97: Chapter 97: Killing someone is like destroying their spirit; the traitor ultimately becomes food for the monster.

The battle in the sky had reached its most brutal and final stage.

The massive body of the Lord of the Ultimate End, like a leaking, cracked, and rotten balloon, convulsed and shriveled wildly under the relentless halberd strikes of the God of Slaughter, Bai Qi. The final self-destruct energy it tried to gather was brutally hacked apart and interrupted, strike by merciless strike! Each flash of the halberd's blade sent huge chunks of rotting flesh, collapsing like mountains into ash, and gushing dark red blood plasma scattering into the void.

In its cracked yellow pupils, the once all-obliterating will of destruction was now replaced by the purest, beast-like agony and madness, along with a trace of... unbelievable weakness. With three sub-cores destroyed, its life essence burned out to spawn its bloodline progeny, and even its last resort of mutual destruction forcibly suppressed, it had truly reached its end.

"ROAR—!!!"

A soul-rending howl, filled with utter resentment and venom, echoed through the world like a final death knell, yet it could no longer stir the previous waves of destruction.

On the ground, as the main body of the Lord of the Ultimate End rapidly weakened, the endlessly surging 'Ultimate End Bloodline Progeny' also seemed to lose their source of power. They thinned out, faded, and finally, under the combined efforts of the Netherworld Soldiers and the survivors, scattered into lifeless dark red blood water, seeping into the scorched earth.

The sounds of people collapsing in the aftermath, the moans of the wounded, and tearful cheers of relief upon confirming the enemy's imminent demise began to rise and fall among the ruins.

Everyone looked up at the god-demon-like figure in the sky — Bai Qi — and the disintegrating Lord of the Ultimate End beneath his feet.

On the watchtower, the entwining and constricting tentacles had long been severed into countless pieces and turned to ash by the massive barrier of layered nether talismans Lin Chen deployed and by Bai Qi's returning strikes. Lin Chen stood there, his robes flapping in the energy storm, his expression cold as he watched the dying Lord of the Ultimate End, as if looking at a pile of garbage awaiting disposal.

His gaze then fell below, on Qin Weiwei, who was securely bound by special chains held by Netherworld Soldiers, had just been knocked unconscious by a rifle butt from Su Qingyu, and was now groggily coming to.

When Qin Weiwei opened her eyes, the first things she felt were the excruciating pain from her broken wrist and the chilling restraint all over her body. She saw the Lord of the Ultimate End in the sky about to fall completely, saw the undisguised disgust and hatred in the eyes of the surrounding survivors looking at her, saw Su Qingyu's icy gaze, and finally, met Lin Chen's eyes — deep as a cold pool, devoid of any emotion.

Despair, like a cold venomous snake, instantly tightened around her heart.

"Bro... Brother..." She tried to muster a final shred of pitiful charm, her voice hoarse and trembling. "I... I was forced! The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader controlled me! I didn't mean it! Please, spare me..."

Lin Chen had no interest in listening to her nonsense. He directly cut off her performance, his voice chillingly calm. "Your act has run from Chapter One to Chapter Ninety-Seven. It's time for the curtain call."

He raised his hand, pointing at the remaining carcass of the Lord of the Ultimate End, still making its final, futile struggles in the sky.

"You love acting, don't you? Love being a double agent?" A cruel curve appeared at the corner of Lin Chen's mouth. "For this final act, I'll build you the best stage. You and your 'ultimate backer' can take your final bow together."

Qin Weiwei instantly understood what Lin Chen intended. Her eyes widened in terror, and she began struggling frantically. "No! Don't! Lin Chen! You can't do this! I know many secrets of the Thousand Faces Cult! I can tell you! I'm still useful to you!!"

"Useful?" Lin Chen sneered. "Your utility is right now."

He said no more, simply giving a slight wave of his hand to the guarding Netherworld Soldiers.

Two Netherworld Soldiers understood. They lifted the screaming, struggling, tear-and-snot-streaked Qin Weiwei from the ground as if she were a chick.

"Su Qingyu." Lin Chen's gaze shifted to the side.

