Chapter 416

Chapter 416: Chapter 413: Su Ming’an looked around at the desolate platform.

At this moment, he seemed to be able to see the blood-red, lava-like land in the nighttime instance.

Both the path ahead and behind were no longer viable; even if he had anticipated all of this, he couldn’t break free.

He moved closer to Su Rin.

His figure neared the faint mist surrounding Su Rin.

"Do you want to be freed, Pulaya’s immortal deity?"

Su Ming’an asked.

"’Freed’ isn’t the right word. I chose to stay here voluntarily," responded Su Rin calmly. "I changed everything for the suffering residents; I gave them direction... I can tell that you actually agree with me deep down. If it had been you, in that situation sixty years ago, you would have made the same decision as well."

Su Ming’an let out a hollow laugh.

Su Rin: "You have lost the Knight of Light and the King of Sea Monsters that could have subdued me; that is your mistake."

With a single swing of his sword, Su Ming’an knocked down a soldier rushing toward him.

"No," he said. "This is the inevitable outcome."

He had seen it, the so-called ’Mobius Ring.’

The "Demon King and Brave" nighttime instance wasn’t just a "witness" for him but represented an inevitable cause and effect.

Like the hand of God, it naturally propelled the occurrence of everything.

Without the nighttime segment of Demon King and Brave, he wouldn’t understand the method to use Su Rin’s abilities; he wouldn’t join the battle of the two tribes with "Bewilderment." Without the involvement of other players, the balance of power would be instantly upset, leading to the Demon King City’s management failing.

If he didn’t use "Bewilderment," he wouldn’t have further mastered the Skill of controlling the Barrier. The outer barrier would break too soon and Pulaya would be destroyed by the storm.

And because he reinforced the barrier, the Demon King City was able to continue its management and thus, he learned about "the despicable ones of Heaven," which informed him of the importance of the principle of equivalence.

And because he understood the importance of the principle of equivalence, he was able to deduce the situation between the two tribes, and from there, surmise the Princess’s conspiracy.

--He would then inevitably choose to betray the deity before Tulip Princess took action, to survive.

So, the day before he decided to betray, "the despicable ones of Heaven" betrayed in sync with him.

They anticipated his actions with incredible accuracy.

Even though he had persuaded the despicable one to stay one more day, the following day, the betrayal still happened unavoidably.

And once he chose to betray in order to survive, all that followed made perfect sense.

The Sea Monsters’ siege was bound to start; inexorable.

The Knight of Light and the King of Sea Monsters that he relied on were bound to perish in this calamity; unavoidable.

He personally launched the siege, and then watched with his own eyes as those he depended on died because of his actions.

--The nighttime instance may seem just a "witness," but In reality, it was also the result of his own actions’ guidance.

--It seemed like he was guided by the nighttime instance, but in fact, his actions were guiding the progress of the nighttime instance.

The disastrous ending of Pulaya had countless possibilities: it could be destroyed due to the Barrier breaking, due to the imbalance of combatants, or due to the Princess’s corruption...

And what Su Ming’an witnessed was the only outcome where most people survived, and everyone was content.

Because only this "content" ending matched the management approach of the Demon King City.

It’s hard to judge whether it was his management of the Demon King City that led to the betrayal in the despicable one’s storyline, or if the betrayal by the despicable one revealed in the storyline guided his synchronous betrayal in reality.

It’s difficult to say whether it was his decision that controlled the despicable one’s act of betrayal, or if the despicable one’s action made him realize its significance, influencing his behavior to betray.

Just like the Mobius Ring.

If you take a strip of paper, twist it 180 degrees, and then join the ends together, you create the Mobius Ring. It is a one-sided, non-orientable surface. This kind of paper ring has only one side.

If people walk on a Mobius-shaped highway, they’ll never reach the end, because they can’t differentiate where the start or the end is, like they’re in an endless loop, like reciting a palindrome.

It connects beginning and end,

Becoming puzzle and solution to each other.

It guided itself on a straight path, which appeared to be connected in all directions, but was in fact the only one.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Su Rin said.

"Su Ming’an! You have the heart of a deity, he can’t hurt you, and the squad can’t hold on any longer, hurry up and kill him!" Noel’s voice came from behind.

"..." Su Ming’an knew this absolutely would not work.

If he killed Su Rin here,

aside from the possible temporal causality, as the former "Demon King," Su Ming’an would be instantly wiped from existence right here, there was also another possible outcome.

