Conflict

The six-seater stretch limousine sped down the highway at full throttle, hurtling toward the rainbow overpass in the distance. Igola and Harvey sat in the front row, Yaxiu and Weixi in the middle, and Feili and Niya in the back. The men up front remained silent; the maid in the middle trimmed her master's fingernails—Rose had specifically instructed her that today was Yaxiu's manicure day—while the young women in the rear harbored their own conflicted thoughts. "We won't leave," Yaxiu said suddenly. "And I won't leave either." Feili froze, asking softly, "But haven't you always wanted to go back? Aren't the Sword Princess and the Witch waiting for you in the other world?" "Yes, but I want to go back and live a long, happy life with them—at least ten years or so, not just a few days," Yaxiu said candidly. "Our Hell secret poison hasn't been cured yet. If we go back, we'll be crushed to death by Hell within days. Returning now would just be seeking our own deaths." "If the Hell secret poison is cured, will you leave right away?" Niya asked abruptly. Feili hadn't wanted Niya to ask such a pointed question, yet she couldn't stop herself from looking at Yaxiu, biting her lower lip as she waited for his reply. Yaxiu countered, "If the Divine Lord of Stars told you that He would protect the Country of All Stars so long as you betrayed us, would you betray me?" Feili parted her lips to answer, but not a single word came out. Niya, however, answered resolutely, "No! I'd rather the world be destroyed right this second!" "I wish my answer could be 'no' as well," Yaxiu said softly. "I don't want to sound all righteous, but the biggest reason I'm willing to remain in All Stars right now is truly because only the mysterious chains here can suppress the Hell secret poison. We have no choice but to stay. "Beyond that, however, I genuinely hope to find a way to protect you and protect All Stars. My longing to leave All Stars and reunite with the Sword Princess and the Witch is real, but my desire to protect you isn't fake either." Hearing his words, Niya grew even angrier. "What if our roles were reversed with the Sword Princess and the Witch? If the ones you met first and fell in love with were the Sword Princess and the Witch of this world, would you be willing to stay here even without the Hell secret poison, and welcome doomsday alongside them—" "Niya!" Feili loudly cut Niya off. Clasping Niya's arm tightly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, she shook her head gently and pleaded, "Could you please stop being so unreasonable?" "I may not be a reasonable person myself," Weixi said, blowing lightly on Yaxiu's fingers, "but even I know that some things simply can't be reasoned through." Niya bit her lip, huffed coldly, and turned her head away, falling silent. Curled up sulkily on the seat, she hugged her knees. Right then, she felt a vibration in her pocket. Pulling out her phone, she saw a series of cat memes that Yaxiu had sent. [Cat reaches out paw] [Cutie looking at a little dummy] [Cat is very disappointed in you] [Telling me this won't help, because I'm just a cat] [Melon sale, buy one get one free: buy a watermelon, get a little dummy like me for free] Heaven knew how long Yaxiu had been hoarding memes, sending them in an unending barrage. Though Niya tried her best to hold her ground, she finally couldn't hold back and snorted with laughter, covering her mouth. Just then, Niya heard laughter beside her. Turning around, she saw Feili staring at her phone as well. Their eyes met, and in an instant, both realized what was going on. Smack! Niya planted a direct kick into the back of the seat in front of her. Yaxiu's head slammed with a loud thud into Igola's headrest. Igola complained, "If you want to mutilate yourself, just stick your head out the window. I'll find a street sign to serve as your guillotine." Yaxiu coughed twice, acting as if nothing had happened. With this little interlude, the sharp tension that had felt ready to snap was quietly defused. He continued, "Our primary objective in this Angel Hunt is still to seize the Prime Angel's power. The more power we grasp, not only will we be better equipped to fight the Hell secret poison in the future, but we'll also increase the possibility of saving this world." No one objected. After all, this aligned with everyone's shared interests. If Yaxiu truly wanted to return to reality right now, let alone the girls in the back, neither Igola nor Weixi would agree. "Speaking of which," Harvey suddenly remarked, "can we really catch up to the rainbow?" Yaxiu and the others paused, looking closely. Only then did they realize that despite driving for over ten minutes, their distance from the rainbow hadn't diminished in the slightest. At first, they had assumed the rainbow was merely a phenomenon, never expecting it might truly be just like a rainbow—colors visible to the eye, yet forever out of reach. "Even if this isn't a game, the other Divine Lords ought to help lower the threshold of the Angel Hunt; otherwise, none of their teams could participate..." Igola pondered for a moment, then suddenly manifested his Seventh Imaginary Wing—or more accurately, displayed his rainbow feather. At that exact moment, the rainbow suddenly extended a