Chapter 423: Tearing the Cage, Not of Our Race

A colossal pillar of fire swept across the expanse, incinerating the massive mountain of gold and iron that Celine had prepared, along with the explosive charges embedded within. The high-yield weaponry concealed deep inside the structure was likewise obliterated by that singular, earth-shattering strike.

"Hiss..."

The magic burned away, and the heaven-piercing flame held by Wang Yu dissipated, leaving nothing between him and Celine that could be called an obstacle.

Without a word, Avia had already woven a foothold for him from void energy. With a violent stomp, Wang Yu’s figure vanished, reappearing less than a hundred meters from Celine.

Celine’s eyes, reflecting a galaxy of brilliant stars, locked onto his trajectory. Had she not been the creator of this space, her physical form could never have matched his speed, yet for now, she could still track him before he engaged his void engine.

"Clang!"

Magic surged from her hands; Celine completed a spatial spell in a heartbeat, targeting both Wang Yu and herself simultaneously.

Even a being as unique as Celine could not escape the fundamental truth that once a mage is cornered by a knight, they must find a way to retreat.

Her mastery of the arcane was profound, especially in spatial arts; from inception to completion, there was no delay. She successfully locked onto Wang Yu’s position and cast a displacement spell upon him.

Space warped, and the distance between them was instantly severed, both of them shunted far apart in opposite directions as Celine began to channel other powers.

"Locked on. Coordinates acquired."

Avia’s voice echoed in Wang Yu’s ear. At this range, the girl had the power to use the chariot’s force to nullify the displacement spell targeting him.

However, the spell targeting Celine herself was harder to handle. By observing her casting, the girl had fully mapped her coordinates—not the vague approximation from before, but a precise, point-to-point lock on Celine’s existence.

"Go!"

With a brief response, Wang Yu lunged forward, crashing into a phase gate that shimmered before him. When he emerged, he was directly behind Celine. His arms clamped around her neck without hesitation, muscles coiled, and in an instant, the head of the woman still preparing her spell was severed from her body.

"Roar!"

High-energy blood pumped from her heart, and the energy within her throat erupted as a shockwave. The violent dragon-roar tore Celine’s fragile frame to shreds; not just blood, but even her bones were ground into fine dust.

Celine’s body vanished into ash, yet Wang Yu did not relax. He felt no life force surging from the Flag of Triumph, meaning she had not been judged dead. He had likely not truly killed the entity known as Celine.

"Wang Yu, your existence exceeds my imagination. If your power surprised me before, it now strikes me as eerie and unsettling. What exactly are you..."

"I doubt you could even say it yourself. My feeling toward you now is much like how I felt facing those abyss creatures—unknown, completely unknown. No, you are even more dangerous than them; at least we know their motivations."

"Doran Charlemagne wanted his kingdom, Edward Wallin hoped to protect his people, and Charles Ryder seems to want a job where he can slack off and get paid, though essentially he is no different from Edward. Shugin craves revenge, and Fang Stuart..."

"But you, Wang Yu, I do not know what you want. You seem to lack a direction to strive for, nor any ultimate desire as a life goal. Your actions are far too unpredictable. What is it you intend to do, and how will you ultimately act..."

Celine’s voice echoed through the space, her tone enigmatic. Wang Yu could not fathom her thoughts, and he had no patience for the rambling nonsense she spewed.

"Do you understand? A being with unpredictable motives, with total uncertainty, yet possessing power beyond all standards, is far too dangerous. Will you be the abyss creature of this era?"

Celine’s speech quickened, her previously calm tone now laced with urgency and agitation, as if she were interrogating him.

"No, I am different from the abyss creatures."

Wang Yu interjected, a rare occurrence, though it was unclear if it counted as a response to her words.

"What?"

Celine seemed stunned by this reply, so inconsistent with his previous silence. But there was no doubt that, having described him so thoroughly, she truly wanted to know what this "extremely dangerous" being had to say.

"I am stronger than them."

Wang Yu replied with indifferent, flat detachment.

"..., you are indeed more dangerous than them. We must accelerate our plans. You and the girl you have dragged along will be the next targets to be eliminated."

"Crack, boom!"

A tearing sound pierced the space Celine had created. This realm, designed to trap Wang Yu and construct endless corridors, was forcibly shattered from the outside. The sturdy spatial barrier was ripped open.

Silver radiance poured in, connecting the interior to the outside world. The head of a silver dragon probed inward, then flashed, arriving beside Wang Yu.

