But this time was different. Illusory Glass had remained hidden within space without making a move. Only when Moon Owl was about to suffer a fatal blow did she use time to briefly hold back the two Chapter Three fighters, giving Moon Owl enough time to leave the battlefield.

Once she had withdrawn, Moon Owl opened a spatial passage inside the Formation. Lu Shi immediately dove into it and safely returned to Moon Owl’s side.

“Boom!”

At that moment, a tremendous roar erupted from the gap between spaces. The shockwave rose from deep within the earth, yet its sound shook the heavens.

Weapons of every color, forged from space itself, pierced through the void. They formed an oval shape as tall as a person. Then, a terrifying attack burst from the spatial rift.

It carried surging Abyssal Aura and smashed the fragile spatial barrier before them to pieces.

The figure was none other than Aphrodite.

She held down her top hat and carefully stepped through the shattered space, leaning on her cane. Her pupils were deep and pitch-black, so dark that no one dared meet her gaze.

The aura around Aphrodite had changed. It had become denser and heavier, as though she were an entirely different person.

Moon Owl took half a step back. She was certain that Aphrodite was now the strongest of the three.

“Now… the judgment continues.”

Ignoring the Seeker and the Zone Fifteen Guardian beside her, Aphrodite took out that balance scale once more. Strands of Abyssal Aura, mixed with traces of Mana, settled onto the specially crafted scale.

The scale began to tilt.

That indescribably immense pressure descended over everyone’s heads once more. Moon Owl had no choice but to release her Mana and resist it.

She might have been fine if she were alone. But two Chapter Three fighters were beside her now. If the scale suppressed them here, those two would never let such a perfect opportunity slip away.

Moon Owl was already considering retreating for the moment. Even if she could hold off the two Chapter Three fighters, victory was far from certain.

“Wait… is it snowing?”

At Qiu Sheng’s voice, Moon Owl looked toward the dark clouds that still lingered in the sky.

White snowflakes drifted down from the heavens. One landed in Moon Owl’s palm, but because she wore black leather gloves, it didn’t melt at once.

A clear female voice rang out in the distance.

“Ancient frost, descend upon the mortal world! Freeze the ages, shatter the eternal ice—Frostbite Fang! Freeze all things once more!”

A small, ice-blue figure streaked across the sky.

Under her control, the fine snow transformed into a heavy blizzard. The snow gathered in her palm and turned into ice that would never melt.

Reinforcements!

But this wouldn’t affect the Chapter Three fighters at all. With nothing more than a casual movement of their fingers, they could stop Zhao Qingsnow’s full-powered attack.

Aphrodite frowned and slowly raised her palm. Yet the nearby shadows coiled around her wrist.

Her gaze fell upon Lu Shi, who had both hands pressed against the ground.

Moon Owl endured the pressure of the scale and tore open space. She intended to unleash Spatial Collapse once more.

The Zone Fifteen Guardian sensed the Mana within Moon Owl and released her own restriction as well. Invisible air transformed into armor around her body. Something rested in her palm—or perhaps nothing at all.

Qiu Sheng used up the last of her Mana. Lightning threaded through the falling snowflakes, trying to knock the scale from the sky.

But another Seeker merely recited a simple Magic Spell and blocked the surging thunder.

“Clang~”

A bullet, its surface hidden beneath shadows and engraved with intricate Array Patterns, struck the center of the scale.

Its tip sank into the metal.

Aphrodite felt the scale in her palm jolt as though something had slammed into it. Just as she turned to look, dazzling flames burst from the scale’s center.

The fire bloomed like a rose in full flower.

The scale was forcibly halted by the bullet. In an instant, the enormous pressure covering everyone’s heads vanished.

“Sis.”

Lu Jin hurried to Lu Shi’s side, with Chen Xiaoyin close behind.

“If Moon Owl holds off one Chapter Three fighter, and Lu Jin and I hold off another, then Qiu Sheng, Chen Xiaoyin, and Zhao Qingsnow can deal with the Seeker. We might actually have a chance!”

Moon Owl was already locked in fierce combat with the Zone Fifteen Guardian above them.

Lu Shi and Lu Jin went to face Aphrodite, while Zhao Qingsnow and the others moved to stall the Seeker.

“Linked… Resonance!”

After recovering a little, Lu Shi took Lu Jin’s hand.

Black and white Mana collided and merged. Pure-white wings unfolded on the left, while deep black wings spread on the right.

The two pairs of wings slowly opened behind them, and several black-and-white feathers drifted away on the wind.

Lu Shi and Lu Jin gently beat their wings and arrived before Aphrodite. Under their control, the black-and-white wings became blades as sharp as knives.

Aphrodite looked surprised.

She hadn’t expected a tiny place like the Twelfth District to possess people capable of perfect Resonance. The two girls’ compatibility was extraordinarily high. Even twins couldn’t possibly share such perfect harmony.

But Aphrodite quickly suppressed her surprise.

There was nothing truly astonishing about it. After achieving perfect Resonance, the two possessed enough power to contend with a Chapter Three fighter.

But they had only barely touched the threshold of Chapter Three. They couldn’t release their restrictions, so their upper limit ended there.

Aphrodite silently put away the scale. She caught two feathers flying toward her.

