The divine power of the God of Magic, filled with rage and unfinished intent, receded like a tide. The blinding pure white and chaotic data streams within the steel sky quickly subsided, the sharp alarms ceased, and only the deep, reassuring hum of the energy core remained after it had stabilized.
Inside the control room, Lin De stood still. The subtle ripples on his crystalline body caused by the instantaneous energy impact had long since disappeared, as if nothing had ever happened.
Only in his deep purple eyes, countless dark blue runes, like the starry sky revealed after the tide recedes, slowly faded away, leaving only a cold, intensely focused light of thought.
"The silent ones have long been lost...destroyed..."
The opening of the oracle, like a cold inscription, remained deep within his consciousness.
The order has been given, albeit in a way that was forcibly interrupted.
But what Lind cared about was not the oracle itself, or even the possible reaction of the god of magic (whether it was anger or indifference, it seemed that the cost or limitations of a god directly intervening in the material world were very high). What he cared about was the clear target—Aesmera, and... how to achieve the almost impossible task of "destruction".
The Silent Saintess.
Her power is not an energy shield, nor a physical defense, but a kind of "negation" at the level of rules, an erasure of the cornerstone of "existence".
Conventional energy bombardments, physical collisions, and even spatial tearing would be negated and reduced to nothing the moment they touched the "active vacuum" around her, just like a drop of water falling into a red-hot iron, disappearing instantly without even a ripple.
“Negating ‘existence’…” Lind repeated this despairing concept in a low voice, his fingertips unconsciously tracing across the cold control panel.
To harm or even destroy something, you must first be able to "touch" it and allow your power to "act" on it.
But Aismera rejected all forms of "touching".
This is almost an unsolvable paradox.
His gaze once again involuntarily fell upon the enormous holographic projection deep within the control room—the Shadow Rift located in the Howling Abyss, which was being monitored in real time.
Dark, twisted, and seemingly connected to the final resting place of all things, it exudes an aura that is completely different from Esmeralda's "silent nothingness," yet subtly corresponds to it in some ultimate sense.
Esmeralda's "nothingness" is the deathly stillness after order, the erasure of rules, and absolute "quiet".
The "nothingness" of Yingyuan is the end of chaos, the annihilation of energy, the "void" of the decomposition and return of all things, and an extreme, noisy "emptiness".
One is like a precise eraser, wiping away lines that shouldn't exist on the painting; the other is like a raging chaos, tearing the entire canvas and everything on it to shreds, devours, and transforms it into the most basic particles of nothingness.
"If... Esmeralda's power is 'denying existence'..."
Linde's mind was like a high-speed precision instrument, capturing that glimmer of inspiration.
"Then, the essence of Shadow Abyss can perhaps be understood as... 'devouring existence', or rather, 'turning existence into nothingness'."
These two are not the same thing, but they have gone to two different extremes in the struggle against "existence"!
One rejects and erases; the other devours and digests.
"Perhaps... the power of Shadow Abyss is one of the few powers capable of 'penetrating' or even 'neutralizing' that kind of absolute negation?"
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Linde's eyes.
"Because Yingyuan is not trying to 'exist' in that vacuum, but rather trying to regard that 'vacuum' itself as a form of 'existence' that can be devoured?"
This idea is extremely bold, even somewhat illogical, but when faced with an irrational being like Esmeralda, perhaps we must fight fire with fire and use another irrational power to combat it!
Once his mind was set in motion, countless ideas and solutions began to surge wildly into Linde's mind.
[Option 1: Shadow Abyss Erosion Warhead] Utilizing highly concentrated and extremely purified Shadow Abyss energy, a special warhead or projectile is created. Its design purpose is not explosion or penetration, but rather to actively activate upon contact with the Esmerald force field, forming a small, brief vortex of Shadow Abyss energy. This vortex does not seek to "exist" within the realm of negation, but rather attempts to forcibly assimilate and tear apart that "silent nothingness" with its inherent "devouring" characteristic, like trying to blacken a piece of pure glass with ink. Even if it can only erode a tiny bit, as long as it can briefly disrupt its absoluteness, it might create a momentary "attack window."
[Option Two: Negative Energy Resonance Field] Based on research on Weiss, her instinct for "hunger" and "transformation" of energy in the prime material world is essentially an alternative utilization of "existence." Design a large-scale device to simulate and amplify the "devouring" characteristic of the Shadow Abyss, forming a powerful negative energy field. This field does not directly attack Esmeralda, but continuously and forcefully "extracts" and "devours" all surrounding "existence" (energy, matter, even spatial structures). When this field encounters Esmeralda's "negation" field, a violent conflict of rules may occur—one side frantically devours everything that can be devoured, while the other resolutely denies everything that can be denied. This conflict itself might interfere with or even harm Esmeralda.
[Option Three: Projection of the Shadow Abyss Singularity] A bolder idea. Try capturing a small, stable fragment of the Shadow Abyss Rift, or utilize Vice's unique characteristics to create a miniature, controllable (or at least directionally controllable) Shadow Abyss Singularity and project it directly at Esmeralda. This is tantamount to throwing a small piece of "the end of all things" itself at her. Let two rules that both represent "end" collide directly! Either their rules will cancel each other out, or… trigger a more terrifying and unpredictable chain reaction. Extremely risky, but perhaps the only way to truly "destroy" her.
Dangerous yet innovative ideas rapidly formed, were deduced, optimized, or rejected in Linde's mind.
He knew that these plans were full of unknowns and risks, and any operational mistake could lead to him being swallowed up by the Shadow Abyss.
But this is the only direction he can see that could potentially harm the "Silent Saintess".
“Aster.” Lind’s voice came through the magic network.
"Yes, my lord."
"The Howling Abyss Research Institute's access level has been raised to the highest level, and its resource supply priority has been increased. I need them to immediately begin experiments on the extraction and stabilization of high-purity Shadow Abyss energy. The goal is to create a projectile, concentrated Shadow Abyss carrier. Relevant research data will be synchronized to my private database in real time."
"Understood. The order has been issued."
"In addition, inform Narakush that I need more historical documents and forbidden knowledge about the nature of the Shadow Abyss, especially records of whether the Shadow Abyss has ever interacted with a power similar to 'absolute negation', even myths and legends should not be overlooked."
"yes."
After ending the communication, Linde once again turned his gaze to the dark projection of the rift.
His eyes became incredibly deep, filled with the excitement and composure of a researcher facing an ultimate problem.
The god of magic wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work.
And this "knife" is now intended to analyze the enemy in the most unexpected way, and even... dissect the secrets hidden behind the hand that handed it the knife.
“Aesmera…the embodiment of ‘nothingness’…”
Linde muttered to himself, his fingertips seemingly sketching a complex model in the air.
"Then let me see what happens when the devouring of 'nothingness' meets the denial of 'existence'..."
"Who is stronger and who is weaker?"
Deep within the Steel Sky, the development plan for a god-slaying weapon based on the mysteries of the Shadow Abyss, specifically targeting the Silent Saintess, was officially launched.
In the distant ruins of the Eternal Silent Forest, absolute silence remains, as if silently awaiting the challenge from the abyss.
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