"Hohoho… Lord Wei Qing, what is this—did the last time the Aeon of Elation descended on the Luofu not only take your sanity, but also slap a fool's mask onto your face?"
Phantylia's coquettish laughter rippled through the desolate starfield, sweet as poisoned honey—thick with mockery.
At the same time, that eerie yellow radiance surged violently, splitting into countless twisted, phantom arms that clawed straight at Wei Qing.
"In my war symphony, no one gets to enjoy silence alone!" Zephyro's voice was cold and decisive.
High-frequency vibrations—denser than before—erupted instantly. They no longer came as scattered strikes; they interwove into a single net of annihilation that blanketed the entire battlefield.
With Zephyro thrusting both hands forward, the net collapsed toward Wei Qing, sealing every possible angle of evasion.
A combined assault from two Great Lords—far beyond what they'd shown earlier. This time they were clearly holding nothing back, aiming to crush him outright… or erase him.
"Honestly," Wei Qing murmured, almost to himself, "people never believe the truth."
But his aura shifted in the same breath.
The power of the Hunt didn't vanish—if anything, it remained sharp and steady—yet now it braided together with a wholly different, dark-red force.
A force he rarely displayed… because it was the most fundamental thing about him.
Destruction.
[The World!]
Time froze again.
Wei Qing raised his hand slowly.
This time, he wasn't going to rely on the Hunt alone.
Fine cracks began to lace across his body—but it wasn't injury. From within, a surge of golden blood began to flow, pure and incandescent: power from the Path of Destruction itself.
Nanook—the Aeon who walks Destruction—casts a glance across worlds at powerful beings who awaken to the impulse to destroy, brands them with an imprint, and grants them strength.
The Great Lords of the Annihilation Gang are Emanators of Destruction—executors of its will. They command wars that span the stars and wield the ruinous might bestowed by an Aeon.
Every Great Lord has a corresponding "counterpart" among the Paths—and Wei Qing, personally fashioned by Nanook as the Great Lord prepared for Abundance, naturally carried traits born to oppose Abundance itself.
More than that—
Because he was a being forged by Nanook's own hand, the power he received on the Path of Destruction was on a level other Great Lords couldn't match.
Even among Great Lords, there were gaps. Even the one widely regarded as the strongest Destruction Emanator—Flamewind—likely fell short of him.
If one had to draw a comparison… only a figure like the Xianzhou Marshal could be spoken of in the same breath.
…
The dark-red blade of Undying Sever let out a hum unlike anything before as it drank in that golden blood of Destruction. Its "severance of the undead" intent fused perfectly with the golden ichor's thirst to end Abundance.
Within the stopped-time domain, Wei Qing looked like a judge holding life and death in his hands.
The World released.
The instant time resumed—
From the point Wei Qing had "pierced" into reality, a ring-shaped shockwave detonated—something so terrifying it couldn't be described by color.
Phantylia's mind-sinking yellow radiance—like filth meeting its natural nemesis—boiled violently the moment the wave swept through, shrieking with a harsh, sizzling scream.
Those warped phantom arms shattered inch by inch before they could even touch Wei Qing, collapsing into nothing.
Zephyro's meticulously woven net of string-tone was no better. A more brutal Destruction will invaded it head-on—like an unseen giant hand ripping taut strings apart. The net snapped with an ear-splitting crack.
Under that instantaneous burst, both Great Lords let out a muffled grunt—almost at the same time.
"Destruction's… golden blood?" For the first time, Phantylia's voice exposed unmistakable shock.
Her eerie yellow glow was torn open with a massive gash. And unlike Zephyro—who still had room to stabilize—Phantylia looked like a candle in the wind, her aura dropping sharply.
In her earlier deal with Shuhu, she had helped him craft a body tainted by Destruction… and Shuhu, in turn, had infused her avatar with Abundance's "blessing."
And it was precisely that trace of Abundance within her—
That had brought her to this miserable state.
"…Five seconds." After a brief silence, Zephyro spoke.
"His time-stoppage limit is roughly five seconds." Her gaze locked onto Wei Qing, searching for any hint of overdrawn power. "Both of his attacks were the same—very brief, but enough to arrange a lethal setup."
Wei Qing exhaled softly. Chaining time-stops did leave a faint mental fatigue… but he was nowhere near the edge.
"Good analysis," he said lightly. "So are you two planning to pay with lives—one after another—to fill each five-second gap?"
"I'd be happy to oblige."
Phantylia's avatar visibly trembled. If that strike happened again, there was a very real chance this incarnation of hers would be completely erased on the spot.
"Lord Wei Qing," Zephyro said flatly, "where did your golden blood come from?"
Her tall figure steadied again inside the ring of invisible string-tone, but the way she looked at him had changed entirely—pure appraisal, and something like… confirmation.
Unlike Phantylia, who'd clearly lost her composure, Zephyro remained calm.
Because in her perception, whether it was that golden blood or the blow just now—
There was no doubt at all.
It was Destruction.
Wei Qing chuckled.
"This golden blood is proof that I practice Destruction's will."
Phantylia's voice went sharp with disbelief. "Impossible! How could the Wound-Bringer… how could he bless a Xianzhou native—an Emanator of the Hunt?!"
"Narrow-minded." Wei Qing scoffed and stepped forward.
Gold and blue light interlaced around him. Destruction and the Hunt coexisted in a strange, unnatural harmony, radiating pressure that made it hard to breathe.
"I'm only temporarily walking the Hunt's road. That doesn't conflict with my practice of Destruction."
"The Wound-Bringer's gaze is impartially cast upon every Path. Ending Abundance is also an indispensable part of Destruction."
"And I was born for that."
The meaning was obvious:
He was the Great Lord of Destruction set against Abundance.
Zephyro's pupils tightened. Her hands lowered slowly. The string-tone around her still hummed—but its aggression eased, shifting into razor-edged vigilance and probing curiosity.
"Proof," she said—two syllables, still cold, but no longer pure hostility.
In the next moment, a far purer, far more violent, far more primal will of Destruction exploded outward from Wei Qing.
This wasn't a blend laced with the Hunt.
This was Destruction itself—as if Nanook had arrived in person.
A colleague's authority, kid.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 90)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter70)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter70)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter60)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 30
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 30
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