The Guardian of the Seventh District felt a powerful unease rising in her heart. She frowned deeply and swept her piercing gaze across the surroundings.

Her eyes fell on the crater blasted open earlier. That wrongness grew stronger by the second, as if the Mud King had never been destroyed at all.

She was about to turn and warn the others when one of the girls lying on the ground in [Chapter Three] was pierced from within by black sludge.

The sludge slowly wrapped around her and devoured her from the outside in. In the end, nothing remained but a puddle of mud.

The Magic Cannon from earlier hadn’t destroyed the Mud King.

Before coming here, the Guardian of the Seventh District and the other Magic Maidens had done their homework.

To kill the Mud King, they had to shatter the Magic Stone inside its body. However, the Mud King could create countless Magic Stones and hide them throughout its form.

The true Magic Stone could move freely among those “fake” ones.

In that case, they simply had to destroy every Magic Stone at once.

That had been the Guardian of the Seventh District’s idea after obtaining Ultimate power. She had put it into practice on the battlefield.

The Magic Cannon fired, and the Mud King’s body truly was reduced to ashes.

But the Mud King itself hadn’t been destroyed.

It had realized that it might not be able to withstand the Guardian of the Seventh District. So, it had separated part of itself in advance, using the attack to attach that fragment to the body of a Magic Maiden.

The Guardian of the Seventh District drew a deep breath. Mana slowly gathered in her palm as she prepared to destroy the spreading sludge in one strike.

She swung her arm.

A dazzling bolt of Mana lashed out like lightning. Yet, to everyone’s astonishment, a metal palm quietly emerged from the sludge and crushed the powerful attack with ease.

It shattered like a fragile sheet of paper.

As the metal fingers slowly moved, an entire metal arm began to rise from the sludge.

Next came a muscular metal torso.

At last, a completely unclothed metal girl appeared upon the barren land.

She stood there in silence, like a statue cast from metal. Yet her cold eyes revealed an anger that could not be ignored.

Her appearance was astonishingly similar to the girl cruelly devoured by the Mud King earlier.

But now, her body was made of cold, rigid metal. Not a trace of her former softness or warmth remained.

Then, the seemingly indestructible metal shell appeared to melt into the metal girl’s body and quietly vanished.

In its place came a layer of gray-brown sludge.

The sludge slowly covered her metallic body. In the end, it completely replaced the metal shell and reshaped her into an entirely new form.

“The Mud King… This power…”

The Guardian of the Seventh District could sense the strength of the Twenty-Third District Guardian, whose body was made of sludge.

She stood on the same level as the Guardian of the Seventh District.

The Mud King had compressed its scattered power into this single body, allowing her to truly step into the Ultimate realm.

This power that had elevated the Mud King to the Ultimate realm came from the same source as the divine power she had received behind the door.

That was the true reason she had come here.

But she had never expected the Mud King to completely digest that power…

Since the power now belonged entirely to the Mud King, there was no need for her to hold back.

She drew a deep breath and began reciting a Magic Spell.

“Divinity, show mercy. Magic Armor Sacrifice!”

“Great divinity, please grant us your oracle. Let the stars forge a palace, and eternal lamps pave the stairs. Let them offer up the desire within all visions, the Blood of the earth…”

“At this very moment, release the seal!”

By layering two different sealing-release Magic Spells, she converted all the Mana within her body into Abyssal Aura.

This made the divine power easier to control and allowed her body to unleash its full strength.

The skin across the Guardian of the Seventh District’s body began to change under the pull of the Abyssal Aura.

Her smooth, taut skin twisted and compressed as if drawn by an invisible force. Fine buds of flesh slowly extended from beneath it.

They resembled newly sprouted roots, soft and brimming with vitality.

The buds gradually connected with the magnificent Magic Armor covering the Guardian of the Seventh District.

Like tree roots, they tangled together and tightly linked with every corner of the armor, making the entire suit seem eerie and mysterious.

“How is this any different from a Fallen One?”

The Third District Guardian sensed the dense Abyssal Aura radiating from the Guardian of the Seventh District.

They hunted Fallen Ones for two reasons.

First, Fallen Ones came from the Abyss, placing the two sides in opposition.

Second, the Abyssal Aura released by Fallen Ones disrupted the balance between the Abyss and the mortal realm, tearing open a passage between them.

She had never imagined that these people would convert their Mana into Abyssal Aura harmful to the mortal realm simply for the sake of power.

She wanted to rebuke them, but she was powerless.

She wasn’t the president anymore. She no longer had that authority.

Moon Owl and the Third District Guardian both took a step back.

Anyone with eyes could see that this battle was beyond their ability to join.

The Abyssal Aura around the Guardian of the Seventh District slowly gathered. It gradually transformed into a colossal pair of scissors.

The scissors radiated a chilling light, as if they could sever every obstacle in existence.

The Guardian gripped the handles with both hands.

A powerful surge of Abyssal Aura poured from her body and entered the scissors, sharpening them even further.

She narrowed her eyes and concentrated all her Abyssal Aura.

The enormous scissors seemed to become an extension of her soul.

