The icy touch of death spread along his spine, yet Dunn's mind, supported by "Resilient Will," operated at an unprecedented speed. He couldn't take the blow head-on! He had to break the deadlock!
He made a decisive choice instantly! If he didn't use the trump card he had been saving now, when would he use it?
With a thought, the vial of [Elementary Gene Stabilizer (Simulated Version)] from the Genetic Laboratory instantly appeared in his hand. Without hesitation, he plunged it into his thigh and injected all the ice-blue liquid!
A stable, cool force, surging with powerful vitality, instantly erupted, flowing throughout his body like a burst dam! Physical exhaustion and pain were significantly relieved, the invisible sense of stagnation was forcibly broken through, his Spirituality began to circulate smoothly again, and even the mental contamination and pressure were temporarily suppressed by this power!
Almost simultaneously, he fully activated the "Nightmare" ability! But the target was still not the unnameable Evil God's Offspring, but rather the single, fragile consciousness shard of the human Mother that still existed within Magoes, polluted, suppressed, and clinging to the edge of collapse!
"Precise Control" was leveraged to its maximum extent at this moment! His Spirituality transformed into an invisible, extremely delicate yet incredibly tough scalpel, carefully avoiding the monstrous tide of evil and chaos, bypassing the layers of sealing by the Offspring's will, and piercing with absolute precision into that tiny, fragile remnant of consciousness that was almost completely assimilated!
He did not attempt to control or communicate; that was impossible. What he did was act like the most cruel director, forcibly, unreservedly, and infinitely magnified, "projecting" the core scene he had witnessed through "Keen Observation"—the most essential, chaotic, and blasphemous nature of the Evil God's Offspring—a nature filled with twisted rules and ultimate malice, utterly alien to any life form!
"Look! Look at what you actually gave birth to!!!" Dunn roared silently, like thunder, on the spiritual level!
"Ah—!!!!!"
A shriek, piercing beyond the limits of human vocal cords, mixed with extreme pain, despair, collapse, and the complete trampling of the last sliver of maternal instinct, erupted from Magoes' distorted head! The remaining human consciousness, under the impact of this unbearable truth, unleashed the final, most brilliant, and most insane power of its life!
The several filthy "umbilical cords" between her and the Evil God's Offspring instantly tightened to their limit, then flickered and vibrated violently and unstablely! The nourishment and connection originating from the "Mother Body" suffered a fierce conflict and severance at this moment!
The icy will that the Evil God's Offspring had enveloped Dunn and Klein with showed an extremely brief but tangible moment of dispersal and stagnation, due to this sudden interference originating from the "root"!
This was that instant!
Klein finally found his opportunity with the seemingly ordinary "Darkness Holy Emblem" (or perhaps another trump card he had prepared), made from the ashes of Saint Selena mixed with other materials, which he had been clutching tightly! Almost instinctively, he poured all his remaining Spirituality, along with a determined will, into it and hurled it fiercely toward the twisted infant!
The Holy Emblem emitted a deep, tranquil, shadowy radiance in the air, seemingly capable of encompassing all death and ending! This radiance was not blinding, but carried a rule-level Purification power, covering the Evil God's Offspring with the precision of flowing mercury!
"Sizzle—sizzle, sizzle—!"
Like a red-hot iron pressed into grease, violent sounds of corrosion and even sharper hissing screams filled with pain and fury erupted from the Evil God's Offspring! Its twisted body violently writhed, melted, and evaporated in the shadowy Holy Radiance! The power of pure death and tranquility clashed fundamentally and annihilated the extremely filthy power of the Evil God!
Boom!!!
A massive energy shockwave erupted centered on the Offspring! The entire Flesh Nest swelled suddenly like an abscess injected with explosives, then began to violently collapse, disintegrate, and dissipate! The writhing walls turned to ash, the viscous liquids evaporated, and the foul stench was Purified.
The powerful shockwave flung Dunn, Klein, and Leonard, who had just struggled to stand up, all flying backward!
Dunn slammed heavily into the relatively intact wall behind him (the original structure of the apartment began to show), feeling like every bone in his body was about to shatter. The effects of the Gene Stabilizer were rapidly fading, and his Spirituality was once again depleted, but he clenched his jaw tightly, maintaining consciousness.
He saw it! In the center of the gradually dissipating shadowy Holy Radiance, the twisted infant's silhouette completely dissolved into nothingness! Magoes' remains also turned into ash!
The battle... was it over?
No! Dunn endured the severe pain and weakness, struggling to sit up against the wall, his sharp gaze sweeping like a hawk over the messy apartment ruins that were gradually revealing themselves. The residual effects of "Keen Observation" and the recently injected "Gene Stabilizer" allowed him to catch an extremely subtle, yet malicious sense of being watched, which came from afar but quickly retreated, carrying a hint of exasperation over a disrupted plan and a certain calculated unwillingness.
Ince Zangwill! He must be nearby! But perhaps because the Evil God's Offspring was prematurely killed, or perhaps because Dunn's existence as a "variable" completely disrupted the script written by 0-08, he chose not to reveal himself and fight, but decisively retreated.
The danger... was truly lifted.
Dunn let out a long, slow breath. His tightly wound nerves finally relaxed, and intense fatigue and pain washed over him like a tide. But he was alive! And conscious!
"Captain! Are you alright?" Klein walked over, clutching his chest and coughing, his face filled with the relief and concern of surviving a catastrophe. Leonard also approached, leaning on his cane, blood staining the corner of his mouth, but his eyes still sharp.
Dunn looked at the two teammates who had fought alongside him, saw the concern in their eyes, and then looked at the gradually calming evil aura around them. An indescribable complex emotion welled up in his heart. He had changed it! He had truly changed that damned destiny!
He struggled to force out a smile, though it was slightly distorted by the pain: "I'm fine... We are all fine."
He hadn't consumed the Saint's ashes, he hadn't lost control, and he had survived! Tingen City was saved, too!