bridge toward them. As they drove onto it, the car beneath them vanished into thin air. The six tumbled through the light, quickly breaking their falls. Standing up, they found themselves in a vast, enclosed arena. Before they had much time to observe their surroundings, the mirrored wall ahead suddenly shattered, and a group of sorcerers appeared on the other side! "What!?" The moment Yaxiu and the others caught sight of the opposing sorcerers, their pupils shrank. They instantly drew their weapons and dropped into combat stances. Weixi asked, "You know them?" "Not intimately—they only hunted us for two days and two nights, that's all." Yaxiu didn't even know why he felt so excited and amused. "They're the Gryphon Company!" Appearing before Yaxiu and his companions was none other than the Starry Country's Gryphon Company, twelve people in all! Though they had no gryphons, their blue uniforms with white trim and their loadout of a gun in the left hand and a cannon in the right instantly brought back memories of when Yaxiu and his group had first arrived in the Starry Country. Yet even memories of being hunted stirred a trace of nostalgia—it had been nearly three months since they left the sorcerer world! It had been so long since they'd seen this many unfamiliar sorcerers! Unlike Yaxiu's nostalgic party, however, the Gryphon Company showed no such sentimentality. Falling back as they opened fire, a barrage of projectiles instantly engulfed Yaxiu's side. Just as Yaxiu and the others prepared to return fire, Weixi suddenly spoke up: "They aren't using sorcery spirits." A thought struck Yaxiu. Grabbing Feili, he rolled to the side. By the time they broke their fall and rose, Yaxiu and Feili had already entered demon sorcerer mode! Sanctuary! Heart Pen! Yaxiu and Feili didn't even bother using Observer Mode, suppressing them directly with miracles. Two Heart Swords danced wildly through the air, harvesting the lives of the Gryphon Company like scythes! "How can they—" "It's demons! The demons are here!" "Damn it..." In less than five seconds, every member of the Gryphon Company was beheaded. Yet they left behind no corpses; instead, several sorcery spirits dropped in their place. Seeing this, the sorcerers naturally understood that they had now left All Stars and arrived in the true Void Realm—these Gryphon Company members were all sorcerers' soul bodies! At the same time, a shimmering fragment materialized in the center of the clearing—their reward for clearing the challenge. "The mysterious chains haven't vanished," Weixi said, displaying her fourth imaginary wing, which had grown slightly longer, only for it to be snapped by the mysterious chains in an instant. "This is an overlapping area between the Void Realm and All Stars. Outside sorcerers can enter, but the mysterious chains apply to everyone as well! Furthermore, the observer is very likely the Prime Angel itself, so any miracle with visual manifestations will trigger it!" Yaxiu retrieved the fragment from the center of the clearing, immediately receiving its detailed information: [Holy Grail Fragment] [1. Gathering enough fragments allows one to form a Rainbow Holy Grail.] [2. Only those unbound by the mysterious chains can form a Colorless Holy Grail.] The Holy Grail Fragment was passed around for everyone to inspect. Weixi analyzed, "Those unbound by the mysterious chains clearly refers to demons. Only demons can form a Colorless Holy Grail, which means only demons can claim the Prime Angel's most precious legacy. Anyone else who forms a Holy Grail can only obtain the ordinary legacy." "Then what we must do next is very simple," Yaxiu exhaled. "Protect Feili, and seize as many Holy Grail Fragments as possible." *** "The Gospel has completed its analysis." In another space, Sonia and her companions had also cleared their battlefield. They had encountered a mixed group of Sanctuary sorcerers; fortunately, their opponents had been the first to use sorcery spirits and trigger the mysterious chains, alerting Sonia's group to the chains' presence right away—Yaxiu had warned Sonia, and Sonia had naturally informed the rest. Although unable to use sorcery spirits, not only did Sonia's group possess multiple physical combat sorcerers, but more importantly, Daidalos's feeler ability could bypass the mysterious chains. Her singing alone was enough to secure victory for the Four Pillar Cult. "Beyond its two apparent functions, the Holy Grail Fragment is also the Prime Angel's counteroffensive against the Cage of Stars," Diya said. "Anyone other than a demon who gathers fragments and forms a Holy Grail will become an anchor for the Prime Angel in the Dream Heaven, helping it pierce through the Country of All Stars! "If the Prime Angel can breach the Country of All Stars, the Divine Lord of Stars will naturally lift the blockade on Ruby Mountain, and Yaxiu and the others can leave as well! "To put it simply, the more Rainbow Holy Grails formed, the more likely the Prime Angel is to escape; the more Colorless Holy Grails formed, the harder it will be for the Prime Angel to escape All Stars!" "Then what we must do next is very simple." Sonia looked around at everyone, speaking calmly. "Seize as many Holy Grail Fragments as possible, and—" "Kill every demon on sight!"