However, Rover didn't have time to dwell on these emotions, because the other person had already made her move.
Phrolova's breathing became rapid. Her gaze locked dead onto the Gemstone hovering in the air, her eyes burning with an almost mad longing and absolute resolve.
The power of the Shores surged around her as she took a step forward.
"..." Rover immediately took a step forward as well, blocking the path between her and the Gemstone. Although Blood Pact was not pointed directly at her, his stance was already crystal clear.
He knew the final showdown had arrived.
"Move aside," Phrolova's voice was freezing cold, completely devoid of emotion.
"Phrolova, stop." Rover's voice was fraught with heaviness. "You saw Finlay's end. Salvation achieved by relying on this kind of power will ultimately only lead to destruction. What you are creating is not heaven; it is just another form of a cage—imprisoning them, and imprisoning yourself."
Phrolova interrupted him with violent emotion: "What do you know?! You possess near-eternal time! You can choose to start over, and you can even easily forget! But I cannot, and neither can they! This is the only way to allow them to keep existing!"
"Even if it is a phantom, it is the only truth I can hold onto!"
Rover: "That is not truth! That is merely the projection of your obsession! Look around you. Look at Finlay, look at those grotesque creations born from fusing humans and Tacet Discords! This is the consequence of pursuing illusory power! Stop now, it's not too late!"
A sorrowful yet mad smile surfaced on Phrolova's face: "Not too late? From the moment I waited for you to attend my concert until I fell into utter despair, it was already too late! From the moment I believed the Fractsidus could give me hope, there was no turning back!"
"I have waited for a very long time, and I will not wait anymore! Today, either I obtain the Gemstone and complete the Shores, or..."
"This will be... our final chapter."
She didn't finish her sentence, but the spider lily baton was already raised high. Massive energy began to gather, aiming directly at Rover and the Gemstone behind him.
Rover knew full well that words could no longer turn things around, and a massive wave of sorrow washed over his heart.
He slowly raised Blood Pact. The blade hummed, cyan Aero force flowing endlessly around it.
Their gazes clashed in the air. There was no longer a single trace of the leniency they shared during their cooperation; all that remained was the sharpest opposition and the most profound despair.
The final battle was on the verge of breaking out.
The hovering Threnodian Gemstone glowed erratically, like a beating heart. It became the sole source of light on this deathly still platform, as well as the focal point of all conflict.
Rover and Phrolova stood in a standoff. The air froze, as if pulled to its absolute limit by an invisible bowstring.
The brief synergy they shared just moments ago while fighting Finlay and the Black Tide together had evaporated completely, leaving only the purest and sharpest clash of ideals.
There were no more words.
The final ripple of emotion in Phrolova's eyes was thoroughly annihilated, transforming into absolute ice and resolve.
She moved first.
The spider lily baton drew a bleak, gorgeous arc. It did not produce a melodious movement, but rather a piercing noise that tore through everything.
Invisible sonic waves, like billions of freezing needles, instantly stabbed toward Rover. They attacked not only his physical body but drilled straight into his mind, attempting to dismantle his will and recreate the illusions of those agonizing memories.
Rover had anticipated this. Blood Pact did not block forcefully; instead, the tip of the blade rapidly tapped the empty air. Cyan Aero force rippled outward, forming a resilient Resonance shield.
The sonic waves crashed against the shield, erupting into ear-piercing cracking sounds. The mental assault was forcibly blocked outside by his highly refined combat will, but the shield vibrated violently. Clearly, Phrolova's strength after recovering her complete form far exceeded what it was before.
"Heh." Having failed to land the first strike, Phrolova let out a cold sneer, her offensive growing even more rapid.
Her silhouette drifted unpredictably, like a phantom. Every wave of her baton drew upon the power of the Shores of the Lost resting upon her.
The platform's floor abruptly cracked open. Countless dark red spider lily vines, condensed from pure obsession, reached out to entangle, bind, and devour. Simultaneously, countless translucent energy entities bearing weeping faces condensed in the air, raining down like arrows of sorrow.
Rover moved like the wind, nimbly weaving through his opponent's frenzied attacks.
His swordsmanship was no longer just simple, fierce hacking and slashing. Fused with the exquisite manipulation of Aero force, it was at times as agile as a swimming dragon, slicing through the binding vines, and at other times as heavy as a mountain, shattering the sorrowful energy entities with majestic power.
He advanced carefully step by step, not merely defending blindly, but actively searching for an opportunity to get close to Phrolova's main body, attempting to interrupt her casting.
The battle entered a fever pitch right from the very beginning.
Phrolova's offensive was just like her obsession—endless, mad, and desperate.
She didn't even care about her own defense anymore, pouring the vast majority of her power into attacking, as if pushing forward and seizing her opponent was the sole meaning of her existence.
The scenes of the Shores continuously overlapped with reality. At times, the illusory care of the townspeople appeared; at others, it was their agonized, twisted wails, all attempting to interfere with Rover's mind.
Rover's heart was like a boulder, forcibly suppressing all churning emotions. He knew that even a single trace of wavering could doom him entirely.
His sword grew faster and faster, increasingly precise. The Aero force perfectly combined with the sword techniques that had long become muscle memory, actually forcing a path open through Phrolova's rampaging offensive.
An opening!
He abruptly dashed forward, closing the distance, and thrust Blood Pact straight at the wrist Phrolova used to hold the baton.
He had no intention of killing her, but if this strike landed, it would maximize the reduction of her threat.
However, in the split second before the tip of the blade touched her, an incredibly bizarre smile—a mixture of sorrow and madness—suddenly surfaced on Phrolova's face.
She neither dodged nor evaded; instead, she thrust her spider lily baton forward!
Clang—!
The tip of the sword and the tip of the baton collided violently. But the expected head-on parry did not occur. The baton acted like a bottomless pit, instantly erupting with a terrifying suction force.
Not only did it firmly lock onto Blood Pact, but it also began to frantically drain Rover's Aero force, and even his very foundational life energy.
"What?!" Rover was somewhat shocked. He attempted to pull his sword back and retreat, only to find the blade was as if welded shut, completely unable to move. His power rapidly drained away, and his vision gradually began to blur.
"The Shores... require nourishment..." Phrolova's voice was ethereal and distant. At her bandaged right eye, it was as if endless departed souls were howling and snatching beneath the wraps. "Especially... your power. The power of my dear 'soulmate'..."
She had calculated this all along, not hesitating to use herself as bait, just waiting for this exact moment.
She wanted to drag his power, along with his very being, into the Shores, making him the cornerstone that would sustain that illusory paradise.
"You will remain in the Shores forever, to fulfill that promise with me..."
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