Elio observed the scene. Through its pair of special eyes, it quickly made a startling discovery.
The origin of this world war in the Yongmei Star System lay in the moment it had agreed to hand over the Blood of Abundance sealed within Blade's body to Herta. During that brief interval of transfer procedures, Shuhu had seized the opportunity.
Shuhu's will revived as a result, joining forces with Lord Ravager Celenova to ignite this multi-faction war.
This caused Elio to sigh inwardly:
Herta truly was a person of uncertain destiny. Her choices would bring new changes to the cosmos.
Of course, the reason Elio felt this way was because, in its sight, Shuhu's will had never completed its revival at this moment before.
At that very moment, Silver Wolf stared at the battlefield, watching the Antimatter Legion wage war in destructive harmony against the Honkai Beast legions under Herta's command. She raised her hand and tightly grasped the Soul Gem necklace around her neck, communicating with the consciousness of αWolf within it.
"Why do I feel like Herta has grown much stronger again? Am I imagining things?"
"You're not imagining it. Herta's player level has already surpassed level 420," αWolf replied seriously. "According to my observations, Herta has now become an Emanator of Erudition. Her current player level is at least above 500."
"What?"
Silver Wolf froze, her mouth falling open in shock. "How long has it even been since Herta left Punklorde? Not even two system days, right? And she leveled up this fast? She's progressing even faster than me, a cheat player who carries an old granny around!"
"What old granny? I think you want to eat a Kaboom Eggsplosion," αWolf said in an extremely displeased tone.
"Ahem..." Silver Wolf coughed lightly. "Back to the point. How did she manage it?"
"How would I know?" αWolf observed Herta in the distance, her pointed hat raised high along with her magic wand. After a moment of thought, he continued, "In the world I once existed in, the timing of Herta becoming an Emanator wasn't now... and more importantly, in that world, Herta only formally became an Emanator after receiving the blessing of Erudition."
"But the Herta before us is different. I can clearly sense that she relied entirely on her own ability to ascend—self-coronation, crowning herself!"
"By her own power, she ascended as an Emanator of Erudition."
!!
Silver Wolf was deeply shaken. Once again, she was astonished by Herta's talent, and she could not help but sigh inwardly:
From the very first day she met Herta, the latter had been immensely confident—so confident it bordered on arrogance.
And now, by relying on herself to ascend to the status of an Emanator of Erudition, she had completely proven that she truly possessed world-altering wisdom and unparalleled talent.
At that moment, Elio spoke, explaining the cause of the Yongmei Star System war.
Blade's expression darkened immediately. "So everything happened because I made the wrong choice. I never should have handed over the Blood of Abundance."
Elio shook its feline head. "No... it isn't your fault. And the Yongmei Star System only appears to be severely damaged. According to my observations... this star system is alive. Or rather, it was enlightened by Ruan Mei long ago."
"As long as Ruan Mei is willing to expend some additional resources, this star system will continue to endure—like plum blossoms in winter, resilient and unyielding."
"Elio, what should we do next? Is it written in the script?" Kafka asked as she drew the long sword from its sheath.
"Obviously, we help Herta defeat the big boss of Destruction. Time for me to use the power of the Invincible Player cartridge." As she spoke, Silver Wolf pulled out the cartridge, ready to swipe it.
Elio shook its head. "In any major event involving Herta, all trajectories become chaotic. So this time, Silver Wolf, you may use the cartridge's future power—but act within your limits."
"Alright, alright. The script doesn't get to decide this one. It's time for Silver Wolf · αWolf, the Invincible Player." Silver Wolf gripped her Soul Gem and the cartridge, her voice filled with excitement. "Partner—it's our turn to take the stage."
"Hmph. Can't you be a bit steadier?"
Though αWolf spoke that way, she still cooperated. At that moment, the Soul Gem began to glow.
Without hesitation, Silver Wolf used the Invincible Player cartridge, swiping it across the Soul Gem and completing her magical girl transformation.
"The strongest future Emanator of Elation and the legendary ultimate player of the past—united as one. Magical grand transformation!"
Magical Girl · Silver Wolf LV.999 made her entrance.
At that instant, Silver Wolf felt an endless surge of power pouring out from the player cartridge. More importantly, αWolf harmonized the energy within it, allowing her to maintain the Invincible Player magical girl form for a limited time.
The time limit was three minutes.
