The Chrysos Heirs stared at the Ender Dragon, a creature so immense it was no different from a planet. A single glance was enough to strike terror into their hearts, completely extinguishing any thought of resistance.
Their bodies trembled, and a primal, instinctual urge to survive screamed in their minds, warning them to flee this place at once.
Veins popped on Phainon's forehead. He clenched his jaw, fighting to suppress the fear rising within him, and turned to Fu Zhu.
"What is that thing?!"
"The Ender Dragon."
Fu Zhu's tone was level, but laced with a hint of surprise.
He never imagined the Ender Dragon would be empowered to this extent. The last time he saw it, it was about the same size as the original game version. Now, it had grown larger than the entire world of Amphoreus, and it appeared to be actively terraforming the planet!
Fu Zhu looked down at the End Stone rapidly spreading towards them. He raised a hand and used a command to rewind time, causing the infected ground to revert to its original state. However, the moment he stopped the command, the grass was instantly corrupted into End Stone once more.
Clearly, he wasn't the only one capable of using commands here.
The group stared at the four deep purple eyes of the Ender Dragon. Seeing that it made no move to attack after appearing, they relaxed slightly, finally finding a moment to observe the yellowish-brown stone on the ground.
Dan Heng knelt down and ran a hand over the End Stone. Two distinct energies flowed into his fingertips, causing a sharp, stinging pain that made him quickly retract his hand.
"There's something wrong with this stone. It feels like it contains two different energies..."
Hearing Dan Heng's words, the others couldn't help but bend down to touch the End Stone as well. They all felt the same stinging sensation.
"[Nihility] and [Finality]."
Lygus, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. The group immediately turned to look at him as he rubbed his fingers together. He then turned his palm over for them to see. Faintly visible on his fingertips were tiny pits, as if they had been corroded.
Connecting this to what Lygus had just mentioned about [Nihility], the others instinctively looked at their own hands. Aside from Hysilens, everyone had faint traces of corrosion on their fingers.
After explaining the two energies contained within the End Stone, Lygus turned his head to Fu Zhu and asked gravely, "Fu Zhu, is that your creation?"
Fu Zhu shot him a glare. "Do I look like someone who enjoys a yellowish-brown interior design style?"
His words took Lygus by surprise. It took him a moment to realize Fu Zhu was denying his question.
"Then that thing..."
Fu Zhu didn't feel like explaining things to Lygus, but seeing that everyone else was looking at him, he had no choice but to shed some light on the Ender Dragon's origin.
"It and I come from the same place. The two of us were destined to have one final battle. It looks like that day is today."
Fu Zhu's explanation was concise, and though it didn't give many details, it allowed everyone to understand the reason for the Ender Dragon's appearance.
"So what is it doing now...?" Stelle asked, confused, pointing at the Ender Dragon that continued to stare at them without attacking. She couldn't help but think of a certain trope popular among internet netizens...
'I will stare at you, forever and ever.'
At that thought, Stelle couldn't help but shiver. She turned to Fu Zhu and quipped, "Big bro, what kind of yandere did you manage to attract? But now that I think about it, aren't the two of you a pair of star-crossed lovers?"
Dan Heng and March 7th facepalmed. Only Stelle could come up with such a ridiculous thing to say at a time like this.
Fu Zhu's mouth twitched. "Sis, just skip the formalities and eat me already."
After roasting Stelle, Fu Zhu finally answered her previous question.
"It's terraforming Amphoreus. The reason it's not attacking right now is probably because it's making preparations."
"Preparations for what?"
"For an arena."
---o---
Outside Amphoreus, a dozen or so minutes ago.
Everyone aboard the joint fleet of the Astral Express, the Xianzhou, and the Interastral Peace Corporation witnessed the horrifying scene.
At that time, the fleet was in a standoff with several Lord Ravagers. It was then that the anomaly on Amphoreus occurred, and the massive form of The Irontomb appeared outside the planet.
Noticing this, Jing Yuan immediately initiated a joint conference. Projections of personnel from the Astral Express, the Yaoqing Xianzhou, the IPC joint fleet, and Herta Space Station appeared at once.
Jing Yuan didn't waste any time on pleasantries. He addressed the projections directly, "Everyone, The Irontomb has successfully hatched. We don't know what the situation is inside Amphoreus, but we cannot sit idly by. General Feixiao and I will hold back the other Lord Ravagers to prevent them from interfering with our operation. The Irontomb is yours to deal with."
The others naturally had no objections and promptly disconnected to begin their preparations.
Just as Himeko was about to disconnect, Jing Yuan stopped her.
"Ms. Himeko, I hope the Astral Express can contact Fu Zhu as soon as possible. We at least need to know what exactly has happened inside Amphoreus."
He didn't believe that Fu Zhu's methods would be insufficient to stop The Irontomb. The fact that it had appeared now could only mean something had gone wrong inside Amphoreus; he just didn't know how serious it was.
Himeko nodded grimly. This was her intention as well.
"Understood. We'll leave things out here to you, General."
"Leave it to us."
Himeko disconnected the communication. It was at that very moment that another change occurred.
The Irontomb, which had been menacing the fleet, suddenly trembled. Its four arms, which had been spread wide, now hung limply at its sides. It had gone completely still.
This development caused the fleets, which were just about to launch their attack, to halt their actions. After a brief moment of confusion, countless people couldn't help but cheer.
The Irontomb had stopped moving! This meant the people inside Amphoreus must have succeeded in stopping it! This was fantastic news!
But their celebration was short-lived. The Ender Dragon, which had been coiled around Amphoreus, suddenly began to move.
The moment it moved, all the fleets that had been approaching Amphoreus rapidly retreated. They hadn't forgotten the terrifying scene of the Ender Dragon casually rewinding Celenova's Antimatter Legion into particles with a single glance. They were afraid that if they were even a second too slow, they would share the Legion's fate.
Once the fleets had retreated to a safe distance, they watched in astonishment as the once-vibrant and colorful world of Amphoreus was terraformed at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, the entire planet was reduced to a single, yellowish-brown color.
What was even more baffling was that twelve enormous, pitch-black obsidian pillars erupted from within Amphoreus!
And atop each of those twelve pillars was a multi-faceted polyhedron, burning with an ethereal flame!
This sight made the entire world of Amphoreus look exactly like a cosmic arena!