Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Xiao Honglu took out the card containing the sealed Red-Eyes Black Dragon from his pocket. The enormous dragon on the card, which had become dull and lifeless due to the battle with the Ringwraiths, regained its menacing appearance when exposed to the sunlight. He couldn't help but twitch his lips, and the slight dissatisfaction he had felt towards Sirin vanished abruptly in the sunlight, like the shadow on the dragon. He opened his mouth, but in the end, only a sigh escaped his lips.

“Xiao Honglu, the sage of the current Zhongzhou team… that’s about right.” He extended his hand to Xilin. “You must be Miss Xilin. Welcome to the Zhongzhou team. I must say, this entrance ceremony… has left quite a deep impression on us.”

"Ah...hehehe..." Sirin scratched her head awkwardly, her gaze quickly sweeping over the faces of the others with some embarrassment. Only after confirming that no one intended to continue the topic did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Then, she took the opportunity to change the subject, diverting the attention of the crowd. "Um, sorry, I really didn't mean it. I'll definitely be more careful next time...it's all because those guys from the Celestial Team are too cunning!"

"Interlocking spaces, independent fault lines—these guys have created at least ten thousand nested spatial membranes! Even if I use all my skills, I can only dismantle a dozen or so layers at a time. There's no way I can accurately pinpoint a suitable escape point!" She stared at the seemingly empty sky above River Valley Town and shouted in a slightly exaggerated tone. "I'll deal with you properly later when I have some free time!"

"Where is the Celestial Team?" Xiao Honglu asked instinctively, following her gaze.

"Yes, that's right, Song Tian, ​​Adam, and Luo Yinglong are over there. Oh, I almost forgot! Miss Alice is still trapped inside. Now that you're all safe, I need to go help her as soon as possible!" Her expression suddenly changed, and with a sweep of her spiritual power, she instantly counted the number of people present, as well as Zhang Heng and Ming Yanwei who were building the grave, and Cheng Xiao who was still just hanging around in a remote corner. Her steps froze, and her entire form suddenly faded away.

"Wait a minute!" Xiao Honglu suddenly called out to stop them.

Then, Sirin's fading form solidified again, and she tilted her neck, casting a questioning gaze at him at a forty-five-degree angle. "What's wrong? Is something important?"

"You mean Alice is trapped up there?" Xiao Honglu asked seriously. "And you've already escaped the Celestial Team's spatial lock?"

“Yes, yes.” Sirin was still full of questions. “I’m quite skilled at manipulating space! If it weren’t for the fact that the Celestials’ spacetime loop was too complicated and I was scared and confused by it, getting out of there would have been a piece of cake. Those bastards even set up time flow differences in the gaps between each layer of space, I have no idea how much time has passed for Miss Alice over here… Anyway, I have to go help!”

"You mean we're not currently trapped within the Celestial Team's barrier...?"

"Isn't this obvious!" Sirin puffed out her cheeks, it was unclear whether she was deliberately being cute or trying to get away from this awkward situation. "The Celestials' ability to create spatial rifts is so-so. As long as you're inside one, I can sense seventeen or eighteen flaws and gaps just by blowing on it. Unlike this space, so stable, so vast, even if I extend my mind infinitely outwards... well..."

She suddenly got stuck.

"This space actually has an end!? It's so realistic, yet there's such a flaw—!?"

She reached out, intending to shatter the space she was in, just as she had done when she destroyed the Celestials' spatial barrier. However, her power could only destabilize the spatial structure, creating destructive spatial rifts and storms. But on the other side of the storm, there was no other reality.

She could destroy the space here, but she couldn't travel from the inside of the Tower of Babel world to the outside. Just as she couldn't simply step from the real world into any parallel universe or alternate dimension instead of landing directly in the same space, she couldn't leave this place.

Xiao Honglu rubbed his head. He finally understood what had happened here.

[So that's how it is. We, the ones protecting our Sirin, and Alice ensuring Sirin's safety... all three of our teams were actually just bait. Our purpose was to cause the Celestial Team to make certain misjudgments about timing, thereby inducing them to do things that Chu Xuan wanted them to do.]

