One Slash, Then Flight

The mechanical statue's giant hand crushed the last piece of bronze debris, and countless purple light particles surged forth again in front of it.

The light particles continuously arranged and combined in the void, eventually transforming into a giant mechanical spear that spanned the star field, held in the hand of the Ruler II.

"Since you remain so stubborn... violating the 'Pan-Universal Civilization Regulations'..."

The voice of the Ruler II echoed with a harsh, metallic scraping sound.

"Then let us continue to perish in the ruins of this Ancient Machine Kingdom!"

The moment the spear thrust out, the gravitational field of the entire surrounding star field suddenly Twist.

Kavin's figure had long since left the core planet of the Ancient Machine Kingdom, and the area standing in the void was still being shrunken as if gripped by an invisible hand.

The golden data shield was stained with purplish-red rust the moment it touched the spear tip, and the topological structure on the shield's surface began to disintegrate.

At the tip of the spear, patterns resembling those of the Ancient Machine Kingdom's inscriptions appeared, but the gaps between the patterns were filled with a scarlet, special Mechanical Energy.

That's a unique "Mechanical Poison" of the Star Machine Civilization, capable of eroding the underlying logic of all mechanical creations.

Warning: Mechanical Poison corrosion rate 37%...59%...

The crimson alarm flashed wildly in his golden pupils, and Kavin's expression remained surprisingly calm, but a shadow had been cast over his heart.

This Mechanical Poison is different from others; it specifically targets powerful individuals or items related to mechanical technology.

Like a virus, it will reconstruct the underlying logic of mechanical creations and completely reconstruct their Mechanical Energy.

If he fails to resist, his Mechanical Energy be completely destroyed.

The battle between Kavin and the Overlord II erupted in the ruins of the Ancient Machine Kingdom's star system.

The mechanical idol's giant spear tore through the void, and the crimson Mechanical Poison eroded Kavin's data shield like a plague.

The golden core array spun rapidly around Kavin, attempting to reconstruct the defensive topology, but the Dominator II's attack was in no hurry.

The prism-like head suddenly split into countless prism fragments, each refracting a scarlet beam of light.

That was the highest level of "Mechanical Light Decomposition" of the Star Machine Civilization, capable of even temporarily disintegrating spatial structures.

"Your mechanical skills are nothing special!"

The mechanical voice of the Ruler II reverberated throughout the star field.

An unusual sense of superiority emanated from the enormous face of the mechanical statue.

It seemed that by further belittling Kavin, he could Steadfast in the legitimacy of the Ancient Machine Kingdom and the development path chosen by his own civilization.

Suddenly, the giant spear split into billions of nanometer-sized sub-particles, which pierced through the gaps in Kavin's defenses like a torrential rain.

Kavin's body was beginning to give way; blood was seeping from his right arm, and his life force was rapidly declining due to the infection from the Mechanical Poison.

His golden pupils contracted sharply as an unprecedented error code appeared in the data stream before his eyes.

The Mechanical Poison had completely invaded his logic and eroded his mechanical power.

"Warning: Mechanical Poison corrosion rate 82%... Core logic protocol is about to collapse..."

Just when he was at his wit's end, the Ancient Machine Holy Grail Kavin had hidden in his space, suddenly activated on its own.

Dark purple energy emerged from the Holy Grail, and the original energy liquid within it began to flow into Kavin's body.

"Warning: Grail energy is invading; the rate of Mechanical Poison erosion is decreasing, while the Grail erosion rate is increasing by 9.9%..."

The Holy Grail, the most valuable mechanical treasure of the Ancient Machine Kingdom.

It allows for fundamental modifications to mechanical engineering creations to better align with current development trends.

To put it bluntly, like Mechanical Poison, they are all alternative forms of disruption to the underlying logic.

The only difference is that Mechanical Poison simply causes destruction, while the Holy Grail energy is responsible for reconstructing after destruction.

Regardless, at this moment, Kavin is caught between two intertwined energies.

The golden shield in front of him vanished in an instant, and the giant spear pierced through his left shoulder.

Countless mechanical guards rushed out of the warship, trying to help Kavin defend against the attack.

Unfortunately, in a direct battle of World-Ending Level, they had absolutely no chance to intervene.

As soon as they approached the battlefield, they were instantly Mechanical Light Decomposition, which then surged into the Overlord's enormous mechanical statue.

Just as the First Guard was about to approach, he was stopped by a message.

As a mechanical life form created by Kavin, it possesses completely independent thought and the desire to be an individual living being.

But in terms of faith, their piety far surpasses that of human beings.

They were not so afraid of death and sacrifice.

Damn it!

"We are the rightful heirs!"

