"What's wrong with him?"
Paimon asked nervously, looking toward Scaramouche, but no one could give her an answer.
Lumine flashed and appeared beside everyone, not emitting a single ripple of movement, startling them all.
Especially Sangonomiya Kokomi, who sensed that Lumine was no longer emitting any aura, as if she had merged with heaven and earth.
Sangonomiya Kokomi couldn't believe Lumine had grown stronger again; her talent was astonishing.
When she first met Lumine, Lumine's strength was not much greater than hers, yet she had already left her far behind, unable to even see her back.
Of course, the stronger Lumine became, the more reassured Sangonomiya Kokomi felt. She spoke to Lumine.
"Traveler, I will heal you!"
Sangonomiya Kokomi summoned a transparent jellyfish, and the rippling Hydro Elemental Power attached to Lumine, beginning to heal her injuries.
At this moment, a five-pointed star magic array appeared beside everyone. Then, Daphne's figure gradually emerged from the magic array, her face slightly pale, clearly indicating her injuries were severe.
Persephone's Power of Destruction was raging wildly within her body, causing her considerable distress. After Lumine sensed this, she immediately stepped forward and placed her hand on Daphne's shoulder, then used the Power of Nihility to assimilate the Power of Destruction inside her. Only after doing this did Daphne's complexion improve slightly, and under the jellyfish's healing, her face gradually regained its color.
Lumine looked at the rapidly expanding black hole with a serious expression, feeling its ever-growing gravitational pull. She immediately gestured for Daphne to take everyone to a safer place further away.
Meanwhile, Lumine brandished her Dull Blade and charged recklessly toward Scaramouche.
"What? How can we retreat at a time like this?!"
Arataki Itto immediately objected, but Kuki Shinobu, who was beside him, tapped him on the head.
"Idiot Boss, what good would it do if we charged up there?"
"The best we can do right now is to minimize the Traveler's worries as much as possible!"
"Who says we can't do anything? I still have Ushi!"
"Ushi, where's Ushi?!"
"Ushi, where are you? We need your strong body at a time like this!"
At this moment, Ushi, hiding behind Thoma, heard Arataki Itto's call and couldn't help but hide himself more tightly, causing everyone who saw this scene to twitch their lips.
"Alright, let's all leave this place first for now."
"Just leave the rest to me and the Traveler."
Daphne didn't want to waste too much time either. As she waved the staff in her hand, the Magic Array beneath everyone's feet began to flash with a bright light, and then everyone was brought by it to fall rapidly toward the ground.
However, before they had fallen much farther, the core of the Magic Array was shattered by Persephone's spatially distant punch, and everyone fell toward the ground like kites with broken strings, while the terrifying fist pressure at the same time made everyone bear a huge pressure and suffer serious injuries one after another.
If not for the large number of buffs on everyone's bodies at this time, I'm afraid only this one blow would leave few people alive.
"I didn't allow you to leave safely."
Persephone chuckled softly, and then once again fixed her gaze on Lumine.
At this moment, Lumine had no spare energy to pay attention to the situation below. Scaramouche's madness filled her with immense dread; he was acting with complete desperation, abandoning everything he was.
Finally, by harnessing the Power of Nihility, a higher-level power, he pushed his will and soul to gradually transcend into a higher realm. The pressure he now exerted on Lumine was already comparable to Persephone's.
Was it worth it?
To abandon everything just to exchange it for this brief, brilliant moment.
Lumine could not understand Scaramouche's thoughts. She had already learned about his past when she was in Sumeru, and she knew the hatred and resentment within his heart.
But she wasn't Dottore or Dr. Edward, so why did he suddenly explode?
However, now was not the time for this. Lumine knew that if she allowed him to continue his ascension, few people present would likely survive. After taking a deep breath, she brandished the Dull Blade and charged directly into the black hole from which even light could not escape.
The moment Lumine entered, she felt a terrifying will constantly eroding her mind. At the same time, her body endured immense pressure, but as she also activated the Power of Nihility within herself, the pressure immediately lessened considerably.
