'What happened to my ultimate attack?'
'How did it end up in his hand?'
'What kind of ridiculous ability is this? Stealing things?'
'Is this really how battles between Emanators are fought?!'
Phantylia's eyes burned with humiliation and fury as they remained locked onto the sphere of energy resting in Lucian's hand, the radiant orb overflowing with the unmistakable aura of Destruction. Even from a distance, she could clearly sense that the terrifying power contained within it hadn't diminished in the slightest.
At this moment, she felt as though the worldview she had painstakingly built over thousands of years was collapsing piece by piece before her very eyes.
Every single one of Lucian's abilities was more unreasonable and more absurd than the last.
Clearly, this wasn't merely cheating anymore, but outright hacking.
Lucian casually weighed the restless 'miniature sun' in his palm, watching the violent energy swirling endlessly within the blazing orb with mild interest. The concentrated Destruction energy constantly churned and compressed itself, threatening to erupt at any moment, yet it remained completely obedient within his grasp.
After observing it for a moment, Lucian realized that the energy was actually remarkably pure.
Phantylia had done a pretty good job.
"Looks like you don't like catching blades with your bare hands, so let's play a different game. Here, you can have it back. Catch."
As soon as those words left Lucian's mouth, Phantylia turned around and fled without the slightest hesitation.
Catch it?
Only an idiot would catch it!
If she didn't run now, when would she?
"You can keep it yourself! I'm done playing with you!"
In the blink of an eye, Phantylia had already escaped far into the distance, pushing her speed to its absolute limit without daring to look back. Her figure transformed into a streak of golden-green light as she tore across the space, desperately trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Lucian.
Lucian merely smiled before lightly flicking his wrist and activating Absolute Hit on the orb resting in his palm.
In the next instant, the miniature sun that had originally belonged to Phantylia suddenly seemed to come alive. As though guided by an invisible will, it instantly changed direction without the slightest loss of momentum before shooting after its original owner at an even greater speed, tearing through space like a blazing comet.
'What? No!'
Feeling that something was terribly wrong, Phantylia instinctively looked back, and her pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.
No one understood the terrifying power of that attack better than she did.
It was the culmination of her own Destruction authority, condensed into a single devastating strike. If it struck her head-on, the body she had painstakingly refined over countless years would be completely vaporized in less than one ten-thousandth of a second, leaving behind not even a single speck of ash.
Phantylia frantically accelerated again and again, repeatedly changing direction in an attempt to shake off the blazing orb behind her.
Unfortunately, it was all in vain.
No matter how she dodged, no matter how unpredictably she maneuvered, the miniature sun pursued her relentlessly, as though it possessed perfect tracking and had already locked onto her very existence, refusing to let her escape under any circumstances.
*BOOOM!!*
In the end, the energy of Destruction caught up to Phantylia, struck her squarely, and erupted with its full power.
A blinding white light instantly swallowed the entire battlefield, drowning out everything else in existence as the concentrated Destruction energy erupted outward in all directions, while an unimaginably violent shockwave swept across the battlefield like an apocalyptic tidal wave determined to erase everything in its path.
"Kyaaa!"
Tingyun let out a frightened scream and instinctively wrapped both arms tightly around Lucian's arm before burying her face against his chest, her fluffy fox ears flattening tightly against her head.
"Wah! Lord Lucian, are we going to get blown away?!"
However, the expected shockwave and scorching heat never reached them.
Lucian merely raised a hand with complete indifference, and an invisible barrier effortlessly enveloped the starskiff they were in, acting as an absolute boundary separating two different worlds. No matter how violently the Destruction energy raged outside or how fiercely the shockwaves battered against it, not even the slightest ripple appeared upon the barrier.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!!"
From the very center of the explosion came Phantylia's agonized scream, filled with pain, rage, and utter disbelief.
Ten seconds later, the blinding light finally began to fade, gradually revealing the aftermath of the devastating blast.
Phantylia's incomparably beautiful body had vanished without leaving behind even the slightest trace. Floating where she had once stood was a cluster of golden-green flames no larger than a basketball, with nothing but a pair of eyes suspended within the fire.
