How strong was Twilight, exactly? The Express crew thought they had a deep understanding. After all, during their year traveling together, Twilight had protected them countless times; they naturally knew their companion's strength. Thus, the sense of security she provided as a partner was unparalleled.
But conversely, when Twilight became an enemy, the pressure she exuded was also incomparable to any other foe. The current Express crew finally deeply understood the feeling Gepard had when facing Twilight back on Jarilo-VI.
It was an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
If facing the living Twilight, the Express crew cooperating with the remaining three High-Cloud members might have had some chance of victory. But now, facing this [Twilight] controlling a fusion of numerous divine objects, they saw not a sliver of hope.
Facts proved that Phantylia's earlier words to Dan Heng, dissuading him from attacking, were merely mockery. Even if Dan Heng had truly attacked, he couldn't have harmed her.
"Hehe, what's wrong? Weren't you glaring at me so fiercely just now?"
After easily shattering the vigilant Cloud Knight formation with a flick of her finger, Phantylia swatted away the charging Blade like a fly, standing leisurely and observing the battered enemies before her. "Sigh, with such weak strength, how did you all manage to survive in the galaxy? Oh, perhaps I'm just too strong, hehe~"
Phantylia looked at her fingertips. As power surged, flowers suddenly bloomed from the void, only to be consumed by flames of destruction the next moment. But then, from the embers of the flowers, crystal-like memory flowers bloomed anew.
"See? Not just the powers of Destruction and Abundance, this body can even walk freely upon any Path..." Phantylia raised her hand, healing all the injured before her, only to slam her palm down the next second with a roar, smashing them directly into the dust. "Still don't understand? Resistance is futile! Do you really think you can oppose me, who possesses such power?!"
"Dan Feng, what in the world did you revive...?!"
Jingliu spat blood, her blindfold long lost in the previous battle. Now, her crimson eyes stared deadly at Dan Heng nearby. "This thing is simply incomparable to that abomination dragon from before!"
Faced with Jingliu's questioning, Dan Heng could only remain silent. Partly because his current injuries were severe, making even speaking difficult, and partly because he truly didn't know what exactly he had revived. Not human, not Vidyadhara, certainly not Ephemera... Ultimately, what species was Twilight originally?
But regardless, one thing was certain: Twilight's body, created by a mysterious, great power that even Herta couldn't analyze, had undergone some terrifying transformation after being combined with the blessings of Abundance through the Transmutation Arcanum. Dan Heng didn't know if the creator of Twilight anticipated this change, but as the performer, he was completely clueless about what happened.
"Seeing as Miss Twilight gave me such a great gift, I'll give you one last chance~" Phantylia smiled, looking up at the Express crew. "Surrender now, and I can spare your lives. Anyway, your Express crew causes destruction wherever you go; we're not that different, are we?"
"Don't listen to her nonsense..." Welt's glasses were cracked, but it didn't stop the eyes beneath the frame from gazing firmly and heavily at Phantylia. "This person... is the type absolutely not to be trusted!"
Gone Twilight, but still have her? Heh, the moment Welt heard Phantylia say that, he knew this person must be a deep schemer, a rotten-to-the-core bastard—yes, just like Otto Apocalypse!
Could someone who says the same things as Otto possibly be a good person?!
"We're no match for her now..."
Caelus gritted his teeth, pulling out a broken blade from his pocket. "We need a surprise attack!"
"Is that the blade Miss Acheron gave?" Himeko's eyes brightened for a moment, but then she shook her head wearily. "In this situation, even if Miss Acheron came, perhaps she would only get drawn into the vortex—"
"Everyone, if you have any other powerful allies, please quickly summon them all..."
Jing Yuan, heavily injured and looking miserable, even his Lightning Lord behind him battered and broken, coughed twice. "Right now, we truly must resort to surprise tactics... Xianzhou reinforcements are near the Luofu and will arrive soon. But frankly, even with Generals Huaiyan and Feixiao arriving, I fear securing victory against this person might still be beyond our reach. If the Express crew can invite equally strong experts, please ask them to hurry. We can strike together then..."
