[Special Skill: "A Colleague's Authority"]
When facing other Annihilation Gang Great Lords, you can briefly release the aura of the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook, to intimidate them.
This was a reward the system had given Wei Qing back when he'd been messing with Phantylia on the Luofu.
He'd originally thought the skill was pretty useless.
He hadn't expected it to come in handy this quickly.
"You…"
"…You truly walk the Path of Destruction." Zephyro sounded genuinely surprised.
That resonance from the Path's source couldn't be faked—especially that last trace of Nanook's presence. It was ironclad proof.
Absurd as it was… the Hunt Emanator standing in front of them was actually an Annihilation Gang Great Lord too?
Zephyro had heard of him—an Emanator blessed by an Aeon while still practically in the "hatchling" stage.
So Nanook's reach was really that outrageous? Even someone like this could be dragged into his fold?
"Well?" Wei Qing drew in the Destruction aura that had been leaking from him. "Believe me now?"
"Since we practice Destruction under the same banner, why did you expose me on the Luofu?!" Phantylia snapped, fury flashing—this was the one point she couldn't accept, the one thing she'd never let go.
If Wei Qing really was "one of them," then what he'd done back then amounted to betrayal.
"If I remember right," Wei Qing replied calmly, "your target at the time was me, wasn't it?"
"And besides—didn't I give you a chance?" he added. "Wasn't it you who refused?"
Phantylia choked for a moment.
That counted as "a chance"?!
"Lord Wei Qing," Zephyro cut in before Phantylia could explode again, "forgive my bluntness. If you are the Xianzhou's Hunt Emanator… what, then, are Nanook's expectations of you?"
It was a critical question.
Every Great Lord corresponded to a specific "counterpart" among the Paths.
Zephyro truly wanted to hear his answer.
Wei Qing met her gaze, a faint smile lifting the corner of his mouth.
"Expectations?"
"The Wound-Bringer has only one expectation of me: an ending—to end the immortal fallacy of Abundance, to cleanse the twisted 'gifts' spread by the Apothecary."
"I am the Great Lord destined to destroy Abundance."
"End the immortal fallacy of Abundance…" Zephyro murmured. Understanding flickered coldly in her eyes.
A Great Lord who countered Abundance—this identity explained many contradictions.
Destruction's will was vast and unfathomable. To turn the Xianzhou's blade back upon Abundance… that was absolutely the kind of cruel movement Destruction would compose.
"The Xianzhou seeks to sever old karmic debts and walk the Hunt's road into the future," Wei Qing said. "What I practice—Destruction—is the hellfire that burns away Abundance's filth. Right now, our objectives do not conflict."
His gaze swept over the two Great Lords.
"Perhaps that is why, the moment I stepped onto the Luofu, the Hunt did not trouble me—perhaps it even granted me power from its Path."
"…So that's it," Phantylia said, voice still icy, but the killing intent had thinned.
Now that she understood his identity, she'd lost her footing to condemn him. Great Lords all served Destruction, yes—but in practice they were often independent.
And what Wei Qing had just said revealed something new:
This "colleague" who countered Abundance hadn't become Destruction through the Hunt—
He had infiltrated the Hunt while Destruction remained his true inner core.
"In that case," Zephyro said, inclining her head slightly, "we were presumptuous."
The string-tone around her finally quieted.
A Great Lord meant to destroy Abundance…
And yet she and Phantylia had teamed up with an Abundance Emanator to target him.
Compared to Wei Qing's friction with Phantylia on the Luofu, what they had done here was far worse.
"A misunderstanding," Zephyro concluded succinctly. Her tone held no emotion—yet she accepted Wei Qing's explanation and status.
Phantylia's eerie yellow light also retracted. She wasn't as clean-cut as Zephyro, but her stance had clearly softened.
She huffed, still annoyed and unconvinced.
"Hmph. Even so, your methods on the Luofu were a little too… merciless. That avatar cost me quite a lot of effort, you know."
Understanding or not, resentment didn't vanish just because it was rational.
Wei Qing chuckled. The Undying Sever dispersed from his hand, and the interwoven forces of Destruction and Hunt slowly settled around him.
"If I left too much 'mercy,' I'd risk getting cut by the Hunt's edge."
His eyes slid across the two Great Lords, his tone turning faintly amused.
"Still—you two came in force, colluded with an Abundance Emanator, and set up this little trap. The plan was to destroy me and Shuhu together… to show the Wound-Bringer your accomplishments, wasn't it?"
Zephyro didn't answer.
Silence—an admission.
If they could remove an Abundance Emanator and cripple or capture a terrifying Hunt rising star, it would be exactly the kind of tableau Destruction would enjoy.
Phantylia, meanwhile, laughed lightly and sidestepped the accusation.
"Collude? What an ugly word. It was merely timing—mutual convenience."
"Shuhu wanted your power and your secrets. We were happy to see Abundance and the Hunt grind each other down."
"Just didn't expect…" Her tone carried something complicated, hard to hide. "…that the only one getting ground down would be Shuhu's old bones—and that we'd stumble upon a colleague as… special as you."
Their plan had completely failed. They'd nearly kicked steel. And worse—today had exposed an astonishing secret.
Nothing about this was what they'd anticipated.
"I'm not here for explanations," Wei Qing said flatly. "And I'm not accepting a flimsy 'misunderstanding' either."
"Even if we all serve Destruction, you two still owe me an account."
Phantylia laughed again—yet her eyes were less relaxed now, more wary.
"This time, yes, Zephyro and I misjudged. But we act under the Wound-Bringer's banner. Everything we did was simply to practice Destruction. Why push so aggressively, Lord Wei Qing?"
Zephyro's response was more direct. She didn't seem interested in verbal fencing at all.
"The mistake has already happened," she said coldly. "What compensation do you want?"
Wei Qing didn't waste words.
"I need you two…"
"…to help me usurp the throne."
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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