, his gaze was immediately locked onto a pair of exquisite, flawless feet clad in delicate Roman sandals.
The intricate straps wrapped elegantly around her shapely ankles, contrasting beautifully against the nearly translucent skin, beneath which faint cyan veins were barely visible.
A bizarre, wildly inappropriate thought suddenly flashed through the boy's mind:
Since both styles expose a ton of skin, do Roman sandals count as flip-flops?
Based on the sheer ratio of exposed skin to material... are flip-flops technically the bikinis of the footwear world?
If that's the case, doesn't that make Guangdong Province the absolute paradise for foot-fetishists?
"Hm?"
Obviously, the fact that his gaze had completely stalled on her feet caused the owner to drastically misunderstand his intentions.
Fuli violently shook his head, forcing his eyes to climb upward from her slender ankles, tracing her beautifully sculpted, pale calves, until they finally landed on Tribios's face. She was giving him a deeply amused, half-smiling look.
The Princess was currently leaning forward slightly. Her red hair cascaded down like flowing moonlight, and her amethyst-like eyes sparkled with a mix of teasing and intense scrutiny.
Fuli coughed, speaking in a half-joking tone, "To have the noble heir of Britannia personally descend onto such a perilous battlefield... as a mere Margrave, my sins are truly unforgivable."
"My assistance wasn't free, you know?"
Tribios flashed an elegant, slightly black-bellied smile. "The aid provided by myself and the Tribbies cannot be easily dismissed with mere Wardance points. Furthermore, I am officially only here as a guest. I am not a formal participant in the Luminary Wardance ceremonies."
Despite saying this, she didn't immediately list her specific demands. Instead, she knelt gracefully beside Castorice, her posture exuding an effortless elegance.
"Do you still remember, Sir Knight?" she prompted gently. "The agreement you struck with Theresa in the Roman bathhouse?"
Fuli thought back for a moment and quickly recalled it.
Back then, acting as Britannia's representative, Tribios had brokered a deal with Theresa of the Far East Branch and Raiden Ryoma of Anti-Entropy.
St. Freya Academy would annually train a dedicated batch of Valkyries specifically for Britannia. In return, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy would make significant concessions during the negotiations regarding their descent into the Britannian mainland bubble universe.
To seal the deal, Tribios agreed to use the Divine Raiment: Key of Janus to forcibly awaken the Reality Warping Field for three individuals: one from Schicksal, one from Anti-Entropy, and Fuli, who had just defeated the Nazi remnants.
Janus was an ancient, conceptual God of Doors. His power could unlock even the doors of the mind.
As the Divine Raiment corresponding to that Authority, the Key of Janus possessed the ability to force a person to confront their truest, innermost self.
The person "unlocked" by the key would fall into a deep slumber for exactly ten days and ten nights. During this period, their mind would achieve absolute clarity and profound enlightenment.
Not only would their mental state experience a massive breakthrough, but there was also an extremely high probability they would comprehend the embryonic form of their own Reality Warping Field.
Naturally, the participant had to be at least Sequence Level. Otherwise, they would inevitably become permanently trapped within the illusions woven by their own mind, never to awaken.
At the time, Fuli didn't meet the prerequisite, so he had banked the opportunity for later.
The current Fuli was obviously more than qualified. The problem was, it was already late September. There were barely any days left before the Luminary Wardance officially concluded on October 7th.
Going into a ten-day coma right now felt entirely too much like actively griefing his teammates. So, after a moment's thought, he replied:
"I understand. Once the Luminary Wardance officially concludes, I will personally visit Britannia."
Beside him, Castorice's ears sharply twitched.
A completely unconscious slumber lasting ten days and ten nights?! Doesn't that mean My Lord will be entirely defenseless and completely unaware of anything happening to him during that time?!
The young girl's highly vigilant gaze instantly locked onto Tribios, desperately trying to read any hidden intentions on the Princess's dignified, beautiful face. She found absolutely nothing.
However, as a moderately famous author in the fan-fiction community under the pen name "Long Gown Summoning Purple Dragon," Ms. Castorice's imagination was already galloping completely out of control, wildly fabricating a slew of highly explicit, heavily censored scenarios.
Of course, if she actually knew the history between the two of them, she definitely wouldn't be worried about that.
Back then, Fuli had continuously unleashed the Jizo Mitama on Tribios for an entire night!
He had violently dominated her mentally hundreds of times! Hundreds! The sheer brutality of that mental trauma was unspeakably cruel!
As a highly vindictive, black-bellied Princess... why on earth would she ever pass up the perfect opportunity to exact some ruthless "revenge"?
Exactly. Since terrible things were absolutely going to happen anyway, there was no point in worrying about it.
