Chapter 307

Attack on Titan

The setting sun plated Maria Wall with a layer of blood-red, and the treetops of the forest swayed gently in the evening breeze. Reiner lay on his back on a thick branch, hands behind his head, gazing at the scene in the sky through gaps in the leaves.

「Grand Duke of Underfire……」Reiner made a tsk sound, then suddenly said: 「Since this guy is so powerful, why didn't the Star Core Hunters, when they went to kill the Yepela Brotherhood, also take care of this fire demon in passing? With Sam and Ren's strength, it shouldn't be too hard to do, right? 」

From a higher branch came Annie's icy voice: "You really think the Star Core Hunters can beat the Grand Duke of Underfire? What if they can't?"

"How could that be?" Reiner narrowed his eyes slightly, "You forgot how Kafka toyed with those animal-brained guys of the Yepela Brotherhood."

"The Yepela Brotherhood can hold its own against the Eternal Fire Official Residence within the Annihilation Gang, showing their strength and influence are roughly equal, yet one can be easily wiped out by the Star Core Hunters—how could the other possibly resist?"

Annie gave a slight nod; upon reflection, it indeed seemed to be the case. Initially Kafka entered the scene in the manner of 'prey' and concluded with 'toying'. From start to finish, the Yepela Brotherhood never managed to resist even a bit.

Being able to fight back and forth with this lot also indirectly revealed the strength of the Eternal Fire Official Residence.

Bertholdt beside them hesitated: "Is it possible that the Star Core Hunters and the Grand Duke of Underfire once clashed, but he escaped? After all, with his phase transfer ability, killing him completely isn't that easy..."

"Do you think Kafka and Ren would make such a mistake? If the Star Core Hunters decided to kill the Grand Duke of Underfire, they would certainly not let him use his ability to escape."

Annie leaned against the adjacent trunk, twirling a leaf between her fingertips: "I can only judge it this way: perhaps in Ai'ou's eyes... now is not the time for the Grand Duke of Underfire to die; he's more useful alive than dead."

——

"The two returned to the confinement section and told Aisida and Luosigumu all the information they had gathered in detail."

"Among them, one clue is especially crucial: that is the phase-traversing fire recorded in the booklet, said to be able to 【Burn myriad realms, leaving behind many fire descendants.】"

"Luosigumu guessed right away: 'It is 【Phase Spirit Fire】, the creation of #29 Sisskar. She is a remarkable genius, intelligent, kind, and humble.'"

""Unfortunately, by human time standards, she lived only a brief twenty-nine days. The Phase Spirit Fire shifted to another phase as soon as it was born; by the time it returned, Sisskar had already passed away peacefully. After that, it kept shifting phases, becoming impossible to capture.""

""Someone once accidentally caught a glimpse of the Phase Spirit Fire's trace, capturing a cluster of flame. Black Tower took it in and lent it to Ruan Mei for research, yet inadvertently lost the fire seed. If Afurlit is also a descendant of the Phase Spirit Fire, the full picture becomes clear.""

"Laatio said coldly: 'As his descendant, the Grand Duke of Underfire possesses abilities similar to the Phase Spirit Fire. I'm afraid he cannot achieve 【phase shift】, but can realize a degraded 【space transfer】. This is the truth behind spontaneous human combustion: the researchers didn't disappear, but were 【transferred】.'"

"Although the victims' whereabouts are temporarily unknown, the Duke's plan is clear: he intends to cause chaos through 'disappearance,' then secretly push the crisis to the forefront, sitting back to wait for it to take root and sprout."

""And the next step is—bang—igniting the spark. Look at these missing researchers; if their common point is discovered, what would the consequences be? No need for me to elaborate.""

——

Death God

Kuchiki Byakuya stood on a flying eave of the Quiet Spirit Court, his silver-white wind-flower gauze fluttering slightly in the night wind. He silently listened to Professor Laatio's conclusion, his brow barely furrowing.

"……Boring."

Hitsugaya Toshiro walked over from behind, the hilt of Ice Ring glowing with a cold light in the moonlight: 'How? Disappointed?'

"No wonder the Grand Duke of Underfire doesn't receive the gaze of Destruction…… Destruction should be facing the end of all things head-on."

Byakuya shook his head in disgust, 'Now, however, he hides his head and shows his tail, using fire to transfer ordinary people. In my view, this is undoubtedly like scratching an itch through a boot, far from true Destruction; aside from angering a few geniuses and Xing, what other meaning does it have?'

"But wasn't Huanlong doing the same thing back then?" Toshiro chuckled lightly, "Secretly fanning the flames of chaos, ultimately leading to destruction…… Perhaps the Grand Duke of Underfire's teacher is none other than Huanlong."

"But Huanlong's target was an immortal vessel, a patrolling envoy…… what should be destroyed is a civilization." Byakuya crossed his arms, coldly saying, "But since the matter has been exposed, he too should show up for a fight just like Huanlong."

"Heh, how could that be? The space station has Luosigumu, a genius, holding down the fort; who knows what tricks this robot has up its sleeve? This lot of techies can always pull out some weird and wonderful gadgets."

Compared to General Jingyuan, the patrolling envoy, Toshiro actually felt that scientists like Luosigumu and the Black Tower were more oppressive.

Jingyuan may be strong, but at least his methods are out in the open. As for Luosigumu and the like, technology seems to have given them the ability to create countless trump cards, as well as countless means to deal with enemies—Urahara Kisuke and Mayuri gave him that feeling…… At any time, do not stand opposed to 'science'.

——

"At this moment, Xing's group chat notification sounded again. As expected, public opinion in the group gradually began to veer toward losing control, with some already suspecting that the disappearance case was a self-directed stunt by management, actually aimed at eliminating dissent."

""Justice may be late, but it will come—management must step down!""——the group chat was almost uniformly filled with such messages.

"Aisida panicked at once, helplessly looking toward Xing: 'This, this……'"

"Luosigumu lowered his head in thought: '…No, still not enough.'"

""Exactly, still missing a spark." Laatio nodded."

"Aisida looked at the professor, bewildered: 'What do you mean?'"

""If you stop here, you still have a chance to make excuses. If it were me……" Laatio crossed his arms, his eyes turning stern: '…I wouldn't give you that chance.'"

"Before the words even finished, Aisida's pupils suddenly contracted——a sapphire-blue flame shot up from her feet without warning, instantly engulfing her whole body."

""Fire fire fire fire……!" Aisida stared in terror at the flames leaping all over her body."

""Aisida!"

"Xing almost instinctively lunged forward, reaching out with his right hand——but his fingertips merely grazed Aisida's fingers, touching only a waft of scorching air."

"Right before his very eyes…… Aisida vanished."