"…Forget it."
Mobius exhaled softly—part resignation, part resolve.
"Let's call it… reclaiming an interesting specimen, or else…"
She drew a small line with her fingertip. A miniature, ghostly green spatial rift opened, and from it floated a dark-violet core radiating ominous, mighty energy.
Its surface seemed to be corroded by viscous streams of data and shadow—precisely the Herrscher of Corruption core that Lu Jingming had handed to her.
"Perhaps this is fate."
A playful glint flowed through Mobius's emerald serpent eyes. She tapped her finger; the dark-violet Herrscher of Corruption core rose, its baleful power swelling.
"After all, little one, your original identity… was the Herrscher of Corruption, no? For you, this core is… returning to its rightful owner—back to your origin."
Before the words had faded, Mobius's gaze sharpened. Guided by her precise power, the Herrscher core imbued with corruptive authority slowly sank toward Yae Sakura's chest—where her form was most fragile and where the core had first collapsed.
Verdant halos—the hue of boundless life—surged alongside the dark-violet radiance—the sigil of Corruption. Two seemingly opposed, contradictory forces, yet under Mobius's control, they reached a dangerous equilibrium, working in concert upon Yae Sakura's body on the verge of vanishing.
"The Grail granted Servant vessel has completely collapsed. The core is dissipating rapidly. Conventional repair can only slow the process. Ultimately, it's futile."
Her voice held the fevered calm of a researcher in mid experiment—as though what lay before her wasn't a life, but a test subject.
"But what if we use this Herrscher of Corruption as her new existential anchor?"
Dark violet light, like a living thing, swiftly melded into Yae Sakura's body.
In a sudden spasm, the unconscious girl arched, a strangled whimper of agony tearing from her throat. Uncanny violet black circuit like markings—like overloaded circuitry and scrambled data—raced across her skin. Rampant Honkai energy seemed poised to shred her remaining consciousness.
And yet Mobius's domineering green life energy forcibly suppressed and channeled it, steering the Honkai rampage into a controllable fusion track.
"Hm?"
Mobius let out a soft note of surprise; astonishment flashed in her serpent pupils.
"The fusion speed and adaptability… far beyond expectations. As I thought—her compatibility with this core is astonishing."
Before her eyes, Yae Sakura's body absorbed the core's power with an almost instinctive efficiency. The energy body that the Holy Grail system had built upon negativity was swiftly being broken down and corroded by the core—then reforged into a purer, stronger form: a body composed of highly condensed Honkai energy.
Mobius soon looked enlightened and glanced at the tense Higokumaru.
"I see… You two are in deep symbiosis. And you, little one, were originally the Herrscher who wields the power of Corruption, weren't you? If she couldn't perfectly synchronize with this core, that would be the real oddity."
Such perfect compatibility is rare. Whether it was the Snow Empress, the Demon Empress, or Huo Yuhao—their Herrscher cores were not perfect matches, and the power they could exert had limits.
The violent energy fluctuations gradually subsided.
The dark-violet glow drew inward; the verdant life light slowly dispersed.
Yae Sakura's body was no longer translucent or illusory. Instead it emanated a solid, full presence. Faint dark-violet luminescence flowed beneath her skin, a sign of a fundamental transformation in her essence.
At her heart, a dark-violet core mark slowly sank and vanished, as if it had wholly merged with her.
Her breathing lengthened and steadied. Though still in deep coma, all vital signs stabilized.
This stability sprang from an independent, self sourced core—not sustained by the Holy Grail system or negative energy.
Like Phantylia, Yae Sakura had acquired the Herrscher of Corruption core, passing from the unreal to the more real.
At the same time, in the instant she successfully fused with the core, the faint thread binding her to the Holy Grail was severed and overwritten.
To the Holy Grail's reckoning, the Servant named Yae Sakura had died and exited the stage.
The energy overflow from the dissolution of her negative energy body was drawn in from afar by the Grail, converted to pure positive energy, and silently nourished the Douluo Star.
…
Far off on the other side of the Mingdu battlefield, Bei Bei clutched the unconscious Tang Ya as Jing Yuan sped them out of the city.
Behind them, the Holy Spirit Church fought a retreat. Huo Yuhao commanded a vast undead legion and Borisin warriors, doggedly entangling Joan of Arc, Aglaea, and the rest to stall their pursuit.
Even the formidable Hysilens and Cerydra were, for the moment, mired by the endless undead tide and Borisin artillery and found it hard to break through.
From the moment they saw Aglaea on the battlefield, it was inevitable that Hysilens and Cerydra would stand unhesitatingly at her side.
Hysilens's ties to Aglaea needn't be belabored, and in her original world, Cerydra had cultivated Aglaea as her successor.
Reunited in this other world, of course they would share a common enemy.
Then Jing Yuan's sharp eyes noticed the crimson Command Seal on the back of Tang Ya's hand fading visibly—vanishing entirely.
He knew exactly what that meant.
He sighed lightly in his heart, shook his head, but said nothing—only quickened their retreat.
He had no wish to aid the Holy Spirit Church, so he took only Bei Bei and Tang Ya. Otherwise, with his strength, he could have single handedly blocked all Shrek pursuers.
Once Bei Bei and Tang Ya were safe, he intended to pay the Lord Ravager a visit. At that thought, his gaze flicked skyward.
There, flames of annihilation and hunting gales split the sky in two, locked in stalemate.
…
"Alright, the troublesome part's preliminarily handled."
Mobius waved lazily. A dark green energy serpent, alive with motion, appeared from nothing and deftly coiled around the unconscious Yae Sakura to lift her.
