Chapter 245

The radiant pillar of light from the successful activation of the Multi-Rune Stabilization Anchor was like inserting a scorching spike into the dark heart, not only delaying the rift's expansion but also inviting a devastating backlash.

The terrifying roar from deep within Rift Seven had not yet subsided, while the fleet of the Realm Breaker Legion in the distance had already surged forward like sharks smelling blood, countless dark-red light points flowing toward the debris belt like a tide! Its scale far surpassed any previous encounter, even including several vessels as large as small planets, like moving fortresses, fierce warships!

Even more horrifying, the debris belt itself began to 'come alive'! The floating metal shards and frozen corpses, as if controlled by invisible strings, started to wildly collide and crush, attempting to bury the Dawnbreaker and the survivors completely! Clearly, the entity deep within the rift was exercising its reality-warping power.

"Quick! Board the ship! Activate the engines now!" Yuexi's voice remained calm, but her speech was as swift as a gale. She pressed her hands forward, moonlight brilliance forcibly holding open a relatively stable space, carving out an evacuation route.

The surviving Star Dust Guards helped each other, dragging the wounded, braving the incessantly falling debris and pervasive energy storm, desperately charging toward the Dawnbreaker hovering not far away.

Li Qingxuan, Elder Qingmu, Lava Councilor, Flowing Water, and Shadow Councilor—the five rune-linked individuals—were nearly drained after the stabilizer activated, yet they gritted their teeth, retreating while continually unleashing power: some summoned vines to block falling debris, others raised lava firewalls to block pursuers, some condensed water curtains to neutralize energy shocks, and others created shadow mists to interfere with vision.

Li Qingxuan diffused life energy, providing as much healing and stamina recovery as possible to the wounded, while simultaneously unleashing the Weird Divine Realm to its fullest, warping the trajectories of incoming debris.

The scene had descended into utter chaos!

"Boom!" A huge battleship armor plate slammed hard into the Dawnbreaker's newly raised shield, sending violent ripples across it and causing the hull to lurch sharply.

"The left engine has been hit by debris! Power down thirty percent!" the pilot reported anxiously.

"Never mind! Divert all power to the right engine and shields! Force a breakthrough!" Yuexi issued the decisive order, personally taking over partial navigation authority and piloting the star‑craft through the debris falling like a rainstorm.

Finally, most of the survivors managed to board. As the hatch closed, the last two Star Dust Guards tasked with covering the retreat were engulfed by a thick dark‑red energy beam fired from the rift direction, unable even to utter a scream.

"Go!" A flicker of regret crossed Yuexi's silver eyes, but her movement showed no hesitation. The Dawnbreaker's sole remaining right engine overloaded with a roar, propelling the battered hull like a salmon swimming upstream, it surged wildly toward the outer edge of the debris belt.

Behind them, the vanguard fleet of the Realm Breaker Legion gave relentless chase, joined by more enemy ships converging from all sides. Dense barrage fire fell like a red meteor shower, continuously pounding the Dawnbreaker's shield, its energy plummeting at a visible speed.

"The shield is about to overload! Estimated maximum hold: three minutes!"

"The right engine is overheating! It could shut down at any moment!"

Bad news came one after another. Everyone's hearts leapt to their throats. Should the shield shatter or the engine stall, amidst this enemy encirclement they would instantly become cosmic dust.

Li Qingxuan gazed out the viewport at the endless enemy ships and, behind them, the terrifying rift like a demon god's eye, a feeling of helplessness welling up. Had we finally completed the mission only to die here?

In the midst of this despair, the perpetually silent Shadow Councilor, who had been meditating, suddenly spoke, his voice extremely weak yet carrying a hint of resolve: "There is a way… perhaps it can lure them away…"

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on him.

The Shadow Councilor raised his hand; the black ring on his fingertip that absorbs light was now emitting an unstable, almost shattering vibration.

"I will… detonate the Shadow Beacon…" he said slowly, "It can simulate a false signal far surpassing our life responses, like a torch in the darkness… enough to draw most of the pursuers…"

Detonate the rune fragments?! Everyone gasped! This was tantamount to self‑destruction of the foundation, possibly even inviting a backlash from the rune power itself.

"Shadow! No!" Elder Qingmu exclaimed urgently.

"There is… no… time…" the Shadow Councilor shook his head, his shadow‑formed body growing more faint, "This is… the only path to survival… remember… bring the information… back…"

Before his words faded, the black ring on his fingertip erupted with an ultimate darkness that devoured all light! This darkness was not nothingness, but a 'presence' brimming with destructive attraction!

The next instant, the Shadow Councilor's figure, together with that ring, vanished from the bridge as if erased by an eraser.

Almost simultaneously, in the distant void to the rear‑side of the Dawnbreaker, a point of extreme darkness suddenly expanded, forming a constantly rotating 'black hole' emitting heart‑pounding energy fluctuations! That 'black hole' radiated an intense life (feigned) and shadow aura, its signal strength even briefly overwhelming the massive Realm Breaker Legion behind them.

Just as the Shadow Councilor had predicted, over eighty percent of the enemy fleet that had been locked onto the Dawnbreaker was instantly drawn to the sudden appearance of a far more 'tempting' target, like moths to a flame, wildly turning course to charge at that false Shadow Beacon!

The pursuing firepower instantly thinned by more than half!

"Shadow…" the Lava Councilor clenched his fists, eyes brimming with grief and fury.

Yuexi closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and when she opened them again, only icy resolve remained: "Full speed ahead! Do not waste his sacrifice!"

With pressure suddenly eased, the Dawnbreaker's engine emitted its final wail, dragging the shattered hull as it finally burst out of the densest part of the debris belt and fled into the depths of void.

Behind them, the false Shadow Beacon, after drawing in a vast amount of enemy forces, suddenly collapsed inward, ultimately becoming a silent energy storm that swept across a wide area, devouring and tearing apart countless enemy ships that had ventured too close.

Inside the Dawnbreaker's bridge lay a heavy silence. Although they had escaped danger, the Shadow Councilor's sacrifice weighed on each heart like a massive stone.

Li Qingxuan gazed at the energy turbulence that had burst and was gradually subsiding, his heart filled with reverence for that silent councilor. These Watchers, to oppose darkness, can truly give everything.

"Have we… succeeded?" a wounded Star Dust Guard asked weakly.

Yuexi called up the monitoring data, gazing at Rift Seven, still terrifying but with its expansion speed noticeably slowed, and nodded slowly: "The stabilizer has taken effect. At least… we have bought precious time for those behind us."

But this time was bought with blood and sacrifice.

Li Qingxuan walked to the viewport, watching the rift recede into the distance, and clenched the Life Imprint against his chest.

This war is far from over. The Shadow Councilor's sacrifice, the False Emperor's madness, the horror deep within the rift… all of it drives him to become stronger.

The Dawnbreaker, dragging its broken hull, carrying the survivors and the heavy tidings, set course toward the Slumber of the Stars, beginning a long journey home.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the endless void…

A pristine yet scar‑covered white star‑vessel, the Moonlight, drifted silently at the edge of an unfamiliar nebula. Inside, Huang Rong, Xingren, and five Star Dust Guards had just awakened from a long slumber, gazing out the viewport at a completely alien starfield, their faces filled with bewilderment.

They had survived, having made it out of the Oasis's Root Projection, yet it seemed… they had strayed from their objective, lost in an unknown star region.

The spark of hope had not been extinguished; it had merely been scattered across a vaster world.

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