Scaramouche naturally detected Lumine's intrusion, which caused his already chaotic consciousness to briefly clear.
"Traveler, you deserve to die!"
By now, Scaramouche's hatred was no longer directed solely at Raiden Ei, Dottore, or Dr. Edward, but at everyone in this world, including himself.
In his heart, everything in this world was wrong, and everything should be purged.
And Lumine, who had taken the power and status he should have enjoyed, was all the more a target for purging!
Moreover, Lumine was the key to his last chance of survival. He had witnessed the power Persephone wielded with his own eyes. Even if everything he had was annihilated, as long as he paid a sufficient price, he could be resurrected once again.
Scaramouche commanded his terrifying will to suppress Lumine, as a massive amount of the Power of Nihility flooded into her body.
Lumine immediately felt a pressure as if she were sinking into a deep mire; her body seemed to have lost all control, and sharp pains pulsed through her mind.
At this moment, Scaramouche's spirit and power had already reached a level beyond the gods.
Though only for a brief instant, at this very moment, he had truly attained a state that transcended the mortal realm.
Such immense power and indomitable will made him feel as if he had become the ruler of this world.
Scaramouche sought to assimilate Lumine into a part of himself. However, Lumine's control over the Power of Nihility had already improved significantly. Although Scaramouche exerted tremendous pressure on her, completely assimilating her would not be so easy.
Furthermore, Lumine herself was immune to the negative effects of the Power of Nihility. This was something Scaramouche had not anticipated; he never had a chance from the very beginning.
"What a pity."
Persephone shook her head, seemingly already seeing the final outcome.
As expected, as time passed, Scaramouche's consciousness blurred once again.
The Power of Nihility was not a force that could be easily mastered. If Persephone had not helped him, he would have completely succumbed the moment he discarded everything he was.
"As expected, trash is still trash. No. 4's assessment of you was spot on."
Persephone's indifferent tone pierced through all barriers and reached Scaramouche's ears, causing his consciousness to momentarily clear before completely collapsing.
He wasn't, he wasn't trash!
In his final moments, Scaramouche finally realized what he had to do. He completely abandoned the unrealistic fantasies in his heart and issued a final command to the Power of Nihility.
Lumine, who had been searching for Scaramouche, suddenly felt a hair-raising tremor. She tried to pull away without hesitation, but before she could even escape the Domain of Nihility, she was struck by a violent and frenzied force, leaving her mind completely blank.
At this moment, Daphne finally managed to expand the Magic Array once more, using her Mana to pull everyone to her side.
"Is everyone okay?"
Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head, her consciousness clearing slightly, and hurriedly looked at the others with concern.
Feeling everyone's low energy and seeing their grim expressions, Sangonomiya Kokomi quickly summoned jellyfish to heal them. However, under the influence of the Power of Destruction, the healing effect was not particularly pronounced. Fortunately, everyone had recovered enough to stand up.
The one least affected was likely Paimon. At the last moment, Enjou had suddenly blocked her path, bearing most of the impact himself.
But because Enjou was an Abyss Monster, his resistance to the Power of Destruction was higher than the others, so his situation was actually better.
"Enjou, thank you for just now!"
Paimon shook her head, flew up again, and then spoke to Enjou gratefully.
"Hmph, don't overthink it. I just didn't want Her Highness the Princess to be sad!"
Enjou turned his head away tsundere-style. In truth, he didn't know why he had done it. The situation had been so critical just now, yet he hadn't hesitated for a moment.
Enjou had always thought he would only care about Lumine and Aether, only care about the Abyss's plans.
Perhaps it was because of the time they had spent together, but he had truly come to consider Paimon a friend.
Just then, Daphne suddenly spoke to the group.
"Everyone, be careful! The big one is coming!"
After saying this, Daphne immediately began to chant, casting several more defensive spells on the group.
