Samsara Paradise: Dream Weaver of Connections.

She gently clenched her fist, then relaxed it, as if getting used to the feeling of this body.

As the "color" descended, the entire "base" of Kivotos began to groan under the strain.

It is not the collapse of the physical structure, but the underlying rules that maintain the operation of this world are being forcibly corrupted and distorted by a higher-level being.

The blood-red sky grew thicker, and the shadow cast by the inverted black tower seemed to have gained weight, pressing down on the hearts of every living being.

Color took a deep, soothing breath.

Deep within those golden pupils, countless swirling patches of color suddenly shone brightly, like a galaxy ignited.

A look of fascination appeared on her face, as if a long-awaited rain had fallen after a drought, or as if a starving person had seen a delicacy.

In terms of "color," Kivotos at this moment is like an unguarded warehouse overflowing with delicacies.

The air was filled with countless "soul fragments" emitting an incomparably sweet fragrance—the halos above the students' heads were all "fruits" waiting for her to enjoy.

However, just as she was immersed in this boundless "deliciousness," a smell that instinctively made her nauseous, like a poisonous bubble rising from rotten mud, barged into her senses.

It felt like stepping into a top-notch pastry shop, indulging in the rich aroma of cream and frosting, only to suddenly be hit by the pungent stench of chemical reagents and biological decay emanating from the neighboring garbage disposal plant.

The intoxicated expression on Color's face froze instantly, then turned gloomy, and a cold, violent glint flashed in her golden eyes.

She lowered her head, her gaze like the most sophisticated scanner, searching for the source of the disgusting smell.

Her gaze swept over the terrified or wary crowd in the church, past the students whose auras were as conspicuous as bright candlelight in her perception, and finally, without any suspense, settled on Lin Yi.

Too conspicuous.

In this consciousness landscape faintly illuminated by fragments of "divinity," Lin Yi's location was a pure "void," a "nothingness."

He has no aura and does not exude any aura belonging to the Kiwatos system.

However, the unpleasant odor that disgusted the color was precisely seeping out from this "hole".

Their gaze fell on the dark red old hood on Lin Yi's head.

The moment she saw the hood, the golden light in her eyes narrowed sharply, and her disgust almost materialized, causing her delicate brows to furrow tightly, revealing an expression that was a mixture of revulsion and extreme displeasure.

There were no words, no warning.

Color merely raised a pale hand, its slender index finger like a scepter of judgment, pointing it at Lin Yi.

The instant that finger touched him, all of Lin Yi's sensory organs emitted a tearing scream!
Danger! Death! Annihilation!

In the nick of time, the speed of thought is even faster than the light of death.

Abyssal Shield.

As Lin Yi silently recited the command, an extremely thin, pitch-black film instantly appeared on the surface of his body.

The moment this membrane appeared, Lin Yi's "connection" with the surrounding Kivotos world became blurred.

He still stood there, but seemed to be enveloped by an absolute "barrier," temporarily placed in the "crack" or "back" of the world's rules.

The invisible "negation" power of color descends from the fingertips, touching this black film.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no clash of energy in the flames.

There was only a very faint "pop" sound, like a bubble bursting.

The "erasing" effect applied by color is like hitting an absolutely smooth mirror surface, being subtly deflected and dispersed, and ultimately disappearing into nothingness.

The black membrane surrounding Lin Yi fluctuated violently, its color seemingly fading slightly, but it ultimately did not break.

Lin Yi's heart pounded violently in his chest like a drum, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He let out a long breath without making a sound, and that breath was particularly clear in the deathly silent church.

He raised his hand and gently straightened the dark red hood on his head, which had tilted slightly due to the subtle disturbance in the rules.

"My business is done," Lin Yi said, his tone as calm as if he were stating a routine task that had long been completed. "The rest is your turn."

For the first time, a clear look of confusion appeared on Color's face.

She tilted her head slightly, her golden pupils fixed on Lin Yi and the seemingly ordinary old hood on his head.

A mere sixth rank.

