“Boom!”

 

As if walking on flat ground, Miss White Fox nimbly spun and dodged the thick black pillar of fire, which was even larger than her body.

 

With a slight gesture, she redirected the flames, which twisted as though forced by a great power, shooting upward into the sky instead of falling into the crowd below.

 

Immediately, the magic light extending from the black gemstone turned into an unstoppable blade, slicing through the masked head of the giant flame creature.

 

However, the creature exploded like a dark firework in the sky, scattering countless flames wrapped in deathly fire, falling like meteors into every corner of the city.

 

The sound of madness continued to echo through the sky.

 

“Hehehehehe!!! What will you do now?! Little fox who loves life, can you save everyone in the city again? Let’s just waaaait and see!!!”

 

“You’re really… something…”

 

Though, with her extremely high attributes and the artifact 【Demon God’s Gem】, fighting this guy wasn’t much of an issue.

 

However, the abilities granted by the 【Dominion of the Fox Mask】 were bizarre and confusing support skills, even more unconventional than Violet’s original Holy Light abilities, making them ill-suited for combat, or rather, more like niche skills.

 

Facing Musk, who didn’t bother defending himself and recklessly burned through his divine will just to wreak havoc, was truly a bit troublesome.

 

But thankfully, only a bit troublesome.

 

“Ding~ Ding~”

 

At some point, a small silver bell had reappeared in the girl’s hand, gently ringing and emitting a crisp, pleasant sound that reverberated throughout every corner of the city.

 

Together with the soft chant of Miss White Fox.

 

“Flowers bloom and wither, the other shore grows.”

 

She murmured softly, and a sea of crimson flowers blossomed across the sky.

 

The flowers were as bright as blood, strangely enchanting and captivating. Their petals were like flawless gems, pure and untainted, yet darkly seductive, drawing in the soul.

 

In the haze, a winding river seemed to flow through a dreamlike mist, carrying with it the murmurs of countless dead. Surrounded by the crimson banquet of flowers, they sank away into oblivion.

 

A canopy of otherworldly flowers bloomed in the sky, nearly covering the city. The scattered black flames were blocked and extinguished without exception, sinking beneath the flowing river of the afterlife, vanishing without a trace.

 

Yet, the flower sea from the shores of the Sanzu did not disappear.

 

Now, it was time for the counterattack.

 

Miss White Fox, standing in midair, gently shook her bell once again.

 

“Ding~ Ding~”

 

“The Sanzu River has arrived, the souls bow down.”

 

The sound of the bell became the key to open the gates of the underworld. A ghostly river, as real as the mist, flowed from afar. Countless otherworldly flowers formed a crimson storm, enveloping the massive black giant whose head had just regenerated from the scorched earth.

 

“Huh? What is this? Cheating! This is cheating! I demand a rematch!”

 

It seemed that the power of the 【Three Paths Journey】, representing the underworld and souls, had become the perfect nemesis for the seemingly indestructible flame giant.

 

As Musk shouted in what seemed like panic, the black flames were extinguished by the waters of the underworld, shrinking and fading away. Even when more corrupted flames surged up from beneath, created by divine power, they couldn’t withstand the torrent of the Sanzu River, which poured down like a reversed heavenly river.

 

The ethereal river surged toward the ley lines, tainted by the divine authority, cleansing and purifying them as though removing filth. The crust of the earth closed up again under this mysterious force, cutting off the flame giant’s source of power completely.

 

In the end, the flames were entirely extinguished, leaving only a black-and-white mask floating in the sky.

 

The girl raised her hand with a slight gesture.

 

The bell and the sea of flowers vanished simultaneously, and the gates of the underworld were once again closed.

 

As if sighing in defeat, the 【God of False Faces and Ecstasy】, who had been defeated head-on by an undeniable and extraordinarily strange method, showed a mixture of “joy” and “curiosity.”

 

“Oh my~ No wonder you were so hard to deal with… ‘Law’, ‘law’, yet another new ‘law’ I’ve never seen before~”

 

“You, and that Violet too. How did you manage to pass through the world’s barrier in your real form? Or is this just an avatar? Hehehe, I’m so curious~ Did that stingy old man really not make a move against you two? Or is he cooking up some grand plan again~?”

