The instant that arrow appeared, the entire nearby starfield fell into absolute silence.
Kallen's pupils contracted sharply, because within that arrow, she saw something she had never expected.
Killing intent.
Pure, undisguised, all-out killing intent.
Kallen had seen Lan's attacks before.
When Aha had tried to abduct Mobius, Lan had once shot an arrow at Aha.
That arrow had certainly been terrifying. It had certainly carried the force to destroy heaven and earth. But there had been no killing intent within it.
It had been more like a warning. An intimidation. A declaration not to cross the line.
Lan had been saying:
Back off.
That was all.
But this time was different.
The killing intent within this arrow was so intense that Kallen felt as though her blood had frozen for an instant.
There was no doubt about it. At this moment, Lan had not appeared merely because Yaoguang summoned Him.
He genuinely intended to kill her here.
It was the killing intent Cecilia had once seen deep within Scalegorge Waterscape—
The killing intent Lan held toward Yaoshi.
A killing intent that would not rest until one side was dead, that would pour out everything, that would erase the enemy completely even if it meant mutual destruction.
Kallen's mind spun wildly in that instant.
No, wait, bro. What had she even done?
Fine, in other people's eyes, she was indeed the heinous Witch of Nihility. Kidnapping Yuanqiao's High Elder, attempting to contaminate Preservation, trying to spread Nihility—any one of those crimes would be enough to earn her ten death sentences.
But did Lan really need to react this strongly?
Kallen's gaze shifted slightly and landed on the Prison Realm in her hand.
Perhaps the answer was right there.
Kallen was briefly stunned. The eye-covered cube floated quietly beside her, its surface eyes still blinking, again and again, as though watching this world that was about to be destroyed.
Then Kallen remembered how, because of Mobius, Lan had directly attacked Aha before.
Good grief.
So it really was because of Mobius?
Kallen had genuinely not expected this result.
Originally, according to her plan, after kidnapping Mobius, she should have faced endless pursuit from the Xianzhou Alliance.
The Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Reignbow, the Galaxy Rangers, the Vidyadhara High Elders—those forces would have been more than enough to make her life extremely exciting from now on.
But that should have been all.
Kallen never expected that Mobius, as an alternate identity of Permanence, had now apparently been spoiled rotten by the entire Hunt faction.
Not just the Xianzhou Alliance.
Even Lan was the same.
An Aeon of The Hunt, personally entering the field and attacking with genuine killing intent just because a three-year-old child had been kidnapped?
They were all family here. Fighting and killing each other was so unharmonious. She hated human traffickers too, you know!
The corner of Kallen's mouth twitched.
She suddenly felt that she might have underestimated Mobius's importance in Lan's eyes.
But there was still one thing Kallen could not understand.
If Lan wanted to kill her because of Mobius, was He not afraid His attack would also kill Mobius nearby?
After all, Kallen had heard about the battle on the Fanghu during the Third Abundance War.
In that battle, one arrow from Lan had directly pierced through the entire battlefield, reducing tens of thousands of Abominations of Abundance and the warships beneath their feet to ash.
Likewise, even the Xianzhou Alliance's own people had suffered severe friendly fire.
Attacks from The Hunt had a huge area of effect.
Forget about her and Mobius. Once the attack of The Hunt descended, the first ones to die would be the five Emanators on the opposite side.
However, Kallen and Mobius's situation probably would not be much better than theirs.
The Prison Realm was sturdy, yes, but this was an Aeon's strike.
Once that arrow came down, whether the seal could hold was still unknown, let alone the three-year-old child inside.
A thought flashed through Kallen's mind.
She raised her head and looked again at that arrow.
Then she saw the answer.
The arrow's light, its aura, everything about that arrow, was condensed onto a single point.
That point was not the Prison Realm.
It was not any space around her.
It was not anyone behind her.
It was her.
Only her.
Along that arrow's trajectory, there was no Prison Realm, no four Arbiter-Generals, no Diamond, no other existence whatsoever.
There was only Kallen.
This arrow had been tailor-made specifically for her.
Kallen: ?????
"…Interesting."
The corners of Kallen's lips lifted slightly, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes.
Because she had finally discovered a painful truth.
Just like the arrow Lan had fired at Aha on the Luofu before, this attack from Lan was like an anti-personnel Noble Phantasm.
It had completely locked onto her.
Seeing this, Kallen had no intention of just sitting there and waiting for death.
She raised her hand. The Oath of Judah surfaced behind her, and golden chains exploded outward in the void. Layer upon layer, dense and countless, they interwove around her into an airtight defensive sphere.
