At the instant He Ao’s body lunged forward, the yellow and purple radiance in the heavens also moved.

The two rays of light, like thunderbolts, blazed down from the sky, in an instant piercing through the city reflection inverted upon the Firmament, descending toward the ground.

And by this time, He Ao’s body had already reached that ancient door.

The speed of those two rays of light lagged slightly behind, as if they could no longer stop He Ao from arriving before that ancient door.

It was also at this moment that the orange radiance, which had been coiling in the sky, suddenly plunged down, arriving precisely in front of He Ao and twining around his body.

He Ao’s movement abruptly halted at this instant, but at the same time the yellow and purple lights instantly accelerated, crashing into the orange radiance.

The orange radiance that had been winding around him was blasted apart in an instant, and the three rays of light tangled together.

Also at this moment, the purple radiance seemed to realize something; it withdrew outward, forming a blurred, graceful human silhouette that gazed ahead.

Right now, before that ancient stone gate, a phantom figure was standing.

That figure held an Illusion Badge in hand, standing before the ancient door, gently stripping away the final flames upon the door.

The figure’s features could not be seen clearly; it seemed to be some sort of descending projection, yet one could faintly discern that he was a weathered Elderly.

The Illusion Badge in his hand shimmered with a faint purple glow, clutched tightly in his grip.

The flames upon that ancient door seemed to tremble slightly with his actions, then completely dissipated.

The Gate of the Underworld, in this instant, fully descended upon this world.

An ancient and terrifying aura burst forth from within the door.

The purple mist all around suddenly became restless.

Some ancient and vast gaze passed through the gate, casting itself outward.

The earth quaked at this moment, the sky twisted; even the spacetime that formed the substratum of the world violently contorted now.

The air around them turned icy in an instant, and along with it, human souls stepped into a chill silence; that formless breath began to surge from the position of the ancient door, spreading between Firmament and earth, making it impossible to breathe.

Desolate hues surfaced upon the ground, as though some twisted force was rising from beneath the earth.

The yellow and orange radiance coiled in the sky also paused at this moment, looking toward that fully formed door, releasing the ’He Ao’ wrapped around the vortex’s center.

And before this fully formed door, that phantom projection seemed to notice the purple silhouette’s gaze; he turned his head, curved his lips into a faint smile at the purple silhouette, then took a step forward into the ancient door.

The purple silhouette immediately charged out, rushing toward the ancient door.

However, one figure was faster than them—a streak of orange radiance that had been lurking nearby; that light was bright and blazing, and in almost an instant, it reached the ancient door, even stepping half a length further than the phantom figure and darting into the gate.

Boom—

A violent roar abruptly sounded from behind the door; that ’world’ which had crossed spacetime to descend upon this land, at this moment, was like a cut-off water pipe, suddenly ceasing.

The ancient door now began to shudder violently.

And as the orange radiance rushed into the door, watching the whole door tremble fiercely, the phantom figure then stepped forward, and with one step, entered the gate.

At the same moment, that graceful purple silhouette arrived before the door; it stretched out a hand, attempting to touch the gate.

Crack—

With a crisp sound, fine cracks spread across the door, then branched out in all directions.

Almost at the instant the graceful purple silhouette’s fingertip touched the door, this ancient portal that had just been constructed collapsed with a crash; the entire physical gate shattered upon the surface of this world, leaving behind only a faint, illusory outline, like a shape sketched in the lightest of pencil strokes.

And behind that blurred door, one could vaguely see trembling spacetime, twisted and colliding radiance, and beneath that radiance, the phantom figure, already extremely indistinct.

The figure raised the top hat upon his head and gave a slight bow to the graceful purple silhouette, like the lead on a stage offering a final thanks to the audience below.

Bang—

With an extremely soft sound, the last afterimage of the door also shattered; the graceful purple silhouette, without the slightest hesitation, immediately turned around to look behind.

At this moment, the ’Suote’ that had been hovering in midair was smiling at It; Suote’s ’body’ had already seized the opening created by the recent changes to rush into the sky and once more merge into the Inverted City.

The yellow radiance moved a step faster than the purple silhouette, charging toward ’Suote’.

The graceful purple silhouette also darted forward without hesitation, chasing that light and re-entering the Inverted City.

The people standing upon the earth stared blankly at this scene; all these sudden, violent changes were, to them, nothing more than something that happened in a blink.

