After the blessings of Abundance and Destruction manifested simultaneously, the scene fell into an eerily quiet standstill.
Jing Yuan and the rest of the Express crew nearby didn't dare even breathe loudly.
When it came to a contest between Aeons, there was nothing they could do to help—they could only stand by like battlefield journalists.
As for Lynelle, her situation was rather awkward.
Though both Yaoshi and Nanook had made a move on her at the same time, neither seemed interested in starting a full-blown Aeon War.
Instead, they were quietly intensifying the Path energy of their respective sides.
But Lynelle still had to worry about the Arbor.
After all, Nanook's goal was to fully convert her—so no matter how concentrated the power of Destruction became, it didn't matter to Them.
Yaoshi, however, wanted Lynelle to "remain free." They didn't want to lose such a perfect follower who so thoroughly embodied Abundance. On top of that, the Arbor's capacity was limited. So, if things kept dragging on like this…
Lynelle would definitely end up at a disadvantage!
"Kiana-chan…"
Lynelle looked pitifully toward Customer Service Kiana-chan.
"Do we have any other variables right now?"
[Hmm…]
Customer Service Kiana-chan didn't answer right away, but paused for a moment.
[I don't sense the gaze of any other Aeons… but… that might actually be a good thing.]
"G-good… how?"
[Mm. Under normal circumstances, there's one particular 'gaze' that's almost always fixed on the Express. As for who that presence is…]
Customer Service Kiana-chan gave a faint smile.
[Earlier, I said the target of that gaze is the 'Express crew,' so you probably catch my drift. But it's better not to say it out loud—it'd spoil the fun.]
"…I see."
It suddenly dawned on Lynelle—those playful narrations and dialogues hidden all over the place, like that one time a certain Stellaron fiend licked a railing.
"So… that means 'They' aren't here right now, right?"
[Exactly. And the reason for Their sudden absence… is quite something to look forward to.]
Sure enough, not long after Kiana-chan's words faded, Lynelle faintly heard a laugh—one that echoed directly in her mind.
And then… she felt a third gaze.
Or rather, it could no longer be called a gaze… it felt more like… being aimed at.
The Aeon of Hunt, Lan, had finally arrived on the scene, after two Aeons had turned their attention to the Xianzhou.
After briefly assessing the situation, They immediately drew Their bowstring.
First, They aimed at Yaoshi, then after a moment's thought, shifted Their aim toward Nanook, all while Their gaze kept sweeping over a certain spot in the void.
"Uh, seems like there are a bit too many enemies. Is Lan confused about who to shoot first?"
Lynelle muttered under her breath.
But as if They heard her remark, after a brief silence, Lan quietly dismissed the arrow nocked on Their bow, pulled back the empty string, and then…
They aimed at Lynelle.
"?"
[?]
"K-Kiana-chan… is this… part of the plan?"
[Clearly not. But don't panic—panicking won't help anyway.]
Kiana-chan's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
[I did say before that most Aeons can't track you through the messed-up timeline, but… that "most" unfortunately doesn't include Lan.]
[After all… you've probably seen the lore for 'Reverse Time's Arrow,' right? If He really shoots that arrow, then our plan will be a bust. We'll have to obediently return to the moon and go back to our little QQ-space life.]
"Then… should I start writing my last words now?"
Lynelle hurriedly crafted a mental message in the system.
"Stelle darling, after I die, you have to destroy that box of 'toys' under my bed. Or you can keep them for yourself if you want…"
[What kind of last words are those?!]
Just as the two were bantering, Lan, without the slightest hesitation, released the bowstring.
"Whoosh—"
Though there was no arrow nocked, with Lan's power, such an action was never meaningless. A sharp, invisible arrow shot forth from the bowstring and cleanly severed the connections…
…Through which Yaoshi and Nanook had been channeling power into Lynelle.
That's right. With that one arrow, Lan severed the links through which Abundance and Destruction had been pouring energy into her and wrestling for control.
Along with it, vast amounts of Path energy from Abundance and Destruction—more than Lynelle and the Arbor could digest—were completely annihilated by that arrow.
In a single strike, only a small portion of power remained around Lynelle's body—just enough to maintain her balance and be fully absorbed by her.
In other words, an amount within the so-called safe threshold.
After shooting that arrow, Lan seemed to have cast off some restraint.
Their gaze swept fiercely over Yaoshi and Nanook, and then two luminous arrows instantly materialized on the bowstring as They drew the bow to a full crescent.
With a gentle release of the string, endless arrows of light poured down like torrential rain, showering toward Yaoshi and Nanook.
A faint smile touched Yaoshi's lips.
To Them, an attack like this was less of a threat than Wendy's high-frequency vibrating whirlwinds were to Lynelle. After casting one last glance toward Lynelle, Their form flickered and vanished into the starry cosmos.
On the other side, Nanook had no good options against a "territorial" Lan either.
They also shot a final look at Lynelle, as if to say, 'You can't escape,' before disappearing as well.
For a moment, aside from Lan, who had just descended upon the Scalegorge Waterscape, the entire area seemed to fall into absolute silence.
Then, in the blink of an eye, outside the Waterscape, erupted wave after wave of cheers loud enough to shake the entire cavern.
After all, these Cloud Knights knew nothing of the schemes and struggles among the Aeons, much less what had happened to Lynelle inside the Scalegorge.
From their perspective, all they saw was the Plague Author and the Ruin Author successively turning their gazes upon the Xianzhou, intent on its destruction—only to be driven back by a single arrow from the Reignbow Arbiter.
It was like a live-action performance of 'Grandpa Lan Shooting Down the Ruin Authors With Light Arrows.'
Before long, someone started it, and soon the entire Scalegorge Waterscape rang with the unified chorus of the 'Song of the Reignbow Arbiter's Traces.'
"Phew… does this mean our crisis is over?"
Inside the Arbor, Lynelle finally let out a sigh of relief.
[You're celebrating a bit too soon, I suspect.]
But Kiana-chan promptly threw cold water on her optimism.
[It's true that Yaoshi and Nanook have left, but Lan's arrow didn't purge all the Destruction energy inside you. In fact, They left quite a bit behind.]
[Even after fully absorbing it, you probably won't reach Emanator level… but honestly, given how attractive you seem to those two, it's only a matter of time before they find another chance to 'enlighten' you again.]
[Of course, that's a problem for later. The main issue right now is… check your physical condition. Haven't you noticed? Your body is barely holding on, sustained only by Yaoshi's blessing.]
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.