novelraw Chapter 759: [Nothingness]
Chapter 759: [Nothingness]
"The power within the Barrier is insufficient to effortlessly crush the Dream Illusion. The sole method capable of making Her reveal a flaw is for Fisher to use the property inside his own body as a bargaining chip, forcing the Dream Illusion to take a risk in desperation... As long as he does this, he will definitely fall into danger."
What made one bewildered was that, despite similarly utilizing a human face, if other people's expressions were a mirror reflecting their souls, then Helaire's face was an airtight wall, preventing anyone from seeing through it no matter what.
But Renee had to consider the authenticity of her words, because she clearly knew Fisher was indeed a person who would act in such a way.
She lost herself in thought for a moment, then quickly focused her gaze on Helaire anew,
"Just what exactly do You want to do, Ocean..."
Helaire's smile carried a bit of interest, "Oh?"
"If sending Your Authority inside the Barrier was for the sake of mending it, then why did You shatter the Barrier back then... If You are destined to destroy this world and snatch away the property within Fisher's body, then what is the meaning of doing all this... Could it be that to You, all this is merely a game, an amusement to dispel boredom?"
Helaire's gaze lowered slightly. Immediately after, she unhurriedly extended her hand, placing it before Renee's eyes, also blocking her line of sight from continuing to pry into her face.
Amidst the profound gloom, Helaire's face seemingly merged with that darkness. Only from between those spread fingers were revealed those blue-gold eyes that appeared exceptionally bright within the gloom...
Subsequently, Renee heard Helaire say,"Even the soul acting in the most unrestrained and wildly imaginative manner, even a meaningless universe, complies with the most fundamental logic, thus attracting countless civilizations and deities to explore its mysteries..."
"Then what about You?"
"..." Helaire smiled faintly, neither answering nor refusing this question, merely withdrawing her palm and telling Renee, "This avatar won't be able to last much longer. I will let you out now. Go help Fisher; stop him, if you don't want the Dream Illusion to succeed..."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Following the fall of Helaire's words, the surrounding gloom gradually dispersed, allowing the moonlight on Renee's body to become increasingly bright.
While the Spirit World outside was layered with scarlet. Renee took a deep breath, standing up to look outside.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"
Entering her vision was that massive False God bearing Asuka's face, compassionate and kind yet appearing exceptionally ferocious,
Dream Illusion.
Going back in time a little bit, Fisher, who was currently pinched in the Dream Illusion's hand, narrowed his eyes, continuously looking at the Dream Illusion's body.
He wasn't curious about the Dream Illusion, but rather constantly searching, searching for Jasmine's location within Her body.
At this moment, the Dream Illusion's main body had not completely entered the Barrier yet. Although the Dream Illusion's False God body before him had the transmission of Her main body's power, the most crucial aspect still lay in that Jasmine served as the foundation of the False God.
The contamination within the Barrier originated from Jasmine's dream. The fact that the False God still maintained Asuka's face at this moment could also demonstrate this point.
He raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the deities suppressed by the Dream Illusion below, while the Dream Illusion before him had already begun engaging in battle with the Ocean's avatar of darkness.
"Rumble!!"
That boundless darkness twisted upon colliding with the Dream Illusion's False God avatar. Immediately after, flowers resembling roses burst forth one after another. This was the manifestation of contamination erosion actualizing the Dream Illusion into reality.
But the Ocean's power wasn't to be trifled with either. He saw Her entire body begin to be harassed by that darkness. Unexpectedly, Magic Circuits also began appearing on the Bodhisattva's head.
That was the hallmark of a soul.
Deities naturally possessed souls as well, but the False God was merely a vessel hosting the Dream Illusion's consciousness and didn't possess the Dream Illusion's soul. The sole existence within the False God's body possessing a soul was Jasmine.
Jasmine's physical body was inside the False God's head!
The moment the Ocean's avatar collided with it unexpectedly allowed Fisher to intimately discover Jasmine's exact location by a freak combination of factors.
But the Dream Illusion was the Dream Illusion after all. With the augmentation of Her main body's power right now, She unexpectedly effortlessly suppressed the Ocean's avatar, shattering its gloomy exterior to pieces, making it become tottering on the brink of collapse like a candle in the wind.
"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"
"Dream Illusion!"
