"Oh, t–thank God!" Gu Luoxin had never cried so hard before until he saw Shen Nianzu’s flesh slowly growing to regenerate the missing leg. Overwheld with emotion, he sank to the ground, trembling with the intensity of his relief.
Nonetheless, now was not the ti to let their guard down.
Coughing, Shen Nianzu propped himself up with an elbow and took the wreath off his head, handing it over to Gu Luoxin. "Jin Jiuchi..." he rasped, his voice raw with emotion. "Give these to the twins! They need them more than !"
"But..." Hesitantly, Gu Luoxin threw a glance over his shoulder.
Shen Nianzu followed his line of sight and sucked in a breath, his pupils shaking. Since when... since when did two little Jin Jiuchis beco like that?
Shen Nianzu only dared to spy on the twins from his peripheral vision, as he did not want to look at the Nightmare again. However, it proved to be a difficult task for they were so close to each other. To be more precise, it was the Nightmare who had descended in a form of shapeless darkness and covered the twins whole, rendering Shen Nianzu unable to discern their current status. But he noticed that the lump was twitching and moving constantly as though sothing unsettling was happening within.
"What is going on...?" Gu Luoxin whispered, still shaken by the recent ordeal. "The twins, they suddenly... and then the Nightmare..." he was so shocked that he couldn’t form a coherent sentence, but Shen Nianzu shared his sentint.
Right now, Shen Nianzu’s mind was whirling like a tempest. He could no longer tell if he had really traveled to the past to et Jin Jiuchi, becoming the reason why they ended up fusing into one person, or if this was only a scenario controlled by the Nightmare. The ti-related concept in the Cycle was already confusing to begin with, but unfortunately, he was not even given the chance to mull over his thoughts because in the next second, a powerful earthquake shook the entire labyrinth.
"Ah!" Gu Luoxin scread in shock as he held onto the wall for support. "W–What is it now?!"
An ominous foreboding tingled in Shen Nianzu’s senses and he raised his head to witness the starry landscape falling apart. The stars streaked across the sky and exploded into shimring particles of dust, while the fracture on the pendulum clock was growing wider and wider, with glass fragnts raining down on them. Sowhere in the distance, an enraged bellow echoed.
"The core of the labyrinth is collapsing..." Shen Nianzu let out a shaky breath. "W–We need to escape now before we get buried beneath it!"
He stood up with the help of Gu Luoxin and saw that Noir and Ying were engaged in a close combat with deia, who seed to have lost half of her power with the appearance of the Nightmare. His gaze eventually flitted across the massive dark mound that were both Jin Jiuchi and the Nightmare.
They had to leave soon, but what about Jin Jiuchi?!
"Toki, can you please lead us to a safe place?!" Gu Luoxin pleaded to the baby tour guide who had been clinging onto his back all this ti.
"Chirp..." Toki put on a troubled look for a mont, before nodding firmly. "Chirp!"
"Wait..." Gu Luoxin grew flustered as a dreadful realization hit him. "What should we do about the twins?!"
Alas, the perilous situation truly left them with little ti to think. A particularly massive glass shard plumted from the sky toward them. With a startled yelp, Gu Luoxin pulled Shen Nianzu along as they rolled to the side to avoid it."Xiao Shen, are you okay?!"
As he spoke, he carried Shen Nianzu into his arms, broke out into a mad sprint and dodged more and more glass shards from above, heading toward the direction where Toki was pointing at.
Noir and Ying, who noticed their movents, imdiately sprang into action. One of them distracted deia, while the other rushed across the space to grab both Qiuqiu and Buzz Cut who were dead to the world.
deia scread in rage, especially as she witnessed Shen Nianzu slipping away. "You’re not escaping from —!" Disregarding everything, she squeezed out more darkness from her body and hurled them at Shen Nianzu, the exertion causing Qiuqiu to convulse and spasm, foam forming on the corner of her mouth.
"Xiao Shen, be careful!" Gu Luoxin instinctively protected the recovering Shen Nianzu behind him, his wide terrified eyes reflecting the encroaching darkness that was akin to a swarm of stinging bees.
But then, an unexpected turn of events suddenly occurred.
The entire labyrinth was flooded with blinding brilliance as a colossal sword drenched in pure light pierced through the darkness, eliciting a pained cry from deia. In that suspended mont, it was as if the entire world was painted in white.
"W–What..." deia whispered in disbelief.
It was not only her, but everyone was equally stunned as well.
There was no mistaking it. This was none other than Grandpa’s skill card – Sword of Heaven!
