Hua moved first.
Her figure vanished from where she stood—then in the next breath, she was behind Wei Qing, the golden blade sliding forward without a sound, aiming straight for the point between his ribs.
At the same time, Polka Kakamond's raised fingertip pressed down gently.
The "silence" saturating the battlefield suddenly gained weight—as if an invisible mountain of countless billions of tons slammed onto Wei Qing's shoulders and spine.
Wei Qing snorted.
He didn't brute-force his way out of the silence. Instead, he compressed everything—every ounce of power, every thread of intent—into the tiny space around his body.
Boom.
A muted explosion detonated from his core.
The sound was small—but what followed was like glass shattering.
For the first time, the perfectly still face of the Silent Lord rippled with the faintest disturbance. Her silence-field tore open, just for an instant, a hairline crack ripped into rule-level stillness by sheer savagery.
It lasted only a moment.
But at their tier, a moment was more than enough.
Wei Qing twisted his torso at an angle that defied intuition.
Hua's thrust missed the heart by a breath.
The sword's edge skimmed his side, ripping cloth, carving a thin line of golden blood across his skin.
"Fast reaction," Hua said, voice level.
Her follow-up came like a storm. Wrist turning, she multiplied her blade into a rain of golden afterimages, sealing Wei Qing's retreat in every direction.
Polka didn't hesitate.
Her hands rose, palms slightly apart. The crack in her silence snapped shut and hardened—no longer attempting to sever Wei Qing from his Paths completely. She shifted tactics.
Instead of total isolation…
she applied compression.
A suffocating, rule-heavy pressure that pinned the world to him.
Wei Qing's eyes narrowed.
This was the most dangerous position he'd been in for a long time.
He'd fought two Emanators at once before—and won decisively, even when he wasn't as strong as he was now.
Yes. You. Phantylia. And you. Starcrusher.
They weren't weak—both were easily top-tier among Emanators, bordering that "version 0" line.
But Hua and Polka weren't in the same bracket.
Now Wei Qing understood the difference between "Emanator" and "Emanator."
Same title.
Different density.
Different class.
He inhaled once—and then made a decision that no one expected.
He dropped defense.
Dropped evasion.
He let the sword shadows fall.
Pshhk—!
The golden blade pierced him clean through.
A spray of burning golden blood erupted, packed with Destruction's harsh, metallic heat.
Hua's gaze flickered—one breath of surprise.
Because this wasn't a mistake.
Wei Qing's lips curved.
He'd been waiting for exactly this.
The instant the blade passed through—an instant where angles, pressure, and "silence" momentarily shifted—Wei Qing triggered everything he'd been compressing.
All of his Destruction, plus the Stellaron's violent resonance, released at once—
not like an attack…
but like a self-inflicted detonation.
BOOOOM—!!!
Space collapsed.
A black singularity bloomed in the center of the battlefield—an abyss that swallowed light, sound, even the meaning of "near" and "far."
"…What?" Polka spoke aloud—an actual voice, an actual note of surprise.
Hua, closest to the core, took the full pull.
Silver brilliance flared around her body as she fought the drag—yet the gravity was monstrous, far beyond ordinary force. Her boots skidded, then lifted, her body drawn toward the black center.
Wei Qing's outline flickered inside the singularity.
His body was breaking apart and re-forming, over and over. Abundance churned at a terrifying rate, barely maintaining his existence.
Self-injury for timing?
For a Fertility/Aeon-candidate, it wasn't a loss trade.
"It's now," Wei Qing murmured.
His eyes locked on Polka.
Hua was occupied. Polka—despite her rules—didn't seem immune to his stop-time.
THE WORLD.
Time snapped into stillness inside warped space.
Hua hung suspended in the singularity's pull. Polka's candy-colored dress froze mid-drift. Dust and broken stone hovered like a paused storm.
Wei Qing drew the Hunt's bow—two arrows, condensed with "must-hit" causality…
and something darker layered beneath it:
Finality's interference—a cut that aimed not at flesh, but at outcome.
He released both.
In the frozen world, the arrows moved with silent certainty—like results already decided.
Time restarted.
Polka moved.
She avoided the first arrow—impossibly, like reality itself quietly rewrote the smallest angle.
But the second hit.
It punched through her chest, tearing cloth, drawing a line of crystalline blood that glittered unnaturally in the gloom.
Polka looked down at the wound.
No pain on her face.
No anger.
No fear.
Just observation.
Her finger brushed the edge of the injury—and the spreading darkness of damage was erased like chalk wiped from a board.
"Finality's interference…" Polka's voice entered Wei Qing's mind again, calm enough to chill bone. "So it truly manifests in you."
"…Impressive."
Wei Qing's expression tightened a fraction.
He'd expected more.
Those two arrows weren't only Hunt-causality—they carried Finality's "sealed outcome."
And still—
her "omniscience domain" shaved probability, reduced certainty, forced only one true hit.
Version 0 wasn't just numbers.
Mechanics mattered.
Hua tore herself free of the singularity's pull and landed cleanly, sword up, breath steady.
