Six Rings World.
Shinji's main body, along with three shadow clones, fought against the four 'Lampbearers' possessed by the Plague Hegemon—'Ghost', 'Gladiator', 'Whitebeard', and 'Nighthawk'—on different battlefields.
The ghostly white light illuminated the battlefield in a bleak manner, as if only black and white remained between heaven and earth.
And in this bleak world, the only splash of bright color was Shinji.
War broke out almost simultaneously on four battlefields, and the situation heated up almost at the instant of detonation. Both sides had no probing, no foreshadowing, just plunged into the fiercest collision all at once, putting the entire Six Rings World in turmoil.
Beep beep beep...
Listening to the continuously piercing alarm beside her ears, 'Radiance' Alice looked dull.
At the moment Shinji engaged the 'Lampbearers' possessed by the Plague Hegemon, the detectors placed throughout the Six Rings World sounded the highest level of alarm simultaneously!
As one of the programmers who wrote the system, she knew very well what this meant.
Suddenly, Hengo's exclamation came from the communicator: "How is this possible!? Damn it, did the instruments malfunction?"
Undoubtedly, Hengo in another area also received the alarm.
The Old Warrior's voice rang in the communicator: "I received the alarm here too. The data shows the world is collapsing, the countdown is only 49 hours..."
Hengo said: "This is impossible. We clearly calculated before that the Six Rings World has at least two months left!"
Just then, 'Arcane's' voice rang in the communicator: "The instruments didn't... didn't malfunction. I sensed it; my world is collapsing!"
"What!?"
Hengo was full of surprise.
'Arcane' was a 'Lampbearer' of the Six Rings World. No one knew the state of the Six Rings World better than him. If even he sensed the Six Rings World was collapsing, then it was mostly likely true.
The Old Warrior asked puzzledly: "Why is it like this?"
Alice realized something and spoke in the communicator: "It should be the Captain. Both he and the Hegemon are too powerful. So once a great war breaks out between the two sides, the Six Rings World as the battlefield simply cannot bear it!"
"This..."
Everyone was speechless.
Thinking back to the task Shinji arranged for them to stabilize the world, they already accepted Alice's guess in their hearts. They knew Shinji was strong, but they never expected Shinji to be so strong that even a world couldn't bear it.
'Arcane' was somewhat flustered: "Then what should we do now?"
Alice thought for a moment and said: "Let's stick to the original plan, reinforce the world, and buy time for Shinji!"
"Okay!"
"Understood!"
Hengo and the Old Warrior answered in unison.
The collision with the grayish-white mist just now made them realize that even strong 'Lampbearers' like them were not qualified to face the Plague Hegemon directly.
Since that was the case, sticking to the original plan was their only choice now.
Alice looked at the technological sphere floating beside her, projecting the map of the Six Rings World for her, and said into the communicator: "We only have four people left, and there are eight key nodes. Now one person can only be responsible for two places."
The Old Warrior was somewhat troubled: "The other four key nodes should be where the great battles are erupting now. We can't approach them at all!"
Hengo said: "It's okay. I've rebuilt the model and changed the other four key nodes to other areas. They can be matched just like the four nodes on our side, just need to reinstall the equipment!"
The Old Warrior said: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's move!"
Before the operation began, considering possible battle losses, the 'Lampbearers' had set up temporary warehouses everywhere in the Six Rings World, where rituals and equipment could be replenished at any time. So after the discussion, the four immediately split up and took action.
While moving, Alice switched to a single-person communication channel and said to 'Arcane': "Now is the critical moment. We can't drag the Captain down here. Don't spare 'Embers'. Use the power of the 'Lamp' to repair the spatial barrier with all your might. If you don't have enough 'Embers', I can support you with some!"
"Thanks!"
'Arcane' was very moved.
Because not only Alice, but Hengo and the Old Warrior also contacted him individually, expressing that they could support him with some 'Embers'.
Obviously, not only the four 'Lampbearers' sensed the Six Rings World collapsing. The six Supreme Mages who were fully maintaining the magic barrier also clearly sensed the Six Rings World heading towards destruction at this moment.
At the same time, the Supreme Mages were also shocked by Shinji's strength.
Having experienced the great war with the Reproductive Hegemon last time, the Supreme Mages thought they understood Shinji's strength. However, they overestimated again and again, but when Shinji truly fought the Plague Hegemon, they were astonished to find they had vastly underestimated Shinji's power.
There were even a few moments where they felt the confrontation between Shinji and the Plague Hegemon was not a feeble challenge from a civilized civilization to a Hegemon, but a contest between two Hegemons!
Just as the Supreme Mages were hesitant and helpless, Shion stood out and emphasized to them again that reinforcing the spatial barrier was the only chance of victory now. So the Supreme Mages coldly ignored the large number of Six Rings World creatures dying under various sudden natural disasters, pouring all their magic power along with the Mage Towers into the magic barrier to reinforce the spatial barrier.
On the battlefield.
"Huff huff..."
Shinji panted lightly.
The 'Lampbearers' possessed by the Plague Hegemon were ridiculously strong, especially the ghostly white light emitted by the 'Lamps' on these possessed 'Lampbearers'. It could even dispel his chakra, causing the 'Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion' in his hand to lose its power.
However, Shinji also keenly noticed that this ghostly white light, like normal lamplight, consumed 'Embers' when activated. And his continuous fierce attacks just now had already consumed more than half of the 'Embers' in the 'Lamps' of the possessed 'Lampbearers'.
After a short respite, Shinji pounced again.
The Six Rings World couldn't hold on. The more so, the more he needed to end the battle quickly. Otherwise, once the battle dragged into a stalemate, he could escape, but the Six Rings World would definitely not be saved.
Seeing this, the four 'Lampbearers' possessed by the Plague Hegemon desperately activated their 'Lamps' while meeting Shinji head-on.
Actually, the Plague Hegemon was also suffering losses.
In its cognition, Shinji was still at the 'Kekkei Mora' (Bloodline Encompassing) level from the previous confrontation with the Reproductive Hegemon's remnant body, a character it could easily deal with as long as it was willing to pay the price. But this time, after forcibly traversing the spatial barrier and entering the Six Rings World, it discovered that was not the case at all.