Momentum is a profoundly abstruse concept.
In Celenova's perception at this moment, the aura emanating from Acheron surged skyward, piercing the clouds.
Coupled with the field of force that an Emanator exerts on their surroundings at every moment, she looked exactly like a god bringing death to the world.
For a moment, Celenova felt dazed. Who, exactly, was the Lord Ravager here...
"Si Si Si Si..."
The meaningless sounds pulled Celenova back to her senses.
Shifting part of her attention, she saw that the bisected planet was extending countless tiny branches, reconnecting itself to its other half, giving off the distinct feeling of something severed yet still tenuously linked.
It wasn't dead. It could even be described as lively and energetic.
The smooth cut surfaces were clinging to the power of Nihility, preventing it from fully recovering in the short term.
Yet, because it possessed the power of Abundance, it was still responding, slowly, but effectively.
"...No wonder Emanators of Nihility are so rare. Only after your appearance did all sides of the galaxy get a glimpse of their bearing. I was originally curious about what made you different from other Emanators. After seeing that slash of yours, I'm no longer curious."
After a long silence, Celenova spoke slowly.
She was a Lord Ravager, a general under Destruction.
The planet was a creation of Abundance, harboring power no less than an Emanator's.
Even so, it could not withstand even a single slash from Acheron.
"Leave now. No one else will be injured." Holding her sword, Acheron's heart remained utterly calm.
She didn't care about Celenova or the planet. Even if news of this Xianzhou army's destruction appeared in the Interstellar Peace Gazette, she wouldn't spare it a glance.
Everything she did was solely for the sake of Stelle.
"Leave? That won't do." Celenova covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
That slash had indeed made Celenova wary, but she was not someone who retreated at the first sign of trouble.
In the eyes of the Antimatter Legion, there was no retreat. Their world held only one thought, bringing destruction to the world in their own way.
She had come here for planet. A war weapon of such scale was hard to ignore, and the Legion could not refuse such a gift.
Yet she did not wish to leave so simply. The conflict between the Xianzhou Alliance and the Antimatter Legion could not be reconciled.
They were destined to clash head-on.
As major factions in their own rights, a prolonged or fiercely swift war was inevitable.
She looked forward to that war, one that could forcibly shatter the thrones founded upon the so-called eternal proofs of the world.
She not only intended to take Rahu, but also to deliver a reply to the Xianzhou's declaration of war.
A declaration of war from the Ashen Legion.
"Boom!!" Abruptly, a point of light appeared out of thin air, rapidly expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Its appearance was like a signal. Immediately after, countless points of light emerged, like scattered starlight, following close behind.
When the distance closed to a certain range, their true forms were revealed.
They were streams of energy-packed attacks!!
Their target was Acheron, who remained utterly composed!
"Boom!!" From the moment the light points appeared to when the beams became visible to the naked eye took only an instant.
All the beams converged and surged toward Acheron, the dense light pollution nearly resembling a newborn star.
The effect of such a massive concentration of energy was terrifying.
Centered on Acheron, a dreadful energy wave swept through the surroundings, leaving no trace in its wake.
The few planets that had survived earlier were instantly reduced to dust under this force.
"Zzz…kk…" A hoarse, piercing electronic sound rang out from Celenova. Before long, a voice emerged from it.
"Well? Was it of any use?"
"It looks intimidating, but it's useless against her." Celenova said calmly, looking at the communicator she had just taken out.
Irontomb's voice came through.
He was equally interested in a miracle like an activated planet. If Abundance were combined with his machinery, what kind of effect would it produce?
Celenova had also promised him that once Rahu was successfully transformed into a war weapon, Irontomb would be allowed to help refine and enhance it.
This time, however, Irontomb hadn't used the body he had built for himself, instead directly linking to the communicator Celenova carried.
Aside from rare occasions when he was present, most of the time, Irontomb would merely open a communication port on some nearby device and converse remotely.
Far away at the Balanza Furnace, Irontomb let out a startled sound and asked in confusion, "Your performance doesn't match the previous data. Is that Emanator really enough to make you this wary?"
"If you'd seen that slash with your own eyes, you wouldn't think my reaction was strange." Celenova snorted lightly.
"So that's how it is." Irontomb's electronic tone carried a strong sense of interest.
He was fairly familiar with this Emanator.
Recklessness was her hallmark, arrogance her nature, and madness was etched into her very bones, someone who dared to remake worlds.
Yet such a person was actually wary of a person.
That alone greatly piqued his interest.
This Emanator... By calling up past records, Irontomb saw that she was a white-haired woman.
That peculiar power made Irontomb thoughtful. He lacked physiological emotions, but possessed sufficient rationality.
At one point, he had taken an interest in Nihility. Aside from the Aeon of Voracity and the already fallen Aeon of Trailblaze, Akivili, as well as the Aeon of Propagation, the Paths governed by other Aeons had more or less had a few Path Striders.
Only Nihility had not.
Before Acheron appeared, Nihility was not believed to have any path striders.
It wasn't that Nihility had no path striders, but that when a path strider of Nihility appeared, she was already an Emanator.
That blood-red rift still remained in the Asdana star system, open for all to behold.
But Irontomb merely entertained the thought....
His processor told him that if he dared to approach [IX], which from afar looked like two celestial bodies of mismatched size, like uneven eyes, his fate would definitely not end well.
As the conversation continued, the energy shockwaves formed by the enormous power gradually dissipated.
Irontomb and Celenova were finally able to see the scene at the center.
Under such a torrential assault just moments ago, Acheron stood unmoving. With her as the center, several meters around her showed no signs of having been attacked at all!
Both of them knew what that was. The power of Nihility.
