Viers’ evil and immoral plan had dealt far more insidious damage on Aravin’s psyche than anything physical to his body. He’d turned the Harem MC’s women against him, the people he most let down his guard with. The people Aravin trusted wholeheartedly.

While Jaime and Aravin were busy, Viers did not simply watch like a lazy last boss. Viers covertly hacked Naya and Sabine’s souls so that they’d do his bidding.

It must be said that Naya and Sabine harmed Aravin because of Viers, not of their own will. The two young girls truly did love Aravin from the bottom of their hearts.

To the very end.

Now, the hidden entity inside Aravin took the stage. Which was still within Viers’ anticipated scenarios.

Viers’ powerful soul Arte was swatted to the side by the yellow-robed, long black-haired young beauty that suddenly appeared. She looked young, only about twelve or thirteen years old.

The yellow-robed young girl was a soul manifestation, Viers’ senses told him so, she was not like Farley and the other two. She looked solid and whole, not transparent as specters often looked.

But she was emitting existential pressure on par with a Gotei Thirteen Captain.

Ah, here comes the spirit advisor. She’s the mentor figure that helped Aravin from the shadows. Not a wise old man but a loli heavenly beauty to boot. I expect nothing less from a Harem MC like Aravin.

Viers kept channeling the Bravery of Dune so his will to fight wasn't broken. Because no matter her bustle and flair, Viers knew she was actually fragile.

“Milady Qing…” Aravin said weakly, eyes unfocused and empty.

Aravin was like a frightened boy tugging at the sleeve of his parents. The yellow lady cast him but a worried glance and smothered the urge to piece together his broken heart.

The enemy wouldn't wait, especially this enemy.

“This fight ends here. Slink back to your hole and I’ll let you live,” she declared before Viers.

Viers scoffed, looking down on her. “Pfft… That’s my line, girl.”

“You court death!”

Viers felt the pressure intensify.

She hit me with a ‘you court death’ me? Me!!?

“It is you who court death. You should have stayed inside Aravin’s butthole. You can't deceive my eyes. You’re like a thin mist, barely holding on from scattering. A paper tiger does not scare me. Act one or two times and you’ll perish. Get out of here.”

Her face didn't show her slight shock. She didn't think her state would be found out in one glance.

This little guy has some ability.

“A western trash like you dares to order an Emperor Realm? Know your place!”

Viers molded a soul Arte in his hands, standing brave and tall before the churning storm of power.

“Noisy loli, throwing her weight around. Begone, THOT!”

“Truly a dog’s courage. One move of mine is enough to send you to the Yellow Springs a hundred times over. Tell Yán Wáng this Lady sends you off personally.”

Viers called her bluff.

And Qing Xia answered.

“Light Emperor Brilliant Ray!”

Looking at the dazzling ray coming from her hand, Viers’ expression changed. Before his brain could command his muscles to move, the light had already consumed him.

“Uwaaaaaaghhh?!”

The ground eroded from the force of the beam; the air was thunderous.

This was an attack from a cultivation realm magnitudes above Viers’. It carried mysteries that were beyond Viers’ grasp. A force so destructive Viers was unable to mount any sort of resistance.

Qing’s power was already watered down because of Aletro’s limit imposition. Strictly speaking, the ray carried the power of a Level 3 peak Arte but it was still enough to reduce Viers to ash. The energy from the blast went on far, destroying hundreds of Xerg in its way, including the worm kaiju. The giant Xerg was in bad shape after defeating the Aberrant Hulk and the Giant of Light but it was still a thirty-meter lump of sturdy flesh. Its siblings were able to withstand Anne’s punishing flames for some time but the yellow girl’s beam turned it to dust in three seconds.

Tanael needed less time before turning into particles.

In the aftermath, not even a drop of blood from Tanael remained.

“Huff… huff… huff…”

The yellow girl looked spent. Her inner injuries were aggravating. She didn't want to do this but her hand was forced.

At least, Stupidvin is okay. I have to-

Clap, clap, clap.

“!”

Qing quickly turned around and saw Viers standing there, a hundred meters away, clapping his hands. There was a creature she’d never seen beside him. A big-head snake-thing.

“Too bad.”

At this moment, the whole Tyra Xerg stopped moving. All the Tyra Xerg in existence became as still as a statue.

Except one, the one standing beside Viers.