Whether from some perverse humor or otherwise, the serpent's coils happened to trace the graceful lines of Yae Sakura's figure, presenting a posture both embarrassing and strangely alluring.
But Higokumaru had no attention to spare for her big sister being arranged in a shameful pose.
Her small body of flame flickered violently with excitement; Mobius's offhand remark kept echoing in her head—
"Come. Let's find you, little one, a patron. If you can win his favor, perhaps… you might see your sister again."
Mobius paused deliberately, watching Higokumaru freeze in stunned disbelief; the corner of her mouth curved, pleased with her mischief:
"By the way, that Sister Elysia of yours… she's here too."
Before the nearly exploding Higokumaru could respond, Mobius chuckled, turned, and stepped into a quietly opening green spatial rift.
The energy serpent bore Yae Sakura in after her.
Higokumaru let out a sound mixture of joy, hope, and disbelief, transformed into an impatient streak of light, and flashed through the rift.
…
Mingdu Imperial Palace—its former gilded splendor was gone, replaced by shattered walls and raging energy turbulence.
Cold killing intent and violent soul power intertwined, turning this former center of power into a battlefield of relentless slaughter.
He Caitou's eyes were blood red, a decade of pent up hatred erupting like a volcano in his chest.
Though he stood at the heart of battle and had Servant Karna's deliberate protection, his life saving soul tools had all shattered, and his soul power was nearly exhausted.
Death's breath hovered close, but he didn't care.
His gaze, sharp as a blade, was locked on a figure not far away—Xu Tianran.
At this moment, his only obsession was to see Karna slay his enemy before his life burned out.
Otherwise, he would not die content!
"Xu Tianran, today I'll take your dog life to honor my father, mother, and sister in the heavens!"
He Caitou's hoarse roar was steeped in bone deep hatred. He abandoned defense entirely, pouring all remaining soul power—indeed his very life potential—into the massive soul cannon in his hands. The scorching barrel gathered his last hate and fury.
"With just yo-?"
Before Xu Tianran finished, a heart palpitating purple black energy spread from him, reeking of doom—this was the boon of the Lord Ravager, Phantylia.
His martial soul, the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon, was already a top tier destruction attribute soul. With Phantylia's infusion, it had mutated further. Violet black light flowed along its scales, its pressure far beyond ordinary top spirits—a super martial soul.
But He Caitou's greatest reliance was never himself.
Before his roar had faded, brilliance like a blazing sun tore through the chaotic fray, bypassed Long Xiaoyao's obstruction, and stood before him.
That holy, dazzling light seemed to gather all radiance under heaven.
Clad in golden armor and wielding an undying flame wreathed divine spear, a figure became an unassailable bulwark before He Caitou.
His Servant: the Son of the Sun—Karna.
Karna's expression remained calm and indifferent. His molten gold eyes were still waters as he simply regarded Xu Tianran and, beside him, Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, both with auras ragged and clothes torn.
Clearly, in earlier exchanges these two famed Limit Douluo had gained no advantage against the Sun God's son—indeed, they had suffered.
Karna spoke not a word, only lifted his Undying Spear slightly.
Flames at the spearpoint burned in a soundless fury. The air seethed with heat. His pure, vast divinity crashed into Xu Tianran's aura of destruction and the twin pressures of the two Limit Douluo—and, overwhelmingly, forced their combined momentum back.
In the next instant, Karna moved—a golden streak that rent heaven and earth. The divine spear thrust straight toward Xu Tianran's heart.
Long Xiaoyao flickered like a phantom, splitting into a thousand shadows. A dragon claw, condensed with darkness, reached to seize or deflect the spear's line.
Ye Xishui shrieked, unleashing a boundless sea of blood. The foul, corrosive tide, which devoured flesh and soul, surged from the flank to foul Karna's immaculate divinity.
He Caitou roared his last, pouring all soul power into the cannon. A blood red beam, laden with infinite hate, lanced toward Xu Tianran.
But the gap in strength was too vast.
Xu Tianran didn't even move. The phantom of the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon behind him spat a concentrated torrent of violet annihilation that easily shattered and erased the blood beam.
The torrent hurtled on toward the exhausted He Caitou.
Karna was forced to split his attention. His molten eyes flared, revealing the true name of a Noble Phantasm: "O Brahma, cover the earth!"
Not a spear strike—searing solar rays shot from his eyes, precisely intercepting Xu Tianran's attack and neutralizing it.
But that instant of division gave Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui a breath. Together they barely parried Karna's assault.
Just then, a wild, furious bellow cracked the sky like thunder:
"Xu Tianran, you wretch—come die!"
A figure blazing green, exuding boundless toxins and tyrannical vital force, crashed into the field like a meteor—straight at Xu Tianran.
The newcomer: Sect Master of the Body Sect—Du Bushi.
His life force surged like an ocean. Venom and the ultimate power of his Body Martial Soul fused perfectly, making him a demon of toxic flame.
His arrival shattered the stalemate at once.
Disregarding his own defense, he fought to trade life for life.
He focused all his raging power on a single point, tore open the joint defense of Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui with a roar, and slammed a vast green palm—condensed from a Limit Douluo's cultivation and deadly poison—square at Xu Tianran's face.
Xu Tianran's expression finally changed.
Facing a newly ascended Limit Douluo's deathblow, he dared not be careless.
Violet black destruction surged madly. The dragon phantom roared. He threw a punch to meet the toxic palm head on.
Boom—!!!
The terrifying blast deafened.