Yet in the next moment, from out of the boundless gloom of the weakened Ocean's avatar, a bright moonlight quickly shot forth.
Obvious astonishment appeared on the face of the Dream Illusion who was still tangled in combat with the Ocean's avatar. Immediately after, a massive, moon-like sphere suddenly occupied Her field of vision.
The power of the Infinity Authority volatilized to its ultimate limit. That illusory moonlight also seemingly grew exceptionally heavy under infinite superimposition, covering the Dream Illusion's face like destroying the heavens and exterminating the earth. This caused even more fissures to appear on the surface of Her False God body, while simultaneously, the power suppressing the deities below also grew slightly weaker, causing Their struggles to grow increasingly intense.
A hint of anger appeared on the Dream Illusion's face. Her peripheral vision looked toward Fisher, telling him,
"Our deal certainly didn't include having to deal with the Infinity Authority... You share a deep relationship with her, what is the meaning of this?"
Fisher glanced at the moon silhouette standing together with the Ocean's avatar in mid-air, seemingly seeing Renee's gaze from within that water-like moonlight. That gaze seemed to be a question, making Fisher quickly withdraw his gaze.
After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth to say,
"I separated from Renee upon exiting the dreamscape. The Ocean must have said something to her..."
"Hmph... it matters not. Even adding her, I am capable of dealing with it."
The Dream Illusion spoke no further, but terrifying Authority fluctuations transmitted from the Dream Illusion's main body at the Barrier. Layers upon layers of Authority power from the Dream Illusion's main body began transferring over along Her body entering the Barrier. Looking closely, the number of Authorities actually exceeded ten.
The Dream Illusion possesses so many Authorities...
No wonder, even if all the deities inside the Barrier combined were no match for Her.
But seeing the light of the Authorities suddenly lighting up before the Ultimate, a hint of a smile appeared on Fisher's face.
Since there are so many Authorities, then it should be enough...
Within his mind rotated the scene he felt when touching the Barrier before entering the dreamscape at that time.
He saw an incomparably massive, colossal golden vortex stretching across an unknown corner of the universe. Overlapping bubbles converged into tentacles full of suckers, and from the center of that vortex descended Azanroth's voice akin to a booming bell,
"Mending the Barrier... requires the Authorities of deities."
"Hamon Hamon has already sent Its Authority inside the Barrier, can we use His?"
"Not enough."
"Then, adding the other..."
"Using the Authorities of all deities inside your Barrier is barely enough, including the Authority of Infinity... But remember, you absolutely must eliminate all powers of other foreign deities inside the Barrier, otherwise on a certain day in the future, the Barrier will still hold the possibility of being shattered."
"...After the Authorities are taken away, what will happen to the deities?"
"Deities who lose all Their Authorities will die."
"...I understand."
"When everything is ready, you can once again utilize the property within your body to connect with My Blessing and contact Me. I will descend power, urging the Barrier to absorb the power of the Authorities to complete the restoration."
"..."
From that time on, Fisher knew the method to mend the Barrier, and precisely because the conditions were like so, he hadn't stated the conditions back then.
He didn't doubt the deities' spirit of sacrifice, but he cared about Renee.
Mending the Barrier required Renee's life. If possible, he even hoped to use the property and his own life within his body to substitute it, yet what he received was still Azanroth's uncertain reply.
It didn't know what the precious property within Fisher's body represented, just as its status as the Ocean's Treasure remained an ultimate mystery unheard of by the entire universe.
But Azanroth knew that precisely because of its special connection to the Ocean and its uniqueness, it was highly likely to have an adverse effect.
So Fisher could only place his sights on other existences capable of rivaling True Gods, hoping to find a substitute.
The contamination of the Spirit World... the Ocean's avatar rivaling a True God...
But it seemed They all didn't possess Authorities, but rather manifestations of a higher tier outside the Barrier...
Except, the Dream Illusion who was currently doing Her utmost to enter the Barrier could achieve this.
Fisher looked at the distant Dream Illusion carrying Authorities entering the Barrier. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he turned to look downward. After seeing Xuan Can and Gou Wen, as well as Eimhart standing on his shoulder, he finally withdrew his gaze with peace of mind. He looked at the Dream Illusion, soundlessly and tracelessly reaching out his hand to grip the Fluid Sword in his palm.
This is a gamble; he knew this clearer than anyone else in his heart.
