Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

A bitter smile played on her lips… Anastasia's promise echoed in her mind. She knew she could choose to do nothing… Yes, she could return to the Seventh Singularity, appease Tiamat, stop the apocalypse, obtain the Holy Grail, and then… do nothing.

Since Chaldea is no longer in contact, as long as she does nothing and doesn't seek a way home, the Burning of Humanity won't be repaired. She and Mash can simply survive in this era, live out their lives, and then... when she dies, she won't need to choose anymore. She won't need to bear the burden of a sea of ​​blood, nor will she need to face the apocalypse.

Yes, I can do it. And no one... can stop me.

She turned her gaze away to Anastasia—the Russian princess stood far away at the temple entrance, gazing into the depths of the starry sky, ignoring her presence.

She looked at Mashu, the gentle junior who simply gazed at her softly—"Senpai, whatever decision you make, I will support you."—The little beast on her shoulder chirped in agreement.

She turned her head again to look at Mordred—"I'm sorry, Master, I'm just a dead man. This is not something I should concern myself with." —The rebellious knight shook his head slightly in silence.

So Fujimaru Ritsuka took a light breath.

“I’ve figured something out, everyone,” she said softly. “The gods of other worlds objectively exist, and with Mr. Zheng Zha’s power, he wouldn’t deceive us. So the competition and struggle between the gods of other worlds is an undeniable fact—and Mr. Zheng Zha, and at most, Mangtlund, are the only two other gods of other worlds that we can come into contact with.”

"We don't really have many choices, do we? We either put our hopes on fate or fight for our lives."

She closed her eyes, and the memory of struggling for her life in the wasteland surfaced in her mind—yes, if she hadn't struggled, hadn't tried, hadn't made an effort, then she would already be dead in that wasteland, and now she wouldn't even have the chance to make a choice here!

All I ever wanted was to survive...

Then she opened her eyes.

“Mr. Zheng Zha, I know what I should do.”

The next moment, she appeared at the very top of the temple, right in front of Zheng Zha!

“I…” She stretched out her hands towards Zheng Zha. “…I want to fight for it. To fight for this life.”

"Mr. Zheng Zha, please help me!"

Her response was a long laugh.

"So, you want to compete too." Zheng Zha nodded and stood up.

"Then... as you wish!"

A punch is thrown.

—The sky breaks!

Chapter 78 The War in Heaven Erupts

In the void... the newly formed Chaldea Imaginary Number Migration Ship is heading towards the spacetime coordinates of the Seventh Singularity.

Zhao Zhuikong suddenly tilted his head.

"Sakura, when you sense a hidden enemy nearby, but you don't know where it is hiding, what would you choose to do?"

"Clean up the surrounding environment?" Zhao Yingkong replied casually. "The most suitable way to deal with insects hiding in corners is to spray insecticide over a large area. But this requires a prerequisite: it must be effective in a closed environment."

"Brother, are you planning to make your move now?"

“Yes, that’s right, let’s do it now.” Zhao Zhuikong nodded and looked at the imaginary ocean outside. The dark ocean was calm and still, but it seemed as if some enormous thing was constantly surging in the distance. “After all, war is about to break out, and we should have more room to maneuver before that moment arrives.”

The next moment, all life inside the ship began to dissolve!

Whether they are mortals, followers, or mortals who were once followers, fine lines burst forth from their bodies—a dense web of tiny gaps covering their entire bodies. If you look at it from a microscopic perspective, you can see that every cell and every molecular bond of every living being has been cleaved in two by an invisible blade!

Once a single thought arises, all things perish.

All living beings perished in the same instant, along with the colossal ship. Countless rituals and operating spells within the ship—all matter and energy—collapsed in the same moment. This chaotic tide of collapse traveled along the timeline, and in an instant, it was about to touch the beginning of the history held by this organization!

What kind of destruction is utter destruction?

The answer is simple: complete destruction means that it never existed in the first place!

Almost the instant Zhao Zhuikong finished speaking, his countless avatars traveled back in time to different directions!

