In the shattered dreamscape stood the dormant, massive, and twisted "Philosophical Embryo." Its silhouette shimmered faintly in the illusory
In the shattered dreamscape stood the dormant, massive, and twisted "Philosophical Embryo."
Its silhouette shimmered faintly in the illusory, hazy light, exuding a heart-stopping grandeur and stillness, as if it were the very incarnation of "Order."
Boothill casually loaded his revolver, his shark-like teeth glinting coldly in his wide grin.
"Well, I'll be damned! Is that big ol' scary head the mastermind you all have been yapping about?"
He lifted the muzzle of his gun slightly, pointing at the silent behemoth. With his usual wild abandon, he pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Let me loosen it up a bit first!"
BANG!
A burst of orange fire erupted from the muzzle. A special bullet, carrying the will of The Hunt, howled out like a meteor and struck Dominicus's mountain-like head with perfect accuracy.
However, the expected explosion of debris did not occur.
After a dull boom like the clanging of a giant bell, the bullet seemed to have sunk into thick mud. It merely created a faint ripple on the surface of the giant head before its momentum vanished completely.
Dominicus remained motionless, its deathly aura unchanged.
In that instant, an indescribably grand, ethereal, yet chilling symphony of "Order," as if from beyond the heavens, suddenly rang out from the direction of the theater that symbolized Penacony's splendor. It instantly echoed throughout this shattered, bizarre land of collapse.
A solemn, majestic, yet utterly emotionless and cold voice, like a divine decree, resounded in the depths of everyone's soul.
This voice, this tone, was completely different from the one with its gentle, guiding quality that they had heard from Sunday in the false golden-age dream.
This voice held only pure, unquestionable "Order" and absolute "Judgment."
Clearly, Sunday had completely merged with Dominicus, entering the second phase of his boss battle, which was Dominicus's true and final form—
Chorus, the Divine Lord.
"Oh? So you have struggled free from the sweet slumber woven by Order, have you, my lost lambs?"
The voice of the Divine Lord seemed to descend from the clouds, carrying the indifference of one looking down upon ants and an almost imperceptible pity, creating echoes in the broken dreamscape.
Black Swan's long, narrow violet eyes squinted slightly. A bewitching curve touched her lips, her voice lazy yet tinged with a hint of provocation.
"We've slept long enough, my Master Daziel."
She turned her head, her eyes flowing with a teasing light as she smiled at Daziel. The words that came from her red lips, however, nearly made him stumble.
"It's time to show him, and this pathetic world, a good look. Even without that illusory, self-deceiving garbage dream, your side has never lacked for women's favor and devotion!"
Daziel's body tensed. The veins on his forehead throbbed uncontrollably. He took a deep breath, suppressed the feeling of absurdity, and muttered in a low voice.
"Black Swan, what time do you think it is to be saying things like that?"
The Divine Lord's voice rang out again, without a ripple of emotion, yet carrying a logic so cold it was chilling to the bone.
"Without the protection and harmony of 'Order,' how are those weaklings struggling at the bottom supposed to solve their base and primal physiological needs?"
"Since ancient times, quality partners, a scarce resource, have often only been controlled and distributed by those who stand at the top of the pyramid."
"If you all still have objections to my 'Order,' if you are still unwilling—then prove it to me. Use your insignificant power to shake the truth of this universe."
Daziel said no more. More words were useless. Only battle remained! His eyes suddenly focused, his aura flaring. He shouted in a low, resolute voice:
"Phantylia, come forth!"
With his call, an indescribably deep, dark, yet supremely tempting aura of destruction spread out behind him.
Space seemed to be torn apart by a giant, invisible hand. Phantylia's graceful and extremely dangerous colossal figure quietly emerged. Her eyes flowed with a lazy smile as she nodded lightly, her will of destruction already locked on the target.
The battle, at this moment, fully erupted!
Daziel gripped the golden baseball bat that had accompanied him for so long, the muscles in his arms tensing, veins bulging. He roared, pouring all his strength into it. The bat tore through the air with a sharp whistle, viciously smashing against the "torso" of the behemoth Dominicus!