It looked like the Ocean had already plunged deeply into the storm right now, simultaneously becoming enemies with the Ocean's avatar, the deities, as well as Renee. Moreover, Her main body full of Authorities also happened to be stuck in the Barrier. Fisher only needed to call upon Azanroth to mend the Barrier and absorb the power of Her main body to decide victory or defeat.
Next, as long as all avatars of the Ocean were eliminated before the Barrier's restoration, the World-Ending Prophecy could be seamlessly resolved.
It could be said that this was the closest time Fisher was to everything ending, but it was also the most, most perilous moment.
And precisely because mending the Barrier required time, the Dream Illusion wouldn't die instantly, and inside Her palm She still gripped two cards incredibly important to Fisher.
Fisher in Her palm, as well as Jasmine's life in Her head.
Furthermore, there was also a crucial problem lying in that currently only three of the Ocean's four avatars had revealed themselves. There was one in Reality, Helaire before him and that profound darkness made two, while the final one had consistently never revealed itself.
If it were like this, even if the Barrier was mended, one day the Ocean would still repeat the same trick, destroying the Barrier from the inside. When the time came, would they really have to undergo the World-Ending Prophecy yet again?
But matters having reached this point, it had already arrived at the stage where one had to take a final desperate risk.
Fisher took a deep breath, glancing toward Renee's direction. Renee seemingly also had a premonition of something, transforming into her humanoid avatar form from the moonlight, rushing over here with an anxious face.
And at this moment, it coincidentally happened to be the time Fisher opened his mouth to call upon Azanroth.
"Azanroth!"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
As Fisher sorted everything out in his mind, and everything was fully prepared as well, his sudden opening of his mouth resounded like a booming bell, instantly interrupting the Dream Illusion, Renee's main body, and the Ocean's avatar tangled in combat within the Spirit World.
And following an anomalous fluctuation, the entirety of the exterior of the Spirit World, that Barrier wrapping the entire world, all began to become bright.
The Barrier that had consistently hidden its form finally dispelled its state of Secrecy under Fisher's call, displaying the most brilliant light from when this world was first born.
That was, an impenetrable fortress forged from overlapping, rotating golden bubbles one after another. This Barrier that seemingly isolated all communication in the world not only became exceptionally brilliant and bright inside the world, it was equally so outside the Barrier.
Ramastia and the other deities dazedly raised Their heads, looking at the sky full of golden light. It was as if They saw the appearance of this world from when it was first born; everything carrying Their ideals had now become riddled with holes.
Outside the silent universe, between galaxies, a halo brighter than a star violently manifested in the void, acting like an alarm clock attracting various existences stretched across light-years in the darkness, in the stars, and outside civilizations.
Within the galaxy where the Barrier had hidden for tens of thousands of years, other powerful consciousnesses very quickly noticed the earth-shattering changes occurring here. They were tentatively sizing up toward here, and the bolder ones even directly headed straight for this side.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
The hiding Utopia was declaring to the outside world: I am right here.
But regarding the incomparably chaotic situation inside the Barrier, the largest change was still felt by the Dream Illusion in the center of the battlefield.
Her expression changed slightly, hurriedly looking toward the terrifying suction force transmitting from the gap of the Barrier shimmering with golden light.
Her entire body couldn't suppress its trembling. Even that compassionate and kind face began turning ferocious. She glared angrily at Fisher in Her hand, asking him,
"The Barrier, my Authorities... no, what did you do?!"
She exerted Her utmost to manipulate Her main body to break free from the suction force generated by the Barrier, resisting Herself being reduced to nourishment for mending the Barrier. And the entirety of the Ultimate also generated violent fluctuations as a result. A clear result under the confrontation between the two sides still required time, and the moment when this brief period ended would be the moment announcing the outcome of Fisher's gamble.
Then, let the gamble begin, before revealing the cards.
Fisher gritted his teeth, activating the Fluid Sword in his hand to its absolute limit, instantly erupting sharp blades resembling tree branches toward all directions, directly slicing the False God's arm open.
He was instantly able to extricate himself, while Renee, who was rapidly rushing over here in mid-air, also seized the opportunity to pull him away from his original spot in one swoop, heading toward mid-air.
But the Dream Illusion was the Dream Illusion after all. She very quickly realized everything happening inside the Barrier, and She also very quickly made a decision.
