"…General Yaoguang, aren't you and Jing Yuan going to help?"
At this moment, Herta, who was being supported away from the battlefield, looked at Yaoguang beside her and asked flatly.
On the other side, Jing Yuan, who had likewise not joined the fight, was doing the same thing as Yaoguang.
The two generals had not joined the battle to subjugate the witch. Instead, they had begun helping the injured.
And among those injured, naturally, was the Lord Ravager Celenova.
Although this Lord Ravager had deep grudges with the Xianzhou Alliance as well, in the face of a crisis affecting the entire galaxy, since the other party had chosen to stand on the same side, the Xianzhou Alliance could naturally choose to set their grievances aside for the time being.
Yaoguang explained calmly, "Madam Herta, I am sure you noticed during the previous battle that even we Emanators fall far short before the Witch of Nihility."
Herta made no comment.
After that brief slaughter, she fully agreed with Yaoguang's words.
Yaoguang continued, "Furthermore, when we encountered General Red Kite earlier, although she regained her consciousness at the final moment and chose to end herself, we still fought her beforehand."
"It shames me to say this, but General Jing Yuan and I were utterly powerless before her. Even our Imperial Bow War-Spirits suffered severe damage."
"At present, the combat power the two of us can display is probably less than twenty or thirty percent of our full strength."
Hearing this, Herta fell silent.
Of course she understood Yaoguang's explanation.
In other words, although the Xianzhou Alliance had sent four Emanators, taken together, it was only equivalent to around two and a half Emanators?
And that was without considering the injuries Hua and Mobius had suffered.
If one insisted on calculating it strictly, then the reinforcements on their side were still somewhat insufficient!
Yaoguang had clearly noticed Herta's concern and explained again, "Rest assured, Madam Herta."
"The marshal and the Little Dragon Sovereign are no ordinary Emanators. With the two of them joining forces, they are enough to engage the Witch of Nihility for the time being."
At this, Herta said nothing more.
Although she was still unwilling in her heart, Yaoguang was right.
In her current state, where she felt as though her entire body was about to fall apart, forcing herself back into battle would be nothing more than throwing away another life.
And so, she allowed Yaoguang to support her, step by step, away from the core region of the battlefield already completely shrouded in Nihility.
Soon, all the survivors who were still alive were gathered inside a relatively intact ruin within Pier Point.
However, everyone's condition was poor. One was more heavily injured than the next, each with lower HP than the last.
After sweeping her gaze around once, Herta suddenly realized something.
Good grief. Was she actually the least injured person here?
As expected of herself. At critical moments, she was still reliable.
But that thought only flashed through her mind for an instant. Herta quickly put away that self-mockery and turned her gaze back to the people before her.
At that moment, Welt spoke.
"Madam Herta."
This strongest man of the Astral Express seemed somewhat unwilling.
"Are we… really not going to help?"
His gaze turned toward the battlefield outside the ruins, which had already been torn apart by two terrifying auras.
At this moment, on the battlefield outside, Hua and Mobius were locked in a stalemate with Kallen.
Judging from the intensity of the collision between those three auras, the combination of Hua and Mobius had indeed temporarily forced Kallen into a deadlock.
But that was all it was.
A stalemate.
No one knew how long this stalemate could last.
Once either side showed any weakness, the consequences would be unpredictable.
However, after Welt said this, Taravan gently shook his head.
"Mr. Welt, in our current condition, it would be better not to go up there and cause trouble."
Taravan lowered his head and glanced at his right leg, which had almost completely lost feeling. There was lingering fear in his voice.
"In the current clash, with our present state, we probably won't be of much help."
"If we rush in recklessly, not only will we fail to help Marshal Hua and that Dragon Sovereign, we may instead become burdens to them."
If such cowardly words were heard by those who hated the IPC, they would probably mock Taravan.
After all, this was Preservation's territory. It was bad enough that Taravan and Diamond could not drive out the enemy themselves. Now, they even had to rely on the help of the Xianzhou Alliance. It was admittedly rather embarrassing.
However, after hearing Taravan's words, no one else present refuted him.
Because what Taravan said was indeed the truth.
The atmosphere in the ruins instantly became extremely heavy.
And at that moment, Yaoguang, who had been quietly supporting Herta, finally spoke.