[...Is it to wait for Zhao Zhuikong's ritual to complete? Gathering such a massive force seems like overkill, except perhaps for dealing with Sauron. Their true objective must be to deal with the Valar gods hiding on the other side of the world. And the reason for luring the Celestials is probably to make them draw the initial fire. So, besides allowing Zhao Zhuikong's ritual to complete... Sauron in the outside world should have already been dealt with.]

"I think I roughly understand what's going on... What a clever tactic, Chu Xuan. Although I don't know how you plan to drag the Veras down from the other side of the world, the plan must have progressed this far, so you must have a plan. And Alice, who's cooperating with you... yes, this must be the Tower of Babel world. We're trapped inside the Tower of Babel world, while Alice and the Celestial Team's reincarnators are within the barrier of the Tower of Babel world. Deliberately creating such an obvious flaw as the boundary is actually a warning to us. So that after we finish what we're doing... we won't get in the way?"

It's truly disheartening to lose so badly that you don't even get the chance to play.

"I think I understand what's going on here." Xiao Honglu took a deep breath, suppressing the complex emotions surging within him. Then he gave Xilin a smile typical of a brat. "No need to worry about Alice. She can handle it. And Xilin, the captain's task for you is to help us delay the Celestial Team's fourth-tier combat power, right?"

"The person who entrusted this to me was Alice... but that's definitely the content."

"That's it. You've completed the task Alice entrusted to you. You successfully prevented the Celestials from causing us any trouble before our battle ended—though that might not have been entirely their intention. But the mission is accomplished, isn't it?"

"This……"

“Furthermore, I feel there are other important things we need to do.” Xiao Honglu gently placed his ten fingers together. “If I’m not mistaken, what awaits us next is a massive, unprecedented war. Since Chu Xuan has given us some free time, he must be allowing us to adjust our state here and, incidentally, to get to know each other better. After all…”

"All we know about you so far is your name. Don't you think we should take this opportunity to chat a little longer, Sister Sirin?"

"Ah, besides the name, his unreliability is also a significant characteristic. So we really need to gather more intelligence... We probably won't be able to participate in the upcoming battles," Xiao Honglu thought to himself.

“Um… cough cough.” Sirin coughed lightly twice. “Actually, after reaching the fourth level, if the thoughts of the people around me are very deep, I can read them directly from the scattered mental fluctuations… I think I’m quite reliable, and I can handle most tasks or commissions completely… probably.”

Her voice trailed off, and the atmosphere in the area where they were located grew increasingly awkward. While these reincarnators would surely find a way to break the awkwardness, that would likely be some time from now.

....................................

Meanwhile, in the Two Elements Dust Array, where Sirin had previously struggled to escape and even created a blunder, another, more important battle was drawing to a close.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Today's new requests are for two sections... Ah, the momentum has definitely slowed down. Yesterday really scared me. Looks like I can handle these requests by staying in my "three-watch beast" mode. Anyway, there are still two sections left today; this one is just a regular daytime activity. That's all~

Chapter 76 - Breaking the Deadlock [2/16]

Within the Yin-Yang Dust Array, the battle between the reincarnators had lasted for nearly fifteen hours. Fifteen times, Alice had disrupted the formation set up by the Celestial Team's reincarnators, nearly costing one or two of them their lives. However, each of her fifteen attacks was thwarted at the last moment, failing to achieve complete success.

She finally witnessed Adam's ability... It was similar to Altair's wish spell, but it emphasized offensive power while ignoring all other possibilities—a kind of incantation, or a grand prophecy. Fourteen out of fifteen near-misses were due to Adam's words interfering with spacetime. The only one was a trap deliberately set by the three members of the Celestial Team.

She neither lost nor was defeated; though she was in a slump, she persevered. The rift space used for their four-way battle had long since turned to dust. Then, through shifts in spacetime, they arrived at a new region—the Yin-Yang Dust Array could lock in the energy in the airspace, but it couldn't contain the raging energy currents between the rifts. Although absorbing that violent energy was harmful even to extraordinary life forms, the energy-bearing capacity of the persistent soul was higher than the three members of the Celestial Team had anticipated.

Alice might lose, but it won't be a quick defeat. In her current state, she could easily drag this battle out for a week, but for the Celestials and the others, there's no more time to waste.