He saw Her wave Her five fingers, and that main body stuck within the Ultimate quickly began shriveling at a visible speed. In its place, the scarlet mist around the False God became increasingly thick.
She actually intended to directly extract the Authorities from within Her own body and then implant them into the False God's body. Doing this would let Her break away from the Barrier's process of extracting Authorities.
This method of slipping out of a predicament like a cicada shedding its carapace left Fisher staring dumbfounded. Crucially, this process had just begun, and the face identical to Asuka's on Her countenance began melting, starting to transition toward the Dream Illusion's main body...
This wasn't merely the process of transforming from a [False God] into a [True God]. If the Dream Illusion moved the power of the Authorities into this body, putting aside whether all previous efforts would be wasted, the crux lay with Jasmine...
Jasmine, who maintained the False God form within Her head, would probably be directly swallowed by Her!
And that traitor Ouyun standing beside the Ultimate also very quickly reacted. Turning His head around, He no longer stubbornly continued opening the path for the Dream Illusion. Instead, He hoisted that massive hammer capable of striking stars and charged fiercely over here, joining the battlefield head-on.
"Renee, let me go back. Right now I only need to rescue Jasmine hidden inside the Dream Illusion's head, and Her False God body will be unable to maintain itself! We cannot give Her any more time!"
"She has already lost control of Ramastia and the others. With Them participating in the battle, joining forces, we can also defeat Her before She merges Authorities head-on..."
Fisher remained silent for a moment. Turning his head back to look straight at Renee, he straightforwardly said,
"...Jasmine is still inside, I must rescue her out. Moreover, once all focus is placed on defeating the Dream Illusion head-on, what about the Ocean? We must have the three deities turn back to help handle the Ocean's avatar, as well as Ouyun..."
Renee also returned her gaze to look at him. She breathed out a breath of air, opening her mouth to say,
"I cannot, nor do I want to let you take a risk. What the Ocean said was true. She had long known you would take a final desperate risk for our sakes, which is why She abandoned Her confrontation with me, letting me out to stop you..."
Renee refused to let go, while the deities Ramastia, Anabatos, and Dalasgon below who had consistently been suppressed finally abruptly stood up. Bursting forth with Their complete power, They aimed it at the imminently arriving Ouyun as well as the Dream Illusion situated at the center of the storm.
Hearing Renee mention Helaire just as he was about to move, Fisher couldn't help but smile helplessly, saying softly,
"...The words she says have always been false. She is merely trapped by the Dream Illusion with no way out, needing us to go help her balance the Dream Illusion, that's all. Taking a step back, after the Dream Illusion is defeated, the only one we have to deal with is her... As long as all her avatars vanish, and the Barrier is mended, everything, everything will end... You will all survive, and everything will return to normal. Merely thinking of that day, I believe it's worth it to make this bet."
These words were spoken abnormally, because Fisher unexpectedly exhibited a rare hesitation when saying Helaire lied.
But he also discerned other meanings beyond Renee's words...
Helaire also didn't wish for him to go, which was why she let Renee out?
If an accident happened to himself, would the property within his body be affected?
"No, if it really comes down to it, we can try to rescue Jasmine out from Her head together."
Renee still refused Fisher's risk-taking. Hearing this, Fisher also quietly changed his tune,
"...Okay, we'll do it together." Fisher gave a helpless smile. Immediately after, his complexion grew serious anew. Looking at the increasingly ferocious Dream Illusion clutching Her head below, he told Renee, "Jasmine is inside Her head. Let's try to see if we can break open Her head and bring Jasmine straight out."
"Mn."
Renee nodded. Her avatar and main body propelled simultaneously, concurrently also transmitting a message to the deities below. Ramastia looked at Ouyun arriving from afar, subsequently turning His head back to tell Dalasgon and Anabatos,
"Anabatos and I will go handle the Ocean's avatar and Ouyun. Dalasgon, you have yet to recover from heavy injuries, go help Fisher and Renee handle the Dream Illusion."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Anabatos also knew the severity of the situation. Turning into a golden light, while seemingly communicating with all space within the Barrier simultaneously, He crushed toward the sprinting Ouyun coming this way.
While Dalasgon turned His head to glance at the Barrier's direction, telling Ramastia,
"Outside the Barrier, other deities have arrived."
"They have discovered us."
"...Then make the best use of our time."
