For a moment, the sound of shattering glass pierced the pitch-black sea and sky.
It was as if a mischievous child had thrown a pebble in the dead of night.
Above the sky dome, it seemed as if the eternal darkness had been torn apart.
There shouldn't have been a sky here, since above was the boundless Abyss, the bottomless pits of Hell. But now, a scorching bright light flared up from the deepest darkness below and plummeted.
In an instant, it pierced through both sea and sky.
Shredding everything.
The belated roar exploded suddenly. Endless flames emerged from the unknown depths below, howling towards Hell, the Border, and the Current Circumstances of today.
One after another, beams of flame plummeted, deeply wedging into the sea, nearly reaching the very bottom of this phenomenon. In the end, the entire sea surface was covered in light.
Light as thick as a forest.
A gut-wrenching scream burst forth, sudden and unexpected.
It pierced everyone's eardrums and shredded everyone's consciousness, as if to empathetically imprint the agony onto every soul.
In the Reflection on the sea surface, the squirming darkness was pinned down by innumerable light spears, pierced through. Impossibly, thick blood surged from above the sea, turning into reverse waterfalls, spreading a pungent odor with countless spreading nightmares and rotten fungi.
The darkness was convulsing, struggling arduously.
It tried to escape but could no longer move. In its final moment, with all its might, it stretched out a tentacle, trying to touch the edge of Group Star.
Just a hair's breadth away.
There, all connections to It were severed.
It was doomed. It could not board this train of escape and would meet its miserable end in the sea.
Dozens of kilometers away, on the survey ship, a bearded sailor holding onto the railing raised his binoculars, staring at the distant, tragic scene.
"This is Egret, requesting an airstrike."
He lifted the walkie-talkie and said, "Please stand by and prepare for observation."
Soon, a report with an electronic buzz came through the walkie-talkie: "This is 'Lone Wolf,' airborne and standing by."
"The enemy is directly south of Group Star," the sailor whispered. "Overcast weather. The wave level of the Endless Sea is three. Attack is possible."
"Received."
A brief whisper came through the walkie-talkie. After three seconds, something colossal swept through the dark sky, illuminated by firelight for an instant.
Rising from the distant Hell, it dropped something and then returned.
In the silence, the roar that tore through everything once again surged in every direction with the terrifying tide, and the wails became ever more shrill.
The Rotten Dream Queen struggled fiercely.
"Visual confirmation, the attack is effective! Lone Wolf, hit them again!"
"Received."
The dark colossus swept again from the depths of Hell, scattering the seeds of destruction, causing the frantic flames to soar once more. In the Reflection on the sea surface, that blackness was already ignited, illuminating the desolate Hell.
It was like the wailing of humans resonating in the air, spreading out again.
But no matter how It resisted, cried out, or roared, nothing could change the fate that was about to happen.
The merciless "Offensive" continued—no, the ravaging went on.
Without a moment's pause.
Firepower enough to burn an entire Hell to ashes was deployed over this Endless Sea, turning the whole night as bright as day. Colossal blades, mountainous in size, fell from the depths of Hell, plowing deep furrows into the sea surface.
Sharp Blade disappeared into the depths of Hell, but the gashes on the sea surface could not be mended.
The Rotten Dream Queen had been bisected right down the middle!
The wails slowly faded away.
The observer smiled, lifting the walkie-talkie. "Support Group, report status."
A long silence followed, with no response.
"Support Group, report status."
Still dead silent.
In the silence, aboard the survey ship, a piercing alarm suddenly went off. Startled, he turned around, only to see a viscous crimson seeping slowly from the cabin.
「Three minutes prior.」
Asian Jurisdiction Bureau Decision-making Room Four was filled with a low uproar.
Hundreds of reports and applications flooded in from all directions every moment. A vast amount of new paperwork awaited approval, and work piled up incessantly.
Weariness and haste were etched on every face as people scurried to and fro, reports and documents constantly changing hands.
But a piercing alarm abruptly cut through the clamor.
Everyone, startled, looked up and exchanged glances.
An abrupt silence fell.