231,860 A.D.
A year had passed since their previous consultation.
Marionette Actor had finally deceived a few Divines into taking action.
After completing her part, she returned to the squad.
Luna observed the situation from a distance.
"What's their plan?"
Luna had been in constant preparation, needing her own plan to be as perfect as possible, so she hadn't asked Marionette Actor for the specifics earlier.
"Strong Black Hole Demolition!"
Marionette Actor slowly spoke the words.
Her eyes held a trace of excitement; she had instigated this and even provided some of the technical expertise.
Marionette Actor wasn't just a deceiver; she had to have the knowledge to back up her lies.
"That technology reminds me of the previous Spacetime Shattering event," Blacklight remarked from the side. Having been a broker in Hyperdimensional Space, he knew quite a bit of information.
Marionette Actor simply smirked at his comment, neither confirming nor denying anything, leaving Blacklight to guess.
Luna was also aware of that incident.
Within Hyperdimensional Space, destroying a world was quite difficult.
But a Strong Black Hole Demolition could do it.
The power of a Black Hole exceeded calculation itself.
In Hyperdimensional Space, ordinary Black Holes were calculated constructs; while they functioned like Black Holes, they were ultimately just segments of data, unable to simulate a true Black Hole.
But in that incident, massive amounts of data were used to calculate a real Black Hole, causing such an entity to appear within a digital world.
This was an unprecedented event; because of it, many began to doubt the reality of Hyperdimensional Space.
Usually, people doubted its reality by suspecting it was fake, but after that event, many began to suspect that the worlds within Hyperdimensional Space were real.
Some even felt that their original reality was just one world within Hyperdimensional Space.
This existential reversal caused quite a stir. That event was also known as the Strong Black Hole Demolition incident.
A Strong Black Hole wasn't a normal Black Hole; it was a Black Hole of data, drawing upon massive data instead of physical matter.
As a high-level civilization, Human Civilization could create data Black Holes, so there was no reason the Home Civilization couldn't.
"What's the maximum Schwarzschild Radius?"
The Schwarzschild Radius is essentially the value to which an object must be compressed to collapse into a Black Hole.
Generally, an object's actual radius is much larger than its Schwarzschild Radius.
For example, the Sun's is 3 km, and Earth's is 9 mm.
Theoretically, if the Sun were compressed to a radius of 3 km, or Earth to 9 mm, they would collapse into Black Holes.
Only a Black Hole has a Schwarzschild Radius larger than its actual physical radius. Once an object collapses into a Black Hole, its volume is further compressed into a Singularity, where gravity becomes infinite.
It is completely beyond the scope of any calculable formula.
A Black Hole's Schwarzschild Radius is observable, while its actual radius cannot be observed, only calculated. Thus, questions regarding a Black Hole's radius generally refer to the Schwarzschild Radius, not the physical one.
"It's hard to pin down, but it could exceed 2 centimeters."
Marionette Actor spoke only in approximations.
This was already terrifying enough.
The Schwarzschild Radius of a compressed Earth is only 9 mm; a 2 cm Black Hole actually represents the total mass of several Earths.
This meant Marionette Actor believed the data volume generated by even this small fleet of the Home Civilization, when converted to energy, reached a staggering level.
It was equivalent to one to two parts per 100,000 of the Sun's mass.
For comparison, Earth's mass is less than three parts per million of the Sun's.
"That is the total energy a star releases over tens of thousands of years," True Lord added from the side, his expression somewhat vacant.
Marionette Actor saw that everyone had misunderstood.
"That's not from data alone; it includes the total energy released after the destruction of this entire Fortress."
That made more sense.
Even Luna breathed a sigh of relief.
If that had been from data alone, it would have been beyond belief.
For a Type 2.8 Civilization like Home, that would be far too terrifying, though they were already terrifying enough.
But it didn't matter; their mission was to shake this behemoth.
"They're congregating over there."
One Sword Immortal, flying high above, was the first to see the anomaly and called out to Luna and the others.
A few seconds later, Luna and the rest saw a massive composite entity appear.
"Everyone, fly further away."
Marionette Actor acted first. The others followed barely half a second later.
Over there, the newly merged giant entity suddenly shattered.
Countless individuals fell to the ground like they had lost their Souls.
At the center of their convergence, a source of gravity was born.
Though tiny, the gravitational force it generated was immense.
It reached them even tens of thousands of kilometers away; Luna and the others still felt a violent, wrenching pull.
This force was likely strong enough to tear apart a ten-thousand-meter-high mountain.
Fortunately, they were prepared. They activated their internal counter-force systems to block the entanglement.
The individual units of the Home Civilization were exceptionally versatile.
