Lu Xiao: I'm Going to Self-Destruct Now

The brief tranquility within the dilapidated hut, like the false serenity before a storm, was quickly shattered.

Just as Luo Li had initially suppressed the backlash of the "Seed of the Heart's Desire," and Lu Xiao was still studying whether his expired can of soda could be used to cultivate new types of explosives, a nauseating and terrifying pressure, mixed with the stench of endless hunger and decay, spread out from the depths of the earth like a tangible tide without warning.

Rumble--!

The earth trembled violently, and the walls of the hut were instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks. The potted green ivy on the table shattered on the ground with a thud.

"Holy crap! What's going on? An earthquake? Or did some idiot dare to disturb the artist's rest?!"

Lu Xiao jumped up suddenly, a few strands of his golden hair standing on end.

Luo Li's eyes sharpened, and [Eyes of the Time Abyss] was activated instantly, with silver light flowing in her eyes.

His gaze pierced through the crumbling ceiling, looking in the direction from which the oppressive aura emanated—not from afar, but... from deep beneath their feet!

"It is Beelzebub."

Luo Li's voice was cold, tinged with a hint of solemnity.

This greedy, filthy, and all-consuming aura perfectly matches the description of the "Sin of Gluttony" in the intelligence report.

Moreover, the level of this power far surpasses that of Asmodeus, whom they had just defeated.

"Huh? That big glutton? How did it find this place?!"

Lu Xiao was taken aback at first, then his face lit up with extreme excitement, as if he were seeing an artist who had created an unparalleled masterpiece.

"Excellent! The artist has just finished ' Demon Palace of Bliss ' and is currently bursting with inspiration! How could we let such a model slip through our fingers!"

He rubbed his hands together, and dangerous sparks of energy began to dance at his fingertips.

However, Luo Li's right eye, [Peering into Secrets], captured even more ominous fragments of the future—countless twisted monsters, like magnified versions of maggots and flies, were pouring out of the cracks in the ground.

Wherever they go, even the soil and rocks are devoured—and this is only the prelude.

Something's not right!

Luo Li grabbed Lu Xiao, who was about to rush out. "Its target isn't just us! It's... devouring everything in this area! The underground here has probably already been hollowed out by its ' Endless Gluttony Corridor '!"

As if to prove his words, the ground on the edge of the town suddenly collapsed, forming a huge, bottomless pit.

Thick, foul-smelling, dark green acid dripped from the edge of the pit, corroding everything in its path.

Immediately afterwards, like a fountain, countless grotesque, A-grade-level Taotie larvae roared as they swarmed out of the pit.

Their goal is clear—all existence containing energy and matter.

Houses, streets, remaining vegetation, and even ordinary survivors who fled their homes in panic.

"Help!"

"A monster! It's Beelzebub's monster!"

"Run!"

A desperate cry shattered the brief Tranquility of the town.

"Oh shit!"

The excitement on Lu Xiao's face vanished, replaced by an offensive anger.

"Making art is fine, but disturbing ordinary people's sleep and damaging the environment is intolerable!"

He thrust his hands forward with a sudden burst of energy, and dozens of cartoon rabbit dolls, flashing red lights, hurtled towards the area where the monsters were most concentrated, like cannonballs fired from a gun.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shockwaves from the series of explosions pulverized the first few larvae, splattering dark green fluid everywhere.

But even more larvae surged forward fearlessly, devouring and merging with each other, their bodies expanding at a visible speed, and their aura growing stronger!

Luo Li also moved.

[Space-Trace Instant Shadow] activated, and he appeared at the edge of the pit like a ghost, drawing Enma.

The blade, imbued with the [Path Imprint], was wreathed in silver and dark red light, each swing creating ripples in space.

Wherever the blade flashed, the larvae were cut and annihilated by an invisible force, their disgusting bodies drained dry by the [Endless Blood Drain] and turned to ashes.

His cleaning efficiency was extremely high, but the number of larvae was simply too great, seemingly endless, and they were emerging from the depths of the pit at an increasingly faster rate.

"This will never end!"

While using various bizarre, explosive lifeforms to spar with the larvae on his flanks, Lu Xiao shouted at Luo Li, "Ice-face! We need to find a way to force that idiot out, or plug this hole for him!"

Luo Li's gaze was deep and focused, his left eye [Tracing Causes] rapidly analyzing the structure and energy flow of the crater.

"The entrance to the corridor is unstable; its core lies deeper within. Forcibly sealing it would require time, or... a sufficiently powerful energy shock to disrupt its spatial structure."

"Energy shock? I'm familiar with that!"

Lu Xiao's eyes lit up, then he frowned. "But judging from this, ordinary 'art' probably won't be enough... We need something bigger!"

Just then, another change occurred.

From the depths of the pit came a deep, resonant sound, as if it came from the ancient starry sky.

An even more terrifying and profound devouring will descended.

The entire crater seemed to come alive, its edges beginning to contract inward like a giant maw, an irresistible suction force emanating from it, pulling the debris and even the light from the ground inward.

"It's Beelzebub in its true form! It wants to devour this place itself!"

Luo Li sensed that will that seemed to be able to chew up even Spacetime, and her expression changed slightly.

Enma emitted a rapid buzzing sound, and the [Bloodlust Backlash] stirred once more.

"Damn it! I'll fight!"

Lu Xiao gritted his teeth, a resolute look on his face, the kind of madness an artist would have for the ultimate work, willing to burn everything.

"Ice-faced guy! Buy me some time! Thirty seconds! No, twenty seconds!"

Before Luo Li could answer, Lu Xiao suddenly leaped backward, landing on a relatively intact open space.