“I sensed a tremor in the spatial structure. It’s not just this one spatial fault, but the entire Yin-Yang Dust Array is in turmoil. It seems your delaying tactics aren’t up to par; Sirin has successfully broken free of your Yin-Yang Dust Array and caused a massive disruption to the overall spatial structure.” Alice was still wearing her fitted combat ceremonial attire, her fingers tightly gripping the magic-infused staff of control. Being essentially a soul bound by obsession, she showed no signs of fatigue, shortness of breath, or even bloodstains or dust. It was as if she had simply gone for a stroll in nature, picking a few flowers.

“I can even vaguely sense the energy fluctuations in the space now, and I may soon be able to attract and capture them—your methods to delay me have failed. And soon, when my team members react, your annihilation will come.”

Alice tilted her head slightly and said softly, "You're all dead."

“Death?” Adam and his companions maintained their oppressive stance. A bright smile played on his lips, but his gaze towards Alice was even more earnest than before. “Perhaps we will indeed face death someday, but not now. Perhaps I will indeed fall to someone, but that person will not be you, Ms. Alice. I know you better than you think, and I possess a greater resolve than you imagine.”

He raised his hand and retrieved a nailed hammer from the void. An ominous aura of curse and dense darkness emanated from the hammer. The moment it appeared in the space, an indescribable sense of oppression spread outwards. The entire celestial realm seemed to instantly turn gloomy and somber, with an element that even Alice's obsessive soul felt uneasy spreading and permeating outwards.

“You should know what this is. This is Grund, the Hammer of Melkor Morgoth. It represents the deepest dark power in the world. However, the attributes are actually irrelevant to you and me; there is not much difference between the deepest darkness and the brightest light. The key lies in the essence of this dark power—the essential power of the immortal light of the mind, which is higher than the initial stage of the fourth rank.”

A dark aura spread out, his eyes turned from emerald green to pure black, and his short golden hair became stained with a muddy color. Countless black lines, like tree roots, spread upwards from his hand that was holding Grund's, but he paid no attention to them.

The black lines stopped abruptly just as they were about to touch his heart.

“I expended great effort and used many precious tools to find this sealed warhammer in the cracks of this world, in a place deeper than the earth itself and more distant than the ocean beyond the sea. The immortal power of Melkor Morgoth contained within this warhammer has not faded to this day. And now I can use it by paying a certain price.”

A sudden burst of energy ripples erupted in front of him, and Song Tian, ​​who had been positioned on the other side of the triangular suppression formation, suddenly appeared in his original spot. His raised longsword blocked Alice's staff strike that hurtled through the air. The dissipated energy triggered a miniature nuclear explosion at the point where the sword and staff met—Alice continued her assault, a straight punch, a side kick, and a near-zero-point magic cannon shot aimed at Song Tian's chest. Just as the magic cannon was about to fire, Song Tian suddenly transformed back into Luo Yinglong. The magic cannon then deflected under an unfolding Tai Chi symbol, and just as the second shot was about to be fired, a long-range sword aura from Song Tian struck behind Alice!

Alice's half-body transformed into a dragon, sprouting three of the seven red dragon heads that spewed sulfurous fire at the blade's energy. The forcibly disrupted information formed an energy storm in near-space, blocking the Azure Chain Sword that attacked from the side. Her free hand formed a blade with her fingers, shattering the Tai Chi symbol and the space around it with a single strike. However, the Luo Yinglong hiding behind the Tai Chi symbol was replaced by a White Tiger formed from energy. The White Tiger, representing killing, transformed the shattered space into sharp blades that swept back towards Alice, while one of the three heads that emerged from the red dragon deflected, spewing out scorching aurora to destroy the blades formed from the fragments of space. Alice's outstretched hand continued forward.

Her hand, propelled by the aurora's breath, pierced through the energy membrane surrounding the white tiger, directly piercing the head of the sacred beast formed from the talisman and the formation. However, as the white tiger's head was pierced, it transformed into a blue dragon formed from wind blades, which then climbed up Alice's palm, tearing and biting.

Alice's hand lost some energy, but before the Azure Dragon could climb to her shoulder blade, it was pinned down and pierced through by the tail of the red dragon that had sprung from her back. Just as the Azure Dragon was about to transform into a Black Tortoise or a Vermilion Bird, the dragon head that had previously spewed out aurora light bit the sacred beast in two. Alice's hand, freed from the entanglement, suddenly twisted backward, and the giant black scythe that she gripped tightly appeared between her fingers, blocking Song Tian's second slash after his charge. The other two dragon heads then turned and fiercely bit down at Song Tian, ​​who was blocked by the giant scythe!

