Noel looked up, gazing at the hellish scene before him.
In the sky, black tendrils crisscrossed downwards, a sense of madness and destruction rampaging across the square.
The giant tendrils crashed against the newly erected shield, emitting a crisp "crack" as they shattered.
A girl, laughing recklessly, caused everything she passed to crumble. She opened her arms as if embracing this world of despair.
"...Mad, they’re all mad," Noel muttered to himself.
He tore off the white dress he was wearing and walked towards the altar. Reaching the center of the stone platform, he inserted a slab of stone into a gap.
This stone slab, passed down from the First Tribe with the breath of Bai Shen, ant that with its placent on the altar of succession, the succession ceremony was completely fulfilled.
——And at that mont,
A white radiance erged around the Clan Leader.
Having completed the entire succession ritual, he truly beca the leader of the tribe.
A dark radiance, like a rolling galaxy, hung inverted over his body, and a bracelet engraved with the Black Python mark slowly took shape on his wrist.
Having assud the role of Ruler of Qiongdi, he could at last fully exercise his Black Python Authority.
"Whoosh——"
Sounds like surging waves arose.
A dangerous aura, as if to engulf the seas, rose to the heavens, and in a blink, the Clan Leader’s pupils turned pitch-black.
In fully activating this authority, he was shortening the ti until the curse erupted at the cost.
He reached out his hand, swinging his blade, and in an instant, he severed the tendrils that had long entangled him.
Xiber in the sky took notice, and a particularly thick tendril flew at him viciously, aiming rcilessly at his heart.
However, the Clan Leader simply extended his hand, and nine strands of Annihilation Energy shot out along his arm, biting towards the sky—like nine giant pythons that devoured everything.
The pythons opened their huge maws, crashing about, biting off the thick tendrils and bursting into a vast expanse of dark mist, like stars falling upon the sea.
"Whirring, whirring, whirring——"
Annihilation Energy collided with the tendrils, polluting the square into a mortal purgatory. These tendrils already had the ability to tamorphose humans, and their widespread rampage increased people’s negative emotions even more.
Players dared not linger here; just one glance at this scene made their sanity plumt. So used their thods to flee, so committed suicide to preserve their spirits, and so had even fallen into tamorphosis.
After casting a desperate glance at this dark world, the surviving player Isabella sighed, pointed a revolver at her temple.
"...This world is too full of despair," she looked towards the sky.
There, still, was a white figure, constantly nding the cracks in the barrier created by the black tendrils.
If not for that figure’s presence, the poisonous rain would have long destroyed the square, and all the tribe’s people would have perished.
Isabella’s vision began to blur with colorful spots of light; the sky-full of poisonous rain transford into a particularly magnificent, splendid rainbow in her eyes.
...A hallucination.
Then, in her ears, there began to erge people cheering and singing. The ear-piercing cries and screams seed to have subsided, replaced by noises of warm, joyous laughter.
...Auditory hallucinations.
Her heart started beating faster and faster, and a hot, nauseating sensation flowed through her body. Her eyes grew vacant, and she lost control over her limbs—
So, this is it.
She suddenly realized, this was what "tamorphosis" ant.
By just watching these black tendrils for a while, her sanity had abruptly plumted, and she had rapidly succumbed to a state of tamorphosis.
Then, what about that person who had been in close contact with the tendrils, walking alongside the Heretics?
——He who gazes long into the abyss will eventually fall into it.
That person in the sky... or rather, "God," had he already fallen into the abyss or had he beco one with it unknowingly?
Her fingers trembled slightly, her knuckles making a crisp "click" sound; she pulled the trigger, and blood sprayed from her temple. Her body fell backwards.
In committing suicide, departing from the instance, what she saw was still the figure constructing the barrier, protecting the tribe’s people.
That white figure, luminous, brilliant, rciful, just.
——That was a god.
That was the blessing of this despairing world, like a ray of light descending in the darkness—
That was a god.
In that mont, she, who could not endure even a second of tamorphosis, finally understood deeply the difference between that "God" and them.
It seed that she had begun to grasp the weight he had always carried.
She closed her eyes, her consciousness slowly drifting away.
...
"——Fengchang!" Xiber nearly gnashed her teeth in rage, calling out the na.
The ’Son of Bai Shen,’ who had cleaved through the tentacles, leapt up, brandishing his blade toward her.
The glint of cold light condensed on the blade edge stabbed at her pupils, causing her pain, causing tears to continuously fall.
"——You’re going to stop again, you’re going to stand in my way again! Why won’t you face the faith of Qiongdi! Why do you always want to kill ——! It’s always like this! Always like this——!"
Her bloodied, indistinct face reflected a pair of eyes gradually losing their rationality.
Su Ming’an’s white tentacles couldn’t stop her. Strictly speaking, this part of his "energy" was still drawn from the tentacle monster, and it was part of Xiber’s energy, so it couldn’t defeat her.
