I am a mindless machine.

That's her trump card.

If the impending roar of light is poison, then this energy is the antidote. Ever since developing the [Imaginary Space] skill, she has been constantly filling this space with energy—this is also the secret to how she possesses the energy of a Dragon Spirit despite her small Machine-type body.

Without the machine's computational circuits as a backup, she would suffer a backlash the moment the portal was fully opened because she couldn't control the energy.

"..........call."

Taking a deep breath, Yun You focused her mind completely. She began to fine-tune the angle and fluctuations of the energy.

Although she just made some bold statements to all the machine races, in reality—her chances of success are still very low.

At most, the chance of survival would decrease from one in ten thousand to one in a thousand. This energy could only slightly weaken the massive impact and increase its replication rate to over seventy percent; it couldn't negate it. That was a truly world-destroying blow.

Even so, she could only hold onto hope and do everything she could.

The desolate wind seemed to be lamenting for her, howling most mournfully. In this final moment, the girl was all alone, with no one by her side.

The image of a petite and adorable black-haired girl flashed through Yunyou's mind.

I feel a little...lonely.

Watching the torrent of light arrive in less than a second, Yun You remained expressionless, struggling to stop the faint trembling that her body couldn't help.

"And so," he said softly.

"bring it on."

Chapter Sixty-Six: Holding the Piece of Hope Firmly in Hand

At the same time, the goblin fleet.

"Ha, it's a little disappointing that I didn't get to see that girl one last time. I was even prepared to win this time."

Countless massive, terrifying airships forged from steel formed a formation. There were at least several hundred of them, a dark, imposing mass, and their sheer scale was comparable to that of the Dragon Spirits.

A burly man with brown skin stood at the bow of the airship, carrying as always the massive iron block twice his height on his back. As the captain, he instinctively knew when he saw the divine strike coming down from the sky that it was impossible to withstand. Even the combined power of that guy (Sink)'s twenty Void Zero Blessings, his own eighteen Marrow Explosions, and the Roar of the eight dragon spirits could not contend with it—that was such a despairing power (the strongest).

That's why he stands here, intending to make one last effort—as the leader of the goblin race, even if he faces an inescapable end, he must die from exhaustion. That is his pride.

As the two unparalleled forces (death) collided, a moment of utter silence, like the calm before a storm, was formed. Apart from the vortex of light that converged and reflected on the retina, a light that even the stars had to bow to, there was nothing else in the world.

Ronnie held his greatsword before him, bracing himself for impending death—but at that moment, the terrifying vortex suddenly shifted.

"What...? That location is—!?"

His eyes widened, and he gripped the small sword that had separated from the greatsword, slamming it down without hesitation onto the iron block beneath his feet. Instantly, an exquisite artifact appeared out of thin air at an imperceptible speed. It was a device inscribed with a spell capable of projecting scenery over a thousand miles.

And so Ronnie saw it: hundreds of kilometers away, standing alone on a hilltop, a petite white girl blocking the torrent of light. Countless hazy, dreamlike ripples bloomed from behind her like flower petals, spreading across the entire sky.

Upon seeing this scene—and understanding its meaning—Ronnie couldn't help but laugh.

"I've lost again... That's really impressive."

Ronnie didn't feel resentful that his actions and thoughts had been manipulated from beginning to end. He was simply outmatched; a loss was a loss. Instead of complaining, he should focus on working harder to strive for victory next time.

only......

Ronnie gazed into the distance; the girl had now been completely swallowed up by the torrent of light.

"I'm afraid that opportunity is no longer available... What a pity."

He sighed softly, his voice tinged with sorrow. Whatever the plans that girl, who always pulled off unexpected moves in the great battles, might have had, she had now met the attack head-on. Therefore, she was going to die no matter what.

"Hmm? -- Is there someone over there... or is it just my imagination?"

Ronnie raised an eyebrow, turning the device's view in another direction with some surprise. Just a moment ago, his intuition had given him a faint warning, as if there was something terrifying in that direction.

The sharp aura that erupted in that instant was like a deadly blade suddenly flashing its cold light from its sheath, startling even someone of Ronnie's strength. That kind of power and feeling definitely belonged to a top-tier figure in a major battle.

However, no one was visible in the scene.

Only the scorched earth, devoid of life by the flames of war...

lifeless.

...

...

There are many forms of energy, but the most powerful and awe-inspiring are undoubtedly light and heat. Examples abound, such as grenades, firearms, missiles, nuclear weapons (a staple of post-apocalyptic themes), and the hydrogen bomb—the most destructive weapon in human history.

The most destructive of them all was the Tsar Bomba, which could create a terrifying mushroom cloud nearly 40 kilometers wide and about 64 kilometers high, large enough to be seen from outer space. The heat wave from the explosion could cause third-degree burns to people 170 kilometers away, and the flash could blind people looking directly at it from 220 kilometers away.

The impact that Yunyou will have to face is a hundred times greater than that—this force can truly be described as a world-destroying blow.

How much time has actually passed?

Based on calculations made before the attack, the actual contact time between this energy and the body would be less than ten seconds. After all, although this energy was enormous, its speed far exceeded supersonic speed and approached the speed of light. Therefore, the actual time that needed to be withstood was not long. According to the original work, the number of Machine Gunners deployed at that time was eleven Linkens—that is, 4807 Machine Gunners.

