Chapter 158: The World About to End

"What a truly magnificent battle!" Seeing the last of Moqi's clones vanish, the woman in Daoist robes said with a smile.

"This is all thanks to Master!" Kirito put away her dual swords and walked over to the side of one of the World Consciousnesses with a smile.

"Hmm, it seems our power has been almost entirely exhausted! It is time to leave this world!" one of the World Consciousnesses said, looking at her own body as it gradually became transparent.

"Master, are you leaving?" Asuna asked, looking at her master.

"Yes, Moqi has vanished, and the mission of this projection of ours is nearly complete; it is time to leave!" Asuna's master also spoke. "Now, it is time for us to complete the final task!"

The nine World Consciousness Projections exchanged glances, and powerful energy radiated from their hands, shaking the entire Ruby Palace. Beside Lingyun, Yui's figure quietly appeared.

Yui was seen with her eyes closed, a faint white light radiating from her body as she slowly hovered into mid-air. Countless points of light emerged from the Void and poured continuously into Yui's body. In Lingyun's perception, the power Moqi had left behind in the Ruby Palace was constantly vanishing, while Yui's power was quietly filling this place.

When the very last trace of the Underworld King's power of the end vanished from the Ruby Palace, Yui slowly opened her eyes and landed on the ground.

"Yui, are you alright?" Asuna rushed to Yui's side, carefully examining her body.

"I'm fine, Mother Asuna. Now Yui can control the entire world!" Yui said to Asuna with a smile.

"Could it be that Yui is now considered a World Consciousness?" Lingyun asked Ruoxi softly beside him.

"Brother, do you think becoming a World Consciousness is such an easy thing?" Ruoxi, beside Lingyun, couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If Yui really wanted to become a World Consciousness, then SAO would have to become a complete world, and the current SAO is still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from that! As for Yui right now, at best, she just possesses a seed that might grow into a world!"

On the other side, Asuna and Kirito had finished saying goodbye to their master and were walking toward Lingyun and the other.

"Yui, when will you turn this world into a virtual world? I heard from Master that the speed at which the SAO world is colliding with the Main World has accelerated; there isn't even a week left!"

"We must transfer the people in this world out, otherwise, they will be assimilated into the Information Stream during the world's transformation and will never be able to return to the real world; they will only be able to remain in this world forever!"

"Then we must transfer everyone in this world out in the shortest time possible!" Kirito said.

"Don't worry, I will start setting it up immediately; it will only take a few hours!" Lingyun said.

While the two were talking, the nine World Consciousness Projections had already appeared beside Lingyun and the others.

"Interesting little one, we are leaving! See you again if fate allows!" The woman in Daoist robes said to Lingyun. "I am very much looking forward to meeting you again next time!"

"To be kept in mind by such powerful beings is truly an honor!" Lingyun said with a smile. However, that was not what he was thinking in his heart; World Consciousnesses like this woman in Daoist robes, who didn't know how long they had lived, were usually unscrupulous characters. Being remembered by them was definitely not a good thing.

"Tch, what a slippery little one!" The woman in Daoist robes heard the thoughts hidden deep in Lingyun's heart, chuckled, and then vanished into the Void together with the other World Consciousnesses.

"Let's start setting up the Array now!" Lingyun said, looking at the others. "Time is running out, let's start immediately! The refresh time in the Ruby Palace is eight hours, and we still have a few hours now. If others see what we are doing in the Ruby Palace, it is inevitable they will think of something!"

The people present exchanged glances and then began to set up the Array according to Lingyun's instructions.

Time passed second by second, and the time for the Ruby Palace to refresh was getting closer and closer. At this moment, the Ruby Palace was already covered with all kinds of Array Patterns. If an Array Master were here, they would surely be ecstatic to study these kinds of Array Patterns. This kind of Array was a new school that Lingyun had developed himself based on his own experience!

Lingyun gently wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a breath: "Alright, it's finished!"

"Is this the Array for stripping away power?" Kirito looked at the Array with some curiosity. "Why don't I feel anything special?"

"Of course there's nothing special now, because this Array hasn't been activated yet!" Lingyun said with a smile, tapping Kirito on the head. "Alright, now I'm going to activate the Array!"

"Oh!" Kirito touched her head and stepped to the side.

Lingyun stood in the center of the Array and formed seals with his hands. A gust of wind spread outward from Lingyun as the center, and then everyone present saw the Array Patterns in the Ruby Palace light up one after another.

The moment the Array was activated, everyone in the Ruby Palace felt as if the power within their bodies was being attracted, almost bursting out of their bodies. But this feeling came and went quickly, and it vanished after a short while.

"Hide!" Lingyun performed a hand seal, and everyone saw the complex Array slowly vanish into the Void.

"What's going on?" Kirito asked, looking at Lingyun as he walked out from the center of the Array.

"Your power, strictly speaking, is not the power of this world, but your increase in strength is also because of this world, so this Array also has a certain effect on you, but this reaction will disappear very quickly, just like it did now!" Lingyun spread his hands.

"In other words, the Array has been successfully activated?" Asuna asked.

"Yes, Yui, send out the news that the game has been cleared!" Lingyun said to Yui.

"Okay!" Yui nodded, and then countless data streams flowed through her pupils. A golden beam of light shot out from Yui's body and went straight into the sky.

Outside the Ruby Palace, Heathcliff checked the time on his character panel and then said to the people beside him: "The refresh time is almost here. Everyone, get ready; we are about to face the final battle of this world!"

Klein looked at the magnificent Ruby Palace in front of him, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes: "That's not right. That guy Lingyun provoked us so blatantly before, and now the Ruby Palace has appeared like this; could it be that they have already entered the Ruby Palace!"

Just after the Ruby Palace refreshed, Heathcliff blocked the front with the shield in his hand and pushed open the gates of the Ruby Palace with all his might. Everyone behind him gripped their weapons tightly, ready for battle at any moment.

Just as the Clearers' players were all focused and on guard, they suddenly saw a golden light shoot up from the Ruby Palace, straight into the clouds. After the golden light shot into the sky, it burst apart, dyeing the entire sky gold.

This situation was not just happening in the Ruby Palace; the sky on all floors of Aincrad slowly turned golden. All the players were attracted by this event and looked at the sky with curiosity.

A huge information prompt box appeared in the sky, and on the prompt box, there was a line of large text: "Congratulations on clearing the 100th floor of Aincrad—Ruby Palace. From now on, all players can return to the real world through the portal in the 100th-floor Ruby Palace. At the same time, all players will enter a protected state and will no longer die. After 24 hours, this world will close permanently, please take note, players!"

"Cleared?" Klein looked at the information prompt box in the sky in astonishment. "Could it be that Lingyun and the others have already defeated the final BOSS of this game? Can we finally go back?"

In the Ruby Palace, Yui looked at the golden light gate that appeared in front of her and nodded. Through this light gate, the players in this world could return to the Main World. But when passing through this light gate, the power on their bodies would also be stripped away by the power-stripping Array, and then they would return to this world.

"Are you going back now?" Lingyun asked Kirito beside him.

"No, isn't there still 24 hours? I still want to see this world!" Kirito shook her head. "Let's go back to your garden first!"

"That's fine, let's go!" Lingyun nodded slightly.