Chapter 1360

Noticing the abnormality outside, Xiao Ying quickly walked to the window.

Her first reaction was that the clouds had covered the sun—but when she lifted her head, her pupils suddenly contracted into a pinpoint.

That wasn't a cloud.

The huge shadow in the sky, rapidly expanding and possessing a weight no cloud could have, was pressing down with the force to destroy a city. What is it? The Blade of Heaven's Judgment?

During the battle against Nicadoli, that Titan had once summoned a blade large enough to blot out the sky and sweep the land, but this time the celestial object was even larger than that blade, scraping the clouds at extreme height and distance, turning the entire sky into a red-hot iron plate.

"It's here."

Ning Ci's voice was low, his white eyes already activated, veins bulging at the corners of his eyes. He saw a corner of the "darkness" in the sky, saw the crimson patterns on the giant object's surface—wait, that's……

A meteorite?!

Its falling speed seemed slow, slow as a deliberately stretched nightmare.

The scene of Uchiha Madara summoning the Heavenly Impeding Star Shock remains, to this day, a nightmare for the survivors of the Fourth Division of the Ninja Alliance; even though the meteorite in the sky did not actually smash down, that immersive sense of oppression directly caused many ninjas in the village to abandon any struggle for self-preservation.

The meteorite drew nearer, until—

Everyone was swallowed by that beam of light.

——

Original God.

The brightness of that instant exceeded the limit of what human eyes could endure, as if the sun had fallen from the sky.

All of Mondstadt was bleached of color by the light—houses, trees, people… all lost their outlines in the intense brilliance, as if they had become over-exposed pale silhouettes.

Fortunately, due to the earlier crises caused by Phantasm and Nicadoli, together with multiple drills conducted by the Knights of Favonius for the residents, most people had experience and, when the intense light fell, they hurried indoors and clapped their hands over their ears to avoid the impending…… shockwave.

"Boom——!!"

Above the City of Mondstadt, at this moment it was as if a boulder had been dropped into a lake, sending out huge ripples visible to the naked eye.

The ripples took on a semi-transparent form, spreading rapidly in all directions at a speed hard for the eye to perceive; wherever they passed, space seemed to be twisted and pulled by some indescribable mighty force, emitting a grating "hiss".

"What…… is that?"

After the blinding white light, Jean stared in astonishment at the anomaly above Mondstadt, feeling only a sudden, inexplicable palpitation.

"This is Barbatos's barrier." Falco approached from behind her, saying, "Last time Nicadoli's heaven‑shattering, earth‑rending sword caused considerable damage to Mondstadt. I discussed it with Barbatos and Ms. Alyss, and for an attack of this scale, besides the instantaneous ear‑bursting sound blast and blinding light that can deafen and blind, the worst is the delayed shockwave coming from the firmament—its destructive power is simply too great."

"So you made preparations in advance?"

Falco nodded: "Yeah, it's the cooperation between Barbatos and the Witches' Covenant. When Ms. Alyss's magic is triggered by the power from the firmament, it quickly activates the barrier Barbatos left in Mondstadt beforehand. I originally thought this 'insurance' would take a long time to trigger—at least not until we face the next Calamity Sovereign—but I never imagined Bai E would casually produce such a commotion..."

Jean also found this deeply troubling. When Bai E previously activated this power within himself, she had thought it would be similar to the Arsonists, but she never imagined that in his transformed state Bai E could simply raise his hand and summon a meteorite……

……Apart from the word "god," she could momentarily think of no other term to describe Bai E.

"Is this power on him due to 'Destruction'? It's far stronger than any Titan we've encountered before."

"Perhaps it's also because of the fire seed," Falco said. "Now Bai E, even if all Titans and demigods joined forces, might not be his match; if he took this form to the real world, he could probably arm‑wrestle those few generals of the Xianzhou."

——

""If you can do it, 'Savior'…… use your anger at the injustice of fate to brand this body with a scar of fire!""

"After the fierce white light faded, countless golden spears suddenly shot from the clouds, piercing straight toward Kaeciuslan!"

"These attacks were meaningless to him; Kaeciuslan easily dispelled the spears aimed at him. He lifted his head, only to see in the distance \"Nicadoli\" waving the Blade of Heaven's Judgment, launching another assault."

"This is his all‑out strike, and also his final strike."

""Maidemos……""

""Let's settle this with 'Conflict'……""

"The instant his words fell, Bai E's Qinshen in his hand transformed into a golden great blade, directly meeting the strike capable of leveling myriad nations!"

"In the blinding light, time seemed to stop."

"Kaeciuslan's great blade in his hand, like a wheel crushing dry twigs, irresistibly split the earth beneath Wandi in two. As his Blade of Heaven's Judgment shattered piece by piece, he himself, like a broken‑kite, crashed heavily to the ground."

""Fought beautifully…… let my blood replace the crown.""

""In the next life, I will surely block your path again.""

"Kaeciuslan heard only Wandi's dying gasp beside him; blood welled from his throat, mingling that final blessing with the howling wind."

""'Savior'… I wish you…… ever victorious in battle.""

""……""

""The 1,018,642 'Conflict' fire seeds have fallen into the fire…… yet the shadow of Heichi still looms, pain and despair spreading across the distant lands……""

""The flame is still lacking…… we must…… feed the flame.""

""More flames flickered in Kaeciuslan's eyes. What had begun as a few scattered, weak sparks had already joined within him into a blazing expanse. His blue pupils were filled with the dancing firelight, icy…… yet intensely blazing.""

""Even if…… I must burn this body to ashes……""