Su Ming’an and Lü Shu rushed into the range of the World Tree.
Perhaps because Alger’s summoning was still not proficient, under Mizushima Kawa Sora’s suicide attack, the chanical shadow failed to descend.
The red and black thick clouds still floated in the sky, lingering and refusing to disperse, resembling an upside-down Hell.
"Close your eyes!" Lü Shu suddenly said.
Su Ming’an imdiately closed his eyes.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The sound of blades.
The sound of blade edges cutting through the branches and leaves.
Su Ming’an’s full head of white hair was blown up by the wind, covering his face, almost poking into his eyes. If he had known, he should have cut all of Su Liujin’s hair off too.
"Swish!"
Like a cat rolling into a giant ball of yarn, he slightly opened his eyes and saw the nearby tree bark. The crystal-colored branches and leaves blocked out the sky, twisting and tangling densely, emitting a glowing luster.
...What a beautiful tree, as if it’s a collection of all magnificent dreams.
But such a tree has driven so many tragedies.
Amidst the rainbow-colored radiance, Lü Shu raised his hands forward.
His black blade was imbued with Divine Power, becoming sharp and long in an instant, swirling with colorful sparks, too beautiful to match him.
"I’ll cut through the bark, and we rush in."
Confronting the World Tree’s last line of defense, Lü Shu used all his strength, raising a rainbow blade in both hands. The fierceness of the wind lifted his white hair, making him seem like he was a patch of snow on the verge of lting.
A powerful aura was continuously gathering, expanding, and swelling in Lü Shu’s hands.
"Hoo—hoo—hoo—"
The wind of energy surrounded, urged, scread, chanting in joyful tones.
"Crack—crack-crack—"
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
Su Ming’an turned his head; as the energy grew, he saw Lü Shu’s mask sprouting cracks.
"Crack-crack-crack-crack—"
The sound grew louder, and through the gaps, Su Ming’an could already see Lü Shu’s face—a face covered in blood.
Blood trickled from Lü Shu’s seven orifices, even his clear eyes were stained with blood red, the whites nearly engulfed in black. Blood streaked across his face, incredibly terrifying.
Yet Lü Shu’s expression remained calm.
"..."
Su Ming’an wanted to say sothing, but when the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back down.
What should he say? Tell Lü Shu to stop? It was already impossible to stop.
This outco was already predestined, only "next ti"... could change all the despair.
"Su Ming’an." Lü Shu suddenly spoke.
Su Ming’an listened.
"I hope this ti we can defeat the World Tree, so there won’t need to be a next ti." Lü Shu said.
"But this ti..." Su Ming’an shook his head. If this ti succeeded, it would an Yamada Machiichi and the others would be dead, and Lü Shu wouldn’t survive after swallowing the Divinity, leaving only him alive.
But Lü Shu said, that would be fine.
"I’m a bit selfish." Lü Shu’s hands on the long blade grew brighter, the aura increasingly unstable:
"Rather than perfection, I prefer stability."
"I can accept this outco."
Su Ming’an thought he could gather enough information this ti, and next ti, he’d do his best to achieve perfection.
But Lü Shu thought, if they could succeed, if Su Ming’an could live, then there was no need to consider a next ti that might not even exist.
The players could all be revived—the only one who would die would be him.
"Have you been planning this for a long ti?" Su Ming’an suddenly stared at the crisscrossed blood flow on Lü Shu’s face.
"What?" Lü Shu’s green eyes flashed with a hint of bewildernt.
"Planning...to do this." Su Ming’an stared at him: "The Black Robed Man in the Eighth World, the Electronic Ghost in the Ninth World, the Saint in the Tenth World... I said I respected your sacrifice, so you started not to take yourself seriously. I helped you complete your revenge, so you felt your life was already complete, with no regrets."
"So when faced with such monts, you instinctively felt you could be sacrificed, not considering your life at all—you really didn’t consider it at all."
"You even felt a slight joy, thinking you’d beco an important and irreplaceable role."
Lü Shu wasn’t that lucky to precisely pick up the Divinity of the Shitposter Demon. Lü Shu’s luck...had always been bad.
By the nature of the Shitposter Demon, It would definitely throw the Divinity to soone with suicidal desires. Otherwise, if a coward picked it up, wouldn’t the Divinity be sealed forever?
It was because Lü Shu always had the thought of dying that he picked up the Divinity.
"..."
Faced with Su Ming’an’s direct words, Lü Shu was speechless.
