Lygus still hesitated, pondering whether to abandon Amphoreus. As a one-ninth clone of the great and unique Zandar, he had invested millennia in this world. This move was his "chariot"—one step away from checkmate. He could not bear to give it up. Yet before him stood Herta, magic key in hand, and Ruan Mei, eyes closed, unconcerned, calm as a still breeze.
The former possessed both martial prowess and connections. The latter could lock onto his other eight dormant clones through her own aura, leading Herta and other geniuses to erase "them." One move would doom the entire board.
Herta yawned unhurriedly. With Ruan Mei, an absolute genius in the life sciences, finding Zandar's other clones would be trivial. Beyond reviving Irontomb in Amphoreus, their other plans were likely even more terrifying than this.
Damn it. Interrupting my house viewing with Ruan Mei—creator of Machine Head or senior of the Genius Society, all of you can go meet Tayzzyronth!
Without hesitation, Herta raised her magic key and gathered an absolute, icy mirror light, launching it at Lygus.
BAM.
Lygus calculated the landing point within microseconds and barely dodged—but he hadn't anticipated the cold plum blossom blooming to wound him.
He gritted his teeth, glaring at the two. Alone, neither would be insurmountable. But their coordination was absurd. Even if his original self came, he would struggle against them.
"Herta, Ruan Mei, geniuses don't just fight and kill. It's about relationships and give-and-take. How about this? I will answer some of your questions in exchange for your departure."
Herta yawned lazily and turned to Ruan Mei. "Do you have anything to ask?"
Ruan Mei shook her head.
Herta joked, "Free answers? He's a clone of Zandar, after all. We can just ask, then say his answers didn't meet expectations and keep beating him up."
Hearing this, Lygus's already ashen face—behind his mask—turned even paler, filled with indignation and a trace of helplessness.
"Both of you, the Genius Society has martial virtue. Show me some face—show Zandar some face."
Herta and Ruan Mei both rolled their eyes at him, looking at him with the same disdain they had for Sparkle.
"Face? What face? Oh, right—hit the face, isn't that it?"
Herta summoned a magic hammer from Herta City and swung it directly at Lygus's head and face.
Lygus froze. It felt as if an unprecedented humiliation had struck even his soul—a contempt for his long-lost personality. Veins bulged on his forehead. His anger reached its limit.
"You two... are going too far! Perish—by Destruction!"
He leaped high, terrifying power gathering around him.
"Ruan Mei, have you located his clones?"
Ruan Mei nodded and directly sent him the coordinates of one at the edge of the universe.
A comet-like beam shot from Herta's magic key toward that coordinate. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of collapsed Imaginary command towers on the blue planet converged collapsed star-destroying power onto the same point.
"Seven left."
Lygus felt the fall of Zangus. Another one-ninth clone—his move—had been erased in an instant. The chess piece was gone. The player, ruined.