The Abyss! This body was shaped using the power of the Abyss, which is why it was being eroded and dissolved by the pure Lunar Force released from the Eternal Moon Essence... Coppelia's thoughts rapidly clarified the situation amidst the agonizing pain.
At the same time, she sensed that with the Moon Essence having left her body, the "poisonous" agony caused by the chaotic differentiation of Lunar Force within her had indeed alleviated significantly.
She did not know if it was due to the bizarre vitality inherent to the Abyssal power itself, or if the spell that transformed her into a being of flesh and blood had not yet fully concluded, but at the edges of the horrifying hole in her abdomen, scorched black flesh was wriggling, reconstructing tissue. Her strength was also returning rapidly.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, she braced her hands against the ground, clenched her teeth, and exerted force through her arms and waist simultaneously.
With a sudden whoosh, she bolted upright.
Her vision was still swaying, and she hadn't yet had time to pinpoint Lessing's exact location. Behind her, a figure wrapped in waves of heat and killing intent had already closed in. It was Ikhtiyar, who had been blasted away by the Hydro pillar.
The sharp sword in her hand thrust forward silently.
Shlick—
The blade tip stabbed precisely into Coppelia's back, piercing through her heart. The sensation of cold, hard metal penetrating skin and flesh was incomparably clear, bringing a brief burst of distending pain followed immediately by a searing tearing sensation.
Ikhtiyar did not pause in the slightest; with a twist of her wrist, she rapidly withdrew the sword.
Warm liquid sprayed out as the blade departed. Coppelia's body was carried backward by the force of the pull, but she did not fall to the ground. Behind her, Ikhtiyar clamped her left arm around Coppelia's body, holding her in a semi-reclined posture. Then, Ikhtiyar pressed the blood-dripping blade against Coppelia's exposed neck.
A pull.
The sound of skin, muscle, and fascia being sliced open was subtle yet hair-raising. The blade cut precisely through the gap in the cervical vertebrae, plowing a wound deep enough to expose bone amidst the flesh. Dark red blood gushed out instantly, soaking the collar of her black robes.
Ikhtiyar's clothing was damaged in many places from the previous explosions and burning, making her look bedraggled, yet her exposed skin presented an eerie perfection. It was even fairer and smoother than before, as if the earlier fire burns had never happened.
She loosened her arm and casually tossed Coppelia—who had instantly lost all signs of life and gone limp—onto the ground.
Red and black flames rose from her body. Still not reassured, she intended to burn Coppelia completely into ashes.
Boom—!!!
The rock wall to the side exploded without warning, blasting open a hole several meters in diameter! Dust and smoke surged out, filling nearly half the cavern. However, strangely enough, there was no flying gravel. That section of the rock wall seemed to have been vaporized in an instant.
Lessing had already ended his crouching posture the moment the anomaly occurred, dodging agilely into the deeper shadows of the cavern. Ikhtiyar also formed a wall of dancing fire in front of her, holding her sword in both hands, waiting in full battle readiness.
The dust slowly dispersed.
Inside the newly appeared tunnel opening, there was only a single, faintly glowing Moon Spirit, floating there all alone. Behind the Moon Spirit, the depths of the tunnel were pitch black and empty.
Ikhtiyar frowned, a trace of doubt flashing across her face: "Does this little thing possess such power?"
The Moon Spirit at the tunnel entrance was startled frozen for a moment, its round body shrinking back slightly. When it saw clearly the woman wreathed in dangerous flames holding a sharp sword ahead, the small wings atop its head trembled violently. It immediately turned around without hesitation and whoosh, darted into the depths of the tunnel, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
As the Moon Spirit fled, several straight beams of gloom-blue lasers flashed out from the void in the tunnel behind it! They shot from the firing ports of several Primal Constructs that suddenly emerged from their invisible state, all aiming in unison at Ikhtiyar standing at the entrance!
Ikhtiyar gave a cold harrumph, and the red and black flame shield wall in front of her thickened abruptly. The laser beams slammed into the fire, making sizzling scorching sounds. Their energy was rapidly consumed by the high temperature and the strange nature of the flames, failing to penetrate.
"Scarlet King!" she shouted a low war cry. No longer passively defending, her figure flashed as she actively charged into the new tunnel.
Her longsword danced, and the red and black flames danced wildly with the sword's momentum like activated venomous snakes. Wherever she passed, those Primal Constructs that had just revealed themselves or were still in a semi-invisible state were severed, minced, and ignited like fragile toys. Metal fragments and burning wreckage flew everywhere within the narrow tunnel.
While Ikhtiyar rushed into the tunnel to slaughter, Lessing walked quickly out of the shadows. First, he snatched up the Eternal Moon Essence from the ground. Then, he strode over to the fallen Coppelia to perform a rapid check.
