Welt watched her leave before stepping into the now-empty Party Car.
The soft ambient lighting was still on.
His sharp gaze swept over every corner; the seats were tidy, with no trace of a second person or any forgotten items.
(She left so quickly, and... cleaned up very thoroughly.)
Welt walked up to the bar counter and sat down on a high stool.
He didn't order immediately, instead quietly watching "shut up," as if trying to discern something.
"shut up" maintained its standard standby posture, showing no abnormalities.
After a long moment, Welt slowly spoke, his voice low but carrying a hint of imperceptible scrutiny:
"Just now..."
"Besides Passenger March 7th..."
"Who else was here?"
Perspective shift.
During the final confrontation with Kevin, Black Herta watched as Jack gradually faltered under Kevin's fierce assault. She did not rush to join the battle, instead analyzing the situation calmly like an observer.
She observed Kevin's determination to stop them here at all costs, rapidly integrating fragmented information captured by the system after infiltrating the Paradise, abnormal data streams concerning the "crystal flower," and the various illogical actions of the Flame-Chasers.
(The crystal flower... the carrier and key to Remembrance... not used for defense, but for... "Awakening" and "Reconstruction"?)
A bold hypothesis formed in her mind.
She raised her hand, gently batting away a sheet of sweeping Karma Fire. Her voice pierced the roar of the explosion, clearly reaching Kevin's ears:
"crystal flower"
These three words caused a barely perceptible pause in Kevin's movements.
Black Herta's thoughts connected all the clues in a flash of lightning, and she continued speaking with that all-knowing tone:
"Four in total... You intend to use the Remembrance sealed within them to bring Elysia back? To let her reappear in the form of the Herrscher of Human? This is the plan you are carrying out, gathering the power and consciousness of most of the Flame-Chasers here, even risking overloading Eternitys Elysium?"
"As expected..."
Black Herta chuckled. "This is your plan, placing all your hope and bets on one person."
Kevin did not reply, but his silence and the sudden burst of power were the most direct response.
The surrounding temperature soared wildly. Blazing flames capable of incinerating everything swept forth, accompanied by his bone-chilling voice:
"Judgment of Shamash—Incineration!"
A devastating explosion and blaze swallowed the location of Black Herta, turning it into an inferno.
At the same time, Jack, who was already barely holding on, was violently thrown away, crashing into a condensed ice cliff in the distance before dissipating.
Concurrently, Kevin's body underwent a terrifying transformation—he entered the Artificial Collapse: MANTIS Form.
Although he maintained a basic human shape, dark patterns and keratin appeared on his body, as if the Karma Fire of the abyss were burning inside him.
What he held was the strongest form of the Judgment of Shamash—extinction, whose very existence resembled an imminent supernova.
More astonishingly, with MANTIS Kevin's full power unleashed, endless extreme cold spread wildly from his center, instantly freezing the burning inferno.
The flames were frozen the moment they burned, forming a burning ice field. This scene of ultimate contradiction displayed his terrifying power sufficient to control Deliverance.
However, Black Herta's voice still came steadily from the center of that ice and fire inferno:
"What a pity. Your plan was built on a flawed foundation from the very beginning."
After all, she wasn't the corruption at all!
Her figure reappeared amidst the distorted heat waves and solid ice.
"Because 'Elysia'... cannot come back."
This statement, like a final judgment, completely ignited all the emotions suppressed within Kevin.
Responding to her were MANTIS Kevin's flames, intending to incinerate everything, and the volcanic, surging rage hidden beneath his silence!
"Heh..."
Black Herta seemed satisfied with having provoked him. Immediately, her voice became ethereal and grandiose:
"What a farce."
Before the words even fell, an aura that made the entire Eternitys Elysium tremble descended with a crash!
Black Herta's figure suddenly warped amidst the sky-high flames and ten thousand feet of freezing ice!
This aura did not originate from the MANTIS's frenzy, nor the absolute stillness of the extreme cold, but something far more ultimate—"Destruction."
Whether it was Kevin, transformed into a MANTIS mid-air, or Eden and Aponia, who had been observing the battlefield from deep within the space, all clearly felt this will at this moment.
It was the materialization of the law that caused countless worlds and myriad beings to fear and march toward ruin.
"It's time to end this."
Thump!
Thump!
...Everyone heard it.
The next moment, amidst the sky-high frozen flames and hundreds of feet of freezing ice, a non-human entity descended.
Its form was colossal, large enough to blot out the sky and sun. A gigantic purple witchs hat seemed to be the dome of this space, and countless purple halos, resembling Cruciform Starbursts, encircled the brim.
Its main body was composed of a non-human mechanical frame, predominantly black, with a massive, slowly pulsating purple diamond core embedded in the center.
Several non-human arms unfolded on either side of the body. The upper half of its face was obscured by deep darkness, leaving only the lower half of a purple, solid countenance visible.
Long gray hair was scattered like a galaxy, cascading behind and to the sides.
Around her, countless black humanoids silently appeared, like heralds born alongside Destruction. They possessed no consciousness, only the pure command of "Destruction."
The entire space of Eternitys Elysium violently trembled under the pressure of this existence, letting out groans of unbearable strain.
In the distance, Aponia, who had been praying with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through fate. She gazed at the colossal entity that had replaced the sky and, with an undisguised tremor in her voice, whispered to Eden beside her:
"This isn't the corruption... Eden. This is... Destruction itself..."
However, MANTIS Kevin, situated at the center of the battlefield, facing an aura that matched or even surpassed that of the Finality Herrscher, no longer cared what the opponent truly was.
His conviction, his promise, his fifty thousand years of obsession—all were condensed into this single sword strike.
(No matter what kind of existence lies ahead... the path must not be cut off here!)
The extinction, tightly gripped in his right hand, sensed its master's resolute will, and the sword's light grew increasingly terrifying, seemingly devouring all surrounding light and heat.
Kevin unleashed all the power in his body, along with the frozen flames and absolute cold, in a single slash!
BANG—!!!!
The flames that incinerated everything burst forth again, instantly covering the vast body of Destruction. The light was so intense it seemed capable of completely purifying the entire Eternitys Elysium!
However, after the light faded, what greeted Kevin was not the enemy's defeat, but black humanoids surging forward like a black tide!
They roared silently, carrying the pure will of "Destruction," rushing one after another toward the lone warrior wielding his sword and charging at Destruction itself... The tide swallowed the MANTIS's figure.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!