Within the smoke-filled plazas of the Artisanship Commission, Welt, Stelle, and March 7th remained locked in a grinding battle against the Abominations of Abundance and their towering guardians—the massive Ebon Deer and two spectral beasts.
Though the creatures lacked overwhelming offensive versatility, their obscene, unnatural vitality was an absolute nightmare to fight.
No matter how many times the Trailblazers dealt a fatal blow, the beasts simply absorbed energy from the roots beneath their feet and regenerated back to full strength, completely immune to standard exhaustion.
"Uncle Yang, think of something! We can't keep this up forever!" March 7th yelled, her voice strained with fatigue as she and Stelle dodged another sweeping horn strike, using her ice to temporarily freeze the lead beast's forelegs to the catwalk.
Stelle raised her fiery lance, relying on the Shield of Preservation to absorb a crushing charge from the secondary beast. With a sharp gasp, she lunged forward, driving the flaming tip deep into its throat. Flames erupted from the wound, incinerating its head in seconds.
Yet before Stelle could even draw a breath, the headless body twitched, green roots bursting from the neck to re-form its features instantly. The creature lunged right back, forcing Stelle to throw herself sideways across the metal plating, leaving her scuffed and breathless.
Welt watched the exchange, a heavy look of helplessness settling over his features as he shook his head.
"Prepare yourselves," Welt said quietly. "If the situation worsens, we will have to pull back."
It wasn't that he lacked the means to destroy them. For entities with such extreme biological regeneration, reducing them to absolute atomic dust was the only proven countermeasure. He was confident that if he unleashed the full power of the Star of Eden to open a localized black hole, the Abominations would be erased entirely.
But this was the Artisanship Commission—a delicate, complex hub housing centuries of irreplaceable Xianzhou engineering and technological craft. To swallow roots of this magnitude, the dark void would need to be massive.
And a void of that size would collapse half the district along with the monsters.
Welt had already learned the broader strokes of the Hunters' script from Stelle. If he leveled one of the Luofu's primary manufacturing hubs, the High Commission might refrain from openly pressing charges out of courtesy, but the eventual alliance and political goodwill they sought would be completely ruined.
While he harbored endless doubts regarding Elio's methods, securing the Xianzhou Alliance as a permanent ally was undeniably vital for the Express crew's long-term journey across the cosmos. Having the support of the Alliance's fleet meant a massive increase in safety for everyone on board.
He wanted that alliance. But if protecting the district meant putting March and Stelle in grave danger, he would abandon the mission reward without a second thought.
High above the battlefield, perched out of sight on an elevated sky-crane, Silver Wolf watched the chaotic melee below with a rare trace of concern in her eyes.
"Are you sure they can clear this?" she asked softly.
Because of Julian's unpredictable presence and Aha's subtle interference, Elio had only provided a rough outline for this chapter of the script rather than a detailed blueprint. To be honest, this was the first time Silver Wolf had ever executed a mission with so little operational certainty.
"Don't worry," Kafka replied with a calm, faint smile, her eyes fixed on a distant azure light streaking across the sky. "I can step in from the shadows at any moment. Besides... their key support has already arrived."
"Azure Dragon Cleanses the World!"
Just as Welt made the call to fall back, a roaring wave of azure water shaped like a massive dragon crashed down from above, slamming squarely into the three divine beasts. The sheer momentum drove the creatures back hundreds of yards, tearing up the metallic floorboards beneath them.
A figure descended from the air, landing lightly in front of the group.
It was Dan Heng, delivered straight from the Scalegorge Waterscape by Julian's spatial magic.
"Mr. Welt, March, Stelle—are you all alright?"
"You're... Dan Heng?!" March 7th gasped, her jaw dropping as she looked at his transformed state. "You actually had a hidden power form this whole time?! I was just joking when I said that on the train!"
Seeing the glowing dragon horns, the ethereal tail flickered behind him, and the majestic robes, March instantly recalled all the classic tropes from the web novels and manga she read. She had teased him about hiding some secret ancient identity before, but to see it actually stand right in front of her was another story entirely.
Stelle's gaze locked directly onto the shimmering dragon horns and tail, her golden eyes practically radiating a single, clear thought: I want to touch them.
Welt, having previously heard Himeko mention Dan Heng's high-elder lineage, observed the transformation with quiet respect. This was his first time witnessing the Vidyadhara form in person.
"We can discuss the details later," Dan Heng said softly, keeping his eyes on the recovering beasts ahead. "For now, we need to eliminate these Abominations."
"It's no use simply hitting them, Dan Heng!" March 7th warned, wiping sweat from her brow. "The moment they take fatal damage, the roots beneath them pump in energy and bring them right back. We're just going to run out of stamina before they do!"