"Is this your target? A troublesome existence indeed."

Arielian said to Wang Yu.

"Sorry for the trouble. This was an unexpected variable. I thought I only needed to slaughter Doran Charlemagne and wipe out the royal family; I didn't expect it to be so deeply entangled."

Wang Yu felt a bit helpless. Honestly, he hadn't expected such complexity. He had estimated the greatest risk to be the royal family’s trump card, so he had played his own ace early to break their hand, only to face this inexplicable creature.

"Can you lock onto her position? I don't know how to kill this thing."

He always insured himself before acting, and since he knew his own shortcomings, he had made prior arrangements with Arielian.

If the connection he maintained with her through certain means were severed, he would ask her to lend a hand. After all, when it came to space, she was the true master.

"I cannot. Her mode of existence is very peculiar. This will likely have to be left to Lady Darkness. This entire space, and the corridors you mentioned seeing in the void, should all be her."

Arielian answered his question; Celine’s form of existence was indeed bizarre.

"An abyss creature? No, an abyss dragon similar to an abyss mage? Not that either. Even the being beside you is such a special existence. Are you truly the most unimaginable threat? Then..."

Celine seemed to notice the peculiarity of this "silver dragon" that had broken in. Her strange "dread" toward Wang Yu was climbing steadily. Wang Yu found it hard to understand why she viewed him as such a dangerous entity; after all, he hadn't done anything particularly heinous.

However, she could not finish her words, for shadows that blotted out the sky began to emerge in the surrounding space.

Pure darkness swallowed the space Celine had created—or rather, the space that was Celine herself. This engulfment existed not only in the material world but in the realm of the void as well.

Celine, wrapped in a swamp of darkness, seemed to struggle frantically, but it was meaningless. The corridors Wang Yu had seen in the void were vast, but compared to the Lady of Night, they were nothing. With her "computational power" liberated, the Lady of Night could exert far more strength than before.

That power, inherited from the ancient deity of night, which caused things to be forgotten and enter a state of "non-existence," became terrifyingly potent as it was filled with the faith of the ever-growing Night Church. For the Lady of Night, who lacked conventional lethal means, this was the strongest attack she could wield.

Everything about Celine began to be swallowed by the darkness. The colors of the world around Wang Yu and Arielian slowly faded, the light vanished, leaving only a silent, eternally gray, void realm.

"This scene is still quite chilling..."

Arielian’s evaluation was tinged with emotion. The power possessed by this "harmless" goddess was, in truth, quite frightening.

"Indeed."

Wang Yu nodded in agreement. Feeling himself swallowed into this darkness, his existence stripped away, surrounded only by nothingness—there was a great terror in it.

The endless darkness was pierced by a small opening of light; the Lady of Night had opened a hole for them to exit.

Arielian shifted into her human form and flew out through the gap with Wang Yu. It was better that the presence of dragons did not appear on the continent for now.

Arriving outside, Wang Yu scanned the surroundings. The throne where Doran Charlemagne had sat was shattered into pieces, and he himself was nowhere to be seen.

"I shredded him."

Noticing Wang Yu’s gaze on the throne, Arielian added.

"That’s good."

He nodded with satisfaction. It would have been troublesome if that guy had escaped.

His gaze lingered in the distance. Edward was approaching with the Night Blades and the soldiers under the Northern Duke. It seemed the area outside the palace had also been successfully secured.

Thus, the reckoning with the royal family had come to an end. However, thinking of Celine and those inexplicable descriptions, Wang Yu felt there were still troublesome matters to handle. Fortunately, Celine had been buried alive by the Lady of Night; he estimated nothing had managed to get out.

"Wang Yu, why do you suppose she would say such a thing about you?"

Avia's query resonated softly in Wang Yu's ears.

Rubbing his chin, Wang Yu recalled his previous assertion that he surpassed the abyssal creatures due to his unique capacity for learning—a faculty that, while mimicking the abyss in appearance, was fundamentally distinct in nature.

Abyssal entities are indiscriminate, devouring knowledge without regard for merit; it was this very gluttony for all things that had ultimately undone the great cephalopod beneath the Endless Sea. Wang Yu, conversely, ensured that whatever he "learned" was refined toward a superior path.

Lost in a moment of contemplation, he realized Celine clearly no longer regarded him as human.

"Perhaps it is because, as they say, those not of one's own kind must harbor a different heart?"