This Xerg had a unique shape, the only one among the hundreds of thousands Viers led to the Whitelands Northern Battlefield. This Xerg had the shape of a floating snake fetus with the head part more bulbous than the rest. Its brain was disproportionate to its body. Viers had kept it hidden among the bodies of the regular Xerg.

Until now.

The Mind Striker was a Xerg that served as an outlet for the Hive Mind of Zerrigan’s psychic power: a living psychic artillery. It could use some potent psychic attacks on its own but this was not the time for holding back, Viers ordered Zerrigan to use full force.

Even after factoring in the casualties, Zerrigan was now bolstered with the brainpower of two million Tyra Xerg! In the virtual simulation, with the brainpower of one million Xerg, Viers likened the power at her command as an electrical storm of psychic energy.

“Fire,” Viers ordered Zerrigan calmly.

“You-”

A stream of energy was unleashed by the Mind Striker.

Qing Xia saw jagged blue lightning coming. Her life was threatened. Now it was her turn to be struck by a mighty attack without being able to resist. It was as if she and Viers had traded places.

Arte - Immaterium Psychic Ultima!

If she possessed a hundredth of her true strength, this attack was less than a mosquito bite to her. However, in her incomplete state and after exhausting herself earlier…

She had other cards to play but Viers didn't give her the time.

“Aravin, Run– AAAAAAAHHH!”

For the first time ever, Aravin heard Milady Qing call him by his name rather than Stupidvin or womanizer. It was mere moments before he watched her perish.

As if wielding Heavenly Lightning, Zerrigan destroyed Qing Xia using cataclysmic bolts of psychic energy. The Xerg itself was also obliterated, its flesh unable to sustain Zerrigan’s supernatural might.

Like a gun’s barrel shattering after shooting a too powerful shot. About five hundred Xerg nearby, big and small, blew their brains out because Zerrigan used their processing organs too violently. Should Zerrigan be less skilled, without the training and simulations in the Grid, it was possible that all the Tyra Xerg would have their brains turned into mush after the laser-focused mind artillery strike.

Aravin, now Victaless, was in the pits of despair, unable to process the successive calamitous events that kept happening.

“...Impossible,” he uttered one word.

A villain quickly saved him from that hell, by beheading him.

***

“Phew…”

Viers let out a long and heavy breath. It had been a tense half an hour. However, thanks to his long and extensive preparations, Zerrigan’s brainpower, and Jaime’s sacrifice, Viers was able to defeat a half-matured MC without truly clashing swords with the other cheat holder.

‘To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.’ You’re right again, Sun Tzu. I guess I’m not there yet.

Aravin was the second MC that Viers neutralized after Sigma. A threat to his supremacy in the future, gone. When he ascended as a Supreme Demonic Cultivator, there would be less threat to his position.

Still, If I fought Aravin in the real world, it might be more troublesome.

Methods above a certain greatness were banned by Aletro, including life-saving ones. Viers had a few, who said Aravin didn't have any?

If Aravin shouted surrender, he wouldn't be teleported to safety. Aletro wasn’t that soft for Stage 5 but Aravin definitely could run away. Whether Viers could kill him if he was dead set on escaping was uncertain. Xianxia MCs had an astounding aptitude for running away from mighty foes. They would survive and return to pay their enemies back after they got stronger.

Just like Viers, actually.

And so Viers took Aravin’s women hostage precisely to prevent it.

Viers started looting, he was still on the clock. Aravin’s body -compartmentalized to prevent revival- was stowed in the Thousand Treasures Casket in different boxes. Viers thought he could use the body to make cultivation pills in the future, he did seem to possess a special physique. Aravin's soul, terribly distraught even after death, was tightly secured; his storage item was also obtained. Unfortunately, nothing remained of the yellow loli. No body, no soul, no aura, nada. Viers shrugged. He could soul search Aravin to gain some info about her later.

Although not as good as Aravin, Naya and Sabine were also pretty formidable Pathseekers. Their bodies were destroyed but their souls were intact. Viers collected their unconscious souls too, along with whatever loot he could get from them. They didn't realize they had attacked Aravin and Viers had no intention of telling them that. Small mercies.

Then there was the sword of light, the divine weapon. It didn't like Viers from the start, burning his hand when he touched the handle. Viers guessed it must be an item that chose its wielder or something along those lines.

“Cheeky sword. Angry I killed your owner, eh? I will break you like a stallion. Just you wait.”

Viers still managed to stow it into his Casket.

Lastly, Jaime.

Viers could defeat Aravin -an MC in another Fable- with almost no damage on his part thanks to Jamie’s sacrifice.

