Looking into Aemdo's golden eyes, seeing the seriousness and firmness within them, even Jing Yuan found it absurd, because he was absolutely certain that Aemdo was not lying.
Everything he did, everything he said, all of it came from his true intentions.
They say warfare thrives on deception, yet Aemdo was a strange opponent, strange to the point of being astonishing.
Jing Yuan shook his head. There was no longer any need for further arrangements. Before coming here for this final battle, he had already prepared everything. Now was the time to fight with full strength.
Golden lightning flickered and surged, the power granted by the Hunt shining once more. The massive divine body of the Divine General enveloped Jing Yuan. The Divine Foresight General responded in a commanding voice,
"Before coming here, I had already arranged everything."
"I see. Then, please allow me to send all of you into the mirrored world."
As Aemdo spoke, everyone suddenly felt the environment around them begin to change. The universe and starry sky rapidly flipped, and a strange dizziness surged into their minds.
But after a few seconds, the discomfort quickly faded. When they raised their heads, they saw what seemed like the same cavern as before.
However, if they looked ahead, they would notice that along the edges of the Jianmu roots and tendrils, there were now many bloodstains that hadn't been there before.
Those were left behind when Aemdo killed the other Mirror Holders.
He had once used those roots as execution racks, fixing the Mirror Holders onto them, then piercing them through with a single strike of his sword.
"Alright," Aemdo said. "This is the mirrored world. Here, you may fight freely without worrying about your power harming the Xianzhou Luofu."
As he spoke, behind him, Phantylia, still burning in flames and restrained, had already begun to move. Her massive divine body approached the Divine General, the two colossal beings facing each other.
At this moment, Phantylia's form looked extremely strange. In the mirrored world, she seemed like two souls bound together, unable to separate yet unable to act in unison.
Two massive bodies clung together, pulling against each other like some kind of gelatinous creature.
It was unclear what Phantylia felt at this moment, but being controlled like this surely wasn't pleasant.
Especially for someone like her, a Lord Ravager skilled in manipulating minds and driving others to destruction.
What Aemdo was doing now was like striking directly at the area she was most proud of and best at, dealing mental damage to her that was likely no less than what Nero had inflicted.
Finally, Aemdo turned to look at Nero. His expression was serious, his posture upright in his silver armor as he raised the sword in his hand.
With Phantylia restraining the others, he could now carry out the battle in the way he believed it should be.
Holding to his principles, Aemdo called out toward Nero, who had stepped forward after the others moved away, "Nero, I challenge you to a duel!"
Crack!
Almost the instant his words fell, a bolt of lightning, or some high-energy stream resembling lightning, suddenly streaked across the star-filled sky.
Like a massive dragon, it carried overwhelming force as it coiled between the stars. Its cold, dazzling glow seemed to drain all color from the cavern in a single moment.
Half of Nero's face was lit with solemn brilliance, while the other half was cast in shadow. Within the cracks covering his body, a faint dark purple glow pulsed, with countless points of light drifting inside, as if another slowly turning starry sky was contained within him...
The next instant, a fierce wind erupted. A pitch-black tornado stretched from sky to ground. Countless bolts of lightning roared and exploded with power.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly shattered, then began to crumble and rise upward, turning into swelling clouds.
In the very next moment, a crushing pressure descended upon everyone... as if the sky itself had collapsed.