The travelers once again gazed upon that patch of yellow forest.
What t their eyes was a beautiful scene with golden leaves.
They looked toward one path, seeing it soaked in blood, with wild grass growing luxuriantly.
They looked toward countless paths, seeing shattered yellow leaves and bones strewn across the ground.
They saw countless versions of themselves standing among the trees, heads raised, watching the sparse rays of sunlight filtering through the mottled leaves.
Crunch, crunch—
They walked along countless, countless paths through the woods, leaving behind muddy, bloody footprints. Many paths collapsed as they walked, leaving only one straight road untouched by footprints.
It was also the most hidden and narrow path.
The travelers stared longingly at that hidden and narrow path, eyes filled with regret and yearning. They slightly turned their bodies, moving toward a path that had long since collapsed. This path was covered with their chaotic, bloody footprints, with withered and rotten leaves, as if they had walked it countless tis.
"Next ti, next ti..." Fingers dug into the tree trunk beside them, slowly scratching a mark: "Next ti will definitely..."
The shimring golden leaves brushed past their shoulders, caressing the tree trunk.
The trunk they had just scratched was covered with countless dense marks, resembling cracked palm lines.
...
"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Four muffled sounds of blades piercing through flesh.
Su Ming’an’s Sword of Yarman, Yuanyuan’s Kaiyne’s Snow, Lü Shu’s Black Blade, and Su Rin’s Fire Sword pierced Noel’s body simultaneously.
In the center, where countless crystal tendrils sprouted, the golden hair was instantly dyed red.
"Pfft!"
Noel spat out a mouthful of blood, the blue rose petals on the back of his hand withering away. The four penetrating wounds shredded his insides, and the figures of the Master of the End and the Seventh Thrones flickered briefly, disappearing from behind him like broken images.
...Is it over?
So simple?
Just as Su Ming’an was about to withdraw his blade, Noel suddenly extended both hands, pressing against the sharp edge of Su Ming’an’s sword, blood flowing down between his palms.
Noel’s face was stained with blood, the dark blood covering his forehead and around his eyes. He stared closely at Su Ming’an:
"...I’m waiting for you."
In the next mont, the scythe fell, and Noel collapsed forward, his blood exploding like flowers upon touching the ground.
"Crack."
Su Ming’an clearly felt one of the puppet threads in his chest snap, its other end dangling emptily in the air. He expressionlessly tore off this puppet thread, letting it dissipate into dust.
Noel’s shattered body lay at his feet, the golden hair soaked in blood. His last words sounded like a resentful curse, but knowing his nature made them seem abrupt, considering Su Ming’an hadn’t yet seen his sches.
"...Killed?" Yuanyuan’s transparent figure approached, her cloning flickering violently, about to vanish.
Lü Shu knelt on the ground, coughing continuously.
This confrontation had been as swift as lightning. Without Su Ming’an’s "Symbiosis" skill, the battle would have been imnsely challenging.
Su Ming’an shifted his steps to avoid stepping on Noel’s blood and hair: "...Not yet, I want to retrieve Noel’s mory."
Under the sky full of shattered white light, light dots fell into his palm like a gentle touch.
He clenched his fist, crouched down, and touched Noel’s forehead, cold as ice.
A white light shone, and he glimpsed Noel Agnini’s mories.
...
"The great undead Phoenix is here, you audacious being dare to seize my body!"
"Thank you, I’m called Lan Qie."
"Pierce Su Ming’an’s body with this blade, and you’ll seize his IP... destined separation, at this ti."
"Noel, from now on, we’re no longer partners."
"World Master, the World Book is inside."
"Su Ming’an, choose ."
"Yuritilola, how about we postpone the End’s Snow this ti? Otherwise, Xiao Na will still initiate the great reset."
"When the petals are all gone, it is when your life withers."
"Dan Shuang, Archilev, Sharina... let’s stop Su Ming’an from making mistakes."
"Alger, you...!"
...
Scenes rapidly flashed through Su Ming’an’s mind, his eyes closed as if imrsed in those landscapes. Especially Noel’s attempts amid Luowasha’s repeated resets.