The heavy impact reverberated back through the bat, making Daziel's hand go numb, his arm aching.
However, the feeling was like hitting a giant sponge that absorbed all force. It was like a clay ox entering the sea, vanishing without a trace. Dominicus remained completely still.
Black Swan's fingertips flickered, and several tarot cards shimmering with mysterious runes flipped and spun between her slender fingers.
Her red lips parted, uttering a few obscure syllables, and the cards transformed into streaks of strange light, shooting out.
Some cards exploded upon approaching Dominicus, turning into a field of disorienting illusions, attempting to interfere with its perception.
Others attached themselves to Daziel and Firefly, forming a faint purple glow, providing them with an unknown buff.
Firefly had already transformed back into the silver mech, Sam, the moment the battle began.
At this moment, incandescent silver-blue light erupted from the gaps in her armor, like a burning star.
"DHGDR—Supernova Overload!"
With a sharp cry, the energy core in Sam's chest suddenly lit up with a blinding light. A beam of energy hotter and more dazzling than the sun, like the spear of divine punishment, tore through the shattered dreamscape and viciously struck Dominicus!
A dazzling X-ray light and energy storm exploded, dyeing the surrounding dreamscape ruins a sheet of silver-white.
Immediately after, before the shockwave could completely dissipate—
"BHF—Dragon's Flame Scourge!"
The thrusters on Sam's back erupted with even greater force. Her petite body, encased in heavy armor, displayed a terrifying explosive power that belied its size. Like a true meteor trailing a long tail of flame, she charged recklessly towards Dominicus's massive body, attempting to engage in close-quarters combat!
Boothill's gunshots were continuous, each bullet infused with his unyielding will as a Galaxy Ranger and his wild power. They traced cunning arcs through the air, attacking Dominicus from all angles.
"I'll be damned! Eat another one of mine!"
The five bullets he had just loaded were almost gone, with only one left—
"The last one's for you!"
He laughed loudly, flames spitting from the muzzle, as if to vent all his fighting spirit.
Phantylia raised her jade-like hand, her posture graceful and composed, as if she were not in a life-or-death battle, but weaving a beautiful tapestry.
With her movement, countless black, eerie lotuses silently bloomed in the void. They were magnificent and deadly, each petal exuding a heart-stopping, pure aura of destruction, silently sweeping towards Dominicus.
The Divine Lord's voice, amidst the increasingly majestic and sacred symphony, also grew higher, carrying an unquestionable authority and judgment.
"Hmph, with one hundred and seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-six divine notes, I proclaim to you ignorant fools!"
"Join this glorious chorus—and return with me to that eternal, decadent, ecstatic paradise!"
With his proclamation, an indescribable radiance, as if composed of countless fine musical notes, suddenly appeared on Dominicus's massive surface, forming an unbreakable, invisible barrier.
The stormy assault from Daziel, Firefly, Boothill, and Phantylia—be it physical blows, energy blasts, or conceptual destruction—dissolved like melting snow the moment it touched the radiant barrier, vanishing into nothingness.
"If the experience of a dream is no different from cold reality, or even more beautiful, can it still be called false?"
The Divine Lord's voice was filled with a hint of pity and mockery as it questioned them.
"With this complete and flawless symphony, I command—let paradise be recreated here!"
An even stronger, irresistible power lashed back from Dominicus. Daziel and the others felt an immense, invisible force pressing down on them, their pressure multiplying. Their once-fierce offensive was instantly stifled, and even breathing became difficult.
Their coordination was flawless, their attacks ferocious, yet they were consistently unable to truly shake the "Philosophical Embryo" that stood like a god, looking down on everything.
Every all-out attack was like a stone cast into the sea, sinking into a bottomless abyss, creating only an imperceptible ripple, but failing to cause any substantial damage.
Fine beads of sweat gradually formed on the brows of Daziel, Firefly, Black Swan, and Boothill. Their breathing started to become heavy.