Jaime’s body and belongings had all turned to dust because he forcefully made use of the Demise Fruit’s power. His soul had passed on, Viers could not stop it and he had no intention of detaining him in the first place.

“You did kill Aravin. It is unmistakable. Be proud of this. He just had two lives. I’ve taken care of the rest, be at peace. This place is unsuitable for your final resting place, friend,” Viers gathered as much of the white dust as he could. “I’ll pick a good place for you.”

Viers took the black Sword of Gryffindor for his own, as proof of the existence of a man named Jaime Sigley, War of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

“You’ll need a new name… I’ll be counting on you, buddy.”

Suddenly, a voice spoke in Viers’ head.

“Oh come on! My debut fight was to be killed as your substitute? This is so lame.”

He was the Tanael that the yellow loli defeated, Viers’ other-self.

“Sorry. But this is for winning with the least cost. All is well, no?”

“I am you. Of course it is. But let me have a cooler role next time, yeah?

“Count on it, Arsène.”

Even his way of speaking was similar to Viers. Viers guessed Aravin would have some super limit-break before self-destructing or had some sort of nuclear warhead for his last hurrah. He used Arsène as bait. After Viers threw the antidote at Aravin and ran away, the one that came back was Arsène.

Arsène was Viers’ Persona, his Shadow, his Stand. Even if he was destroyed, as long as Viers was alive, he could come back again.

Currently, after being disintegrated by that yellow girl, he couldn't really do anything until he recovered. Viers didn't know how long it would take.

“All right, enough about me. Go on. Your next enemy is here,” the formless Arsène spoke.

“Tanael,” Blade of Justice Troy arrived with reinforcements. “What happened here?”

“War is what happened, Troy. What do you want?” Viers replied.

“...Where are the others?”

“Where do you think?” Viers grinned.

“I want to ask you one thing, is Oscar alive?”

Troy didn't know the fate of his friend. There was no news of him since Tanael had taken the Blacklands. Green Scorpion informed him of Oscar's defeat but his life or death was still unknown.

“I reckon his body is poop by now. Fertilizing some soil somewhere.”

Troy stopped himself from lashing out in anger. His self-control was praiseworthy.

The situation was complex. Troy saw no other trial takers and sensed none. Tanael had collapsed the battlelines but at a price. The Xerg were getting battered by the Aberrants and the troops of the Alliance. Even though the Hulk was no more, there were still a lot of the Aberrants remaining. The second most numerous faction was the Alliance. The Tyra Xerg numbered the least.

There are many breaches. The Aberrants are pouring into the south by the thousands. Even some Xerg have also gone south, no doubt to cause destruction in the nearby kingdoms. All are big problems but if Tanael is left unchecked, it will become worse.

Troy decided his tactics in an instant.

“Men, surround him. Only a few Xerg remain in the surrounding area. Keep him occupied!”

The troops, crusaders and legionaries obeyed, all three thousand of them. Troy sent a whole army against Tanael alone. He thought he was that dangerous.

“Thank you,” Viers said.

“Hm?” Troy frowned.

“For coming here, of your own volition. So I don't have to waste time chasing you.”

Viers’ soul was different from the last time they fought at the top of the World Tree.

His Mortal Soul had evolved into a Grand Soul.

And Troy tasted the difference first hand.

***

I must hurry.

Anne had been fighting non-stop and used a lot of Victa. Her injuries were light, proof of her power, but mighty as she was, the battles had severely drained her stamina. The two big Xerg were especially troublesome but she managed to defeat them. They were too dangerous to be left alive. She was so tired but she forced herself to fly as fast as possible to the other battlefield.

She was able to because the Tyra Xerg were retreating, not long after the defeat of the Xerg Kaijus. The Alliance pursued them, intending to kill as many as they could while they were disorganized from a full retreat. Anne left the soldiers to their tasks and went north, alone. Her heart worried for the other trial takers.

Fifteen, no, ten minutes. I’ll be there in ten minutes! Hang on everyone.

Suddenly, a bird-shaped Arte flew to her and met her mid-air from the direction she was heading.

It spoke with Troy's voice.

“Tanael has the ability to use a wide-scale soul attack that knocks out the rank and file by the thousands. His fight against the others, especially Aravin, took its toll. I managed to wound him. It was not fatal, but deep. Be very cautious against him. I’m sorry I couldn't do more. I pray that you’ll find your mother.”