Meanwhile, entirely oblivious to the impending disaster, Fuli turned his head slightly. Feeling the soft, warm sensation of Castorice's thighs against his cheek, an incredibly bizarre, wildly imaginative question suddenly popped into his head.
"Speaking in terms of universal rationality... Between Cassie's completely sterile feet, and Li-bao's bare feet... which one do you think would taste better?"
Hyacine: ???
The moment those words left his mouth, the young doctor became absolutely convinced of her previous diagnosis. Li-bao definitely suffered severe brain damage during the fight with Hoolay. She mentally prepared to massively up his dosage of medication later.
What kind of sane human being asks a question like that?!
Screwllum, having just flown back to the bridge, happened to overhear the question. Based purely on the logical parameters of his robotic civilization's database, the Crown Prince instinctively ran a rigorous analysis and replied in his measured, perfectly modulated voice:
"Based on my calculations: Ms. Castorice's pedal tissue continuously maintains absolute biological cleanliness within a sterile field. Theoretically, its taste profile would closely resemble that of purified water. Conversely, Ms. Yunli's bare feet have experienced prolonged exposure to ambient air, meaning they would carry a higher concentration of minerals and epidermal microorganisms. Therefore, its flavor profile would likely be far more complex."
"HEY!"
Unable to watch this trainwreck continue, Vill-V slammed her fist squarely onto Fuli's head. "Stop corrupting my underage, final disciple!"
"I'M NOT OF AGE EITHER! I haven't even had my 16th birthday yet!" the boy yelled back defensively, clutching the fresh lump on his head.
Castorice, meanwhile, silently lowered her eyelashes, letting out a profound, ghostly sigh in her heart.
Ever since she put on the Energy Conversion Ring, the absolute sterile environment on the surface of her skin was gone.
If, in My Lord's mind, her purely sterile state was the baseline required just to compete with Miss Yunli... then the other girl was clearly superior.
Waaaah, I'm just a roadside butterfly.
---||---
Meanwhile, in a deep, uncharted corner of the Sea of Quanta...
A faint, illusory flame struggled violently against the energy tides, barely managing to stabilize into a blurry silhouette.
"Dammit... Cursed Xianzhou! And those meddlesome fools!"
Spiritual waves, brimming with sheer resentment and absolute unwillingness, rippled through the void.
As pure energy lifeforms, the Heliobi race was innately immune to practically all physical attacks. As they grew older and stronger, their existence became increasingly difficult to permanently eradicate.
Take the "Flint Emperor," the progenitor of the Heliobi. After waging war against the Xianzhou in ancient times, he was currently sealed within the core of the Artisanship Commission's furnace.
While the Xianzhou Alliance chose to seal him rather than execute him primarily because they needed his massive, planetary-scale energy output, the deeper, unspoken truth was that the technology of that era was fundamentally incapable of thoroughly killing him.
And Phantylia, as the rising star among the Heliobi, possessed life-preservation techniques even more bizarre and difficult to deal with than the Flint Emperor.
Especially in the final microsecond before the triple-doomsday strike completely vaporized the Living Planet, she had decisively triggered an escape mechanism she had buried long in advance.
Even though she had suffered catastrophic damage from the combined attack, she had successfully managed to slip away from certain death.
After cursing and venting her fury for a while, Phantylia's illusory flame silhouette slowly stabilized. The violent spiritual waves calmed down, replaced by a freezing, calculating chill.
"You win this time," she declared into the void.
"Oh? To actually hear words of concession from the mouth of a vile villain so accustomed to playing treacherous games... this truly is a rare spectacle."
Fu Xuan appeared completely silently within the quantum void. The third eye on her forehead pulsed with a radiant light capable of piercing all illusions.
She appeared completely unarmed. Yet, Phantylia's flame silhouette violently flickered, dodging a completely invisible, formless attack that would have permanently erased her remaining existence by a hair's breadth.
"To think that the grand Eye of Divination General, the absolute helmsman of the Luofu, actually expended so much effort to develop a specialized killer move just to deal with me."
Phantylia's spiritual waves carried a heavy tone of mockery. "What? Did the little theatrical performance I put on ten years ago really leave such a profound scar on your heart? I must say, I am quite flattered."
Origin Strike: Star Shatter.
By combining her absolute comprehension of the universe's operational laws with the power of the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, Fu Xuan had artificially recreated the "Tai Shi" (Grand Inception) state from the innate Five Supremes.
And the sole reason the young General had painstakingly spent ten years perfecting this ultimate technique... was exactly this.
"Of course," Fu Xuan replied, her gaze sharp as a scalpel, biting out every single syllable. "It is etched into my very bones."
"Hmph."
Relying entirely on an energy lifeform's extreme sensitivity to danger, Phantylia narrowly dodged another completely silent, invisible strike.
"I must admit, this all-encompassing chaotic state is indeed the ultimate nemesis of the Heliobi. Even at my absolute peak, a direct hit would likely eradicate me entirely."