Amid the stunned silence, the sounds of rapid footsteps reverberated from one of the paths, and from there ran out the future Shen Nianzu, Gu Luoxin and Ying, as well as Grandpa! The four of them looked worse to wear with nurous injuries marring their bodies, but at least their spirits appeared good and all of their limbs were intact.
"Sorry, we’re late—" Gu Luoxin from Team 14 began, only to freeze in shock when he took in the sight of the chaotic battlefield. "Uh, what’s happening here?"
"Chirp...?" Toki looked at the newly arrived Gu Luoxin, then the Gu Luoxin whose leg he was clinging onto, his eyes full of confusion and bewildernt.
Future Shen Nianzu’s jaws tightened when he laid eyes on deia, the fissure in the sky, and the formless mass of darkness in the middle of the battlefield. He seed to have co to so sort of conclusion, because the next second, his gaze settled on Shen Nianzu as a long transparent blade materialized in his palm.
"You should go ahead!" He shouted, his voice determined and resolute. "Leave this place to us. Reach the exit of the labyrinth and break this ti loop!"
"Right, right!" Gu Luoxin beside him nodded like chicken pecking rice. "You can count on us!"
"But... what about the twins?" Shen Nianzu couldn’t resist casting a fleeting glance at Jin Jiuchi. Deep down, he knew that he could be rest assured leaving the twins in the future Shen Nianzu’s care, but after the traumatizing sight he had witnessed earlier, he felt like he would be in constant anxiety before he could ensure Jin Jiuchi’s well-being with his own eyes.
"It will be okay," future Shen Nianzu reassured him as golden sparks began forming beneath their feets. "As long as you manage to reach the exit, he will be fine. Now, you must go before one of us disappears!"
Future Ying and Grandpa, on the other hand, had started to fight against deia.
Grandpa’s brows furrowed in confusion as he inquired, "What is a nightmare creature from a high-level Cycle doing here?"
"Beats ," the two Yings replied in unison before they glanced at each other. Golden sparks burst out beneath their feet, causing Grandpa to laugh helplessly.
"Perhaps one of you would like to proceed?"
"Go ahead," future Ying decided in a heartbeat. She paused for a mont before adding, "If you can, stay away from the ’Reflection of Emotions’. It’s... not good for you."
Ying was startled when she heard that. Hadn’t Shen Nianzu also told them the sa thing? Alas, she could no longer ask for more because the paradox rules did not allow them to interact any longer. With a firm nod, she began to turn away only to realize sothing as she asked Grandpa, "Aren’t you coming with us?"
She had no idea from which tiline this legendary player had co. However, it did not change the fact that one of them had to reach the exit. She did not see a second or third Grandpa anywhere, so why was he choosing to remain behind?
In response to her question, Grandpa waved his hand good-naturedly and urged her, "Don’t worry about . I still have so unfinished business here."
Now that he put it like that, Ying no longer said anything in return and rushed toward the others.
"Hurry, hurry!" Gu Luoxin hastily called out to her. The pendulum clock might as well be destroyed from how many cracks it had sustained, but fortunately before it could happen, Ying reached them and the group swiftly left the core of the labyrinth behind.
Supported by Gu Luoxin, Shen Nianzu gritted his teeth and fought against the urge to look back at Jin Jiuchi. Hurry... they had to make their way out of this labyrinth as swiftly as possible so that he could have Jin Jiuchi back with him!
...
The future Ying cast Grandpa a skeptical glance. "Unfinished business?"
"What? Am I wrong?" Grandpa raised a mirthful brow. He then threw a glance over his shoulder at the mass of darkness who seed to have grown a little larger, before hurriedly tearing his eyes away and wiping the sweat on his forehead. "After all, I entered this Cycle just to et the Calamitous Twins, just like how the Divine Oracle told to."
Grasping his sword with both hands, Shen Nianzu stood in front of the lump of darkness, confronting deia. "It’s been a while," he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I’m glad that you’re still in one piece. How is it? Are you ready for your second death?"
"You... insolent... human!" Seething with anger, deia lunged forward and the battlefield erupted once more.
.
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A/N: Additional information which I may or may not insert into the story in the future:
The reason why Grandpa is the only one who doesn’t communicate with his other selves is because he didn’t see the need to. As he ntioned, he entered this Cycle for the twins and whether he obtains the return ticket or not doesn’t matter to him. After all, he has a prop that will directly bring him out of the Cycle (sort of like a free pass, but ofc it’s extrely rare) #legendaryplayerprivilege
As for the reason why he sought out the twins, it will be slowly explained in the future Chapters hehe
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