But in Silver Wolf's eyes, three minutes was more than enough—to clear this war game called the Yongmei Star System with a perfect ending.
"Herta, I'm here to back you up!"
In her Invincible Player form, Silver Wolf let out a long howl and immediately joined the battlefield, hurling Kaboom Eggsplosion at the monsters of the Antimatter Legion.
In an instant, countless Antimatter Legion creatures perished amid explosions that echoed like a thousand supernova thunderclaps. The destructive harmony they emitted faltered, and the buffs granted to the Doomsday Beasts began to weaken.
"I'm not done yet."
Silver Wolf 999 continued her assault. She threw out a Funky Munch Bean. A massive, round bean—huge as a planet—materialized, opened its mouth, and began frantically devouring Antimatter Legion monsters.
At the same time, her other hand moved, hurling a Big Flipping Sword. A blade formed from the Path of Elation tore through the Yongmei Star System, ripping apart several light-years of space and sending Antimatter Legion monsters plunging into the void.
Celenova sensed all of this and narrowed her eyes slightly.
The power of Elation... a Masked Fool?
No... that's not it. A messenger of Terminus.
—Stellaron Hunter.
And just as Celenova was making her guess, Herta reacted swiftly, raising her head to Silver Wolf and saying, "Well done."
Then Herta lifted her magic wand high and unleashed Honkai Final Magic.
Honkai Final Magic was the ultimate technique Herta had derived by analyzing the offensive methods hidden within countless Honkai Beast genes.
And now that Herta had become an Emanator of Erudition, the power of this move had risen dramatically.
Honkai Final Magic—the very fabric of the cosmos trembled. The Yongmei Star System was torn apart even further. In the end, most of the Antimatter Legion's monsters were wiped out, leaving only a handful of Doomsday Beasts behind.
The situation had completely reversed.
As for Lord Ravager Celenova herself, she did not particularly care.
After all, the Antimatter Legion's soldiers were endless. Their numbers in the cosmos alone were measured in the countless sextillions.
Even if their numbers truly diminished, as long as some matter was thrown into the Warforge, more Antimatter Legion soldiers could be manufactured.
What truly concerned Celenova was that the Stellaron Hunters had mobilized Emanator-level combat power because of Herta. That was deeply abnormal.
How long had it been since Herta became a genius?
In barely a month, she had developed such an extensive network of connections—she even had acquaintances within the Stellaron Hunters.
After pondering for quite some time, Celenova swiftly took control of a Doomsday Beast and spoke to Silver Wolf through it. "A stranger's face. Yet the intense aura of Finality and Elation around you cannot be faked. You are a Stellaron Hunter... but why would the Stellaron Hunters aid Herta? You should not be part of a genius' network."
Upon hearing this, Silver Wolf raised the Soul Gem toward the Doomsday Beast that carried Celenova's will.
"Herta created a Soul Gem that allowed me to preserve the soul of an important playmate. That's my reason for acting. Is that enough?"
Celenova paused slightly at those words.
A Soul Gem... such an object could protect a person's soul?
Indeed. In the hands of her colleague Phantylia, Celenova recalled how Soul Gems were used to harvest souls and even emotional energy.
But in the hands of someone like Silver Wolf, a Soul Gem became an item that allowed an important person to continue existing in soul form.
After reaching that conclusion, Celenova spoke again. "Even if you intervene, you cannot alter the outcome of the Yongmei battlefield. The Antimatter Legion under my command is endless. As long as I continue singing, the Antimatter Legion from across the cosmos will arrive."
Silver Wolf 999 let out a cold snort. "What if I find your true body? What if I kill you before you can summon more Antimatter Legion monsters?"
"You! Can't!"
Celenova's voice turned icy.
"Hmph. How would we know if we don't try?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Silver Wolf rapidly activated the power of the Invincible Player cartridge. Advanced Aether Editing initiated. The pinnacle hacking ability of an Emanator of Elation erupted forth, invading the interastral network's heavenly grid in search of Celenova's network IP address.
Her fingers moved at blinding speed—yet she still could not locate Celenova's true body's position.
What was going on?
Why couldn't she find Celenova's true location? That shouldn't be possible... The Invincible Player cartridge clearly told her that a hacker at the peak of Elation could monitor the entire cosmos.
αWolf's voice responded swiftly within Silver Wolf's heart.
