...While struggling to keep up her last defense, Vinova prayed desperately to the Creator Goddess.

"My Goddess, please protect us..."

Vinova's voice was already filled with despair and even had a sobbing tone. The Alliance survivors around her who were depending on her barrier for their lives felt the same way - an atmosphere of grief and despair had completely covered them.

Fate was just that cruel. What they thought was a stable situation had somehow become near-total destruction.

Everyone kept praying for other reinforcements to show up and drive back that terrifying Abyssal Lord.

Unfortunately their prayers didn't bring hope but instead brought another crushing blow from the god of bad luck.

In this atmosphere of despair, a pleasant yet unnaturally cold voice suddenly reached everyone's ears, making them all feel like their souls had frozen and their entire bodies were trembling.

"Oh? There are still some fish that got away?"

?!!

Huh?!

That voice, that aura?!

Her eyes suddenly narrowing, Vinova whipped around to look behind her. Then this barrier master's pupils shrank drastically with fear and despair written all over her face.

"You... why... why are you here?!"

At this moment, what appeared outside the barrier was a woman with ice-blue hair. Her entire body was covered in overwhelming cold like an ice-cold beauty.

Even though the woman was beautiful, the invisible pressure coming from her and that soul-freezing Shadow power aura constantly warned everyone inside the barrier:

This woman is extremely dangerous.

Not only did the survivors inside the barrier realize this woman's danger - even the demon hordes that had been raging and attacking the barrier instinctively backed away after the woman appeared. They seemed quite wary of this cold-radiating woman.

"who are you?!"

As a certain Lv7 man drew his sword, everyone raised their weapons and aimed them at the blue-haired woman, watching her every move.

But unlike the wary crowd, Vinova didn't take any defensive posture at all. Or rather... her heart had already lost the will to fight. She just stared at the woman's face with a grim expression and dead eyes.

Others might not know this woman's identity, but Vinova who'd lived thousands of years and experienced the previous holy war knew exactly who she was.

Ice-blue hair.

Eyes like ice and snow.

A Shadow aura that could freeze souls.

Without even releasing her power yet bringing such overwhelming pressure...

In Vinova's memory, there was only one Abyssal Lord who fit these conditions. The one who'd single-handedly fought her way to the World Tree's center years ago - that most ancient and powerful Abyssal Lord.

"Lena..."

Trembling as she spoke the name, Vinova's body couldn't help but shake wildly.

This... this is clearly the central region of the Source Star universe, the most heavily guarded place by the Alliance. Why? Why are Abyssal Lords appearing here one after another?!

What the hell?!

Vinova's heart erupted with hysterical screams.

"You... why are you... appearing here?"

Vinova shrieked hysterically.

But faced with the wary gazes of the Alliance soldiers and Vinova's hysterical questioning, Lena gave no response at all and instead kept silently gazing up at the sky.

"Hmm... I originally wanted to help her, but she actually defeated the Guiding Saint by herself? How unexpected."

Lena muttered to herself, completely ignoring Vinova's questions.

Obviously the Alliance soldiers and one Lv9 barrier master weren't worth Lena's attention.

"But judging by that condition, the price she paid wasn't small either. In that case, I'll help her clean up. Sigh..."

Lena shook her head and sighed helplessly.

Then her cold gaze slowly shifted to Vinova and the other Alliance members. Compared to Momo's murderous eyes, Lena's gaze was completely emotionless, like she was looking at insignificant ants.

The next moment, under everyone's tense watch, Lena slowly raised her hand, extended her index finger, and gently touched Vinova's barrier. With just a simple touch, that top-tier barrier that had withstood the demon hordes' bombardment for dozens of minutes - suddenly became covered in thick frost.

Then starting from where Lena's finger touched the barrier, crack after crack began spreading rapidly and instantly covered the entire barrier.

The next moment:

"Puff!"

Vinova suddenly spit out blood and the massive shield shattered completely.

"What?! She broke Lady Vinova's barrier so easily?! How... how is that possible?!"

A Lv7 who'd been guarding against Lena let out a terrified shout.

The moment those words left his mouth, this Lv7 powerhouse's eyes rolled back. His entire body got covered in frost as he turned directly into a grotesque ice sculpture.

Not just his body - even his consciousness and soul were completely frozen at that moment.

As Lena stepped forward, that terrifying cold spread rapidly. Whether it was magic blasting toward her or Alliance survivors trying to resist, everything was instantly sealed forever in magical ice.

Lena didn't care about these instantly frozen Alliance soldiers. Her attention was temporarily focused on Vinova.

Lena was quite satisfied with Yumo's actions this time.

She didn't expect the Alliance to eliminate the outer realm demons and she didn't want to see the demon hordes devour the Source Star universe either. What she wanted was balance between both forces.

Yumo's rampage had significantly weakened the originally powerful Source Star, which naturally pleased Lena.

But Lena obviously wasn't satisfied yet.

Vinova, Lawrence, and the other two surviving Alliance Lv9 powerhouses also needed to be eliminated.

Since Yumo was already exhausted, let her, this senior, handle the cleanup.

After dealing with these last few troublesome guys, she'd take that girl to the outer realm.

With this in mind, Lena slowly raised her hand. The gathered cold air immediately became like an unrestrained bloodthirsty beast, roaring toward Vinova with the aura of death and destruction!

Wherever the cold passed, everything turned to ice sculptures.

Even the flame magic Vinova used to fight back was the same...

Heh... hehe...

"As expected... there's no hope... truly... no hope..."

Facing that howling cold air, Vinova who'd used up her last bit of spiritual power couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Her magic staff dropped directly to the ground.

One Abyssal girl who could reverse any attack, plus Lena?

It's over. The Alliance is finished...

Even if the Dragon Emperor showed up, there'd be... no hope...

Thinking this, Vinova closed her eyes in despair, preparing to face that fatal cold.

Frozen into an ice sculpture? Then shattered to death?

I guess that's a bit better than dying in a demon's mouth.

...

But just as Vinova felt hopeless and waited for death to come, a terrifying power carrying overwhelming might instantly and without warning entered Vinova's sensing range!

This made the already despairing barrier master suddenly open her eyes with shock filling her pupils.

"This... this aura?! What is this aura?!"

The next instant, under Vinova's rather confused gaze, a golden-red holy light carrying murderous intent suddenly flashed by! As this red glow flickered, that unstoppable cold air that seemed capable of freezing everything was suddenly sliced apart by the red light and scattered between heaven and earth.

At the same time, accompanied by a delicate fragrance, a black silhouette appeared directly in front of Vinova.

Feeling the solemn yet suppressive spiritual power around the silhouette that somehow made one feel completely at ease, Vinova's eyes that were filled with despair gradually overflowed with indescribable joy and shock.

"This... this aura?! A Saint?! Lady Judgment Saint?!"