"Stop—" a voice rang out, and the entire space around Alice, including Song Tian and Luo Yinglong, was suddenly frozen in place for a moment, as if a stop button had been pressed. And in the next instant, endless darkness and light burst forth from around Alice!

'boom--!!!!'

The energy, enough to shatter a medium-sized comet in an instant, was released, causing the entire airspace sealed off by Alice to collapse. Endless forces of earth, water, fire, and wind surged forth from the cracks in spacetime, surging about, but in an instant, all this surging energy came to an abrupt halt in the reconstruction of space.

The old space was destroyed, and a new spatial rift was born. Above, the clear blue sky remained, and below, the fertile plains stretched as far as the eye could see. Alice still stood in the sky, wearing her undamaged battle dress. And the three members of the Celestials team still surrounded her firmly in an equilateral triangle formation.

“You are as irritable as ever, Ms. Alice. But as you can see, you and we are at best evenly matched. We can’t kill you, and you can’t kill us.” Adam’s voice still came from afar.

“But time is on my side now.” Alice smiled slightly, a portion of her attention fixed on Adam and the Grond Hammer in his hand. “What, not using your secret weapon? It’s a stalemate, yet you’re not using the weapon that could decide the game? Is it that you can’t use it? Or that you dare not use it?”

“Ms. Alice, I only hope for an ending where we can all have a dignified conclusion. It would be much better for you to leave on your own than for me to knock you out with this Melkor's Hammer. You must know that even the power of the Supreme God has its limits. If it involves causal lines, injuries to the Light of the Mind, or even death, the Supreme God may not be able to heal.”

“I think you probably don’t dare to use it, you only dare to use it to scare people,” Alice sneered. “Unlike Sauron, that half-baked guy, Melkor is a formidable enemy that the Valar gods are always on guard against. Although it failed, it was only banished to the outer reaches of this world, and it still has the final battle that will eventually come to fight—once its power appears in Middle-earth, even in the airspace sealed off by your Yin-Yang Dust Array, the Valar who have been on guard against it will surely descend immediately and completely eliminate Melkor’s dark power.”

“Melkor’s power will be eliminated, and you, who released this power, and the Celestials you lead, will naturally become the targets that the Valar will eliminate—the warhammer in your hand is not a weapon that can turn the tide, but a mere burden—you dare not use it at all, you only dare to use it to bluff!”

Adam remained silent.

“You must have been a highly skilled orator before you entered the cycle of reincarnation. I was almost convinced by you.” A smile suddenly appeared between his brows.

"But unfortunately, you're just using normal logic to deduce this, while I've obtained much more detailed information from the darker side of this world—the power of darkness has only one representative in this world. Melkor won't be able to descend from Outland until Sauron is completely dead!"

He suddenly raised his warhammer!

Section 77. Revelation. Apostolic Scriptures [3/18]

at the same time.

The outer world of the Tower of Babel.

Alice took out the crystal sphere containing Sauron's soul, and with a sudden clench of her fingers, the sphere and the soul within it shattered and vanished. An invisible shriek seemed to echo through the air, followed by a massive shadow that seemed to sweep across the sky, as if a raging wind with a face of terror and fury was approaching, before instantly converging within the magic ring clutched tightly in Zheng Zha's hand!

Sauron was dead. But the proclamation of the supreme god did not sound. And when Alice's gaze shifted to Zheng Zha, the latter unhesitatingly put the ring on his hand. And the next moment, a thunderous roar, the same one he had heard more than once during his battle with Sauron, rang in Zheng Zha's ears!

"mortal!"

The world before his eyes suddenly shifted, silence turning into clamor, simplicity into complexity. And when everything in his eyes settled down, he found himself on a vast battlefield. Before him stood a massive allied army of thousands, including humans, elves, and dwarves, while behind him rose a towering black tower that seemed to pierce the clouds.

He heard shouts of battle, the sounds of marching troops, and a deafening roar in a cacophony of languages. The shouts cried out, "Kill Sauron!" and the gathering torrent of iron surged toward his location!

