Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“I will not shed tears for you, Alice,” she said calmly, her voice devoid of emotion. She raised her hand, and the protective barrier before her eyes silently closed. “Don’t expect to see me cry.”

The deadline was fast approaching, and she couldn't linger here any longer. She let out a soft breath, turned around, and prepared to leave.

Her steps faltered.

Those indifferent pupils narrowed to tiny dots in an instant. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, wanting to rise, but then falling again. Intense emotional turmoil reverberated within her mind, almost breaking through the drug's protective barrier!

"Are you surprised to see me here, Patchouli Knowledge? You're so unsettled, your persona is about to crumble."

A young girl with long, white hair stood behind her, her pretty face displaying a subtle, indescribable smile—a smile that seemed to be provocation, disdain, admiration, contempt, pleasure, or joy. Her emotions were completely unfathomable, and her face could only be clearly discerned upon close observation.

She didn't have outstretched wings behind her, but Patchouli recognized the face.

“By the name of the emperor…” Patchouli said calmly, “Your presence here is meaningless.”

“I think it’s quite meaningful.” The Emperor shrugged, the smile on his lips fading away, replaced by the innocent, childlike demeanor of a girl next door. “Your hobby is quite good. Sometimes I also go to 'her' replica remains and space out, grumbling a bit. That way, we’re companions with the same stance.”

Her smile shifted again, this time with a hint of mischievousness, like that of a middle school girl. "...What if I threw the 'Kingdom of the Dead' here right now? I think you'd all die. Want to try it?"

Patchouli lowered her eyes.

"Can you do it?" she asked in a low voice.

"Can't I do it?" the Empress asked rhetorically, then suddenly became somewhat discouraged. "Well, I really can't. After all, that heartless Supreme God has placed restrictions on me. I can't get back to the Solar System or attack you until the very last moment, so... consider yourself lucky."

“But I can give orders to the remaining dolls on Earth. You have to go back to the ground, right? You have to build a barrier, right? I can make them surround you and make it impossible for you to complete the ritual.”

“You can’t do it either.” Patchouli’s voice grew increasingly indifferent. “If you could command them, we would have ended the moment we first came into contact with the Land of the Dead. The Supreme God’s restrictions on you should be comprehensive; you simply cannot do anything to us, directly or indirectly. And if it weren’t for the error in our previous actions, you wouldn’t even have had this final chance to act.”

"You're just a phantom. You can't even appear in front of anyone other than me and Alice. What, are you getting lonely because nobody pays attention to you?"

"Hmm...maybe so." The Emperor pouted dejectedly, kicking the ground a few times listlessly as if trying to vent his anger. "There's nothing we can do about it, after all, Alice died. I watched her being torn to pieces bit by bit, fighting desperately to protect the tower while battling millions of puppets!"

"Oh, right, right, she kept calling your name until she died. ['Where is Patchouli now?'] Even without a face, her last thought was of you. Oh dear, so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so impure, so impure!" She covered her face, looking shy.

"...Are you envious?"

The emperor's exaggerated farce came to an abrupt end. She tilted her head, looking at Patchouli like a curious child. "Why should I envy you? This was all pre-arranged; it wasn't something I expected."

"She didn't become Eve but ate the fruit of knowledge, so wouldn't it be natural for her to become Lilith? And since she's Lilith, wouldn't it be natural for her to be nailed to a pillar with a spear?"

Patchouli's fingers trembled slightly.

"You..." Her voice became incredibly dry. "...You know everything?"

"Know what?" The emperor tilted his head to the other side. "Are you talking about that primordial deity in the mantle? Or those plans you two whispered about while having sex in your dreams? I have absolutely no idea about any of that." She made a huge X with her hands and shook her head vigorously.

"I'm so stupid! I don't know anything, I don't understand anything. If you try to bully me, I'll cry!" She pulled down one eyelid and stuck out her tongue at Patchouli, making a face.

“Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve felt so free. I feel a billion years younger…maybe two billion years younger.” She then returned to her original expression and posture, giving Patchouli a faint smile. “I’m looking forward to the changes you’ll bring me, Patchouli Knowledge. After all, I haven’t been this happy in many years.”