By the time they came back to their senses, the ancient door had already crumbled, and the dense purple mist was gradually dispersing.

The ’world’ that had seemed about to descend upon this city also now lay at rest, making no further sound.

Even the curtain of rain in the sky had, without anyone noticing when, come to a complete stop, revealing a hint of clear Moonlight.

Bang—

The final layer of invisible barrier above everyone’s heads also seemed to lose its support and shattered with a roar.

It was a barrier almost impossible to see; it seemed to have no definite physical form, merely existing there.

"So, it’s all over?" Sett looked on blankly, eyes slightly widening.

"It should be over." Christos fixed his gaze on the lingering mist in the sky, stretching out a hand to try and catch the fragments of that last shattered barrier.

"Was that Suote just now?" Bald Smith, a little dazed, walked over, watching the Inverted City in the Firmament recede and vanish at a speed visible to the meat eyes.

"It should be." Christos opened his palm, watching the phantom fragments in his hand rapidly dissipate, thoughtful.

"This should be some kind of cognitive barrier structure," a slightly cool voice sounded in the faint night; smooth golden hair emerged from the darkness.

Christos turned his head, looking toward that peerlessly beautiful face emerging from the night.

Selena lowered her head for a glance at the phantom fragments that had already scattered from Christos’s hand. "The function of this barrier should be to block the pollution naturally emanating from a Higher Being and protect the ordinary people below."

"You know this much Mysticism?" Christos asked with mild curiosity.

"There are some books at home." Selena said quietly.

"Her surname is Julia," Smith added softly from the side.

Christos nodded thoughtfully; by now the fragments in his hand had vanished. He lifted his head and glanced at the sky once more—there, only clear Moonlight remained. "Being able to think of isolating pollution and protecting the ordinary people below should indeed be Suote."

"You had a promotion to B-level?" At this moment Viktor suddenly stepped out from behind Christos, looking at him. "Your movement at the instant you were attacked wasn’t something a C-level could pull off."

"Mm. Talent Sequences 161: Politician. I’d already been preparing for a promotion even before that time with Suote," Christos answered without evasion. "After Dick’s rebellion, the Legion Commander helped me gather the core materials I lacked. The identity of Dawn City Mayor itself also met the requirements of this Talent Sequences, though it was only not long ago that I successfully completed the promotion."

Speaking of this, he let out a soft sigh. "If I hadn’t been promoted, I’m afraid I’d have died here today."

"Our enemies are more ruthless than we imagined, using any means necessary." Sett also sighed softly at the side.

"That works too. Our friend turned out to be more reliable than we expected. If we get through this, it’ll be a turning point." Christos smiled, then turned his head to look at the city outside, gleaming with scattered lights. "Tonight’s incident is enough to shatter some people’s unrealistic fantasies."

He gazed toward the edge of the city. "The road ahead is hard, but we still have to walk it."

The people around him also turned their heads, their eyes looking into the distance.

Under the moonlight, flickering radiance still shimmered—those were shattered Arrays, and Death God Cultists were still active within this city.

Boom—

A violent roar trembled through the sky. Thunder-like artillery fire continued to sound beyond the high walls, shaking the night.

——

Dawn City · Aston District

Around the dilapidated streets, police officers with guns in hand were engaged in fierce crossfire between the alleys.

Opposite them were one staggering figure after another. Their skin was deathly pale, fearless of firearms, tottering as they charged at the officers ahead.

Thick fog covered their bodies, supporting them as they advanced. Bullets struck them one after another, as if hitting stone slabs, having no effect at all.

"This is the Dawn City City Police Bureau. You are already surrounded. Surrender immediately."

The loudspeaker atop the police car was broadcasting, but that swaying crowd acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing, still slowly pressing forward.

And just then, the fog that filled the sky suddenly twitched, then, as if it had lost its support and source, rapidly dispersed.

The ’shadows of people’ swaying within the fog seemed to lose control as well, their steps slowly halting, and as the mist dissipated, they collapsed one after another.

Among these ’shadows’, a figure in a simple jacket, with darkish skin, at the instant he was about to fall, blankly lifted his head to look at the bustling city around him.

He parted his lips slightly. A hoarse, indistinct sound slowly came from his mouth. "Dawn... Dawn..."

Bang—

His body arched backward and fell to the ground, life extinguished.