He continually extended the white Defense Barrier to prevent the poison rain from wiping out all the tribespeople.
"Listen to , Xiber, calm down. Our only goal is the Black Python Authority..." he called to her.
"...Don’t talk."
Xiber’s nearly irrational eyes glared at him.
"I don’t want to... tamorphose you at this critical juncture," she threatened: "You said before that you’d accompany to the end. Whatever I do, don’t stop ."
Her black tentacles still possessed a terrifying ability to tamorphose, and during the previous repeated deaths, it was her tentacles that caused him irreversible tamorphosis.
"..." Su Ming’an tried to speak, but a black tentacle suddenly lunged, enveloping him inside.
He had a way to persuade Xiber, but she wouldn’t even let him speak.
Her attitude toward him was really no different from Su Rin’s; both of them simply wouldn’t listen.
He stretched out his hand, covered with Annihilation Energy, intending to swipe away the tentacle, but several smaller tentacles quickly sprouted from it and fiercely pulled at his wrist, refusing to let him go.
...Xiber really was mad.
...She’d been driven mad.
Her lacking sense of security and trust had reached an unhealthy degree.
He imdiately prepared to use Spatial Displacent when a sound like a piece of cloth being ripped resounded by his ear.
"Swish!"
A black line surfaced atop the tentacle, splitting it in two, and the faint daylight filtered through the slit.
Su Ming’an took in a breath of fresh air again as he tore off the sticky tentacles and saw Fengchang, who had already leaped into the sky, in front of him.
Fengchang’s blade tip pointed in his direction; it was Fengchang’s blade that had just cut the tentacle that bound Su Ming’an.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Xiber remained relentless. Like a child fighting over a toy, she continued to throw tentacles at Su Ming’an, trying to pull him back.
Fengchang then swung several more tis, cutting through the attacking tentacles like chopping through vegetables.
The current situation was different from the previous cycles.
Xiber hadn’t allowed the Stone Fortress’s tentacle monster to purify Qiongdi, and her strength was not enhanced. Whereas Fengchang had successfully taken over as Clan Leader and at the expense of invoking the curse, had fully activated the Black Python Authority.
In this back-and-forth, Fengchang’s strength was now on par with Xiber’s.
The youth wearing the blood-thorned Sacrificial Crown pushed past the layers of muck and tentacles, his sharp blade tip aid at Xiber.
"What do you take Su Ming’an for?" Fengchang berated her: "He is your adventurer — he is the one who has been helping you, accompanying you all the way! Not your toy, not your possession!"
"You’re the least qualified to accuse , aren’t you viewing your own tribespeople as your possessions as well? Aren’t you making decisions for them? You unilaterally chose to bury the truth for them!" Xiber yelled.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her eyes moved a bit, looking toward Su Ming’an next to her, extending her hand—
"Co here, Su Ming’an," she said: "I’ll handle all of this, I’m the one most familiar with this guy, I have ways to punish him, to help you get the last of the Black Python Authority."
"Co here," she repeated: "You co here; you promised to accompany to the end, right from the start you said you wouldn’t run away."
Looking at her like this, Su Ming’an felt an increasingly ominous premonition.
These tentacles were not only continuously sacrificing her life force, her rationale seed to be stripped away as well.
The hatred in her eyes, like a dense fog, was pervasive and had beco so intense that it seed irreversible.
"Su Ming’an, co here, you’re basically just missing this Black Python Authority from becoming a Bai Shen, right? I will help you steal it," she reached out to him.
And at this mont, Fengchang also looked at him.
Fengchang lifted his right hand.
On his wrist, the bracelet with the Black Python pattern swayed slightly, shining like a beacon in the darkness with a unique glow.
"——Su Ming’an, co help establish a Defense Barrier around here, and let’s kill Xiber together. The truth isn’t worth revealing, she doesn’t understand anything, the tribespeople simply can’t withstand the collapse of their faith. If you co over, I’ll give you the Black Python Authority. I am willing to envision the future of Qiongdi with you," he said.
"Su Ming’an, you co here," Xiber said.
The twisted black tentacles surrounded her like sea snakes, and her gaze was growing colder by the second.
"Don’t listen to her; she’s gone mad," Fengchang said, "Su Ming’an, co here; I trust you."
Su Ming’an’s eyes flickered slightly.
At this mont, the wails and screams of the tribespeople still echoed in his ears.
Because Fengchang had stepped out of the rain protection barrier to engage in the battle in the sky, Xiber’s tendrils were no longer striking downward, granting the tribespeople a brief respite.
They clutched their wounds, with expressions of grief and utter despair, so looking up at the sky to gauge the situation, at the standoff unfolding above.
—It was a duel between the heretic, who had beco a blurred ss of flesh, resembling evil spirits, and the Son of Bai Shen, bright and righteous, who was protecting them.
Witnessing such a scene, they began to cheer and chant.