Needless to say, that was Phantylia's true form.
A heliobus.
A spirit of flame.
An energy lifeform born during the ancient era of the universe.
"My body... It's gone again... LUCIAN! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOUUU—!!!"
Phantylia trembled violently as she released a roar overflowing with hatred, resentment, and utter humiliation.
"You're still yapping even when you're about to die?"
Lucian calmly teleported in front of Phantylia with Tingyun in his embrace, then extended one hand before slowly curling his fingers inward.
In that instant, countless delicate strands of white, red, and green light materialized from thin air.
Each thread shimmered with the authority of a different Path as they intertwined seamlessly, weaving themselves into an enormous spiderweb that descended upon Phantylia. Layer after layer, the luminous strands wrapped themselves around the struggling flames, tightening with flawless precision until there wasn't the slightest gap left through which she could escape.
Moments later, the countless strands contracted and condensed into an exquisitely crafted cage-like seal, no larger than a birdcage, before gently descending into Lucian's waiting hand.
"You actually are... No way... an Emanator of three Paths? Impossible! How could you have become the Emanator of three Aeons?!"
Phantylia was completely dumbfounded.
Although the ball of flames that now constituted her body no longer possessed a face capable of displaying expressions, the overwhelming shock reflected within her blazing eyes revealed just how utterly unbelievable the truth before her truly was.
She had never imagined that Lucian simultaneously possessed the Emanator authority of three different Paths. Compared to someone like him, she wasn't even qualified to stand upon the same stage.
What made the realization even more infuriating was that he had clearly possessed enough power to kill her instantly from the very beginning, yet he had deliberately toyed with her throughout the entire battle, allowing her to believe she still had a chance.
Pretending to be weak while hiding his true strength, he had completely pulled it off.
"Hmph, that's not something a prisoner should be asking. Once I've broken you in, you'll find out."
Lucian casually tossed the tiny cage up and down in his hand, genuinely treating Phantylia's true form like a pet canary kept for his amusement.
Inside the cage, the golden-green flames surged violently from one side to another. Phantylia repeatedly crashed against the glowing bars in a desperate attempt to escape, but the seal didn't even tremble, as though her desperate resistance amounted to nothing more than a light breeze.
It was only natural.
How could an Emanator of Destruction possibly break free from restraints forged through the combined Emanator power of three separate Paths?
"Let me go, Lucian! Fight me fair and square if you've got the guts! What kind of Emanator relies on dirty tricks like this?!"
"Shameless! Despicable! Hiding your strength just to launch a sneak attack!"
"*****!"
Phantylia cursed without the slightest restraint, one colorful insult after another pouring out in an endless torrent, her furious voice echoing continuously from within the tiny cage.
A Lord Ravager accusing someone else of being despicable?
Of launching sneak attacks?
Of relying on dirty tricks?
Tingyun certainly had something to say about that.
"What gives you the right to criticize my benefactor? If he hadn't seen through your schemes and stayed on guard, I would've already been killed by you."
Looking at the Lord Ravager trapped inside the tiny cage, Tingyun still found the entire scene surreal.
Only moments ago, Phantylia had seemed like an invincible existence standing high above all living beings, casually deciding life and death with a flick of her hand. Yet now, that same arrogant and seemingly untouchable Lord Ravager had been captured alive by Lucian and reduced to a furious ball of flames locked inside a tiny cage.
The unbelievable sight even gave Tingyun enough courage to openly complain to an Emanator without the slightest fear.
By now, the admiration in Tingyun's eyes as she looked at Lucian had already evolved into genuine reverence.
Lucian lightly shook the cage in his hand while listening to Phantylia's endless stream of curses, an annoyed look gradually appearing on his face.
"Still won't give in? You've got a pretty stubborn mouth, huh?"
"Give in? I give in to your bullshit! Lucian! Just you wait! Once the Ruin Author notices this, THEY will descend personally and burn you and everything you cherish into ashes! I'm the Ruin Author's trusted subordinate! Just wait for Nanook's wrath!"
