The Destruction and the Confrontation
The continuous explosions coming from the villa scattered debris everywhere. In just a few seconds, the mansion, valued at ten million dollars, was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Bang!
Phantom-1 and Villian burst out of the ruins from the east and west, respectively. The former stopped in front of Luke and merged with him; the latter hovered in mid-air, watching them without expression.
Villian's appearance had changed significantly: she wore purple battle armor and a crescent moon headpiece, and her eyes had turned deep purple, like two clear amethysts.
Villian looked over Carol, and when she noticed the ring on Carol's finger, her expression immediately changed.
The Original Lantern Ring!
It was exactly as described. It truly was it!
An unexplained trace of greed flashed in her eyes. Villian shouted sharply,
"Your Majesty, you were lying! The ring on your finger is the Star Sapphire!"
Carol ignored her, looking instead at the wreckage below. The villa was the eighteenth birthday gift Luke had given her. They had spent many sweet and wonderful nights there. Carol often thought of it as home. Now, her home was gone, leaving only debris.
She took a deep breath. The hesitation vanished from her face, replaced by indifference. She raised her hand, and countless javelins materialized from nothing, shooting out like arrows.
A childish attack!
Villian sneered, clenching her fingers into a fist. A giant, three-meter-wide mirror appeared in front of her. The javelins struck the mirror and rebounded at an even greater speed.
None of the dozens of javelins hit their target, but Carol wasn't discouraged. Through Luke's persistent guidance these past few days, she had gained a considerable understanding of the ring's power and had even simulated combat scenarios against the mysterious woman.
As an elite Zamaron warrior, Villian surpassed her in experience, skill, intelligence, and creativity—that was the reality she couldn't deny. Carol's only advantage was quantity: the Original Lantern Ring's energy was infinite, and thus its power was also infinite.
A single force breaks all methods!
This was the truth Luke had taught her: Power is king. If the power is great enough, skill and experience are nothing more than paper tigers, useless in a real fight.
"If I can't beat you with skill, I'll smash you to death."
Carol growled fiercely. She raised her hand, and a rock over twenty meters long and wide appeared above Villian's head. Villian raised her hand disdainfully, and a purple lever materialized to shove the rock aside. Just then, with a tremendous crash, a small mountain materialized and slammed into the back of the rock. The combined force was too much, and the lever immediately snapped.
Villian frowned slightly. A uniquely designed energy gun appeared in her hands.
A white light shone from the barrel, and an arm-thick beam of light shot out, blasting the two colossal rocks into fragments.
"Stop these childish attacks. As a Lantern Ring user, you are too weak."
Villian clenched her fist and thrust it forward.
The air behind Carol suddenly twisted. Purple energy overflowed, then rapidly collapsed inward, forming a constantly rotating purple vortex. Invisible gravity spread out, pulling everything nearby—air, dust, and dirt—into it.
"A manufactured black hole!"
Luke's eyes nearly bulged out in shock. Blue flames jetted from his hands and feet as he flew away with all his might. Carol also reacted, binding herself to a distant tree with two chains and sprouting aircraft thrusters from her back. Even so, the tearing force was too great, and the black hole slowly dragged them backward.
"Your Majesty, this is the true power of the Lantern Ring, not hitting people with rocks and javelins. Even primitive people can do that."
Villian mocked, spreading her hands to conjure a Zamaron-specific energy short-cannon. She aimed the muzzle at Carol, who was struggling in mid-air. Just as she was about to pull the trigger and end the fight, a shadow fell over her heart.
Destruction, oppression, and death—a bone-chilling fear came from above, as if something terrible was about to descend.
Villian frowned, looking up. A purple barrier appeared on the edge of her vision. The oppressive feeling emanated from behind it.
She raised her gun and shattered the barrier. As the purple faded, firelight gradually emerged.
A fireball? No, it was a meteorite!
A purple meteorite, carrying a destructive aura, was plummeting from the sky, aimed directly at her location.
Villian froze, her face illuminated by the firelight and filled with astonishment. Luke was equally speechless. Even with all his vast knowledge, all he could think of at that moment was a single word of awe.
When did Carol set up something like this in the sky? She didn't let a sound slip.
Even more astonishing was the meteorite's size. Based on the distance and perspective, its lateral length was at least over a hundred meters. If this thing struck...
Gulp!
Luke swallowed. He immediately switched his armor to a multi-shot mode, firing sixteen energy blasts to blow up the artificial black hole. Then, he grabbed Carol and fled without looking back.
Thinking of the consequences of the meteorite impact, he couldn't help but smack her on her round backside.
"Are you insane?! This is Coast City!"
"It's the suburbs, not the city proper. I can control it, it's fine."
The girl's cheeks were flushed, and she was clearly exhilarated. While adjusting the meteorite's trajectory, she manifested countless walls and chains around Villian, completely restricting her movement.
Chains crisscrossed, and walls blocked every direction. Blast through one wall, and a new one immediately popped up. This was the terrifying nature of the Original Lantern Ring: its energy was infinite. As long as the user's mental power was sufficient, the things they could materialize were also infinite.
After smashing through dozens of walls yet still failing to break free, Villian immediately gave up. She looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with resolve.
"Your Majesty, you truly surprise me."
Villian murmured. Energy surged from her body, creating countless intricate parts around her. These parts quickly assembled according to a specific design, forming a giant cannon over twice the height of a person in just a few seconds.
Villian sat on the cannon mount, aimed at the meteorite, and fired!
Boom!
The sky shook. The atmosphere was stripped away, creating a momentary vacuum. A massive, dazzling beam of light, bright enough to illuminate the world, shot out. The light was so intense that it could be clearly seen even from miles away.
The beam, carrying incalculable power, struck the surface of the meteorite.
Two seconds later, a deafening roar—loud enough to rupture eardrums—came from above. The fireball disappeared, shattered into countless fragments, and a literal meteor shower rained down from the sky.
Luke's face changed dramatically. He shouted,
"Watch out for the city!"
Carol immediately snapped to attention, quickly manipulating the ring to dissolve the meteorite pieces headed toward Coast City, and adjusting the trajectory of the remaining fragments, gathering them toward Villian's location.
A storm of fire rained down from the heavens!
This was the sight Luke witnessed: beautiful and deadly. Reflected in the fire-rain, the ground turned a deep crimson, like a fiercely burning blaze.
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