The transition was almost complete. Fang Yuan's body was no longer composed of flesh and bone; he had become a silhouette of shifting indigo and charcoal-black, a bridge between the dying supernova of Eron and the ancient hunger of the Star-Core. He was a second away from attaining Rank 3: Null-Overlord, a status that would make him the predator of predators.
But the Abyss does not let go of its heart so easily.
Suddenly, the ceiling of the obsidian chamber didn't just collapse—it erased. The thousands of meters of rock, the Spire above, and the very atmosphere of the planet were swept aside by a force of pure, absolute authority.
From the crimson sky above, a hand descended. It was vast, constructed of solidified darkness and etched with the pulsating red runes of the Abyssal Overlord (Rank 3). This was not a projection; it was a physical manifestation of the Overlord's will, crossing the distance of the galaxy in a single heartbeat.
"A worm... trying to steal the engine of my empire?"
The Overlord's voice was a gravitational wave that shattered the ritual circle. The Indigo Threads Fang Yuan had woven around Eron's explosion began to snap under the sheer weight of the Overlord's presence.
The massive, clawed hand reached into the chamber, its fingers closing around the Star-Core and Fang Yuan simultaneously. The pressure was reality-bending. Fang Yuan felt his newly formed Rank 3 soul-shell beginning to crack before it could even solidify.
«...The Seeker is caught...» the Core's voice echoed, now distorted by the Overlord's interference. «...The virus has arrived in person... You are not yet a God, Fang Yuan... You are still just a ghost in his machine...»
Fang Yuan, suspended in the grip of the titanic hand, looked up at the crimson void. His eyes, now bleeding pure indigo light, didn't show fear. They showed a cold, calculating hunger.
"You are late, Overlord," Fang Yuan whispered, the sound vibrating through the Space-Time fabric.
With his remaining strength, Fang Yuan didn't try to break the grip. Instead, he used the Heroic Fragment of Kaelen—not as a fuel for the ritual, but as a poison. He injected the pure, untainted "Order" of a Hero into the Overlord's chaotic, demonic palm, causing a violent, blinding rejection of energies.