The first ti, died by the Ocean Angel. The second ti, died by a glance from the Demon Mother Goddess. The third ti, failed to obtain the Disciple Ga. The fourth ti, failed in seeking help from the World Master. The fifth ti, slumber. The sixth ti, heavily wounded by the Inorganic God...
This person indeed tried to have it both ways, wanting to soar to freedom while also preserving everything. However, Noel gradually realized that so things cannot be achieved with effort alone.
Su Ming’an closely observed the details, from mory showing Noel had no actions that seed to hide secrets, everything was wholly siding with the Master of the End.
...That’s how it should be, that’s right.
"Hm?" At this mont, he suddenly saw a mory.
This was a conversation between a golden-haired youth and a white-haired girl. The forr had exquisitely beautiful features, his hair ends like fire, his eyebrows slightly youthful. The latter was the teammate Qin Si who died inexplicably early in the instance.
The two were seated in a pitch-black castle, on ivory high stools, the aroma of tea mingling as they conversed face to face.
Su Ming’an did not know where this castle was nor when this conversation took place.
"Phoenix." Qin Si’s voice was icy: "Thank you for helping escape the World Ga."
"You’re welco, if given the opportunity, no one wants to be just a cloning." Phoenix revealed shallow dimples, a soft and naive smile.
...Cloning?
Su Ming’an understood. As expected, Qin Si was the cloning of the Mother Goddess of Radiance Kritchens. It seems Qin Si’s death was just a golden cicada shelling plan to escape Kritchens’ control.
Phoenix leaned forward, squinting his eyes: "Do you want to go further?"
"What?"
"This ancient castle is one of the bases of the [Wheel of Destiny]." Phoenix said: "Oppose observation, resist destiny. This is our creed."
"Resist... destiny?" Qin Si raised his head.
"Qin Si, what do you think destiny is?"
"The most likely future, calculated from the current resource situation, personal temperant, and world structure. In other words, as long as the forr changes, the future can change." Qin Si said, "It’s like a person born in poverty with average intelligence; without opportunities, he will live an ordinary life—this is destiny. But if opportunities arise, it’s called ’defying destiny,’ altering that ’destiny.’"
"So you think destiny is sothing visible and changeable."
"Yes."
"What if destiny cannot be changed?"
"Do you support determinism?"
"Hehe... it’s like you’re a clone of Kritchens, no matter how much you try, you can’t surpass Him. The best outco is just becoming an independent entity, exiled in the universe."
"I don’t recognize the future He arranged for , originally to infiltrate among the top players and wait for my chance. But under your interference, I’m no longer bound by His arrangent. I believe I’ve escaped destiny."
"Is that enough?" Phoenix showed a slightly naive smile, "Have you really escaped?"
How could she be sure that Kritchens couldn’t regain control over her?
"We want to kill ’destiny’ itself." Phoenix gave a faint smile and said, "This brings us to my friend, Su Ming’an’s companion, Noel Agnini."
"Did he ask you to help ?"
"Yes."
"Why do you listen to him?"
"Because he is ’imperfect.’"
"What do you an?"
"Suppose, suppose there’s a golden forest." Phoenix said: "In the most ’perfect’ world future, should we walk this path?"
Qin Si was silent for a long while and then slowly said, "I suppose so."
"But is perfect and correct a necessity because of this? What evaluates this so-called ’perfect’? In the end, the term ’Perfect Pass’ I never understood—what makes sothing ’perfect’? Who judges it?" Phoenix said, "[Out of a hundred people, fifty die], compared to [out of a hundred, seventy die], of course, the forr seems more perfect. But if the forr were mostly criminals and the latter mostly saints, is the forr still more perfect?"
He stood up: "Or saying, whose life is lighter, the sage or the criminal? Who’s right or wrong in their killings, the good or the evil? If in a bad ending many people die, but my lover lives, and in a perfect ending many live, but my lover dies."
"Then why? Why in this ’perfect’ scenario, for those to live, must my lover die? Why on the red scales of the universe, are the lives of those [who should have died but lived in the perfect ending] heavier than those [who should have lived but died in the perfect ending]?"