As a top-tier Type 2 Civilization, they had long mastered the fluid use and conversion of all fundamental forces.
Although their bodies stored only one type of energy, they could essentially convert it into any desired energy or matter in 0.01 seconds.
Dark Energy and Negative Energy were also child's play.
This exquisitely sophisticated body was so perfect that, if not for the threat of assimilation, every Divine present would have considered abandoning their original forms.
"Tsk tsk, I didn't think they'd actually pull it off."
Marionette Actor looked genuinely surprised.
The others remained silent.
So, you weren't certain after all, were you?
One could only wonder how she had duped those other Divines.
But it had succeeded, proving the technology was sound; only the success rate had been in question.
"One Sword Immortal, your turn!"
"Every individual is definitely reacting now. They'll try to merge to neutralize that data Black Hole."
One Sword Immortal's task was to prevent them from merging.
"No problem!"
A profound black void appeared behind One Sword Immortal.
This wasn't a real Black Hole, however, but a spacetime tunnel—a Wormhole.
Immense energy poured in from the other end of the Wormhole. One Sword Immortal used his current body's systems to convert it into qualitative Phase-Force.
The Phase-Force was instantly released in all directions.
Luna and the others were affected as well, feeling a profound weakness wash over their bodies. Yet, everyone felt a surge of joy; this proved One Sword Immortal's plan was working.
"You guys hurry up! I don't know how long my energy will last. This is the first time I've ever tried to influence such a massive area in reality."
The energy required to cover a radius of hundreds of thousands of kilometers was truly staggering.
"True Lord!"
At the call, True Lord also activated his Divine Power.
Success or failure? Life or death? It all rested on this moment!
No one had expected True Lord to use his Divine Power to construct a massive cannon. The barrel was 2 kilometers long with a diameter exceeding 300 meters.
Fortunately, his current body was also massive; otherwise, his original body would have looked like an ant standing before such a gargantuan muzzle.
Using a Wormhole as the energy transmission device, the cannon converted energy into a terrifying beam of light, firing directly at the Fortress Core.
Everything was completed within a mere few dozen seconds.
Luna and the others scanned their surroundings.
Thanks to One Sword Immortal's phase-force, those units were stumbling and unable to merge. Once this fortress was destroyed, their objective would be halfway to success.
She now turned her gaze toward Blacklight.
"Now is the best time to kill those guys."
"Mhm!"
Blacklight's research into the technology to kill these Home Civilization lifeforms was complete. He said it was finished, but since he hadn't shared it with Luna and the others, only he could act for now.
Blacklight produced a weapon resembling a sniper rifle, though it was over 20 meters long. In front of his current body, it appeared quite small.
He then began picking off the Home Civilization beings one by one.
Although each shot left no physical mark on the Home units, it bypassed their outer shells to strike their core directly, killing the biological component.
One by one, the creatures fell from the sky.
Luna noticed that some other Divines further away were also taking action.
This was the perfect opportunity, and they certainly weren't going to miss it.
Now, Luna was the only one not actively fighting.
Luna looked at the Rubik's Cube. She flipped it over and saw text on the back.
[ Run! ]
She didn't know what it meant.
After all, the memories of the merger had been purged.
Previously, she must have assumed they wouldn't be able to resolve the current situation, not knowing that Blacklight and the other Divines now possessed the capability to kill the enemy.
A Divine was truly a Divine! In just over ten years, they had managed to use Type 2.5 science to eliminate Type 2.8 civilization lifeforms.
If they were ants, they were bullet ants; the potent venom they injected could make even an elephant feel the pain.
But at that moment.
A massive firework erupted in the distance.
BOOM!!!
Had it occurred on a planet, it would have surely left a mushroom cloud.
The surging energy released a blinding glare; their original bodies would never have withstood such light.
At the center of the explosion, even the Home Civilization lifeforms couldn't survive the assault, their bodies disintegrating into scattered shards.
It was powerful.
But in truth, it had only eliminated a few thousand enemies, a feat that couldn't compare to Luna's earlier achievement of destroying dozens of enemy warships.
Every warship represented tens of billions of enemies; dozens meant hundreds of billions, or even several trillions.
Luna tried to remember exactly how she had accomplished that before, but unfortunately, that segment of memory felt as if it had been erased.
However, even if it couldn't compare, it didn't matter. The explosions weren't limited to just one; a string of dazzling points of light appeared.
"A Divine is truly a Divine!"
While her own team was strong, she couldn't underestimate the other Divines.
She just didn't know the status of the super-officers; they hadn't heard a single transmission from them.
But that made sense—those officers weren't part of their system and had never been in contact before, so naturally, there was little communication.
They likely had their own mission to fulfill.
A few minutes passed. Luna questioned True Lord.
"How much longer?"