—The moment he made a wish upon Marisbury Animusfiah, the first director of Chaldea, he killed the first Chaldean before he could even wish to build Chaldea.

—He traveled to the Renaissance era and, before Leonardo da Vinci even picked up a paintbrush for the first time, proceeded to kill him suddenly in his childhood with a heart attack.

—He went to the end of the Chu-Han Contention, and before the true ancestor, who had taken the name Yu Ji, committed suicide at Wujiang, he appeared in the world as an unknown immortal and publicly refined this Gaia true ancestor as a demon in full view of everyone.

—He traveled to the end of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and at the moment when a boy named Gao Changgong first rode a horse and held a spear, he stirred the horse's emotions, causing the boy to embrace death more than 20 years earlier by falling off the horse!

Thus, history was rewritten, and the rewritten history, under his will, has resulted in a complete transformation in the present. The legend of Yu Ji transforming into a demon has become a popular folk tale; the death of the fourth prince of Northern Qi from a fall from his horse is recorded in only one sentence in history books; the three giants of the Renaissance have become two stars; and the astronomy department of the Time Tower has declined several years ago. Without Chaldea, without industry, Olga Marie, who had to support her family business from a young age, died of exhaustion on the day she came of age.

But Zhao Zhuikong's killing spree did not end there.

He traveled to the very origins of time for every member of Chaldea, nipping them in the bud when they were young, even when they were still fertilized eggs. His murderous intent didn't stop there; he went to the very source of all the raw materials used to build the Chaldea organization, burning wood, rotting stone, causing factories producing electronic components to go out of business, and ensuring that everything ceased to exist from the very beginning!

Then everything fell silent.

Several reincarnators from the Central Continent Team abandoned their temporary bodies and temporarily returned to the quiet circular table. Within this pure ocean of imaginary numbers, only Zhao Zhuikong and Zhao Yingkong stood quietly.

They gazed down, into the deepest reaches of the imaginary ocean. In the instant before all destruction, a single particle of matter was precisely captured in the assassins' field of vision.

And a riot of colors of light spread out from the deep darkness.

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

Olga Marie blinked. She felt her vision had momentarily dimmed before quickly returning to normal. The change was so rapid, almost like a hallucination caused by exhaustion—her body swayed involuntarily, her weary shoulders sinking into the soft back of the chair. She instinctively picked up her coffee from her desk, took a sip, and the warmth and richness of the coffee rose in her stomach, allowing her to exhale comfortably.

I must have overworked myself, that's it—damn it, I've never been this tired even when I was the director in charge. All Xiao does all day is dump work on me!

Hmm... why do I suddenly feel like the captain should be Zhao... wait, who is Zhao?

She rubbed her head, confused by the jumbled memories in her mind. Instinctively, she reached for a work document to calm herself. However, halfway there, she realized her action seemed somewhat ridiculous.

Who am I? —I am Olga Marie Asmirette Animusfia. The successor of the Time Tower's Astronomical Department, the former director of the Chaldea Organization, and currently the director of the Intelligence Department of the Chaldea Submersible Ship. My responsibility is to analyze and process all relevant data during the Chaldea Submersible Ship's Imaginary Navigation missions, and to submit it in a categorized manner to Captain Shaw's main control room.

Who is Captain Xiao? — He's a kid who looks only twelve, but whose actual age is unknown. He's Chaldea's biggest financial backer, a top-tier spirit engineer, and a powerful mage whose rank, according to the Time Tower, would undoubtedly be Grand Rank. In the past, he stayed at Chaldea as a high-ranking inspector, providing technical support when appropriate.

—And when the 'Imaginary Voyage' project was launched, after Seraphines and the Homura Research Center, carrying a large number of sophisticated instruments, arrived at Chaldea's location in the darkness of the burning of humanity, he took over the supreme command and became the captain of the Chaldea stealth ship.

Yes, that's right, that's exactly how it should be. Although my memory is still a bit hazy, possibly due to overwork causing some logical inconsistencies, the basic structure should be correct.

Yes, there won't be any mistakes.

