After saying that, Diamond's gaze finally shifted away from Jing Yuan. It swept across Feixiao, Huaiyan, and Yaoguang seated at either side of the hall, before returning once more to Jing Yuan.
"Right now, four Arbiter-Generals of the Reignbow are gathered on the Luofu."
"Each of the four generals is an Emanator of the Hunt. Each possesses power capable of laying waste to heaven and earth."
His voice suddenly dropped.
"If this intelligence is important enough… then with all four generals here, can they not make a decision on behalf of the Alliance?"
Faced with the IPC executive's sudden demand, the Xianzhou side fell silent for a moment.
After a pause, Jing Yuan was the first to speak.
"Mr. Diamond, you are correct."
"With four Arbiter-Generals gathered here, we certainly can make certain decisions on behalf of the Alliance."
"But the premise is this…"
He fixed Diamond with a steady gaze, his tone calm and measured.
"The intelligence your company provides must be worth making such a decision for."
"So, Mr. Diamond, speak."
"What exactly has the company learned about the Nihility Witch?"
Diamond smiled faintly.
"General Jing Yuan, and the rest of you as well—I assume you all still remember the company's livestream from not long ago?"
A brief silence fell over the Seat of Divine Foresight.
The expressions on the generals' faces shifted in subtle ways.
Of course they knew about that stream.
How could they not know about the Nihility Witch openly defying Qlipoth?
Not only did they know—they had even convened a meeting about it afterward, and privately mocked the IPC for it.
The generals exchanged brief glances before looking away again.
At last Jing Yuan spoke.
"Mr. Diamond, the Alliance naturally remembers that broadcast."
"But what does it have to do with the intelligence you claim to have now?"
Diamond continued smoothly, "Before the company's operation on Penacony, we already possessed information regarding Kallen Kaslana."
The air inside the Seat of Divine Foresight immediately froze.
Jing Yuan's brows lifted slightly as his gaze sharpened.
"The company already knew about the Nihility Witch before the Penacony operation?"
That genuinely caught him off guard.
After all, not just after the Cangcheng matter came to light—even back when the company's stream had aired—the Xianzhou Alliance had already tried to gather information on that witch.
And the result had been obvious enough: they had found nothing.
Meeting Jing Yuan's gaze, Diamond remained completely composed.
"That's correct."
Jing Yuan followed up at once.
"Then I'm curious. Where did the company's information come from?"
Diamond resumed in an even, elegant tone.
"General Jing Yuan, the company's intelligence sources are usually secrets among secrets."
"But today, with four generals gathered here, and with us discussing a matter concerning the safety of the entire galaxy, I can make an exception."
"The one who provided me with the information was a Lord Ravager of the Destruction…"
He lifted his eyes and looked straight at Jing Yuan.
"Kiana Kaslana."
"Well then, General Jing Yuan—does that name sound familiar to you?"
Jing Yuan was inwardly startled.
Familiar?
It was far more than that.
Not long ago, that very Lord Ravager named Kiana Kaslana had caused no small amount of chaos on the Luofu itself.
But before Jing Yuan could respond, Diamond went on.
"And according to the intelligence in my possession, that Lord Ravager Kiana Kaslana, together with her mother Cecilia—an Emanator of the Abundance—"
"It seems the two of them appeared on the Luofu together not long ago, and even stirred up quite a number of incidents?"
This time, Diamond was referring to Cecilia once having used the Omniscient Inquiry Array.
After all, it had been through that very event—and Nous's intervention—that the Xianzhou Alliance had first made contact with the truth of Cangcheng.
Back then, even some of the company's agents had witnessed those scenes on the Luofu.
Jing Yuan, however, clearly had no intention of continuing down that line of discussion. His expression did not change, but his meaning was unmistakable.
"Mr. Diamond, I think you're saying a bit too much."
"You've already said what you wished to say, and what needed to be said, regarding Cangcheng, the welcome celebration, and the alliance."
"Now…"
"Stop beating around the bush. Whatever you want to say about the Nihility Witch, say it directly."
Diamond gave a bitter smile, though he did not object.
"General Jing Yuan is admirably straightforward. Very well, then—I won't circle around it any longer."
"The source of the information truly was Kiana Kaslana."
"The Lord Ravager of Destruction. Cecilia's daughter. The one who caused quite a stir on the Luofu."