With one light swing, an invisible shock wave erupted instantly.

The shock wave was powerful enough to split heaven and earth in two.

The clouds overhead were cleaved apart by the impact. The once-white layers divided cleanly, revealing the azure sky beyond.

The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and a narrow ravine rapidly spread across it.

The Mud King in human form hadn’t expected the Guardian of the Seventh District to move so quickly.

By the time it reacted, the shock wave had already reached it.

The scissors’ force cut its body in two, and its form collapsed instantly.

Yet the Mud King, seemingly severed into two pieces, began sprouting strands of viscous sludge from the cut surfaces.

The sludge twisted and writhed like living creatures. It quickly connected the two halves.

As it continued to flow and intertwine, the Mud King’s two sections miraculously fused back together.

The Mud King was just about to move when an ornate Magic Cannon sank into its chest and exploded.

The Guardian of the Seventh District didn’t let her guard down.

She recited a Magic Spell, and the Abyssal Aura in the air transformed into a cage that sealed the Mud King inside.

However, a strand of sludge suddenly broke free at astonishing speed.

It shot out from the Mud King’s body, then rapidly spread through the air. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a human shape.

The human-shaped Mud King had two enormous crocodile jaws for arms.

The crocodile mouths opened wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth. The human-shaped Mud King swung its arms and lunged at the Guardian of the Seventh District, attempting to swallow her whole.

The Guardian of the Seventh District sensed an overwhelming danger.

She immediately swung the scissors, trying to block the sudden attack.

But just before the jaws made contact, the sludge forming them transformed into hard metal.

The jaws collided with the scissors, sending sparks flying.

The Mud King’s strength was clearly far greater than the Guardian of the Seventh District’s.

Several Guardians rushed forward and cast Magic Spells, turning them into attacks that struck the Mud King.

The Mud King paid them no mind.

It only had to transform its body into metal to block every attack.

The Nineteenth District Guardian’s ice could freeze its movements, but it could easily break free.

“The Guardian of the Seventh District has fallen behind…”

“Although they’re on the same level, the Mud King clearly has a far deeper foundation.”

The Twenty-Second District Guardian stared intently at the Guardian of the Seventh District in midair.

She didn’t move. No one knew what she was thinking.

Moon Owl could no longer sit still.

She couldn’t watch a temporary ally die at the hands of this monster.

So, she recited a Magic Spell, preparing to unleash Spatial Disintegration.

The Third District Guardian placed a hand behind Moon Owl and began reciting a Magic Spell as well.

The Third District Guardian’s ability had little to do with combat.

But her exceptional support abilities and astonishingly rapid advancement had made her an Order Keeper.

She hadn’t acted until now because the Guardian of the Seventh District was considered her enemy.

She had been unwilling to provide support.

Moon Owl was different.

She was the only one who dared stand on the same side as her. Since Moon Owl wanted to act, the Third District Guardian would give it everything she had.

“Traveler wandering through the cosmos, stop and show mercy. Tear apart the void and reality!”

She stared fixedly at the space around the Mud King.

After injecting her Mana into it, the void beneath the Guardian of the Seventh District and the Mud King shattered apart.

The Guardian of the Seventh District understood at once and quickly recited a Magic Spell as well:

“Mana for cloth, spirit for thread, nature for the blade. Stitching, cutting, crafting… All things can become splendid garments.”

A dense surge of Abyssal Aura poured from her body.

It shrouded her completely. The next second, her figure appeared before the others.

Moon Owl sensed a spatial fluctuation, but she paid it no attention.

She manipulated the spatial Mana and slowly dragged the human-shaped Mud King toward the void.

But the Mud King was truly powerful. Moon Owl lacked the strength to pull it fully inside.

The Guardian of the Seventh District glanced at Moon Owl.

Then she turned her gaze back to the Mud King.

This was a perfect chance to eliminate a rival. But she believed that destroying the Mud King was the priority.

At that moment, a crisp shattering sound suddenly came from the distant horizon.

It sounded like glass breaking—sharp and brief. It echoed through the silent air and made everyone’s hearts tighten.

Immediately afterward, a semi-transparent Magic Cannon tore across the sky.

It seemed to be born from the void, glowing with a dim azure light as it shot straight toward Moon Owl’s chest.

The Third District Guardian hurried to her feet and raised a Mana barrier, attempting to stop the Magic Cannon.

But the Magic Cannon passed directly through her.

Just as it was about to strike Moon Owl’s chest, invisible wind spiraled through the air and collided with it.

The two attacks crashed together and exploded in the gap between Moon Owl and the Third District Guardian.

Brilliant light burst forth, bright as a miniature sun.

Moon Owl and the Third District Guardian were blasted away in opposite directions.

Moon Owl managed to steady herself with difficulty.

The Third District Guardian wasn’t so fortunate. The Magic Cannon’s power had been tremendous.

Everyone turned toward the direction from which the two attacks had come.

Azure stood quietly in midair, wrapped in a pure-white cloak.

Meanwhile, the Zone Fifteen Guardian climbed out of the earth.