?!?!

The air went dead silent. An eerie deathly silence blanketed everything.

They stared at each other, both completely baffled.

Momo and Yaohuaba just stood there like idiots, gaping at one another.

For Momo, having some random guy try to ambush her was whatever. But the key thing was—she hadn't even done anything yet and his sword just... broke?

What kind of joke was this?

Normally, Momo would've beaten any sneak-attacking punk into hamburger meat without a second thought. But the situation was so absurd that even she froze up.

Of course, the most confused person had to be Sword Spirit Clan Holy Lord Yaohuaba himself.

Huh?? Wha… what!!!!!???...

Yaohuaba's eyes went wide as he stared at the shattered demon sword in his hands. His lips trembled but no sound came out. Shock hit him like a freight train and his world crumbled around him.

His fingers started shaking. The fragments slipped through his grasp and he couldn't hold onto them—could only watch them scatter through the air like his hopes and dreams, completely shattered.

Black Moon?

Just broke like that?!

What the hell happened?! This has got to be some kind of mistake!

This is fucking ridiculous!

Without Black Moon, what am I supposed to fight the Abyssal Lord with? My bare hands?!

He'd thought he was about to feast, but turns out he was the one getting served up!

——

Meanwhile, floating high above using concealment magic, Lena watched the battlefield with amusement.

"Hehe~"

She didn't seem surprised at all by this turn of events that left Momo, Yumo, and Yaohuaba completely stumped.

"Black Moon and White Day... hehe... no matter how powerful they are, they're still made from Abyssal seeds... But that seed inside Momo is Father's masterpiece... an Apostle-level seed. How could Black Moon, which still carries part of the Abyssal Lord's consciousness, dare attack Father's apostle?"

She smiled with contempt, looking down at Yaohuaba with pity and disdain.

——

Of course, Yaohuaba wasn't like Lena—he had no clue about Yumo's secrets.

Faced with his demon sword shattering and victory slipping away, he couldn't handle the reality. His mind started breaking down. His eyes flashed with madness as he grabbed his hair and let out agonized screams. His body shook uncontrollably while he muttered to himself, spewing curses like a wild animal trapped in despair.

His voice got sharper and more hysterical. His hands clenched into fists so tight his nails dug into his palms. The rage and existential dread inside him kept growing.

"What the hell is going on?!"

But compared to Yaohuaba's meltdown, Momo snapped out of her shock pretty quickly. She didn't know what this man was up to, but she didn't care about this obviously hostile guy's problems.

Who was he?

Didn't matter.

Beat first, ask questions later!

The next second, Yaohuaba, still ranting and raving with only half his body left, took several heavy punches from Momo.

"Take this!"

He was already way outclassed by Momo in raw power. After getting pummeled by Pipi and losing his demon sword, He had absolutely nothing left to fight with.

He could only get beaten like a mangy dog with zero ability to fight back.

BOOM!

In a series of thunderous impacts, all of Yaohuaba's protective magic and life-saving items got smashed to bits in a few tenths of a second. He was reduced to just a bloody torso, gasping for breath... barely clinging to life...

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Gone was his pre-battle confidence. Now Yaohuaba was clearly a dying man with more breath going out than coming in.

However, after giving him a thorough beating and seeing he wasn't fighting back, Momo quickly lost interest. Compared to Heinotim who'd at least been somewhat satisfying, Yaohuaba's performance was just pathetic.

He couldn't serve as her punching bag and couldn't even launch decent attacks.

"Tsk, and I was actually looking forward to this."

For someone who couldn't satisfy either her sadistic or masochistic urges, Momo couldn't be bothered.

His brain was probably already scrambled from the beating. Came here to get himself killed.

"Since you can't fight anymore, time to die."

Frowning with disappointment, Momo slowly raised her hand. Red light flashed as terrifying crimson Shadow power gathered in the black-haired girl's palm.

But just as the point-blank Shadow Annihilation was about to consume Yaohua, he finally had a moment of clarity and desperately shouted:

"Wait, wait, wait! I know things…. lots of intel that could help you get revenge!"

