At that moment, Aeris placed her palm directly against Lucan’s chest, pouring her energy into him.

  “Fourth Form: Bloom of the Black Star!”

  “What?!!!” Lucan’s eyes widened in shock.

  “Arrgh!!”

  Aeris’s palm strike sent Lucan flying backward, his body hurtling several meters through the void before he stabilized himself roughly on one knee. He clutched his chest instinctively—but found no wound. No mark. Not even a scratch.

  Confusion twisted across his face.

  He glared at Aeris, his voice tearing through the silence of space.

  "Where were you?! How did you avoid my slashes?!!! Answer me!!!"

  His attack had been destined to land. Causality made it unavoidable. Yet she had vanished—and somehow escaped it entirely.

  Where did she go?

  Did she hide in a pocket dimension?

  No.

  Even if she was in a pocket dimension, if she remained within this universe, she couldn’t have escaped causality.

  Unless... she wasn’t in the universe at all.

  Across from him, Aeris only smiled, watching his mind struggle for an answer he couldn’t reach.

  "You should worry about yourself first," she said calmly.

  "Huh?!"

  Lucan’s frown deepened.

  Her strike had hurt—but not enough to cripple him. His body still obeyed. His Qi still surged within.

  Then—

  A terrible, wrenching pain exploded deep inside him.

  Lucan gasped, clutching his chest as his knees buckled. A sharp, metallic taste flooded his mouth. Before he could react, blood erupted from his lips, scattering in the void.

  He staggered, struggling to breathe.

  It felt like his body was folding inward, collapsing into itself.

  Unseen to the eye, when Aeris had touched him, she had planted something—something so small it was almost imperceptible—inside him.

  Now, it had bloomed.

  A black hole no larger than a grain of sand had awakened within him.

  Its ravenous pull seized not just his flesh, but his Qi, his divine soul—dragging everything inward, crushing it into nothingness. Even if he wanted to abandon his body and escape with his soul, he couldn’t.

  The blood vessels beneath his skin darkened. Black cracks spread outward through his veins like spiderwebs, visible across his entire body.

  His heart pounded furiously, each beat a scream against the inevitable collapse inside him.

  Even the space around his body shimmered and warped, as if the black star blooming within him threatened to tear a hole through the universe itself.

  “UGHH!!”

  Lucan continued to vomit blood.

  He saw it happening. Saw himself dying—and there was nothing he could do.

  Reality crashed down on him like a nightmare he couldn’t escape.

  No... how was this possible?!

  He had the advantage.

  He was the son of the most talented being in the history of this universe.

  How could he lose to these elves?

  It wasn’t possible.

  It wasn’t allowed.

  Lucan clutched his chest again, blood spilling from his lips and staining the empty void.

  Aeris approached him, her steps steady, cold determination burning in her golden eyes.

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  She would end this completely. Even if he was already dying from her strike, she wouldn’t allow even the smallest chance for a reversal.

  "Now, Emperor Lucan," she said, her voice steady as iron, "this is the end. And it is the beginning of our comeback in this war. As long as I draw breath, no Neo Human shall know peace."

  She raised her hand to strike—

  But then she froze.

  A dangerous sensation prickled her instincts.

  "Step back from our Emperor!!!"

  A powerful voice roared behind her.

  Without hesitation, Aeris vanished, blinking away just as the space she had occupied was torn apart by a roaring fire dragon. The flames burned through the void itself, devouring the space like dry grass.

  She reappeared thousands of meters away, her eyes narrowing.

  Standing before Lucan now were two men, shielding his broken form.

  One was a giant of a man, towering like a living mountain. His body was massive, his muscles thick as steel cables under dark skin. Both arms were wrapped in rugged bracers, and in each hand he wielded a monstrous axe, the blades wide and menacing, their surfaces swirling with black patterns that seemed to drink in the surrounding light. His thick gray beard bristled like the mane of a wild beast, and his expression was grim and fierce.

  He planted his axes into the void beside him. Each impact shook the very space around him, sending cracks of darkness spiraling outward at his feet.

