"Quick... look over there...!"
"And... and those creatures that once appeared in the Leferut Family...!"
In the Imperial Palace, everyone saw You Lin descending from the sky and the eleven Legendary Demon Infants roaring at the heavens, all plunging into shock.
Including Rocque and Sarilo, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, their expressions changed at the sight.
Rocque recognized You Lin, his face filled with shock.
He had once visited the Royal Capital and seen You Lin, so he naturally recognized it now.
But precisely because he recognized it, Rocque couldn't help but be shocked by the oppressive aura emanating from You Lin.
The true power of You Lin was now fully revealed.
Sarilo's face looked rather unpleasant.
He wasn't very familiar with Demon Infants.
However, seeing the Limit Level Black Dragon and each of the Legendary creatures descending from the sky, he suddenly felt like he was nothing in this battle.
As one of only two Legendary figures in the Empire, Sarilo had thought he would be a powerful card for Moro to win.
Now it seemed he didn't even qualify to join the central battlefield.
"Where on Earth did these monsters come from?"
Sarilo was quite infuriated.
Tilly and Geno also noticed this scene, one with a shocked face and the other continuously retreating, trembling all over.
Only at this moment did those involved in the war realize the true scale and vortex of the battlefield they had entered.
But they did not know that what was to come was the real terror.
The death Qi-ridden Moro soared into the sky, overlooking the entire Imperial Palace with an extremely indifferent expression.
In her hand was a person.
"Imperial... Imperial Concubine...?"
William, looking at the extremely indifferent Moro, felt a faint fear for some reason.
Moro ignored William, simply looking downward and extending a hand, sending a cascade of death Qi down like a waterfall.
It wasn't an attack aimed at Shane but targeted the entire Imperial Palace, as if intending to erase it from the map with a storm of death Qi.
Shane's figure immediately appeared from the void, facing the descending avalanche of death Qi, which threatened to demolish the entire Imperial Palace, realizing he could no longer advance.
"Knowing I can't just watch the Imperial Palace be eradicated, so you directly target the entire palace to force me to react, unable to use Instant Movement to counterattack, right?"
Shane saw through Moro's intention, his tongue in a knot, yet he had no choice but to extend his hand.
"Grant·Annihilation."
Shane countered the incoming barrage of death Qi with his most powerful Grant Magic.
Instantly, the torrent of death Qi was obliterated by the annihilating magic power, continuously disappearing.
If someone were watching from afar, they would see the massive black avalanche from the heavens almost engulfing the entire Imperial Palace before melting away at an astonishing speed, as if it had touched an invisible sun.
But Moro, as if seeing none of this, continued to unleash a torrent of death Qi, seemingly intent on erasing the Imperial Palace with a terrifying force.
Thanks to this, Shane also raised his hand to continue countering.
Completely unaware, at that moment, Moro had begun talking to William.
"Your 'Self of Hand-eating and Sharing' still has one last split being not yet birthed, right?"
Moro spoke to William with a blank face.
William, not knowing why Moro asked this question, dared not leave it unanswered.
Moro continued to speak indifferently.
"I remember, to create a specific split being using that Unique Skill, you must através contact through the finger, consuming the hair and skin of the being you have killed by your own hands," Moro told William coldly, "So, you can't create a being you haven't personally killed, even if you have their hair and skin, right?"
"Yes... Yes, Imperial Concubine," William hurriedly bowed his head, respectfully saying, "That's why I couldn't create a split being of Thielle Elbein and came to the Imperial Concubine, hoping I could personally kill Thielle Elbein..."
However, William couldn't finish his words.
Because, Moro cut him off.
"Create Thielle Elbein's split being now."
Moro said this in an undeniable tone.
Moro, regardless of William's reaction, simply threw something at him.
A horn William was not unfamiliar with.
"This is Thielle Elbein's horn?"
William, looking at the horn in his hand, showed a startled expression.
"Use it," Moro said blandly. "It was chopped off from Thielle Elbein's body; it is part of her body - her hair, her organ, her limb. It should be enough for your Unique Skill's consumption target."
William's Unique Skill only required consuming the hair and skin of the target, not necessarily the entire corpse.
So even just a part could be considered sufficient.
"But... but I still have to personally kill the person myself."
William was somewhat at a loss.
For this, Moro had planned as follows.
"I can use my Death Magic to transform part of the Death Qi I control into Thielle Elbein's Death Qi and inject it into your body."
Moro finally turned her head and looked at William.