"According to Miss Kiana's own account, around ten Amber Eras ago, she once fought the Nihility Witch, Kallen Kaslana."
"And by Miss Kiana's own telling, the reason she was gravely wounded and fell into dormancy until only recently awakening…"
"…was because she had been attacked by the Nihility Witch."
At that, the expressions of the assembled generals changed again.
This, at least, was something they had not known.
But Diamond kept speaking.
"Still, now that I've gotten this far, I imagine the generals have already noticed that something about this is off."
"I don't know why this Lord Ravager and the Nihility Witch came to blows back then."
"But one question has troubled me for a long time…"
"Why do they both bear the surname Kaslana?"
As Diamond's words fell, the generals exchanged another brief glance.
"…Kaslana," Feixiao was the first to speak, her tone edged with amusement.
"Mr. Diamond, are you suggesting that the two of them might be connected in some way?"
Diamond inclined his head slightly.
"I'm merely presenting a fact. As for how that fact ought to be interpreted, that is for the generals to decide."
"But in my view, identical surnames need not be a coincidence—especially not among existences of this level."
That was true.
Neither the IPC nor the Xianzhou Alliance could possibly treat this as coincidence.
And precisely because of that, it was even stranger.
Kiana was one thing—her surname was her own matter. She could just as well have taken her mother's surname and been called Kiana Schariac.
But why did it have to be Kaslana?
After all, the Nihility Witch was not human. She had been born from Qlipoth's shell.
There was no possibility of "taking her father's surname."
Which meant that the name Kallen Kaslana could only have been chosen by Kallen herself.
And that made it even more absurd.
Why would she choose a surname at all—and why one that happened to match that of the Lord Ravager?
In truth, the Xianzhou Alliance had already noticed this issue regarding Kiana and Kallen's surname.
Originally, they had intended to wait until the welcome celebrations concluded before approaching Kiana herself for answers. After all, given the current relationship between the Alliance and Cecilia, asking a few questions ought not to have been difficult.
Yet now the company had raised it first.
And not only that—they had also brought with them the revelation that Kiana and Kallen had fought a great battle in the distant past.
That left the Xianzhou side even more uncertain.
Yaoguang in particular looked utterly baffled.
Long ago, upon first meeting Kiana and first hearing of Kallen, she had divined her future entanglements with the two of them.
And the result had been deeply unexpected.
First, Kiana's presence in her fate signified a killing tribulation.
That much was understandable. As a Lord Ravager, no matter how well her mother appeared to get along with the Alliance on the surface, Yaoguang had always remained wary of her deep down.
But when it came to the Nihility Witch, things became bizarre.
What did it mean for the Nihility Witch to be beneficial to her?
Please. She was loyal, not two-faced.
At this point, among everyone present, the only person who seemed remotely calm was perhaps Mobius.
Yes, indeed—why did Kiana and Kallen share the same surname?
What a difficult mystery.
But how could she be blamed for that?
That was simply the name the identity had come with. Changing it to something else would have sounded wrong, wouldn't it?
Honestly, at the very beginning, Mobius had considered whether she ought to change the surname of either Kiana or Kallen.
But back then, she had never imagined Kallen's identity would end up positioned as a major villain.
So there was nothing to be done. Now she could only let it remain as it was.
Still, since someone had already raised the issue now, she could naturally make use of it later.
As for now?
For now, she would just sit back and watch the company perform.
Jing Yuan's gaze settled on Diamond again.
"Mr. Diamond, after all this talk—has the company actually made any progress?"
Diamond's expression stiffened ever so slightly.
"Well…"
He paused, and a trace of helplessness entered his tone.
"To be frank, we have not made any concrete progress yet."
A vein twitched at Jing Yuan's brow.
No progress?
Then what exactly had all this been for?
But Diamond continued.
"The situations of Kiana Kaslana and Cecilia Schariac are, I assume, already known to the generals. One is a Lord Ravager of the Destruction. The other, an Emanator of the Abundance."
"And according to what we currently know, the strength of both vastly exceeds that of ordinary Emanators."
"Especially Miss Kiana…"
Something flickered in Diamond's eyes.
"She was capable of fighting the Nihility Witch ten Amber Eras ago. Though she was gravely wounded and fell into dormancy, the very fact that she could clash with a being of that caliber and survive already says a great deal."