"Director, we'll be arriving at the Seventh Singularity in about five minutes. The captain just asked you to go to the control room to see him. He said there's an impromptu meeting." A familiar voice rang out. She turned her head and, not entirely surprised, saw Hinako Akuta's face—this True Ancestor, who had concealed her identity, was now serving as her secretary after relinquishing her status as a Child of the Sea. Although she was always a bit clumsy, she was still a trustworthy confidante.

"An emergency meeting now? Didn't we say that after arriving at the Seventh Singularity, we should first rescue Ritsuka and the others before making any further plans? Has the situation changed again?"

"I don't know either, Director. But Captain Xiao wants you to go there as soon as possible."

Olga Marie shook her head. Well, times had changed. It wasn't her time to give orders anymore; it was time to take orders from others. Although she felt it wasn't so bad—after all, not having to take responsibility could be considered a kind of happiness in a sense—she got up and left, glancing around as she departed her post.

Everyone was at their respective posts. Whether it was Sylvia and Munir, who had been by her side for a long time, or Mabel Macintosh, who had been transferred from Seraphix in recent years, they were all at their respective positions, reporting and processing a lot of data in front of at least three screens. This made her feel a sense of calm for some reason.

Calm... Why is it calm?

She didn't know why she had these thoughts, nor did she have the energy to do a psychoanalysis. She simply got up quickly from her seat and walked briskly toward the main control room.

She encountered many familiar faces on the way, remembering every single one and recalling every moment she had spent with them. Whether it was Leonardo da Vinci as her consultant or Dr. Romani, now the head of the medical department—she saw them, greeted them, and then walked past them.

A sense of loss washed over her, but Olga Marie didn't feel she had lost any precious treasures. Because, as her thoughts deepened, she arrived at the main control room and saw the captain of the Chaldea Imaginary Number stealth ship who claimed to be only twelve years old.

Xiao Honglu.

When she saw him, the brat-like fellow was playing with a card. The card depicted the entire Chaldea Imaginary Submarine Ship, as well as all the Chaldea staff, including herself, Olga Marie. In the spacious main control room, she didn't see a third living being besides herself and him.

Is it a meeting for two people? Then why not just send a notification?

The young director felt a sense of doubt, but as her doubts turned into words and questions, she heard Xiao Honglu's voice in her ear.

“The absence of the Light of the Soul is a good thing, because it’s neither living nor dying.” The card in Xiao Honglu’s hand spun around, and the figure on the card seemed to come alive and sway slightly. “And this means that even beings that have just touched the extraordinary level have the ability to resurrect non-existent dead with little effort, instead of having to prepare a lot of rituals under certain conditions.”

With a snap of his fingers, the spinning card was precisely fixed between his index finger and thumb, remaining perfectly still.

"Since it can be done, then it shouldn't be ignored. Because an agreement is always an agreement, and once a promise is made, it should be kept—don't you think so, Director Olga Marie?"

Olga Marie said she couldn't understand what this guy was going on about at all, and wanted to punch him in the head.

“I’m sorry, Captain Xiao, I came here because I heard there was a meeting…” She tried hard to control her emotions. “What you just said… I’m sorry, I didn’t understand at all.”

Xiao Honglu smiled slightly and put away the card. "What I mean is, there is only one living person in this universe, and her name is Flora."

“…Flora is dead, Captain Xiao. Perhaps you have some mental issues; should I call Romani for you?” Olga Marie frowned. She began to suspect that the boy who claimed to be twelve years old had lost his mind, and started to consider whether she should act as the captain's proxy if he was unable to fulfill his duties—

—Her breathing and thinking stopped there.

Because right in front of her, Xiao Honglu opened the external observation window of the main control room, displaying the landscape of Mesopotamia, the seventh singularity they had already arrived at, to her!

"The war has begun, Olga Marie," Xiao Honglu said calmly. "The entire world will be drawn into it, unable to escape, including Chaldea—and that is the topic of this meeting."

Chapter 79: The Battle of Heaven - The Sky Breaks

'Skybreaker' is not an adjective, it is not sentimental or exaggerated, but a concrete description—when a true god who specializes in the pure power of creation sits in seclusion on an island of time for ten thousand years, accumulating this attack to its limit, its explosion will inevitably lead to such a consequence.