In her vast perception and memory, a life form of this level, even in this strange world with its extremely strong suppressive power, should be as insignificant as dust, vanishing into nothingness with a single thought from her.

Why could that thin black membrane, which exuded an aura of disgust from the abyss, block her "targeted erasure"?
Before she could think things through, or even launch a second attack, she was caught off guard.

A change occurred.

The dark red hood that Lin Yi straightened suddenly emitted a dazzling but not warm light from the silver patterns on the inside, which had previously only shone slightly.

Immediately afterwards, two "eyes" suddenly opened on the front of the hood, where the fabric folds and shadows should have been.

Those are not the eyes of a living being.

At the center of the vortex, tiny, dark red runes appeared and disappeared intermittently.

The moment these "eyes" open and "look" at the colors—

"Roar--!!!"

A shriek, a mixture of extreme fear and despair as if encountering a natural enemy, burst forth from the exquisite human girl's body, a sound that no known creature could produce!
The shrill whistling distorted the air, causing all the remaining glass windows of the church to shatter into dust at the same time!

All the confusion, disgust, and gloom on Color's face were replaced in that instant by incomprehensible horror.

Her golden eyes, which reflected countless colors, now only reflected the two open eyes on the hood.

Without the slightest hesitation, not even the slightest thought of resistance arose.

The biological instinct for color overwhelmed all reason, leaving only one strongest thought—

escape!
Immediately! Right now! Escape this world at all costs! Escape this monster with those "eyes"!

Her aura suddenly erupted, and countless colors seemed to flow wildly beneath her pale skin, attempting to tear through space and escape into the void.

But, it's too late.

Almost at the same moment those "eyes of nothingness" opened, the entire church—no, the space itself in which everyone was situated—underwent a fundamental and cognitively devastating "replacement."

The power of color to tear apart space is like hitting an invisible but absolutely insurmountable wall, and it is violently bounced back.

The flickering crimson light inside the church, the burning embers, the broken pews, the complex magic circles... all these scenes, like oil paintings soaked in water, quickly blurred, flowed, and disappeared.

Instead, there was noise.

It's not the noise of sound, but the noise of a sense of "presence".

A giant, colorful, and crooked candy pillar "grows" from the ground.

The walls were transformed into cookies covered in thick cream and icing, and decorated with grinning chocolate chips.

Twisted, slightly wriggling, colorful sugar threads hung from the ceiling.

The air was filled with a cloyingly sweet candy scent, mixed with a deeper, rusty, fishy smell.

The ground was made of black and white checkered candy blocks, which felt soft underfoot but were surprisingly sturdy.

In the center where everyone was, the ruins of the church had completely disappeared, replaced by a castle entrance hall built of pastries.

Hina abruptly folded her wings, protecting the several Trinity students around her, her sharp purple eyes scanning the surreal and eerie environment.

Hoshino's shotgun barrel moved rapidly, pointing at every corner where monsters might emerge. His lazy demeanor vanished, replaced by focused vigilance.

The terminal screen in Ayane's hand flickered wildly with garbled text and error messages. Her face was pale as she whispered, "Spatial coordinates have been completely overwritten... rule readings are chaotic... This isn't Giwatos anymore..."

He Cheng wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth from the previous battle, looked around at the sweet and terrifying castle, grinned, and his fighting spirit intensified rather than diminished: "This place... is really something else."

A girl from the Justice Realization Department tried to remain calm, but her clenched fists and slightly trembling fingertips betrayed the shock she felt inside.

What was happening before their eyes had far exceeded the scope of all the records in the ancient texts of Kivotos.

To steal the sky and change the sun, to alter the rules, this is simply... a miracle.

Just then, in the center of the castle hall, the darkness, a mixture of icing and shadow, parted like a curtain. A figure emerged from the darkness.

She was also wearing a dark red hood, almost identical in style to the one Lin Yi was wearing, only larger and with more worn edges.

The shadow of the hood covered most of her face, revealing only her sharply defined chin and pale lips.

She was wearing simple, even somewhat rough, dark-colored clothes, with an apron that appeared to be leather and was stained with some unknown dark dirt.