"So the company has chosen to proceed cautiously."
"Cautiously?" Feixiao's voice rang out from one side of the hall, laced with open mockery.
"Mr. Diamond, since when did your company become so cautious?"
Diamond only smiled wryly.
"You jest, General Feixiao. Circumstances have changed, and the present situation…"
"That's enough."
Jing Yuan raised a hand, cutting Diamond off.
He looked again at the IPC executive, his tone so calm it almost felt cold.
"Mr. Diamond, after saying all this, is this truly all the company has?"
"A shared surname between Kiana and Kallen, and the fact that Kiana once fought Kallen in the past?"
"If that's all…"
He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was obvious.
This? This was worth making four Arbiter-Generals listen together and give the company an answer?
Was this a joke?
Diamond's expression did not change in the slightest, as though he had already anticipated Jing Yuan's reaction.
He bowed his head slightly, his voice as steady as ever.
"General Jing Yuan, if that were truly all the company had, I would never have had the gall to ask for a joint audience with four generals."
"What I said before was only a prelude."
"The real intelligence…"
He lifted his gaze, letting it sweep across the faces of all four generals.
"…is something else."
A hush fell over the hall. Jing Yuan's brows drew together.
"Speak."
Only then did Diamond continue.
"Generals, you all still remember that livestream, yes?"
Jing Yuan's expression shifted faintly.
"Of course."
"Kallen Kaslana, the Nihility Witch, openly defied Qlipoth before the entire galaxy."
"She left a Void imprint upon that Aeon."
Diamond nodded.
"General Jing Yuan is correct."
"Kallen Kaslana did indeed leave a Void imprint on Qlipoth."
"But there is one thing the generals may not yet know."
"A portion of that imprint… has now been brought here by me."
The Seat of Divine Foresight erupted.
"What did you say?!" Feixiao was the first to rise. Her chair scraped shrilly against the floor as she shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow, arriving before Diamond in an instant.
"Say that again!"
Her voice was not loud, but the killing intent behind it was crushing, so heavy that the air of the entire hall seemed to solidify.
Diamond's pupils contracted slightly, but he did not retreat even half a step.
Meeting Feixiao's gaze, he repeated each word with deliberate clarity.
"I said—the imprint has been brought here by me."
"Are you insane?! What exactly have you brought to the Luofu?!"
"A Void imprint—that is the witch's Void! It's the very Void that could infect even General Chiyuan!"
"You brought it into the Xianzhou Alliance, into the Luofu, into our presence—do you have any idea what that implies?!"
Clearly, Feixiao was not the only one alarmed. The other generals' expressions had all changed as well.
At that moment Huaiyan rose too.
"Mr. Diamond."
"I trust you are aware that the witch's Void is contagious."
"If it remained only upon Qlipoth, then naturally we would trust that Aeon to deal with it."
"But you have brought it here to the Luofu…"
"Are you trying to turn the Luofu into a second Cangcheng?"
At last, Diamond's mouth moved.
"General Huaiyan, you are correct. The Void imprint is indeed contagious. After witnessing Cangcheng's fate, I understand that better than anyone."
"But please rest assured—the company will never gamble with the safety of the galaxy, nor even with its own safety."
"If we chose to bring that Void here, then it is because we possess a certain degree of confidence."
Hearing that, the Luofu's generals eased only slightly.
One could only hope the company truly did have sufficient confidence, and was not merely showing off in reckless ignorance.
"…Go on," Jing Yuan said at last.
Diamond resumed.
"General Jing Yuan. Generals…"
He paused, as though organizing his thoughts—or perhaps steadying his nerves.
"The company is Qlipoth's most faithful believer. That much is known throughout the galaxy, and needs no elaboration."
"So when Kallen Kaslana, before the eyes of the entire galaxy, left that Void imprint upon Qlipoth…"
"You can imagine the company's fury."
His voice sank lower, and in the eyes that were usually so calculating, a trace of genuine emotion now surfaced.
"Qlipoth—the Aeon of Preservation. The one who has sheltered the galaxy for countless Amber Eras."
"And that witch, before the whole galaxy, stained Him."
"The company could not endure it."
"But fury is fury. The problem still had to be solved."
"The Void imprint on Qlipoth could not simply be scraped away. That is not something mortals can do. Even if the company poured its full power into the matter, it could never tamper directly with an Aeon."
