As for Phantylia—this great heliobus, the strongest heliobus after the Flint Emperor, and a Lord Ravager—her historical record consisted of driving countless civilizations to self-destruction.
It could be said that whether it was the Bewitching Swarm King, a direct offspring of the Aeon of Propagation, or Phantylia, both were existences on the level of natural disasters.
If these two truly clashed with the genius Herta—or even with the Xianzhou Alliance's General Yao Guang—no one could say who would win. But one thing was certain: the Cloud Knights and even the corporation's fleets would suffer catastrophic losses. The Blue star system itself might even be sunk, becoming like the Yongmei Star System...
Gulp.
The Cloud Knights tightened their grips on their swords and spears, continuously swallowing as their faces filled with tension.
Inside the corporation's warships, employees had already placed their fingers on the weapon activation buttons. Yet their foreheads were drenched in cold sweat, and beads of perspiration rolled down their faces.
Everyone was worried that this might become yet another universe-scale war...
Within the Xianzhou Alliance star skiff, Yao Guang and Fu Xuan had each already begun their own methods of deduction and calculation.
Fortune Hexagram!
Heaven-observing Dharma Eye!
As an alchemical general, aided by the might of the Reignbow Arbiter's Eye—Kālacakra Skyplume—and further enhanced by Solitary Waves Theory, she calculated that the outcome of this confrontation would ultimately depend on Herta's response.
If war were chosen, the Swarm Kings active across the cosmos would bring the remaining swarm to reinforce them. A small-scale Swarm Disaster would erupt.
More critically, within Yao Guang's calculations:
If the majority of the swarm—and even the Swarm Kings—were to die in this war, the Path of Propagation would be shaken. The loneliness born from that loss would cause the silent consciousness of the Aeon of Propagation—the Swarm Author, Tayzzyronth—to return.
And once the Aeon of Propagation returned and discovered that all of its offspring had perished, the loneliness it felt would drive it to unleash Aeon-level power, transforming all things into insects. The Swarm Disaster would erupt once more across the cosmos, and the war of Aeons would descend again!
The current universe had once again reached a critical juncture... whether Tayzzyronth would awaken, and whether the war of Aeons would begin.
After calculating all this, when Yao Guang raised her head again, she saw a flicker of intense wariness in the Bewitching Swarm King's compound eyes.
After all, initiating battle with the Swarm King before them would trigger a chain reaction... the revival of Propagation, and the war of Aeons.
More importantly, the Xianzhou Alliance was not prepared to accompany the Reignbow Arbiter into such a war.
Next... she had to persuade Herta not to ignite this battle.
Thinking this, Yao Guang turned her head to look at The Herta—only to find that in the face of these two, her expression remained extremely calm, as though she had long known that both the Lord Ravager Phantylia and the Bewitching Swarm King were here.
In the next moment, The Herta fixed her gaze on the Bewitching Swarm King and spoke:
"You say you wish to take your offspring away. But the reality is that you have already ravaged this beautiful land into ruin. You and your offspring must pay the price."
"And earlier, my puppet already conveyed my will to you—do not cause trouble on my territory. Yet you still could not restrain yourself."
"The instinct of Propagation is something I cannot defy," the Bewitching Swarm King replied, then looked seriously at Herta. "So you do not intend to let me leave?"
The moment those words fell, the swarm gathered behind the Swarm King began to screech. Their sharp cries distorted the surrounding space.
Hearing the exchange between Herta and the Swarm King, Yao Guang's heart sank. She believed that war was truly about to begin... that the fate of this region of the cosmos was about to move toward the revival of the Aeon of Propagation and the outbreak of a war of Aeons.
Herta's voice was icy:
"I said it already. You must leave something behind. You must pay the price."
The atmosphere instantly became extremely tense—war could break out at any moment.
At that very moment, a piercing insect screech came from the distance. The sky was torn apart, and an enormous insect appeared on the scene.
More importantly, the aura of the Path of Propagation emanating from that insect was extraordinarily powerful—it was at the level of an Emanator.
The Cloud Knights and the corporation's personnel began sweating even more at the sight.
The enemy had gone from one Lord Ravager and one Swarm King... to two Swarm Kings.
Three Emanator-level enemies!!
Seeing this, Yao Guang's heart trembled.
As expected—if the confrontation continued, more and more swarm would arrive in The Blue star system. And when these swarm died in the coming war, the Aeon of Propagation—the Calamity Progenitor, Tayzzyronth—would return!!
At that moment, Yao Guang noticed that The Herta, upon seeing the massive insect figure, did not reveal a grave expression—instead, she was smiling.
Why was The Herta smiling... that insect was clearly an enemy!
Wait...
Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Yao Guang's mind.
That's right!
