The shrinking milk's power still lingered within Nanook's body, preventing him from fully unleashing the authority of Destruction.
However, his current human-sized form was entirely his own doing.
This inner world was fragile to its core—a mere space within the mind of an Emanator, limited in scope. Even in his weakened state, Nanook could easily crush it into oblivion.
Yet, under some strange power, it had forcibly gained qualities of "indestructibility," even bordering on "immortality."
Nanook could neither destroy it nor break free, trapped here helplessly.
Moreover, this internal world was restrictive for an Aeon; his power was cramped and constrained.
Thus, whether for comfort or to confront Tom, who was only a meter tall, a more human-like form suited him better.
Though "human-sized," Nanook still towered at two meters in height.
Nanook stood firmly upon the ground.
He felt the new sensation of "legs" beneath him. After becoming the Aeon of Destruction, he no longer had legs—or rather, his legs were the first thing he destroyed.
Thinking this, Nanook's golden pupils shifted toward Yevenko.
When Yevenko had swung the bat earlier during his escape, aiming instinctively where legs should have been, Nanook expected a clean miss.
Instead…he didn't miss. Because somehow, out of nothing, legs had reappeared.
An Aeon's form rarely underwent radical change unless encountering extraordinary circumstances. Had this been his first time facing such an anomaly, Nanook might have fallen deep into contemplation.
But before he himself had become like this, someone else had already set a precedent.
Nanook's gaze slowly turned toward Lan's horns.
An ordinary person who regained lost limbs would undoubtedly feel joy—but for the Aeon of Destruction, this represented another weakening of his power.
Because Destruction meant not only annihilation of others but also of himself.
The greater the self-destruction, the stronger he became.
If Nanook could exist with merely a drop of blood, theoretically, that would be his strongest form.
He intended to immediately destroy these legs and revert to his original appearance, but faced the same dilemma as Lan, the Hunt Aeon: in concept, these legs had already become part of the Aeon of Destruction's form.
Wordlessly, fury burned in his golden eyes, molten rage boiling within as he fixed his gaze upon Yevenko and the others.
If he killed them, he could restore himself to his true shape.
Nanook tapped a toe lightly on the ground.
BOOM——!!!
A deafening explosion resounded through the sky.
In the next instant, the vast earth of this inner world abruptly sank downward, fracturing like a spiderweb from Nanook's position and spreading wildly.
The ground was left riddled with countless cracks.
Yet, almost immediately, these signs of destruction vanished, repairs made earlier by Tom and Jerry still taking effect.
But now, an overwhelming power of Destruction surged forth around Nanook, turning into golden flames cascading outward, rushing fiercely toward Yevenko's group.
Seeing this, Tom had already seized the purple bow from Lan.
Standing atop Lan's head, Tom drew back the bowstring. Instantly, a surging torrent of azure-blue Hunt power identical to Lan's own flooded forth.
In the center of the purple bow, a dazzling, radiant arrow of light rapidly condensed.
This overwhelming Hunt energy had reached such an extreme that it was even more Hunt Aeon-like than the Hunt Aeon himself.
Then, it was abruptly released!
WHOOSH——!
BOOM——!!!
Its speed so extreme, the arrow struck Nanook in a blink, unleashing a deafening explosion.
Overflowing Hunt energy enveloped the area.
Nanook's figure was violently blasted away by the force of the shot.
Seeing this scene, Stelle's face filled with excitement, eyes sparkling brilliantly. She turned toward Aha and Feixiao, who had returned to the dining table. Hurrying over, she patted the laughing Aha on the shoulder and snatched two ribbon party poppers from his hands.
She raised one popper skyward and loudly proclaimed:
"In celebration of the birth of Tom, the new Hunt Aeon!"
BANG—!
Ribbons fluttered down once more.
Stelle immediately moved to fire the second one.
However, March 7th, standing beside Stelle with equally radiant rainbow eyes, gently shook her head and stopped Stelle.
"Stelle, I get your excitement, but…let's spare a thought for how the Xianzhou folks are feeling."
Hearing this, Stelle and March 7th both turned slightly.
They immediately saw the lifeless, hollow faces of the Xianzhou crowd.