Of those, five machine-type creatures survived—even with all of them using their combined defensive techniques, the survival rate was actually quite high. According to Yun You's own analysis and calculations, with the [Breakthrough] technique activated, they should be able to create a more comprehensive defense than in the original work in a shorter time…

For the girl caught in the torrent of light, even a millisecond felt like an eternity.

The outer layer of delicate artificial skin had been severely burned, becoming tattered and hideous. Even though the body joints had tried their best to deploy defensive barriers, they were all plasmaized due to overheating. Visual devices, auditory devices, sensory devices... all deployed defensive armaments were destroyed and stripped away.

The excessive heat nearly evaporated the girl's body several times. If she hadn't desperately used the "Deception Technique" to create a cooling effect on the outer layer of her body, she would have died within a hundred milliseconds of contact with the torrent.

If her sensory circuits hadn't been severed beforehand, her processing core might have exploded long ago. Even though she couldn't perceive any pain—her heart was still aching as if being stabbed with a knife.

Because Yunyou already understood in her heart that she was doomed.

The ripples behind them had already reached their peak, and the surging power passed through them without hindrance, merely amplifying the originally calm spatial ripples into towering waves. Thousands upon thousands of visible spatial distortions...

Even with access to the entire machine's computing resources, the core processor (its own body) was already on the verge of... no, it had long since far exceeded its limits.

Forget surviving; she still has half a second left to endure. Her consciousness absolutely cannot shatter; she must maintain the [decipherable] operation. Common sense dictates that to replicate the process, she must at least withstand one full attack—if she can't hold on, the world is doomed.

Her self-sacrifice would be in vain, and her dream of the sunset would remain unfulfilled.

—I absolutely cannot accept that outcome...!

The girl screamed inwardly, trying to grit her teeth but no longer feeling her head. Frankly, she doubted even the existence of her brain; her limbs were completely unresponsive and uncontrollable. Could she have already died?

...Amidst the almost endless light, Yun You's vision was plunged into darkness, and she could hear nothing.

Ten seconds should have passed by now.

Because all the sensory devices have suffered irreversible damage, and the machinery that is the core device of the Machine Race has also been destroyed, Yunyou is now unable to obtain any information about the outside world.

All the calculation data about that massive vortex is directly recorded in the Machine Type Joint Database, so the Full Link Command (Einshitz) should be able to retrieve the [Star Killer] at any time.

However—there is still one last step to be completed.

The girl's consciousness, like fragments, floated and sank endlessly into the unfathomable depths of the water.

Is this... what they call death?

....................

.................

Sinking, sinking, sinking—

...............

..............

..........

——"Yu-sama!!!"

A mournful, heart-wrenching cry, like a ray of hope piercing through the dark clouds, suddenly broke the darkness.

The final chapter... next time... definitely...

——"Yu-sama!!!"

A mournful, heart-wrenching cry suddenly shattered the darkness.

The once bright eyes of the setting sun were now filled with tears. Kneeling beside Yunyou, he sobbed uncontrollably as he looked at the girl's broken body. Crystalline drops fell onto the dark gray earth, spreading countless transparent waves of sorrow and grief.

"...Sunset...?"

A sound, barely perceptible like a dim flame, flashed by, startling even Yun You herself. Her vocal organs should have been completely destroyed in the first explosion, let alone...

Her trembling, half-open red eyes, clouded by severe damage, met the despairing expression on Xiyang's tear-streaked face.

The girl froze in shock the moment she saw him. Then, her pupils suddenly contracted, like a heartstrings curling up in fear after being startled.

She understood why she could still open her eyes and speak. In that instant, she truly experienced an emotion she had never felt even when her body was completely destroyed by the torrent—a feeling called fear, which was now churning violently in her chest.

"Lord Yu... wait a moment, I... I will definitely save you..."

The setting sun cast a faint, fluorescent glow. Her face was pale, and she trembled violently. Cold sweat dulled the luster of her short, jet-black hair. She struggled to utter words that faded rapidly. Yun You could no longer understand what was in her eyes. At this moment, she had reached a state that even Yun You could not comprehend.

However, she was very familiar with this feeling of emitting fluorescence—it was a technique that could unleash maximum energy in a very short time by paying the price of its own core.

Originally, this was a technique that only superior races could and were qualified to use. However, Xiyang, through her talent, achieved the qualification to use it, and even deceived the elven circuits residing in her body, rewriting herself from a biological being into a life form.

Centered on the setting sun and drifting clouds, a spherical barrier with a radius of just a few feet unfolds, perfectly enveloping the two of them. Countless dense patterns are inscribed in the air, floating and rotating. The pitch-black background and blue-white runes create a dreamlike space as elusive as the universe.

She was attempting to reverse time within Yun You's body, rebelling against the established facts of the world. She refused to accept that outcome!

—But she couldn't do it.

The reason is simple, and also cruel—her hard skills...are insufficient.

No matter what, Xiyang's body is still just a vampire. Even with the strongest resolve and the most intense regret... this is ultimately a realistic world. Trying to rewrite the established facts and rewind time with that level of elf power is impossible, even for just ten seconds. The best they can manage is to allow Yunyou to barely hear any sounds and open her eyes.

This is not a fairy tale world after all.

(Sorry, sunset...)

Calming herself down, Yun You suppressed the pity in her heart and forced herself to use the structure of her face to give the setting sun a reassuring smile.

(—But that completes the final move.)

That's what I was thinking.

"Yu-sama——!"