Miss Ruan Mei, the 81st Seat of the Genius Society, had already relocated her laboratory from the Yongmei Star System to The Blue star system due to the war there. More importantly, she specialized in biological research—particularly in the study of Propagation!
During that war, she had even used miraculous methods to revive the offspring of Propagation—the Starcrusher Swarm King, Skarakabaz.
Although the Starcrusher Swarm King had only existed for a short time, it was enough to demonstrate just how terrifying her depth of research in biology—and even in the Path of Propagation—was.
Could it be that the insect in the sky...
As Yao Guang thought this, she narrowed her eyes and carefully examined the distant insect. Soon, she realized that it did not match any known Swarm King currently active in the cosmos.
It was the offspring of Propagation—the Starcrusher Swarm King, Skarakabaz!
After confirming this, Yao Guang finally understood why Herta was smiling.
After all, the revival of the Starcrusher Swarm King meant that the 81st Seat genius, Ruan Mei, had arrived. Their side had gained another Emanator-level ally.
At this moment, the Bewitching Swarm King's expression was extremely complicated.
Although it had sensed the aura of the Starcrusher Swarm King's revival many times before... this time, the aura of resurrection it felt was the most complete—as though the brother it had once lost had truly returned to life.
The Bewitching Swarm King sent out a questioning signal toward the distant insect:
"Are you my brother—the offspring of Propagation, the Starcrusher Swarm King, Skarakabaz?"
...
The massive Swarm King did not respond. It simply advanced through the void, drawing closer to the battlefield... closer to the Bewitching Swarm King.
From this, the Bewitching Swarm King realized that the Starcrusher Swarm King had not truly been revived. The being before it was a creation of that genius.
Opening its compound eyes, the Bewitching Swarm King quickly saw that above the Starcrusher Swarm King's head floated a cloud. Upon that cloud stood a woman with a cold aura, wearing a qipao and holding a pipa.
And as the woman plucked the strings of the pipa, the Swarm King moved accordingly.
All of this made the Bewitching Swarm King realize even more deeply just how terrifying a genius could be.
Herta had developed technology capable of enhancing the intelligence of others, becoming the goddess of wisdom. She had even created a Warp capable of housing the souls of living beings after death, using this method to resist Nihility.
As for Ruan Mei, she had revived the Starcrusher Swarm King—and could control it perfectly. More importantly, the aura of the revived Starcrusher Swarm King was nearly identical to the true peak-state offspring of Propagation during the Swarm Disaster—the real Starcrusher Swarm King, Skarakabaz.
Ruan Mei had grasped the core of Propagation. She was already capable of artificially creating Emanators of Propagation!
So... was war really going to break out next?
The Bewitching Swarm King's gaze began to flicker. Then it turned to look at Phantylia. "Another powerful being has arrived on their side. Phantylia, what do you think?"
"It has nothing to do with me. I never intended to fight Herta here in the first place." Phantylia raised both hands and said calmly, "Moreover, from beginning to end, I have never taken action in the Eastern Federation. I have strictly adhered to my agreement with Herta's puppet."
The Bewitching Swarm King laughed in anger. "Zero-cost plundering, the fragmentation of the Eastern Federation's state government—weren't those all your doing?"
"No. I never acted."
The Bewitching Swarm King ground its teeth. "Fine. Phantylia, you really sold me out cleanly."
Phantylia merely smiled without replying.
The superficial alliance between the Lord Ravager and the Swarm King shattered instantly.
Phantylia herself was also thinking in secret. From beginning to end, what she had used on the people of the Eastern Federation were only the innate abilities of a great heliobus. As for the power of the Path of Destruction, she had only used it on the pseudo-mythical creatures created by the History Fictionologists.
But in reality, those creations had long vanished along with the disappearance of the History Fictionologists.
In that case, she could naturally shift all blame for the collapse of the Eastern Federation onto the Bewitching Swarm King.
However, at that very moment, the Bewitching Swarm King burst into loud laughter. "Phantylia, look—our conversation in the underground civil defense facility has all been recorded..."
As its voice fell, an illusion appeared in the sky. Within it were scenes showing how the Swarm King and the Lord Ravager had acted, bringing death and destruction to the Eastern Federation.
A flicker passed through Phantylia's eyes, but her expression remained unchanged as she said calmly, "These are all illusions you constructed. After all, creating such illusions is what you do best."
The Bewitching Swarm King laughed ferociously. "Then take another guess—am I made of illusion right now?"
"You—"
Phantylia was about to speak when she saw the Swarm King's figure turn into ashes and scatter away.
At the same time, the Bewitching Swarm King's voice echoed from beyond the heavens. "Phantylia, I'll leave this mess to you. I'm taking my leave first."
