"Swish!"
In an instant, Lu’s body along with the blue wing disintegrated instantly, like a storm flowing in reverse, he appeared behind Su Ming’an, his face as pale as paper, with his right arm completely vanished from below the elbow.
At so unknown ti, he had conjured a water-blue dagger in his left hand, and with a "swish," pierced through Su Ming’an’s back, protruding from his chest!
"——!!"
Ti seed to freeze at this mont.
On the chessboard, everyone witnessing this scene—Evelyn, Xiao Xiao, Yang Changxu, Violet... all had their pupils constrict abruptly, their minds blank.
"You damn——" Yang Changxu, who always adhered to rules, couldn’t help but curse, who would’ve thought Lu would lose his mind at the crucial mont?
"He’s gone mad, I thought his state seed off just now, without saying a word." Leslie’s face was pale, her legs weak.
"Su Ming’an!" Xiao Xiao shouted in panic. It was difficult for them to get here, anyone could die, but Su Ming’an absolutely could not.
"He faked it so well before, really fooled him..." Joy frowned. They should’ve detected Lu’s true nature earlier, a gray area arms dealer, what benevolence can he have? The gentle behavior he showed before was indeed superficial, when truly capable of independently ascending, he imdiately revealed his true colors.
They almost rushed over instantly, but couldn’t even take their steps. Xiao Xiao instantly drew out the Priest’s Staff, elents around Leslie went berserk, Rimu Sheng lowered his stance pulling out the Blade Edge, Si Nian instantly transford into a bright red wild wolf...
The bullet screen was already in chaos:
[!????]
[What?]
[Brother Lu, what are you doing?!]
[Amireru!]
[Indeed, human nature is fragile, the best allies beco re stumbling blocks when reaching the realm of human gods. Noel is, Ming is, Lu also is.]
[Lu was never a good person, too many were deceived by his surface impression. A bunch of screaming little boys and girls forgot what he used to do, right?]
[I still can’t believe it...]
[This...]
[Su Ming’an...]
...
Su Ming’an slightly lowered his head, looking at his chest, a blade tip resembling autumn water.
With his abilities, Lu would crumble before him upon contact, unable to approach him. He paused three tis previously because he saw or heard three things.
The first ti was the instant Lu attacked, he saw Lu’s fingers slightly move, presenting him with an interface——
...
[You have purchased "Authority · Naming" (10 Silver Stars)]
[First, assigning concepts, definitions, and rules to naless objects. Second, stripping or obscuring the "na" of things, making them unable to be understood or rembered, loosening from the established rules frawork.]
...
It turned out Lu redeed this. Su Ming’an also saw this authority in the store, assigning concepts or withdrawing concepts is extrely potent, especially the phrase "loosening from the established rules frawork", which solves the biggest current dilemma for them.
Their essence is "trapped within the established rules frawork". Su Ming’an’s entrapnt is being endowed with a strong protagonist concept by the curtain; once stripped off this concept, he can break free from the frawork.
But its price is very awkward, 10 Silver Stars, only Su Ming’an and Lu could afford it, if Su Ming’an purchased it himself, the remaining 3 Silver Stars would be almost useless in the final battle. Lu purchasing it was most suitable.
...
Lu Likalpos discovered in the Silver Star shop, all high-value authorities are related to "existence".
"Ruins" signifies an end, "Void" ans erasure, while "Naming" is different. It operates on the positioning of things in the rules system. This authority is definitely a great assistance for Su Ming’an against the Lord of Dreams.
As expected, the Lord of Dreams overturned the table this mont, forcefully assigning thirteen winners the "Player" status, isolating reality with a curtain, pulling them from backstage to the stage for additional gas.
After the ga began, the world Lu saw was different from others, he saw "conceptual threads" entwined around each person, colorful and interwoven with varying thickness.
Su Ming’an had the densest threads, with orange-yellow friendship, bright red love, deep blue betrayal, pitch-black destruction, bright yellow ideals... all connected to the void above the curtain.
Evelyn’s threads were "loyalty and protection"; Xiao Xiao’s threads were "love and regret"; Yang Changxu’s threads were "belief and dedication". Su Ming’an’s definition was most complete, strongest, and most stubborn. He was the "Red King", the "Number One Player", the "Savior", the "Lighthouse", the ’protagonist who must survive till the end, bearing all hope and despair.’ He was too thoroughly "nad", and too thoroughly solidified.
The more labels that cannot be torn off, the more things he must complete, the easier it is to beco a puppet on strings in the ga.
——If Su Ming’an’s existence in the curtain ga is seen as forcibly assigned a "na", then stripping this "na" would allow him to loosen from this frawork, making the ga unable to define or constrain him.
——Lu’s intention was not to kill Su Ming’an, but to kill Su Ming’an’s "na".
Hence, seeing the ga about to begin, Lu imdiately attacked Su Ming’an. This stab wouldn’t really kill Su Ming’an, it would only peel away his identity, transforming him into a vague existence, bringing him out of the ga’s curtain back to reality. Under circumstances where breaking the curtain is impossible, this is the only way to leave the curtain—strip the ga character’s identity, turning him back into an outsider.
So, when Lu stabbed, Su Ming’an hesitated for an instant because he thought of these things.
However, trusting Lu ant letting himself be pierced through the chest... After Noel’s incident, Su Ming’an couldn’t entrust trust to Lu; Su Ming’an only froze for an instant, then imdiately countered. If it were real betrayal, he couldn’t let himself be slaughtered.
He paused a second ti, hearing Lü God’s voice transmission:
"Trust him, I will cooperate with Lu and Ming, I’ll inform you of the Source Point curtain’s existence, breaking it from the outside. Lu will assist you from within, achieving internal and external attacks, the curtain can be broken."
