She had never felt her body be so uncoordinated, but after a brief period of adjustment, she felt much better. It was just that her entire being seemed filled with a powerful force that threatened to tear her soul apart.
She passed through several corridors. Everything here was made of steel, even the patterns on the walls and the carvings on the doors.
Lane was several doors away, his fate unknown. For a moment, Li Yue felt that he had already prepared himself for death, but she had no time to worry about that now, for she was the one about to step into a place of death.
She took a deep breath. She could feel that Reinhardt was right on the other side. She placed her hand on the door, intending to shatter it, only to find that it was unlocked. With a gentle push, it opened automatically.
On the other side of the door was a vast, empty hall, illuminated by pure white crystals. The floor was a layer of pale black, marble like lustrous material, though Li Yue could not distinguish what it was.
In the far distance stood a carved, broken head of a giant. Its clean, rounded, and soft cheeks looked like those of a beautiful woman, floating in mid air. Inside the head was a metal sphere, its contents unknown.
Beneath the head stood a man dressed with elegance. His hands were behind his back, and his face was cast in shadow. He looked up, eyeing Li Yue with interest, showing no shock, fear, or anger at her arrival.
A mask covered his jaw, and his eyes were hidden behind glasses. One side was a standard gold frame, while the other was a specialized lens.
His snow white formal suit was adorned with golden gear shaped patterns. A gold watch sat in his chest pocket, its chain pinned to his clothes, giving him a luxurious yet somewhat steampunk appearance.
This was an extremely quiet and solemn hall, as if everything had returned to this faintly dim, deathly silent black.
“Hello,” Reinhardt said softly. His slightly floating body descended to the ground. His pale blue eyes stared at Li Yue, his gaze like someone appraising a work of art.
“You really did come.”
“What do you mean, ‘I really did come’?” Li Yue’s trembling body grew calm, though her mutated features did not revert. Instead, they remained, making her look less like a human and more like a creature that felt more perfect than a human.
“You are His Favored One, aren't you?” Reinhardt said calmly. “When I attempted to replicate His creations and desecrate His legacy, I knew that His Favored One would surely come to ‘visit me’.”
“But just as I thought, you truly are a perfect life form. You must be His most perfect masterpiece,” Reinhardt said, a hint of intoxication in his voice.
“You’re mistaken. I came here only to deal with the cold wave,” Li Yue said, too lazy to acknowledge his self indulgence. “That God's legacy can only be sealed. Otherwise, everyone in the Outer Ring will die.”
“How kind...” Reinhardt thought for a moment. “Possessing both divinity and humanity at the same time? What a marvelous life form.”
“I also came to tell you that your path is wrong,” Li Yue said flatly. Reinhardt’s expression did not seem to change. “Your magic should not be combined with natural life.”
“Is that so? Is that also His will?” Reinhardt raised a hand. “However, whether all of this is true or not, I will have to find out for myself once I have peered into the composition of that Death Abyss.”
“After all, only the person walking the path knows if it is the right one.”
“I told you, that thing must not see the light of day again.” Li Yue flicked her hand, and killing intent began to slowly spread.
“I am not one who enjoys wasting words, and besides, our views do not seem to align,” Reinhardt said calmly. “I will kill you, and in doing so, I will negate Him.”
“Then by all means, try.”
Li Yue struck first with her magic, sending hundreds of blood blades slashing toward Reinhardt’s position. With a light wave of his hand, a massive, toad like machine suddenly appeared before him, blocking the attack.
Steel began to manifest out of thin air, completing their assembly in an instant. Various machines appeared on the battlefield, and firearms also materialized in the air. They hovered, opening fire in a single moment.
Li Yue sliced her wrist, and a faint Blood Moon appeared behind her. Thick blood manifested in front of her, forming a barrier of blood crystals that blocked the first wave of the assault. However, it shattered almost immediately as a centipede like mechanical body used a drill to forcibly pierce through the blood crystals.
He stood atop the golden metal toad, seemingly interested. He produced his staff, a metal rod topped with a clock driven by a dense and complex arrangement of gears.
The toad’s body was made of metal. Through the gaps in its surface structure, one could glimpse the dense mechanical components within.
“A Great Mage, and this is all?” Li Yue did not linger in the fight. Grasping the blood crystal at her chest, she drew out a blood red longsword amidst intense pain. The space around her seemed to darken slightly. She swung the longsword, shattering the metal centipede and mantis before her.
A touch of coldness entered Li Yue’s gaze, and Reinhardt seemed to get serious as well. He withdrew the guns and cannons filling the air and let out a soft breath. The walls of the hall transformed into metal dust, fluttering in the air, and the volume of the entire hall instantly expanded dozens of times over.
“Allow me to show you the technique I mastered when I became a Great Mage.” With a wave of Reinhardt’s hand, the tiny black dust particles expanded violently. Countless giant machines surrounded the two of them. Li Yue had originally guessed he would use the dust for assembly, but she hadn't expected that these were mechanical parts compressed to the extreme. The moment they were unsealed, they instantly assembled into a swarm of mechanical monsters.
“A world of animals, is it?” Li Yue gave a faint smile. Reinhardt stood high in the air in the distance, seemingly waiting to see how Li Yue would break his move.
The sound of clicking gears surrounded the entire hall as countless missiles and shells rained down on her. She summoned the Blood Moon. In an instant, under the light of the Blood Moon, the operation of these firearms glitched, falling into a brief state of paralysis. The hail of bullets turned into fireworks, exploding brilliantly in mid air.
However, these machines soon began to function again, though their speed was far slower than before. In this blood colored moonlight, their movements seemed arduous.
Blood red sword energy slashed through like lunar discs, sending the mangled remains of machines flying everywhere.
“A bit slow... let’s try this move.” Li Yue reversed her blade, looking at the mechanical swarm flashing with various lights that were even faintly interfering with the radiance of the Blood Moon.
Reinhardt yawned, preparing to snap his fingers.
The blood red longsword ruthlessly pierced her heart. Li Yue suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. For a split second, she clearly saw that black sea surface in reality.
What was this?
Li Yue forcefully twisted the sword. The two God's remains seemed to produce a resonance at this moment. Substantial blood red moonlight flowed down, and countless machines were instantly destroyed. Splintered parts and gears flew in every direction. The golden metal toad swallowed Reinhardt, and under the effect of the moonlight, its body also began to dissolve.
In the blood red hall, Li Yue propped herself up against the ground. Was that the move from her memory just now? This was her first time using it, and the consumption was immense.
“Clap, clap, clap.” Reinhardt clapped his hands lightly as he walked out from the destroyed machinery. “You truly are the bane of life forms and those who rely purely on magic.”
“Then, let me show you.” Reinhardt spread his hands.
“My masterpiece!”
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