One could see that outside the Barrier, twisted shadows one after another manifested from the void of the universe. Bright stars were covered by threatening, aggressively posturing shadows. The terrifying existence covered in eye pupils also curiously looked toward the tottering Barrier suspended in the universe.
And it wasn't just this unknown deity. Behind It, within the quiet universe, numerous observing lines of sight concurrently cast their gaze over. Every single deity's gaze appeared exceptionally terrifying.
The unknown was both candy and poison to a deity.
They merely instinctively realized that this powerful golden Barrier might harbor precious items capable of altering everything. Thus, it drove the immensely powerful Them amidst the universe to become restless, itching to take action.
And there would always be a deity to act as that initial existence attempting to destroy the Barrier to enter it.
"Boom!!"
In the next second, the entire Barrier began vibrating. Ramastia looked outside the Barrier, spotting that several powerful deities had already appeared outside that Barrier and begun making a move, attempting to open the Barrier.
The joint forces of the deities caused the as-yet unmended Barrier to become increasingly fragile, leaving Ramastia's heart exceptionally anxious as if burning with fire,
"Damnit!"
Yet blocking Him before Him was Ouyun who had been reduced to a traitor!
"Roar!!"
Roaring, Ouyun hoisted the massive star hammer, smashing it toward the space ahead. Faster than words could paint, the countless faces on Ramastia's body also instantly expanded, covering over the shockwave formed by Ouyun's powerful strength like a tide, while simultaneously restricting the nearly shattered Ocean's avatar's intention of leaving.
Meanwhile, fisher also focused his entire attention on looking at the Dream Illusion clutching Her head in extreme agony below. She seemed to have already known that Fisher and the others' goal was the Jasmine inside Her head. As long as Jasmine was extracted, Her False God body could no longer persist either. Therefore, She straightforwardly wrapped Her own head up, allowing Renee and Dalasgon to attack however they pleased without relaxing Her defenses.
"Scram!!"
Sensing the approach of Renee's power, the Dream Illusion's entire body trembled. No longer able to restrain Herself, She tilted Her head back and roared.
The Dream Illusion's eye pupils contracted, and the face bearing Asuka's visage melted like wax. A pair of scarlet eye pupils also began splitting apart unprovoked. After all, the Barrier had yet to strip away all the properties within Her body, and Her power was ultimately second to none in might. Facing pincers attacks from both sides at this moment, she unexpectedly could not break through Her defensive line no matter what.
"Renee, if this stalemate continues..."
"No! You stay by my side! Very soon, just a little more and we can..."
No matter what Renee said, she refused to let Fisher leave. But as the False God's body twisted bit by bit, departing from Asuka's form, Fisher knew that if this continued, Jasmine would be in trouble.
He had to make a move.
"Fisher!"
Just as Renee's avatar was still attempting to open a gap, Fisher wordlessly carried the Fluid Sword and let go of Renee's hand. Amidst Renee's slightly astounded gaze, he charged straight downward toward the Dream Illusion's head.
"Dream Illusion, didn't You want the property inside my body? Come on!"
The Dream Illusion's defending motion paused slightly. She raised Her head, looking at the Fisher carrying the Fluid Sword with slight astonishment, subsequently smiling and saying,
"Alright... I originally wanted to wait for the proper time before activating this trump card. Since you are so impatient, doing it now is fine too..."
Hearing this, Fisher's complexion changed. He lowered his head to look at his own body, only to discover that beneath his clothing, twisted scarlet lines resembling earthworms had long hidden beneath his skin like a deep-seated and hard-to-remove evil, having already corroded into his heart.
"Hiss!"
Simultaneously, the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook on his chest also grew scalding like the sun, stinging Fisher to the point of drawing a sharp breath of cold air.
Her holding onto him earlier was constantly probing whether he possessed the capability to prevent Her from taking the property?
So She agreed to his deal to stall for time...
And looking at it now, She already knew Fisher was actually similarly completely ignorant about the property within his own body, otherwise he wouldn't have lacked any reaction despite Her lingering probing near that property for so long.
The Dream Illusion's movements weren't the slightest bit slow. She finally temporarily abandoned Her defense. Conversely, focusing wholeheartedly, She looked at the approaching Fisher while simultaneously driving those red tentacles hidden within Fisher's body. Wrapping around the power of his soul, they coiled toward that property.