Jing Yuan had overheard their conversation. The corners of his mouth held his usual gentle smile—but to March 7th, it appeared foolish no matter how she looked at it.
Jing Yuan stared into space, softly muttering:
"Miss March, why spoil Stelle-san's fun? This is indeed joyous news. After Emperor Bow Si Ming, Xianzhou has produced another Hunt Aeon. Our strength has greatly increased."
"Yanqing, when we return to Luofu, have a statue carved immediately: Tom-san holding the bow atop Emperor Bow Si Ming's head… Hahaha…"
Laughing uncontrollably, Jing Yuan collapsed straight onto the ground.
"General! General!"
Yanqing quickly rushed over.
Feixiao sighed deeply, looking at the new weapon she had just received from Lan's blessing. Suddenly, it didn't seem so appealing anymore.
She turned toward her two subordinates: Moze's mouth hung open; Jiaoqiu stared wide-eyed, both frozen on the spot, clearly deeply shocked.
Fortunately, Feixiao herself had given up on thinking long ago, avoiding the same fate.
It wasn't just the Xianzhou group—even the Aeon directly involved couldn't comprehend how Tom had done this.
Lan tilted his head slightly in confusion. Jerry noticed that Lan, lacking eyes, couldn't clearly express his puzzlement.
Jerry swiftly climbed down from Tom's head, ran to Lan's side, pulled out a large question mark from behind his back, and placed it floating above Lan's head.
Despite having experienced countless bizarre occurrences around Tom, even Lan struggled to accept this scene.
The purple bow was fundamentally just Lan's derivative artifact. Although it carried a portion of Hunt power, Lan could effortlessly craft thousands upon thousands more.
Because Lan himself was the source of the Hunt.
Yet Tom's current actions blatantly defied this timeless principle.
If this were truly possible, Lan mused, he might as well mass-produce countless purple bows, let Tom-san touch each one, and wholesale them across the Xianzhou. Every power in the universe, even combined, would be no match.
Meanwhile, Phantylia flickered pitifully in a lonely corner. Seeing the Hunt Aeon and the Xianzhou group's despair, she felt an undeniable thrill.
Previously, as Tom's enemy, she'd been repeatedly humiliated in battle.
But now—even though Tom wasn't exactly the Xianzhou's enemy—he still managed to frustrate them. This slightly improved her ruined mood.
Yet, her fleeting joy was immediately replaced by unimaginable shock.
BOOM——! BOOM——! BOOM——!
Tom rapidly fired light arrows, each producing earth-shattering explosions against Nanook.
Aside from the first unexpected strike, which left a wound in Nanook's abdomen, Nanook easily blocked the rest, detonating them prematurely with blood droplets from his palm.
To Nanook, although Tom's actions defied logic, the attacks now had a predictable pattern.
Unlike the previous incomprehensible attacks.
Fighting Tom now felt similar to fighting any normal Aeon, something Nanook had faced many times.
Slowly but surely, Nanook drew closer.
Blood continuously spilled from his gaping chest wound, but Nanook didn't use it yet, waiting for a critical moment to detonate it at point-blank range—annihilating everyone utterly!
Suddenly, Tom found his quiver empty.
Nanook immediately spotted the opening, erupting with golden Destruction power, fiercely charging forward.
Tom frantically spun around, legs whirling cartoonishly to escape.
At that moment, Jerry climbed atop the floating question mark above Lan's head, swung a baseball bat, and—
BANG——!
Tom fell flat, head swollen comically.
Jerry and Yevenko quickly cooperated, drawing Tom onto the bowstring and firing him like an arrow directly into Nanook.
BANG——!!!
Nanook's head was instantly slammed deep into his body by Tom's impact. Tom himself vanished into Nanook's form.
The headless Nanook crashed to the ground.
Silence reigned.
Jing Yuan, faking unconsciousness, bolted upright, whispering incredulously:
"The Ruin Author is dead…?"
Feixiao, cautiously observing, replied:
"It's still too soon… We haven't seen Tom reappear."
Just then, Nanook's finger twitched.
Headless, he stood back up.
Phantylia was ecstatic.
Suddenly—
Pop—!
Tom's head emerged from Nanook's neck stump, puzzled, scratching his head with Nanook's own hand.