Her figure gradually disappeared.

"Well then, see you later, Patchouli Knowledge. Try to stop me with your plans."

Chapter 40: The Final War

Minutes later, somewhere on the burning earth.

The magma, covering approximately 100,000 square kilometers, cooled and solidified in an instant. As the heat energy was rapidly extracted, it transformed into solid rock layers. The structure of space was distorted, twisted, and shattered into pieces. Then, after the enormous form of the ring-shaped base appeared and stabilized its existence, it returned to its original integrity.

The base landed safely, and everything was normal. The remaining time until the final deadline was reached was approximately thirty minutes. To be more precise, it was thirty-one minutes and seventeen seconds.

"The seventh trumpet of Revelation will only sound at the very last moment; once the ritual is successful, all else is irrelevant. Therefore, what you all need to do is buy as much time as possible before that. Make sure my ritual is not interrupted. To put it more bluntly, hold this base for half an hour."

"I have shared control of all the armed systems and mechanical legions within the base with you. You can use them as you wish. They will operate autonomously under the control of the main AI unless you give specific orders. The command of the mortal auxiliary forces will be handed over to those Eastern Continent officers who survived the Doomsday Judgment. Although we can't really count on their combat capabilities... as mortals, perhaps they can create some miracles."

"Alright, that's all I wanted to say. See you later, everyone."

Patchouli's voice rang in the ears of the veterans. For some reason, she didn't choose to see the others one last time before the final deadline, but instead told them directly through telepathy. And what followed was war.

The final war.

Massive metal arms extended from the edge of the circular base, piercing the ground and anchoring it to construct turrets and defensive fortresses. Huge isolation panels were lowered, forming transport corridors like large tiers along the base's edge. The frozen ground was then covered and reinforced with metal plates by engineering robots, while a massive influx of robots and civilian support troops poured out in an orderly fashion, entering various fortifications and activating the war machines within.

Zheng Zha donned his massive, heavy powered armor once more. As the final war, deciding the survival of humanity and the reincarnators, began, all blessings and protections were activated. He could feel an immense, tangible energy surrounding him—no, not just feel, his naked eye could even see the unparalleled energy fluctuations. The outer shell, a mixture of distorted light and high-energy rays, draped over his shoulders, and its manifestation in the material world was a dazzling golden light that could dazzle the eyes!

He shone like a golden morning star. When he stepped out of the central passage of the base and raised the crimson Destruction Blade, which he had taken from 'Slaughter', to salute the surrounding area, deafening cheers and exhilarating shouts swept across the airspace for dozens of miles around.

"Those fancy things Norege made..." he thought to himself, but as he thought this, he felt the energy circle around him solidify slightly with the exhilarating shout. So he couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.

[Could dressing up in a flashy way really increase one's power? Probably not... Or is it just that only Noreiki and her group's magic system has this effect?]

He silently grumbled to himself, but still brandished his greatsword, even controlling the anti-gravity device inside his power armor to lift himself high into the air and create a huge halo behind him to make himself appear even more imposing. The soldiers' morale soared even higher as a result.

“I have to admit, Brother Zheng,” Xiao Honglu’s voice, barely suppressing a laugh, came through the intercom on the top of his breastplate. “You look just like a showy peacock spreading its tail feathers.”

"Shut up," Zheng Zha said in a deep voice. His face was expressionless, but the radiance around him was even more dazzling.

He knew that Xiao Honglu was trying to liven up the atmosphere and calm himself down before the battle. But he also knew that he didn't need to be calmed down at all.

"Is everyone else in position?" he asked.

"We have reached the sniper position." — Midnight.

"The magic cannon array is ready to be used at any time." — Zhan Lan

“Brother Zhang Heng and I are not far behind you.” He slightly turned his gaze and saw Xiao Honglu waving to him from inside the aircraft about three kilometers behind him, and Zhang Heng constantly stroking the ‘Bow of God’ in his hand, ready to shoot an arrow at any moment.

"Although I can't pinpoint the artillery's location as precisely as Sister Zhan Lan, I can still provide support like psionic storms under the buff of the 'Manifestation of the True Lord' ritual. Of course, this is only effective at close to medium range. I can't do anything if the distance is too far."