...He might become the next deity.

To culture a ’culture vessel,’ there had always been two methods, one was to seize another’s body, the other was to give up one’s own life.

When Cloud City God Su Rin cultured an heir, he used the first method.

And for the succession between generations of heirs, the second method was used.

Su Ming’an couldn’t confirm whether the act of killing Su Rin in front of him would directly trigger the second method.

—This was an outcome he absolutely could not accept.

Even if he had the chance of death rollback to try, this was also a dead end.

He could not kill Su Rin in front of him.

The world has connected a slip of paper end to end, forming a ring, encircling him in the middle.

"Otherworldly traveler." Su Rin’s gaze seemed to see through everything: "Actually, you agree with me in your heart."

Su Ming’an could not deny it.

Su Rin, with the strength of humanity, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with deities, successfully protecting his homeland and land from disaster, which was something he could not do.

But while he thought so in his heart, he would not admit it with his mouth, instead, he forced a laugh twice.

"Ha ha." He laughed.

As he watched Su Ming’an’s forced, soybean-like fake smile, Su Rin’s eyes were very open-minded.

He seemed not to be angry at Su Ming’an’s "rebellion," as if he had anticipated everything.

"Otherworldly traveler—The murderous intent you’re showing me now—is not the product of your own will and extended thoughts, but merely the result of smoothly ’playing through the instance.’" Su Rin spoke softly: "Isn’t it?"

"What a novel concept." Su Ming’an took another step forward.

He and Su Rin were closing the distance between them.

He was advancing towards Su Rin, almost recklessly enduring the soldiers’ tidal attacks, sparing no effort to get closer.

As long as they didn’t strike his vital points, he ignored all harm; his swordsmanship had now shifted to the most basic defense, all attacks were for the sake of advancing a few more steps.

He was trading the distance of this road for the wounds and blood on his body.

Behind him, Noel’s silken threads were getting farther away, with only Lin Yin’s healing light flashing on his body from time to time, but that light was also fading.

To his left, the health bars and mana bars of the entire squad were visibly dropping at a worrying rate.

He took out a Strengthener with his free left hand, and swiftly injected another dose into his neck, a wave of intense pain that made his entire body tremble washed over him.

But clearly, his Health Points, which had nearly bottomed out, were steadily rising, and the pallor of excessive blood loss was gradually regaining color.

Su Ming’an was well aware that the reason the Cloud City God Su Rin initially wanted to kill him was because he had answered, "I have not found a method to repair the Barrier," and Cloud City God Su Rin had to sacrifice him temporarily in exchange for the energy to maintain the Barrier.

The Barrier was the absolute top priority, as it was the guarantee for the residents of Pulaya to survive.

Later, when Cloud City God Su Rin wanted to kill him, it was because Su Ming’an had maintained the balance of the battle situation, stopping the struggle between the two clans.

The reason Cloud City God Su Rin wanted to kill him—had nothing to do with personal desires.

He did not care if he might usurp His Authority, nor did he care if he would attack this city. Moreover, He even hoped that he would kill Him, to succeed His position.

The soul of a deity, although it decays much more slowly, will also decay.

If there were to be a new Shen Mingsu Rin, it’d be even better for Her.

Su Ming’an suddenly looked up, "Do you want me to kill you, Su Rin?"

Su Rin spread his arms open, "Of course, in fact, I think—I need a ’generational upgrade.’"

Su Ming’an felt the terror emanating from Su Rin before him.

This guy... He’s no longer purely human.

He could actually say something like "generational upgrade".

It’s as if... he’s commodified himself into a machine-like existence, becoming an inanimate substance, like a seed for the continuation of his species.

"Kill me," Su Rin said sternly, "You will become me, and take over as the next Deity."

That was the last thing the Demon King said in last night’s instance.

After the Demon King said those words, the Brave was quickly hacked to death by the soldiers, turning into a pool of black corpse.

This was Su Rin’s final invitation to him.

...The invitation of an Observer.

"Ding Dong!"

The system didn’t tell him what would happen if he chose not to kill Su Rin.

Because the ending for not killing the Demon King was clearly displayed before Su Ming’an’s eyes last night.

...The Brave shattered into pieces of charcoal-like corpses.

Clearly, if Su Ming’an didn’t choose to kill Su Rin at this moment, what awaited him was death from exhaustion, death under the soldiers’ frenzied blades.

