After gathering her aura, Magician opened her eyes, revealing a Herrscher's double pupils. "Taixuan Eminence. Please instruct me."
Her sword fingers descended.
Boom!
A sword blade the size of a planet appeared in the dust-choked sky above Dusk City, plummeting from beyond the heavens.
Flames churned endlessly across the blade, resembling dragons dancing through the air. Every one of those dragons could have effortlessly crushed Tenmon Soji to death.
The sword's battle aura soared into the heavens, shaking heaven and earth with peerless supremacy.
Brilliant radiance shot into the firmament like dozens of volcanoes erupting at once. The void trembled, the river of stars shattered, and even the Great Dao was obliterated.
At that moment, Tenmon Soji, who possessed an invincible aura, was swallowed by raging flames.
At that moment, Tenmon Soji was no different from an ordinary mortal before an immortal, utterly incapable of fighting back.
Mountains trembled, and the floodwaters covering the earth evaporated.
Azure Empyrea looked down upon the scene without the slightest ripple of emotion, as though this were not some ultimate technique, but merely a casual strike.
"Since it's an illusion, making it a little ridiculous shouldn't matter, right?" Magician muttered in explanation.
Conductor: Yes. After being driven senseless by her own trap, Id also finds this ridiculous.
The spectators outside the stage witnessed the scene as well.
"Tenmon... Boss Tenmon was defeated!"
"My god, what is that? What am I seeing? A sword blade as large as a mountain?! Physics no longer exists!"
"Impossible! Boss Tenmon is invincible! How could he lose, and so miserably in a single move?! I don't believe it!"
The reason they could also see the illusion was not because Vill-V had altered everyone's consciousness.
The simulated Fenghuang Down still had to store Id's memories. Even after borrowing Id's mental pathways, it could only exert one percent of its power.
Altering one person's mind was possible, but altering an entire crowd was beyond its capabilities.
Thus, the illusion everyone saw was actually a visual concealment effect created through holographic projection drones and mirage projectors, combined with the theatrical dry ice released by Vill-V.
Every stage light, every trace of atmosphere, and every shift in the audience's attention had been controlled with perfect precision. Magician brought the performance to flawless completion, making it seem indistinguishable from reality.
"Since they were all seated in the audience stands, pulling off these little tricks was rather easy."
Magician displayed a rare moment of modesty.
Those holographic projection drones had not been built by Vill-V either. She had simply made use of locally available materials and dug them out of the police supply depot occupied by the Treasure-Stealing Gang.
The former Barcelona police department had once accepted benefits from Heliopolis Life Sciences and was required to help them manage the city. That was why it had obtained so many public-security holographic projection drones from Heliopolis Life Sciences.
They had been used to broadcast propaganda and advertisements.
Unfortunately, those drones possessed no offensive capabilities and could not protect the police from the Treasure-Stealing Gang's firepower, so they had been left to gather dust.
If Vill-V had truly needed to open a factory and manufacture this many advanced holographic projection drones with binary reversal reconstruction architecture, the enormous bill would definitely have caused her considerable pain.
On the distant high ground, the Taixu Gang had already begun popping champagne.
"Immortal Azure Empyrea's power knows no bounds!"
"Hahaha! I bet on the right person! My bicycle is becoming a motorcycle!"
"Azure Empyrea, I love you!"
After this battle, Azure Empyrea's identity would inevitably be accepted as fact. No one present would ever again suspect that Azure Empyrea was merely an ordinary high school girl.
What? You called this fraud?
To believers, was whatever they believed not the truth?
And since it was the truth, Azure Empyrea had not lied.
In stark contrast to the Taixu Gang were the devastated cybernetic bikers of the Ghostfire Syndicate.
When they saw President Tenmon lying on the ground, his entire body charred black, those who had been trading insults with the Taixu Gang immediately fell silent.
Then came a wave of directionless unrest.
"Hey, let's get out of here. It's over."
"Go where? The other gangs will settle accounts with us! And where could we even run? Didn't you see that sword blade larger than Dusk City? We can't escape!"
"I won't hide it anymore. I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm actually a double agent holding senior positions in both the Taixu Gang and the Ghostfire Syndicate."
"I bet on Azure Empyrea! I have proof of my loyalty! I'm joining the Taixu Gang right now!"
Chaos erupted among the Ghostfire Syndicate's cybernetic bikers. Some fell into despair, while others simply decided to abandon all restraint.
"Hahaha! Boss Tenmon, I'll avenge you!"
"This is gang warfare! The strong devour the weak! Don't surrender! Surrendering will only get you killed!"
By now, some of the cybernetic machinery used by the bikers had resumed functioning through its self-repair systems.
A starving camel was still larger than a horse. Even though the bikers had lost one-third of their combat strength, the Taixu Gang would still struggle to withstand their final frenzy.
After all, the Ghostfire Syndicate controlled the finest resources in Dusk City's Engraving District and outer districts. It was incomparable to the destitute Taixu Gang, whose entire foundation had been built by scavenging through trash cans!
At this rate, even if the Taixu Gang won, it would still pay a heavy price.
Just as the Ghostfire Syndicate bikers descended from the high ground, sharpening their blades as they charged toward the Taixu Gang, a girl carrying a flag blocked their path.
The silver-haired girl in a rabbit-eared hood raised her palm, signaling the murderous bikers to stop. "Stop. You must not fight anymore."
She was Bronya. She had come to fight alone against the entire Ghostfire Syndicate.
"Who the hell are you? Do you think you're Azure Empyrea too?!"
A cybernetic biker cursed as he approached her. Red and blue patterns lit up across his modified prosthetic limb, and he raised his hand to blast the girl blocking his path.
Dong-zzt-kraack!
A cannon blast with an intensely cyberpunk sound rang out.
Pink blood mixed with pale brain matter and exploded through the air.
The cybernetic biker's entire head was blown apart by the bullet.
The attacker was the Special Assault Squad captain carrying a katana.
Smoke rose from the katana's sheath, making it obvious that the bullet had just been fired from it.
Ignoring the astonished gazes of his teammates, the katana-wielding captain walked up to the girl and looked down at her.
"That symbol! You... No, could you possibly be... Big Sis?!"
Upon hearing their captain, the Special Assault Squad members all turned toward the flag in the girl's hand.
It was a flag bearing a chibi raven emblem.
It was the same flag Bronya had previously used as a seat cushion atop the storyteller's platform.
Bronya was a clean child, so she would never sit directly on a filthy platform.
She had swiped the flag from the mercenary lady to use as both a cushion and an emergency glider.
"During the Far East Thunder Disaster, didn't the people who rescued us use this same emblem?"
"That's right. It's the raven emblem."
"I understand now! Big Sis Raven sent someone to find us!"
By using her mercenary identity to access the dark web, Bronya had naturally uncovered the identities and origins of the katana-wielding captain and his team.
They were not native residents of Dusk City, but refugees who had fled from the Far East.
The mercenary commander from Mad Hatter who had rescued them during the Third Honkai Eruption in the Far East had been none other than Miss Natasha, whose codename was Raven.