Autumn Mountain Yawata let out a sigh of regret as he watched two depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds leave the cannon, whistling towards the Void Realm Behemoth that was stabilizing the spatial gate: “What a… pity!”
Of course, he wasn't pitying the Void Realm Behemoth, but the grand ancient city ruins below.
On Lumina Planet, there were indeed many Lumina cities from the classical era, most of which still served as functional cities.
However, when it came to architectural wonders of ancient cities, there was truly only this one left.
This city, nestled among mountains and built relying on canyons and woodlands, was indeed full of astonishing ingenuity.
The towers, Corridors, and sky plazas built upon rugged mountains and towering rock walls were even more breathtaking.
It was truly hard to imagine how the Lumina people, who had only just entered the early monarchical era before the Explorers from Earth and the Empire arrived, managed to construct such buildings.
Unfortunately, the Sero Royal Family had their bloodline cut off during the era of colonizer arrival and the chaos of Imperial rule, and the ancient texts recorded in early methods were almost entirely lost, making it difficult to even restore the true history.
Now, the only witness to that royal family's existence, and the only ancient city on this planet listed as a material heritage of universal civilization by the Galactic Civilization Council, was also about to face its demise.
Autumn Mountain Yawata watched this scene, his heart filled with melancholy.
This was understandable; anyone with normal values and basic Driving would feel somewhat heavy-hearted seeing a civilizational relic destroyed in an instant.
On such a battlefield where a civilization was about to be destroyed, he and his comrades naturally didn't notice the relic that had already fallen nearby.
In such a world-destroying scene, a mere half-head indeed seemed as tiny as a speck of dust.
Even without activating any mystical extraordinary power, it would truly be difficult to detect.
However, though she was tiny, she clearly transmitted her will into the soul of the Void Realm Behemoth.
“You are not allowed to leave! By the will of your old master, you are not allowed to leave! This is your contract!”
The Behemoth's movements seemed to slow down slightly, showing clear hesitation.
“Open your spirit! I am the successor of the Old Ones; you must obey my will!”
The Void Realm Behemoth began to tremble slightly.
However, his body was too enormous; even such a subtle movement was like a mountain collapsing.
“Open your soul! Open your spiritual treasure house!” Seeing that the Myriad-Headed Beast was still hesitating, she simply added several miraculous Words of Power to her will transmission.
The Void Realm Behemoth's movements were like an electric shock, trembling even more noticeably, and even showing a rather obvious pause.
The anomaly, with only half a head remaining, was still not satisfied.
She could feel the other party's hesitation and reluctance, as well as a very painful struggle.
It was unwilling to open its spirit, and even unwilling to obey her command to stay.
However, for an anomaly moving at near light speed, such a standstill was already enough.
The anomaly had fallen, opening its mouth, which also only had half remaining, yet like a reanimated zombie, it bit into one of the Void Realm Behemoth's outstretched tentacles.
Life force, cellular vitality, and surging energy from the Void Realm, like a suddenly surging river encountering a floodgate, poured out freely and flowed into the anomaly's “body.”
Attacked in this manner, the Myriad-Headed Beast finally stopped its movements, like a zebra pushed to a dead end by its natural predator, mournfully lowering its tentacles and completely giving up resistance.
Even the dimensional light gate that was opening step by step stopped opening.
Amidst the spatial ripples, the halo seemed to be gradually extinguishing.
And at this critical juncture, a descending kinetic armor-piercing projectile, like a steel nail bullet piercing through cloth, instantly penetrated the Behemoth's body.
The next moment, a fierce shockwave erupted directly from within the Behemoth's body.
It was like the sound of a blade tearing through flesh and bone, amplified ten thousand times, exploding directly above the ruins of this ancient city.
A large portion of the Myriad-Headed Behemoth's main body, including dozens of tentacles, was severed by this internal shockwave, and like a collapsing tall building, it crashed onto the ruins of Sero Ancient City with a rumble, once again causing tremors that spread for hundreds of miles, as if the Earth's axis was tearing apart.
No one noticed that a tiny, almost invisible anomaly was still attached to the limbs that fell to the ground.
If a normal creature were deprived of at least one-third of its body, it would surely be dead by now.