"Everyone."
"The reason I gathered you here is not merely to let everyone recover from your injuries."
"I also have a plan of my own."
The moment those words came out, Herta's already dim eyes abruptly lit up again.
A plan?
She turned her head and looked straight at Yaoguang.
"General Yaoguang, what plan do you have?"
After all, the current situation had already deteriorated to the extreme. If Yaoguang truly had some method, then it would be their final hope.
However, Yaoguang did not answer directly.
She merely took out a crystal emitting faint blue light from within her clothes.
The crystal was only about the size of a finger, but the aura contained within it made everyone present pause.
Then, under everyone's puzzled gazes, Yaoguang gently crushed the crystal.
Crack.
A very soft shattering sound.
Immediately afterward, a gentle white light rose from the broken crystal and quickly condensed in the void beside everyone.
The next second, a figure dressed in a blue qipao slowly appeared within that gentle radiance.
Ruan Mei.
When that figure fully materialized, Herta froze completely.
"Ruan… Ruan Mei?"
She looked rather pleasantly surprised.
"You came to help too?"
However, Ruan Mei only shook her head slightly.
"Herta, I am sorry. I am not skilled in combat, so I did not personally come to the battlefield."
Ruan Mei's voice was as gentle as ever, but when these words fell into Herta's ears, most of her excitement was instantly extinguished.
Herta's mood visibly dropped.
Although she knew Ruan Mei had never been a combat-oriented person, at this moment, she truly hoped a powerful fighter would join them.
Still, Herta did not say much.
"Then you're appearing now… because you discovered something?"
Herta's gaze locked tightly onto Ruan Mei's face.
After all, she knew very well what kind of person Ruan Mei was.
This friend of hers, who had always avoided worldly conflict, would never take the initiative to appear without any reason.
If she had appeared here now through Yaoguang, there had to be a reason.
Ruan Mei did not deny it. She merely nodded slightly.
"Mm. I have indeed made a small discovery."
Herta's eyes lit up again.
"What discovery? Hurry up and tell us!"
Ruan Mei did not drag things out.
"Previously, after I heard information about the Witch of Nihility from you, Herta, I went back and looked through some materials."
"Some materials concerning Paths and Aeons."
"And after reviewing those materials… I developed a few new thoughts."
Herta did not interrupt her, merely staring fixedly and waiting for what came next.
"Logically speaking, the behavioral logic of Kallen Kaslana should have already caused her to suffer restrictions."
The moment this was said, everyone in the ruins froze.
Ruan Mei did not keep them guessing and explained directly.
"I believe everyone present understands the relationship between Paths and Aeons."
"Aeons, as embodiments of Paths, largely act according to their own Paths to a certain degree. Although there have been precedents of Aeons violating their own Paths, generally speaking, an Aeon does not usually act against the Path they bear."
"However, there was once a rumor in the galaxy. It was said that if an Aeon violates their own Path, then they will suffer a certain degree of backlash from that Path."
"Although this information has never been confirmed, it has one most typical example: the Aeon of Propagation from back then."
At this point, Ruan Mei's tone paused slightly.
As for that piece of history from the Swarm Disaster, the veterans present had naturally heard of it.
Back then, the Aeon of Propagation had wished to abandon propagation itself in exchange for a slim chance of survival.
Yet precisely because of that choice, their death had been accelerated.
But what did this have to do with Kallen?
As if noticing everyone's confusion, Ruan Mei continued, "Kallen is indeed not a true Aeon."
"But as the incarnation of Qlipoth's shed shell, in essence, she is also a part of the Aeon of Preservation."
Ruan Mei's gaze fell on Herta.
"Therefore, in terms of Path backlash, she should be similarly affected."
Herta's brows furrowed even tighter.
"But…"
Herta carefully recalled everything Kallen had done so far.
The destruction of Yuanqiao and the massacre of the Xianzhou involved private grudges and were somewhat difficult to define, but spreading Nihility and betraying Preservation…
Taken individually, either of these two acts should have been a monstrous sin great enough to incur backlash from the Path of Preservation.
Yet Kallen was alive and well. In fact, she had grown stronger and stronger.
Very quickly, the ruins fell into dead silence.
