Outside the south gate of Mingdu, at the encampment of the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Regiment—one of the Five Hands that Guard the Nation—there was a suffocating silence.
Dressed in military uniform, Ju Zi walked alone through the camp that was once bustling and lively, now shrouded in deathly stillness.
In the past, it resounded with her sisters' fiery laughter. Now, those who had fought alongside her and trained with her stood like puppets, rigid in place, their auras cold—like lifeless stone statues—a shocking contrast to their former vitality.
In Ju Zi's mind, scenes with her sisters flashed like a lantern reel: their tacit cooperation on the battlefield, staking their lives together; sweating in training, pushing one another; in leisure, sitting around chatting, joking without restraint—some even pouting as they asked her for gifts.
All of it had turned to bubbles.
She glanced down at the Command Seal in her hand; her gaze dimmed, self-reproach flooding her like a tide.
If not for her, how could these sisters, dear as family, have ended up like this?
Though they still retained human appearances and, at a glance, seemed no different than usual aside from the chill they exuded, Ju Zi knew better than anyone: their insides had already been devoured by the embers of Destruction. They had lost human emotion, becoming colder and more numb than machines.
Now they treated Ju Zi as if she were invisible, no longer close or warm as before.
Ju Zi bit her silver teeth; her lower lip bled. The metallic taste slid down the corner of her mouth. But that physical pain was nothing compared to the torment in her heart.
She forced back her grief, refusing to let tears fall, because she knew the one she was about to face would not allow the least weakness. Once revealed, she would fall into an abyss with no return.
The main tent of the Fire Phoenix Regiment—the command tent that had belonged to Ju Zi—now had a new master.
An elderly woman, face slightly weathered, clad in flaming red armor, holding a long sword engraved with a fire phoenix motif, stood quietly at the entrance.
This was the previous regiment commander and current vice commander—Fire Phoenix Douluo Luan Feng.
A Rank 94 Title Douluo and a Rank 9 soul engineer, her Fire Phoenix Sword was fearsome.
Sensing Ju Zi's approach, Fire Phoenix Douluo slowly raised her eyes; a faint light flashed there.
But it was gone in an instant. She returned to an expressionless cold, mechanically stepping aside to clear the way.
Looking at the elder who had always treated her like a granddaughter and given her endless warmth and care, Ju Zi's eyes moistened. Her throat tightened; countless words clogged her chest, but in the end they became a barely audible "I'm sorry," dissipating into the air.
Head bowed and steps heavy, Ju Zi walked past Fire Phoenix Douluo. She didn't dare meet the older woman's eyes, afraid she'd crumble completely.
Watching Ju Zi's departing back, a spark of fire lit in Fire Phoenix Douluo's eyes.
Like a candle in the wind, it quickly went out. She fell back into cold and silence.
As a Rank 94 Title Douluo, that instant of emotional fluctuation was already the last glimmer of her humanity.
Before the irresistible power of the Lord Ravager, she could only submit, sinking into the abyss of destruction.
The moment Ju Zi stepped into the command tent, light and shadow shifted. The cramped space transformed in an instant into a vast cosmic starfield.
It was a separate, incomplete sub-dimension—no signs of life, only planetary wreckage drifting in the cold void, pervaded by death and desolation.
Ju Zi was used to it; she had stepped into this space many times and was no longer fazed by its eerie stillness.
Standing steady upon a meteorite shard, she let her gaze sweep forward. Seeing the figure not far away, she couldn't help the flicker of awe and deep fear in her eyes.
Lord Ravager Celenova looked like a deity out of myth, with a flawless face—an extreme beauty suffused with divinity and oppression.
Her skin was bloodless and pale, like eternal ice and snow. Her pure white hair fell like a cascade, freely billowing behind her. She wore plain white garments, making her seem untouched by mortal dust.
Yet her eyes were hollow and indifferent, so deep they seemed to see through all things. To meet her gaze was to witness the birth and death of stars, and within it lay an annihilating will that could destroy everything.
Above her head and beneath her feet circled two pitch-black star-rings, radiating a mysterious, dangerous aura.
Around her, a low, uncanny hum never ceased, like the roar of collapsing celestial bodies. The sound seemed almost tangible, subtly warping the adjacent space like air scorched by heat, rendering it illusory and perilous.
Celenova's power had already exceeded common sense.
Normally, a Servant could never wield such terrifying might—enough to threaten the safety of the Douluo star itself.
But the negative energy leaking from the Tomb of the Gods' black hole was too vast. Catalyzed by that force, a heaven-defying existence like Celenova was born.
Though she could suppress her power to move freely on the Douluo Continent, as the executor of Destruction, she would not restrain herself out of fear of destroying the Douluo star.
Even so, her absolute rationality kept her from directly clashing with the world's will. She chose a compromise—opening a separate space to hide her true body.
This way, she would not trigger the plane will's instinctive backlash with excess power release, and could act freely within her own space to plot her annihilation plan.
Celenova, this Lord Ravager, viewed destruction as the inevitable—and even sacred—destination and purification of all things.
In her understanding, everything had a time limit for existence; when it came due, annihilation was the only outcome.
