Bai Zemin had not ignored the completely abnormal feeling of fear and trepidation that Bai Shilin had been sensing.
He had also not forgotten or overlooked Shangguan Bing Xue's words when she had told him that Bai Shilin had been behaving a little strangely ever since the Sky Destroyer had started heading towards the sun.
Bai Zemin had been ready to face a great enemy.
He had even assumed that the fire spirit he would face would likely have a great purity of Soul Power, which would allow the creature to fight against enemies of a much higher level and thus perhaps take on the current Bai Zemin to some extent.
However, Bai Zemin let his guard down for a split second right after receiving the Soul Power of the fire spirit.
The joy and relief of easily defeating an enemy he thought would be difficult to face inadvertently caused Bai Zemin to lower his guard for a brief moment, and when he sensed the aura of the enemy hidden over him it was too late to even try to hide.
But... Bai Zemin was a decisive and even cruel person not only to his enemies but also to himself.
"I'm taking this whether you like it or not!"
He gritted his teeth and with a pull snatched the fruit from the flaming branch.
Without even bothering to check the records of the consumable fruit, Bai Zemin flapped his wings as he activated Overlap Regeneration.
BOOM!!!
Using 7000 Magic points to convert them into 7000 new Agility points, Bai Zemin's body turned into a golden blur with ash-colored flashes around the edges and in an instant, his figure disappeared.
With over 14.000 Agility points he only needed a few seconds to reach the Sky Destroyer, and with the ship's main cannon plus his own personal strength, Bai Zemin was confident he could defeat this enemy.
As for defeating it alone...
'I can't win. I can't win!'
The same words seemed to be eating him in the head, repeating over and over again as he pushed his body to the limit.
Bai Zemin ignored the damage that the flames were causing him now that he was focusing primarily on movement speed. His only goal was the most primordial of all, a goal that all living beings, intelligent or not, carried engraved deep in their records.
To survive!
'Definitely!'
Just as Bai Zemin thought of this, his skill Predicted Danger Sense triggered.
His face distorted into a horrifying expression as an overwhelming flood of pain he had rarely felt struck his soul. Red blood with tiny golden flecks began to gush from his eyes as the image from 1 second ahead of the danger on the way was transmitted to his brain.
Bai Zemin fought back the pain as he let out a war cry and as quickly as possible moved to the left without even thinking about it.
The sudden movement at such a high speed naturally wasn't taken well by Bai Zemin's body, but he didn't have time to worry about it.
SWOOOOSH!!!!
Just 0.01 seconds after Bai Zemin moved, a blazing flare of crimson fire shot out beyond him from the deepest part of the sun.
His right wing was directly consumed by the flames, but fortunately, it was made of Bai Zemin's shadow, so when he left the area of effect of the crimson flare the wing grew back.
Bai Zemin let out a cry of pain as the expression on his face became even more fierce and horrifying than before. He couldn't see his right arm or his back nor did he want to know how they were, he simply tried to ignore the pain but it was impossible, and had it not been for that thought screaming louder in his heart he probably would have given up right there.
'Survive! Survive! Survive no matter what!'
Just at that moment, Bai Zemin's pupils contracted fiercely as he caught a flash of purple lightning raining down from the sky.
"That's...!"
He finally understood where the terrifying pressure and feeling of oppression he was feeling was coming from, and remembering the words Lilith had said to him long ago he finally knew what kind of enemy he was facing.
* *
Control Room of the battleship Sky Destroyer.
It had been over 40 minutes since Bai Zemin had submerged into the sun, and except for occasional low murmurs, the only sound that could be heard was that of the operators when they needed to perform some kind of action on the ship.
"... Lady Xia Ya, you are one of Zemin's Loyal Followers aren't you?" Ye Linger asked as with wandering eyes she looked around the giant screen all over trying to find her son.
"Yes. I am." Xia Ya nodded.
"In that case..." Ye Linger gulped and with a pale face asked trying to keep her composure, "Do you have any idea how my son is?"
"He is alive if that is what you wish to know, Mrs. Ye." Xia Ya answered calmly. "My soul and that of His Majesty's other Loyal Followers are slightly in contact as we are all connected to his. As long as this contact exists it will mean that His Majesty is alive."