Everyone was stunned by Ruan Mei's analysis.
To be honest, with the level of the people present, their ability to accept what Ruan Mei said was very fast.
It was indeed unreasonable.
And not just slightly unreasonable.
It was severely unreasonable.
Enduring the intense pain throughout her body, Herta asked, "Ruan Mei, do you know something?!"
However, Ruan Mei only shook her head.
"I do not know."
Herta nearly choked on her own breath.
"You don't know, and you still said all that?!"
Herta's temper flared instantly.
What time was it now? And Ruan Mei was still here playing coy?
However, faced with Herta's irritation, Ruan Mei was not anxious at all.
"I truly do not know the answer. But I do know that outside the current battlefield, there is one existence who definitely knows the answer."
In an instant, the atmosphere in the ruins abruptly changed.
The moment everyone present heard Ruan Mei's words, almost all of them thought of the same answer at the same time.
The Aeon of Preservation.
Qlipoth.
That was right!
Since Kallen was the incarnation of the shell shed by the Aeon of Preservation, then the one who understood everything about her most clearly would surely be the Aeon of Preservation himself, would it not?
And where was this place?
This was Pier Point.
"The Aeon of Preservation?"
Ruan Mei nodded slightly.
"That is correct."
"Judging from the current situation, if we wish to truly deal with an existence like Kallen, who is invincible beneath the Aeons…"
"Relying on us alone is already absolutely impossible."
"Even if Marshal Hua and Lord Jadebearer join forces, they can only temporarily hold her back. Truly defeating her is almost impossible."
Ruan Mei's gaze swept over everyone.
"If we want to truly resolve Kallen, we must have an Aeon act."
"Although many Aeons appear to be tacitly allowing everything to happen under the current circumstances, there is one Aeon…"
"He absolutely has the possibility of intervening."
Ruan Mei's voice became especially serious.
"Although I do not know why the Aeon of Preservation has tacitly permitted Kallen's current actions…"
"This absolutely cannot be Preservation's true intent."
"As the embodiment of the Path of Preservation, He absolutely cannot genuinely wish to see this scene unfold."
At this point, Ruan Mei's gaze turned toward Diamond and Taravan.
"Therefore, my suggestion is that before new reinforcements arrive, the two of you go find the Aeon of Preservation."
"And attempt to seek His aid."
The moment these words were spoken, everyone present looked toward Diamond and Taravan.
The IPC's two Emanators of Preservation.
Taravan took a deep breath, then looked toward Diamond, who was similarly heavily injured beside him.
The two exchanged a glance.
Although their injuries were severe, both saw the same answer in each other's eyes.
"All right."
Taravan nodded.
"Since Madam Ruan Mei has already said this, then we shall go meet the Amber Lord."
And so, a decision was made. The group temporarily moved away from the battlefield and headed toward Qlipoth's subspace.
A short while later, led by Taravan and Diamond, everyone used a passage unique to Preservation and arrived together at the entrance to a subspace that the IPC had never opened to the outside world.
The instant everyone stepped into that subspace, they all became somewhat tense.
After all, what they were about to do was seek an audience with an Aeon.
And this Aeon had also been silently permitting everything happening here.
"You two from the IPC, we'll be relying on you next," Herta said at this moment.
Although according to some rumors, Qlipoth cared nothing for the IPC at all, the two people before her were still Emanators of Preservation to some extent. Even if Qlipoth did not care about others, surely He should care somewhat about the opinions of these two?
Probably?
Fine. Herta realized she could not even convince herself.
However, Diamond seemed somewhat confident at this moment.
"Rest assured, Madam Herta. No matter how special the Witch of Nihility's identity is, given the current situation, the Amber Lord absolutely cannot ignore her."
Herta did not respond. She merely nodded.
Then, the group proceeded toward the center of the subspace.
Finally, an enormous golden figure appeared in everyone's field of vision.
But before that figure appeared, what arrived first was an incomparably terrifying aura.
It was the pressure of an Aeon.
Sensing that somewhat distant aura, everyone was startled.
Was Qlipoth stopping them from advancing?
For a moment, everyone turned their gazes toward Taravan and Diamond.
At this moment, the two Emanators of Preservation were incomparably embarrassed.
