A beam of light flew over, instantly healing the damage to Hanxing's body. "Han Chuan! Or... Basha! I'm here!" Suddenly, a pair of wings appeared behind Hanxing, lowering him gently to the ground.
"Yan Bai? My political commissar, do you really think you can defy me? A mere Pathstrider dares challenge a 'Throne'?"
"Heh..." Yan Bai smiled mysteriously. "I didn't think you'd actually believe that. I became an Emanator long ago. Now, how will you face us?"
Firefly raised her twin swords and stood up again. "Come on! No matter what, you're still just a mortal. We... can kill you!"
"Haha! Fine, then let me show you just how vast the gap between an Emanator and a Throne is!" Basha smiled coldly, then picked up his scepter and teleported beside Firefly. "I'll start with you!"
Clang! Metal rang against metal, but the expected spray of blood never came. "How could you leave me out at a time like this?" As the dust cleared, Hanxing stood there, having blocked the incoming scepter. With one slash of his blade, he drove Basha back several steps.
What's going on? How did he suddenly get stronger? And why hasn't his blade shattered? Basha wondered, but in the next instant, sword qi came straight at him. "Spirit-Slaying Sword Qi!" Basha had no choice but to flash out of the way, and the sword qi sliced the stones in its path in two.
"Could it be?" Firefly stared at the sword qi and froze. "Has the sword recovered its energy?"
Before the others could think further, another wave of sword qi came slashing toward Basha, its original red now streaked with golden light. Basha held his scepter across his body to block the attack, but it was instantly severed, and the sword qi opened a great gash in his shoulder.
"I didn't expect you to have some strength after all," Basha remarked. Then his tone changed. "In that case, I'll have to show you my true strength!" He then produced something from who knew where, to everyone's astonishment.
"A golden halo, a dense core... Is that a Stellaron?" Hanxing stared at the object in Basha's hand, utterly astonished. "Did you really think, in your innocence, that the Throne of a dead Aeon alone could make the 'miracle' cover the whole planet? Of course not!" Basha laughed coldly. "Now, let the second round begin!"
Basha promptly slammed the Stellaron into his own body without hesitation. "I'll kill you even if it costs half the planet!" With that, his body began to change. Armor covered him, and patterns of stars appeared across him.
"So he really is a little different from Cocolia! He seems to have suppressed the Stellaron's power," Hanxing remarked, but a longsword suddenly appeared in Basha's hand.
"Now... die!" Basha appeared beside Hanxing in an instant. Hanxing was about to turn around when the sword pierced his chest.
"Hanxing!" Firefly's cry grew fainter and fainter-
Hanxing woke amid a sea of stars, but he still felt himself falling. "Where... am I?" Without hesitation, he activated Star Eyes and instantly landed on the ground. Although it felt like he was standing on empty space, at least he was standing on something.
"Forward... forward..." A murmuring voice urged him on. It sounded familiar, yet Hanxing couldn't remember where he'd heard it. With no better choice, he followed a white line leading him somewhere...
A thousand stars shine together, the stars resound!
The Aeon of countless aspects manifests here!
"A woman of many faces, are you Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony?" Hanxing asked in surprise, taking a step forward.
"Indeed, child of man... I will tell you of your past!" Xipe's voice came from who knew where, echoing in Hanxing's ears. A flood of information then poured into his mind.
"Ah... ah! Is this... my past?" Hanxing closed his eyes, searching through the torrent of information. "Go... may you leave this strange world..." Xipe's words carried a faint sigh, and Hanxing found himself back in reality.
Clang! Basha struck Firefly down again, but a hand caught her. Hanxing looked around. "Where's Yan Bai?" Firefly paused for a few seconds. "To save you, he fused with you, along with... countless residents of Fansha Star!" Hanxing smiled coldly. His scabbard had appeared at some point.
"Haha... they deserved it! As my 'creations,' they dared defy me! Let me tell you, the 'miracle' they call a curse is actually a blessing! This is my home planet. I used the power of Order to preserve this planet from the erosion of Destruction! Do you know why they turn into golden liquid when they leave Fansha Star? Because that's what should have happened to them!" Basha continued recounting his "accomplishments," utterly unaware that he now stood against the position he had held back then.
"If you'd said those things sooner, I might have spared you and left. But now, you're no longer worthy!" Stars appeared in Hanxing's eyes, now accented by yellow and purple borders that hadn't been there before. "Now, go repent in the underworld!"
Hanxing tore open space with his bare hands and took out the Stellaron from Cocolia's body. "Such arrogant words, yet aren't you relying on the power of Destruction too?" Basha laughed madly. "Do you really think an 'Emanator' can defeat a 'Throne'?" But Hanxing paid him no heed. He placed the Stellaron in the air, and it entered the blade of its own accord. The blade then flashed red, the entire world turned black and white, and space and time instantly froze!
"In the name of Eternal Finality, with the Blade of Ending as my vessel, I shall annihilate you among the stars, burn you to nothing amid all things, and cast you into hell!" Red lightning flashed and struck the sword. Hanxing opened his eyes and raised his blade. A yellow light appeared on it, and he instantly reached Basha and slashed through his body as though cutting tofu.
Amazingly, the instant the blade touched him, Basha moved. This man is too terrifying. His existence will bring disaster to the entire universe! He silently recited an incantation. Basha, the 'first Throne in the order of Order,' commands you, Ena, for the last time: seal his power!
The instant the thought ended, space and time resumed their flow. Basha was instantly reduced to dust, unable to leave so much as a word behind. But in that instant, a giant hand descended from the sky and touched Hanxing's chest, forcing him back several steps and drawing a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Basha... did you really think I'd overlooked it? Of course not. I don't want the universe to face that fate either..." Hanxing murmured. Star Eyes activated, healing his injuries. A closer look at his eyes revealed the faint outline of a clock in the right one...