Crimson blazed like a living inferno. Her fist, wreathed in scorching wind, surged forward with unstoppable force—slamming toward Azure. With a graceful twist midair, Azure evaded the strike, gliding like a fish through water.

Seizing the opening, Azure shattered the Magic Stone atop her wand. Light gathered at the tip—a gleaming eye of the Abyss—then erupted: a cold, sharp meteor slicing the silence, streaking straight for Crimson.

Crimson clenched empty air. A wand materialized instantly in her palm, its surface shimmering with crimson twilight hues, radiating immense energy. Gripping it tight, she swung her arm. A searing magic beam shot forth, clashing head-on with Azure’s Magic Cannon.

The two forces collided—crashing, intertwining—unleashing a violent mana shockwave. Though potent, Azure’s Magic Cannon faltered under Crimson’s relentless assault. Harnessing the recoil, Crimson sent it flying like a shooting star, vanishing into the distant horizon.

“I never expected such strength from you, Crimson.”

Azure pinched her wand, extracting a brownish-yellow Magic Stone. Its design was achingly familiar to Crimson—Zong Huang’s Magic Stone.

Through Night Frost’s words, Crimson had learned of Azure’s heinous deeds.

“Indeed… I struggled to accept it before.”

Crimson paused. No longer concealing her aura, she unleashed every drop of mana within. The crimson wand transformed into a gauntlet, snugly encasing her fist.

“One, ten, hundred, thousand! I call the heavens’ might, pour forth my blood—shatter waterfalls and mountains, crush falling stars, uphold collapsing beams, bear the tilting sky!”

“O World, with your vast arms, raise an unbreakable wall… O World, with your fury, awaken earth’s calamity!”

Zong Huang’s phantom flickered above the stone. Azure swept the lingering resentment away. As her incantation echoed, the earth hardened into a solid barrier.

Crimson’s fist struck. Light exploded—countless stars detonating—accompanied by a deafening roar.

But Azure’s true strike followed. The shattered earth coalesced into draconic forms. They roared, scales glinting coldly, eyes blazing with menace, lunging to devour Crimson.

“Let this end! Double… Saturation Cannon!”

The dragon’s maw swallowed Crimson midair. Earth and stone compressed inward. Though the Guardian of the Seventh District had fallen and Blood lost a clone, capturing Crimson felt like victory to Azure.

Azure shattered the Magic Stone, stepping on void to flee. Night Frost stood unmoved—she knew Crimson wouldn’t fall so easily.

Suddenly, Azure froze. The dragon’s belly swelled unnaturally. Violent impacts echoed within. After relentless pounding, the beast shattered into fragments, dissolving into air.

Beside Crimson hovered a phantom scarlet ribbon, pulsing with immense aura. Seeing it, Night Frost’s heart stilled. She already foresaw it—Crimson would ascend to the Ultimate Realm, right here.

“The past journey stretches to the Silver River. At life’s end, glory reveals itself. Star-rivers pave the corridor; stars forge guiding lanterns. The long night fades—eternal dawn arrives!”

Crimson flicked Azure’s wand away with a light twist. As Azure reached for a new one from her Spatial Box, the ribbon coiled around it, snatching it into Crimson’s palm. A glance inside—then she crushed the box. Contents and space vanished together.

“Azure. It’s over.”

The ribbon sliced through air, piercing Azure’s throat. Azure clawed at it desperately, blood seeping from her palms, mouth open—but no sound came.

Crimson closed her eyes. A gentle flick of the ribbon. Azure’s head fell. Heavy sorrow filled Crimson’s chest. Tears welled, tracing warm paths down her cheeks, dripping silently to the ground.

She wiped her eyes, turning to Night Frost.

“Let’s go. Open the door. End that thing.”

As grief receded, fury flickered in Crimson’s gaze. *If no deities existed… perhaps Zong Huang, Feicui, Order—even Azure—could have lived. In a world without magic.*

Guided by Night Frost, they stood before the seal. Here, they would unbind the Divine Heart. Here, they would burn it to ash.

Crimson gave Night Frost half the ribbon. Channeling its power, Night Frost brushed the threshold of the Ultimate Realm, gathering mana and Black Flame.

Black Flame coiled around her fingertips, deepening with each breath. Flames swirled behind her, weaving the phantom of the Calamity Dragon—wings spread, obsidian fire gathering ominously in its maw.

Crimson inserted the Key carefully. Array Patterns shattered like glass with a faint *crack*, dissolving under surging energy.

From the seal’s abyssal depths, a heartbeat boomed—thunderous, resonant.

Crimson’s own heart involuntarily synced to its rhythm. Even the Ultimate Realm trembled at the influence.

She focused mana around her heart, steadying herself.

“It begins.”

Crimson blocked the heartbeat’s pulse with Ultimate Realm power. Night Frost—now touching that realm—channeled the all-consuming Black Flame straight into the Heart’s core.

A hundred meters back, the silver-white Magic Stone on Night Frost’s chest blazed like daylight. She opened her mouth, draining every last trace of mana.

“Utterly incinerate the Heart before us!”

Guided by Crimson’s power, the flame struck true. The Heart shrieked—a piercing wail tearing through Crimson’s barrier, echoing across the realm. It writhed, twisted, then crumbled to ash. Released energy shook the very space.

The shockwave hurled Night Frost backward—Crimson caught her midair.

“Thank you.”

Only when the Heart’s presence vanished did Night Frost exhale. Thick black blood gushed from her chest. Her Magic Armor flickered, then dissolved with the fading Black Flame.

Crimson had meant to remove the ribbon—but seeing Night Frost’s state, left it embedded. Whatever technique she’d used drained her completely. Burning the Heart meant burning herself; the compressed Black Flame exceeded even her dragon-scale defenses.

*He who plays with fire gets burned.*

The lingering flame ravaged her insides before fading with the armor.

“You nearly died. Rest in the Second District. I’ll handle the rest.”

“No… Even at the Ultimate Realm, you lack the means to erase a deity. To utterly destroy them—we need the Calamity Dragon’s power and the Order Gemstone.”

“No other way?”

Night Frost shook her head. Other paths might exist, but none found. Using Order alone would shatter her body. But Calamity Flame, amplified by the Order Gemstone… could absolutely erase the divine fragment.

“After settling the Third and Fourth Districts, we retrieve the deity’s other two eyes.”

“Alright, alright.”

Crimson laid Night Frost on the hospital bed atop the Rouge Rabbit’s second floor. *She’d lain here before… perhaps fate.*

Night Frost closed her eyes. Two days passed.

Pain lingered. Flesh scorched by her own Calamity Flame still hadn’t healed. *Truly… my own doing.*

In those two days, Moon Owl abducted the President. How? Though once merely Cantata Two, she broke through to Cantata Three while fleeing Third District Order Keepers. The President—barely a fighter, just support—fell easily.

Now Moon Owl headed to the Fourth District with the President and the Third District Key.

Order and Jin Yunan infiltrated the Order Keepers’ tower, found Azure’s private chamber, and swiped two Magic Stones and two Keys—one for the Fifteenth District, one for the Fourth.

Night Frost now held Keys to the Third, Fourth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-First Districts. Add Blade’s Twelfth District Key… she had her work cut out for her.

“Then we go to the Fourth District.”

“Eye Orb should stay in the Second District. Research facilities here surpass Aklatia’s. Notify him.”

Struggling upright, Night Frost gave final orders. She changed into practical women’s attire and boarded the jeep Yin Tianchen had arranged.