Unlike the others, as Emanators of Preservation, they truly felt the meaning Qlipoth was conveying through this aura.
He was genuinely rejecting their approach.
Diamond had no choice but to begin taking back what he had just said.
"Everyone… we may be returning empty-handed."
But how could Herta possibly accept this result?
The Amber Lord did not want to see them?
Then she was going to see Him anyway. See Him with extreme prejudice!
After that, Herta could not be bothered to deal with these two useless Emanators of Preservation anymore. She continued toward Qlipoth on her own.
Seeing this, Diamond and Taravan were both startled.
Especially Diamond. As a pure believer in Preservation, although he could not understand why the Amber Lord was now sending such a signal, the faith rooted in his bones still made him accept it all.
Just as Diamond was about to stop Herta, the others also began moving.
It seemed Herta was not the only one with complaints. Everyone else clearly had grievances about this as well.
"!!!"
Diamond still wanted to do something, but at that moment, Taravan patted him on the shoulder.
Diamond looked at Taravan suspiciously.
"Taravan, are you also going to allow them to overstep like this?"
Taravan spoke calmly.
"These are special times, Diamond."
"I know you want to uphold your faith, but right now, Pier Point is on the verge of falling."
"..."
Diamond found himself unable to say anything.
After a moment of silence, he slowly nodded.
Then, the two Emanators of Preservation also silently followed the main group.
Soon, everyone finally arrived before Qlipoth.
But at this moment, the scene before them left them all stunned.
Originally, they had thought that even if Qlipoth temporarily did not wish to deal with Kallen, that was only temporary.
But now, this Aeon of Preservation was actually still silently doing His construction work.
That was right. At this moment, Qlipoth was still laying mortar. He had not even glanced once in Pier Point's direction!
Perhaps, after the battle erupted there, the only thing the Aeon of Preservation had done was stop them from approaching.
Thinking this, Herta finally could not endure it any longer. She stepped forward and directly scolded Him.
"Old Man Qlipoth, your Emanator is about to destroy the galaxy. Are you really not going to do something about her?"
Such unhesitating reprimand instantly frightened everyone else.
Although their resentment was also considerable, when facing an Aeon, perhaps only Herta could be so open-minded.
However, faced with Herta's reprimand, Qlipoth did not speak at all.
It seemed He intended to handle this coldly and pretend He had not heard.
Ha. Herta was enraged.
She waved her right hand, and a crystal hammer appeared in her grip.
Everyone else was instantly frightened.
Sister, you're really going for it?!
Diamond stepped forward and urged, "Madam Herta, please calm down!"
"The Amber Lord must have His reasons for acting this way. Perhaps He has already prepared a backup plan!"
Even as Diamond tried to persuade her, he could not help secretly glancing at the Amber Lord.
That was right. Even he himself did not believe what he was saying.
After learning Kallen's identity, Diamond had also realized something terrifying.
Their own Amber Lord truly was tacitly permitting the Witch of Nihility to do these things.
Otherwise, forget punishing her now. Back when the IPC broadcast to the entire galaxy, the Amber Lord should already have smashed Kallen to death.
But the Amber Lord had chosen to let Kallen go then. And this time, He had done even less.
Sure enough, Qlipoth's next words confirmed what everyone was thinking.
Leave.
Qlipoth issued an order for everyone to depart.
join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 210)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" (This matter is completely finished.)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 280
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 240
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume5/8
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 135
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 160
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 125
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 180
My Harem Is Indescribable 110
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 115
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 120
Still playing traditional Honk 105
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 120
What Should I Do After Switchi 70
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 140
Checking In in Demon Slayer 100
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 115
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 90
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 95
MYGO Beauties 80
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 100
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 135
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 150
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 70
The Uma Musume Who Became 75
I'm Definitely Not the King of 130
After Maxing Out Every Class 135
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 120
I, the Elden Sword Saint 70
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 65
No One Knows Pokémon Better 65
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 65
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 105
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 120
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 80
Honkai: The Fire Devil 115
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/70
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 85
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 80
At age 8, she co-starred with 80
Honkai: Schicksal Media 81
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 70
Chainsaw Man, but I'm Aatrox 60
Honkai Apocrypha: Are the Valk 60
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 45
Morgan Shirou's Journey in Dan 43
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin