"What you've done is already very good." Lin Feng's tone was like a teacher commenting on a student's homework. "As an insect, your struggling posture is quite spectacular. It brought me a moment of pleasure."

"but……"

He exerted a slight force with his feet.

"Snap!"

Leo's spine snapped with a crack. His final, holy light could no longer be maintained; the golden glow, like a candle flickering in the wind, quickly went out.

"The game is over."

Lin Feng raised his head and glanced at the "Sky Hammer" that was about to touch the ground, then turned his gaze back to Leo.

"Before your world turns to dust, I will let you witness firsthand how hope is utterly crushed."

He stretched out his right hand, fingers spread, and aimed it at Leo's head.

There was no light, no heat, and no energy fluctuations.

Yes, but only in the purest form: telekinetic control.

"No!" Leo let out his final roar, filled with endless rage and despair.

The next second, his head exploded like a watermelon being crushed by an invisible force!

Red blood and white brain matter splattered across the scorched earth.

The land of holy light, the last hope, the legendary "hero" Leo...

Fallen.

His headless body, having lost its last support, fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

And at the very last moment before his consciousness completely dissipated, the "hammer of the solid atmosphere," formed by compressing the entire sky, finally made contact with the ground.

"boom--"

A terrifying impact, indescribable in words and powerful enough to alter the axis of rotation of a planet, occurred.

Centered on Glory Fortress, a huge circular area with a radius of over three thousand kilometers, along with everything on it—Glory Fortress, the Allied Forces, the Demon Tide, the Empire's mech legions, and the endless Dragon Tooth Mountains—was forcibly shoved more than one hundred kilometers into the earth's crust by this one blow!

A colossal, mirror-smooth, bottomless crater, large enough to be clearly seen from outer space, appeared in the center of the land of holy light.

Scalding, dark red lava, like a newly formed ocean, slowly filled this enormous tomb, which had been transformed from a civilization, from the bottom of the crater.

The war is over.

On the bridge of the "Eternal Truth".

The Empire's female marshal Qin Lan, along with a holographic projection of the First Demon General Lilith, knelt on one knee, paying the highest tribute to the figure on the throne.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. The Holy Land is now entirely under the control of the Empire." Qin Lan's voice was as cold and stern as ever, but deep in his eyes, there was a trace of indelible shock and awe.

“Master! You are supreme, you are eternal! Lilith, I would give everything for you!” Lilith’s voice was filled with morbid fanaticism and worship.

However, Lin Feng did not respond.

He remained silent, seated on his throne crafted from dark matter crystals.

His gaze pierced through the sea of ​​lava below, as if staring at that insignificant speck of dust called "Hero," whom he had personally killed.

The slight ripple in those pale golden eyes caused by the "game" had completely subsided.

What remains is an emptiness and silence that is even deeper and more vast than before.

He won.

No doubt about it.

Just like the countless victories he had won in the past.

He reached out and caught a grayish-white snowflake that was slowly drifting down from high above.

That was solid nitrogen, the only remaining remnant after the "Sky Hammer" struck.

The snowflakes melted silently in his palm.

Just like that world that has just been extinguished.

"boring."

Lin Feng softly uttered two words, and then slowly closed his eyes.

The higher you climb, the colder it gets.

For a "god" who has already stood at the pinnacle of the universe, conquest may simply be a way to prove just how lonely he truly is.

"His Majesty."

The cold voice of the AI ​​"Pangu" shattered the deathly silence. "Throughout the Holy Land, life signals have fallen below the 'civilization survival threshold.' Ninety-nine point nine percent of armed resistance has been eliminated. Initiate the planetary terraforming and resource harvesting program now?"

Lin Feng did not turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the churning sea of ​​lava, as if trying to find even the slightest thing in that devastated scene that could make him feel "interested" again.

"Start it up," he said calmly, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Execute according to the 'Seventh Standard Colonization Plan.' Qin Lan will be in charge of military control and the elimination of the remaining personnel. Lilith..." He paused, "...let her and her demon cubs enjoy three days of 'victory celebration.' After three days, if even one demon dares to disobey the engineering corps' orders, purify them on the spot."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Furthermore," Lin Feng added, "I hereby issue the imperial decree: all propaganda networks within the empire shall be fully activated. I want all 14 billion citizens of the empire to witness this great victory. I want an unprecedented celebration that will last for a full month."

"You decide on the theme for the celebration: Pangu."

"Data analysis in progress... Based on the Imperial Citizens' Sentiment Model, the suggested theme is: 'Divine grace is as vast as the sea, divine might as a prison - celebrating the liberation and rebirth of the Land of Holy Light'."

"Liberation and rebirth..." Lin Feng savored these words, a barely perceptible, cold smile curving his lips. "Let's use this. Go and carry it out."

Communication was cut off. Lin Feng slowly turned around, took a step, and his figure was already back on the throne of the "Eternal Truth". The giant ship silently rose into the air, slowly changed direction, and prepared to jump back to the distant City of Chengtian.

Behind him, this planet, which had just experienced the extinction of a civilization, was about to usher in its "rebirth" as an imperial colony. And the prelude to this "rebirth" would be written with the most primitive and savage blood and fire.

Lilith had never felt so exhilarated.