Just as Helaire deduced, solely the property within Fisher's body could make the Dream Illusion take a final desperate risk.
Right now, deities of the outside universe glared like a tiger, while inside the Barrier, the Ocean and the Creation Deities had erupted into a chaotic melee. She had also been besieged unsuccessfully and trapped in a crisis. Continuing to hold out might earn Her a sliver of hope for survival...
But as long as She grabbed that precious property within Fisher's body, She had a premonition that She could absolutely transcend everything, instantly breaking away from Her current predicament.
Then, should She choose to consolidate Her chips, seek victory in stability, and await that faint sliver of hope for survival; or take a final desperate risk right now, grab that property, and directly turn defeat into victory?
Alright, alright, alright...
Since we are all gamblers, then let's go all-in together, and wait for the cards to be revealed!
Gazing at Fisher's eyes, the Dream Illusion thought like so.
As the property within Fisher's body was pried, fissures akin to shattered porcelain also began appearing on Fisher's body. And from within those fissures, threads of extremely bright light also permeated outward, seemingly displaying a certain precious existence like so.
I see it...
That bright property...
"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"
"Fisher?!"
Amidst Renee's alarmed cries from behind, Fisher calmly took a deep breath. He raised the Fluid Sword once more, aiming it at the Dream Illusion's head while simultaneously shouting to Renee,
"Renee, give me a little time, stall Her!!"
Renee gritted her teeth. But matters having arrived at this point, she could only act according to his words.
She took a deep breath. The moonlight bursting forth from her main body firmly entangled the Dream Illusion's ferociously smiling body, while her avatar enveloped him in moonlight, bringing Fisher to charge straight toward Her face.
The Dream Illusion burst into laughter and opened Her mouth. Her tongue abruptly exploded, transforming into countless strings of scarlet mist that pierced straight toward Fisher.
"Swoosh!"
Fisher forcefully shoved away the pursuing Renee behind him. Raising the Fluid Sword himself, he directly met the Dream Illusion's massive face below.
But this wasn't reckless behavior, rather, his peripheral vision had already caught that long-dormant figure,
"Gou Wen!!"
The Dream Illusion froze slightly. And behind Her head, Xuan Can, supported by Gou Wen, also tremblingly raised her hand. The light of Laws behind her also grew exceptionally bright,
"Return my daughter to me!"
"Pfft!"
The scarlet mist heading straight for Fisher was directly severed by Xuan Can's medium. Though given Xuan Can's Rank she could basically only temporarily create a vacuum of one second. Once one second passed, following the Dream Illusion's sudden exertion of force, Xuan Can also spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed into Gou Wen's embrace.
But this one second of time was already entirely sufficient, because Fisher had already hoisted the Fluid Sword and slaughtered his way to the front of the Dream Illusion's head.
He fiercely raised the Fluid Sword in his hand, slicing down toward Her head.
"Boom!!"
The blade of the Fluid Sword extended, and the power of all the Ranks Fisher activated directly shattered the False God's exterior, releasing a red mist.
And amidst that thick mist, the dragged, head-lowered figure of Jasmine was faintly discernible.
Fisher gritted his teeth, shifting the edge of his Fluid Sword into a rope, forcefully hooking Jasmine's body in one swoop. He completely didn't notice that his physical form had already been completely eroded by the Dream Illusion's scarlet power.
However, within the Dream Illusion's eyes was solely the light radiating lethal temptation from within Fisher's body.
"I see it... that... that property, I see it!! Give it to me!! Give it to me!!"
Just as Fisher forcefully hooked Jasmine's body in one swoop and pulled it out, causing the entirety of the False God's properties to totter on the brink of collapse, that countless scarlet mist had already pierced his physical form to release the property. Passing by the golden-shimmering Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook, They caught a glimpse of a certain existence shining with a brilliance far brighter than a star.
Merely at the instant of seeing that light, the Dream Illusion perceived an excitement She had never experienced before surging from Her inner heart.
As long as She could obtain that property...
As long as She could obtain that property...
The Dream Illusion's countless scarlet mist violently bypassed the Fluid Sword blade Fisher used to drag Jasmine. Conversely acting as if She'd gone mad, spreading Her own soul, They surged into Fisher's body, prying open his broken chest to widen the passageway formed by his dilapidated body wide enough—wide enough to release that precious property to depart.