This is the Highgross Plain, and what is about to unfold here is the final battle of the alliance from a thousand years ago. In the distance, Mount Doom spews forth endless smoke and flames, and the most powerful, united, and cohesive army in the world is marching toward the great enemy of a thousand years ago—and Zheng Zha immediately realizes that the army's target is none other than himself!

He... became Sauron.

[If I walk the path I've walked, experience all the battles I've fought, until time rewinds to the moment of my birth, then I will give you a chance to fight me fairly.]

A voice rang in his ears, and the vast army quickened its pace. The elven general at the forefront raised his bow, the arrow already aimed at Zheng Zha's eye. The next moment, the arrow pierced the sky and arrived before him!

A mocking smile suddenly appeared on Zheng Zha's lips (he rarely smiled like that).

"A fair fight?" He raised his hand, and the flying arrow was instantly frozen in mid-air. The Greatsword of Destruction extended, and the surging sword energy swept backward, severing the dark tower behind him in half!

"You think you, a mere surviving bastard, are worthy of a fair fight with me?!"

The next moment, an unparalleled wave of destruction erupted around him, and amidst the screams of someone hiding in the shadows, the entire space shattered in an instant. Both the towers he had cleaved and the Allied legions charging towards him vanished without a trace in this destructive tidal wave. The parched earth, the scorching sky, and the distant Doomsday Pass billowing with black smoke and fire were utterly annihilated, and the true reality of the world immediately appeared before Zheng Zha's eyes.

It was an arena surrounded by a Ring of Destiny magnified trillions of times. Zheng Zha was on one side, while Sauron, clad in heavy armor and wielding a mace, and the phantoms of eight Ringwraiths were on the other side of the arena. A black aura struggled to emerge from his body, seemingly trying to escape, but was instantly annihilated by Zheng Zha's blade the moment it was exposed to the air, transforming into the ninth Ringwraith before melting and collapsing.

"Mortal! You deserve to die!"

Sauron spewed black smoke and flames from beneath his visor. As the phantom of the ninth Ringwraith crumbled, he took a step forward and charged towards Zheng Zha. However, his downward-striking scepter was blocked by the spine of the Greatsword of Destruction. The remaining Ringwraith phantoms then swarmed forward, but were all repelled by the violent aura unleashed by Zheng Zha.

“Compared to the world woven by Margot Lloyd, your level of illusion is only good for acrobatics.” Zheng Zha parried with his sword, and Sauron, along with his scepter, was pushed aside. Zheng Zha then quickly caught up, and the positive and negative energies within him collided, and the Extinction Blade immediately fell.

"Outdated villains should obediently leave the stage and rest in peace, you dead demons!"

Alice hadn't tricked him; Sauron, having lost his superhuman physical body and whose inner light had transformed into artifacts, indeed posed little threat. However, Alice had also miscalculated—at least, Zheng felt it was. That was because Zheng's combat strength was far greater than Alice had anticipated!

With a single blow, Sauron, just like in the legendary battle, had his scepter and the fingers holding it severed. And with the second strike, all eight Ringwraith shadows were reduced to ashes. He then unleashed a third, all-out attack!

"Primordial Era - Creation!"

An extinct radiance then engulfed Sauron and his world.

Zheng Zha opened his eyes. He saw the space above River Valley Town shatter into pieces, and an incredibly dense dark power surged out, rose, and pierced the sky, staining the heavens with ink, accompanied by Adam's sharp and furious roar.

"Alice! You tricked me!"

A sound of space cracking echoed, but the opening of the portal was blocked by a force unfamiliar to Zheng Zha, yet unmistakably belonging to the Central Continent Team. His gaze shifted, and he saw Zhao Yingkong's figure flash past in a flickering light, followed by a muffled groan in the void. An arm then materialized out of thin air and instantly turned to dust. His gaze continued to shift, and he saw Alice, who was chanting the ritual, vomit a smear of black blood!

"Margot Royd?"

Zheng Zha instinctively reached out to take a step forward, but Patchouli, who had been there from the beginning, had already helped Alice up. Then, a communication from Chu Xuan rang in his ear.

[Stand still, there's something more important coming up.]

He then instinctively stood on his tiptoes.

Then, Alice's chant echoed and lingered throughout the entire sky.