The Devouring Behemoth’s words were shocking.
To actually dare to snatch something from a Light-Plunderer class entity in the depths of the Boundary Sea—and succeed! It was an impossible feat for anyone lacking in either courage or strength.
Then why did this box end up in Research Institute 075?
According to the undercover data, the box had been salvaged by the Dragon Country’s Boundary Sea Border Guard from the vicinity of the Boundary Sea Pass; there had been no mention of Xingyue’s name at all.
“Oh no!”
Wansui suddenly understood many things at once.
This woman hadn’t started her schemes recently or even within the last year—it was highly likely she had begun the moment she disappeared seven years ago!
Setting aside the Devouring Behemoth’s words for a moment, the sense of crisis Xingyue projected now made Kraken and the others feel a chilling dread. They had no mental capacity left to think of anything else!
What was the source of this sense of crisis?
…Xingyu watched the familiar fluctuations of magic and that familiar white light, her lips moving silently.
[Order Zero Magic?
Why can she use Order Zero Magic alone?]
At this moment, Xingyue was stained with blood. These were wounds left from the desperate siege by the Devouring Behemoth and the others earlier. She looked quite battered, her condition only slightly better than Xingyu and her companions.
To draw out the figures still watching from the sidelines as much as possible, she had nearly thrown her life away.
First, she had taken the initiative to appear with the “box,” then fell into a slump during the fierce battle, repeatedly giving them the illusion that they were about to succeed. Then, by revealing her identity and constantly stalling for time, she provoked their sense of urgency, finally forcing Wansui—who controlled the Ancient Artifact—to show himself.
Xingyue exhaled a hot, turbid breath, her eyes brilliant as if they concealed the sun, moon, and stars.
“Through untold hardships and painstaking effort, never daring to slacken for a moment… The so-called mission of the First Seat is to do everything humanly possible and then gamble with fate.
“It has truly been a long time… It’s time to end this.”
Upon hearing these words, Wansui and the others felt their hearts go cold.
“Constraint.”
Xingyue silently recited two words. The white dawn light carried the momentum of an avalanche. A portion of the white celestial light split off, transforming into a bright gold, and turned into a barrier between heaven and earth. It encompassed the mountains, all occurring in a mere instant.
When the barrier was complete, a sensation of being a ‘rat in a trap’ immediately made the scalps of Kraken and the others tingle.
“Mercy…”
Xingyue spoke two more words. A wisp of celestial light drifted out—just a single wisp, impossibly tiny. In the blink of an eye, it traversed tens of thousands of miles and landed on a Dragon-class dimensional beast that was currently conducting an indiscriminate massacre within Wugang City.
In an instant, the massive body danced like straw in hellfire, then twisted and shattered inch by inch in the wind.
Not even ashes remained!
“Order Zero Magic! It’s Order Zero Magic!” Wansui finally recognized it, howling with eyes nearly splitting.
“Order Zero Magic! The most fundamental secret technique derived from the First Ancient Artifact! Did the Magic Alliance actually give even this to you alone!? Are they insane!?”
In his shock, Wansui also revealed information he had obtained from some unknown source, exposing the foundations of Order Zero Magic. Xingyue did not respond, but her heart turned cold because of it.
…To even know secrets of this level, it seems there are some unclean things within the Magic Alliance as well.
But the slaughter continued.
A single strike killed a Dragon-class dimensional beast. This overwhelming momentum was terrifying; swatting a mosquito would take more effort than this!
The Devouring Behemoth’s expression was grim. It had felt an inexplicable danger from Xingyue before, and its intuition had been correct.
Now, even as a Light-Plunderer class, it might not be able to escape unscathed!
“Lcs,eCe-a Alc.aclac »9a@a®…”
In the tide, the chanting of countless withered wood-like worshippers became so dense it was impossible to hear exactly what they were reciting. One only knew that behind this rhythm, all the horrors within the tide were manifesting. The entire city fell into extreme panic.
Wansui began to use Elysium with suicidal desperation. Since they both possessed Ancient Artifacts, he refused to believe his side would be utterly crushed without any resistance!
However, the white dawn light broke through ten thousand layers of black waves with irreversible momentum, illuminating the invisible horrors in the tide so they had nowhere to hide and were forced back into the water.