——

Illusory City

Yellow and violet radiances once again arrived within the Inverted City. Bathed in the diffused glow, They looked toward the direction of ’Suote’.

But there was no longer any trace of Suote there, only a vague humanoid outline shimmering with a faint yellow light.

The two streaks of radiance turned around at the same time and looked at each other.

Fierce roars and collisions exploded through the city.

——

Boom—

The booming echoes resounded through a vast, white blank space. Surging orange radiance covered the firmament, as some kind of terrifying pressure began to emerge above the sky.

The Phantom Shadow clutching the Illusion Badge in its hand raised its head, looking at the endless whiteness around.

This was the ’Netherworld’, or rather, the ’Interstitial Space’ between the Netherworld and reality.

After the Gate of the Underworld is opened, a portion of the Netherworld descends into reality. According to Mysticism common sense, the Grim Reaper is unlikely to forcibly shove the Netherworld’s true body through such a single gate.

At the Gate of the Underworld’s Position, it can’t withstand a world of that magnitude.

So He Ao estimated that the Netherworld must have a kind of Interstitial Space, a transitional zone between reality and the Netherworld, meant specifically to ’hunt’ through the Gate of the Underworld.

When the Gate of the Underworld opens, the Grim Reaper will project this Interstitial Space, or a part of it, into reality. Once the ’hunt’ is complete, the Grim Reaper reclaims that Interstitial Space.

Following this hypothesis, when the Gate of the Underworld opens, that Interstitial Space is, with high probability, right behind the Gate.

And this was the ’precondition’ for the agreement He Ao reached with the Eternal Light.

From He Ao’s previous contact with the Eternal Light, it was clear that the Eternal Light also liked constructing Alternate Spaces, but It seemed to lack a true Otherworld like the Netherworld.

In that case, He Ao felt It would very likely be interested in the Netherworld.

So he deliberately left a ’channel’ for communicating with the Eternal Light, and before the Eternal Light rammed Its way over, he prioritized attempting to ’communicate’ with It.

The successful ’cooperation’ with the Life Goddess also made He Ao realize that a Divine Being also has its own needs and can directly ’trade’. They might not be as ’friendly’ as the Life Goddess, but they’re not completely beyond communication either.

And although it was only that instant of impact, the exchange of thought is extremely fast. In that moment, He Ao and the Eternal Light achieved ’communication’.

Compared to devouring ’Suote’, the Eternal Light was clearly more interested in the Netherworld.

From the Eternal Light’s own explanation, He Ao also learned that the Gate of the Underworld has a sort of ’filtering mechanism’, and only whoever controls the gate can screen what goes in and out.

This coincided with He Ao’s initial speculation: the Grim Reaper can’t possibly let just anything into the Netherworld.

He Ao and the Eternal Light reached an agreement: he would open the Gate of the Underworld, allowing the Eternal Light to traverse it in reverse; in exchange, the Eternal Light was not allowed to attack him.

There was obviously an element of gambling in this, but He Ao had no other choice.

In fact, at the end, when ’Suote’ was being entangled by the power of the Eternal Light, He Ao had no doubt that, if given the chance, the Eternal Light would simply devour him outright.

If he hadn’t preemptively used fragments of the geometric crystal to construct the Prayer Array and responded to himself, bringing Hawke’s ’projection’ to advent in front of the Gate of the Underworld, the Eternal Light would probably have found a way to eat him.

He lowered his head to glance at the Illusion Badge in his hand. This Illusion Badge was no different in appearance from the others he had seen before, but the power contained within it far exceeded the others.

Or rather, those badges He Ao obtained before were probably all ’sub-bodies’ extended from this Illusion Badge.

This badge was clearly some kind of Angel Tier power given form, or to put it another way, an Angel Tier Talent Sequence had been Sealed within this badge.

The external ’Seal’ came from the power of the Grim Reaper.

And precisely because of this, this badge was also the key to ’open’ the Gate of the Underworld.

’Suote’ was unable to control this badge.

Under normal circumstances, even if Dest was taken out, no one else would be able to control this badge, and the Gate of the Underworld would remain ’safe’.

But He Ao guessed there was one exception: Hawke.

So he brought Hawke’s projection over.

And this indeed proved true.

He Ao lifted his head and looked at the boundless white radiance around him.

He slowly stepped forward, walking into that glow.