Hoshimi Miyabi had already gripped her demonic blade tightly, prepared to stake everything on one final clash.
But then.
A golden stone pillar suddenly streaked across the distant sky, catching everyone completely off guard. Before anyone could react, the massive pillar had already descended.
With a deafening crash, it struck like a colossal golden spike, driving the Creator's Hand deep into the ground.
Everyone instinctively widened their eyes at the sight.
Hoshimi Miyabi, Tsukishiro Yanagi, and Asaba Harumasa had never seen such a pillar before. Yet the golden glow felt oddly familiar...
Beside them, Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Seth recognized it immediately.
Back in the Outer Ring, they had witnessed Sam Li wielding such stone pillars to fight the colossal rock beast Azhdaha.
Realizing this, Zhu Yuan and Qingyi quickly scanned the battlefield and the skies, searching for Sam Li's figure.
Suddenly, the wounded Seth raised a trembling hand and pointed.
"Captain Zhu Yuan, Senior Qingyi, look—over there—"
Following his gesture, everyone turned their eyes to the distance. Sure enough, several figures were rapidly approaching. Two enormous cranes soared swiftly through the air, alongside a colossal celestial deer striding across the skies...
The Adepti had arrived.
...
Even as they prepared to welcome the Adepti, the Creator's Hand, still pinned beneath the massive Stone Stele, thrashed violently. Yet no matter how it struggled, it could not break free.
Though the Hand looked larger than the Stone Stele itself, the truth was that Sam Li's mastery had advanced so far that the pillar's weight was now unimaginable. No matter how it strained, the Hand could not escape.
But then.
The Creator's Hand erupted in fury. It tore apart its own palm, mutilating itself in a desperate attempt to break free.
"It's trying to run!" Soukaku shouted. "Don't let it escape—"
Even before the words had finished leaving her mouth, she swung her Oni Blade Banner with all her might, striking against the Hand.
A surge of frost swept out, freezing the ground around them.
But such an attack could only slow it down—it posed no true threat.
Seeing this, Hoshimi Miyabi raised her demonic blade high and slashed down on the Hand's arm.
A brilliant flash of white carved deep into the flesh, nearly severing it in one blow.
Any ordinary high-ranking Ethereal would have died outright.
But this was no ordinary foe.
The Creator's Hand was an existence beyond Destruction-class—perhaps even at the level of a World-Ending-class Ethereal.
And what they faced now wasn't even its full body. This was merely one arm it had extended across space. Its true form lay deeper still—within Hollow Zero.
Even as Miyabi's strike grievously wounded it, the Creator's Hand succeeded in tearing itself free from the Stone Stele's suppression through brutal self-mutilation.
It showed no desire to continue the fight.
The massive limb began to retract toward the spatial fissure—
Suddenly.
Moon Carver descended onto the battlefield. Before his feet had even touched the ground, he hurled his spear from midair.
"Think you can flee? Not so easily—"
The weapon pierced clean through the Hand, halting its retreat once more.
The very next instant, Moon Carver landed and seized the Hand with his bare grip, bellowing:
"Enough hiding in the shadows! Face this immortal directly—"
He pulled with incredible force.
Though Moon Carver's human form appeared no different from a mortal's, the strength he unleashed was beyond human comprehension.
At last, the Hand of the Creator spoke.
The sound did not come from the limb itself, but from within the rift. A hoarse, inhuman voice reverberated outward, chilling to the bone:
"Insect... you court death—"
Ether energy surged in torrents, flooding into the Creator's Hand and swelling it even larger.
Moon Carver did not waver. A colossal, hundred-meter-tall silhouette of his divine stag form manifested behind him.
"Come out—"
With a mighty heave, he dragged the Hand toward the Development Zone Hollow.
The fissure widened further as more of the Creator's body emerged. And with it came horrifying detail.
The Creator's true form dwarfed their imagination.
That lone Hand was merely one of countless others sprouting from its massive arm—each grotesquely covered in eyes. The sight alone left the onlookers reeling.
Dozens more Hands lashed out at Moon Carver, but Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper intervened, striking them back.
Even Mountain Shaper could not help but exclaim:
"What a monster... in sheer size alone, it rivals the Archons of old."
Zhu Yuan's face was pale with shock.
"What... what tier of Ethereal is this?"
Hoshimi Miyabi's brows furrowed deeply.
"At least Destruction-class—"
Half of the Creator's massive body had already been dragged into the Development Zone Hollow, forcing the rift to expand into a colossal tear hundreds of meters wide.
The expanding space strained even the Creator's body.
It roared in fury, its voice echoing:
"No! You are not human! Whatever you are—I will kill you—"
Finally, it struck back with its full might.
Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper moved to assist, but Moon Carver's thunderous voice cut them off:
"Do not interfere! Leave this immortal to face it—"
With that, Moon Carver roared and fully manifested his true body—a celestial stag hundreds of meters tall, as immovable as a mountain.
He charged straight into the Creator, colliding with brute force.
The clash was exhilarating.
It had been many years since Moon Carver had fought hand-to-hand like this. At last, he had found a foe worthy of his strength.
The Creator's rasping voice carried both shock and confusion:
"No... you don't belong here. What are you?"
Moon Carver's laughter boomed across the battlefield.
"My name is Moon Carver, and I need no other."
Moon Carver?
The Creator reeled in bewilderment.
From the whispers of its believers, it had gathered information on all the Void Hunters of New Eridu.
But never once had it heard the name Moon Carver.