"...Renee, once again... help..."
Fisher initially wanted to call out to Renee, because at this moment Jasmine had already been rescued. As long as Renee helped keep watch over his leaking property, preventing the Dream Illusion from grabbing it and generating variables, then everything's overall situation would be set.
But it wasn't until this moment that he realized he couldn't even manage to say a complete sentence.
This is... this is bad...
Everything before Fisher's eyes began growing dark, as if his consciousness was about to fly away.
He could only pray that his property manifesting didn't help the Dream Illusion who had currently already reached the end of her rope.
Even though Jasmine departed Her body, and the False God body of the Dream Illusion before him also began shattering and fragmenting, solely Her actions of frantically aiming to grab the property within his body persisted.
Ah...
Jasmine had been rescued, and Renee was still perfectly unharmed. The Dream Illusion's False God body could not be maintained. They merely needed to wait for the Barrier to suck away Her Authorities, after which the restoration would be complete...
Right now, the three deities inside the Barrier plus Renee should be sufficient to clean up Ouyun and those two avatars of the Ocean...
Wait, the Ocean still has another avatar. That avatar is...
Where?
I can't find it. What remains is...
Fisher narrowed his eyes, his vision turning increasingly black. He merely felt a streak of extreme agony transmitting from his chest. Yet he still death-gripped the unconscious Jasmine. Following that, he used his final bit of strength to toss Jasmine toward Xuan Can and Gou Wen's direction.
The entire world seemed to turn quiet. Solely that shattered chest of his, as well as the increasingly bright property inside that chest serving seemingly as this world's sole luminescence, grew noticeably distinct.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
The Dream Illusion's frenzied consciousness—as an equally ruthless gambler, She staked everything, to the point where even Her False God body, the sole vessel hosting Her consciousness, had already begun dissipating. But prior to that, She still took a final desperate risk, entrusting all hopes onto that property on the verge of blooming forth from within Fisher's body.
She had a premonition that as long as this property appeared, it could alter everything.
She truly had a premonition...
"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Along with the shattering and fragmenting of Fisher's chest, the light permeating from within instantly radiated across the entire Spirit World. It became exceptionally bright, as if everywhere was bathed under the illumination of sunlight.
Consequently, it also attracted the gazes of all presences on scene. Not merely the Dream Illusion close at hand, but even the extremely anxious Renee behind him, the Creation Deities and Xuan Can and Gou Wen couple hurriedly turning Their heads from afar...
All living beings in Reality saw it. The vault of heaven was shrouded by a light brighter than countless suns.
Even the exceptionally curious Outer Gods outside the Barrier who wished to enter felt that extremely bright light...
That is...
Light.
The consciousnesses of all presences paused. Only within that shattered and fragmented Ocean avatar, the blonde Helaire's face gradually grew grim looking at this light...
Because only She knew that everything corresponding to this extremely bright light, to this ultimate mystery of the universe, was actually long clarified by this property's name...
She looked outside that Barrier, seemingly seeing the countless deities gathered outside that Barrier wanting to size up and pry inside, murmuring softly,
"Did you all see it... the light of [Nothingness]. Once seen, you must prepare to be thoroughly swallowed by it."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!!"
All presences believed it was a light bright enough to illuminate all unknowns. Yet only Helaire knew that it was the Authority of [Nothingness]. Once lacking the wrapping of a soul...
It would devour everything.
"Hahaha... I see it, I..."
The Dream Illusion's frenzied voice transmitted from the void, yet suddenly came to an abrupt end. Because in the next second, that certain matter bursting forth from within Fisher's body—an extremely narrow, unobservable sliver, seemingly non-existent yet bursting with the world's most dazzling brilliance—thoroughly swallowed Her up in an instant.
The instant that property departed Fisher's body, it began spreading toward all directions at a certain extremely slow speed. Everything it touched was erased instantly, as if they had never existed to begin with.
Xuan Can and Gou Wen couple had just barely caught Jasmine when they saw the massive light before them. Before they even realized what had happened, they saw the Dream Illusion's incomparably massive body vanish without a trace in an instant.
A feeling of extreme danger welled up in their hearts. Before the Xuan Can beside him could react, a cold-sweating Gou Wen hugged Xuan Can, while Xuan Can grabbed Jasmine, fleeing backward,
"Hurry and leave!! The moon, something is wrong!!"