However, the Myriad-Headed Beast seemed to suddenly drop some heavy burden, and its consciousness instantly recovered.
It tore open the dimensional light gate that was about to close again, and tried to squeeze inside with movements completely unsuited to its massive body.
But at this moment, the shock bombs and high-temperature incendiary bombs poured down from the Corsica also all fell.
Sero Ancient City, and everything on it, was once again engulfed in air currents and flames that were invisible to the naked eye.
“...That's strange, that guy just now seemed to pause for a moment.
Was it my illusion?” Elinore looked suspiciously at the explosion on the ground, intently observing the light gate.
Unfortunately, the dimensional light gate was also covered by the explosion.
With ordinary human eyesight, it was impossible to see clearly.
“You didn't see wrong.
That guy did have a brief pause… Because of that, I can confirm that our attack just now caused it even more damage than all previous attacks combined,” Autumn Mountain Yawata said.
“Reason,” Elinore said concisely.
Autumn Mountain Yawata pushed up his glasses, not speaking immediately.
“Isn't finding the reason your staff department's job, Lieutenant Autumn Mountain?” Elinore said.
“...The Commander is right.
However, this humble officer is just an ordinary person, and even as a well-read enthusiast of mysticism, I know that the situation just now is basically impossible to be recorded in books,” Lieutenant Autumn Mountain Yawata said earnestly, “So, you can privately ask the real expert.
This humble officer believes he will definitely tell you everything.”
Elinore glanced at the other party, always feeling that his words seemed to carry a very obvious malice, but since she couldn't find any evidence, she decided to note it down in her small notebook.
“Immediately check for life and psionic reactions, and prepare for landing!” Elinore began to order.
“Also prepare thermobaric bombs,” Yahata explained, “The battle has progressed far enough; the next step is to prevent forest fires.
Sero Ancient City is certainly unsalvageable, but at least we can't destroy this large forest too.
This humble officer estimates that Commander Paris has already prepared to deal with external public opinion, but if we can lessen his burden even a little, that would be excellent.”
Elinore nodded, feeling that this guy had finally said something sensible this time.
Soon, radar showed that the Myriad-Headed Beast's trace could no longer be found on the ground.
Whether it was blown to smithereens by the bombs or escaped back into the Void Realm, for them, it was definitely a victory.
More importantly, the cultists and Lumina Rebels in the ancient city should have been completely wiped out.
This battle would surely lay the foundation for peace and stability in Lumina, and even the entire Far Shore Star Region, for over a decade.
...Over a decade would already be very good.
After all, cults are not common, but Lumina Rebels are.
Whether this planet can enjoy long-term peace and stability often depends not on military calculations but on political ones.
Moreover, the Earth Central Government never expected these unruly Lumina people to truly integrate into the Commonwealth society.
They were always rebelling even during the Imperial rule, so why would you think you could surpass the Empire?
A decade of stability is enough.
Governments would have changed once or twice by then, which would be considered one of the brilliant achievements of the current government; what more could one ask for?
For now, let's not discuss how everyone in the material world was cleaning up, but rather the Myriad-Headed Beast that had just returned to the Void Realm.
Although it had lost one-third of its body, and had just had a considerable amount of life force and vitality drained by that anomaly, at least it was still alive!
The place it was now in was a small floating island.
It was neither near water nor suspended in the sky.
Everything around was gray and hazy, with no living creatures visible, nor blue skies, white clouds, sunlight, or the moon, sun, and stars at night.
Here, there seemed to be nothing.
Thus, both matter and spirit fell into a state of stagnation, and even time and space seemed to lose their meaning.
However, this did not mean it was safe here.
The Myriad-Headed Beast knew very well that behind the distant gray mist, there were countless powerful existences hidden within.
They… no, They, some were in millennia-long slumber, some lurked in their habitats secretly observing everything in the Void Realm and the Present world, while others wandered aimlessly in the void.
Weaker ones couldn't even sense Their existence.
However, the Myriad-Headed Beast knew very well that powerful beings like itself, yet not powerful enough to pose a threat to those existences, were Their favorite gifts.
I am the prey… Otherwise, why would Count Salwen impose such a contract?
The Myriad-Headed Beast's intelligence ceiling prevented it from having the concept of self-mockery, but it was still capable of experiencing sorrowful emotions.
