Jarilo... Xianzhou Luofu... Both had suffered indescribable harm.
It looked like the situation was extremely bad! But that wasn't all.
Accompanied by the line that a certain Aeon would fall into silence~
The scene shifted to Pier Point.
On a massive projection screen, the IPC's emblem of the Amber Lord had also been corrupted by data, flickering with an ominous light.
Below the screen, Topaz stood with her back to the camera, staring at the corrupted IPC emblem.
At the same time. The screen began to show the static flickering that only appeared on old televisions.
After several flashes, the scene suddenly shifted to Penacony. The originally extravagant hotel had likewise suffered corruption.
On the screen behind the Dream Pool, what should originally have been displayed was the smiling face of the superstar Robin. Yet amid the corruption, it had become tattered and broken.
Several small household robots staggered forward with zombie-like steps, submerging themselves into the Dream Pool.
The water pool water had likewise been distorted by red corruption.
"This is a chess game between gods."
"As each piece falls to counter the next."
"Why not take advantage of it for our own goals?"
Jingliu's icy words continued.
The background music became heavier, yet also more subtle. It wasn't the kind of urgency that came with the imminent appearance of a villain, but rather... it carried an inexplicable sense of grandeur and composure.
It was especially like depicting a natural disaster currently taking place, depicting some kind of naturally occurring destruction.
On screen, the massive Herta space station fell from the cosmos, crossing the atmosphere and tearing through the sky before crashing into the city below.
A massive explosion erupted and amid the ashes and smoke, black-red data corruption flashed past.
Strangely enough. Amid the grand, slow, oppressive atmosphere. The sound of military drums suddenly appeared.
At a time like this? Inside the theater, everyone with even a little ability in artistic appreciation fell into deep thought.
The military drums were beating the rhythm of a traditional marching cadence. It represented someone marching, someone advancing.
But placed within these scenes, within this kind of music, it seemed somewhat strange and its meaning was unclear.
After all, the scenes appearing before everyone's eyes one after another were all scenes of destruction.
Who was marching amidst the destruction? No one answered their doubts.
The military drums disappeared. In their place came an even more shocking sound of horns.
The music came through the theater's extremely expensive sound system, bringing pressure far beyond that of an ordinary viewing experience.
Within such an atmosphere.
Nous appeared. The enormous mechanical god quietly flickered with red light in the darkness.
The next second. They abruptly transformed into a ruined and damaged machine.
Terrifying red covered Their divine body, causing the tubes and materials across Their body to burst with sparks.
"The Alliance already has the Swarm Author's (Propagation) remains."
"To kill a god..."
"We just need to temper The Hunt's arrowheads with Ruin's golden blood"
Jingliu continued speaking.
The red covering Nous gradually condensed, sinking into the pitch-black depths forming a blackhole.
Within this blackhole, countless rays of light gathered together, transforming into a strangely shaped silhouette.
Its arms were spread open, seemingly possessing four pair of arms.
And its head, the black hole was its head... that pitch-black sphere left after the fall of Nous's divine body.
Except Nous's eyes flickered with the red light representing intellect, while its "eye" remained shrouded in profound darkness, with only chaotic dark-red light appearing around its edges.
The Black Tide... Without a doubt.
This was the incarnation of the Black Tide. There was no need for any words. Simply seeing this image was enough.
Such a thought emerged in the minds of the audience.
And right at this moment. A streak of dark-red light escaping from the edge of the "eye" stretched infinitely across the screen and twisted.
It transformed into the shape of Amphoreus. It transformed into the symbol representing infinity.
"This is... the future of the universe?"
Inside the theater.
Thalia muttered to herself. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
Why was it filled entirely with terrifying scenes of destruction? And what did any of this have to do with Amphoreus?
To put it unpleasantly, what difference was Amphoreus from the region beneath the curtain?
Sealed away and hidden. Even the people inside were nothing more than streams of data.