"But..." Renee froze slightly, frightened utterly motionless by the sudden variable. But she knew Fisher was still inside. She could only shout loudly, "Fisher!!!"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
That dazzlingly matchless light dispersed. Everything it touched was completely eradicated, not leaving a single trace of motion behind.
Together with Fisher beside that property...
Fisher solely felt his consciousness sink into a patch of empty void, identical to totally sinking into madness and unconsciousness.
Wishing to think of nothing, having nothing exist; it just had to be like so...
Fisher's physical body broke bit by bit. Before that bursting Authority of Nothingness, his clothes and his body completely shattered and fragmented. The sole anomalies were his soul, which was on the verge of being corroded entirely by the Dream Illusion's power, as well as the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook laying over his soul, which still existed.
The light of that property constantly diffused. The fluctuations it emitted extended toward all directions at a visible speed. Everything it touched instantly vanished on the spot, seemingly never having existed.
Everything, everything, was on the verge of annihilating beneath the illumination of that precious property.
The Barrier was a cage right now, awaiting that Authority to erase everything entering its sight entirely.
Even the sound of Renee shouting loudly couldn't propagate, because all mediums had already vanished...
At this moment, only that Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook resting over Fisher's chest, which was likewise destined to thoroughly vanish, suddenly began growing bright. It abruptly began flipping its pages as if moved by an invisible wind, pressing tightly onto Fisher's still-existing soul.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
The sound of that book flipping pages was akin to an alarm clock, causing Fisher's increasingly heavy consciousness to abruptly become somewhat clear.
His dizzy and drowsy head seemingly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, yet he couldn't resist opening his eyes. Entering his vision was a dim ceiling, adorned with dotted fluorescent lights.
I...
Where am I?
However... so sleepy...
Groggily, Fisher felt himself sitting on an extremely soft chair, his arms placed on the armrests beside the table. A chilling wind blew from above, causing his consciousness to grow somewhat clearer.
"Give me a chance..."
"How am I to give you a chance?"
"I didn't have a choice in the past, but now I want to be a good person..."
Beside his ears, an unfamiliar language transmitted, making Fisher's consciousness feel as if it were soaked in cold water.
He slowly opened his eyes, only to find that ahead of his seat, within a massive screen, an image of two people conversing was currently being projected.
"Alright, go tell it to the judge, let's see if he'll let you be a good person."
"..."
Fisher rubbed his eyes, confirming once more that he hadn't seen wrong. After that, he sat up slightly straighter, looking at his hands with a face full of confusion.
"You're awake?"
Right at this exactly moment, an unfamiliar, familiar, warm, casual female voice suddenly transmitted from beside him.
Fisher froze slightly, turning his head to look.
He thus saw, beside the soft seat he sat in, before that bright large screen, within a blur of darkness, a woman in long robes with a head of long, scattered black hair cascading down was casually sitting there.
She held a popcorn bucket in her hand, emitting the cloying smell of caramel from within. And this woman merely raised her eyes to look at the large screen broadcasting the image before her, unlooking at Fisher, while simultaneously reaching her hand to dredge up a large kernel of popcorn from the popcorn bucket in her embrace, tossing it into her mouth.
Also precisely due to this movement, in his daze Fisher saw that on the arm she reached out to dredge up popcorn, there was an atrocious scar, resembling a crab bearing its fangs and brandishing its claws.
"..."
Although this was only their first time meeting, Fisher felt as if he had known her and heard of her matters from an extremely long time ago.
Looking at the woman beside him whose face was indistinct amidst the scattered long black hair, Fisher didn't answer her, instead replying with a question,
"I... where am I?"
The woman beside him chewed the popcorn in her mouth. Hearing his words, she smiled faintly, saying,
"Isn't it obvious? We are in a cinema."
"Cinema?"
"...Yeah."
"..."
"Speaking of which, this should be our first time meeting. Let's still introduce ourselves..."
"Ah, I know you, you are..."
The woman beside him gave a faint smile. Abruptly turning her head around, she interrupted his speech.
A pair of bright eyes hidden beneath those scattered strands of hair appeared to possess piercing intensity. Meanwhile, as if possessing prophetic foresight, she said,
"First off."
"Don't call me Demi-Human Girl Con."
(End of Chapter)