In this hellish display of power, the only person in the entire place who could still speak was Caelus.
However, even with the combined might of several Paths, a power capable of easily annihilating civilizations, he could only barely manage to lift his head and utter a sound in the face of the current Twilight.
And Twilight just stood there, expressionless. She slowly raised her hand, and an even more terrifying power gathered in her palm. There was no doubt that once the attack fell, the people before her would be reduced to nothing but dust.
Li Bei nodded in satisfaction at this sight, then watched from the side as if waiting to see these damned insects crushed, and then…
…
"Unit Four, why haven't you attacked yet?"
Twilight remained standing in place. A long time had passed, but she still maintained that posture. An increasingly terrifying power continued to gather in her hand. She could have turned all her enemies to dust long ago, yet she made no move.
It was only after hearing Li Bei's command that she silently walked in front of Caelus and the others.
"Twilight…"
Despite the difficulty in breathing due to the terrifying power, upon seeing Twilight arrive before her, March 7th still mustered all her strength to lift her head, looking at this person she had lost and found again with tear-filled eyes.
However, the voice that would usually respond to her gently did not sound at this moment. All she saw was an indifferent face.
Yet, for some reason, even though the other person's demeanor was so cold, March 7th didn't feel any danger… Perhaps it was because of that face? But her current appearance was clearly different from the one she was familiar with…
Thinking it over, the only reason March 7th could find was probably because the other person was Twilight. So, no matter what, she felt that Twilight would never hurt her, even if she was currently being controlled by a bad guy.
"Stop your wishful thinking over there." Li Bei looked at the persistent March 7th and sneered. "You don't actually think I'd still preserve the consciousness of these things, do you? This bunch of traitors, clearly created by me, yet they have no loyalty… It was a mistake not to directly erase their consciousness earlier."
"Things that shouldn't exist must be eliminated. Anyway, they're just things that grew wildly in your world. There's no point in keeping them now."
With a casual wave of his hand, Li Bei spoke flatly as if giving a final order, "Kill them, Unit Four."
"…"
"Unit Four… I told you to kill them."
That back, which had remained silent like a block of wood. Li Bei's eyes narrowed slightly as he repeated his command.
Alas, after his voice fell, Twilight, as if a machine finally starting up, slowly raised the arm that had gathered power, and then—
BOOM!!!
Terrifying power poured out like a tsunami in an instant! Twilight held nothing back. Under such a fatal blow, even a full-powered Kevin or Caelus could only despair and die, turning into ashes!
And the currently restrained crowd had no way to resist. They had no option but to be vaporized from the world—if this attack had ultimately been aimed at them.
But it wasn't. Twilight's attack, at the very last moment, abruptly changed direction, instead striking towards Li Bei behind her, who seemed to be in control of everything!
Caught off guard by this attack, the hastily erected defenses by Li Bei, though they blocked the offensive, left him in a sorry state. The contemptuous look of someone who seemed to have victory in his grasp moments ago was now replaced by shock and anger.
"Unit Four, what are you doing?!"
"…My name is Twilight."
Twilight silently turned to face the enraged Li Bei. She glanced back at the members of the Astral Express crew, their faces a mixture of complexity and excitement, and finally said calmly, "You can also call me Dabai or Little Twilight—but I am not Unit Four. I am not without a name of my own."
"Tsk, her consciousness should have been erased…" Faced with this sudden rebellion, Li Bei's expression grew even gloomier. "The only thing more annoying than a despised tool gaining power is probably a tool like you, who doesn't know its place and dares to rebel."
"Shut up, you! Calling her a tool with every other word… Twilight is not your tool, she's our family!"
After Twilight finally rebelled against Li Bei, the power that had been suppressing everyone now transformed into a barrier protecting them, allowing those who had been unable to move to regain their freedom of action.
The first thing March 7th did after regaining control of her body was to fiercely confront Li Bei with a sharp retort. She wanted to say something heartfelt about Twilight's timely return, but her long-standing habit kicked in—whenever Twilight stood by her side, she felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of courage. It was like all her bottled-up emotions demanded to be unleashed on the spot.
Put simply, you could say March 7th had a habit of "acting bold because she had backup"—especially when that backup was Twilight.
"Later, I'll have Twilight smash you into little pancakes!"
"A bunch of insects, don't get cocky!"
Casually swatting away Kevin and Kalpas, who had rushed up in the blink of an eye, Li Bei's expression turned furious due to March 7th's taunt. "In the end, you're still just puppets controlled by me. As long as I—"
Before Li Bei could finish his words, Twilight suddenly reached out and grabbed the void behind her own neck. The next moment, as she clenched her fist, a chain seemingly made of light gradually materialized in her hand and was pulled out bit by bit from the void. It twisted and deformed due to the force, and finally—
CRACK!!
To Li Bei's astonished expression, the chain, with its end wrapped around her neck, was forcibly snapped by Twilight herself.
"Others don't matter…" Amidst the scattering specks of time's light, Twilight's gaze was calm and resolute. "But I will not allow you to harm Caelus and the others."
"A mere puppet dares to order me around?"
Li Bei's gaze grew increasingly dangerous, terrifying power flowing in his hands. "I don't care how you secretly retained your consciousness, but now that you've severed my control, you've also cut off the energy supply that keeps you in existence. How much longer can the power in your body sustain your activity? Five minutes? Ten minutes?"
"However, if you had continued to pretend to be an unconscious puppet like before, I might have let you off. But now that you've jumped out yourself, I won't even give you an extra five minutes to live—turn to ashes!"
"Caelus, protect yourselves."
Li Bei's figure charged forward with an indescribably terrifying power.
Twilight said nothing more, merely instructing Caelus and the others to be careful before disappearing from her spot. The next moment, all that remained was the blinding light of battle erupting in the sky above, too intense to look at directly!