"In my timeline, I could indeed accomplish that. But that was only after I obtained Polka Kakamond's Knowable Domain, became the new master of Device IX, and took control of the Interastral Peace Corporation. Only then could I monitor the cosmos."
"Right now, you've merely obtained the Invincible Player cartridge. You haven't obtained the Knowable Domain, so it's normal that you can't find Celenova's true body."
"..."
Silver Wolf fell silent.
Through the halo above her head, Celenova swiftly sensed Silver Wolf's emotions and spoke in a voice laced with laughter. "You're embarrassed. Which means you can't find my true body. In that case, the ending of the Yongmei Star System is already decided. Everything is destined to be destroyed beneath the Antimatter Legion's symphony of Destruction."
"..."
Silver Wolf remained silent.
But at that very moment, Herta gazed at the Doomsday Beast representing Celenova's will and spoke slowly.
"Isn't it a little early for you to declare everything doomed to destruction?"
The Doomsday Beast replied coldly, "Verbal sparring is meaningless."
"I think Miss Herta is absolutely right. The fate of the Yongmei Star System should not be destruction."
Mikhail opened the hatch of his ship, releasing the aura of a veteran Nameless.
A Nameless?!
So even the Nameless had become part of Herta's network...
As this thought passed through Celenova's mind, she recalled a crucial detail.
The Nameless—especially veteran Nameless—were exceptionally skilled at using the power of Trailblaze to locate people. For instance, the Compass of Trailblaze and the Pointer of Trailblaze.
If this aged Nameless were to use his power to locate her true body, and Silver Wolf were to cooperate with Herta and rush over...
As Celenova's true body considered this possibility, her brows furrowed.
At the same time, Phantylia—who had previously fused with the God Tree and believed she had surpassed the Xianzhou general and even so-called geniuses—was now being driven into a corner by the Pyrolysis Death Beam and Swarm King Cannon of the Starcrusher Swarm King created by Ruan Mei, along with the massive cleaving strikes of the Spiritus.
She was forced to flee in panic, repeatedly using the power of an Emanator to jump across the Yongmei Star System.
The problem was that the starry space of the Yongmei Star System had been shattered beyond recognition. Even the Emanator's space-jumping ability, which normally allowed travel across intergalactic distances, was now crippled, reducing each leap to a desperate struggle through the fractured void.
In the end, Phantylia called for help across the void.
"Celenova, come assist me! I can't hold them off much longer. The genius controlling the Swarm King and the Arbiter-General fighting together—it's terrifying!"
"..."
Celenova fell silent.
She had not expected Phantylia to be this inadequate.
When they had departed from the Destruction domain, Phantylia had been brimming with confidence and determination.
And now she was shouting for rescue.
Jing Yuan, commanding the colossal golden Spiritus, let out a thunderous shout across the stars.
"Phantylia, today is your end—the day a Lord Ravager returns to Destruction and Nihility!"
Ruan Mei gazed at Phantylia, her eyes filled with intense desire.
"Die—and become my specimen. I've never researched an Emanator-level heliobus before."
As Jing Yuan's and Ruan Mei's voices fell, an even more terrifying coordinated assault of the Swarm King and the Spiritus surged toward Phantylia. Her eyelids twitched violently as she hurriedly attempted another spatial jump, panic flooding her thoughts.
Not good! Not good! Not good!
Make your move, Celenova!
If you don't act now, I'm really going to die!!
Her anxiety mounted.
At that moment, she noticed Herta—who was commanding the Honkai Beast swarm—turning her magic wand toward her.
Herta had freed a hand. Was she about to strike?
Phantylia's heart jolted. She prepared to accelerate her spatial jump—
But in that instant, she sensed something horrifying.
The surrounding space had frozen. She could no longer execute another jump.
What kind of black technology had Herta used this time?!
Terror surged within Phantylia.
Meanwhile, Herta thought calmly to herself.
Now that I have ascended as an Emanator, my control over space-time genes has grown increasingly adept. I can even interfere with the spatial jump phenomena of other Emanators.
Even if I can only freeze it for a single instant—that is enough.
Phantylia, die.
With that thought, Herta watched as the Spiritus' blade and the Starcrusher Swarm King's cannon struck Phantylia's true body simultaneously.
A colossal explosion erupted.
That should have killed her. Even if she survived, she should at least be severely wounded and no longer able to fight.
Thinking this, Herta looked toward the center of the explosion...
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