With Celenova's exit and Phantylia's surrender, the tide of battle had decisively turned.
Without the suppressive fire of Celenova's Legion, no other faction could hold back The Swarm's momentum.
For the battles to come, no one else was needed.
It had completely become a one-woman show, starring 'Jingliu'.
The swarm tore through the Abundance fanatics and devoured the remnants of the Legion.
Nothing remained, not even cosmic debris; it all became food for the swarm.
Only the blazing hellfire continued to burn away at the warriors' will.
"Phantylia! Still not showing yourself?"
'Jingliu' manipulated the ever-thickening Memoria, trying to pinpoint Phantylia's location on the battlefield.
Though Phantylia was skilled at hiding, controlling power on such a scale meant she couldn't conceal herself that perfectly.
Amidst the previous chaos of the battlefield, details were hard to discern.
But now that the enemies were mostly swept away, Phantylia's presence became clearer.
'Jingliu' didn't know if Phantylia's silence meant she was playing dead or if she had another plan.
But she sensed something was wrong!
Right there, within the Xianzhou's own ranks.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, 'Jingliu' appeared above the Pearlkeepers.
Her sword tip locked onto an officer just rescued from the front lines.
Without a word of warning, without giving the Xianzhou Generals any time to react, the moment her target was acquired, the frost-enshrouded blade fell.
With the force of a thunderbolt, it pierced the officer's chest.
The power of Destruction surged forth as a wave of cold, instantly snuffing out the officer's life.
And then—
Another torrent of raging flame violently erupted!
"Agh—?!!"
The power of Destruction, mingled with Remembrance, had genuinely wounded Phantylia's true form.
Amidst the shrieks, the Heliobi flames surged from the officer's body, coalescing into a massive, sun-like creature.
In that split second, the galloping Yueyu veered its sword, aimed at 'Jingliu', towards Phantylia.
It passed so close to 'Jingliu' it nearly grazed her.
Together with the Flying Aureus, they tore through Phantylia's flames.
Yueyu, arcing back through the air, looked across the distance at 'Jingliu', its eyes full of apology and horror at Phantylia's ability to infiltrate.
"My apologies. I never thought my blade would nearly strike a Xianzhou comrade. Afterwards, please allow me to formally apologize to you."
"You'll need to be much more careful from now on. Her name is Phantylia, her true form is a Heliobi."
General Xuanquan, who had just arrived mid-flight, heard 'Jingliu's' explanation, and her face darkened as if it could drip water.
If not for 'Jingliu's' strike just now, this Lord Ravager would have infiltrated her Xianzhou Fanghu!
Phantylia, seeing she had become the target of everyone, glared at 'Jingliu' with an intensity that could shred her to pieces.
She finally realized today's operation was a complete disaster.
Being forced out like this by 'Jingliu', she clearly had no chance to infiltrate the Xianzhou now.
Especially since the other had even revealed her true nature; the entire Xianzhou Alliance would surely implement a whole set of detection protocols for Heliobi from now on.
"Bai Ming! You can protect them for now, but you can't protect the Xianzhou forever! One day, the Xianzhou Alliance will become pawns of Destruction!"
Leaving behind this final threat, Phantylia turned and fled.
In response to Phantylia, there was only the murderous light of a sword.
The black Spiritus, raising its long blade high, brought down a heavy strike thick with Destruction and the aura of the Hunt upon Phantylia's form.
And from behind, 'Jingliu's' sword-light, capable of sundering stars, streaked across the cosmos towards her.
Phantylia sensed the overwhelming Imaginary Energy reaction.
Her expression twisted into sheer terror!
Never having directly confronted 'Jingliu', Phantylia's impressions all came from Celenova's accounts.
And Phantylia had subconsciously assumed that overpowering Celenova was purely due to a mechanical advantage, not a suppression in raw stats.
Combined with the fact that she had just managed to block 'Jingliu's' special ability using her own power, it had inflated Phantylia's confidence.
But only now did Phantylia realize, with chilling horror, that 'Jingliu's' raw power far exceeded her expectations.
"W-Wait—?!"
Only at this moment did Phantylia consider yielding.
She thought, if Celenova could survive 'Jingliu' in such a ridiculous way, maybe she could too.
But unfortunately, 'Jingliu' ignored Phantylia's plea.
She had just come to show off the Propagation Lightning Lord anyway.
But while the power of Propagation was on display, the Spiritus's combat ability hadn't been shown yet.
That's why she'd cooked up a Swarm King.
Originally, 'Jingliu' had planned to let the black Spiritus duke it out with Celenova.
Who knew that Celenova, that big brain, wouldn't bother to check how high her mental defenses were and just had to try giving her mind a big shock?
Result? She lost her body, and that powerful strike achieved nothing.
Besides filling her head with images of Celenova, did it serve any purpose at all?
Well, since it's come to this, time for you, Phantylia, to fight me!
The power of Destruction on the Spiritus's blade condensed into almost solid form, becoming illusory black flames that bloomed with a deadly, solemn light.
'Jingliu' raised her sword, and The Swarm let out a unified, piercing shriek.
Ice cleaved through the burning body, a chill potent enough to nearly freeze the world, even causing Phantylia's flames to shrink.
Then, the Spiritus's long blade tore through Phantylia's illusory body of fire.
The power of Destruction erupted recklessly, without restraint, like a dense net of blades, blasting Phantylia's form apart.
It scattered into countless fragments of various flames.
And Phantylia herself, at this moment, was utterly terrified.
She didn't bother trying to gather all the scattered fragments of her Heliobi form; she even deliberately left behind nearly half of them as a distraction, frantically fleeing from the very edge of the explosion.
"...Fled? Just ran??"
'Jingliu' stared at the abandoned Heliobi fragments.
For a moment, she was speechless.
Phantylia's retreat was way too decisive.
Given the nature of a Heliobi, that strike just now could hardly be called a serious injury to her.
And if she had directed those scattered fragments to wreak havoc among the Xianzhou forces and the Galaxy Rangers, dealing with that would have been a real headache.
She'd even been preparing to have The Swarm battle Phantylia for another three hundred rounds.
And then Phantylia just... ran?
Didn't even want nearly half her divided form?
Seriously, what about your dignity as a Lord Ravager?
Speechless, she gripped her sword, staring in the direction Phantylia had fled.
That woman had bolted straight from the edge of the explosion; she'd clearly planned to run from the very start.
Ah, forget it. Leave it for the Xianzhou to handle.
'Jingliu', who hadn't really intended to kill anyway, silently sheathed her sword and ordered the swarm to gather all the scattered Heliobi fragments.
The Galaxy Rangers, who had been on high alert, finally released their Harmony state only after shooting an arrow towards the direction of Phantylia's escape.
Xipe's projection faded away.
It signaled that this battle had finally, completely, come to an end.
Compared to 'Jingliu', who'd had her fill of fighting, the Xianzhou side could finally let out the breath they'd been holding.
Because of 'Jingliu's' support, they had weathered the crisis with minimal losses.
Without a doubt, this strange Miss 'Jingliu', who even wielded such a sensitive power, was the hero of the Xianzhou Alliance!
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL