Meanwhile, chaos reigned in the first-class compartment.
Ceramic shards slid down with gravity's pull, while the crystal coffee table crashed heavily against the carriage floor.
The leather sofas lay piled near the compartment walls, scattered across the chaotic yet eerily empty room.
All traces of its former luxury had vanished.
Aurelianne clutched her forehead, shaking it repeatedly to clear the dizziness clouding her mind.
Just moments ago, she had experienced a bizarre gravitational fluctuation.
The train had come to a forced stop after a violent collision. Soon after, the entire train suffered another massive compressive impact and began plummeting from the sky.
Then, before it could complete its fall, something seemed to grab the entire train, bringing it to an abrupt halt.
Now, everything around the first-class compartment was floating in mid-air.
Aurelianne struggled to rise from the sofa, touching her throbbing head as she painfully extracted herself from the cushions that had gripped her.
What had just happened?
The memories came flooding back.
Vanilla had suddenly crouched down, apparently sensing some threat.
Low growls had continuously emanated from her throat.
At that moment, Vanilla had seemed to lose her usual calm and elegance.
She had transformed completely into a beast-like state.
Finally, still crouching low, she had unleashed a mighty roar toward the window.
[Fierce Voice]
The air compressed under the sound waves, turning the terrible airflow into tsunamis beneath this wrathful roar.
Even the floor was torn with a deep groove under this impact, wooden splinters flying in all directions.
At the time, Aurelianne had covered her ears.
Before she could react, she looked up to see something horrifying.
The compartment ceiling had somehow become covered in countless black ink-like stains that gradually dripped downward.
These ink drops began twisting upon contact with the floor, liquids forming into human shapes.
Anyone could tell these nauseating, filthy things were definitely not normal entities.
But just as Aurelianne prepared to attack these monsters,
They suddenly collapsed back to the floor, shattering into fragments that scattered everywhere.
This left Aurelianne completely bewildered.
How had these monsters that had just appeared simply died?
Was it because of Vanilla's roar from earlier?
Had they already been in a state of death at that moment?
Then came the collision that stopped the train.
But where was Vanilla?
Thinking of this, Aurelianne hurriedly stood up and began searching around.
The surrounding compartment had lost its magical power supply due to the violent collision.
The once-bright carriage had now dimmed to darkness.
Fortunately, Aurelianne was a mage.
She casually lit a flame, illuminating the compartment more clearly.
In this light, she saw Vanilla lying motionless on the floor.
Seeing this, Aurelianne rushed to the cat-girl's side without hesitation, helping the small figure up.
She assisted the cat-girl to the sofa, caught her breath, then examined Vanilla's condition.
She had fallen into a mild state of unconsciousness.
Perhaps the powerful roar had overtaxed her body, leaving her weakened and exhausted.
Thinking of this, Aurelianne felt another wave of confusion.
What kind of magic had Vanilla used?
That roar's power was definitely no ordinary shout.
Yet she hadn't sensed any magical energy flow from Vanilla.
Fortunately, Vanilla's condition wasn't serious - she just seemed drained.
Let her rest a while, and she would recover soon.
Aurelianne gently sniffed Vanilla's scent, finding it quite enjoyable.
The cat-girl's fragrance was indeed pleasant.
As she had said herself, there was a faint vanilla scent.
"No wonder she's called Vanilla."
After checking on her, Aurelianne slowly made her way to the window.
She was desperate to know what was happening outside.
But the scene before her eyes was dreamlike yet nightmarish, repeatedly striking her vision, instantly plunging her into boundless shock.
The magical train's carriages had been separated into sections, each floating irregularly in the air without any apparent support.
They hung suspended in the sky's gentle embrace like carelessly discarded toys, stretching across the darkness.
At this moment, time seemed to freeze.
The canyon hidden in the depths below was bottomless, and a quiet terror pressed against Aurelianne like some mysterious force.
She could only step backward.
The sky had become terrifyingly dark, but not from cloud cover.
The entire sky seemed contaminated by something, plunged into vast blackness.
Chaotic tentacles pierced through the black mist, reaching toward the canyon's abyss.
And within that black vortex, a massive yellow pupil appeared, restlessly surveying the entire world.
Around the eye, something like black ink formed into droplets, continuously dripping down.
In mere seconds, that black ink would seep into the compartment.
"The Goddess's... cultists!?"
Just days ago, Aurelianne had seen those cultists at the banquet.
But their filth couldn't compare to the terror before her now.
It was like a monster that had covered the sky vault, bringing all fear and evil thoughts to the world's people.
How could such a terrifying monster exist outside the empire!?
Suddenly, a voice that could reassure Aurelianne rang out nearby.
"They circle the empire's outer borders, looking to strike when we're vulnerable."
"Because they dare not venture deeper inside."
Aurelianne couldn't help but look up toward the voice's source.
The sight before her left her dazed.
Viktor stood with his hands in his pockets, stepping through the air as he slowly walked toward her.
Five-colored magical energy surged from all directions beneath his feet, condensing into transparent, flowing, multi-colored magical stairs in the high sky.
It was as if the sky had opened a new path, quickly gathering from the clouds to him, serving as his steps.
That shimmering light staircase kept flickering, seeming to drain all color from the surrounding sky.
His stride was confident and steady, his calm expression full of composure, as if one could always sense a quiet elegance about him.
Aurelianne raised her head, staring at Viktor walking toward her from the sky, momentarily stunned.
"The Empire is their forbidden ground."
However, only Viktor knew clearly.
In less than a year's time, Aubrey would be unable to manage the empire.
That would be when his life hung by a thread.
During that period, Aubrey would have no energy to handle any affairs.
While his heirs would bare their frost-bitten fangs in their struggles.
That would be when their power struggles would be most intense.
Second Prince Owiser would first open a massive breach in the empire.
He would introduce demons, letting them flood the entire empire.
Thus would begin the demon invasion.
The demon invasion would throw the empire into chaos.
The cultists would take advantage of this opportunity.
They would complete their most fanatical ritual, making Gwen the Goddess of Justice's earthly vessel.
Thus, she would drive out all invading demons in her perfect form as a justice knight.
Meanwhile.
The Reiser family, supporting the crown prince, would create the ultimate weapon to protect humanity, fighting against demons and restricting cultist activities.
The most perfect form of Sapphirose would thus be born.
But even so, the cultists' infiltration would already have contaminated the empire's roots, like an incurable cancer.
Unless Gwen died early, they would inevitably welcome the goddess's descent.
The empire's gradual collapse in the future could be traced to clear causes.
So, if he wanted to prevent this from beginning,
Viktor must support Aurelianne's early ascension.
"Rest a while, Your Highness."
Viktor spoke in a relaxed tone, with reassurance, to Aurelianne.
His hands in his pockets, his gentle voice made Aurelianne feel as if bathed in soft heavenly light amid this chaotic crisis.
Making her see hope.
"Once I've resolved everything, we'll depart immediately."
Aurelianne was slightly startled.
Suddenly, all five giant hands behind Viktor opened simultaneously.
Those purple-black lightning hands reached into the roiling black sky filled with rolling clouds, and firmly gripped.
In an instant, the cloud layers turned over, like dancing dragons and serpents, clustering around the waterfall-like gray chaos that began to churn.
At that moment, Aurelianne saw clearly.
Purple lightning like hundred-meter-long giant pythons danced wildly in the high sky, electric arcs flickering unpredictably.
The next second, that lightning suddenly erupted, descending from heaven, transforming into giant lightning spikes that violently pierced that deep black blasphemous thing.
The wind suddenly swayed, the air violently burst open, as if transformed into shackles, locking the lightning onto that chaotic black blasphemous entity.
The twisted monster, receiving this terrifying strike, let out a painful and fierce howl.
Countless tentacles were withdrawn from the ravine's depths, twisting and entangling.
Electric arcs rapidly burned the filthy aberration's body, pain causing its huge eye to clench shut.
Terrifying power instantly rose up, black horror suddenly gathering, attempting to completely contaminate the entire world.
At this moment, its hatred had completely locked onto Viktor's body.
Viktor stared at this terrifying cultist before him, and an almost imperceptible smile flashed across his calm face.
Because the monster's health bar and level had appeared.
[Cultist of the Goddess]*
Level 60
Tens of thousands of the goddess's cultists had condensed their fanatical thoughts into physical form, like a mass of chaos, forming this twisted blasphemous appearance.
They had only one purpose - to summon the Goddess of Justice's reincarnation.
They would definitely come here, they would definitely come for Gwen.
For the goddess's orthodoxy.
When the council announced the goddess's orthodox status, these cultists became increasingly anxious.
The reason they began lurking around the empire's borders was to reclaim their goddess's orthodoxy.
However...
Vega's single eye gradually began flickering with blue light.
At the same time, Viktor's eyes flashed with the same light, quickly manifesting surging magical power.
Connection successful.
The next second, Viktor's coat was rapidly covered in purple-black stripes.
That lightning-flashing elemental giant hand was injected with endless magical power, beginning to rapidly expand, growing even more enormous.
"I don't want to see the age of divine descent arrive early."
"So..."
BOOM!
A white force tore open a rift in the black clouds, lightning pouring forth.
Countless thunderbolts suddenly burst open in the sky, becoming wild dancing silver snakes rolling between the black clouds, swaying unpredictably.
Terrible electric arcs carrying dense flashes began to illuminate the entire sky.
Several purple-black lightning bolts began rapidly twisting behind Viktor's body, as if connecting him to the entire sky.
Lightning began flickering around his body, thunder moving about him like fish in water.
Viktor's eyes burst forth with purple light, the coat behind him lifted high in the chaotic air currents.
He floated in the high sky, his expression peaceful, his face still perfectly calm beneath the lightning.
Viktor kept his hands in his pockets, his gaze stern:
"Would you please—"
"Get the hell away?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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