Although Irontomb's earlier attack had been grand in momentum and far from weak, as Celenova had said, such attacks were utterly feeble.
Truly injuring Acheron was nothing but a fool's dream. Irontomb, however, had a good mindset.
He never expected to succeed in one strike. If Acheron were that easy to deal with, Celenova wouldn't still have failed to resolve her even after his arrival.
Even the planet that had just been corrupted for the most part had been split cleanly in two.
For a time, the situation reached a stalemate. Acheron slowly lifted her gaze. She could sense that another Emanator had entered the battlefield.
That attack just now had come at a very opportune moment, and its characteristics were unmistakable.
The Lord Ravager, Irontomb.
She didn't care why he had joined this battle. What she needed to do now was very clear. She slowly raised her arm. A biting cold surged forward, sweeping across the entire field.
Although Celenova and Irontomb appeared to be casually chatting just now, their attention had always been fixed on her.
Seeing Acheron raise her blade, Celenova's thoughts raced.
Even with Irontomb's arrival, she still had little confidence in the situation before her.
If Irontomb had come in person along with his army, she would have welcomed it with open arms.
But Irontomb was merely observing through a communication link.
Those weapons would play a negligible role in a battle of this level.
"Perhaps I can try to take control of the activated planet," Irontomb suddenly said.
"Whoosh!"
The moment Irontomb finished speaking, a device shot out, slamming hard into the activated planet.
When the connector reached the activated planet, Irontomb mobilized his power to hover in midair.
In the next instant, the force symbolizing Irontomb began to spread, helping this Abundance-born creation recover rapidly.
Irontomb was very special.
He was a being that wandered through information. Changes in the material world meant little to him. No one knew how many bodies he had created for himself.
But there was no doubt that he was one of the hardest Emanators in the entire cosmos to kill.
Thus, very few people in the cosmos truly understood Irontomb's abilities. Most discussions revolved around his sky-covering mechanical legions and his unrivaled technological mastery.
Now, Irontomb was about to prove to the galaxy that his technology was not limited to the electronic domain.
His consciousness began to connect, interfacing directly with the activated planet.
So this is what the inside of a living planet looks like. In an instant, Irontomb's consciousness received all of the activated planet's memories.
Most of them were meaningless, nothing but instinctual devouring, devouring, slumber, and then devouring again when awakened.
But that was perfect. Irontomb could easily take control of this powerful body.
Why did Phantylia pursue a body forged from the Ambrosial Arbor?
Because as a miracle of Abundance, the power contained within the Arbor was truly immense.
A body forged from it was top-tier both within and beyond the cosmos.
And even then, the body Phantylia created did not use the Arbor's full power.
Now, Irontomb had truly entered the interior of the activated planet!
"…These 'information scraps' will need some way to be dealt with," Irontomb muttered.
'Looking' at the countless Xianzhou consciousnesses floating around, Irontomb couldn't help but shake his head.
He could consume the memories of ordinary lifeforms no matter how many there were, but Xianzhou natives were long-lived beings blessed by Abundance.
The information contained within their memories was enormous. Without this outer shell as protection, even Irontomb wouldn't necessarily dare to connect directly.
With the power of Irontomb, an Emanator, being injected, the planet recovered at a visibly accelerated pace.
Acheron raised her sword high, her aura surging.
Locking onto her target, she immediately slashed!
"Crack!" A faint sound like glass slightly shattering rang out.
Irontomb and Celenova's eyes widened slightly as they watched the direction that slash traveled.
It brushed past Irontomb's side and flew far into the distance.
Until… it struck a barrier!
The sealed space revived once more at this moment, like flowing water that could no longer be stopped.
At the instant the spatial lock was destroyed, waves of spatial fluctuations began to appear.
Acheron's expression remained as cold as ever, her gaze faintly focused on the direction of her slash.
"Whooo!"
A massive starship tore through the void, white light flashing as countless star skiffs continuously appeared in this stretch of space.
Standing proudly at the forefront of the fleet was a foxian with a wild bearing. The blade in her hand gleamed with cold light!
"It's been a long time, Celenova!"
Looking down from above at Celenova below, Feixiao bared her teeth in a grin, her hearty laughter resounding in all directions.
The Xianzhou Yaoqing had arrived first at the battlefield!
"An unexpected yet reasonable interloper," Celenova said.
Celenova had not anticipated that the Xianzhou Yaoqing would arrive so quickly.
After all, the routes of the Xianzhou ships were usually not secret, but due to various constraints and jurisdictional overlaps, it was rare for them to cross into this region of space.
Coincidentally, after learning that the Cloud Knights sent to lure away Rahu were frequently harassed by the followers of Abundance, Feixiao set out decisively.
"Reinforcements? I am the reinforcement!"
The title of The Great General was not something to be taken lightly.
It was carved out through fighting in countless wars!
Originally, they thought they were only facing Abundance zealots, but after arriving, the situation escalated far beyond expectations.
On one side stood a General; on the other, an Lord Ravager. The leaders of both sides locked eyes, dense killing intent brewing between them.
"You used underhanded methods to disrupt spatial jumps in the Hisei Star Region, since when did your courage become so small?" Feixiao sneered.
"Feixiao." Celenova let out a soft chuckle.
The thick smell of gunpowder spread in their gazes.
As Nanook's vanguard general, Celenova's crimes were countless. Yaoqing, Zhuming, and Fanghu, three Xianzhou ships had all clashed head-on with the legions under her command.
If the Xianzhou were to name one Lord Ravager who must die… Celenova would sit firmly at the top of the list!
Under the edge of the Arbiter-General, such a rampant force of destruction was absolutely unforgivable.