Thus she had almost none of the emotional fluctuations of ordinary beings. Joy, anger, sorrow, compassion, hesitation—all were dross that impeded annihilation efficiency.
Her mind was like a precise, cold machine, following a chill, efficient, goal-oriented logic of destruction.
She would assess targets accurately, compute the optimal path of ruin, then execute without hesitation until the target was erased.
In her plan, directly opposing the plane will was not the best route to annihilation, so she chose the current method.
"The time has come. Execute."
Celenova finally spoke. Every syllable seemed to contain endless power, carrying a tangible spiritual pressure, like heavy hammers smashing into Ju Zi's heart.
That voice seemed to come from the depths of the cosmos—cold and firm—reaching the core and heralding the advent of destruction, allowing no doubt or resistance.
Under the tremendous pressure, Ju Zi felt plunged into an icehouse. Cold sweat poured; her forehead beaded with dense droplets; her body trembled uncontrollably.
Countless times, in despair, she had thought of suicide, to end everything with Celenova and be done with the endless suffering.
Yet the blazing hatred in her heart, and her deep fear of Celenova, made her abandon the thought each time at the last moment.
Moreover, Lu Jingming had left contingencies on her; even suicide would be difficult.
Ju Zi even suspected that even if she, as Master, died, Celenova would have means to prolong her existence and continue her terrifying doctrine of annihilation on this continent.
And Lu Jingming would not allow her to die easily.
If she had no use value, she would have long been assimilated like the others, becoming a member of the Antimatter Legion under Celenova's command, a walking corpse.
Celenova was clear in purpose, as efficient as a storm.
Now that all was ready, the stage set and the players in place, she would hesitate no longer, beginning her journey of destruction with the most direct and devastating means.
She didn't play with complex schemes; unless necessary, she would not waste a single moment.
For her very existence was a disaster incarnate that made the world tremble.
"Yes!"
Ju Zi's voice trembled; each word squeezed through her teeth.
As soon as the words fell, a cold, powerful force wrapped around her—so rough it permitted no resistance, as if to crush her bones.
She didn't even have time to react before the starry illusion receded like a tide, and she was yanked back into the command tent.
Her feet hit the ground; she staggered and nearly fell. A heavy pain pressed on her chest, forcing a harsh cough.
The furnishings were the same, but twisted and blurred by the subspace transition. The air still held the cold, cosmic aura from Celenova, clinging like maggots, chilling her through.
Forcing herself upright, Ju Zi walked out. Before her, the Fire Phoenix Regiment had formed up neatly in the camp.
In the moonlight, their figures stood straight as pines yet dead as graves. Once lively eyes were now empty, like exquisite but lifeless dolls.
Their ranks were unnervingly tidy. Every movement was precise, but exuded an inhuman mechanical feel.
Seeing this, Ju Zi's heart sank like into a bottomless abyss. Despair surged through her.
She looked toward the imperial palace of Mingdu, the corner of her mouth curling in a cold sneer.
Xu Tiannan, that self-important regent, probably still dreamed of controlling everything.
He thought he could stand shoulder to shoulder with a Lord Ravager, using that power to fulfill his ambition. He didn't realize that, in Celenova's eyes, he was but a jumping clown, ready to be crushed at any time.
Neither Xu Tiannan nor the seemingly strong Sun-Moon Empire would escape their destiny of being destroyed.
In Celenova's lexicon, there was never "ally," only "to-be-destroyed."
Ju Zi knew Xu Tiannan's plan well. He meant to use the Mingdu Soul Master Tournament to net all Servants, Masters, and sect forces from the other empires.
First, secretly capturing eliminated sect members during the tournament. Then, as the tournament neared its end, joining the Holy Spirit Church and the Sun-Moon Empire to deliver a fatal blow to the remaining Masters and Servants using the Antimatter Legion.
To realize this plan, he had already set backhands in Mingdu, building numerous underground defenses. These civilians were the foundation of his rule; without them, his empire would be a castle in the air.
He knew choosing Mingdu as the battlefield was risky, so he prepared in advance.
He also knew Servants were powerful. Once battle broke out, the damage to Mingdu would be immense. Still, he had steeled himself to accept heavy losses in pursuit of greater ambition. All could be sacrificed.
But in all his calculations, he didn't consider that Celenova disdained following his script.
Now, before the tournament even began, with the various forces only just arriving and the contestants barely settled into the Mingdu Grand Hotel, Celenova had already decided to act.
Ju Zi took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and unobtrusively pressed a small soul tool at her waist.
The dark-gold device bore intricate carvings. At a touch, it emitted a barely audible hum. A faint energy ripple spread quietly, transmitting to some unknown afar.
After this, she slowly raised her left hand. In her palm, the blood-red Command Seal burst into a blinding glow.
The red light rose like flame, tearing the night.
Over Mingdu, it gathered into a giant burning tower sigil, the tip's flames seeming to set the sky ablaze, too dazzling to look at directly.
This was the annihilation totem set by Celenova, the signal to enact destruction.
If Celenova were directing personally, the Antimatter Legion would obey like her limbs, executing orders precisely even across thousands of miles, with no need for such ostentatious signaling.
But now Ju Zi was acting as Celenova's proxy and had to rely on this sign to mobilize the Antimatter Legion.