He admitted, the mont he picked up the Divinity, he was indeed very happy. Even knowing what would happen if he swallowed it, he was still excited by acquiring the power to change the situation.
So when he swallowed it, he indeed did so without hesitation.
The rainbow-colored fluorescence flickered, gathering was almost complete, Lü Shu softly said: "I’m sorry."
"I’m not accusing you." Su Ming’an however said:
"My point is, in such a formal, irrevocable situation, where there won’t be a ’next ti’..."
"Think a bit about yourself."
"Of course, if you still want to do this, I still won’t stop you."
"You, and you all, Noel, Yuanyuan, Yamada... I hope none of you... treat yourselves as tools."
Lü Shu’s pupils slightly trembled, his long blade was already fully charged, falling downwards with inertia. His words "what about you?" were drowned in the resounding energy.
"Swish—!"
In a severe tearing sound, the long blade cleaved downward, splitting the tree bark.
They rushed inside, as if entering a beautiful crystal cave.
Inside the World Tree, it resembled a wide star river, with crystal clear tree sap flowing gently along the tree’s walls, like countless twinkling stars. The roots intertwined and crisscrossed, weaving a web of crystal-colored silk.
The main body of the World Tree—a ten-ter-tall giant tree, stood at the center of this vast, endless crystal cave, stretching out countless glistening threads.
Their position was at the edge, still far from the World Tree’s main body.
"Tap tap, tap tap, tap tap."
Crimson droplets of blood dripped down, spreading slowly on the jade-colored ground, casting an eerie glow. Footsteps were exceptionally heavy in the interplay of light and shadow.
Like moonlight.
Moonlight stread along the path of blood.
A mask suddenly "thud" fell to the ground, revealing Lü Shu’s blood-covered face. He couldn’t support his body, even the black blade was losing grip, falling forward.
Su Ming’an caught him.
It was the limit.
Forcibly swallowing the incompatible Divinity, after the Full Force Strike, this was the limit.
"Drip drip drop drop..."
Crimson blood fell on the ground, leaving marks of varying intensity, as Lü Shu’s whole body emitted blood, like a balloon punctured.
"...I can’t see, Su Ming’an." Lü Shu said.
He looked forward blankly, his vision was dark and murky, reminding him of lying on the hillside waiting for death, where it was also this dark.
Fortunately, after reaching inside the tree, the branches and leaves didn’t attack them anymore, it was very calm within. But there seed to be so restrictions inside the tree, flying and using teleport skills were impossible, only walking was allowed.
It really felt like... a pilgrimage.
The World Tree sure loved crafting pretentious rules for itself.
"It’s fine, it’s enough to reach here." Su Ming’an helped Lü Shu up, carrying him forward.
Noel’s head was packed in the satchel hanging in front of his chest.
It seed not very waterproof, as the satchel seeped blood, faintly visible were tufts of golden hair.
Su Ming’an looked up, at the far end of their sight, under the tree sat a figure.
—Was that the avatar of the World Tree?
The figure was drinking tea, appearing leisurely. The chair was too high, blocking the view of the hair and clothing of that figure.
Su Ming’an stepped forward step by step. Lü Shu’s blood and Noel’s blood dripped down, one drip at the footstep ahead, one drip at the footstep behind.
The blood ahead of the footsteps was crushed underfoot, leaving behind blurry blood footprints.
The blood behind the footsteps trickled down the path, forming clear, complete circles akin to blood-red plums blooming on the crystal floor.
He stepped on their blood, advancing step by step, getting closer and closer...
In this quiet interlude, he heard breathing sounds behind him.
Lü Shu was seizing the last mont to talk. Even if neither of them ntioned it, they both knew clearly in their hearts—if there really was no "next ti," for Lü Shu, who couldn’t respawn, this was truly the last part of his life.
Lü Shu wasn’t a player, unlike Noel and the others.
In this final mont, as a dying person, all words ought to be expressed. For if not spoken now, there possibly would never be another chance.
"Su Ming’an, we are actually very lucky."
"Hmm?"
"Noel once told , he glanced at you on the street when he was young. I too t soone like you in my childhood. Yuanyuan also grew up with you."
"Hmm."
"Back when I saw a blond, blue-eyed youth on the street, what were you thinking?"
"Thinking of what..." Su Ming’an heard Lü Shu’s breathing grow faint: "I wasn’t thinking of anything, at that ti I should’ve been thinking about how to do my howork in the evening, how to deal with the math test tomorrow, having to listen to English tapes every day..."