When Lin Feng's order to "enjoy three days of victory celebration" was transmitted to the minds of every demon soldier through the magic energy communication network, the remaining land of the Holy Light Land instantly erupted with a series of bloodthirsty and greedy roars that were enough to tear eardrums.

The destructive desires that had been suppressed for too long, originating from the depths of their blood, were completely unleashed at this moment.

For the demon race, the so-called "carnival" takes only one form—endless plunder, slaughter, and torture.

The towns and villages that survived the aftermath of the Battle of Honor Hold, scattered across the continent, became the initial sacrifices of this carnival.

A human town nestled downstream of the Silver River, once renowned for its tranquil pastoral scenery, has now become a microcosm of hell. Tens of thousands of Terrorclaws, like a black tide, have crashed through the town's fragile wooden fence. Their sharp claws and teeth easily rip through the meager chainmail of the human soldiers. Screams, cries, and pleas for mercy mingle with the excited roars of the monsters, creating a tragic elegy of the apocalypse.

A young mother tightly shielded her young child beneath her, using her back to block the slashing claws of a Deinonychus. However, the claws easily pierced her body, pinning both mother and child to the ground. The Deinonychus didn't even bother to devour their corpses, simply reveling in the pure, irrational pleasure of slaughter.

The sky was shrouded in swarms of gargoyles. Like malevolent vultures, they circled above the town, occasionally swooping down to snatch a fleeing civilian, lifting them high into the air, and then, amidst the desperate screams of the victim, releasing their grip, watching the small figure plummet onto the hard stone pavement, smashing into a pool of mangled flesh.

Lily Ame lay reclining on her mobile throne, composed of countless skeletons and vengeful spirits, being carried slowly through the street paved with blood and corpses. Her eyes were slightly closed, her face flushed with a morbid satisfaction, as she took a deep breath of the air filled with the stench of blood and despair.

"Ah...this is the taste." She let out a satisfied groan, "The taste of revenge, the taste of victory..."

Her gaze fell upon an elderly priest kneeling on a street corner, trembling all over. In his hand, the priest still clutched a tattered emblem that symbolized holy light.

“Interesting little thing.” Lilith beckoned with her finger.

Two burly abyss guards immediately stepped forward and roughly dragged the old priest to her throne.

“Tell me, old man,” Lilith’s voice was alluring yet chilling, “where is your ‘light’ now? Why hasn’t your god come to save you and you poor lambs?”

“The devil…” The old priest raised his head, his cloudy eyes filled not with fear, but with endless sorrow and anger. “God will judge you!”

"Jud me?" Lilith laughed as if she had heard the funniest joke, her laughter ringing out like silver bells, yet incredibly piercing. "Hahaha... Judgment? No, no, no. My master is the only 'god' in this universe. And I am the messenger of 'god'. Everything I do is to carry out the will of 'god'. What I bring is not destruction, but... purification."

She slowly extended her slender finger and gently touched the old priest's forehead. A wisp of pure, corrosive dark magic energy instantly flowed into the old priest's body.

“So, as a reward for your foolish ‘piety’,” Lilith’s smile turned incredibly cruel, “I will let you see with your own eyes how your faith will be defiled, distorted, and utterly corrupted by me, bit by bit.”

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

A piercing, inhuman scream escaped the old priest's lips. His body began to convulse and contort violently. His once withered skin rapidly turned black and cracked, like charcoal. Two gaping wounds ripped open on his back, from which a pair of rotting bat wings, oozing black pus, were forced forth. His eyes were replaced by malevolent, deep purple flames.

In just a few seconds, a loyal believer of the Holy Light was forcibly transformed into a lowly, pain-filled, resentful, and irrational demon.

“Go, my lovely little pet,” Lilith said, gazing at her masterpiece with satisfaction. “Go and drag all those lambs you once protected, one by one, into hell.”

The demon, transformed from the priest, let out a chaotic, agonizing roar, turned, and lunged at a burning church not far away. There, the last few dozen civilians were hiding.

Lilith reveled in the drama of faith's collapse, which she had personally directed, and her pleasure reached its peak. What she enjoyed was not just the physical destruction, but also the spiritual conquest of utterly trampling and crushing what her enemy cherished and was most proud of.

Such scenes were playing out simultaneously in every surviving corner of the Land of Holy Light.

In the ruins of the dwarven underground city-state, the surviving dwarven warriors were dragged one by one from their hiding places by burrowing worms. Their battle axes seemed utterly powerless before the endless horde of demons. Their men, stripped of their will by succubi using mental magic, had become mindless zombies driven only by their frenzied mining. Their women, on the other hand, were treated as spoils of war, passed around among the demon soldiers.

The last few primeval forests where the elves hid were utterly corrupted by the abyss lords with the most vicious "Curse of Withering." The Tree of Life, upon which the elves depended for survival, withered and died amidst agonizing cries, turning into twisted, foul-smelling dead wood. The beautiful elves, both male and female, were bound by demonic vines and became the most precious "collections" offered to Lilith.

For three whole days and three nights.

For the survivors of the Land of Holy Light, these were seventy-two hours that were longer and darker than the final battle of the apocalypse. Cries and wails never ceased. Blood and tears soaked every inch of this land.

The last embers of civilization from the old era were extinguished in this organized atrocity called "Carnival."