Ye Linger nodded with her face still slightly pale and whispered softly, "That's good, that's good..."
Bai Delan whispered something in Ye Linger's ear, and although no one heard what he said it was clear that the man was doing his best to appease his wife's nerves and fears.
However, even Bai Delan himself was feeling fear and apprehension. All awe and sense of pride about visiting outer space had vanished the instant his son submerged unprotected into the golden flames of the blazing sun. But Bai Delan had a family to look after, and as a man he could not allow himself to show such fear in front of his wife and daughter.
Meng Qi was so nervous and fearful that she dared not look up at the giant screen. Her black eyes were wandering around inside the control room when she suddenly noted that her brother's girlfriend was behaving a little oddly.
"Lili, are you okay?"
Meng Qi didn't particularly like Lili in the same way she didn't particularly like Shangguan Bing Xue. However, this did not mean that she hated them or anything.
Therefore, seeing the always smiling, elegant, and calm Lili suddenly frowning and biting her right thumbnail made Meng Qi wonder if there was something wrong with her.
Lilith raised her head softly to look at Meng Qi and nodded, "...I am f-"
Abruptly, Lilith's body froze and her face turned so pale that it ended up scaring Meng Qi.
Just as Meng Qi was about to ask what was wrong, Fire Sorrow's figure revealed itself against her will and immediately attracted the attention of those inside the room.
"Who are you?!"
"How did a person get in here?!"
"The Sky Destroyer's system failed?!"
...
The twelve operators immediately went crazy and all kinds of cries of surprise and disbelief filled the control room.
Fire Sorrow's face was even paler than Lilith's and her whole body shook hard as her eyes stared at the holographic display on the front wall of the room.
A sound similar to that of a metal plate being torn apart caused the weaker ones to shriek and cover their ears. At the same time, a bright purple light covered the surroundings as a giant neon-bright lightning flash fell from somewhere and struck the ship directly.
The thought that it was the end of everything welled up in everyone's hearts, but after two seconds the purple lightning disappeared and when everyone looked at each other they noticed that amidst the terror they felt there was also relief.
A needle could be heard falling on the floor; that's how soundless the room was.
"Th-That just now was..." Fire Sorrow's voice trembled, but she couldn't finish her words.
"Soul Punishment!" Lilith exclaimed in alarm.
She had felt her records being scanned by something when the purple light covered the ship, and even though she suffered no damage she knew that if that purple light had really wanted to hurt her there was nothing she could have done against it!
"Soul Punishment?" Meng Qi muttered as she looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"Lili... do you know what that was?" Ye Linger asked with lingering fear.
However, it was then that Lilith understood what was going on.
"Don't tell me... Zemin!"
Her entire body trembled and the blood on her face seemed to be drained in an instant as she realized that if she and Fire Sorrow were fine then the purple lightning was aiming at another Higher Existence!
As if to prove Lilith right, a split second after she screamed out in fright the name of the love of her life what sounded like the scream of pain from a non-human beast boomed from outside and shook the Sky Destroyer's magical barrier slightly.
"Th-That was..." Lin Shaoyan swallowed with wide eyes before muttering in shock, "Phoenix?"
Although Lin Shaoyan and the rest had never heard the cry of a phoenix before, that shriek from just now was definitely how the legend described the cry of the mythological beast capable of fighting as an equal against dragons!
It was then that something that left everyone suffering a shock a thousand times bigger happened.
As if by prior agreement or as if something was forcing them to do it, the eyes of everyone moved towards Lili, but what they saw was no longer that human woman with a normal face but a seductive body.
Her clothes had changed and she was now wearing a beautiful black silk dress that clung to her skin softly. Her hair had become as black as ink and now fell to the lower part of her back. The color of her eyes had changed into a beautiful ruby that glittered like precious gems. Her whole being had transformed and the aura she exuded made it impossible for anyone present to react when Lilith slashed forward with her hand.
A black crack appeared in the middle of the control room, and with an expression of fear but full of murderous intent Lilith immediately stepped into the crack, being immediately followed by the unknown purple-haired woman.
A few seconds passed since the crack had closed before a voice brimming with shock and disbelief sounded in the form of a whisper inside the deathly silent room. (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com
"That... was Lili...?"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
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