72: breaking Dawn

Star God Forbidden Zone.

The three-person team from the Twilight Society waited reverently.

Just as the thundercloud vortex completely vanished, a giant ritual array, already set up beside them, glowed faintly as if triggered.

"The time has come."

"Please, our Lord, descend here!"

Amidst fervent cries, the three walked in unison, uttering obscure, incomprehensible whispers that echoed.

They were chanting the name of a God.

Accompanying the low whispers, their ritual array trembled, imbued with mysterious energy, awakening from its dormancy and fully activating. From the center of the array, crimson light flickered, spreading to every corner of the array, converging and then erupting with a roar. Crimson beams of light ascended, projecting onto the sky!

The crimson beams connected heaven and earth, reflecting pupil patterns in the sky. From a distance, three beams of light simultaneously rose between heaven and earth, all located in the outer regions of the Forbidden Zone.

The pupils flickered in the sky, lifelike, like three heavenly wells, as if higher-dimensional beings were casting their gaze upon this place through these three pupils.

As the crimson beams rose, the three individuals, their faces filled with devotion and their whispers constant, had their clothes instantly torn apart. Their exposed skin twisted, and within a few breaths, their entire bodies swelled continuously, no longer resembling human forms.

That was a mutation!

They had learned and memorized the ritual's setup method, but to maintain their purity and to enter the Forbidden Zone, they had not truly embarked on the esoteric sect's cultivation path, nor had they truly established a connection with their God.

Now, the ritual was truly activated.

The mysterious power contained within it instantly corrupted their bodies and affected their minds, causing them to mutate.

The three seemed oblivious, and amidst their devout whispers, their vocal organs also changed, their voices gradually blurring until they were completely silent, their mouths opening and closing without a sound, having devolved into bizarre-looking monsters.

...

Frontline Base.

Federal Command Headquarters.

High-level lounge.

The Corona God Envoy stood in mid-air, her eyes slightly closed, the two anomalous suns hidden.

Just then...

She sensed something, suddenly opened her eyes, and looked towards the Forbidden Zone through the porthole.

The three crimson beams soaring into the sky were exceptionally conspicuous, and the pupils projected in the sky emitted an unsettling aura.

"They really made a move."

The suns in her eyes stopped rotating for two seconds, then her body ascended, as if illusory, passing through the porthole and standing above the Command Headquarters building.

At this moment, the Frontline Base had already become a battlefield.

But everything outside seemed to be unrelated to her.

The Corona God Envoy clasped her hands together, forming a special gesture, and the anomalous suns in her eyes suddenly split open, activating their power.

In her vision, the vast Forbidden Zone before her transformed into an overhead view, where four locations – east, south, west, and north – each glowed brightly in this overhead view.

Those were precisely the recording points that the Corona Squad had set up within the Forbidden Zone according to the sect's arrangements.

Nine metal pillars connected to each other, with a crimson sun appearing above them. At this moment, the Corona God Envoy spread her hands and lightly touched the void before her.

Invisible power swept through the void, integrating into these four recording points.

The crimson sun's light expanded, seemingly replenished with power, flickering between bright and dim, gaining a divine aura.

Compared to the three sky-reaching beams drawn by the Twilight Society, the Corona Sect's arrangement was exceptionally secretive. As the crimson sun's light flickered, it gradually became transparent, as if completely hidden.

The fragmented anomalous suns in her eyes reformed, and the Corona God Envoy's gaze turned towards the distant sky.

Just then.

Tang Qian's voice sounded in her ear.

"It seems we haven't been busy for nothing."

"Since you have already made a move and are involved, why not help us resolve the trouble here as well?"

Upon hearing this, the Corona God Envoy's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

A moment later, her brows relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on her beautiful face.

"Yes."

The next instant.

Her figure ascended, soaring towards the distant battlefield.

There, the monsters crawling out of the abyss were constantly increasing, but the front line was firmly held, not yielding an inch.

The Frontline Base was already garrisoned by Federal warriors, and even more powerhouses from different forces across the Star Sea were located here. The front line was like a bedrock, blocking the Shock, and as time passed, they began to counterattack towards that abyss!

The anomalies within the Forbidden Zone were also noticed by the powerhouses in the base.

Some also wanted to move to investigate.

After the Star God's power was completely contained, the current Forbidden Zone, though bearing its name, no longer had its essence. It no longer had a suppressive effect on these powerhouses who belonged to different systems and were not from the Mining Star.

But...

As they moved, a voice imbued with mechanical intent sounded in their ears.

"I am Tang Qian, the Federal Chief Commander stationed on the Mining Star."

"Within the Forbidden Zone is not our battlefield."

"All of you, work together, with solving the meteorite disaster as your primary objective!"

...

Outside the Mining Star.

Star Sea, Judgment Corps Flagship.

Legion Commander Commander Duan Junyou sat sprawled in the command room, at the head of the conference table.

The moment the Frontline Base experienced a change, he had already received the information. Now, overlooking from space, he looked at the Mining Star's surface, observing the unsettling three pupil patterns, and his gaze deepened: "Finally, they couldn't resist making a move, could they?"

Compared to his previous aged appearance, his current display of youthful vigor was exceedingly sharp, as if the ambitions of his peak had returned to him.

Images of the Mining Star from various angles were projected onto the large screen in the command room.

At both ends of the conference table, dense rows of figures stood. A few were present in person, but most participated via projection.

These were the commanders of a certain rank and above within the Judgment Corps.

"Everyone."

Commander Duan Junyou rose from his seat, his sharp gaze sweeping across the room, and he said in a deep voice, "Are you all ready?"

Responding to him were soaring, cloud-piercing cries of readiness for battle.

Their spirits were high.

"In that case."

"I announce that the Judgment Corps's ninth super-dimensional battle officially begins."

"Codename: Dawn!"

After twilight, the world plunged into darkness.

At dawn, heaven and earth welcomed light anew.

Dawn is the death of twilight!

After his words fell, approximately a few seconds later.

In the vast Star Sea, outside the Mining Star, piercing AI alarms sounded almost simultaneously within the Judgment Corps starships stationed there.

"Detecting an unknown Limit-Breaking individual rapidly approaching."

"Limit-Breaking Level: Unknown."

"Identity confirming..."

"Identity confirmed, Federally Registered God --"

"Star-Chasing Eye -- Nysella."

"Target is performing an ultra-long-distance warp, without prior communication with the Federation."

The alarm sound continuously looped.

Amidst the piercing alarm.

In the flagship command room, the screen's view shifted, aiming at the boundless Star Sea.

The Star Sea is vast, besides various celestial bodies, space debris, asteroid belts, etc., it is inherently chaotic, dark, and mysterious.

Now.

In the Star Sea image on the screen, the already dark Star Sea seemed to be subtly stained with a layer of ink, becoming even more eerie.

That was a Cosmic God in the true sense, warping through the Star Sea, rapidly approaching!