They still hadn't breached the fortress core.
"Soon. There's an energy shield around the core; I hadn't accounted for that because you entered so easily before."
"But the energy shield isn't strong. I can break it."
True Lord was also feeling the pressure. He had scouted extensively, yet a detail had ultimately been overlooked.
No one is perfect, and a Divine is no exception.
Fortunately, One Sword Immortal could still hold out for a bit longer.
Everyone was busy.
As for Luna, she remained where she was.
Her part was done; without her, no one would have had such a perfect opportunity.
The introduction of the concept of consciousness had allowed many Divines to complete their preparations during this period—that was her greatest contribution.
Thus, no Divine grumbled.
Time ticked away, second by second.
To everyone's surprise, they were actually quite relaxed.
They had expected a fierce battle, but their preparations had been thorough, allowing them to exploit their advantages to the limit.
Blacklight's kill count had exceeded 100,000.
He kept the surrounding enemies from closing in on their position.
"Something isn't right!"
Luna suddenly sensed a problem.
The number 100,000 seemed large.
However, compared to the nearly nonillion individual lifeforms within this fortress, it was far too small. With a threat of this magnitude right here, why were there only so few units moving toward them?
Luna moved toward the outer perimeter.
After traveling tens of thousands of kilometers, she reached the edge of the fortress.
Her entire body froze in place.
There, every individual of the Home Civilization was carrying on with their business as usual—developing and researching the Consciousness Hypothesis she had proposed.
Looking back at her own position, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it.
These were two completely different worlds.
They had clearly exerted every ounce of their power, and the other Divines were also desperately waging their final gamble against the Home Civilization.
Yet, it was like a child entering a city to play; the people who actually paid attention to the child were the minority, while most others, at most, only spared a glance.
Absurd!
Luna felt an intense sense of irony.
Why could they remain so calm?
This made Luna think once again of the words on her Rubik's Cube.
[ Run! ]
Could it be that this was a desperate warning she had left for herself after realizing the true power of this civilization?
What exactly caused all of this?
Right at that moment.
Over there, True Lord finally breached the energy shield.
A terrifying laser slammed into the fortress core.
The entire fortress began to vibrate violently, finally affecting the Home Civilization units that had been operating normally.
Luna breathed a sigh of relief.
She had feared that all their efforts were in vain, but they could, after all, make an impact.
The fortress began to collapse from the core.
A massive explosion of energy erupted.
Meanwhile, the data black hole was also continuously absorbing and destroying the fortress.
With a two-pronged assault, the fortress was on the brink of total annihilation.
"We can kill every individual and perfectly complete this mission," Blacklight said over the comms. He had initially thought this wouldn't succeed, but up to this point, it had been far too smooth.
Perhaps they had imagined the enemy to be more powerful than they truly were.
A Type 2.8 civilization lifeform was still just a lifeform, not a Divine!
However, on Luna's end, the absurdity didn't vanish with the fortress's destruction. Those affected units were still moving slowly, with no sense of urgency whatsoever.
It was as if the destruction happening on the other side was something they were long accustomed to.
Order and destruction coexisted in this moment.
What gave them such stability?
"Shattered!"
A message came from True Lord; the fortress core had been shattered, the primary energy storage location.
Immediately after, a violent explosion surged from below.
A blinding white light consumed everything, and a terrifying blast of energy enveloped Luna's body. Her massive form drifted in the shockwave, blown tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Fortunately, her current body was powerful enough to withstand the impact.
On the other side.
One Sword Immortal was also affected and could no longer maintain his force field; the Home Civilization lifeforms began to merge.
"No choice, we have to leave now."
Before the others could even ask, One Sword Immortal spoke up first.
It would take tens of minutes for him to recover, and those creatures certainly weren't going to give him that time.
True Lord and Marionette Actor were also fleeing outward.
Luna looked toward Blacklight, who was still picking off targets.
"Blacklight, move!"
She shouted to warn him.
But Blacklight remained there, continuing his steady fire.
Luna thought he hadn't heard her and shouted again.
To her surprise, Blacklight said: "Can we really leave?"
"We've already failed, haven't we?"
"This doesn't count as a success at all!"
"As Divines of Hyperdimensional Space, you know exactly what failure means."
Death!
Even for a Divine, failure within Hyperdimensional Space results in erasure.
Hyperdimensional Space has no place for imperfect Divines; a perfect Divine should be able to resist any crisis.
Luna looked toward Blacklight. She knew he must have noticed it too.
The number of enemies heading toward them didn't even compare to the sequence of explosions further away.
What did this imply? Their threat might not even be as great as that destruction.
It was a mockery of them.
Especially of Blacklight.
Blacklight had focused on killing the enemy, believing it would instill fear.