He felt the Holy Grail's energy flowing into Kavin's body.

The Ruler II was increasingly unwilling, but he did pause briefly to observe the interplay of the two energies.

Only after sensing that Kavin's aura was growing weaker and weaker, and that the two energies were fiercely battling within his body, did he calm down somewhat.

Immediately afterwards, the giant spear in the mechanical statue's hand was raised once more.

Countless energies converged once more, transforming into a crimson pillar of light that pierced through the galaxy.

The weapon thrust irresistibly towards Kavin's brow, its intent to utterly kill Kavin.

With Kavin so weakened, his presence was barely perceptible, let alone any other means of defense.

The First Guard trembled all over, his eyes filled with fear mixed with a glimmer of hopeful expectation.

Fortunately, his expectations were not disappointed.

A scarlet longsword suddenly appeared out of thin air just as the giant spear was about to pierce Kavin's forehead.

The crimson giant blade, thousands of meters long, appeared right before his eyes, causing even the highly focused commander to show a hint of surprise and panic.

I heard...

The two words exploded in the ears of the Ruler II.

Lister's voice emerged from the torn spatial rift, his extreme killing intent filling the entire star field.

His prized Mechanical Energy aura was no match for Lister's at this moment.

The Kavin mechanical forces, which had been suppressed, finally breathed a sigh of relief as their remaining forces were reduced to mere remnants.

It was as if the shackles on my body had been removed, and I felt free again.

Lister then waved one hand.

SSS-level Merrick Saber Technique has long transcended the limitations of the weapon itself.

With a swing of his hand, the crimson blade, thousands of meters long, cleaved the mechanical giant spear and its accompanying purplish-red energy beam in two.

"Someone's trying to touch my things?"

Lister stood calmly in front of Kavin.

After the crimson giant blade was unleashed in a single strike, it vanished without a trace.

The next moment, he loosely clenched his right hand.

A longsword, condensed from pure killing intent, appeared in his palm. The blade flowed with a scarlet blood light, and each tremor caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear in the space.

At the same time, a killing intent far exceeding the current level once again shook the entire star field.

"I didn't expect it to be you... Ruler II?"

A deep, calm voice boomed within the mechanical core of the Overlord II, instantly overloading the Prism Skull's scanning system and sending alarm numbers soaring.

In fact, no numerical reference is needed.

The Ruler II was already finding it difficult to withstand the oppressive killing intent, experiencing a tremor and suffocation that came from the depths of his soul.

It was no less terrifying than the Mechanical Poison, causing his Mechanical Energy to be somewhat sluggish.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

"How long has it been?! How could you already be at level 23?!"

As the data scan came into view, the mechanical voice of the Ruler II became disordered for the first time.

In less than ten years, he jumped directly from level 21 to level 23. The speed of advancement in this level was completely beyond his comprehension.

It should be noted that it took him a full 60,000 years to evolve from the fourth evolution, reaching the 19th rank, to the current 23rd rank.

Especially now, reaching level 24 seems like a distant dream.

Lister's promotion seemed... it seemed there was absolutely no path to it; he was simply promoted through sheer force.

More importantly, his strength and aura were completely different from when he fought Curtis last time.

At that time, Lister was already incredibly strong, but he was still within the scope of his understanding, or rather, in terms of aura alone, he was not stronger than him.

But now, it was a force that steadily overwhelmed him.

It could even make him feel fear and suffocation, which was the most unbelievable thing for him.

"Tell me, why did you step into the Gray Domain Galaxy?"

"I remember you were there when we made that appointment, weren't you?"

Lister's voice carried a hint of ease, but the murderous intent emanating from him made it clear that he wasn't just chatting idly.

According to "Pan-Cosmos..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lister waved his hand.

A crimson blade flashed silently across the star field.

The Ruler II was still trying to analyze the data to determine Lister's attack.

Unfortunately, the structure was not yet complete when this blow came head-on.

Just as he was about to dodge, he found himself completely unable to move, and a sense of powerlessness, as if locked by murderous intent, welled up in his heart.

In an instant, the mechanical statue's right arm was already struggling against its body. There were no sparks flying at the cut, only specks of light dissipating after its soul was also severed.

Lister's knife is never limited to the body, but rather acts more directly on the level of consciousness.

In this area, the Mechanical Energy defenses of the Ruler II are practically useless.

With the blade's edge disappearing, the ruler was finally able to move.

Having withstood Lister's knife, the pain was naturally indescribable.

Attack: Deals a total of -8,837,623 points of true damage.

[Target: Ruler II]

[Health: 12,902,279/21,739,902 (Regenerating rapidly)]

Lister glanced at the other party's information and couldn't help but nod inwardly.