“…That’s enough.” Zheng Zha nodded. “Then…how far away are our enemies?”

He quickly got the answer. Just two seconds later, when he turned around, he saw a brilliant radiance at the edge of his vision, like a shower of falling stars.

Two hundred ancient angels will arrive on the battlefield within half a minute.

"Ah..." Zheng Zha clicked his tongue, gripping the killing blade tightly. "This number seems to be a little more than Norege originally estimated... What was the maximum number she said we could handle?"

“At most thirty, Brother Zheng Zha.” Xiao Honglu also showed a bitter smile. “Although I admire Sister Patchouli’s judgment, this time… I hope she is wrong.”

"Then let's prove her wrong." Zheng Zha exhaled softly, mobilizing the qi and blood within his body to invigorate his spirit. Almost instantly, he unlocked his genetic potential and entered an 'explosive' state. And then... the war began.

He moved quickly, but someone was faster. Just as he raised his destructive greatsword, the immense power within his legs about to erupt, the magic cannon array from the base fortress fired into the ranks of the ancient angels before he could. The scorching energy, powerful enough to melt mountains and evaporate the earth, instantly disintegrated several ancient angels. Their wings shattered, their limbs dissipated into dissipating light mist in the air, and only after this did the true clash begin!

It was as if Thor's hammer had struck the Wailing Wall. When the ancient angels' army stormed into the steel line formed by the combined efforts of mortals and machines, crashing head-on into the barrier of millions of projectiles, lasers, and ion clusters, the sound and light of the entire world were instantly engulfed by an unparalleled energy shockwave. In that instant, whether human or machine, reincarnator or angel, all they could perceive was pure light and darkness!

Pure light, pure darkness.

The intense heat and laser emitted after the collision of light energy, and the collapse caused by the unstable state of space, resulted in darkness. The temporary fortifications at the forefront were completely vaporized the instant the light and darkness touched, and the ancient angels also suffered heavy losses—at least ten of them fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, bursting into a sea of ​​scorching fire that covered thousands of meters.

flame.

The flames were extinguished by a devastating storm before they could ignite.

The Reincarnators have two conditions for victory. First, they must prevent any angel from interfering with Patchouli's ritual center within thirty minutes. Second, they must ensure that the hundreds of millions of people in the sanctuary base do not perish within thirty minutes.

The time it would take the Kingdom of the Dead to return from outer space would definitely exceed thirty minutes. These two hundred ancient angels were the only remaining force of angels within a radius of thousands of miles. They possessed no extraordinary artifacts, and even though the Jianmu tree no longer existed, they could not directly attack the main body of the base. However, their numbers were vast; if they were to concentrate and forcefully bombard a single point of the protective barrier, then the defeat of the Reincarnators and the human world would be inevitable.

Therefore, we must stop them, we must prevent their forces from converging no matter what. And to achieve this goal, all sacrifices will be meaningful.

Zheng Zha was always at the forefront... He was always the one at the very front. With his buffs fully activated, his weaponry complete, and his genetic lock at the critical third stage, which he could maintain indefinitely, his combat power was actually stronger than he realized. Wielding that crimson greatsword of destruction, he alone could hold off dozens of angels. And with the ranged support of his teammates, he was even more formidable.

When the angel's spear of light struck, it was severed; if it were a lightsaber, it would be severed along with the hand wielding it. Its power could not surpass the explosive force of a cloud-burst bomb, nor could it even penetrate the armor on his body. As for the rain of light feathers and holy magic, Xiao Honglu would deal with the psionic storm he released.

Once the surrounding angels were slowed down by him, Zhang Heng's arrows and Zero Point sniper bullets would take their lives. If they moved in large groups, Zhan Lan would use overwhelming firepower to deal them a heavy blow. For a time, in some areas, the ancient angels even showed signs of being completely suppressed.

But that was only a localized area, a small part of the overall battle. While the veterans could certainly use their superior firepower and advanced equipment to overwhelm the ancient angels in the central battlefield, the mortal legions stationed in other war zones would pay a heavy price.