This was a bitter battle the likes of which they had never experienced before.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate, and a sense of powerlessness began to creep into everyone's hearts.
A single, flawless white feather, as if carrying some kind of hope, or perhaps a hint of joy, floated down lightly and abruptly from the chaotic, energy-filled sky.
In this battlefield filled with destruction and fury, it seemed so out of place, yet it carried an ineffable sanctity and tranquility.
Robin gently closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.
The next moment, a soft and warm golden light, like the rising sun, slowly emanated from her petite body, enveloping her, making her look like an angel descended to the mortal world.
Following the plan she had discussed with Daziel and the others, she began to sing a dissonant note of freedom into this broken, twisted dreamscape filled with the tyranny of "Order."
There was no grand, breathtaking accompaniment like Sunday's, no soul-shaking, majestic melody.
Compared to Sunday's hymn, which was like a divine punishment seeking to bring everything under its "Order," what Robin sang at this moment was an incomparably pure, incomparably clean children's rhyme.
Her singing voice was as clear as a gurgling stream in a mountain valley, filled with a child's unique innocence and sincerity, without a trace of embellishment or impurity.
Each note was like a tender sprout in early spring, full of life and hope, forming a stark, intense contrast with the solemn and cold hymn of "Order" that Sunday had painstakingly created.
A strange scene occurred.
Dominicus's massive, despair-inducing body actually faltered for a moment upon hearing this pure children's rhyme, as if its cold core of "Order" had been touched in the slightest by this note that did not belong to it.
The suffocating sense of oppression that had been weighing on everyone's hearts also loosened almost imperceptibly.
The Divine Lord's stormy attacks also showed a trace of barely noticeable slack.
In the Divine Lord's cold and indifferent voice, for the first time, there was a very faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation.
"Robin… is that you, singing?"
Robin slowly opened her eyes. Her clear eyes were now filled with pity and an unshakeable determination.
She looked up at the giant "Philosophical Embryo," her voice soft yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"Brother… did you hear that? Did you hear the true voices of the people who are controlled and twisted under your 'Order'?"
"This is not the paradise they wish for. This is just your one-sided cage."
The Divine Lord's voice, after a brief silence, returned to its previous coldness and indifference, but beneath the ice, there seemed to be a hint of imperceptible complexity.
"But they are still like lost lambs, not knowing where they are going."
"That is why I must become the one and only, eternal star in this dark sky, to guide their way forward with my light."
Robin gently shook her head. The sorrow in her eyes deepened, but the song from her lips did not stop, instead becoming clearer, more resolute.
"Even if… even if the place where the morning star resides is a… black night with no dawn, forever decadent and rotten?"
The Divine Lord once again fell into a moment of silence, a silence as heavy as the calm before a storm, so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
Then, his tone suddenly became incredibly hard, with a hint of anger from having a sore spot touched.
"Hmph, if you yourself had never set foot in the decadent mire, why would you willingly walk the path to become another's plaything, a canary in a cage?"
"It seems the last chance for negotiation ends here."
Boothill's face changed drastically. His battle-hardened intuition screamed warnings at him. An unprecedented sense of terrifying crisis, enough to make even him feel a chill, engulfed him like a cold tide.
"It's over, it's over! I'll be damned! This is really it! That big guy is getting serious!"
The Divine Lord's voice became incredibly solemn, incredibly sacred, as if it were the Creator God proclaiming the final judgment, every word carrying an absolute, irresistible will.
"All the work of creation is now complete. The unquestionable, day of judgment has now come…"
He paused slightly, and the entire shattered dreamscape began to tremble and collapse violently, madly, because of his next words.
"Embryo of Aeons—Remold for Us This Heaven and Earth!"
As his final proclamation fell, the giant head of Dominicus, which had been hanging low as if in slumber, suddenly snapped up!
A terrifying energy, pure to the extreme and impossible to describe with any words, crazily gathered and compressed at its core, emitting a destructive aura sufficient to annihilate all living things, to dissolve all matter.
