Demon Hunter and His Cabin

Appearing before everyone is still Abuyi's visage, but his demeanor is starkly different from earlier, exuding an air of arrogance between his brows.

Behind him is a floating phantom shadow.

Like a robe, and yet seemingly a mass of energy, with every gesture, the shadow behind him moves accordingly.

"What did you say?"

Alicia's head buzzed, her own voice hoarse, she felt abnormal.

"Just to deceive us?" Leon looked incredulous.

"Of course not, you're not even qualified enough; to live long always requires some form of sacrifice, I just chose a specific method."

"You seem surprised, right?"

Fernando spread his arms wide; his skin tight, arms strong, no longer the frail, aged appearance of before.

"See, just a simple experiment can easily determine who is loyal to me."

Fernando's gaze swept over everyone's faces; some proudly pulled their chests high, others quietly lowered their heads, avoiding eye contact.

Even someone courageous like Leon, facing Fernando's gaze, revealed a hint of despair deep in his eyes.

"You won, haha, turns out living long is the greatest trump card."

"Kill me!!"

Feeling the Xenomorph energy within him, Leon knew any resistance was futile.

"Kill you all, how could that be?"

Fernando laughed cheerfully.

"Did you really think I'd be bored enough to just toy with you?"

He raised his hands, in the black pillar of light, shadow fragments gradually fused.

"That's not feasible; to fully fuse, sacrificing just one real world is far from enough; too many gaps need filling."

"And now I have a new choice, oh...sorry, I misspoke, you have provided me with new options."

"What are you planning?!" Igor was less composed than Leon, Genevieve was still struggling on the ground.

Anyone could see her power was waning, her overall strength regressing.

"Naturally, succeeding, helping me accomplish all this."

"This saves me a lot of time, the downfall of the Atlas race taught me one thing: oftentimes, violence isn't the only way to solve problems."

"You see, the current situation is great."

"Quietly completing assimilation, then becoming nourishment for a new world."

"You're a madman!!" Leon cursed, but Fernando didn't seem to mind.

"Haha, because of your sacrifices, the new world will be better."

"Now accept the energy, go accomplish what you must do!"

After speaking, the phantom behind Fernando expanded, simultaneously, everyone's shadows distorted.

"The world needs purification, and now I've distinguished who are my servants and who are my enemies; the rest is much easier."

Countless screams echoed, bodies soared skyward, enveloped by twisting black shadows behind them.

Fernando slightly turned to look at the pale Alicia.

"I...you..."

Alicia felt her heart twist into a knot, a fear like a black hole nearly drowning her, she looked at that familiar face, only one thought emerged.

Leave him, leave him forever.

"Oh, dear Alicia, what are you thinking?"

Fernando touched Alicia's shoulder with his hand, just a simple physical contact, yet it sent chills down her spine.

"Father...Abu..."

Alicia was at a loss for words, unable to decide how to address the man before her.

"A name is just a title, identity does not matter, is that right, my Alicia."

Fernando seemed to be speaking to Alicia, while slowly turning to face another direction.

"A good show, right? Mr. Tersko."

"What a pity, the one to come is you, an insignificant fellow."

Tersko stiffened, feeling utterly losing control of his body, helplessly watching Fernando come before him. His opened hand almost crushed all his hope.

Yet, as Tersko thought his throat would be crushed by Fernando, a familiar voice sounded beside his ear.

"You can't harm him."

A hand reached out from the side, blocking Fernando's attack.

"Ro...Roger?!"

Tersko exclaimed, almost everyone had been affected by the unknown energy, and he could only maintain the ability to think and speak.

But here!?

"Hm? You can still move?" Fernando withdrew his hand, gazing at Roger in astonishment.

The feeling was as if he faced not an unexpected threat, but mere curiosity.

"Strange, truly strange. It's a same-source power, still existing in this world, shadow power not yet absorbed by me?"

Roger stood before Tersko, gently waving his hand; the latter's body lifted and was caught by Sonia from afar.

"Really a surprise." Fernando's lips formed a slight smile.

"It's only under strong external pressure that shadow fragments begin to fuse, something my own power cannot accomplish."

"But no matter how much energy spread after collision, it's not something you can withstand."

The smile on his face became more pronounced.

"In my long life, there have been few truly unexpected answers."