The blinding pure white faded, and light and shadow reassembled.
The sensation beneath their feet had changed. It was no longer rough stone slabs, but an extremely smooth, crystalline floor that felt slightly springy underfoot.
The four of them seemed to have crossed an invisible dimensional line, descending directly into the interior of this super-standard void.
The scale of the void defied all human architectural common sense.
There were no pillars, no dome, only endless bands of Chaos all around.
Right in the center of this space, a structure the size of a three-story detached villa hung suspended.
Contrary to everyone's expectations.
There was no overwhelming stench of blood and filth here, nor any twisted, nauseating lumps of flesh and tentacles.
What floated there was a magnificent "heart," assembled and tightly interlocked from countless diamond-shaped black and red crystals.
The edges of each crystal were polished to absolute perfection, with a gorgeous aura of energy flowing within.
It was contracting and expanding in a cycle with a highly rhythmic beat.
"Thump... Thump..."
With each beat, a dull and powerful boom echoed, invisible ripples of energy washing over the entire space.
This heartbeat wasn't frightening; instead, it carried a strange rhythm, as if it could resonate with one's soul.
It was too beautiful.
Beautiful like a luxurious work of art crafted with the skill of a god.
"Good grief,"
Lin Xiyue slammed her heavy [Blackstone's Protection] onto the ground, creating a dull thud.
"I even prepared a gas mask and a plastic raincoat, terrified I'd get sprayed with some unknown liquid."
"Yet this final BOSS looks more expensive than the grand finale piece of a jewelry exhibition."
Su Wan pushed up the bridge of her nose, her fingertips touching only air, but this habitual gesture set her mind racing at high speed.
"Pay attention. The more beautiful and geometrically regular an energy body is, the more its destructive power tends to increase exponentially."
"Those grotesque things are mostly failed products of genetic mutation. But this..."
She lifted her chin slightly and looked at the crystal heart.
"This is a pure crystallization of Law."
Just as they were critiquing the BOSS's appearance, a voice resonated directly within the depths of their minds.
Its gender was indistinguishable, lacking the physical texture produced by vibrating vocal cords.
The voice was soft and melodious, possessing a strange magic that could send a tingling sensation through one's nerve endings.
"Insignificant mortals, stray lambs. You have overcome countless obstacles and crossed the eternal stillness of ages to finally stand before me."
The black-red crystal heart's glow flared brilliantly, reflected in the pupils of the four women.
"Open your tightly sealed hearts and reveal to me your parched souls."
"Speak of your desires, your pitiful, humble yearnings. Merge with me, and I shall grant you everything!"
"The pinnacle of power, endless wealth, eternal life that transcends the river of time..."
The voice seemed to pluck the deepest strings of the soul with every syllable, tempting the listeners to surrender all their innermost desires.
As Lin Xiyue listened, her defensive posture gradually relaxed.
She slammed the edge of her shield onto the ground with one hand, while her other hand rested on her hip, her brow furrowed into a knot.
"Stop, stop, stop, cut it out!"
The knight girl rudely raised her voice, using the most basic physical vocalization to bluntly cut off the seductive melody looping in her mind.
"I say, shouldn't you update this script of yours?"
"Do you villains all attend the same training class? You don't even bother to change your textbooks on how to lure enemies in."
Heart of the Ancient God: "..."
The seductive voice clearly faltered for a moment, as if its core processor had crashed from this sudden interruption.
The crystal heart skipped a beat, its flowing light flickering with an unnatural disorder.
Lin Xiyue had no intention of saving face for the other party and continued her outspoken critique:
"Next, are you going to say that as long as we help you destroy the Sealing Formation Eyes guarded by those sentinels, you will lead us to establish a new order?"
"That we will reach the pinnacle of our lives and become the Gods of the New World?"
"Sorry, this pie-painting technique is too outdated. Can't you broaden your horizons a bit?"
"We're not interns here for a job interview. We're here with a demolition permit from the Demolition Office. Enough nonsense. Are you going to let us demolish you or not?"
The air fell into a brief, dead silence.
The massive crystal artwork, for the first time in its existence, encountered a severe communication barrier.
Over the long ages, it had grown accustomed to manipulating mortals in the palm of its hand, while those mortals, upon hearing its promises, would often weep in gratitude and pledge their loyalty.
But today's visitors possessed a line of reasoning so cunningly perverse that it left even a god bewildered.
It recalibrated the frequency of its energy output, attempting a new script, one more heavy with menace.
"Ignoramuses! You have no idea what you're refusing!"
"I can see through to the meager yet highly malleable potential within your bodies. If only you accept my blessing and open that gate, you could rule this entire planet!"
"You're calculating your gains so blatantly the abacus beads are bouncing off my face."
Su Wan stood with her arms crossed, deep-blue magic power already condensing into tiny ice crystals at her fingertips.
With the perfect posture of a business negotiation, the Young Mistress unilaterally rejected the deal.
"The return on investment is completely unsustainable."
"So we let you out, then watch you dump the pollution you're carrying into Earth's ecosystem, turning our home into a garbage dump for your Sub-Kin to breed in?"
"By then, this so-called God of the New World will be nothing more than a commander without an army, who also has to help you clean up the ecological disaster."
"My elders taught me from a young age not to accept 'candy' from strangers, especially candy with a skull on it. It's simply not necessary."
Beside her, Xia Lian gripped the Fangs of Shadow Strike tightly, her cheeks flushed crimson.
As the most thin-skinned person in the group, she felt ants crawling all over her body.
Not out of fear, but out of sheer embarrassment.
"Um... as a major villain, reciting such chuunibyou lines in front of others, only to have your scam exposed to your face..."
"Don't you feel embarrassed at all? If it were me, I'd have already clawed out a one-bedroom apartment in the floor and crawled inside..."
Xia Lian muttered softly, her gaze darting everywhere, looking at the sky and the ground, but never daring to look at that crystal heart.
As if looking at it for just one more second would share a portion of the social death the other party was experiencing.
Lin Qingyue rested the staff "Beloved" on her shoulder.
"To summarize. The script is cliché, it lacks interactivity, the pitch deck is full of fluff, and you can't even explain the core revenue model."
"Most importantly, you've wasted the precious time of the two security guards waiting outside for the end of their shift."
Lin Qingyue tapped the butt of her staff, putting a period on this farcical conversation.
"We are rejecting your investment proposal. Get ready, the demolition team is about to start working."