  The second man stood differently.

  He wore a flowing robe of dark red and black, embroidered with golden patterns that resembled licking flames. His hair was tied neatly atop his head with a jade clasp, and a sheathed sword hung at his side, its hilt crafted with meticulous care. His features were sharp and dignified, and he stood tall, exuding calm, unshakable authority.

  Aeris narrowed her eyes.

  These were no ordinary guards.

  Both were at the peak of the False God Realm.

  How many more monsters like them do the humans have? she thought grimly.

  She couldn’t afford to be careless.

  She had to escape.

  As much as she wanted to kill Lucan completely, she knew she couldn’t.

  Aeris stared at them one last time before turning her back on the scene, regret flickering briefly in her gaze.

  I should have killed him faster, she thought coldly.

  "Where do you think you're going, bitch?!" the giant roared.

  He raised his two axes—and immediately, an immense gravitational force spread through the void. Cracks began forming everywhere around them under the crushing pressure.

  Aeris narrowed her eyes.

  Then she smiled faintly.

  "Trying to stop me with gravity?" she mocked. "You’ll need at least a false Dao if you want me to stay here."

  Her smile deepened slightly.

  "Don’t worry. We’ll meet again—sooner than you think."

  And with that, Aeris disappeared into the void.

  The giant guard, fury burning in his eyes, lifted his axes to pursue, but the robed man held up a hand to stop him.

  "Magnor, let her go," he said firmly. "We have to save Emperor Lucan. She’s not the priority. If we fail him, when the Paragon King returns, we’ll be the ones to die."

  Hearing that name, the Paragon King, Magnor gritted his teeth—but lowered his weapons.

  He turned his gaze toward Lucan, whose unconscious body floated in the void, covered in black cracks. His chest was caving inward as if something was still devouring him from within.

  "Okay, Valen," Magnor growled, stepping back.

  But his glare lingered in the direction Aeris had fled.

  "When the Emperor is safe… we’ll hunt down every last one of those elves."

  Valen nodded grimly.

  Without wasting another second, Valen lifted Lucan’s broken body, and both he and Magnor disappeared into the void.

  At that moment, Aeris—who had disappeared—reappeared in the void.

  Around her, she saw the aftermath of her battle with Lucan. Uncountable planets had been destroyed. Stars and star systems lay in ruins. Several galaxies had been pushed to the brink of collapse.

  But at least… the battle hadn’t reached her galaxy. That, at least, she had prevented.

  Her thoughts turned to Lorion.

  She had sent him away—cast him out of their universe in a moment of desperation. It was supposed to be a path to survival, a chance for him to grow.

  But now, that decision haunted her.

  Even with her power, the short time she had spent outside the universe—in the Outer Abyss—had nearly crushed her. The pressure alone was unbearable. She had only lasted seconds.

  And Lorion… she had sent him through that space alone.

  Had she done the right thing? Or had she thrown him into something worse?

  Aeris shook her head. There was no time for doubt.

  She had to grow stronger—reach the True God Realm, and even beyond. Before he returned—the one who had already crossed into the Outer Abyss to explore. A monster among humans.

  Lorion… survive. Please survive that journey. And return stronger than him.

  With that final thought, Aeris vanished again—this time heading back to her galaxy.

  ---

  Meanwhile...

  Far beyond the reach of any universe, outside the sealed laws of space and time, a silent expanse stretched endlessly.

  The Outer Abyss.

  Time here did not move like it did inside a universe. It wasn’t faster. It wasn’t slower. It simply didn’t follow any rhythm that living beings could understand. A second could stretch, a minute could vanish. For most, it was death.

  Only those who had reached the True God Realm could walk this space and return unchanged.

  And yet—through that vast, merciless void—one shape moved.

  A thin streak of golden light drifted across the abyss. And if someone could see closely, they would notice the form of a boy sleeping within it.

  Lorion.

  Unconscious.

  Sent across the Abyss toward a young, untouched universe… with the hopes of an entire race on his back.

  What would await him on the other side?

  Only time would tell.