Su Ming’an wiped away the blood that was almost blinding him.

The Blood Bottle had a strong hematopoietic ability, and his body was nearly soaked with the blood he had shed.

In the live-streaming room, the comments had erupted into chaos:

The comments were relentlessly proposing ideas, with most people advising him to give up. After all, ’where there is life, there is hope.’

But Su Ming’an just kept advancing toward Su Rin, cutting down the soldiers that blocked his path.

Before him, the white glow representing faith rose from the ground.

They slowly converged within the resplendent cathedral, like a brilliant galaxy.

More than sixty years ago, Su Rin had been alone in this lonely place, incessantly orchestrating battles, creating conflicts, personally guiding one side to slay the people of the other, and watching the people he loved die under his direction.

The once spirited young captain had changed a lot, even coming to disregard his own life, actively proposing a "changing of the guard".

Looking at Su Rin, who opened his arms, waiting for Su Ming’an to slay him, Su Ming’an asked:

"...Have you never considered living for yourself, just once?"

Su Rin looked at him, his gaze extremely calm.

"I have been living for ’myself’," Su Rin said, "Living for this land is my ’own’ will."

"Is that so?" Su Ming’an said, "But in these years, your relatives died in the conflict between the two clans."

"...Mhm." Su Rin’s expression was serene, "I know."

"Your protégé, Karocha, passed away in the recent attack by the sea monsters upon the city." Su Ming’an said.

"I saw it."

"And the young Tulip Princess, who bid you farewell, died at the hands of the heir you shaped." Su Ming’an said.

"...Mhm."

"In the Eastern District, the barbecue shop you used to frequent, the favorite haunt of the Knight of Light, he sacrificed himself fighting off sea monsters." Su Ming’an said.

"The girl from another country, lured by non-existent legends and aged by soul experiments, sought to go home even in her final moments before death."

"The girl by the brook, Gerald has grown white-haired. Your heir, Kaya, took her happiness away with his own hands, leaving her to wait a lifetime."

"Her son sacrificed in conflict, her daughter suffered from a terminal illness, even her granddaughter narrowly escaped death in the battles of the Maritime Banquet."

"Su Rin." Su Ming’an said, "I acknowledge the righteousness of your actions, but the struggle need not continue endlessly."

"Now, the King of Sea Monsters has vanished completely. The threat of the sea monsters is no more, and the barrier is fully established... you...no longer need to remain here." Su Ming’an said, "As for the conflict between the Soul Clan and humans—it can be left to them to decide. Whether to survive, perish, or persist, these are the outcomes they’ve earned through their own struggle. They don’t need a hand to maintain the battlefield, mocking their courageous sacrifices of will and soul..."

He had now walked up to Su Rin.

But at this moment, the normally impassive Su Rin suddenly burst out with:

"You really are despicable... otherworldly traveler."

At these words, Su Ming’an paused in his actions.

"Don’t mind it, I’m complimenting you," Su Rin said.

"Despicable is not exactly a compliment where I come from," Su Ming’an said.

"I’m just purely curious...what prompted you to say these things? What do you see me as?" Su Rin said, "Sevya, Saya, Sherrod, Nailuo... or those other NPCs you’ve strategized against? As long as someone is useful to you, you can spout any lie easily and put on a facade of faith right?"

Su Ming’an: "..."

"You don’t really think that way, do you, Su Ming’an?" Su Rin said, "You say these things... to achieve some ’purpose’? So, you can even deceive your true will and faith... that’s scary. You’re even crazier than I am. I only deceived everyone except myself, but your ’deception’ has even included yourself."

Su Ming’an: "That’s an overinterpretation."

Su Rin was noncommittal.

"...But if that’s the case, then you are more terrifying than those zealots consumed by their flames of self-immolation, even more so than I, as an evildoer..." Su Rin said, "The emotion in your speech atop that wall, I’ve seen it, driven not only by pure rationality but likely also containing elements akin to self-hypnosis, right?

If the zealots fight for their immutable, singular belief, and you... are capable of shifting your faith to suit varying objectives, transforming into different fanatics at will... What’s more frightening is that your emotions can easily infect others. No matter what ideas you might hold at the time, no matter what ideology you might advocate. If I can shape one unique ’Cloud City God,’ you’re like... someone who could craft many different deities...

I think, after observing these past few days, my interpretation so far hasn’t been wrong... You truly are the most terrifying person I’ve ever met."