The Shadow, now covered in the agonizingly beautiful, Hyper-Shimmer Poncho (the result of the Ironic Inversion), was momentarily stunned by the transformation. The Contempt Cage around Felix had dissolved, and the figure was clutching the shimmering fabric in confused agony.
King Felix II seized the moment. He knew he couldn't hold his DF reserves against the sustained hatred of the Shadow forever, and he needed Rhea free. He had to end the mystery now.
Felix reached for the gilded microphone—the Prism of Unfettered Desire—and gripped it tightly. The ancient relic, fueled by his personal Meta-Flow, hummed to life, projecting a focused cone of pure, blinding aesthetic light.
He pointed the light directly at the Shadow.
"You speak of True Focus," Felix's voice resonated, amplified by the Prism. "But your focus is corrupted by hate. It is static. The Flow is dynamic. Show me your face, and let us see the source of your Contempt!"
Kingly Skill Activated: Ritual of Targeted Focus (Prism Amplification)
Felix poured the remaining bulk of his internal DF reserves into the Prism of Unfettered Desire. This was a magical act of pure, overwhelming aesthetic compulsion—a targeted, concentrated beam of light and focus designed to strip away all illusions and psychological defenses.
The light slammed into the Shadow. The Hyper-Shimmer Poncho instantly disintegrated, vaporized by the intensity of the pure focus. The gray hood dissolved, and the figure collapsed to the ground, shielding their face.
The psychic field of the Void of Lost Focus shrieked in protest at the intensity of the focused light.
The Shadow slowly raised their head, defeated by the raw power of the Prism.
King Felix stared, the Prism of Unfettered Desire slipping slightly in his grasp. The figure was not a forgotten member of Lunio's royalty, or a powerful Arch-Mage.
It was Arch-Scribe Selene, the overly formal, un-aesthetic envoy from the Holy Kingdom of Lunio.
"Selene," Felix breathed, shock momentarily overcoming his strategic focus. "The Envoy? But why? You showed no Flow capability!"
Selene's pristine face, usually a mask of neutrality, was now contorted in a terrifying expression of absolute, venomous hatred.
"You assume my power is based on the weak, consumerist 'Flow,' King," Selene spat, her voice ringing with the final, horrifying realization. "I was never an adherent of the Doctrine of Light. I am the last, uncorrupted descendant of the Ego-Cultivators!"
She pointed a finger at the gilded microphone. "That Prism was meant for pure magic! For the ultimate, non-aesthetic focus! You, the gooning King, have defiled our sacred focus with your cheap, pathetic vanity!"
Selene's true identity wasn't just a descendant of the Ego-Cultivators; it was her power source itself.
"The power of Contempt is my weapon!" Selene revealed, her eyes burning with focused hatred. "I cultivate it internally—the intense, absolute loathing for all that is superficial and weak! The more I focus on your degeneracy, the stronger my anti-Flow power becomes! I am the ultimate anti-aesthetic weapon!"
She had been deliberately placed as the Envoy of Lunio, knowing that her ideological rigidity and genuine repulsion of Thighland's culture would shield her from suspicion. Her diplomatic status was a perfect cover for her magical espionage.
Selene glared at the King, her face marred by the intensity of her own cultivated hatred. "I failed to retrieve the Prism. But I have one final move."
She used her last surge of concentrated Contempt to trigger the chains holding Rhea. The gray energy didn't release Rhea; it began to convert her into the ultimate anti-aesthetic symbol.
The chains began to solidify into a massive, blocky, unpainted Chadgardian Anti-Statue, threatening to crush Knight-Captain Rhea and permanently negate her AI.
"Stop it, Selene!" Felix screamed, his voice raw.
"No! I will leave you with a permanent symbol of your culture's greatest weakness: The ultimate, un-cancellable Cringe!" Selene declared, before collapsing from the effort of her final act.
The Shadow is defeated, but Knight-Captain Rhea is in mortal danger of being transmuted into an un-cancellable 'Cringe' statue.