"As long as we do this, it should be possible to create the conditions 'as if you personally killed Thielle Elbein', fulfilling the requirements to create a split entity."
This was a magical concept of deception.
If successful, it could indeed create conceptual conditions, fooling William's Unique Skill and activating the ability of the "Self of Hand-eating and Sharing."
Perhaps, others would find it difficult to create such a conceptual deception; however, Moro's Death Magic, which could control death precisely, was indeed capable of creating the required conditions, if operated correctly.
"Injecting Death Qi, which can plunder vitality, directly into a human body, you will likely die very soon."
Moro spoke in a cold tone, uttering chilling words.
"Just before you die, serve your last purpose."
These words drastically changed William's expression.
Without any hesitation, William desperately broke free from Moro's grasp and even raised the replica Holy Sword in his hand, chopping at Moro's head.
Unmoved, Moro simply extended a hand and lightly flicked, causing the slashed replica Holy Sword to be deflected.
At the same time, Moro grabbed William's hand, and Death Qi surged violently.
"No! No!" William screamed in terror, "You can't do this to me! Imperial Concubine!"
William's words did not alter Moro's demeanor at all.
She merely looked at William as if he were merely a tool, ruthless and cold.
"I had no choice but to resort to this."
Moro's voice slowly reached William's ears.
"— 'When the sky is obscured by darkness, and the earth turns into the Red Prison, the Branch of Resurgence shall be awakened from deep sleep and descend upon this universe' —"
This was an ancient legend that circulated through the Empire's lands, the initial manifestation conditions for the material known as the Branch of Resurgence.
"After learning that the Branch of Resurgence was on this land and knowing this legend, I made many preparations to make the Branch of Resurgence manifest."
Becoming the Imperial Concubine of the Empire was just a necessary move for this purpose.
Only by doing so could she set the stage she desired on this land.
"Many historically famous figures, including the Hero Ragnar, searched this land for the Branch of Resurgence, but none succeeded."
Because none had fulfilled the manifesting conditions foretold by the Supreme God.
"The sky is obscured by darkness."
"The earth turns into the Red Prison."
"These aren't overly complicated concepts."
Undoubtedly, these are two kinds of celestial phenomena.
Two almost impossible celestial phenomena.
"Putting aside 'the sky being obscured by darkness' which could be understood as 'night' or 'clouds covering the sky', what about 'the earth turning into the Red Prison'?"
How could the earth turn into the Red Prison?
Moro pondered for decades, even centuries, before finally finding a method.
"That is by using 'powers that can interfere with the world' to bring about these celestial phenomena."
If it were the omnipotent Supreme God Ominis, then darkening the sky and turning the earth red should be simple, right?
This isn't just about altering appearances but requires changing it from a conceptual angle.
If it were only about covering the sky or reddening the earth, then many powerful beings could achieve it.
But even the Hero failed, proving these conditions aren't just superficial tasks.
They require the operation of nature itself to bring about these celestial phenomena.
Thus, to induce these phenomena, the power that can at least interfere with the sky and the earth is necessary.
Such power, apart from the omnipotent Supreme God, extends across the Three Realms to only one.
"That is the authority of the Fate Goddess Lidas, who can control destiny itself and has been acclaimed as the existence closest to omnipotence."
If one can manipulate fate, completely transforming this world created by Supreme God Ominis might not be possible, and Lidas has said she cannot control the world's destiny itself, but causing terrestrial and natural anomalies, she can still manage.
However, obviously, the Fate Goddess would not cooperate with Moro to change the earth.
Therefore, Moro targeted the Blessers of the Fate Goddess.
"They possess the Blessing of the Fate Goddess and inherently part of the power to manipulate destiny."
"If this power could be activated, my goal would be achievable."
"For this purpose, I need Blessers of the Fate Goddess to be offered as a sacrifice during the sacrificial ritual to dedicate them to this land."
"Over these ten years in the Empire, I've been setting up the sacrificial ritual underneath the Empire."
The secret base of the High Priest is just one of them.
Moro had already dug through every corner of the Empire, setting up sacrificial rituals.
Now, everything was ready except for one thing.
"Missing, a Blesser of the Fate Goddess."
This was the reason why Moro targeted Thielle.
"Originally, I wanted to directly use Thielle Elbein as the sacrifice, but it seems now that this won't be possible."
Moro spoke mercilessly to William.
"I can only sacrifice you to accomplish my monumental task."
With those words, the Death Qi in Moro's hands surged into William's body.
William's screams of agony instantly echoed around.