Su Qingyu immediately stepped forward. With a complicated glance at Qin Weiwei's twisted face, she responded firmly, "Here."

"You do it," Lin Chen's voice brooked no argument. "Throw her over there with your own hands."

Su Qingyu trembled slightly. She understood this was Lin Chen's final test for her, a decision meant to completely sever any lingering, illusory affection she might have had for Qin Weiwei from the past. She took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in her eyes turning into icy resolve.

"Yes."

She walked forward and took the other end of the chain binding Qin Weiwei from the Netherworld Soldier.

"Sister Su! Su Qingyu! No! Please! For the sake of our sisterhood! I beg you! Let me go!" Qin Weiwei, as if clutching her last straw, pleaded desperately with Su Qingyu, her eyes filled with entreaty and pitifulness.

Su Qingyu looked at this face now etched with fear and wretchedness. What flashed through her mind was the image of Qin Weiwei, grinning fiercely as she raised the Law-Breaking Spike, trying to destroy the Energy Core and drag everyone to their doom.

"Sisterhood?" Su Qingyu softly uttered the two words, shaking her head. Her eyes held no hatred, only a thorough coldness and detachment. "The moment you chose betrayal, that ended."

Having said that, she no longer looked at Qin Weiwei's instantly despairing, ashen face. Gathering the little energy she had recovered, she violently swung the chain!

"NO—!!!"

Qin Weiwei's shrill, distorted scream pierced the sky. Her body, like a ragged doll, was flung high into the air by a tremendous force, tracing a desperate arc as it plummeted directly towards the disintegrating carcass of the Lord of the Ultimate End, which was radiating its final frenzy and a greedy desire to devour!

In the sky, the dying Lord of the Ultimate End seemed to sense the approach of 'food.' Its last remaining, chaotic instincts drove it to open a not-yet-fully-collapsed wound, like a giant abyssal maw, filled with squirming rot and swirling darkness!

"AHHH!!!!"

Amidst Qin Weiwei's screams of utter terror, her figure was instantly swallowed by that giant maw! Faint sounds of bones being crushed and the brief, miserable sizzle of corrosion by energy could barely be heard before all noise ceased abruptly, completely annihilated within that darkness representing ultimate destruction.

The Lord of the Ultimate End's remains seemed to convulse violently one last time, a final flicker, as if invigorated by devouring this 'supplement' containing some energy and a soul.

But it was only that one convulsion.

The next moment.

Bai Qi's heaven-piercing, earth-cleaving crimson halberd strike, condensed with his final killing intent, descended like a sword of judgment! It slammed precisely into the Lord of the Ultimate End's core—the last vestige of its life imprint!

"SPLUTCH—!"

It was like a giant cyst filled with filth being thoroughly punctured.

Under that halberd strike, the unimaginably vast remains of the Lord of the Ultimate End exploded! There was no earth-shattering blast, only a silent, rapid annihilation! Like a stain being erased by a rubber, starting from the center point, it swiftly turned into the purest black ash, dissipating between heaven and earth.

Only some not-yet-fully-vanished, foul-smelling chunks of flesh and viscous blood fell from the sky like black rain.

The cracks in the sky began to slowly mend. The suffocating bloody moonlight also seemed to dim considerably.

The Bizarre Monster Lord that had ravaged the world and nearly brought about the ultimate end had, from this moment, completely vanished into thin air.

Lin Chen stood at the edge of the watchtower, letting the foul-smelling wind ruffle his hair. He gazed in the direction where Qin Weiwei and the Lord of the Ultimate End had vanished together, his eyes indifferent, as if he had just casually cleared away some unsightly trash.

He turned and looked down at the devastated Fortress and the survivors, most wounded, who had narrowly escaped death. His voice rang clearly through the ruins:

"Did everyone see that clearly?"

"This is the fate of betrayal."

"In my domain, you follow my rules. Those who are useful, live. Those who are useless, or who stab others in the back..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire area. Everyone who met his eyes involuntarily lowered their heads, a chill running through their hearts.

"...this is the example."