The next instant, a gigantic, irresistible shockwave, like the Big Bang at the beginning of the universe, swept out from Dominicus as the center, instantly engulfing all color and existence in its path!
The world, in that moment, seemed to completely, irrevocably, collapse.
The deafening boom could not even reach their ears, because before that, annihilation had already arrived.
A blinding whiteness.
Daziel felt a terrifying force, like the impact of a star, slam viciously into his chest. A sweetness rose in his throat, and a mouthful of hot blood sprayed out uncontrollably, instantly dyeing his vision red.
Black Swan's memetic body fluctuated and twisted violently in the shockwave, as if it would pop like a bubble at any moment. For the first time, a look of pain appeared on her beautiful face, and she could barely maintain her form.
The Sam armor worn by Firefly, the moment it came into contact with the shockwave, let out a piercing, shrill alarm. Spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the sturdy alloy armor, and several structures directly burst open, spewing dazzling electric sparks. The entire suit of armor was left in ruins.
Boothill didn't even have a chance to react before he was sent flying by the terrifying shockwave like a leaf in a gale, tumbling dozens of times in the air before crashing heavily into a twisted pile of rubble, his condition unknown.
Only Phantylia, an Emanator herself, had countless black lotuses surrounding her bloom and then get annihilated in layers, managing to block most of the direct impact for her. But her always proud and beautiful face was now extremely grave, and a trace of black blood even trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Everyone was severely injured, one might even say on the verge of death.
An indescribable aura of despair, like a plague, began to spread in the hearts of the survivors.
Daziel struggled, using the already twisted and deformed baseball bat to support his teetering body. He difficultly raised his head and, through his blurry, blood-red vision, looked at the "Philosophical Embryo" that still stood tall and unharmed in the storm of destruction.
"Dammit… is this… the difference between a god and a mortal? Even though this guy is just borrowing a god's body…"
His voice was as hoarse as if it had been sanded down, filled with endless unwillingness and a trace of barely perceptible despair.
The Divine Lord's voice was now filled with undisguised mockery and high-and-mighty pity.
"Daziel, someone like you, who has never lacked for female companionship and comfort, how could you ever truly understand the pain and longing of ordinary people struggling in loneliness and despair?"
"You… and all you so-called resistors, will never be able to stop me from bringing true 'Order' and 'happiness' to this world!"
Before his words had faded, and before Daziel could make any reaction, another torrent of destructive energy, even more terrifying, more condensed, and purer than before, shot towards the already exhausted Daziel like a venomous snake that had locked onto its prey!
That energy was so pure, so absolute, that it was impossible to dodge, impossible to block!
Daziel's vision began to blur and spin rapidly. His body felt as if it had lost all weight, yet at the same time as if it were filled with lead. He had completely lost the strength to even move a finger.
In a daze, he felt himself falling into a boundless, bone-chillingly cold, dark abyss.
In the space of his consciousness, it was pitch black all around, without a single ray of light, only endless cold and stillness, as if even time had frozen here.
'Am I… going to die?'
Daziel felt his life force draining away like a bursting flood. Even his most basic thoughts began to become sluggish and freeze, his consciousness about to be devoured by this eternal darkness.
Just as this deepest despair was about to completely submerge his soul.
A song, a song completely different from Robin's pure children's rhyme, suddenly, yet with incomparable clarity, sounded in the deepest part of his consciousness.
It wasn't the clear children's rhyme like a mountain stream.
This time, what sounded was a decadent sound of ultimate temptation and entanglement.
That enchanting, bewitching song, like invisible silk threads, wrapped around Daziel's nearly dissipating consciousness, slowly pulling him back from the cold stillness.
The endless pitch-black before him gradually faded, replaced by a strange, iridescent consciousness space.
Light twisted and shifted, as if he were in some unfinished dream draft.
At the focal point of his blurry vision, three figures quietly materialized, carrying a breathtaking beauty.
Black Swan, Robin, Firefly.
