If the situation hadn't reached the point where she had to intervene, Chu Lian truly wouldn't have wanted to use the Void Greatsword. Doing so meant inevitably exposing her identity. Especially in front of these special forces—whose motives were far from pure—she had been restraining herself as much as possible.
But now, things had escalated beyond the point of restraint. If she didn't act soon, it would be too late. Under the pseudo–Earth Level entity's oppressive aura, the surrounding zombies were growing stronger and advancing faster. The defense line was collapsing inch by inch.
Their ammunition wasn't infinite either. The fact that they had lasted this long was already a miracle. Any longer, and disaster would be unavoidable. By taking the initiative, she could at least divert some of the pressure and give the others a brief window to breathe.
She withdrew her hand from Inori's chest, and the Void Greatsword materialized in her right hand. In the same moment, her outfit transformed—her former battle clothes replaced by a luxurious black dress trimmed with white feathers. A pair of butterfly-like wings unfurled behind her, giving her an almost regal elegance. Then came a mechanical, synthesized voice: "Black Lotus."
Unfortunately, Chu Lian hadn't actually exchanged for the real Black Lotus mecha; this sound cue was merely part of her [Mirror Mode] transformation into the "Black Snow Princess." It didn't give her a robotic form.
Sensing its wielder's resolve, the [Seven Illusions Bow]—which had been hovering in midair—flashed brightly and appeared beside her, circling around her form.
"You want to join me too?" she asked softly, knowing full well that the weapon possessed a spirit of its own.
The bow pulsed once, then dissolved into streams of light that wrapped around her left hand, forming a small sigil on the back of her palm.
"So you refuse to back down too, huh?" Chu Lian smiled faintly. Without hesitation, she descended slowly to the ground while still holding Inori in her arms. Setting the girl gently down, she met those crimson eyes filled with warmth and worry. "Inori, you and Tina hold the line here. I'll take care of those powerful ones first."
Inori gazed at her for a long moment—part unwilling, part understanding, but mostly concerned. Because of their contract, she could sense every change within Chu Lian's body, even those invisible to others.
Chu Lian's current power was no longer something she could match. Though they had promised to face this battle together, Chu Lian's rapid breakthroughs and the chaos that had followed had left her far behind.
If Chu Lian were still at mid-Spirit Level, Inori would have insisted on going with her. But now, Chu Lian's power had surged too far beyond her reach.
And with the Void Greatsword in her hand, her aura flared even more fiercely—strong enough to completely counter the pseudo–Earth Level monster's oppressive presence and establish her own domain of energy that shielded the area from external influence.
Still, even if she couldn't fight beside her, Inori would not forgive Chu Lian for rushing off alone. Stepping forward, she suddenly leaned in, capturing Chu Lian's lips in a deep kiss. Her tongue slipped in for a brief, tender moment—then she bit down hard on her lower lip before pulling away.
A thin line of blood glistened between them. Inori's expression was firm, serious. Chu Lian, startled, could only let out a helpless smile.
"If you come back hurt again," Inori said quietly, "then I'll never listen to you again. So come back alive." She licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, turned around, and ran back to reinforce Chu Chu and the others at the defensive line.
"This is your small punishment," she added, her voice echoing faintly in Chu Lian's ears. "Tonight… the real punishment awaits."
For a brief moment, Chu Lian's heart wavered—but she quickly calmed herself, her eyes sharpening with focus. No matter how strong she had become, her opponent was still a pseudo–Earth Level being. Even with the Void Greatsword's amplification—boosting her raw strength to 98 points, doubled to nearly 200%—she knew raw power alone could never define victory.
She was certain that one of its attributes must have already surpassed ninety—perhaps even brushing against a full hundred. There was no other explanation for such terrifying power.
Even though her own stats had skyrocketed, her strength remained at the peak of the Spirit Level. That fact alone proved just how enormous the gap between tiers truly was—an entire realm of difference could never be crossed so easily.
Gripping the Void Greatsword tightly, Chu Lian said nothing more. With a light tap of her foot, she launched herself forward, soaring toward the opposite side of the river where Inori and the others were holding the line.
When she reached the riverbank, she came to a halt and flipped gracefully downward, landing beside the rushing water. The zombies couldn't even come within three meters of her before being disintegrated by the invisible force radiating from her body. Ignoring them, she closed her eyes.
"Void Slash."
Her eyes snapped open, burning with pale blue light. Holding the Void Greatsword at an angle, she swung it in a wide, one-hundred-eighty-degree arc. A blazing white energy blade erupted from its edge, slicing through everything before her—the horde of zombies fell cleanly in two.
"Breaking Blade!"