So shouted that they should kill the heretic, nail her to the sacrificial altar; so were tearfully grateful to Fengchang for saving them, kneeling with their families to give thanks; so simply knelt on the spot, starting to pray to Bai Shen, pleading with the great God to quickly kill the heretic beside them, not to be misled by her.
—So what Su Ming’an saw was just such a spectacle.
The tribespeople protected by the barrier suddenly knelt down in rows, bowing their heads in prayer.
They were no longer running away, no longer screaming, but like a river converging in one direction, everyone was united in doing one thing—
They closed their eyes, knelt down, and chanted their prayers.
Like being in so sort of collective emotion that shut out the external world, the lambs too forgot to flee.
The tribespeople’s emotions converged at this mont, pouring forth from the unified chanting like countless streams rging into the ocean.
With calm and serene expressions, they prayed as if they had suddenly forgotten about death, fear, and the urge to flee, focusing only on praying to their lord Bai Shen, entrusting their lives into His hands.
Faced with a catastrophe that could destroy everything, the long-cherished faith of the people of Qiongdi finally manifested in a power of unity.
Row upon row of bowed heads compressed upon the land, and the unified voices of their prayers filled everyone’s ears.
They were saying—
[Great Lord Bai Shen, please slay the heretic!]
[Fengchang, our great leader, please kill the heretic!]
[Lord Laersas, please destroy the source of Jiu Shen’s faith, please kill the heretic that caused this catastrophe—]
...
Everyone wanted her dead.
The truth should be buried forever.
...
Xiber watched silently at this scene.
It felt as though the seas had filled her chest, and she was overco with a desire to suffocate and drown right there.
She seed to be laughing, her unprotected face still being eroded by the poison rain; she seed to have forgotten the agony on her skin, wanting only to maintain clarity through this sensory stimulation.
The poison rain had completely infiltrated her body, and because she did not seek cover, her shell was gradually dissolving.
Amidst the chanting and praying for her death, she broke into a laugh, suddenly laughing loudly.
"Ha, hahaha, this ending... this ending..."
At this mont, the rationality in her eyes had completely collapsed, like a falling skyscraper.
Su Ming’an frowned slightly.
...It seems this playthrough won’t work; Xiber had completely lost her mind.
But if he were to rollback now, the situation wouldn’t be any better. He couldn’t convince Xiber, and she would still confront Fengchang head-on.
Her body had already been corroded by the toxic rain in her hallucinations; she wouldn’t live much longer.
In the next loop, what should he do? The difficulty of this path was too great; did he truly have to continue along with Xiber...
Thinking this, he began to muster the energy for annihilation, his right hand’s fingers lifting slightly—
He could only, rollback...
"...It seems I have to try again," said Xiber suddenly, sowhat self-mockingly, as if talking to herself.
Su Ming’an’s expression showed a trace of shock.
At the sa mont,
He suddenly saw Xiber, who was faster than him, also raising her hand.
She raised the hunting shotgun in her hand.
...What is she raising her hand for?
In Su Ming’an’s astonished eyes, her hand ca to rest on the shotgun’s trigger, a smile of deliverance appearing on her face.
She was still smiling.
"This is not at all what I wanted, the best ending," she said.
...
Her shotgun, in the next instant,
was aid at her own heart.
...
["Xiber, aren’t you afraid?"]
["I’ve grown accustod to this feeling at night," she said.]
[Su Ming’an found it strange, as she clearly had only one Soul Stone in her hand, hardly enough for many nights.]
...
["You are the investor of the farm, right? I’m not wrong, am I?"]
["...How did you recognize , young girl? I’m certain I’ve never seen you before."]
...
[She still had...]
[Infinite chances.]
...
At that mont,
Su Ming’an felt a contradictory sense of surrealism.
He suddenly rembered the first ti he t her, when he pushed open that wooden door, her red robe fluttering, her body cold as frost, and the way she looked at him.
—In her eyes,
there was the solitude of soone who could watch through the night.
"Ha, hahaha, ahahaha—Co on! One more ti, you’ll appear again, won’t you? You are indeed my most fitting Fantasy Creation—!"
She laughed like a madwoman.
A madwoman misunderstood by the world.
A madwoman at odds with the world.
A madwoman brimming with despair and yet full of hope.
She turned her head and looked at Su Ming’an.
She didn’t know he could rewind.
She only knew that she could change it all.
She, covered in blood, looked at him.
In those eyes gradually showing bloodshot veins, his reflection was imprinted with utter clarity.
...It seed she intended to fix this image of him in her heart with nails, driving them in one by one.
Her smile was as if she was stepping on her own filthy shell, lifting her soul towards the heavens.
"Click."
As she pulled the trigger,
her eyes ablaze with madness seed to say to him—
["Okay, Su Ming’an."]
["Let’s get to know each other again."]
...
["Long ti no see."]
...
"Bang!"
...
...
["Lord Jiu Shen, Lord Jiu Shen!"]
["...I’ve found my ’sugar.’"]
[— "Jiu Shen·Reincarnation Notebook."]
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