Chapter 272: Paimon's Grand Strategy
"Ah, this…" Paimon blinked, not quite grasping the whirlwind of thoughts behind the Traveler's brother's actions. Still, she flew to Lumine's side and gently patted her shoulder with a tiny fist.
She offered her best comfort. "It's okay, Lumine! It's okay! You're siblings, connected by blood. You'll definitely meet again! Next time… next time I see him, I'll have Paimon's Star activate a time stop! Freeze him right in place! Let's see how he runs then!"
"Then you can rush up and ask him whatever you want, and… ahem, 'catch up'however you want!" Paimon had originally wanted to say'beat him up however you want,' but she felt that might be inappropriate and hastily changed her phrasing at the last second.
Hearing Paimon's childish yet incredibly sincere "aid plan," the gloom that had settled in Lumine's heart finally began to dissipate. A small giggle escaped her lips, and she reached out to ruffle Paimon's hair. "Alright! Then I'll be counting on you, Paimon! And on Paimon's Star!"
"No problem! Leave it to me!" Paimon puffed out her chest proudly. Behind her, the muscular Paimon's Star cooperatively crossed its arms and nodded, projecting an aura of absolute reliability.
Once the atmosphere had lightened, the two began to carefully examine the situation in the underground space.
They discovered that ever since the core Abyssal vine had been destroyed, the dark purple fungal mats and the vines that pulsed like blood vessels across the surrounding rock walls were rapidly losing their vitality. Before their very eyes, they withered and dimmed, turning into lifeless husks.
The subtle black miasma that had been seeping from the ground had also almost completely vanished, and the concentration of residual abyssal energy in the air was steadily decreasing.
"It seems my brother used this special Abyssal vine to do something here…" Lumine mused, stroking her chin in thought. "Perhaps it was to gather energy, or maybe to conduct some kind of experiment… But he might have also taken my activity in this area into account and deliberately controlled the number and intensity of Abyss monsters appearing nearby."
She recalled her time in the Featherwing Tribe's territory. Although monsters had been a constant nuisance, there had never been an instance of realm gates merging to summon powerful entities, unlike in other regions. The battles had mostly involved clearing out monsters that were already present.
This unusual "gentleness," it now seemed, was probably not an accident.
Paimon flew over to a withered vine and poked it with her finger. "No matter what he was doing, now that we've dealt with this big guy, the Featherwing Tribe's problem should be completely resolved, right?"
"Yes," Lumine nodded affirmatively. "The core source of the pollution has been cleared. The remaining monsters are no threat. The Featherwing Tribe's crisis has been averted."
Just as Lumine and Paimon resolved the hidden danger at the heart of the Featherwing Tribe's lands, the battles raging in the other war zones of Natlan were successively entering their most intense, and in some cases, final stages.
Outside the Flowspring Tribe's camp.
Welt Yang pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his gaze fixed on the terrifying creation before him. It was a distorted fusion of machinery and abyssal energy, a mechanical beast as vast as a mountain—an Aeonblight Drake.
Each flap of its wings stirred a destructive storm of energy, and the beams of annihilation it spat from its maw could easily melt solid rock into slag.
"Himeko, cover me," Welt said, his voice calm as the Star of Eden in his hand began to emit a deep, gravitational glow.
"Understood." Himeko controlled her much-reduced drone swarm—most of which had been dispatched to assist in escorting civilians to safety—and laid down precise, harassing fire to draw some of the Drake's attention.
Welt took a single step forward, and an invisible gravitational field expanded with him at its center. Though his power was suppressed in this foreign world, his fundamental understanding of gravity remained as deep as ever.
"Witness the stars shatter!"
He let out a low cry. Directly in front of him, a tiny point in space warped, blossoming into a terrifyingly dense, dark singularity.
The beam of annihilation spat by the Drake was instantly distorted as it approached the singularity. It bent and twisted as if swallowed by an invisible giant's mouth, ultimately vanishing into the miniature black hole without so much as a ripple. Even the Drake's massive body was caught in the powerful gravitational pull, its movements becoming sluggish and labored.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Welt's forehead. Under the influence of this world's different rules and the suppressive nature of the Abyss, maintaining even this weakened pseudo-black hole was no small burden.
But his eyes remained steady, constantly fine-tuning the black hole's parameters, using it as both the strongest shield and the most effective method of control.
Seizing the opportunity while the Drake was restrained, Himeko concentrated the firepower of her remaining drones, hammering its relatively vulnerable joints and exposed energy core.
Finally, under Welt's precise gravitational control and Himeko's continuous weak-point strikes, the mighty Aeonblight Drake let out one last, unwilling roar. Its energy core overloaded, and its massive body shattered from within. The beast transformed into a destructive rain of metal fragments and abyssal energy, all of which was completely swallowed by the waiting black hole.
Within the Yawning Chasm Tribe's main territory, a barren plain shrouded in purple-black mist.
"Hey! Big guy! We meet again!" Stelle grinned, looking up excitedly at the familiar, multi-headed Golden Wolflord hovering in the sky. Ominous, dark-gold energy coiled around its body, a clear sign of its corrosion.
She remembered it clearly. The last time they'd met, back in the Night Kingdom, this thing had been insufferably arrogant. They had been in a hurry to evacuate then and hadn't settled the score. Now, however, their encounter was inevitable.
This Corroded Golden Wolflord, however, seemed to have learned its lesson.
It merely hovered hundreds of meters in the air, continuously letting out low roars. It drove the Rifthounds and Rifthound Whelps that surged like a tide from every corner of the plain, attempting to overwhelm the three humans on the ground with sheer numbers. It didn't dare lower its altitude in the slightest.
"What if it doesn't come down?" March 7th asked, a little anxious as she brandished her Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, which radiated a biting chill.
"It doesn't matter." Dan Heng's expression was serene. He stepped forward, plunging his Ji Yun spear into the ground before him as he formed a hand seal with one hand.
"Azure Dragon, Cleanse the World!"
Above the ground, massive streams of water gathered and rose as if alive, transforming into several majestic water dragons that roared and charged into the beast tide. Wherever the dragons passed, the Rifthounds were torn apart and scattered as if caught in a raging storm.
At the same time, the Heavy Abyss Pearl floated in his hand, emitting rays of clear light that further amplified the power and range of the water dragons.
"March, with me!" Dan Heng called out.
"Got it! Domain Expansion!"
March 7th responded instantly, swinging her blade. A chilling spiritual pressure spread out, solidifying a vast domain of ice across the ground.
Those monsters that were scattered by the water dragons or attempted to bypass them, the moment they stepped into this domain, found their speed drastically reduced. Their limbs were rapidly encased in thick frost, and their movements became incredibly stiff.
Following this, March s blade flashed repeatedly. One after another, sharp blades of ice-aspected spiritual energy shot out, precisely finishing off the frozen monsters and shattering them into shards.
And her companion, Little Moon, was not idle. It floated in the air, its soft, luminous tentacles waving as it condensed high-pressure water jets. Like precise water cannons, it shot down any stragglers or flying monsters that attempted a sneak attack from the air.
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