The battlefield fell into a taut, killing stalemate.
Three figures formed a triangle over the ruin.
Wei Qing knew he couldn't guarantee a clean kill on both of them.
But he also didn't need to.
His objective was never "win."
It was "leave."
Thirty years east, thirty years west—genius boys always had a rise-dream somewhere in their spine.
Once he returned, he'd cash a main quest, maybe a side quest too, and grind higher.
Hua could wait.
But Polka?
That naturally evil "Elbow-Eye."
One day he'd walk into the IX Mechanism and settle accounts properly.
"Impressive is you, Lady Polka," Wei Qing answered, tone even. "Taking my arrow and staying this composed—Club Genius Fourth Seat lives up to the name."
Her wound had already healed.
Not Abundance.
More like she refused the injury's existence.
Wei Qing's aura sharpened again.
Hua's expression hardened too.
She and Polka together had expected to suppress, perhaps even capture him.
Instead, they'd discovered a problem that wouldn't die politely.
And then—
"Meow~"
A soft, childish cat-cry cut through the tension.
Too gentle.
Too wrong.
All three turned.
On a snapped beam of wreckage sat a small black cat—fur glossy, eyes amber, tail tip swaying lazily like this was a theater performance.
It hadn't appeared.
It had simply… been there, unnoticed.
The cat hopped down, walked with elegant indifference through the killing intent, and jumped straight onto Wei Qing's shoulder—settling like a king.
"Meow~"
Its amber eyes swept Polka and Hua, carrying an arrogant appraisal—as if judging toys.
Wei Qing grimaced and grabbed it by the scruff.
"I told you, I don't like tomcats," he said, and tossed it down.
The cat flipped midair, landed neatly, and flicked its tail in offense—then prowled at his feet, purring like it owned him.
Polka stared at the cat.
"It's you," she said, voice flat.
"Elio."
For the first time, a faint ripple crossed her emptiness. This, at least, hadn't been in her predicted frame.
"Hello, Silent Lord. Hello, Marshal," the black cat said, cheerfully casual. "Lively place."
"Good timing too. The main act's still on. If I arrived late, my top hitter would've gotten bullied by numbers."
Polka's tone cooled further. "Since you're here, Elio… then I must speak with the Stellaron Hunters properly."
She snapped her fingers.
Her silence-field disappeared.
The battlefield vanished.
In an instant, three people and one cat stood on a barren, dead planet beneath a starless sky—no Luofu formations, no soldiers, only wind and dust.
"Talk?" Elio's whiskers twitched. "Polka, what do you want to talk about?"
"How to split my actor?"
"Or your worry about variables that exist outside the script?"
"Don't play dumb," Polka replied icily. "The Stellaron Hunters—normally I have no interest in fighting you."
"But the last hundred years of your movements…"
"…have been excessive."
"Excessive?" Elio licked a paw elegantly. "We're fulfilling our role. Like you obsessively hunt geniuses. Like the Xianzhou obsessively hunts Abundance."
"The universe needs a script pushed forward."
"And we happen to be one of the pens."
"A pen?" Polka's eyes fixed on Wei Qing again. "The fate-lines you interfere with have already crossed the allowed boundary."
"Especially him."
"Qingzhou is a variable by existence."
"And you Hunters—rather than erasing the variable—have been feeding his growth."
"That threatens the balance of the universe."
"Balance?" Elio snorted. "Since when do you care about balance? Aren't you only interested in hunting geniuses?"
"When a genius may overturn everything," Polka answered evenly, "hunting becomes necessity."
"Your actions are the same in essence."
"Strictly speaking, our objectives should align."
"We both aim to prevent the 'Four Ends.'"
"I handle Nihility."
"You Stellaron Hunters handle Destruction."
Polka's gaze sharpened, like a verdict.
"But now your organization…"
"…contains a Destruction Emanator."
Elio's tail waved. "Same goal. Convenient staff structure."
"Polka, you're too rigid. Sometimes the variable is part of the solution."
"Solution?" Polka's voice held contempt. "Letting an Emanator of Destruction—an entity that may become the next Aeon of Abundance—carry Stellarons freely…"
"That's your solution?"
"Nous' calculated future has already been disrupted by you."
"Elio."
"As an agent of Finality, don't you think your script is too risky?"
The black cat's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Risky," Elio said softly, "is still better than your IX Mechanism's conservative cowardice."
"Because fate isn't controlled by watching and killing alone."
It padded to Wei Qing's boot and rubbed against him, yet its eyes stayed on Polka and Hua.
"And I gave you a chance."
"You two teamed up today and still didn't take him."
"That validates my judgment."
"He is special."
"He is a qualified variable."
"And your approval isn't required."
Polka fell silent.
She didn't accept the argument.
But she couldn't deny the fact: Wei Qing had already reached a level where he could wrestle with her directly.
And her "ally"—
wasn't reliable in the way she preferred.
Hua finally spoke, cutting through the standoff.
"Elio. Wei Qing."
"I also want to speak with you."
The barren planet's wind rose.
The negotiation hadn't started yet—
but the terms already smelled like war.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
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