"Key of Binding, Oath of Judah—Divine Grace Barrier!"
In an instant, the Divine Grace Barrier bloomed once more, aiming directly at the Aeon not far away.
But it was not enough.
She knew this was not enough.
Because her Divine Grace Barrier weakened Lan by less than even one-third.
However, Kallen had no more time to prepare.
That arrow had already locked onto her completely. No matter which direction she fled, no matter where she hid, that arrow would catch up and pierce through her chest.
In that case, she might as well take it head-on!
Kallen focused with all her might, squeezing out every last bit of power she could mobilize from within her body.
Then the arrow struck the Divine Grace Barrier.
The golden chains of light began snapping the instant they made contact.
One after another.
Then the arrow struck the shield of Nihility.
Pitch-black mist churned violently, as if desperately trying to devour the arrow's light and power.
Kallen clenched her teeth. Veins bulged on her forehead. The power of Nihility inside her surged out like floodwaters bursting through a dam, pouring into that shield.
But it was still not enough.
The arrow paused on the surface of the shield for a single instant.
Only a single instant.
Then it pierced through that layer of pitch-black defense and continued shooting toward Kallen's chest.
The light of that arrow reflected in Kallen's eyes.
She crossed both arms in front of herself. In that moment, the power of Nihility within her erupted completely, forming a pitch-black vortex around her body.
Then the arrow slammed into the vortex.
In that instant, time seemed to stop.
Kallen's consciousness even went briefly blank.
Then her body was pushed backward by the arrow, flying in reverse so quickly that it dragged a pitch-black trail through the void.
"Hah…"
Kallen exhaled, and even her breath carried the taste of blood.
"That really is… ruthless."
Yet the corners of her lips still carried a faint smile.
Unfortunately, her condition was truly terrible.
She could feel her body being torn apart from the inside by that arrow. Every inch of flesh was screaming.
The damage was worse than what she had suffered from Qlipoth before.
Much worse.
After all, although Qlipoth's hammer blow had been terrifying, there had been no killing intent in it.
But Lan's arrow had genuinely been fired to take her life.
Even so, she was still standing.
She had not fallen.
It seemed the 70% Hunt resistance she had previously farmed through self-harm with her Hunt alternate identity really had been worth it.
Thinking of this, Kallen even found it a little funny.
Back when she had farmed that resistance, she had suffered plenty at the hands of her Hunt identity.
But now, it seemed that suffering had been worth it.
However, this did not seem to be over yet.
Because Kallen sensed that aura rising once more.
Her pupils contracted sharply. She abruptly raised her head and looked toward that towering centaur figure.
Lan.
He still stood in the void.
He still held the longbow.
His face was still expressionless.
But in His eyes, there was only The Hunt.
And now, He once again raised the longbow in His hand.
The bowstring was drawn.
Another arrow manifested from nothing.
The light on that arrow, the aura on that arrow, everything about that arrow—
Was exactly the same as the previous one.
The corner of Kallen's mouth twitched.
No way.
Again?
"…As expected of the Aeon of The Hunt. The attack you took really does look rather terrifying."
After the confrontation with the Xianzhou Alliance ended—
At this moment, on a planet in some unfamiliar starfield, Cecilia looked at the severely wounded Kallen with a somewhat complicated expression.
Yes.
In the end, Kallen had survived the attack from The Hunt.
It seemed the 70% resistance she had farmed from Fu Hua before had indeed been the correct call.
"So just tell me whether you can heal it or not."
At this moment, Kallen was leaning against Cecilia's shoulder, her voice much softer than usual.
The wounds on her body were indeed an ugly sight.
The wound left by that arrow slanted down from her left shoulder all the way to her right waist, as if it had nearly split her whole body in half.
The edges of the wound glowed faintly gold.
That was the power of The Hunt, stubbornly preventing the injury from healing.
And it was not just that arrow wound.
Her left arm, right leg, abdomen, back…
Wounds of all sizes covered her body. Every one of them glowed with that golden light. Every one of them radiated the aura of The Hunt.
The most fatal wound was the one in her chest.
That arrow had pierced through the position of her heart, leaving behind a fist-sized hole.
The visual effect was horrifying, as though a piece of her body had simply gone missing.
Hiss.
The damage she had taken this time was even greater than what she had suffered from the Amber Lord last time.
Cecilia looked at those wounds and remained silent for a long while.
"To be honest, it is somewhat difficult."
Kallen frowned slightly.
"What does that mean?"
