A strike far more powerful than Lumine's, crackling with thunderbolts, slammed into the Intellitron's protective shield. The blade's overwhelming force sliced through the shield and flashed across the Intellitron's neck.
The blade's residual energy remained undiminished, cleaving through the towering mountain to the Intellitron's right, severing it clean in half.
Sparks of electricity crackled at the Intellitron's severed neck as its head slid off, clattering to the ground with a metallic thud.
An ordinary person would have perished instantly from such a blow. But sorry to say, the Intellitron wasn't ordinary—it wasn't even human!
From its detached head, the Intellitron's eyes swiveled:
"Why... have you designated me as a target?"
Its body swiftly crouched, scooped up its head, and reattached it to its neck. A slight twist revealed lingering thunderous energy corroding the severed edges.
However, this residual Electro energy was quickly neutralized and purged by Abyss Energy surging from the Intellitron's chest.
"You bastard! Hand over Fidelle!"
How dare this thing even ask why he was being attacked? Did he have no self-awareness of his own actions?
"Fidelle? If you mean her... I must refuse."
Ei stood in the air, blade in hand, as Intellitron spoke. Lightning crackled along the blade's edge. "Traveler, waste no more words on him. I can sense the soul within him. Slay him utterly, then search his remains."
If Intellitron can reattach his head after decapitation, then we'll cut him into a million pieces!
Watching the two figures—no, one mortal and one god—poised for battle, Intellitron glanced around. "Fight? No, no, no. I'm not your true opponent. Defeat her first."
Intellitron snapped his fingers, and a spatial rift tore open behind him. A young woman with eyes full of bewilderment stepped out.
Ei and Lumine immediately tensed. The girl emerging from the rift radiated a dense Abyss aura, particularly strong in her hands and feet. Her power was undeniable, leaving them no choice but to remain on guard.
The battle erupted in an instant, with Ei making the first move.
Skirk's Abyss Energy was even denser and more potent than Intellitron's, practically confirming her status as an enemy.
Furthermore, Skirk's emergence from the spatial rift opened by Intellitron only solidified the connection between them.
Seeing Ei strike first, Lumine refused to be left behind.
Sword in hand, she charged forward without hesitation.
-
[ Live Stream ]
[Hiss, who's that?]
[White hair, red eyes... Qingge!?!]
[This guy's kinda handsome, but it's a shame he's the villain. You can tell he's got deep ties to the Abyss.]
-
Skirk had merely been in secluded cultivation for a while, unaware of the monumental events unfolding outside. Just as she prepared to resolve the aftermath, she discovered a spatial rift.
Upon observation, she realized the rift led to Fontaine, precisely where she intended to go. Without hesitation, she plunged through.
Then, inexplicably, Skirk found herself locked in combat with Lumine and Ei.
Skirk was completely on the defensive, still trying to understand the situation.
[ Roar— ]
The All-Devouring Narwhal's roar echoed from the sky. Skirk glanced upward and saw Neuvillette and Barbatos forcibly dragging the colossal beast through the inverted sea, grinding it relentlessly against the surface.
The All-Devouring Narwhal occasionally let out furious roars.
Seeing this, Skirk was even more bewildered. What was happening?
Why had the All-Devouring Narwhal grown so enormous?
And what was with the dense Abyss Energy radiating from its body?
"Stop! Wait a minute! What's going on here?!"
Ei's blade strikes grew faster and faster, overwhelming Skirk. As she parried Ei's attacks, she also had to watch out for Lumine's occasional ambushes.
Taking a hard blow from Ei, Skirk finally snapped. "If you won't listen to explanations, then bring it on!"
Ei remained unmoved. How could the nearly materialized Abyss Power emanating from your body be faked?!
Lumine, however, saw things differently.
First, Skirk's genuine confusion didn't seem feigned. Second, not everyone who wielded Abyss Energy was evil; at least, Lumine believed her brother wasn't completely corrupted.
And there was something even more urgent:
Where had the Intellitron gone?!
-
Somewhere in Fontaine.
The Intellitron seized the opportunity to slip away while Lumine and Ei's attention was briefly diverted by Skirk. It sensed that remaining any longer would invite a three-way assault from Lumine, Ei, and Skirk—a predicament far too troublesome to handle.
Better to withdraw now and find a suitable place to separate Fidelle's soul from Focalors' core consciousness.
Focalors' core consciousness resided within the small sphere, but that sphere was powered by Fidelle's burning soul. Once outside that spatial pocket, Fidelle's soul had immediately clung to it. Extracting Fidelle's soul would require manual intervention.
The Intellitron produced the sphere from its hand and, in just five minutes, split it into two spheres.
The blue sphere held Focalors' essence, while the purple one contained Fidelle's soul.
Just as the Intellitron prepared to depart, its optical sensors flickered.
Looking up, it saw Morax, Geo Spear in hand, descending from hundreds of meters above, as if walking on solid ground. Clad in Divine Regalia, molten gold churning in his eyes.
"Release what you hold."
His voice rang like clashing metal, carrying a pressure even greater than that of The Cook.
The Geo Archon looks so cool... Ahem, now's not the time for that...
The Intellitron tilted its head back. "Such lofty pronouncements from above. Why not come down here and discuss this face-to-face?"
Whoosh—
Morax materialized before the Intellitron in an instant, extending his right hand, his gaze cold and devoid of emotion.
"Give it to me."
The Intellitron handed over the small blue orb and made to leave.
"There's another one."
The Intellitron turned back. "I cannot give you this one."
In that instant, the gravity around the Intellitron multiplied several dozen times, its feet sinking deep into the ground.
"This is a bargain between her and me," the Intellitron explained. "I protect a wisp of the Hydro Archon's divinity, and she offers her soul entirely to the Abyss. As the God of Contracts, you should understand this better than anyone."
"This is our contract—fair and reasonable. You..."
Before the Intellitron could finish speaking, Morax's Geo Spear pierced through its chest, shattering its vital energies as it emerged from the other side.
Without a change in expression, Morax retrieved the purple orb from the Intellitron's grasp.
But the moment the orb touched his palm, he sensed something amiss. He quickly looked up, only to realize that the being he had just pierced was no Intellitron at all—merely a withered tree trunk.
Morax's eyes narrowed. He swiftly recalled the blue orb and pursued the lingering traces of the Intellitron's energy.
The blue orb the Intellitron had given him was genuine, but he couldn't fathom when the Intellitron had used this illusion to deceive even the ever-vigilant Morax...