She leapt into the air, tracing a glowing path across the sky. Landing where the last trace of the energy blade had vanished, she plunged her sword into the ground. A surge of spiritual power exploded outward in a circular wave, sweeping through everything within a hundred-meter radius before finally fading.
That one attack alone turned tens of thousands of densely packed zombies into mutilated chunks. Normally, unless their brains were destroyed, the undead would continue moving—an unending tide of horror. But Chu Lian's spiritual power carried a faint, divine quality, lethally toxic to undead creatures. Though it wasn't as overwhelming as the Underworld Watcher's authority, it was still far beyond what normal or unevolved zombies could endure.
She continued to move forward, stopping every hundred meters. Each time she landed, she released another Breaking Blade, wiping out everything in her path. Within moments, nearly a kilometer of the battlefield had been cleared. Until the horde regrouped, there was no longer any threat to Inori and the others.
"The cutting precision of Void Slash, and the massive area damage of Breaking Blade—these two techniques are absolute weapons against enemies that rely on numbers. They may not rival the Unstoppable shot from the [Seven Illusions Bow], but their efficiency and low energy cost make them invaluable. After about ten uses, I've only exhausted roughly thirty percent of my spiritual power. At this rate, I could manage four full rounds of combat."
Panting slightly, Chu Lian stopped to take in her surroundings, analyzing the performance of the techniques passed to her by the [Divine Spirit Art]. The results gave her confidence.
Here, she could hear it clearly—the guttural, low growl of the monstrous being. Its voice was rough and grating, like rusted metal scraping against itself.
When she advanced far enough, the creature finally appeared before her eyes. Her pupils contracted sharply as she took in its horrifying form.
"A creature like that… evolved from a zombie? Just what has it been eating?" she whispered in shock.
It wasn't particularly special in shape—still humanoid, with two legs, two arms, and one head—but its sheer size was monstrous. Though not as colossal as the dragon, it still stood nearly twenty meters tall.
Its flesh had transformed into something as hard as steel. It had no skin—only dark-red muscle stretched tight over exposed bone. She could see the flesh twitching and writhing as though it were alive. Upon closer inspection, her blood ran cold.
The creature's body was made up of countless fused human forms. Some still had limbs; others had heads; all were melded grotesquely together. And horrifyingly, they were still alive—breathing, twitching, and groaning in agony, their bodies forever trapped within the monstrous mass.
"If life was created by higher beings, then the thing that created this abomination must have a truly twisted sense of aesthetics," Chu Lian thought bitterly. "How can something so hideous even exist?"
As she pondered this, she suddenly felt a surge of hunger and malice directed at her. Raising her gaze, she met the creature's eyes.
Its face was a nightmare—covered in the fused remains of countless zombies. Limbs and rotten skulls twitched across its surface like maggots crawling over a corpse, making her skin crawl.
The sight alone could easily make anyone with a fear of clusters or weak nerves vomit for days.
Though Chu Lian wasn't afraid, she was undeniably disgusted. The creature before her was so hideous that she felt a violent urge to erase it completely from existence. Such abominations had no right to exist in this world—even parasites were more tolerable than this grotesque monstrosity.
"I can't take it anymore…" Ayase's weak voice echoed in her mind. It seemed that after seeing the creature through Chu Lian's shared vision, she too had been overwhelmed by nausea. Her voice cut off abruptly as she disconnected from Chu Lian's sight link, no doubt collapsing onto her couch to steady her stomach.
"So even Ayase has things she can't stand, huh… But this thing…" Chu Lian shook her head, unwilling to dwell on the thought any longer. Planting the Void Greatsword into the ground, she focused her will. The [Seven Illusions Bow] manifested above her left hand. She gripped the weapon, drew the string, and took aim at the colossal zombie. Three seconds later—she released.
"Unstoppable."
The giant zombie had noticed her movements, but part of its body was wedged deep within a fissure in the mountainside. Even with its immense strength, it couldn't yet free itself. That was why it had only roared in rage rather than launching an attack on the defensive line.
Perhaps it was fate itself. The place where this massive zombie had been teleported had trapped part of its body within the rocky terrain, effectively imprisoning it.
Thus, for this monster—one that felt a primal hunger at the very sight of Chu Lian—there was nothing it could do but glare at her with ravenous frustration as she attacked first.
The Unstoppable arrow streaked through the air faster than thought, crossing a hundred meters in an instant. The massive light-forged arrow pierced through the creature's defensive arm and buried itself deep in its abdomen before detonating in a blinding explosion.
"…That easy?" Chu Lian blinked in surprise, stunned by how effortlessly her strike had connected.
But before she could even process what had happened, a massive chunk of stone suddenly came hurtling out from the cloud of dust and explosive energy unleashed by her attack…