"Two more Generals plus Miss Acheron attacking together?" Light flickered uncertainly in Himeko's eyes. "In that case, maybe we can..."
Seeing Caelus swing the broken blade, seemingly summoning a distant ally, the barely standing Jing Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief.
Two Xianzhou Generals leading reinforcements, yet still worried about taking down the enemy... If word of this got out, Jing Yuan felt most people in the galaxy would just treat it as a new joke concocted by the Masked Fools.
But unfortunately, the situation Jing Yuan faced now was even more bizarre than any joke the Masked Fools could come up with.
One Emanator could destroy a star system... And how many Emanators were involved in this incident now?
Three Xianzhou Generals who were Hunt Emanators, one Emanator from the Express crew, Twilight, one Lord Ravager Phantylia, and the Acheron the Express crew was summoning, who was likely also an Emanator...
No joke, if these people gathered together, even dismantling the IPC headquarters probably wouldn't be too problematic. They could even potentially ignite a galaxy-sweeping war. After all, the Xianzhou, as a first-rate galactic power, only had seven Emanators in total, yet a small Luofu could soon gather six... Thinking of this, Jing Yuan felt only sorrow—he was truly fortunate, wasn't he, to encounter such an absurdly grand scene...
"Still want to resist? Truly haven't learned your lesson... You can't do it, because we are already existences on completely different levels!" Even hearing the discussion of those before her, Phantylia showed no sign of impatience, even watching Caelus send the signal to summon Acheron.
If it were her former self, perhaps she would have cut off all their avenues for help out of caution—but being cautious when lacking strength was one thing; being cautious now after obtaining this invincible power? Wouldn't that waste the body she schemed so hard to obtain?
A proud smile touched Phantylia's lips. She looked up at the starry sky above the dome, chuckling. "For example, can you feel Their gazes?"
Everyone followed her gaze towards the sky. Although nothing was there, everyone knew exactly what she meant—Aeons. Besides them, likely nothing else could command Phantylia's respect now.
"These gazes from magnificent beings, they are watching us—like watching a puppet show on stage. You don't even know what's happening, but I can! They are watching us... They are waiting for what happens next!"
"So, understand now? Compared to you, the current me is closer to that side... Mortal struggles are merely comedies."
"But it's time for this farce to end. I'm getting a little bored~ Let me think, how did you kill our lovely Doomsday Beast back then?"
Accompanying Phantylia's teasing voice, countless branches of the Ambrosial Arbor erupted from the ground, twisting and intertwining, finally forming a giant battle-axe shaped like the Doomsday Beast, landing gently in the hand of the wickedly smiling Phantylia.
"After all, I'm kind-hearted, can't bear to see others suffer—so I'll just use this to chop off your heads~"
Before the despairing eyes of countless people, Phantylia raised the Ambrosial Arbor battle-axe high. If their reinforcements arrived, perhaps together they might have a chance to defeat Phantylia... But these battered remnants before her had absolutely no chance of survival.
"Astral Express, your journey ends—!?"
Just as many had closed their eyes awaiting death, the battle-axe in Phantylia's hand suddenly fell to the ground, scattering back into vines.
And Phantylia, who had been incomparably arrogant moments ago, now turned deathly pale, clutching desperately at her chest, her entire body trembling. Cold sweat drenched her hair, but she paid it no mind.
Pain... An indescribable pain Phantylia couldn't articulate now spread from her chest throughout her limbs. She tried to resist the sensation, but the agony seemed to reach directly into her soul, making it unbearable. She tried bending over to alleviate the pain, but it clearly had no effect, even intensifying continuously.
Gradually, confusion turned into terror, and then... collapse.
This person, who held victory in her grasp just seconds ago, now couldn't even stand, only able to writhe and struggle painfully on the ground.
"Th-This... What is this?! Ugh... Gwaaaaaaah!!"