As her lips moved through a spell, the pure-white feather transformed into a pure-white Rosefire Pistol. The black feather became a bullet.

Lu Jin froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and charged forward. Lu Shi controlled the black-and-white wings, sending them gathering around Aphrodite.

Aphrodite calmly loaded the bullet. Then, with Lu Jin and Lu Shi only a few meters away, she pulled the trigger.

But Lu Shi’s thoughts shifted.

Every black-and-white wing nearby exploded, including the firearm Aphrodite had forged from the feathers. At their core, they were still Lu Jin and Lu Shi’s Mana. Naturally, the two of them could control them.

The explosion came without warning.

Aphrodite’s body paused slightly, and a fist wrapped in black-and-white Mana slammed squarely into her face.

The Mana covering Lu Jin and Lu Shi’s palms exploded as well. The resulting impact didn’t shatter Aphrodite’s Magic Layer, but it blasted the top hat from her head.

“This…” x2

Lu Jin and Lu Shi stared at the third eye above Aphrodite’s brow, then hurriedly retreated a hundred meters.

A trace of anger appeared on Aphrodite’s previously calm face.

“You have committed blasphemy against a god. You shall be punished!”

She raised her palm toward the dark clouds in the sky.

The clouds gathered into a humanoid shape and transformed into solid armor covering Aphrodite’s body. She gave her palm a light wave, and the lightning in the sky condensed into a sharp longsword.

Aphrodite caught the tip of the lightning sword between two fingers. Her fingertips skimmed along its surface, slashing out a crescent of lightning toward Lu Jin and Lu Shi.

Lu Shi controlled the shadows and wrapped them around their bodies, allowing them to evade the lightning.

But the moment Lu Jin and Lu Shi poked their heads out of the shadows, Aphrodite was already standing before them.

She seized their wings and drove her armored fist viciously into their cheeks.

Lu Jin drew her dagger and slashed at Aphrodite. Aphrodite tilted her head and dodged with ease, then punched Lu Jin and Lu Shi again.

Aphrodite pressed her hand against the earth.

Under her control, the ruins scattered across the ground transformed into a gigantic Rubik’s Cube. Lu Jin and Lu Shi were trapped inside it.

Their bodies were embedded in the cube’s core. Aphrodite hovered above it, preparing to twist the cube and crush them into pulp.

Lu Jin and Lu Shi tried to use their black-and-white wings to blast apart the accursed earth. But the rubble bound them too tightly. They couldn’t even spread their wings.

“Turn!”

Aphrodite raised both hands. A flicker of delight shone within the eye between her brows.

As her voice fell, the cube in the air began to twist slowly.

Moon Owl noticed Lu Jin and Lu Shi’s predicament first and prepared to rush over to help them.

But the Zone Fifteen Guardian gave her no such chance. She swung the Wind King Barrier in her hands and chopped it down toward Moon Owl’s neck.

“Time Slow!”

Illusory Glass, who was fighting the Seeker, suddenly stopped. She slowed the Seeker in the center, then shouted toward the Zone Fifteen Guardian in the air:

“Time Stop!”

The Chapter Three fighter in the sky froze.

But in those few short seconds, Illusory Glass’s Mana was nearly depleted. She had no choice but to retract her hand, crush a Magic Stone from within the Spatial Box, and restore her Mana.

Illusory Glass had bought Moon Owl enough time.

Moon Owl tore open space and pulled Lu Jin and Lu Shi out of the sealed rubble.

But at that moment, the enclosed cube exploded.

Moon Owl and Lu Jin and Lu Shi were sent flying backward. The Zone Fifteen Guardian thrust the Wind King Barrier toward Moon Owl.

Moon Owl tore open a rift and allowed herself to be swallowed by it.

Lu Jin and Lu Shi weren’t so lucky.

The rubble struck them directly in the abdomen. The tremendous impact smashed them into the ground, forcibly breaking their fusion apart.

Their Magic Armor turned into particles and began to scatter slowly.

Meanwhile, the Seeker easily blocked all four of the others’ attacks with the most basic magic.

“Shield… Holy Protection.”

The ice condensed by Zhao Qingsnow was stopped by a basic Magic Spell.

Nearby, Qiu Sheng darted around the Seeker. Lightning from her palm struck the barrier of light, but failed to shake it in the slightest.

They should have been able to defeat the Seeker before them.

Under Illusory Glass’s control, the Seeker had never had a chance to release her restrictions or use a Magic Spell. But just now, Illusory Glass had shifted her Mana toward the Zone Fifteen Guardian, weakening her control over the Seeker.

The Seeker seized the opportunity to release her restrictions and use her first Magic Spell.

That brief, basic spell easily blocked both attacks. Zhao Qingsnow figured she would have to use Frostbite Fang again.

But while Zhao Qingsnow hesitated, invisible Mana transformed into a gigantic palm and descended from the sky.

Chen Xiaoyin withdrew from before the Seeker and began reciting in a low voice:

“Holy Shieldbearer, let nothing invade. Sacred Shield Art, protect my body. Eternal and unceasing, eternal and indestructible. Become my strength, protect others, and shelter this corner of the world.”

A huge barrier of light unfolded from the shield on Chen Xiaoyin’s arm. It stopped the descending palm.

But the barrier seemed unable to hold for long. Fine cracks had already appeared across its blue surface.