Coppelia lay quietly. The wound on her neck was shocking to behold, and the great hole in her abdomen remained. However, whether it was the location of her heart, her neck, or the cross-sections of muscle in her abdomen, all faintly exuded an ominous pitch-black aura at this moment. The flesh and blood tissues were wriggling, attempting to bridge the wounds.
Lessing knew that although this body would try to repair itself, without the replenishment of Abyssal power, it would die very quickly. He was more concerned about whether she still hid any other powers or items that might interfere with the experiment.
His fingers quickly probed several locations where items might be hidden, but found nothing extra.
Lessing did not linger. He stood up and walked briskly toward another secret passage in the cavern that had not been affected by the battle, his figure quickly disappearing into the darkness as he hurried toward the backup site within the experimental base.
In the circular hall, Columbina had already "seen" the process of Coppelia suppressing Ikhtiyar earlier through the partially recovered clarity of the Ley Lines. This had loosened her tightly wound heartstrings, and she even felt a trace of heartfelt joy.
But immediately after, she "saw" a massive and foul pitch-black force surge into the Ley Line channels of that area. The Ley Line information flow was instantly polluted, becoming turbid, like a clear stream splashed with thick ink.
She could no longer "see" Coppelia's specific condition clearly, only plunging into a "fog" of darkness. Her heart involuntarily tightened for the other, silently praying that nothing would happen to her.
On the other hand, as the infiltrating Primal Constructs continued their destruction inside the base, the formation structure within the abnormal space was being dismantled bit by bit. She could clearly feel that the Spatial Authority previously forcibly stolen by the formation was returning to her core, strand by strand.
She immediately tried to utilize this returning Authority to batter against this abnormal space that still rejected her teleportation, again and again. Like using a lever to pry a heavy boulder, it was immovable at first, but as power accumulated and more Authority returned, there was finally a sensation of extremely slight "loosening"! Although it was far from enough to let her break free, she at least saw hope.
She intended to check the progress of the formation's destruction again to estimate how much longer it would take to fully break free. Thus, she once again sank her consciousness into the Ley Lines, attempting to "look" toward the core area of the formation...
The Ley Lines there had also been completely destroyed by Abyssal power. A "fog" thicker than before obscured everything. She once again fell into a situation where she could "see" nothing.
But this was not the worst part.
She suddenly felt that the Spatial Authority which had just returned was actually beginning to drain away again! Like sand slipping through fingers, it was being extracted uncontrollably in the direction of the formation!
The formation has reactivated?! But it was clearly being destroyed... Columbina was greatly alarmed. She immediately concentrated her entire will, trying to lock down the draining Authority and "anchor" it within her body. But that extracting force was exceptionally barbaric; her efforts were futile.
At the same time, a sensation of being locked onto came from outside the hall.
She looked up sharply.
From outside the door of the circular hall came unhurried footsteps.
A white-haired man carrying an unsheathed longsword walked in. His eyes were calm and waveless as he walked straight toward Columbina in the center of the hall.
"Don't come any closer!" Columbina immediately issued a warning, her voice sounding shrill due to tension and exhaustion. She mobilized the residual power in her body, causing the dangerous tree-root-like light patterns on her skin to flare up violently. Waves of unstable energy gathering came from her core. She was repeating her previous threat.
The white-haired man's footsteps, however, did not pause in the slightest. The longsword in his hand ignited with the familiar red and black flames with a whoosh, wrapping the blade. He walked until he was only a step away from Columbina, then stopped and stood at attention. He did not immediately swing his sword, nor did he speak. He simply stood there quietly, holding the burning sword of fire, his gaze falling upon her as if waiting for something.
The threat... was no longer working. They no longer had scruples about her potentially self-destructing her core.
Combining this with the situation in the Ley Lines just now, this perhaps... was the final experiment they intended to conduct. Afterwards... Columbina's heart sank. She slowly withdrew the portion of energy used to damage her own core and create the threat of explosion. The flickering light patterns on her body dimmed.
She looked at the burning sword suspended less than half a meter in front of her face. The sharp tip, the leaping, eerie flames. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Coppelia drifted in the hazy borderlands of consciousness.
The first thing she felt was the searing, tearing pain in her throat. Every attempt to swallow or breathe would pull at that shattered area, bringing sharper stimulation. Blood and viscous fluids blocked the opening of her trachea, obstructing her breathing. Her chest felt as if crushed by a rock; every expansion and contraction of her lungs brought panic of suffocation and dull pain between her ribs.
The strength of her entire body seemed to be draining away along with the warm liquid flowing from her neck and abdomen. Her extremities began to turn cold and numb, as if soaked in ice water.
