The silent shriek ravaged the air, forming visible sound waves,

and forcibly halted the forward momentum of the Willow Leaf Flying Knives.

Liu Wu Dai also drew his bow into a full moon and fired a string of Iron thistles.

Fine iron wires connected the Iron thistles, tangling around the Willow Leaf Flying Knives, dragging them and slowing them down.

With all these factors stacked together, at last, Hoenhem finished chanting the final segment of the obscure, icy spell.

"uoixkiaz, uoixk, ie, uoixkie!"

Invisible power was drawn out and peeled away from his body; Hoenhem's face withered and shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the body beneath his trench coat swayed like a withered stalk of hemp, on the verge of collapse.

Corresponding to that, the ground within the circular area ahead began to undergo Petrification.

It was not simply turning into rock.

The soil ahead, and even the shallow lake water, were all transformed into some kind of black, ancient-looking basalt covered in nautilus-like spiral patterns.

[Skill Name: Stone Worship] 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

[Type: Arcane Magic]

[Special Effect: Permanent Petrification. Recite the incantation to petrify all matter within a spherical radius of twenty meters. Lifeforms within the area must make a life-tier check; on failure, they are permanently petrified]

[Consumption: 1800 Spirit Energy Value, 800 Sanity Value]

[Cooldown Time: 24 hours]

[Usage Requirement: Transformation Type Magic level must have reached advanced or above]

[Remark: After attempting to cast this Spell, maximum stamina and Sanity Value will each be reduced by 500 points for 12 hours. After the time limit, they will gradually recover over time]

[Remark: After meticulous observation and experimentation, my colleagues on the orbital space station and I can finally confirm that the black stones we brought back from Mars are not dead matter, but a bizarre lifeform with an extremely slow metabolism whose perception of time is hundreds or thousands of times slower than that of humans. Houston, we've got a problem]

Sha, sha, sha.

The thin air transformed into stone dust of various sizes, which fluttered down from the sky and settled onto the completely petrified lake surface.

Su Ni Sheng's phantom furrowed her brows deeply; with a wave of her delicate hand she tore the ground apart in an entire swath,

but still could not stop the spread of Petrification,

which seeped in layer by layer along the corner of the Wishing Machine that Li Ang had broken,

infiltrating inward.

The metal-forged Wishing Machine flickered bright and dim, the light it reflected waxing and waning. Su Ni Sheng's phantom slowly lowered her palm and, in the end, cast a long, deep look at the players present,

then vanished, dissipating completely along with the last of the light.

The System's task-completion chime sounded in their ears, like the music of heaven.

Hoenhem, his body stiff and withered, did not hesitate in the slightest and directly teleported away—his negative status was severe enough that he needed treatment immediately.

"It's over... is it..."

David slowly lowered the Judgement Spear that had just flown back to him and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

He didn't know how many ribs were broken, and his heart, lungs, stomach, and other internal organs were all ruptured to varying degrees,

but at least, he was still alive.

David turned his head, letting his gaze sweep across the cavern; out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the Wishing Machine.

Hoenhem's petrification Spell was extremely thorough, and even after his departure, it continued to persist and spread.

The Wishing Machine had completely turned into a stone stele, all of its components fully assimilated into the nautilus-patterned black basalt,

and had lost its value.

A pity.

Perhaps noticing the fleeting disappointment deep in his eyes, Amber, who had just picked up the Pirate Scimitar from the ground, mocked him, "You barely crawled out alive; maybe don't regret not keeping the loot?"

David smiled carelessly, not bothering to explain. He casually wiped away the blood at the cracked corner of his mouth, nodded at the others, and said, "This run was rough. If we get the chance, let's meet at Crossbeam. Drinks are on me."

Crossbeam was the name of a bar on the Game Square. Its decor was neither luxurious nor extravagant, but it was quiet and shadowy, and also served as a half-mercenary hub where some High-level Players, Brokers, and information dealers often showed up.

Li Ang had been there once or twice and didn't like the atmosphere, but he still nodded and watched David teleport away, disappearing from where he stood.

Crack, crack.

The already-tilted rock wall at the mountaintop let out another sound of shattering stone. Li Ang stepped forward to stand before Claude, who had taken on the form of a green fleshy sphere.

After unleashing the Howl of the Demoness, this Necromancer had likewise entered a state of completely spent fuel; the entire sphere shriveled, like a punctured balloon constantly leaking air.

Li Ang pressed a hand against it, then dispelled the notion of healing him—this one was only a clone in a certain sense, and he had long since set up a self-destruct protocol; there was no saving him.

"We did it... Teresa's wish, their deaths... I hope... I didn't choose wrong..."

Claude's human face stared blankly at the sky with lifeless eyes. After mumbling his final sentence, he dissolved into a pool of dark green liquid that seeped into the cracks in the ground torn open by the battle's aftershocks.

"..."

Watching Claude gradually disappear, Li Ang slowly straightened up and adjusted the slightly crooked Dragon Head Mask.

Amber sheathed the Tidal Messenger at his waist, jerked his chin at the others, left them with a "See you around,"

and vanished from where he stood.

Ding Zhensi also called out a farewell and teleported away—the Kui Ox Mecha's condition was extremely unstable and needed to be taken back to the real world for immediate repair and adjustment,

and he also needed to report at once to his superiors all that he had seen in this scenario mission.

The Heterodox Academy had definitely conducted secret experiments in history that modern times knew nothing about. They actually possessed the ability to create a vast, sprawling world inside a box, and Su Ni Sheng's previous-life identity had been involved in it—

Her power in that former life far exceeded expectations; even an incomplete Spiritual Body with an unknown fraction of her Spiritual Power had nearly wrapped up Hoenhem and several other first-echelon players and shipped them off all at once.

Only Liu Wu Dai and Li Ang remained at the scene.

Liu Wu Dai stowed his bow and Arrows back into his backpack slot, glanced at Li Ang who was standing there silently, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking, if their world is a box, then maybe the other worlds are like that too..."

Li Ang smacked his lips and gave a careless shrug. "Forget it, no point overthinking. You heading out?"

"Yeah."

Liu Wu Dai nodded. "See you on the Square."

"See you on the Square."

Li Ang watched Liu Wu Dai teleport away, then stood alone in the mountaintop cavern that was about to collapse.

He raised his head and, through the slanting dome of the cave, looked up at the sky, as though his line of sight could penetrate the clouds and glimpse the existence beyond the sky.

Rumble, rumble.

The mountain slowly toppled and caved in. The instant before tens of thousands of tons of shattered rock came crashing down, Li Ang also disappeared from where he stood.

————

Far, far away, the villagers of the Guardian Village stood in the street, staring wide-eyed as the snowy mountain peak completely collapsed.

The village chief, who had been holding a booklet and teaching the younger villagers how to use the machines taught to them by the travelers from the Different World, had his eyes opened wide and his hands trembling slightly.

What on earth had happened on the Sacred Mountain...

No one could answer his question.

"Look!"

The childish shout of a child snapped the village chief out of his intense shock and regret. He jerked his head up, only to see the sky above the Sacred Mountain torn open by a black rift.

A gigantic, boundless eye wreathed in immortal mist peered through the rift, gazing down at the world inside the box.