He casually held a short-handled hand axe in his hand, which looked quite old, but whose blade gleamed with a cold light.

She walked slowly, her footsteps making a sticky "crunch" sound as they landed on the candy-covered ground.

With her arrival, the candy castle seemed to come "alive".

The icing eyes on the wall began to blink, and rustling whispers came from the corner, making the stale, metallic smell in the air seem even stronger.

The hood on Lin Yi's head detached automatically when the figure appeared, and like a weary bird returning to its nest, it floated lightly towards the person and landed in her empty left hand.

She casually tucked her hood into her apron pocket, then looked up.

The shadow under the hood faded slightly, revealing her eyes.

Unlike the eyes that had been open on the hood just now, these were human eyes, carrying a hint of weariness and indifference.

The color was a deep brown, almost black, but deep within the pupils seemed to lie an indescribable indifference.

Her gaze first fell on “Color,” who looked as if facing a formidable enemy, whose golden pupils had shrunk to pinpoints, and whose body was filled with wildly surging colors yet dared not make a move. Like a butcher sizing up livestock waiting to be slaughtered, she was calm and professional.

Then, she slightly turned her head and looked at Lin Yi.

"Mmm," she responded, as if replying to Lin Yi's earlier words.

His voice was somewhat low and hoarse, carrying a sense of detachment from a long period of not communicating with others, yet strangely clear.

"It took some effort to reinforce this temporary hunting ground to prevent the slippery little creature from escaping again."

As she spoke, she casually patted her thigh with the side of her hand axe, as if brushing away non-existent dust.

Looking at her like this, Lin Yi's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He finally couldn't help but complain, "Your so-called 'a little late' means that I was almost turned into nothingness in a single glance? If my reaction had been 0.1 seconds slower, it would be my fragments talking to you now—if I still had fragments back then."

Little Red Riding Hood didn't seem surprised by Lin Yi's complaint. She even tilted her head slightly, thought for a moment, and then nodded, saying in her calm and even tone, "That makes sense. My estimation was off. This 'color' acted a little faster than expected."

Her attitude in admitting her mistake was frank, but the reasons she gave were even more chilling.

“So,” Little Red Riding Hood continued, her dark brown eyes looking at Lin Yi, a hint of something like “a compensation plan has been drafted” appearing in her indifferent gaze, “I’ve thought of the compensation for you. I believe you will be satisfied with the 'compensation' that follows.”

She didn't specify what the compensation was, but her gaze, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, swept over the "colors" that stood frozen like a sculpture not far away, then swept over the depths of this eerie castle, and finally lingered on Lin Yi's face for a moment.

That look seemed to say: A real "hunting" feast is about to begin.

As Little Red Riding Hood finished speaking, a dull, muted light quietly emanated from the blade of the seemingly ordinary short-handled axe in her hand.

She stopped looking at Lin Yi and instead focused all her attention on the "being" that was struggling to break free of its human form.

The body of color has expanded to twice its original size. The outline of the human girl melts and flows like a wax figure under high temperature. Under the skin, there is no longer flesh and blood, but thousands of color blocks that constantly devour and separate each other.

Gold, scarlet, dark blue, pale green... countless colors were mixed together haphazardly, emitting an aura that made people dizzy and nauseous.

"Hiss—Gah—!"

An inhuman roar emanated from that boiling mass of color, directly impacting the souls of everyone present.

Upon hearing that sound, Hina's wings tensed in response.

This is no longer within the scope of "combat" that they can understand.

However, Little Red Riding Hood only took one step forward.

Just one step.

The black and white sugar-like ground beneath her feet trembled slightly, and an invisible ripple quietly spread out from the point where she landed.

Wherever the ripples passed, the colorful sugar threads dripping from the ceiling suddenly froze, and even the strange smell of sweetness mixed with rust in the air seemed to fade away for a moment.

The entire bustling and noisy Candy Castle fell into a breathless silence because of her step.

Only that surging color continued to expand wildly, trying to break through some invisible constraint.