The instant Zheng Zha threw his punch, a massive hole with a radius of ten light-seconds silently ripped open on the outer side of the nebula that Ur had transformed into. Even when the ultimate power is restrained to the maximum extent, it is enough to cause devastating aftershocks. While Zheng Zha can fully control the power he possesses, it does not mean that he needs to restrain this power to the extreme in every action.

He traversed light-years in a single step. Aside from the Earth's surface, which he had deliberately focused on, a destructive tide moved outwards with each step he took.

The chaos on Earth's surface was utterly shattered, like Pangu creating the world. Mesopotamia, where the Seventh Singularity was located, was directly torn from Earth as an independent dimension. And it wasn't just Mesopotamia; Orleans, Rome, Oceanus, London, North America, and Jerusalem—these six singularities, which had once been independent as singularities but were later repaired and restored by Sirin, burst forth from human history and separated into independent nations in space.

The timeline was shattered; from this moment on, the past and the future were no longer an interconnected whole. The seven eras detached from Earth, transforming into seven independent planes, and the causal forces that had lost their guidance vanished silently—the light band shattered, and from each continent, a celestial abyss rising from the south could be seen tearing through the sky. The modern Earth, surrounded by the seven planes, also began to collapse, transforming from chaos into order, from a sphere into a plane.

The Earth theory has once again been thrown into the trash, while the flat Earth theory has become the new truth. There is no longer any pan-human history or any scissoring mechanism, because the world has been reshaped.

The new rules have replaced the old ones.

This was something the Chaldeans hadn't anticipated, but it was perfectly natural in the eyes of the true gods—they perhaps believed that saving humanity meant saving those mortal lives on 'modern Earth' that had been incinerated by the causal chain of burning away human reason. Because they didn't consider the people in the singularities as living beings—they assumed they were already dead, that those mortals in the singularities were merely history. However, in the eyes of the true god, in Zheng Zha's eyes, those lives in the singularities could also be considered 'people' within his scope of salvation!

The path of pioneers is meant to pave the way for all living beings. Since the inhabitants of the singularity have been recognized by Zheng Zha, they naturally have the right to embark on a new path and earn a way to survive for themselves.

Earth no longer exists; eight separate yet vaguely intertwined dimensional continents have become the new home of humanity. Zheng Zha's voice resounds throughout the eight realms, revealing the truth and the new path.

The starlight of the Dao Eclipse did not fall, for the destructive tide following Zheng Zha's footsteps revealed its true power after leaving the Earth-Moon region. Like a drop of ink falling into clean water, it expanded rapidly outwards, cleanly and swiftly disintegrating and annihilating countless Order stars, countless spatial bubble clusters, countless Force swarms, and countless faceless Valkyries—because their essence was that of a clan, they were not even considered false living beings in Zheng Zha's eyes. And immediately afterward, Zheng Zha arrived at the very center of that Order star cluster!

Exusiai's true form is the radiance at the very center of the Order Stars.

Zheng Zha's true form is himself, presenting the state of himself that he spent ten thousand years trying to come up with a good name, so he simply named himself 'Dragon Transformation'!

He saw Ex, and Ex saw him too.

The distance between the two sides was less than ten meters on a spatial scale, but the distorted and deformed spacetime fracture barrier blocking Zheng Zha's way, each of which could effectively resist the supernova explosion, had already generated thousands or even tens of thousands of layers!

"It's been a long time, Zheng Zha, captain of the Central Continent Team."

"It hasn't been long, Ex, the captain of the Senzhou team."

In the instant their voices clashed, countless spacetime barriers were shattered by Zheng Zha's fist. Immediately following, Zheng Zha's right fist struck the ball of light manifested by Axe's true form!

The phenomenon of road erosion occurs suddenly.

The next moment, every star, every swarm of Force insects, and every beam of Order within the Order Galaxy covering a ten-light-year area seemed to come alive as it screeched and then purified, transforming into light that rapidly converged toward the core area where Ex was located!