"Leave that to me," Dan Heng replied calmly. "I will sever their connection to the root system."
With his current mastery over the cloud-hymn magic, such a task was straightforward.
"Understood. We'll follow your lead," Welt agreed, signaling Stelle and March to prepare their final assault.
Dan Heng raised his hand, channeling his authority into three translucent water lances floating beside him. With a flick of his wrist, the lances shot forward like lightning, piercing the ground right beneath the feet of the three beasts and cleanly severing the thick root tendrils feeding them energy.
"Now!" Dan Heng barked.
The three Trailblazers unleashed their strikes simultaneously.
Stelle charged forward, thrusting her flaming lance straight through the Spirit-Lion's torso, letting the sacred fire consume its body until nothing remained but ash. Welt swept his cane in a heavy arc, unleashing a focused gravity wave that sliced the Ebon Deer in half before crushing the remaining fragments into fine dust.
March 7th aimed her bow at the third beast, coating it in a thick layer of blue ice. She attempted to shatter the frozen statue into pieces, but exhausted from the prolonged fight, her arrow lacked the force to finish the job, shattering only the upper torso.
Though cut off from the main Arbor roots, the beast still retained a reservoir of residual energy in its lower body. If left alone for even a few seconds, it would re-establish a link to the floor and heal completely.
"Azure Dragon Manifestation—Break!"
Before the ice could melt, Dan Heng thrust his spear forward. An azure dragon spirit surged through the frozen target, shattering the remaining body into harmless glittering frost.
"Hehe... sorry about that," March 7th muttered, scratching the back of her head sheepishly as she sank toward the floor. Fatigue was written all over her face—no one could blame her for running low on energy.
Yet Dan Heng and Welt didn't have time to rest just yet. Their eyes turned toward the pulsing heart of the Abundance tree.
Sensing that its guardians had been destroyed, the trunk began swelling rapidly, attempting to form fresh flower buds to incubate new monsters.
"Quick, pull the Stellaron out before it resets!" Welt called out, unleashing a precise gravity blade that sliced clean through the trunk, exposing the glowing, unstable core hidden within the wood.
The severed stump writhed, new vines shooting out at terrifying speed to re-wrap the core. March 7th, drawing on the absolute last reserve of her strength, shot a heavy frost arrow that severed the growing vines once more.
As the wood tried to close in a third time, Stelle stepped up, her fiery lance cutting through the fresh growth. "Dan Heng, now!"
Dan Heng moved like a blur. With a wave of his arm, an azure dragon phantom plunged into the heart of the tree, snapping its jaws shut around the exposed Stellaron and wrenching it free from the wooden core.
Without the Stellaron's massive energy output powering the root network, the ambient pressure in the district dropped instantly. Though the ancient fire furnace within the commission still held residual energy, the terrifying, Mara-inducing field dissipated entirely.
The immediate crisis was over; the Xianzhou authorities could easily manage the remaining cleanup.
However, just as Dan Heng pulled the glowing core toward his palm, the Stellaron vanished into thin air without a single trace.
"Who's there?!"
The sudden disappearance sent everyone into high alert. Fearing an ambush, Welt and Dan Heng immediately formed a defensive perimeter around the exhausted March 7th, scanning the surrounding catwalks with cold, sharp eyes.
Yet no attack came. The air remained still, and after several tense minutes, the group carefully withdrew from the commission, returning to the Divination Commission to recover.
With the combined efforts of the Trailblazers, the High Commission, and Julian's quiet intervention from the shadows, the devastating crisis sparked by Phantylia and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus finally drew to a peaceful close.
Once the dust settled, Julian returned to his daily routine, diving back into the development of his upcoming game projects.
The Astral Express crew was formally presented with a Jade Abacus of Alacrity by General Jing Yuan himself, alongside special diplomatic privileges across all Xianzhou flagships.
Since they had already arrived at the Luofu, the crew decided to stay for an extended stay, taking the opportunity to thoroughly explore the massive world-ship before setting off on their next galactic voyage.
During the previous Pokémon competition, they hadn't even managed to see a fraction of a single sanctuary, let alone the full expanse of the Luofu's scenic districts.
Stelle, who was visiting a Xianzhou ship for the very first time, was particularly eager to try every local delicacy and visit every market street. March 7th took the opportunity to visit the local Arceus project headquarters, spending hours discussing grand stage designs and contest rules with the staff for the next big event.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
While the Luofu gradually finished its post-war reconstruction, the grand Pokémon contest spanning across the universe neared its breathtaking conclusion.
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