"And even if we could, we would not. The company may be irreverent toward others, but never toward Qlipoth."
Feixiao's brows furrowed harder, though this time she did not interrupt.
Diamond went on.
"So the company required a compromise."
"Through the efforts of Taravan Keane, Director of the Building Materials Logistics Department, we successfully used a segment of wall-casting material to graft away a portion of the Void imprint."
"For research purposes."
"Of course, that was only theory."
"Director Taravan paid a heavy price. If he had not himself been an Emanator of Preservation, then likely…"
Diamond did not finish the sentence. He did not need to. Everyone understood what that omission implied.
Jing Yuan was the first to break the silence.
"Mr. Diamond—when you say at the time, when exactly was that?"
"Last week," Diamond replied without concealment. "To be precise, six days ago. The company completed the grafting of the Void imprint at Pier Point."
"And at that time, the company did not yet know that the witch's Void was contagious."
After a brief pause, he continued.
"The truth of Cangcheng was only revealed three days ago. Before that, the company had already completed the grafting and had already begun studying the Void imprint."
"So when Aha's broadcast laid Cangcheng's truth bare before the galaxy, and when everyone learned that the witch's Void was contagious…"
Diamond gave a strained smile.
"From top to bottom, the company's spine went cold."
"Because that grafted Void imprint was at that very moment in Pier Point, inside the company's headquarters, in the very place where countless company employees work day and night."
"But fortunately, after repeated inspections, the company can state with absolute certainty to all of you…"
"At the very least, this particular Void imprint grafted down from Qlipoth will not infect anyone."
Only then did the atmosphere in the hall loosen slightly.
The generals' expressions shifted again.
At last, Jing Yuan asked the final question.
"Mr. Diamond, after all this explanation—what exactly is the company's point?"
Diamond met his gaze, his voice steady and certain.
"The company's point is this."
"This Void imprint may become the key to defeating that witch."
At this, Yaoguang spoke up as well.
"Mr. Diamond, after saying all this… don't tell me the company has actually brought that Void here already?"
Diamond met her eyes.
"General Yaoguang has guessed correctly. That was indeed our intent."
"However, please rest assured, generals. Without first obtaining explicit approval from the Xianzhou Alliance, I have not brought that Void imprint into Luofu territory."
"At present, it lies quietly in a region of space beyond the Luofu, guarded layer upon layer by the company's unmanned starcraft."
Jing Yuan gave a faint smile.
"In that case, then—could your company first allow us to inspect the results here and now?"
"Yes, I mean here and now."
Diamond did not take offense.
"General Jing Yuan speaks reasonably."
"With four Arbiter-Generals present, the company should naturally show sufficient sincerity."
He raised one hand and gestured to his side.
Aventurine understood at once. Rising from his seat, he walked to the center of the hall and lifted his right hand.
Golden amber light poured from his palm, ultimately forming into an enormous golden mirror suspended high in the air above the Seat of Divine Foresight.
"This is a special long-range projection device developed by the company," Diamond explained.
"Through it, we can observe the condition of that Void imprint in real time."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the four generals.
"Generals, please look."
Aventurine pressed power through his palm. Golden light burst across the mirror's surface, and an image slowly emerged.
What appeared in that image made everyone in the hall freeze.
There was no sign of the heavily guarded, tightly secured fleet they had expected.
Instead—
there was wreckage.
Company starship wreckage.
The unmanned ships that should have been surrounding the Void imprint in layer upon layer of containment had all been reduced to drifting metal fragments in the void.
And at the very center of that field of destruction, the culprit had not yet departed.
Or rather, she had only just finished the deed, and was preparing to leave.
In an instant, every face in the Seat of Divine Foresight changed.
Because they all knew who that person was.
Or rather—
the entire galaxy knew her.
The Nihility Witch, Kallen Kaslana.
That woman who had committed crimes monstrous beyond measure had, at this very moment, appeared once again on the Luofu.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 180)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter260)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 240
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 280
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 260
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 130
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 155
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 120
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 135
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 91
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 90
Checking In in Demon Slayer 95
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 105
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 100
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 90
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 105
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 85
After Maxing Out Every Class 85
Naruto: I'm Konoha's Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 70
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 55
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 55
From Trilobites to Titans 55
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 66
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 70
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 50
Honkai: The Fire Devil 30
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