The more Phantylia shouted, the fiercer and more hysterical she became.
As an Emanator of Destruction, having an Aeon standing behind her had always been the greatest source of her confidence.
No matter how powerful Lucian was, could he really stand against an Aeon?
"Oh? You trying to scare me with Nanook?"
Lucian smiled, though the smile carried a meaning that was difficult to read.
Strangely, there wasn't the slightest hint of fear in his expression. If anything, he seemed mildly amused.
"In that case, let's see whether THEY'll come save you themselves."
With that, Lucian activated Omnisteal on Phantylia once more.
Honestly, he wasn't entirely certain whether Nanook even cared about a relatively unimportant Emanator like Phantylia, but to be on the safe side, he decided to squeeze every last bit of value out of her before anything unexpected could happen.
Lucian's previous use of Omnisteal had stolen one of Phantylia's ultimate attacks, so within the next year, he could still steal from her nine more times. Since the opportunity was already right in front of him, there was no reason to let it go to waste. He might as well see what else he could obtain.
One...
Two...
Three...
Phantylia's energy...
Phantylia's intelligence...
Phantylia's vitality...
One after another, translucent orbs of different colors floated into Lucian's hand before quietly dissolving into his body.
Even though none of them were particularly valuable in his eyes, Lucian accepted every single one without the slightest hesitation.
Free loot was still free loot, after all.
By the time the eighth steal had been completed, only the final opportunity remained.
However, Lucian didn't activate Omnisteal immediately this time. Instead, he activated Sham Diviner and calmly performed a divination for himself.
[Sham Diviner: Mastery of every form of divination, but the result is always wrong and forcibly alters reality accordingly. Its actual effectiveness varies depending on the scale of causality involved and the user's own level of power.]
'Can the next use of Omnisteal steal Phantylia's Emanator status?'
Lucian had never tested whether something like an Emanator's status itself could be stolen, but since he happened to have a captured Lord Ravager today, she made the perfect test subject. He wanted to determine whether Omnisteal could seize something that transcended ordinary attributes and abilities.
However, there was one problem: its randomness.
Lucian wasn't particularly confident in his own luck.
Fortunately, Sham Diviner perfectly compensated for that weakness.
At the moment, Lucian possessed the Emanator authority of three Paths, while the target of the divination was merely an Emanator of Destruction. Given the enormous gulf separating the two, Sham Diviner's ability to forcibly alter reality naturally displayed an exceptionally powerful effect.
Sure enough, after calmly calculating the result on his fingers, the divination reached its conclusion: 'You cannot steal Phantylia's Emanator status.'
However, once the outcome was reversed by Sham Diviner, the result instantly became: 'You can steal Phantylia's Emanator status.'
Satisfied with the result, Lucian no longer hesitated and calmly activated his final use of Omnisteal on Phantylia.
Just as expected, the label floating above the last glowing orb clearly read: 'Phantylia's Emanator Status.'
"What are you doing?"
Watching Lucian repeatedly gesture toward her, Phantylia increasingly felt as though pieces of herself were constantly disappearing, causing an indescribable sense of dread to well up inside her. Strangely, it felt as though something incomparably precious was about to leave her forever.
Ten seconds later, Omnisteal finally completed its process.
In that instant, Phantylia's eyes widened in horror as she discovered that the crystal-clear connection between herself and the Path of Destruction—the sacred bond she had once controlled as naturally as her own limbs—had been completely severed.
Not weakened.
Not suppressed.
But completely severed.
Now, she could no longer sense the boundless power of Destruction.
Nor could she hear the faint resonance of the Path.
Nor could she draw even the slightest fragment of an Emanator's power from the Path of Destruction any longer.
Everything had disappeared.
Now, the overwhelming sensation she felt was as though she had been thrown from the summit of heaven straight into the deepest abyss, falling endlessly into absolute darkness without the slightest hope of escape.
Phantylia knew exactly what that meant.
It meant she was no longer an Emanator of Destruction and had been completely abandoned by Nanook.
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]