Phantylia was furious. "You're just going to abandon your offspring? They're all your children!"
"What do you think I've relied on to survive until now?" the Bewitching Swarm King snorted coldly. "Knowing when to adapt. Right now, the enemy consists of three Emanators—no... four. There is also an Emanator of Nihility in Herta City."
"Although I still cannot understand how she has walked so far along the Path of Nihility, she undoubtedly exists."
"Given that you've sold me out and I'm about to face four opponents alone, of course I'm going to run."
"Everything is yours now, Phantylia. Enjoy it."
At that moment, Phantylia's expression twisted grotesquely. She had never expected to be betrayed by a mere insect.
Damn it!
She cursed inwardly. Then she felt an overwhelming killing intent. Looking up, she saw that the newly cultivated Starcrusher Swarm King by Ruan Mei had already formed a terrifying star-shattering energy sphere.
Meanwhile, Herta had raised her wand, which was wrapped in boundless psychic energy, Honkai energy, and the power of the Path of Erudition. At the same time, she had activated the super genes within her body.
At that moment, lightning of psychic power gathered on the wand, ready to erupt—the wrath of a Honkai magic chimera was about to explode.
In addition, a fully charged Herta Magic Cannon and a solar flare bombardment from a star were also about to be unleashed.
The Herta, at this moment, was fully prepared to take down Phantylia here. She was confident that with multiple Emanators joining forces, they could eliminate Phantylia instantly and keep the Blue Federation completely safe.
At the same time, the Xianzhou Arbiter-General Yao Guang, who wielded the might of the Reignbow Arbiter's Eye, was also preparing to deploy Decalight Unveils All.
In the distance, another figure gripped a long blade. Their hair had turned white, and red spider lily patterns spread across their body. They waited only for Herta's command to unleash that strike.
At this point, for Phantylia, the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse—so bad that it could not get any worse. She could already see her own death star shining.
In that moment, she felt regret... If she had known earlier, she would never have come. Had she not come, she would never have fallen into such a terrifying predicament.
But even so, she could not simply wait for death. She had to attempt to escape.
However, at that very moment, she discovered something terrifying—Yao Guang's Decalight Unveils All had completely sealed off her escape routes, preventing her from using Emanator-level spatial jumps.
At the final moment, while preparing defensive measures, Phantylia sent out a desperate cry for help in the group chat:
"@Asat Pramad, @Celenova, @Archforger, @Luxbane, @Irontomb, @Zephyro save me!"
Asat Pramad: "What's happened this time?"
Celenova closed her eyes. "According to reports from the Voidrangers, Phantylia has gone to The Blue star system."
Asat Pramad: "The Blue star system? @Phantylia, why would you go to The Blue to seek death? Have you completely lost your mind?"
Zephyro: "Too weak. Begging for help in the group chat—how disgraceful for a Lord Ravager. I truly don't understand why the Supreme Destroyer brought you into the Destruction faction and granted you power to become a Lord Ravager."
Phantylia: "@Zephyro stop with the sarcasm. @Asat Pramad, I'm really going to die. I'm in The Blue star system, currently being besieged by four Emanators."
Zephyro became interested. "Four Emanators? Did Herta team up with a Xianzhou general and the IPC's Emanator of Preservation to gang up on you?"
Phantylia: "There is indeed a Xianzhou general among them, but no Emanator of Preservation... However, it's even worse than that. Among those about to attack me is an Emanator of Nihility, as well as two geniuses including Herta and Ruan Mei."
Zephyro: "An Emanator of Nihility? Where did that freak come from?"
Celenova: "Four Emanators attacking... including one of Nihility. That is indeed dangerous."
Phantylia: "Please, colleagues, help me. We all serve the Supreme Destroyer's ideals. More importantly, I haven't completed the task assigned to me!"
Zephyro: "Wait there. I want to fight an Emanator of Nihility!"
Celenova: "Hold on. My legion will arrive shortly."
"There's no need for that trouble. Leave rescuing Phantylia to me." Asat Pramad spoke seriously. "Since none of the four Emanators besieging you follow Preservation, that means space isn't completely sealed. I can save you. Phantylia, provide your coordinates and prepare for traversal."
Phantylia: "Asat Pramad, thank you... but the space here has already been sealed. The one who sealed it is not an Emanator of Preservation, but the Xianzhou general Yao Guang."
Asat Pramad chuckled. "A spatial seal empowered by the Reignbow Arbiter's Eye cannot stop my power."
Phantylia: "My exact coordinates are The Blue star system—XXXX..."
After seeing the coordinates, the dice-shaped head atop Asat Pramad began to spin rapidly. He activated the power of the Path of Trailblaze—once used when he boarded the Astral Express as a navigator, Isee!