To Lin Luo, this trip to the Moon World was an utter, crushing failure. Although he had fulfilled Rin's wish, yet...

Leaving his own world for the world of A Certain Magical Index had been rushed, but he had departed happy and deeply satisfied. His journey from the Index world to the Moon World had been meticulously planned, with every detail set in place before he left.

But now, he had been brutally forced into retreat.

There were still countless tasks uncompleted, so much he still wished to do, promises left unfulfilled, and people he could not bear to leave behind. But...

"Damn you, Gaia, Akasha..."

Filled with resentment and regret, Lin Luo and the girls beside him pressed on toward another, unknown world.

What Lin Luo didn't know was that just as he departed the Moon World via the Starlight Avenue, high in the boundless cosmos, amidst the vast expanse of the starry sky, a man and a woman stood there, supported by nothing but the strength of their physical bodies in the vacuum of space.

"Oh dear, how embarrassing, to be scared off just like that, hahahaha!"

This was a woman dressed in white, gracefully slender, with peerless beauty—a supreme Yujie (mature older sister type), appearing to be in her late twenties. She exuded the complete charm of a woman in her prime. Despite possessing an aura of noble grace, at this moment, she was laughing heartily, clutching her stomach like some street punk.

Beside her stood a tall man with an imposing presence, sharp features, and piercing eyes. Watching his ally laugh until tears welled up, he felt utterly speechless. Was the incident just that amusing? Being frightened off by the Will of the World when his strength hadn't even reached LV3 was entirely normal; he certainly wasn't laughing.

"But speaking of which," the man suddenly said, "I thought you were going to give him a hand. I didn't expect you to do nothing at all."

"Hmph, don't joke," the woman stopped laughing and snorted coldly. "One's own battles must be fought with one's own strength. I won't offer him any assistance."

"But you reversed time and space before, bringing someone from ten years in the future here. That was a serious matter, and you even gave him that jade pendant."

"Hmph. That was only because certain parties were pulling strings behind the scenes. I merely provided a level playing field for all of them."

"That's true," the man nodded, then turned his gaze back toward the Moon World. "But with the way you handled things, this world has become quite troublesome. Look, there are already three new focal points."

"That has nothing to do with me. He planted the seeds himself. As for what kind of fruit will sprout, hmph hmph. But speaking of which, bonds—that sort of thing—are a power even stronger than cause and effect," the woman said, a mysterious smile playing on her lips.

The man remained silent, frowning slightly, then asked, "So, what do you plan to do now?"

"What do I plan to do?" The woman paused, then seemed to recall something. "Ah, right. I was thinking of taking a tour outside the Heaven beyond Heavens before. I haven't had the chance recently, and now I'm free. Perfect, I'll go hang out there for a while."

Seeing her enthusiastic expression, the man once again felt exasperated. He sighed. "Hey, your train of thought jumps too fast. A good show is about to start; aren't you going to watch?"

"Hmph. Why would I watch a squabble fit for children?" the woman said with disdain.

"Then aren't you afraid certain people will start causing trouble again?" the man reminded her.

The woman sneered, gently drawing a line in the void with her right hand, revealing a spatial tunnel. She walked straight into it, turning back one last time. "Then go tell them this: If they don't want the tragedy of the Ten Thousand Immortals Hall to repeat, they can do whatever they please. I will uphold fairness, but if anyone dares to repeatedly violate that fairness, I won't mind washing the place clean again."

A bloody smile curled her lips, and the spatial tunnel snapped shut the next moment.

"The Hall of Ten Thousand Immortals..." The man sighed. These three words were rarely uttered among their kind. Long, long ago, the Immortal Hall, guarded by Myriad Gods, was utterly destroyed overnight by twelve individuals. Fewer than ten gods escaped alive, while those twelve emerged unscathed.

And one of those twelve was—Gui Qu Lai Xi.

Except, she wasn't called that name back then. She was called the God of Slaughter. Not the 'slaughter' from common usage, but the true God of Kill...

"Forget it. Since she put it that way, I suppose I should go remind those fellows. Sigh." The man made a gesture with his hand, and a rift appeared beside him. He stepped through it.

Lin Luo confirmed once more: this trip to the Moon World had been a complete disaster.