She couldn't understand the connection between them. Looking around at the others in the theater, most of them also wore puzzled expressions.
Suddenly.
The music changed.
From music that seemed to sing praises of destruction, it abruptly transformed into music with distinctly Xianzhou music.
The scene also changed to a blue screen, with Feixiao and Jiaoqiu staring at it.
It was filled with battlefield situation maps that the audience couldn't understand.
"Celenova's legions are retreating."
"Is this a trap?"
Jiaoqiu waved his fan and asked doubtfully.
"Maybe she's carrying out an even more important order" Feixiao crossed her arms, her eyes fixed firmly on the points of light moving across the star map.
Seeing this, the audience jolted.
They instantly realized what was happening. While those heroic stories were unfolding on Amphoreus.
Elsewhere in the galaxy. The Hunt and Destruction had already clashed head-on?!
Feixiao, the Merlin's Claw of the Yaoqing, was currently confronting the Lord Ravager Celenova?
Through the Simulated Universe and related videos, the audience had already learned the names of several Lord Ravagers.
Such as Phantylia and Celenova. But aside from Phantylia, all the audience knew about the others were merely their names.
Yet this name had suddenly appeared again at this moment. Combined with Feixiao's meaningful line.
Could it be... Behind Amphoreus, aside from that sealed Lord Ravager, another one would also become involved?!
It wasn't just this small theater. People throughout the entire world who were watching the PV had fallen into tremendous shock and confusion.
...
: More than one Lord Ravager?
: No, seriously, what good deed did Amphoreus do? One wasn't enough, so now there have to be two?!
: Did Amphoreus raid Destruction's damn headquarters or something? Holy shit.
: So Feixiao's words are basically hinting that Celenova is heading to Amphoreus?
: Fuck, fuck, fuck! What the hell is on Amphoreus? Counting Black Swan, the two geniuses who arrived on Amphoreus, and now two Lord Ravagers, that's already a whole fucking handful of Emanators!
: Holy shit... is this about to turn into a war between Aeons?
: A war between Aeons? On Amphoreus?
: If Amphoreus itself were conscious, even it would be completely dumbfounded right now.
...
As the audience was still reeling in shock.
A crisp and pleasant female voice they had never heard before immediately rang out.
"A colleague told me... that the Xianzhou Alliance is not our enemy."
The scene also shifted away from Feixiao and Jiaoqiu, turning toward an immense fleet.
A shocking sight appeared. Countless enormous starships had formed a terrifying fleet, sailing through space!
Every single starship was extraordinarily massive. Even with the sea of stars as their backdrop, their appearance still gave off an overwhelming sense of grandeur.
And on every starship was emblazoned the shared insignia of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Aside from the Xianzhou, this was the first time the audience had seen such a massive fleet on this scale.
However, within this spectacular scene, streaks of red lines suddenly appeared.
The red lines intertwined, cutting the image on the screen into three separate pieces.
A pair of slender jade-like hands reached into the screen and, as though playing with toys, fiddled with these "puzzle" fragments.
The originally enormous fleet was divided into puzzle pieces.
"So why not join this great feast."
"And observe how billions of beating hearts..."
"Walk into irreversible demise."
A slender hand casually picked up a puzzle piece and simply dropped it.
The falling puzzle fragment transformed into the shape of a Doomsday Beast in the blink of an eye!
"Indeed"
A seductive and alluring voice immediately followed.
This voice was much more familiar to the audience. The cool blue tones representing the starry sky transformed into the texture of an ancient mural.
Countless twisted branches emerged from the mural, blooming into black lotuses.
An extremely alluring, voluptuous barefoot woman sat in the center of the image with one leg crossed over the other.
Beneath her towering figure, one person after another knelt on the ground, raising both hands high, as though they were either praying or making an offering.
Looking at this image alone, it could be described as extraordinarily sacred. It resembled a mural left behind by some ancient civilization, depicting the relationship between its civilization and the deity it worshiped.