The dawn light flashed again, and even the sound of the chanting was quietly extinguished. The withered wood-like worshippers were completely turned into desiccated corpses!
Wansui spat out several mouthfuls of blood, his previously high-spirited face turning deathly pale.
Both were controlling Ancient Artifacts, yet Xingyue completely outclassed them!
He had known all along that he was only using the artifact in a shallow way. To put it bluntly, him using an Ancient Artifact was like casting pearls before swine; conversely, Xingyue’s mastery of Order Zero Magic was equivalent to fully controlling the First Ancient Artifact. She could exert 100% of the artifact’s power. Who could possibly be her match?
Even if she were alone, she could slaughter thousands, invincible and peerless!
“What are you all waiting for? She really has the confidence to kill us all! If you want to live, get moving!”
Seeing the Devouring Behemoth and the others stunned in place, Wansui roared at Kraken and the rest in a fit of rage.
Hearing this, the eyes of Kraken and the others turned blood-red. Feelings of humiliation and the fear of death intertwined, forcing them to abandon all hesitation.
“I don’t believe it! That you’ve truly mastered Order Zero Magic! Die!!”
The struggle of a cornered beast is the most dangerous and terrifying because they know they have no way out. Every move is lethal and extremely fierce.
Not to mention that the “cornered beasts” at this moment included several Dragon-class entities, two Peak Dragon-class entities, and one Light-Plunderer class existence. Their final counterattack was bound to be unimaginably terrifying.
However, it was useless.
Order Zero Magic was like a high wall standing in eternity. Using attack power far superior to all of them combined, it violently neutralized all counterattacks, sending them tumbling back in pathetic disarray and shattering countless boulders.
“It worked!”
Kraken scrambled up quickly, eyes bloodshot. Although they hadn’t achieved any results, they had endured the impact of Order Zero Magic!
At this moment, Wansui roared out another piece of critical information he had obtained from somewhere: “She has only mastered a few forms of Order Zero Magic! Though her attack power is strong, her defense is insufficient! As long as everyone works together, there is hope for survival!”
Finding new hope in a deathmatch with no retreat makes cornered beasts fight even harder… and also makes certain individuals cherish their lives more.
Xingyue nodded slightly, knowing that someone must be secretly guiding Wansui and the others.
It was exactly as Wansui said. Order Zero Magic had seven forms, each possessing heavenly power. She had only mastered “Mercy,” which had the strongest killing power; “Constraint,” which functioned to lock down space; and “Chastity,” which possessed the power to seal all things. In other aspects, she was still at her original level.
But even so, it was enough to kill all these threats. Even with just a single form, Order Zero Magic could sweep away any resistance.
The next instant—
The mountain range seemed to become a legendary land of great peril. Strange phenomena of “swallowing clouds and spitting mist, while the sun and moon rose and fell” appeared. The hard earth and stone changed shape again and over again like modeling clay.
Finally, Xingyue located Wansui and the others who were controlling the Ancient Artifact Elysium. The white dawn light swept past, and nothing remained there, leaving only extremely neat, flat incisions…
No, only Wansui was still alive. He had leaped into the tide summoned by the Ancient Artifact Elysium, saving his life.
But that place actually led to the deepest part of the Boundary Sea. For a mere human to go there was no different from being dead.
However, Xingyue still refused to let him go. Order Zero Magic displayed only a hint of its divine might, and it forced Wansui into a desperate corner.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh!”
Even under the protection of the Ancient Artifact, Wansui was still stepping toward death. He roared with hatred, “Xingyue, your calculations are so deep! The whole world has been fooled by you! You executioner!”
Xingyue remained silent, not denying it.
Otherwise, why would she have disappeared seven years ago? Why would she have been absent from the Black Candle Crusade four years ago?
Because she was already in the deepest part of the Boundary Sea back then.
She was the one who snatched the box from the Devouring Behemoth.
She was the one who intentionally let the Boundary Sea Border Guard find it.
Even the news of the box being in Research Institute 075 had been leaked to Wansui and the others by her.
Everything was proceeding steadily according to plan.
During this process… many people had sacrificed themselves. Xingyue didn’t dare use empty words like saying their sacrifices were all meaningful, but these were inevitable sacrifices.
If Wansui and his group had succeeded in their plan, millions of times more people would have died meaninglessly.