They arrived in an unknown world, currently standing on a vast, open grassland. Having broken free from the time flow of the Moon World, the three girls who had turned into lolis had all reverted to their normal forms.

What troubled Lin Luo was that Mikoto and Rin remained in a deep slumber. The Divine Healing spell had no effect on them, and even attempting to check their status through the Book of Contracts was impossible.

It wasn't that their status displayed a question mark; it was completely blank. This applied not only to Mikoto and Rin but also to himself and Mugino; their states couldn't be viewed, as if the Book of Contracts had malfunctioned.

"This is just terrible," Lin Luo muttered, his brow furrowed. There was no worse situation. First, they had no idea what dangers lurked in this unknown world. Second, before arriving, the combat strength of their group was crippled—some dead, others injured. Nero and Lily, their two strongest assets, couldn't be summoned for at least half a month. The effects of Mikoto and Rin’s strange slumber were incalculable.

The group that could previously stride across most worlds with ease now faced a severe drop in combat power. Lei and Misaki were not frontline fighters. Lin Luo himself was injured and couldn't fight unrestrained. In the end, Mugino was the only one whose full combat potential remained accessible. This was...

"Damn it!" Lin Luo groaned in distress. If they encountered even a moderately strong enemy right now, they would be wiped out.

"Eh, look, what is that?" Just then, Lei pointed toward the distant sky and asked curiously.

Everyone looked up. They saw countless tiny, dense dots covering the distant heavens, appearing multicolored. Squinting for a moment, Shokuhou Misaki suddenly exclaimed, "Hmm? Strange, am I seeing an illusion?"

Mugino Shizuri nodded in agreement. "I think so too. An unexpected creature has appeared in the hallucination."

Lin Luo rubbed his eyes and sighed, "Yeah, seeing a whole swarm of dragons... what a bizarre illusion—wait a second."

Suddenly realizing something was wrong, Lin Luo looked at the three people next to him, then pointed toward the sky, asking uncertainly, "Are you all seeing dragons out there?"

"Yes, the scaly, lizard-like dragons often seen in comics," Shokuhou confirmed.

"But the number is a bit excessive now, maybe a thousand or so. Illusions are certainly different," Mugino mused, resting her chin in her hand.

"This is the first time I've seen a creature like a dragon; how novel," Lei said with a smile.

Hearing their words, Lin Luo nearly collapsed. He roared, "Damn it, that's not an illusion! Those are real dragons! Since when could the four of us see the exact same illusion?"

"Uh..." Upon hearing this, the three froze. They looked first at Lin Luo's face, then at the sky-obscuring dragon swarm. A moment later, cold sweat poured down their faces like waterfalls.

"Ahhh! They're charging! Quick, quick! Mugino, carry Lei! Misaki, run ahead! Everyone run!" Lin Luo screamed in panic while desperately clutching the unconscious Mikoto and Rin, one in each arm, sprinting for his life.

The other two were no slower. The moment Lin Luo spoke, Mugino had already scooped up the stunned Lei and was sprinting away. However, the Queen didn't have great stamina and soon faltered. Seeing this, Mugino picked her up with one arm too.

So, Lin Luo carried two, leading the charge, with Mugino carrying two slightly behind him. And further back, the sky was choked with a thousand dragons!

This couldn't be blamed on them being cowards. After all, they were dragons! In movies and comics, they were almost always the highest-level life forms. Even just thinking about it suggested their combat prowess. Moreover, there were over a thousand of them. How could their current depleted forces possibly take on a thousand dragons?

They might as well go home and sleep.

Somewhere else in this world, a little girl stood on the grass holding a parasol.

The girl looked about ten years old, with long, flowing golden hair swaying in the wind, tied back by two black ribbons near her ears. She wore a sleeveless black top and what appeared to be shorts underneath, with red strings tied around the cuffs. Two small black cloths were bound to her fair arms with red string, and she wore a pair of black boots... The overall appearance was crisp and capable, yet undeniably cute.

The little girl stood motionless. Not far opposite her stood a colossal beast. It was impossible to identify the creature, but with its gaping maw and fierce, bell-like eyes, it was certainly no herbivore.

However, the little girl showed no fear in her eyes. She gave the monster a casual glance, then sighed. Squinting with one eye open and the other closed, she looked askance at it. "Say, are you really trying to fight me? As a high-level magical beast, even if you haven't formally fought, you should know the disparity between our sides, right? Considering you are a mother, I can pretend your provocation never happened. So, if you don't want to die..."