"In the [Book of the Universe], perfect sections are nad ’TE’, thus ’TE’ is perfection."
"But [Book of the Universe], what gives it the right to evaluate our perfection?"
"What gives us the obligation to follow a fixed path for a solidified perfection?"
After Phoenix’s words, Qin Si vaguely understood the pursuit behind his [Wheel of Destiny].
Reject... perfection, huh.
Indeed, ’perfection’ is an unchangeable destiny; to rebel against perfection is to rebel against destiny.
But conversely, is letting destiny grow unchecked the right thing?
"You remind of soone," Qin Si said: "His vision is more far-reaching than anyone’s; he realized the fragility and suspension of ’perfection’ more than anyone, and chose to reject it."
"He must be a remarkable person," Phoenix said, "How is he now?"
"He no longer exists."
"No longer exists?"
"Yes, he chose to burn himself beneath the World Tree, along with the causal lines he found through countless reincarnations. Hence, I can’t recall his na or describe him to you—he’s disappeared outside the scope of the [Book of the Universe], out of this ’perfect’ solidified constrained destiny, no longer appearing on the chessboard." Qin Si slowly lowered his head, eyelashes trembling: "He embraced eternal tranquility and death. Annihilation, eternal annihilation."
"He had great wisdom, but I don’t envy it. No matter how many tis, I would choose to resist rather than close my eyes to it." Phoenix said, "And Noel Agnini—"
"That arrogant guy, he showed the possibility of ending all this."
"I wish... to pursue that ’freedom without TE’ with him."
"Sorry, I still don’t agree with your views. I support Su Ming’an’s insistence on ’perfection’," Qin Si shook his head, "No flag can stand tall in a castle in the air; ideals need to be built on the foundation of survival. Rejecting perfection will co at a painful cost, because perfection often represents the best outco for a civilization, a maximization of benefits. And do you know how many more people will die pursuing freedom?"
"Hmm, I’m not denying Su Ming’an’s idea," Phoenix said, "We are just... tired of the endless repetition."
"Repetition?" Qin Si leaned forward: "What repetition? How much do you know?"
"Hehe..." Phoenix laughed softly but did not explain.
He lightly took out a bouquet of bright red flowers.
The observing Su Ming’an suddenly opened his eyes wide.
——It was a bouquet of Manzusha Flower.
The bright red Manzusha Flower was delicately tied with wrapping paper, with transparent ribbons fluttering, and the corner of the ribbon had the florist’s shop na written on it.
It looked just like an ordinary bouquet; Su Ming’an was sure he hadn’t seen it before.
But for so reason, seeing this bouquet, he felt as if standing on a golden sandy beach with crashing waves, layer upon layer washing over chaotic footprints.
——He was certain he had seen it at so point.
Holding the bouquet, Phoenix suddenly raised his head and smiled towards the air.
But from Su Ming’an’s observer’s perspective, it was as if Phoenix was smiling at him in this mory.
The blond boy parted his lips and slowly spoke a few words:
"xxx, xxxx?"
...
His ears buzzed montarily, as if his brain was overloaded, unable to comprehend these tones.
The buzzing persisted, and a mont later, the sound shifted to clear words in Su Ming’an’s ears—
"Su Ming’an."
"Are you watching?"
...
...
In an instant, the corners of Su Ming’an’s mouth curled into a smile, bigger and bigger.
"Heh... hehe... hahaha..."
His first reaction wasn’t fear, nor panic, but joy, like a child seeing sothing new.
Indeed, it’s not that simple; Noel’s plan wasn’t that simple. Noel had long anticipated that Su Ming’an would kill him to watch this mory so he intentionally planted this conversation. As for the Manzusha Flower, Su Ming’an wasn’t sure why he felt familiar, but he guessed there was probably a terrifying truth behind it. So terrifying that it made him sowhat reluctant to uncover it.
"Noel, you pursue ’freedom,’ not ’perfection.’ But I’m the opposite; I still believe ’perfection’ is better, what should you do?" Su Ming’an thought.
Suddenly, in this mory, Noel Agnini, who served as a "cara," lifted his head as if he had seen the watching Su Ming’an.
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