Ancient angels are far stronger than ordinary angels. A single swoop can crush even the most isolated defensive barriers spanning hundreds of meters of battlefield. Conventional weapons, still belonging to the 21st century and wielded by mortals, are utterly ineffective against them. Cannonballs and missiles can't even match their speed, let alone inflict splash damage. Only heat rays and lasers can possibly harm their physical form.

But it's only a possibility.

The auxiliary troops inside the fortress realized within three minutes of the battle's commencement that the only use of their weapons was to weave a barrage of bullets in the sky. They then pinned their hopes on the sheer number of bullets to create a few small, persistent hits.

But such hope is nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind.

Unable to withstand the ancient angels' onslaught, they could only helplessly watch as wave after wave of angels relentlessly attacked the main body of the base. When hundreds or even thousands of spears of light struck a single point, even the most sturdy shields began to shake and became increasingly vulnerable.

The base is in imminent danger, and ordinary people need to take responsibility for it.

And they did indeed take on this responsibility.

Because… the angels' goal has never wavered from beginning to end. They are instruments of the final judgment, executors to cleanse the world. They will not hesitate, will not fear, will not retreat, will not falter. And naturally… they will not be impatient as the mission deadline approaches.

Their goal is to kill, to kill more and more people until the world is completely destroyed. Therefore, once there is someone to kill in front of them, they will inevitably stop.

Killing those outside the barrier is easier than killing those inside. Killing those who do not resist is easier than killing those who fight. Killing those densely packed together is easier than killing those scattered. In the angels' logic, they always adhere to a method of killing from easy to difficult.

Therefore, the defensive artillery fire from the outer fortress ceased at the tenth minute. The angels attacking the outer defensive barrier of the main base were somewhat surprised to find that the mortals, who had been hidden within the sturdy fortress and were equipped with tight protective barriers and outer armor, were emerging from the outer fortress's fortifications in a line.

They carried no weapons, and their armor and powered exoskeletons had been removed. They stood in a line, singing the national anthem of their homeland, stepping out of the barrier and magical protection, unsuspectingly entering the battlefield, into the area where the angels' power could reach.

It was not a trap, nor an ambush. When the first ancient angel tentatively unleashed celestial fire, incinerating a legion that had willingly entered the battlefield, it received no retaliation.

Then more ancient angels joined in. They shifted their attention away from the tortoise-shell barrier on the main body of the base and turned their killing power towards the mortal troops who were courting death.

Burn them to ashes with fire.

Use a laser to roast them into charcoal.

Use the force field to crush them into pieces.

They were dissolved into blood by radiation.

The angels' slaughter was progressing at an unprecedented rate, wiping out life and extinguishing the last embers of humanity. Soon, the mortal auxiliary troops in the outer fortress were completely wiped out. After the soldiers died, the people in the main base boarded transport vehicles, crossed the one-way blocking defensive barrier, and took their place.

When the elderly all die, the middle-aged will take their place; when the men all die, the women will take their place. This last base of humanity houses a staggering 600 million people, and 600 million... is no small number.

Let them kill.

Go ahead and kill.

Let them...kill until they have no time to do anything else.

Zheng Zha, who was fighting on the front lines of the central battlefield, suddenly felt the pressure on his body ease. He didn't know when, but the ancient angels surrounding him had disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little more relaxed and secretly relieved.

Have I become stronger? Have the angels become weaker?

Ah... it doesn't matter, as long as we can hold on until the end, then we've won.

He steadied his breathing, stretched his neck and spine, and was about to turn his head. But the next moment, a curse from his companion pierced through all his defenses, freezing him in mid-air like a small insect trapped in amber.

"Don't turn around, Captain." In his ears, Xiao Honglu's voice was as deep as ice water. "You can't, and you shouldn't, turn around now."

The battlefield fire had become unusually sparse for some reason, with only occasional explosions and roars, and almost none of them contained the sounds of any heavy weapon Zheng Zha recognized. It wasn't rockets, missiles, artillery, explosives, or any of the high-tech concoctions of the witches. It was as if the entire battlefield behind him had ceased to exist, the war was over, and only faint echoes remained.