 

Miss White Fox glanced up at him, her expression hidden beneath her mask, but…

 

“It was simple. I just snapped my fingers and came right over.”

 

“?”

 

Hearing the girl’s nonchalant tone, even the god, known for his “irrational madness,” seemed visibly stiff for a moment, as if frozen by her words.

 

But then, his expression twisted into an even more frenzied grin.

 

“Hahahahahahaha!!! Oh my, how fun, how fun! Little fox, you’re so amusing! Forget about finding Violet! This game has been so entertaining! If there’s a chance, let’s prepare an even grander stage for our next meeting, hehehehehehehe!!!!!!!”

 

“Haah…”

 

With a seemingly helpless sigh, Miss White Fox once again summoned the black gemstone in her hand, brimming with endless magic power.

 

“Are you under some kind of misunderstanding? I… don’t recall ever saying I’d just let you leave so easily.”

 

“Oh?”

 

The black-and-white mask showed amusement instead of fear.

 

“Oh my, how scary~ But what’s the point? My real body isn’t here, you know. Even though I lost a bit of power this time, that move of yours must have cost you a lot too, right? Just a little fox like you—do you think you can strike me across the world’s barrier?”

 

“Hmm… why don’t we give it a try?”

 

“Hehehe, sure, come at me~”

 

With that, the black-and-white mask, already full of cracks and drained of power from the previous battle, finally shattered completely, dissolving into light and floating away.

 

This was the true essence of the 【God of False Faces and Ecstasy】—a small portion of his divine core encased within the shell of divine power. Now that his power was depleted, he could no longer resist the strong repulsion of the world and was being drawn back to his larger form in another realm.

 

【Divinity】 — a concept even more elusive than the divine soul, akin to the laws of reality itself. It does not belong to either the 【Matter】 or 【Void】 energy systems. In theory, no method can harm or interfere with it, not even a god can do so to their own Divinity.

 

Only something like this could easily pierce through the world’s barrier because it represents a shift in rules, like two parallel lines that never intersect and cannot influence one another.

 

In theory, that is.

 

“Phew…”

 

Sensing the presence locked in her sights, now leaving this world and ascending to the distant beyond, the girl took a deep breath. An invisible barrier spread out, covering the sky below.

 

“Sorry, but I’m a very stubborn person. I never take anything from anyone without giving something in return, and I definitely don’t let myself suffer a loss for nothing, so…”

 

She reached up and removed the white fox mask from her face.

 

Her red and white shrine maiden’s robe transformed into a white gown. The sacred black-haired girl raised the shimmering, slender staff in her hand.

 

“I said, let there be light.”

 

Bathed in radiance, the pure and flawless girl descended gracefully. The light she emitted condensed into a more brilliant, golden holy spirit.

 

A scarlet-gold holy spear appeared in her palm, crackling with a surge of lightning so intense it distorted the very space around it.

 

“Crackle~ Crackle~”

 

With her silver-blue eyes closed, the girl locked onto the presence about to escape her range of perception.

 

For the first time, she recited an incantation for the magic she was about to cast.

 

【The light of the midday sun shining upon the heavens…】

【The light of the moon that dispels the night…】

【The light of dawn that illuminates the starry sky…】

 

Her chant grew faster, more natural and fluent, until it became a majestic and boundless holy hymn.

 

【The light of the eternal flame that burns through the ages】

【The light of the abyss from the endless valley】

【The light of the elemental roar surging forth】

【The light that tears through the universe】

【The light of annihilating thunder】

【By the supreme and most sacred primordial light, gather here, gather here, gather here!】

 

The girl opened her radiant, scarlet-gold eyes, shining like the stars. Ten beams of glorious light appeared around her, and she raised her six pure white wings, sacred and majestic!

 

The world plunged into absolute darkness. The body of the holy spirit of light merged into the single, resplendent holy spear, emanating boundless radiance. Even the barrier she had set up earlier had completely dissipated.

 

But it no longer mattered, because the brilliant holy spear, shimmering with the light of nine layers, had become the sole presence in the darkened world. Its radiance could no longer be beheld by mortals.

 

And so, she hurled the weapon.

 

“【Ultimate Art: Radiance】”