But even so, it had no time to hide in its hole and cry.
It lay prostrate in the crevices of the floating island's rocks, trying to disguise itself as a pile of vines.
It breathed in a slow, almost inaudible rhythm, extracting energy from the Void Realm, slowly nurturing its body.
Someone was indeed right.
Its current state was too conspicuous in the Void Realm, and it had to heal itself as quickly as possible.
It even retracted its outwardly extended mental power, completely pretending to be dead.
What's that saying again? When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
This principle is actually universal in the Void Realm.
In this gray and cruel world, all creatures can be prey, and all can become Hunters, even the most powerful existences are no exception.
Here, there is only one way to live the longest… to endure, to endure with all sorts of ingenious and miraculous methods!
At this moment, a figure appeared from behind the mountains.
He hesitated, then cautiously walked to a spot less than a hundred meters from the Myriad-Headed Beast, paused, then deliberated for a moment before slowly approaching a few more steps.
Until this moment, the Myriad-Headed Beast still showed no movement.
This figure, who was Flores Wanda, the leader of the Wanling Sect, finally relaxed.
Sect Leader Wanda looked at the surrounding gray mist, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a scarlet crystal from his pocket.
He gazed at the scarlet crystal in his hand with reluctance, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions, longing and sadness, as if a truly disgusting fat otaku was looking at his SSR waifu card he'd pulled after spending a month's living expenses.
Fortunately, Mr. Sect Leader was still a remarkable person after all; although the internal struggle was difficult, it ultimately did not last too long.
He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and forcibly crushed the crystal in his hand.
This crystal, which looked very ominous, shattered, but nothing seemed to happen.
Wanda, however, breathed a sigh of relief.
Didn't the fact that nothing happened prove success?
Because there should only be him here, Sect Leader Wanda even clenched his fists and swayed in place for a bit, then gave himself a cheering gesture before stepping towards the Myriad-Headed Beast, which had disguised itself as a vine in the crevice.
About five or six meters from the target, he suddenly accelerated, flashed in front of the beast, and grabbed one of its tentacles with both hands.
He had already completed the construction of the Life-Death Reversal Array in his sea of consciousness, and now directly slapped it onto the beast's body.
Gloomy death energy instantly permeated the Myriad-Headed Beast's body, eroding towards its soul core step by step.
The Void Realm Behemoth was greatly alarmed, but by then, it was too late to counterattack or even defend.
It felt its body instantly fall into a cold paralysis, unable to move.
Its remaining strength partly needed to hide itself, partly to heal its severe injuries, leaving it no power to resist the invader's corrosion.
This was truly a turning point!
Sect Leader Wanda couldn't help but exclaim.
A certain elder in the organization needed the Spirit Core Crystal after the Myriad-Headed Beast was completely destroyed; as long as he presented it, he would surely gain more favor from the big shots.
Additionally, although this Myriad-Headed Beast was severely injured, it was still a Disaster-level Behemoth.
As long as he devoured its life force, he might even be able to break through to the next Star Ring.
And who knew what else a dead Myriad-Headed Beast might drop? After all, this was the Guardian of the legacy left by Count Salwen!
...Once I reach Six Rings, the big shots should be willing to team up with me to raid the Void Realm, right?
Compared to that, losing the Wanling Sect and being branded a terrorist by the Commonwealth, what did that matter?
Sect Leader Wanda's heart burned with renewed professional ambition!
Thus, his movements became even faster; not only did he continue to maintain the Life-Death Reversal Array, but he also opened a Blood-Sucking Spell.
For a Five Rings psionic master like him, simultaneously casting two psionic spells was certainly nothing, but it would put a heavier burden on his psionics and spirit.
But with success just one step away, he couldn't afford to consider such things.
Sect Leader Wanda's heart continued to burn, but just as he revealed a fervent smile, the expression froze on his face.
He suddenly saw that the “rookie” who had almost taken everything from him today, and who was said to have only awakened a year ago, had appeared before him at some unknown point, looking at him with great interest.
“Oh, busy, are we?” Yu Lian greeted Sect Leader Wanda, who was simultaneously casting two psionic spells, and praised, “Casting two spells at once to drain others' essence—that kind of dedication is something I must learn…”