Afterwards, Su Ming’an paused a third ti, it was a mont before he was about to kill Lu, at that ti he was contemplating:
First, if Lu truly intended to betray, there was no need for such a blatant attack; there were many opportunities before. Second, Lü God’s path is aligned with mine; there’s no reason for enmity for now. Third, even if Lu’s betrayal were true, piercing my chest, I have the "Faith" authority as a fallback to sustain life. Should I discover Lu’s intention not to activate his authority, I’d imdiately use the "Devour" authority to counteract. Given the absolute power difference, the greatest cost would rely be further corrosion of my soul. Fourth... Lu is already nearing death, but has made no other move; it truly doesn’t seem like betrayal. Fifth, without employing Lu’s thod, I’d have to reveal my final trump card to resolve this predicant, and now is not yet the ti.
Even if everything points to this not being true betrayal, Su Ming’an must be certain until the very last mont. This is caution, it’s the shadow, and it’s also responsibility to everyone.
Thus, in that instant, Su Ming’an’s movent halted, while Lu instantly flickered behind him, the dagger piercing his chest.
As everyone was in shock, anger, despair, and sorrow... Su Ming’an’s gaze remained silent.
He turned his head slightly, briefly eting Lu Hailan’s eyes, then—
"Buzz——!!!"
At the mont the dagger pierced Su Ming’an, it was as if it plunged into a rippling sea of pixels.
The humming sound echoed throughout the entire chessboard space. Countless golden, silvery, and flickering runes burst forth from Su Ming’an’s body!
Shattering, dancing, rotating.
[Hero], [Savior], [Idealist], [Lighthouse], [Rule’s loophole], [Focus Point]...
His body began to turn transparent, transforming from "existence within this ga" to "an existence not defined by this ga."
These things were ethereal and indistinct, visible only to Lu, who held the "Naming" authority, and Su Ming’an himself. Lu gazed at them, muttering to himself: "Su Ming’an, you’re so firmly ’nad’..."
...
[First Layer: [Red King]... stripped away]
[Second Layer: [Curtain Focus]... stripped away]
[Third Layer: [Ga Protagonist]... stripped away]
...
A crisp sound.
"Snap!"
In the midst of the crowd’s exclamations, Su Ming’an abruptly dissipated, lting into a pool of jelly.
The star sea was vast, the ocean silent.
...
Su Ming’an’s consciousness drifted like a wandering soul, in a state of "unnad."
He did not feel the coldness of death, but rather an unprecedented lightness and weightlessness.
It was as if the heavy armor woven from countless expectations and responsibilities were being stripped away layer by layer, the nails that once held him firmly in the position of "ga character" were loosening one after another—[Hero], [Savior], [The One Who Must Move Forward], [Savior]... he was finally erased from the richly hued, ticulously painted picture, becoming a presence that could drift inside and outside the canvas.
His consciousness was like a light boat free from all ropes, thrown into a strange, colorful torrent.
Before him spread an infinite vista, with shattered blocks floating upside down. They seed like remnants after a brutal explosion: ["Fight for..."], ["Victory was mine..."], ["Let Zhai Xing go, take away..."]. The words that once defined him transford into floating phosphorescence, like ghosts drifting through ruins.
Unfinished dialogue bubbles rose like soap bubbles, emitting indistinct echoes, fragnts of conversations with countless people: "Goodbye, thank you...", "Clearing all obstacles for you...", "Did I help you this ti..." The voices were familiar yet distant, as if separated by thick frosted glass.
He moved with lightness, traversing an invisible and formless labyrinth.
Like colossal blocks, squares, triangles, cylinders... stacked to form a labyrinth without exit: [He stood atop the ruins, black hair fluttering in the wind, eyes ablaze with unyielding fire...]; [In the conference room, everyone’s gaze turned to the always silent young man...]; ["Awake?" Lü Shu seed to sit by the table, sipping tea...]
He glided through like flowing water, leaving no trace.
He drifted within the dizzying consciousness stream, feeling as though he were swimming in a vast sea of collective unconsciousness, where the grounded reality was the iceberg above the sea, and he now delved beneath the ocean.
Suddenly, a clear and familiar voice reached out to him:
"Su Ming’an, co toward ..."
It was Lü God.
More precisely, it was Ming.
Lü God and Ming had established a connection, thus locating the drifting Su Ming’an in the sea of consciousness, assisting the "deceased" consciousness of Su Ming’an toward the direction of the Demon Mother Goddess. If not for Lü God abducting Ming, it would indeed be difficult to find Su Ming’an in the vast sea of consciousness; only soone with resonance like Ming could pinpoint Su Ming’an’s soul.
Following the direction of the voice, Su Ming’an drifted, his form light and airy like a white bird, passing through the consciousness of others, where he saw Lü God’s figure, a great white wolf.
"Finally found you, co with ." Lü God floated upon the sea of consciousness, looking at him.
"How’s the situation with the Curtain?"
"Rest assured, they’re fine... except for Lu Likalpos." Lü God said.
"Because of the replacent?"
In the last second before Su Ming’an’s consciousness departed, he saw the golden pixels bouncing from his body, surging toward Lu, like chains binding Lu.
—After Su Ming’an’s departure, the vacuum of this "na" needed filling, and Lu actively used his "true na" and existence to fill the void.
"He will not die, rest assured. At most, he’ll have so inseparable connection with the Lord of Dreams..." Lü God said, "The na is the shortest spell... both a shackle and a liberation."
They drifted through the gentle consciousness stream, where Su Ming’an saw countless souls twisted and mottled, swimming through an endless procession of images.
The sea of consciousness of all beings.
Countless consciousness fragnts slid past them, representing the consciousness of each life.
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