Lü Shu let out an almost imperceptible laugh:
"Su Ming’an, even though you might not have noticed us back then, just your existence was already a great fortune for us."
...Lü Shu was quite eloquent.
But Su Ming’an soon realized, it was only because of his deep-rooted stereotypes of Lü Shu. In reality, not just Lü Shu, but for Noel as well, he hadn’t fully understood them. Otherwise, how could he explain Noel’s icy head now hanging in front of his chest?
The blood seeped onto the back of his neck, it too was cold.
He clearly felt Lü Shu’s life slipping away.
The branches and leaves drooped down, each leaf was crystal clear, as if embedded with countless gemstones, like jade, the breeze passing through creating pleasant bell sounds, resembling the soft chants of elves.
At this mont, Lü Shu’s gaze subtly changed, no longer silent, it beca fervent.
"So actually, I’ve thought—"
"Thought of what?" Su Ming’an asked, lowering his head.
"Thought of... living a peaceful life with you, Lin Yin, Mo Yan, and Yuanyuan..." Lü Shu’s trembling voice lingered:
"From childhood, having grown up in the mountains, I hardly encountered the internet, I didn’t understand a lot of the words you all used. Previously, when you guys played that Werewolf/Goose Goose Duck ga at the villa, I didn’t understand at all... being utterly confused."
"And before, when Noel was defending you online like a machine gun, I typed a lot of words but could only co up with unsightly curses. I couldn’t understand those internet terms... ’devoted son,’ ’defy the heavens,’ ’classic,’ I completely didn’t know how to use phrases like these."
Su Ming’an found it a bit amusing: "It’s fine not to use them."
Blood dripped down his neck, soaking his shoulder, the white clothing stained into red.
"Sotis, I feel defeated." Lü Shu’s voice started breaking: "I seem... like an outsider... unable to integrate with you all... also disconnected from the world... Sotis I log onto the forum... I see lots of people scolding ... calling a simp, deadweight... stupid..."
"Ignore it. Online, people scold for anything. If there’s sothing you don’t understand, just ask us."
"But it still hurts." Lü Shu coughed up blood: "You see it too, it hurts."
"...I’m used to it."
The branches and leaves swayed.
The fragnts of light fell into their eyes, Lü Shu’s vision was pitch black.
Golden-red sunlight penetrated through the cracks in the bark, the wind howled through the narrow gaps, almost like the sound of sharp flutes reverberating.
Su Ming’an’s entire body was colored red, like a moving mass of blood, he moved forward:
"Lü Shu. Luowasha might be the last instance, when the ga ends, we’ll go back together, no one will look down on us. I am different from Acto, when facing those vulgar people, I won’t hold back."
Lü Shu’s gaze suddenly beca complicated: "...liar."
You started again.
You subconsciously started lying again.
Talking about "going back together," has this beco a catchphrase?
"..." Only now did Su Ming’an rember that Lü Shu was the only one who knew about his bet, he awkwardly tugged at the corners of his mouth, saying nothing more.
The sunlight lowered, he stepped forward step by step, the light reflecting off the crystalline leaves, refracting in diverse fragnted rays, as if stretching from behind them, extending to the whole world.
At this mont, the young man’s voice suddenly broke through.
Light as a wisp of sunset about to descend.
"But if we go back, we truly perford a miracle."
"If all this ca to an end."
"If we succeeded..."
...
"... Su Ming’an, you won’t have to be a liar anymore."
...
...
At this mont, Su Ming’an’s breathing halted.
His fingers trembled, he didn’t even realize he stopped breathing.
Sticky blood trickled along his back, dripping down, and the young man’s words fell like a sledgehamr onto his heart.
The sourness in his heart burst open in an instant, as if breaking through an iron wall, sadness poured forth.
—Who wants to be a liar!
—If given a choice, who would want to be a liar!
Lin Guang doesn’t want to, Tretiya doesn’t want to, Yao Wen doesn’t want to, Xiber doesn’t want to, Su Ming’an... doesn’t want to either.
But if speaking the truth could ease all pain and sorrow—
But if showing a confident smile could soothe all reluctance and longing—
But if directly confronting with honesty could stop others from shedding tears and yearning—
—Who would want to be a liar!?
If they could go ho, of course he wouldn’t want to be a liar!
Because he—because he values everyone—more than himself. So even if it ans lying...
"...Are these your final words, Lü Shu?" Su Ming’an suddenly showed a light smile, lowered his eyes, and casually said, "Say sothing about yourself, stop talking about us. You know final words matter, don’t make rember you as just a pitiful figure."
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