"This attack from the Aeon of The Hunt is different from the attack of the Aeon of Preservation."
"It contains causality."
"It is not simply the power of The Hunt Path. Rather, on the level of causality, it tried to erase your existence from the past."
Hearing this, even Kallen felt a chill of lingering fear.
Holy crap. What did it mean, the target lock had locked onto her past self?
Why was there a mechanics boss here?
And seriously, was the Aeon of The Hunt really this protective? He was going this far just to hit one Emanator?
"Then am I now…?"
"You are still alive," Cecilia said calmly.
"Although you are severely injured, and although you have indeed been affected on the level of causality, you are still alive."
"And that is probably because these identities of ours… are somewhat special."
Cecilia's voice lowered, as though she were speaking a secret only the two of them could hear.
But Kallen naturally understood what that somewhat cryptic answer meant.
"Although in the present moment, we have all thoroughly integrated into official history, and our past, present, and future have all taken root in this timeline…"
"Ultimately…"
"Our essence is still fictional."
The corner of Kallen's mouth twitched slightly, but she did not refute it.
That was true.
Unless this causality-based attack struck their main body, it would indeed be difficult to erase their past.
Kallen fell silent for a while, then raised her head and looked at Cecilia.
"So can this wound be healed or not?"
"Yes," Cecilia answered decisively.
"But it will take time."
As she spoke, she raised her hand. A mass of emerald-green light appeared in her palm.
That was the power of Abundance—dense, pure, and full of a vitality that instinctively made people feel at ease.
"Wounds on the level of causality cannot be healed by ordinary Abundance."
Her fingertip lightly pressed against the wound on Kallen's left shoulder. The emerald-green light began seeping into the golden-glowing injuries.
"But I am not ordinary Abundance."
The golden light resisted.
It struggled.
It let out piercing hisses within the emerald-green radiance.
But Cecilia did not withdraw her hand.
Her expression did not change at all. She simply watched calmly as the golden light was gradually devoured by the emerald-green glow, little by little neutralized by the power of Abundance.
"I need to heal you in several sessions," she said calmly.
"If I heal too much at once, the causality of The Hunt will backlash. That would be bad for both you and me."
"So we will do it in stages, slowly. About…"
"One month? Two months?"
"In any case, your next operation also requires you to be in a half-dead state, so there's no rush."
Kallen did not answer.
She merely leaned against Cecilia's shoulder, watching the wound through her chest slowly shrink within the emerald-green light, watching the golden radiance dim bit by bit.
Then she spoke.
"Next time, I absolutely refuse to play the villain again."
Her voice carried a deep resentment from the depths of her soul.
Hearing this, Cecilia's hand paused slightly.
Kallen continued,
"My original character concept was supposed to be a saintess. How did I end up becoming a witch after we altered history a few times?"
It was truly a lamentable result.
In fact, at the very beginning, the roles of villain had originally been meant for Kiana and Cecilia.
Their plan back then had been simple.
Kiana would play the villain.
Cecilia would play the mastermind behind the scenes.
And Kallen would be the innocent saintess caught up in the whole affair.
What a classic script.
However, time passed, and plans failed to keep up with change.
After a series of accidents, Kallen's identity actually ended up contaminated by Nihility.
Cecilia's movements paused slightly. The emerald-green light at her fingertip flickered, as though hesitating over whether to continue.
"You said your original character concept was a saintess?"
Sorry.
Although they were essentially the same person, sharing perspectives and emotions, at this moment, Cecilia still could not help wanting to laugh.
And Kallen naturally knew exactly what Cecilia was thinking.
So she grew even more indignant.
No, seriously, why was there kicking someone while they were down?
Her reputation was already like this. Shouldn't Cecilia comfort her a little?!
Kallen expressed extreme outrage. Then she grabbed Cecilia and continued accusing her.
"Look at me right now. Look at these clothes. Look at all this Nihility on me. Look at this—"
She lowered her head and looked at the slowly healing hole in her chest. Her voice carried a deep resentment.
"Look at this wound! An arrow personally shot by the Aeon of The Hunt! If you people keep treating me differently, I'm going on strike!"
Cecilia said nothing and merely continued channeling the power of Abundance.
However, the corner of her mouth did lift slightly.
Just then, another small figure appeared before the two of them.
Clearly, Mobius had also escaped from the Prison Realm.
She spoke calmly.
"That can't be helped. Who told you to get slapped with the Nihility debuff? Even your character profile reeks of it now."
And then—
"This is unfair!!!"
Kallen let out another sharp screech.