They stood quietly, wearing not a single thread, every inch of their skin bathed in the strange light of this consciousness space, like newborn beings.
Black Swan's purple eyes flowed, a playful smile on her lips. Her gaze was bold and direct, looking over Robin and Firefly's exquisite bodies with great interest, as if appreciating rare works of art, with a hint of lazy scrutiny.
A charming pink flush instantly spread across Firefly's snow-white skin. She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, turned slightly away, her long eyelashes trembling uneasily, tears almost spilling from her clear eyes. Even the tips of her ears were dyed crimson.
A blush also flew onto Robin's face, but in her gentle eyes, a flame of unshakeable resolve burned.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to face this strange situation, her gaze clear and firm.
Daziel's consciousness was still somewhat hazy. He looked at the scene before him, and sensing that he himself seemed to be in a soul-state, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Robin, this… did you do this?"
Robin nodded slightly, her voice ethereal.
"I used the power of Harmony to pull the few of us into your consciousness space, Daziel."
"Right now, my brother has already reached the pinnacle of an Emanator. If we don't stop him, the disaster he causes could very well surpass that of Emperor Rubert. After all, that is the divine might of Order."
Hearing this, Firefly's body trembled slightly. She bit her lower lip, her voice laced with lingering fear.
"Emperor Rubert… he once spread the 'Anti-Life Equation' throughout the universe. Many worlds were devastated because of it, and the effects lasted for several Amber Eras…"
She blinked, her eyes full of worry.
"What your brother is about to do is probably even more terrifying than that…"
Black Swan withdrew her appraising gaze, her expression becoming serious. She looked at Robin, her charming voice laced with a hint of urgency.
"So… what should we do now?"
Robin's gaze swept over the three of them, her eyes firm.
"Relying on ourselves won't work anymore. We must attract the attention of an Aeon to solve this matter!"
"Although such a huge mess has occurred, if 'Harmony' had a mind to, it would be impossible not to notice. But They have yet to cast even half a glance our way."
"We must walk far enough on the Path of Harmony to attract Their gaze. This is our only chance to turn the tables!"
Daziel's heart skipped a beat. He vaguely sensed the deep meaning in her words. A feeling of absurdity, yet one he had to face, crept into his heart.
"Wait… you gathered the few of us here, you don't mean to…"
Robin's face turned redder, but she did not evade his gaze, looking directly at Daziel.
"We have to do that thing together, the thing that goes against common sense and human ethics. Our spirits must intertwine to achieve true 'Harmony,' only then will Xipe see."
Hearing this, Firefly, like a startled fawn, suddenly raised her head, her cheeks so red they were about to drip blood, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"This… this is too shameless… although I'm already…"
The rest of her words were drowned in her shyness.
A flash of pain crossed Robin's eyes, which then turned into a deeper resolve.
"Let go of those trivial details!"
"Although Penacony is a city of sleepless ecstasy, it is also a place that represses human nature. I know why my brother is so obsessed with establishing an eternal paradise of ecstasy. It is precisely these annoying rules that have made Penacony so twisted, accumulating so many desires…"
Listening, Daziel subconsciously blurted out.
"So he's just sexually frustrated… no wonder…"
Robin coughed twice, correcting him with a bit of embarrassment.
"Ahem… he probably just can't stand seeing others being repressed…"
A flash of understanding crossed Black Swan's eyes. She extended a slender finger, gently flicking back a strand of her messy hair, her tone carrying an unquestionable decisiveness.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's begin. We don't have much time."
Her gaze flowed between Daziel, Robin, and Firefly, carrying a strange excitement and anticipation.
Robin nodded heavily and looked at everyone.
"That's right, we can't delay!"
Although Firefly's face was still bright red, she clenched her fists, a hint of resolve in her eyes. She gave a soft "Mm," in assent.
The light in this consciousness space seemed to brighten because of their decision. The air was filled with a strange atmosphere, a mixture of nervousness, shyness, and resolve.
Just at this critical moment, a crisp and slightly authoritative female voice suddenly sounded out in this consciousness space.
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