The improvement was indeed much greater than he had imagined.

This is only the most basic stage; a single strike can reduce the opponent's health by over eight million.

Even if he doesn't enter the second or third stage, his combat power at the first stage is already enough to firmly reach the World-Ending Level.

It can be said that they truly possess the absolute strength to confront veteran world- World Annihilation powerhouses head-on!

The ruler's right arm was reattached in the blink of an eye, but the damage to his soul could not be repaired immediately.

Taking a few steps back and looking up again, he discovered that a huge spatial rift existed in the space where he had originally been.

And there was no sign of it shrinking or recovering, which was somewhat beyond his understanding of spatial rules.

In my understanding, the spatial rules of the universe have an extremely strong self-repairing ability.

Only attacks of immeasurable magnitude can reach this level.

Thinking back to that stab wound, and his current state of near-serious injury.

The ruler now knows only one thing: he is no match for him.

"I'll ask you one more time, why did you step into the Gray Domain Galaxy?"

Lister asked again, the scarlet longsword in his hand now far more intimidating than before.

That chilling killing intent and that indescribable, immense power ultimately made the ruler dare not mention the "Pan-Universal Civilization Regulations" again.

"Could it be... that you want to try out my new knife?"

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Lister slowly took a step forward.

The longsword in his hand, brimming with killing intent, suddenly extended to ten thousand meters, its blade reflecting the enormous head of the mechanical statue.

In an instant, the mechanical Mechanical Energy of the Regulator II's mechanical idol suddenly erupted.

His entire body was enveloped in purplish-red energy, and his aura suddenly surged.

It has clearly entered the second stage, and the maximum health has increased from the original 20 million to nearly 40 million.

In the blink of an eye, the enormous mechanical statue was enveloped in a faint purple light.

Lister was completely unconcerned about this, and even welcomed it.

Before he could even draw his sword, the enormous mechanical statue suddenly disintegrated, transforming into billions of nano-units that scattered and fled in all directions.

One of the rulers of this Star Machine Civilization chose to retreat after only one round of combat!

Seeing this, Lister did not pursue them.

Instead, his gaze was fixed to the left, his killing intent constantly converging in that direction.

Have you seen enough?

As soon as she finished speaking, in the direction where the killing intent converged, Aiselyn's figure slowly emerged from the void.

Emerald green vines intertwined to form a throne at her feet. A hint of amusement flashed in her amber eyes, and the vines entwined around her fingertips swayed gently, as if she were enjoying a good show.

Only she knew in her heart that she was far from as calm as she appeared on the surface.

Lister's strength not only exceeded the ruler's expectations, but also surpassed her imagination.

She had never seen anyone whose strength increased so rapidly after the fourth evolution.

Given the terrifying killing intent emanating from the other party and witnessing their exceptionally refined swordsmanship, even she herself had lost the composure she had shown the last time she faced them.

"That's really unexpected..."

Aiselyn looked at Lister with a slight smile.

"You even scared away the Ruler II."

Aiselyn originally came only to mediate the fight.

She had initially thought it was merely a struggle between Kavin and the Overlord II, and was pleased with the outcome.

However, upon sensing Lister's arrival and recognizing his strength, and knowing the conflict between the three World Annihilation, she didn't want to escalate the situation at this juncture. To some extent, things had already exceeded her expectations.

Lister's murderous longsword remained unsheathed, its blade slightly turned towards Aiselyn.

"The Emerald Royal Court's reach is certainly far-reaching."

"The Ash Galaxy clearly promised to belong to me, but you all act like you're on my own turf!"

"Since we're already here... how about... we try out this knife together?"

Having said that, Lister immediately unleashed a slash.

He knew in his heart that now was not the time to provoke a major war.

However, that doesn't mean he can't take action against the other party. As long as it doesn't involve World-Ending Level death, injuries alone won't cause any major upheaval.

This is also why he just let the Ruler II leave.

The other party deserves to die, but not now.

The current patience and waiting are merely to accumulate strength for a better grasp of the entire universe in the future.

Aiselyn tried to hide but discovered she had already been locked onto.

Endless vines sprouted from her body in an attempt to resist, but the blade's edge still pierced her chest, causing her to cough up blood and her life force to weaken significantly.

Only after enduring the blow did he shrug slightly.

The vine throne swayed slightly with her movements, but finally managed to hold on.

"I was just here to break up the fight..."

"Since I agreed to the Gray Domain Galaxy, then it is 'your'."

"I will personally avenge this wound I suffered today."

Having said that, Aiselyn's smile vanished, and the blood-stained vines at her fingertips suddenly blossomed into an eerie flower.

The next instant, her body vanished as the petals fell.