Especially upon seeing Mobius, the indignation in her heart reached its peak.
"Especially you, you stinky dragon!"
"Look at the life you're living now, then look at the life I'm living! If you've got the guts, switch places with me!"
Now Mobius was unhappy too.
"What do you mean, especially me? I'm just living a little better now. Haven't you noticed that my backstory is the most miserable?"
"And don't think I didn't notice. When you stabbed me with that Prison Realm earlier, you were absolutely serious. Method acting, were we?"
Hearing this, Kallen became a little awkward.
She had not expected the dirty move she pulled earlier to have been discovered.
However, even so, she absolutely could not admit this openly.
So she immediately explained,
"Hey, wasn't that just to make the performance more realistic?"
However, Mobius obviously did not believe her.
Or rather, Mobius, who knew exactly what another version of herself was like, could not possibly believe her.
So she continued staring at Kallen with a suspicious expression.
In the end, Cecilia had to step forward and smooth things over.
"All right, all right. We're all on the same side here. What is there to argue about?"
"We still have other tasks to complete next."
Hearing this, all three of them stopped what they were doing in unison.
After all, what came next was the true priority.
Whether it was Yuanqiao's complete exposure or Kallen's backstab operation within the IPC, all of it had been preparation for this final stage.
The three of them looked at the system shop at the same time.
The interface hovered before them, emitting a faint blue-white glow.
But at this moment, everyone's gaze was fixed on the same item.
Nihility Culling Game: 50,000 points
Description: A barrier powerful enough to cover the entire galaxy. Its effects can even push the whole galaxy ahead of schedule toward the final end of Nihility.
Additional Note: Even after purchasing this barrier, the user must personally prepare a medium. The medium used can also alter the fundamental nature of the barrier.
That was right.
This item called the Nihility Culling Game was the key to their next plan.
Originally, when Kallen saw the description of this item, she had been genuinely stunned.
After all, at that time, she had just pulled off something huge at the IPC. This item could basically be said to have been tailor-made for her.
Fifty thousand points, and it could make the galaxy march toward the end of Nihility?
Although Kallen had no genuine intention of pushing the galaxy toward the end of Nihility, she was still shocked by this item's effects.
One had to know, she was now a rich woman with a million points in savings.
When seeing an item like this, even if she had no use for it, could she really resist buying it?
Honestly, Kallen absolutely could not resist.
After all, even if this barrier was ultimately useless, its attributes were extremely compatible with Kallen's identity. It could definitely be used as material for altering history.
However, after seeing the additional note beneath it, Kallen reacted again.
So this barrier could not be used directly after buying it. She still had to find a triggering medium!
Still, having this medium requirement was indeed a good thing.
After all, the original effect of this so-called Nihility Culling Game was honestly not very useful.
Although the current Kallen was indeed seen by the outside world as a witch attempting to plunge the entire galaxy into Nihility, that kind of purely malicious villain was not the effect Kallen wanted to achieve.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Kallen finally decided to tamper with the medium.
And now, according to Kallen's plan, the required mediums had basically all been accumulated.
As everyone knew, ever since the Amber Lord was born, He had been building a wall to maintain the boundary of the entire galaxy.
First: the Nihility Kallen had left on Qlipoth.
In other words, the wall of Preservation had already surrounded the entire galaxy.
Then, after Kallen injected the mark of Nihility into Preservation, she could likewise use that wall to spread Nihility.
Second: the causality attached to Mobius.
Because this operation really did require a touch of xianxia-style metaphysical nonsense.
Fortunately, Mobius on their side was one of their own. She had already played her role and fed herself to the enemy as an actor.
And finally—
The most important medium.
The place Kallen was going next.
The Astral Express.
That was right.
She was going to the Astral Express to take something extremely important.
And this was also preparation for the appearance of the next alternate identity.
Trailblaze Bianka Kaslana.
She was going to stand before Welt and perform a scene of:
Thus Spoke Kaslana.
Join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
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 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" 150
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 255
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 210
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
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 155
My Harem Is Indescribable 105
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 110
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 110
Still playing traditional Honk 96
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 95
What Should I Do After Switchi 51
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 105
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 (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 80
MYGO Beauties 75
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 80
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 100
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 120
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 65
The Uma Musume Who Became 70
I'm Definitely Not the King of 105
After Maxing Out Every Class 110
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 95
I, the Elden Sword Saint 60
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 60
No One Knows Pokémon Better 60
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 57
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 75
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 86
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 70
Honkai: The Fire Devil 70
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/30
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 45
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