Arahato could never have escaped… Joyce knew that from the very beginning.
If the Demon King hadn't been toying with them, if it had attacked as casually as it had at first, Arahato couldn't have gotten away even if it sprouted a hundred legs.
To successfully escape under the Demon King's nose, they had to divert its attention elsewhere, giving Mei time to flee with them.
Joyce decided to use White Cell, hoping it would be an interesting enough "toy" to hold the Demon King's gaze for a while.
The Demon King was indeed distracted, but what could they accomplish in those few short seconds? Mei hadn't even made it out of the royal city ruins!
The Demon King generously waited another two seconds. Confirming there was nothing new, it shook its head in disappointment and raised a hand towards Mei and the others' retreating figures.
Joyce's current body was on the verge of being scrapped.
Creating White Cell had drained every last bit of her stored energy. Many of the key components had been stripped from her own body, and the immense processing power required to operate it had caused even the cloud-based Joyce to crash.
Sirin curled up tightly in Mei's arms, not daring to listen or look.
Tears of fear and sorrow streamed down her face, scattering in the air as Mei flew.
This wasn't how the beautiful dream was supposed to be… not like this…
The Demon King had come. It had effortlessly destroyed the dream Sirin had so painstakingly created. A beautiful painting takes meticulous effort to create, but destroying it takes only a careless wipe.
Creation and destruction were so unequal. Sirin clasped her hands, it was impossible to know what she was praying for, or who she was praying to.
A small black orb of light condensed in the Demon King's palm. It was no bigger than a grain of rice, but everyone who had witnessed its last attack knew it was an orb that could easily destroy the remaining half of the world.
Just as the orb was about to be launched, a muffled sound came from behind the Demon King.
The Demon King froze. The light in its hand vanished. A somewhat excited smile appeared on its face as it turned to look at the figure that should have been erased by the black light.
"You—!" Kiana's face was covered in a dense network of bloody cracks, her eyes now a mix of red and blue.
Her snow-white hair was tinged with crimson, dancing behind her with the steaming, bloody vapor rising from her body.
On her chest, the core of evolution pulsed in sync with her heartbeat, flashing rapidly with red light.
[KEY OF GENESIS ACTIVATION POWER—99.99%]
The Key of Genesis's power was pushed to its absolute limit. Kiana gasped for breath, glancing discreetly at a corner of the pale, empty land.
There, Bronya held the white-glowing Key of Remembrance, Schrodinger and the others all safe beside her.
The moment the attack came, the Key of Genesis had activated on its own, its power instantly surging above 90%. The burst of red light resonated with the distant Key of Remembrance, a resonance between Herrscher Cores. The two complemented each other, and within the area covered by their light, the Demon King's black light was nullified!
It was a clash of authorities. Within the same space, only one authority could exist!
The Key of Remembrance had concealed the "memory" of their survival. Kiana had found the Key of Remembrance immediately, and Shu hadn't lost his mind; he had been buying time for Kiana to evacuate everyone.
But the bloodshot eyes were no act. For a split second, Shu had truly believed that Kiana, once again, had… right in front of him…
Thankfully… so, at the moment of the attack, Shu could still spare some [Hope] to protect his own life. But the Demon King's attack was simply too powerful, and he had no true Divine key to shield him from the authority's assault.
The Demon King turned to look at Kiana, her body surging with blood-red energy, and a smile of excitement spread across its face.
It sensed it… a familiar aura! An aura identical to its own!!
"Are… you… Master's… toy… too?" the Demon King's round head trembled, and it actually spoke to Kiana.
Kiana froze for a moment, then clenched her fists. "I'm not anyone's toy… My name is Kiana! A warrior of the Fire Moths!"
The Demon King tilted its head in confusion, continuing in its clumsy speech. "What… is… Fire Moth? What… is… Kiana?"
"You don't need to know who I am!" Kiana snapped, the blood-red light around her beginning to intensify.
"Not Master's toy…" the Demon King muttered, then suddenly turned to look at Mei, who was fleeing with Sirin.
But they were gone. Mei, Sirin, and Joyce had already entered Bronya's range, covered by the Key of Remembrance.
The Demon King suddenly panicked. The figure that had been so full of confidence was thrown into a frenzy the moment it lost track of Sirin.
It wanted to search carefully, but the wild aura radiating from Kiana interfered with its senses, preventing it from finding Sirin.
"It was you!!" The Demon King whipped its head back around, its crimson eyes locked on Kiana. It shrieked, "You separated me and Master!!!"
Black light erupted from the Demon King's body, spreading in all directions, consuming every corner of the world. Everything that remained vanished into the darkness.
Except for a small patch of red and white, the entire world became a chaotic void.
Kiana gritted her teeth, struggling like a lone duckweed in a violent storm. The blood-red light around her flickered precariously, as if about to be extinguished.
But Kiana knew she couldn't leave… She had to wait for news…
Until Bronya and the others found Shu… Until then, this place belonged only to her…
---||---
At the edge of the world, in the kaleidoscopic blackness, Shu floated quietly in the thick darkness.
The suffocating pressure from all sides nearly choked him, yet he clung to a thread of life.
This was the first time he had been truly prepared to return, yet this was the one time he had held on for so long.
He didn't know why he still had [Hope] sustaining him… At the moment of the Demon King's attack, his [Hope] should have been completely depleted.
Who is [Wishing] for me? Who has been by my side all this time?
Shu didn't know… Darkness surrounded him, like a pitch-black night sky, with the occasional shooting star streaking by.
…Shooting star?
Shu opened his eyes, and a familiar old man's voice reached his ears.
"John! You're leaving Future City?!"