(Even though energy lifeforms didn't technically possess bones to eradicate.)
"But it's a pity, little girl. You focused far too heavily on absolute control and maximum destructive output, completely neglecting its most fundamental aspect: movement speed."
Under normal circumstances, the projectile speed of Star Shatter was entirely irrelevant.
The Tai Shi state was fundamentally impossible to perceive with the five senses. It could only be vaguely detected via a metaphysical sixth sense or the absolute highest-tier perception abilities.
Combined with its near-instant-kill destructive power, enemies usually got obliterated before they even realized they were under attack.
But against an apex powerhouse like Phantylia—who had mastered the flow of energy and danger-intuition to the absolute limit—this microscopic flaw was infinitely magnified. It became her primary capital for evasion and survival.
Yet, despite her enemy's repeated provocations, Fu Xuan's face remained as calm as an undisturbed lake. There wasn't a single trace of frustration or anger.
This highly unnatural calmness caused a sudden, instinctual spike of deep unease within Phantylia.
A moment later, that unease became reality.
In the distance, Bronya's figure quietly faded into view.
She held a simple, ancient-looking longbow. The bowstring twanged, and a specialized arrow shot out.
It carried zero lethal force. Instead, it violently split into 9,999 streaks of light mid-air, weaving into an inescapable celestial net that completely locked down the vast majority of Phantylia's evasion routes.
The Bow of Houyi.
A divine weapon forged by the Zhuming General, Huaiyan. It possessed the conceptual ability to pierce through the void, causing any fired arrow to instantaneously appear directly in front of its locked target.
Setting aside that basic function, the bow could automatically condense two highly powerful types of arrows.
The first was the one Bronya had just fired. Catching Phantylia entirely off guard, it instantly sealed off most of her movement space.
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.
Fu Xuan wasn't an idiot. Since she was fully aware of Star Shatter's slow projectile speed, why on earth would she come without backup?
Bronya was her chosen accomplice.
Recently, the insanely point-grinding Metal Gear Bronya had purchased the Mortician's Art, an ultimate stealth technique that made it impossible for even powerhouses of a higher tier to detect her presence.
On top of that, she had used her Ether Editing Authority to forcibly rewrite her own data, granting herself the concept of "Absolute Concealment."
Knowing that double-layered stealth still wasn't completely foolproof against someone like Phantylia, Fu Xuan had paid Bronya's sniper fee upfront: an Immortal Sealing Pendant.
When worn, the artifact forcibly suppressed the user's aura to a pre-determined level. At maximum output, it could compress the aura of a Sequence Level powerhouse all the way down to a standard D-Rank.
With all three stealth methods layered simultaneously, and Phantylia's attention completely monopolized by the deadly Star Shatter strikes, she unsurprisingly failed to notice the fatal ambush lurking in the dark.
Seeing victory firmly in her grasp, Fu Xuan finally delivered a cold, mocking sneer.
"Manipulating a Living Planet to directly crash into the Luofu... Heh. How deeply ironic. The grand villain who always loved to sow discord and play with human hearts was ultimately forced to resort to such a crude, brainless method."
"Oh? The six major packs of the Borisin fell into a bloody civil war because of me, suffering countless casualties. Does that not count as sowing discord?"
Phantylia's spiritual waves were eerily calm. Even as another chunk of her energy was sheared away, she displayed none of the desperate madness of a dying beast.
"Do not get too arrogant. Even if you win this battle today... in the future, when the Gods return... They will pull me back from eternal silence."
"We will meet again... when that day comes."
The final trace of her flame was ruthlessly and permanently erased by the surging wave of Star Shatter. Only a deeply ominous whisper was left behind, slowly dissipating into the quantum tides.
Fu Xuan's delicate brows, however, knitted tightly together.
If Phantylia's final words had been a barrage of profanity—centering on Fu Xuan's mother, pivoting on her father, expanding to her extended family, and heavily featuring terminology from the animal husbandry and funeral industries—Fu Xuan wouldn't have been annoyed.
In fact, she would have happily savored the pathetic, ugly struggles of a dying foe.
But this reaction? This "no need for words, just kill me quickly" attitude?
And...
Gods?
Fu Xuan wanted to dismiss it as nothing more than the desperate, nonsensical raving of a dying enemy trying to mess with her head. Yet, the profound unease rising in her heart refused to fade.
Was it Shuhu? Or some other, unknown entity?
Even after returning to the Luofu warship and accepting the Prison Realm sealing Yunli from Lingsha, the heavy, unshakable solemnity on Fu Xuan's face remained.
She repeatedly ran divinations on all related clues, but unfortunately, came up entirely empty.
It was as if... the entity backing Phantylia simply didn't exist in this universe right now.