198: General Attack! For whom does the death knell toll in the South?

Inside the Chessboard of Creation, Lin Yuan's voice was devoid of emotion, merely stating an established fact.

The twelve light wings on the back of the 'Tianshu' mech glowed with extreme intensity.

They were no longer mere energy constructs.

Instead, they were highly condensed manifestations of the laws of order.

Each light wing contained absolute power capable of suppressing a vast expanse of heaven and earth.

"Let me show you the heights that can be reached when technology analyzes the laws of the universe."

Lin Yuan's will was perfectly synchronized with the core system of 'Tianshu'.

"Sequence initiated—"

"Phase One: Creation Lock."

In an instant, the crisscrossing golden chessboard lines erupted with light.

They rose from a two-dimensional plane, transforming into a three-dimensional cage of rules, firmly pinning Valerius to a corner of the chessboard.

The Law of Withering within him was suppressed by this absolute power of order, almost to a standstill.

"Phase Two: Star Pivot Stripping."

The twelve light wings detached from the mech's back, transforming into twelve judgment spears of various shapes, yet all exuding a sacred, awe-inspiring presence.

They arranged themselves in the air, forming an ancient and profound star map.

Completely encircling Valerius, they cut off all possibilities for him to maneuver or evade.

Valerius felt an unprecedented sense of oppression.

This was not just a suppression of power, but an absolute dominion at the law level.

His proud domain, in the face of the opponent's power, was like unruly weeds, neatly trimmed.

He had never imagined that he would be forced into such a predicament.

"Phase Three: Divine Punishment Charging."

Lin Yuan's voice fell.

The azure sun on 'Tianshu's chest.

All light and heat collapsed inward in an instant, pouring entirely into the hundred-meter particle light blade in the mech's right hand.

The form of the light blade changed drastically, from the shape of a sword to a beam of light condensed to the extreme, capable of piercing through worlds.

All sound between heaven and earth vanished.

The chessboard, the star map, the light beam.

A trinity, forming a sure-kill situation.

"Final Sequence—Creation: Unification!"

That light moved.

Valerius's entire body's dark essence roared frantically, yet he couldn't even shake the shackles of the law in the slightest.

He clearly understood that if he took this blow head-on, even if he miraculously survived.

His legendary essence would surely be completely destroyed, and he would be reduced to a cripple forever.

He was unwilling.

In the less than one ten-thousandth of a second before the light beam arrived, a look of resolute determination flashed in his eyes.

He took an item from his intrinsic space.

It was a constantly rotating multifaceted prism, entirely carved from spatial crystals.

This was his last-resort life-saving miraculous item, a legendary miraculous item infinitely close to the eighteenth-tier—the Key to the Realm.

Normally, it could allow him to ignore most spatial blockades and perform a precise long-distance teleportation.

But now, he had no time for normal energy guidance.

Valerius made a crazy decision.

He recklessly and violently poured his remaining dark essence, along with part of his soul power, into the Key to the Realm!

"Open for me…!"

The prism let out a wail of unbearable strain, its surface instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

The next moment, it exploded with a bang.

The order cage of the Chessboard of Creation.

A very brief, extremely unstable gap was forcibly torn open by this violent spatial energy.

Now!

Valerius transformed into a twisted black shadow, crashing desperately into that gap.

At the exact same moment, the light of judgment representing "Creation: Unification" descended with a roar.

Wherever the light passed, there was ultimate purification and annihilation.

The dark kingdom Valerius had created was instantly vaporized.

Along with the afterimage he left behind, and the chessboard space in that area, everything was transformed into the most primitive particle flow.

Ten thousand miles away, a distorted black shadow stumbled out of the spatial rift.

It was Valerius.

He violently spat out a large mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, half of his body had completely vanished.

The wound where the light had grazed him was smooth as a mirror.

Furthermore, countless tiny golden runes of order, like maggots clinging to bone, continuously spread, preventing his body's regeneration.

Valerius looked back at the world now enveloped in divine light, his eyes devoid of any fighting spirit, only filled with terror and shame.

Commander? Glory? Empire?

All of it seemed incredibly ridiculous in the face of death.

Valerius didn't even have the courage to look at the battlefield again, desperately gathering the last of his energy, changing direction.

He transformed into a pathetic streak of light, frantically fleeing towards an unknown space.

He abandoned his army, abandoned his Throne, and abandoned everything that came with being the Southern Commander of the Empire.

Inside the 'Tianshu' cockpit, the system overload alarms blared incessantly.

Lin Yuan watched the rapidly retreating energy signal on the tactical map, but did not pursue.

That full-power strike had pushed 'Tianshu's load to its limit.

The mech body needed to cool down, and he had no energy left to chase down a deserter who had been scared out of his wits.

He had absolute confidence that Valerius had suffered irreversible severe damage.

The energy level of that last strike had already touched the threshold of the eighteenth-tier.

He calmly shut off the alarm.

"Moreover, a commander who abandons his army is no longer a commander."

"He is merely a lost, wandering soul in the Sea of Realms."

He broadcast his voice across the entire front line through the Alliance Southern Command's main channel.

"Valerius has fled in defeat; the Southern Front will be secured."

"All-out assault."

...

Dark Star Empire, Ring Mountain Range Defense Line, Supreme Command Center 'Dark Star Throne'.

All Imperial officers stared intently at the gigantic central light screen.

Just moments ago, the beacon representing Commander Valerius, that seventeenth-tier legendary life.

During his engagement with the enemy commander, it suddenly flickered violently, and then… vanished.

Immediately after.

A blurry, extremely unstable high-tier signal appeared ten thousand miles away.

At an abnormal speed, it left the core battlefield, fleeing towards the vast wilderness behind the flank of the defense line.

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Then, a sudden uproar erupted, filled with disbelief and commotion.

"Marshal… the Marshal's life beacon… this is… he fled?"

A staff officer's voice trembled; he could barely believe his eyes, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Impossible! How could the Marshal abandon us!"

"How dare he abandon us! How dare he abandon the entire Southern Army Group!"

"Even if he returns alive, isn't he afraid of being sent to a military tribunal and having his bones ground to dust by His Majesty the Emperor!"

A general screamed hysterically, smashing the command terminal in front of him to pieces.

"It's over…"

The oldest staff officer slumped dejectedly in his command seat, his face ashen.

The commander fleeing from the front line.

For an army, this was a more devastating blow than total annihilation itself.

It drained the souls of all soldiers, shattering the last shred of conviction they held in their hearts.

Their faith had collapsed.

At this moment, alarms blared across the defense line, sounding in unison.

"Report! The Alliance Army has launched a full-scale assault! All directions! It's all directions!"

"Defense Line A-3 has been breached! The defenders are collapsing!"

"The defenders of B-7… they've given up resistance! They're surrendering!"

"We… we are completely surrounded!"

The Ring Mountain Range Defense Line, the Empire's last bastion in the south, began to crumble from within at this very moment.