At this point, the girl opened her other eye. Her two clear eyes, like emeralds, shot out an icy glare. "Scram!"

"Wuwu..." The monster, larger than a heavy-duty truck, let out a pathetic whimper like a puppy. Under the girl's invisible pressure, it recoiled in terror, then abruptly turned tail and bolted away.

"Oh dear, it can listen to reason after all. If it had done that from the start, it wouldn't have wasted so much of my time, honestly," the little girl grumbled with a smile after the monster fled.

"Truly remarkable. To frighten away a terrestrial dragon merely with aura. You certainly live up to your designation as the Host," at that moment, a cool voice suddenly sounded.

The girl turned to face the speaker. Standing suspended in the air nearby was a young woman, appearing to be in her early twenties. She wore a suit of cyan leather armor and held a black longbow.

Sensing the killing intent emanating from the newcomer, the girl's expression immediately darkened. She stared coldly. "Who are you?"

"My identity is unimportant. What matters is..." The woman smiled without answering, instead drawing her longbow taut into a full moon. An arrow materialized on the previously empty bowstring, and she loosed it instantly. "Your heart is mine!"

"I see. So, that ridiculous war is the kind of fight I have to deal with?" Facing the lethal arrow, the little girl seemed completely unconcerned. She lightly smoothed her golden hair, and then, impossibly, the arrow, which moved with the speed of lightning, halted directly in front of her... stopped dead in the void.

Reaching out, the girl snapped the arrow in two with a 'ka' sound, then laughed coldly. "While I didn't exactly want to participate, it seems I have no choice. And thanks to that, my curse has also been lifted."

"Impressive. As expected of the Host, to intercept my Arrow of Demise head-on," the woman in the air showed a flicker of surprise, then quickly curved her lips into a sinister smile. "But you are about to face the curse of death!"

"Hm?" The little girl's expression changed. At that moment, she felt a sharp sting in her chest. Looking down, she saw an arrow had pierced through her sternum from behind!

"My apologies. My ability is the Arrow of the Hunt. The shot you saw earlier was merely a lure. This is the killing blow," the woman in the air chuckled triumphantly, then lowered her bow. "Now, it's time to take your heart and liver..."

But she couldn't finish her sentence, because the little girl she had struck with her fatal arrow showed no sign of pain. Instead, she was smiling joyfully.

"Is that so? A truly remarkable ability, to deceive even me," the little girl said, pulling the arrow from her body. To everyone's shock, the wounded flesh visibly healed at an observable rate once the arrow was removed.

"This..." The woman in the air paled instantly.

Then, under her shocked gaze, black wings resembling a cloak sprouted from the little girl's back. She flew rapidly higher into the sky, raising one hand high, a look of cruel excitement on her face. "Rik-Rak-Ruk-Ruk-Rai-Rak! Come forth, Eternal Darkness, Eternal Glacier!"

The moment the incantation rang out, the entire world seemed to welcome winter—an absolute cold that froze the very air. Immediately following, boundless magic power erupted, freezing everything within sight.

"R-Rule Power?" As if seeing a ghost, the woman's face filled with terror. She screamed like someone under a curse, "Who... who the hell are you? Why do you possess Rule Power? You're not a Walker! How do you have Rule Power?"

The girl hovered in mid-air, grasping solidified ice magic in both hands, laughing heartily. "Hahahaha! You really picked the wrong opponent, you dead woman! I am the Gospel of Shadow, the invincible Dark Sorceress! Hahahaha..."

"Although I never kill women, you certainly can't be classified as one," saying this, a murderous glint appeared in the golden-haired girl's eyes, and magic power flowed through her hands. "Grant equal death to all living things... World Freeze."

"No good!" Sensing the change in the environment, the archer woman immediately tried to flee with maximum speed, but it was too late. Under the invasion of the opponent's magic, the entire world froze. She had only just turned around before she was completely encased in ice.

In an instant, an area spanning dozens of li became an icy realm.

Finally...

"Shatter!"

The golden-haired girl flicked her finger lightly. Ice flames scattered, and the world broke apart.

Across dozens of li, the only surviving being was the graceful figure with flowing golden hair and a fluttering black cloak.