Little Red Riding Hood raised her right hand, which was holding a hand axe. Her movements were slow, even somewhat casual, like a skilled craftsman preparing to work on a piece of unruly material.

She didn't charge forward, nor did she gather her strength; she simply swung her axe unremarkably at the mass of color in front of her, which had expanded to almost touch the distorted dome.

But in the trajectory of the hand axe swing, the space itself seemed to be cut open with a smooth "slit".

"laugh--"

A soft sound, like a red-hot iron being plunged into cold water.

All the chaotic color blocks stopped flowing and roaring, and the expansion came to an abrupt halt.

The colors twisted and turned wildly, trying to escape Little Red Riding Hood's attack.

But all is in vain.

The first thing to be peeled away is the ever-changing "outer skin" that belongs to "color" itself.

Countless chaotic color blocks were "scraped" off the main body, strand by strand.

The process was silent, yet it was carried with a chilling meticulousness.

The stripped-off color patches did not disappear, but instead, like iron filings attracted by a magnet, they fluttered and drifted toward the castle walls, floors, and columns.

The grinning chocolate beans on the wall greedily "devoured" the floating color blocks, their own colors becoming even more vibrant and eerie; the black and white sugar blocks on the ground absorbed the color blocks, their grid lines wriggling slightly, as if they had come to life; on the twisted candy pillars, the melted syrup-like surface shimmered with the same luster as those color blocks.

The entire candy castle emitted a satisfied hum as it "devoured" these peeled pieces of color, as if a hungry beast were enjoying an appetizer.

The castle's atmosphere became more solid, more... "real"?
As the "color" outer layer was completely absorbed, what remained was no longer the boiling, chaotic monster, but a relatively stable halo that still radiated a powerful divine aura.

At the center of the halo, the outline of a crystal-clear skeleton can be vaguely seen—it is a "divine bone" that has been swallowed by "color" and has not yet been completely digested.

Around the divine bone flowed several clusters of flickering light—fragments of the "divine soul" that had been stripped of their color pollution and were relatively pure. One of them was particularly solid and exuded the unique aura of Azusa Shirai.

Little Red Riding Hood then put down her hand axe, and the dull glint of the blade disappeared.

She stepped forward and reached her left hand directly into the halo of light.

With deft fingers, he parted the surrounding divine light, grasped the crystalline "divine bone," and removed it from the center of the halo.

The moment the divine bone left the core, it trembled slightly and emitted a clear, melodious sound, but in Little Red Riding Hood's hands, it quickly subsided and became as docile as an ordinary object.

Then, her fingers, like those of the most skillful musician, brushed across the fragments of "divine soul."

With each touch, a fragment of divine soul light stabilized, breaking free from the halo's restraint and hovering above her palm.

Finally, including the one belonging to Azuko, a total of five fragments of pure divine soul, varying in size and aura, swirled around her hand like stars.

After doing all this, Little Red Riding Hood turned around and looked at Lin Yi.

Her expression remained calm, her deep brown eyes showing no emotion. She simply extended her left hand, which held the divine bone, and her right hand, which held the floating fragment of the divine soul, towards Lin Yi.

"Here," she said succinctly, "compensation."

Lin Yi stared at the divine bone in Little Red Riding Hood's hand, which, even in its dormancy, exuded a heart-palpitating energy, and at the few fragments of divine soul that seemed to resonate with the soul just by looking at them, and fell silent for a moment.

"The purpose of color hunting gods is to fill the void of its own concept with the 'reality' of the gods, making it more 'real'."

"Unfortunately, the method was wrong. Devouring only makes the 'nothingness' more 'complex' rather than more 'real'."

As she spoke, she glanced at the decorations on the castle walls that had become even more vibrant after absorbing the fragments of color.

"True 'existence' is not something you can achieve by eating."

Lin Yi reached out and took the divine bone and the five fragments of divine soul.

"Thanks," Lin Yi said in a deep voice, carefully putting the two items away.

He knew that the value of this "compensation" far exceeded what words could measure. (End of Chapter)