He clasped his hands together, and his body erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling white light.

The light was not simply explosive energy, but carried a kind of... burning heat, as if the very essence of life was burning.

"Ultimate Art: [Life Scroll: The Big Bang]!"

Lu Xiao's voice carried a solemn yet frenzied aria.

The energy within him surged forth like a river bursting its banks, coalescing and outlining behind him—not in the form of a specific bomb, but rather in a rapidly unfolding, incredibly complex and magnificent three-dimensional "painting" composed of pure destructive energy.

The painting seems to contain the imagery of the birth and death of stars and the return of all things to nothingness.

The air around them began to distort and ionize the moment this "painting" appeared, and even space itself seemed to groan in despair! The suction of the pit below seemed to falter slightly because of the terrifying energy that was about to erupt.

Luo Li's pupils contracted. He could sense that Lu Xiao was burning his life, soul, and everything else in preparation for an unprecedented, true self-destruction.

Its power is likely enough to severely damage or even annihilate part of Beelzebub's original body, forcibly sealing the entrance to this corridor.

"Madman!"

Luo Li cursed under his breath, but his movements didn't slow down at all.

[Spacetime Domain] -- Expand to the maximum extent.

Buzz!

The silvery-white light curtain rapidly expanded around him, forcefully resisting the terrifying suction from the pit and solidifying and clearing away the larvae that were surging in from the surrounding area, buying Lu Xiao precious time.

Ten seconds!

Lu Xiao shouted, and the energy scroll behind him had almost solidified, so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it. His skin began to crack, and golden blood seeped out from the cracks, but the smile on his face became more and more radiant, the satisfaction of completing his life's masterpiece.

Five seconds!

Deep within the pit, the devouring will seemed to sense a fatal threat, letting out an angry roar. The suction suddenly increased, even beginning to distort space, attempting to devour Lu Xiao along with his "art" prematurely.

Luo Li grunted, and the [Spacetime Domain] fluctuated violently. He forcibly activated the power of Path and even used the preliminary [Causal Tracing] to interfere with Beelzebub's locking onto his body.

Three seconds!

Two seconds!

One second!

The energy scroll behind Lu Xiao was fully formed; it was an extreme, compressed light of destruction.

He turned his head and looked at Luo Li, who was struggling to maintain his domain. For the first time, the cynical smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a complex expression that was filled with apology and pleading.

"Ice-faced... I'm sorry, I've been lying to you for so long."

His voice became hoarse and intermittent due to the extreme depletion of energy and the collapse of his body.

"Actually... when I first came to Europa, it wasn't because there were 'tough nuts to crack' here..."

"It's because... I fucking drank too much and... slept with a vampire nobleman..."

A bitter and self-deprecating smile appeared on Lu Xiao's face.

"Her name is... Elysia... She's a minor noblewoman under Lucifer, not very ambitious, just a... silly girl who loves watching fireworks..."

"We... have a child, a half-vampire... hiding in a small town at the foot of the Alps..."

He stared intently at Luo Li, his eyes filled with a final plea:

"Don't kill her... If possible... send her and her child... to my brother..."

"Tell him... his good-for-nothing brother... finally... did something... decent..."

The moment the words fell--

"Art... is an explosion!!!" Lu Xiao used his last bit of strength to let out a shout that shook the heavens and the earth!

His entire being, along with the "Creation Scroll" behind him that embodied his entire life, soul, and art, transformed into a pure white pillar of destructive light that pierced through heaven and earth, resolutely and with unwavering determination, crashing into the bottomless pit.

Boom--------!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A deafening roar that defies description.

It felt like a star was exploding beneath my feet.

The pure white light instantly swallowed up all sound, all color, and all matter.

The terrifying shockwave spread outward in a ring, instantly vaporizing and annihilating everything in its path, from the larvae of the Taotie to the remnants of buildings and even the earth itself.

The [Spacetime Domain] set up by Luo Li was forcibly torn apart in this earth-shattering explosion. He himself was also violently thrown away by the indescribable energy torrent. Enma let out a mournful cry and automatically protected its master, erecting a dark red barrier to barely offset part of the impact.

The light lasted for a good ten seconds before gradually fading away.

The huge crater had vanished, replaced by a massive pit several kilometers in diameter, bottomless, with smooth, glass-like edges!

At the bottom of the giant crater, a distorted and broken dark spatial structure can be vaguely seen, slowly repairing itself, but at an extremely slow pace, clearly indicating that it has suffered severe damage.

Beelzebub's terrifying will to devour and his aura weakened considerably, seemingly retreating temporarily.

Lu Xiao... disappeared.

Everything he burned was completely transformed into the pure white light that purified everything, leaving not a speck of dust behind.

Only the lingering, scorching, and pure aftershocks of energy in the air, and the final shouts and entrustments that seem to still echo in our ears, prove that he once existed and practiced his "art" in the most dazzling and extreme way.

Luo Li stood up from the ruins, wiping away the blood that had spilled from the corner of her mouth as her domain was forcibly broken open.

He stood at the edge of the giant pit, silently gazing at the emptiness.

That noisy, neurotic madman who saw explosions as art... just vanished.

To cover for him, to stop Beelzebub from devouring more, and also... to protect the vampire nobleman he described as "foolish and fond of watching fireworks" and their child.

"... idiot."

After a long silence, Luo Li finally uttered two words in a low voice.

His voice didn't reveal much emotion, but the knuckles of his hand gripping the hilt of the Enma were slightly white from the force he was using.

Elysia... at the foot of the Alps...

He remembered it.