But in reality, he had failed to do so; the enemy hadn't even wanted to respond to him. This made him, as a Divine, feel an intense sense of humiliation.
Blacklight was the type of person with a strong sense of pride; he couldn't stand this disgrace.
Of course, that still wasn't the primary reason; as Divines, who among them hadn't suffered unimaginable humiliation?
Blacklight didn't flee because he saw the gap.
Could they escape?
As Divines, they possessed ten thousand ways to recapture a fleeing enemy; did a civilization as powerful as Home lack them?
Escaping would likely just turn them into a mouse being toyed with by a cat.
"This is irrational; we never intended to kill every enemy from the start." True Lord was in a hurry to get back; he had no desire to die in a place like this.
He fled directly into the distance.
At this moment, having some people stay behind was perfect, they could draw more attention, and perhaps the Home Civilization would let a few stragglers go.
On the other side, the Home Civilization units had already begun merging into warships. Once the merger was complete, the outcome would be set in stone.
The Rubik's Cube still circled Luna.
She didn't know exactly what it was or if it could save everyone; she didn't speak to stop True Lord.
Marionette Actor glanced at the scene and followed close behind True Lord.
Several thousand years of companionship were but an instant in their lives.
No matter how deep the bond between Divines, they could only be called teammates, never friends.
Only One Sword Immortal and Luna remained, staring at each other.
"Why haven't you left?" Luna asked.
She and Blacklight actually had the closest relationship among the group, so his staying was understandable.
One Sword Immortal, however, was often a loner, only appearing to take a slot when a mission started, and during combat, he was always shrewd enough to avoid the core danger zones.
Theoretically, someone like him should have been the first to flee.
"The universe is so vast; if I'm going to leave, I shouldn't go in that direction, but downward."
He pointed toward the dimensional gateway below.
Only returning to the third dimension would give him peace of mind.
However, the Dimensional Bridge was now destroyed; his chance of surviving a descent into the dimensional gateway was 99.99...% impossible, infinitely close to zero.
Still, that didn't explain why One Sword Immortal hadn't left.
He looked at Luna.
Perhaps that was the real reason: he believed Luna had a trump card.
At that moment, a massive energy surge erupted from the direction where True Lord and the others had fled.
True Lord's body had transformed into a giant apparatus, resembling a robot with only its upper half, while the lower half was shaped like a saucer.
But now, his body was dissolving.
It was like an ice cube placed in an iron pot, slowly vanishing from the side in contact with the metal.
True Lord was still struggling, unleashing a terrifying attack forward.
The space in front of him vibrated, and Luna looked around to see the entire sky, up, down, left, and right, trembling along with his assault.
This wasn't the power of space.
"We're trapped inside a sphere!"
Even Blacklight, who was focused on the slaughter, noticed it.
A transparent sphere had sealed off this region of space. Its diameter appeared to exceed 10 million kilometers.
"The sphere includes the dimensional gateway below. The Home Civilization wants to trap the creatures coming from the gateway inside this sphere and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
One Sword Immortal's voice sounded heavy.
This kind of technology was beyond his imagination.
Although Hyperdimensional Space featured many imagined technologies, this was reality; it was different.
True Lord's violent resistance failed to inflict any damage on the sphere. His body became thinner and thinner, even his original self beginning to vanish. He couldn't stop it. Panic set in as he looked toward Marionette Actor behind him, shouting: "Help me!"
Marionette Actor didn't dare approach him. She watched from a distance and even began to retreat, desperate not to be implicated. Not long after, True Lord vanished completely.
A Divine was insignificant on a battlefield like this, no different from an ordinary person.
As Luna and the others stood in a daze, the warship in the distance finished forming. At the instant of the warship's completion, the surviving Divines felt an even deeper despair. Just as they all believed they were about to be wiped out, the warship fired a beam of light.
Under the beam's coverage, the destroyed fortress actually began to restore itself.
If it were merely a reconstruction, it wouldn't have been so shocking, but this restoration was like time itself reversing.
Every scattered fragment and ounce of energy returned to its original place in the fortress; even the light emitted by the explosions flowed backward.
This level of power was simply suffocating. Was this truly an opponent they could resist?
Luna, Blacklight, One Sword Immortal, and all the other Divines, their fear now transformed into an unprecedented calm.
"Indeed, the penalty for mission failure is death!"
What Blacklight had said at the beginning was the ultimate truth for a Divine within Hyperdimensional Space.
"It seems we've failed."
"The timeframe was too short, after all."
"Blame the mission, if anything."
Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, some Divines, knowing they had failed, chose to commit suicide.
Their traces of life were erased.
Even more Divines made their choice at this moment.
A Divine must not fear death!