Upon hearing Daphne's words, a question mark slowly formed over everyone's heads. Before they could ask further, they watched in horror as the distant black hole expanded rapidly, nearly ten times faster than before. The aura it emitted grew more terrifying and violent, like an active volcano about to erupt.
Wait, is it really going to explode?!
An ominous premonition suddenly gripped everyone's hearts. After all, the situation with this black hole was simply too abnormal.
This black hole contained countless strands of the Power of Nihility, which surpassed Elemental Power. If it were to explode directly, the entire Seirai Island would likely be reduced to nothingness!
It was only because they were currently thousands of meters in the air. Otherwise, the damage to the world would be simply incalculable!
And what worried everyone the most was that Lumine was right inside it!
"Traveler!"
Paimon couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Just as Paimon's voice fell, the black hole erupted with a deafening boom. However, its volume did not expand as expected; instead, it shrank further, and a terrifying force swept toward them.
Even before it made direct contact, the group found it impossible to breathe due to the horrifying aura.
Daphne raised her staff, tearing open the space itself. A starry river appeared above them, dazzling and brilliant.
Yet, when the starry river collided head-on with the shockwave from the explosion, the stars within it extinguished one by one at an incredible speed. Before long, all the light was swallowed by the darkness, and a bone-chilling aura emanated from the endless void.
Despair filled the group's eyes. Even with Daphne fighting at full power, she couldn't hold it back for long. The terrifying impact, carrying an aura capable of destroying everything, crushed down upon them.
Of course, they had not completely given up. They were still desperately retreating and fighting back, but the aura of death drew ever closer.
Just then, the overwhelming pressure they felt suddenly eased. To everyone's astonishment, Lumine stood before the massive black hole, a several-meter-wide, grayish-white Domain of Nihility manifesting around her, resisting and assimilating it.
Lumine's golden hair had turned a grayish-white without anyone noticing, and even the colors of her clothes had grown markedly dimmer. Yet, her presence was so intense that nearly everyone's gaze was drawn to her, as an aura of loneliness and sorrow emanated from her body.
In contrast to Scaramouche's utter madness, Lumine remained absolutely calm and rational.
The Power of Nihility controlled by Scaramouche was like a churning sea, while the Power of Nihility on Lumine's body was like a towering, immovable reef in the sea.
Though the two forces seemed vastly different in scale, the power crashing against the Domain of Nihility around Lumine was simply split in two, which was why the group felt a sudden drop in pressure.
After stabilizing the Domain of Nihility, Lumine breathed a slight sigh of relief inwardly, then turned a sliver of her attention to the others, gesturing for them to get away as quickly as possible.
For this was only the beginning!
Sure enough, shortly after, the black hole shrank to its absolute limit and entered a brief state of stasis.
The next second, a power far more terrifying than before erupted from within.
Sensing this dreadful aura, Kitsune Saiguu and Yae Miko, who had already fled to a distance, saw their expressions change. Almost instantly, they judged that there was no chance for them to escape unscathed in this catastrophe.
Right at this moment, Persephone stood up again, then directly appeared before the two of them. Grabbing them by their necks, one in each hand, she flew away into the distance.
Daphne went even further, squeezing out every last drop of her strength, desperately retreating during the final sliver of opportunity Lumine had won for them.
This time, even Lumine could no longer hold on. Although her mastery of the Power of Nihility surpassed Scaramouche's, the sheer quantity he controlled far exceeded her own.
Perhaps she would not be directly crushed by this Power of Nihility, but Lumine would not be so foolish as to risk her life on a gamble.
A moment later, Lumine withdrew the Power of Nihility around her, then flashed in front of everyone. Finally, she mustered all her strength and swung her sword toward the sky.
After completing this action, the group was struck head-on by the shockwave from the terrifying explosion. The Magic Array protecting them instantly shattered into countless specks of light, which then directly slammed into everyone's bodies.
In an instant, everyone streaked through the sky at speeds several times faster than before, carving rainbow-colored trails as they finally fell toward the ground...