She lifted her left hand, which could still move, and groped to cover her neck. Her fingertips touched a deep, long gash, the flesh rolled back, wet and slimy.
She could feel the subcutaneous tissue wriggling slightly under the drive of some power, trying to connect, but the wound was too deep. Warm body fluids still oozed out in streams between her fingers.
Fearing her entire neck would break off just like that, her left hand exerted sudden force. Her five fingers clamped around her entire neck like iron pincers, pressing down, attempting to physically force the severed flesh and bone back together.
She struggled to open her heavy eyelids. Her eye sockets were filled with tears due to the unbearable agony, blurring her vision into shaking shadows and spots of light.
She raised the back of her bloodstained right hand and ruthlessly wiped across her eyes, clearing away the tears that obstructed her sight. As her eyes turned, she saw four Moon Spirits floating silently around her. Two of them were using their soft braids to jointly support Amos's Bow, upon which a faint purple light flowed.
There is still hope... Coppelia's gaze locked tightly onto the bow.
maintaining the posture of clamping her neck dead tight with her left hand, her right hand trembled as she braced against the ground—a mix of sand and bloody filth beneath her. Engaging her waist and legs simultaneously, inch by inch, she pushed herself up from the ground with extreme difficulty. Her legs felt as if they weren't her own, trembling in the air, finding their balance only after great effort.
She wanted to say something to the Moon Spirits. But a knife-like pain immediately radiated from her throat. Her airway, blocked by blood clots, caused her to cough violently as soon as she inhaled half a breath. This coughing pulled at the wounds on her neck, chest, and abdomen, bringing a new round of pain that nearly made her faint. She clenched her teeth tight, veins bulging on her forehead, and forcibly suppressed the urge to cough and the pain. Her body shook slightly from the exertion.
The Moon Spirits floated quietly before her, watching her. The pair of small wings atop their heads no longer stood briskly upright as usual, but drooped slightly.
The sensation of suffocation did not disperse with her endurance; instead, it began to worsen due to the difficulty in breathing. She felt her fingers and toes becoming colder and colder. Numbness was spreading up her limbs, like slow freezing.
She couldn't delay any longer. She reached out a trembling right hand and took Amos's Bow from between the braids of the Moon Spirits. The instant she gripped the bow, the originally faint purple light on the bowstring suddenly became brilliant, transforming into an intense halo of pale blue light. The vague golden patterns at the tips of the bow became clear and dazzling.
Coppelia's gaze remained deadlocked on the Moon Spirits, not noticing the change in the bow. Facing the Moon Spirits, she used her right hand holding the bow to draw a circle in the air over the hollow space in her abdomen. Then, she raised a finger and pointed toward a nearby tunnel entrance that had not been completely destroyed by the battle.
A Moon Spirit immediately understood her meaning: find the Eternal Moon Essence. Its round body turned, and it floated toward that tunnel entrance without hesitation to lead the way.
Coppelia stepped forward. Her legs trembled like reeds in the wind; every time she lifted a foot, it felt as if she were exhausting all her strength. She followed, step by step, moving with immense difficulty over the rough, uneven ground. The other three Moon Spirits floated silently behind her.
The agonizing pain from her throat, heart, and abdomen intertwined, fighting for her consciousness against the growing cold and numbness in her limbs. She was afraid she would stop halfway due to fear, pain, or weakness.
So she stopped looking at the road, stopped looking at the dim, terrifying scenes around her. Her line of sight locked firmly onto the glowing white body of the leading Moon Spirit, following that moving ball of white light in a muddle-headed stupor.
Until with a soft thud, that ball of white light bumped straight into her face, bringing a cool touch. Only then did her eyes, red from suffocation and pain, suddenly refocus.
At this moment, her vision had already darkened considerably, as if covered by a layer of gray fog. She could only barely make out that the end of the tunnel ahead connected to a larger cavern hall. Inside the hall, there were several blurry silhouettes of people moving. And amidst those silhouettes, there was a light source emitting a bright, pure white radiance.
She couldn't be bothered to distinguish who exactly was there, or if that light source was the Eternal Moon Essence.
She believed the Moon Spirit would not lead her astray.
Subconsciously, she took a deep breath. This action brought another burst of stabbing pain to her throat and chest cavity.
She endured it.Releasing her left hand, which had been clamping her neck tight, she grasped the body of Amos's Bow.
She raised the bow. The index and middle fingers of her right hand notched onto that bowstring flowing with intense pale blue light, and pulled it back.
In this moment, she remembered why Amos's Bow was powerful—the further one is from the object of their heart's desire, the more intense its power becomes.
____
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