Facing imminent death, Yaohuaba threw away all pride and dignity, pleading in the most pathetic tone possible.

The Alliance people watching nearby were either dead or too busy saving their own skins... nobody would see his current worm-like behavior.

Momo had zero interest in Yaohuaba's begging. But Yumo in the consciousness space raised an eyebrow.

The next moment, when the black-haired girl's eyes opened again, the rainbow-colored pupils had returned to their original crimson. Obviously, Momo had handed control back to Yumo.

After thoroughly enjoying her fight with Heinotim, a satisfied Momo had obediently retreated to the consciousness space.

"Well, well... you're that Yaohuaba from the Sword Spirit Clan, aren't you?"

Yumo blinked and spoke with amusement.

Though her crimson eyes didn't have Momo's bone-chilling brutality and coldness, they seemed to trigger some deep-buried fear in Yaohuaba. Hi body shook even harder.

"Speaking of which, we've got some unfinished business to settle, don't we? You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Grabbing Yaohuaba's head, Yumo said coldly. Murderous intent leaked from her crimson eyes.

Under Yumo's gaze, Yaohuaba gulped.

"I know... you hate me... because I betrayed you back then... but you have to understand..."

Fighting back his terror, Yaohuaba explained with trembling voice.

As a Sword Spirit Clan leader with lofty status, he didn't want to die so miserably here.

"Back then, I was coerced by those Abyssal Lords too! I really wasn't trying to attack you on purpose! This time it was Lena—she forced me to go after you! None of this was my choice!"

After this series of battles, Yaohuaba clearly understood how terrifying this black-haired girl was.

Without a doubt, secretly rescuing her sister and family while casually killing the Felder family would be child's play for her.

But after getting her family back, she chose direct confrontation? Still using Shadow power to fight them?! Taking the risk of being ganged up on by the Primal One and Holy Maiden?!

There could only be one explanation...

This woman—though she couldn't control the Judgment Saint's power as Lena said—had definitely recovered the Judgment Saint's memories...

She came to Sky Nation for revenge! That's why she chose this stupidest but most direct approach... just like the hot-headed Judgment Saint from back then.

Since she already knew everything, there was no point hiding it. And if he could redirect this woman's anger toward others, he might survive...

Taking a deep breath, Yaohuaba continued in a flattering tone:

"If you just don't kill me, I can give you intel on everyone who participated in the siege back then—like Bajiaen from Black Flame Domain, Wiskot from Luo Sacred Capital, the Martial Saint from Xuan Moon Clan... I can provide crucial intelligence about them! Even secrets about their powers! It'll make your revenge much easier!"

Yumo: ?

"Not only that, I know almost everyone in the current Alliance who still has ties to outer domain abyss demons! I have a list—I can give it all to you!"

Yumo: ???

"And... I'm still in contact with Lena! That woman is hiding in the Source Star Universe right now, playing house with some human girl! If you don't kill me... I can lure Lena out! Taking down that threat to the Abyssal Lord would count as making amends, right?!"

As he spoke, Yaohuaba looked at the black-haired girl with desperate hope.

To keep the Judgment Saint from getting ambitious, the Creator hadn't given her much wisdom. She was simple and naive—easy to deceive with a few words. That's exactly how they'd managed to mislead her and successfully kill her back then.

So if he could just redirect this woman's anger toward others or toward Lena, he might survive the chaos!

With this in mind, Yaohuaba didn't hesitate to betray his former 'comrades' and spill everything about Lena, trying to divert Yumo's attention.

But as he kept talking, Yaohuaba's face darkened. He was starting to realize a very awkward problem... the black-haired girl showed absolutely no interest in what he was saying. Instead, she tilted her head with a puzzled expression:

"Uncle, is your brain broken? What the hell are you babbling about?"

His persuasive words died in his throat. Yaohuaba froze completely.

"Huh?? You... you don't remember anything?"

"What exactly am I supposed to remember?"