But the "deity" within the image was Phantylia!
After not seeing this Lord Ravager for so long, her fusion with the Ambrosial Arbor seemed to have become even more seamless.
So much so that her divine body had become even more... alluring. But everyone knew that she was Phantylia, a Lord Ravager of Destruction.
And so, the contradictory sensations of danger and temptation coexisted upon her body, as though explaining the true meaning of Abundance from another perspective.
"Death is not a process, but the outcome"
"Let the ignorant hunter raise their bow..."
"And kill what they love what they believe in and ultimately... kill themselves"
Following Phantylia's voice, the military drums within the music began pounding once again.
It was still that marching drumbeat!
On screen, different scenes of chaos began appearing.
There were people who took up ropes and pulled down statues of heroes. There were also people who picked up weapons and slaughtered one another.
Until finally, every scene transformed into deep-red ruins and wreckage.
The audience was going numb. Even Phantylia had appeared...
What the hell was going on?! What the hell was this PV trying to do?!
The audience swallowed hard one after another. They could hardly believe the sheer amount of information suddenly assaulting their brains.
Their only expectation before this had been that, in Episode Four, Phainon would save Amphoreus.
Whether it was the Emperor's Scepter or whatever else, no matter what happened, those were still matters concerning Amphoreus.
...
The audience had already gotten used to focusing their attention on Amphoreus, this "private" stage.
Then two Lords Ravagers suddenly appeared one after another. Forcefully dragging them back out again.
...
: My hand is shaking while typing this out, brothers.
: What does this mean? Does this mean Phantylia is also going to Amphoreus?!
: N-No way. That's three fucking Lords Ravagers. What are they trying to do? Destroy the universe?
: Even if they're going to destroy the universe, shouldn't they take out the Xianzhou and the Interastral Peace Corporation first? Why come to Amphoreus...
: Just to break the seal on that Lord Ravager on Amphoreus.
: It's over... I have a bad feeling. Episode Four might be even crazier than we imagined...
: An Emanator battle royale?! Is this really something we're allowed to watch?!
: Holy shit...
...
It still wasn't over.
Just as Phantylia's segment ended, a low and casual male voice suddenly joined the conversation.
"So, what's the point in this process?"
"Just for it to feel like a ceremony?"
The deep-red ruins abruptly transformed into a white desert beneath an azure sky.
The music suddenly calmed down, leaving behind only scattered piano notes.
An ordinary-looking man wearing a hat, a white suit, dark trousers, and leather shoes was slowly walking through the white desert.
"Well, it's not like I have a right to complain about ceremonies."
The man suddenly stopped and looked up.
Standing before him was a tall and bizarre structure. Countless frozen white human figures had fused together, using their own bodies and arms to form something resembling a towering spire.
Staring at the structure, the man reached up to steady his hat and said listlessly:
"I mourn for worlds that can no longer laugh"
Who is this?
Upon seeing this, only this question remained in the audience's minds.
After Celenova and Phantylia, two Lords Ravagers, had appeared one after another, some guy who dressed like an ordinary person and even spoke like an ordinary person suddenly showed up.
But the more normal someone seemed, in this kind of setting, in this kind of PV, the more abnormal they were, alright?!
Before they could think any further, a familiar face appeared.
Acheron!
She was staring indifferently at the screen. Although she still looked as listless as ever, the mere appearance of her gave the already panicking audience an enormous sense of security.
However, that sense of security didn't last very long. Because when the audience realized exactly what they were watching, what followed was an even deeper sense of dread.
That's right!
Dread!
Good news: Acheron is here.
Bad news: Acheron isn't the only Emanator here.
Could this really be turning into an Emanator battle royale?!!
No... in Episode Three, weren't they still watching Stelle and the Chrysos Heirs fight the Titans on Amphoreus? How the hell did things turn into this in the blink of an eye?!