I, the Lord of the Fifth Throne, am the source of all things!

In the myriad worlds of the throne, all souls are produced by the Lord of the Throne.

On the fourth day, after the eternal tribulation returns to the world, the birth of the soul becomes a chicken-and-egg paradox.

Is the soul born from the mother's womb, or does it travel from the future back to the past?

Apart from Duanmu Lian, who is a heretic, the souls of everyone in the Fourth Heaven World carry a paradox similar to that of the Seat Master, the Mercury Serpent.

The defects in the clones created by Red Spider may also include elements related to the soul.

If Duanmu Lian wants to avoid eternal damnation, his greatest reliance is the chat group with him, whose origins are equally unknown.

So, he carefully cut off a small part of his own soul.

He will never forget this pain, because it far surpasses any physical pain.

However, this pain was well worth it!

"Heh, hahaha..."

Duanmu Lian, his face deathly pale, burst into laughter, for he discovered that his lifespan had been reduced once again after he split his soul.

This is because of the relationship between spirit and flesh.

Cultivating only the mind and not the body is the greatest flaw in spiritual practice throughout history.

If one only cultivates life force and not nature, it will be difficult for a spirit to attain sainthood even after countless eons.

The soul governs the body and endows it with spirituality.

But the life force contained within the body also continuously nourishes the soul.

They are like yin and yang, needing, supporting, and supplying each other.

While a strong soul does not necessarily equate to a strong body, a person with a strong body will certainly have a strong soul nurtured through careful cultivation.

The fact that Duanmu Lian's soul is missing a piece means that his body needs to expend more life force to replenish what it has lost.

After all, yin cannot exist alone, nor can yang exist alone; only when yin and yang unite can all things arise—this is the essence of Tai Chi.

Damage to the soul can heal slowly over time, but it requires consuming life force to nurture it.

Although this behavior might hasten Duanmu Lian's death, is there any need to fear death during the eternal return on the fourth day?

"We are all immortal snakes, constantly shedding our skins; death is rebirth!"

Duanmu Lian tried to transfer her consciousness into the soul fragment she had placed in the system space, and backed up her memories in the [Myriad Records].

Perhaps his life and soul cannot escape eternal rebirth, but as long as he has his own consciousness, personality, and memories, that is enough.

And he succeeded.

As Ayase Kozo's expression of utter frustration grew, he gradually became as unconscious as the previous clones.

Consciousness fluctuates between clarity and confusion, with no discernible pattern.

This is him deliberately showing his flaws to the other person.

However, he also began to demonstrate his intellectual prowess through the chat group's "analysis and calculation" function.

She tried her best to learn useful knowledge from Ayase Kozo, and spent her spare time reading the books she had previously acquired to broaden her horizons.

With the [Analysis and Calculation] function, even Duanmu Lian, who can't be called a genius, can quickly grasp it.

This continued until it was discovered that Ayase Kozo was secretly conducting experiments on Fujii Ren.

After he was ambushed and killed by Yuzashiro with a knife, Duanmu Lian was handed over to Red Spider.

Duanmu Lian is a clever clone, but she still has major flaws.

Red Spider treated him as nothing more than a prop, and directly began to brainwash and control Duanmu Lian with drugs.

Fortunately, Duanmu Lian's id consciousness was able to hide inside the system space, thus escaping the opponent's malicious attack.

Meanwhile, Duanmu Lian, whose consciousness was hazy and confused, began to imitate the actions of the main subject, Fujii Lian, just like the other experimental subjects.

During this period of growth, whenever her soul slowly healed a missing piece, Duanmu Lian would use the system to begin cutting her own soul apart.

Although this would hasten his death, Duanmu Lian never intended to live long, because he planned to conduct a crucial experiment.

Professor Ayase passed away in 1995.

On December 25, 1995, the Eastern Orthodox Church invaded the Black Round Table. Sakurai Kai fought against the Valkyrie Beatrice and died together.

In 2005, following the orders of Red Spider, Duanmu Lian secretly moved to Suwahara City with the main character, Fujii Lian, and silently watched Fujii Lian go about his daily life.

Duanmu Lian was still being used as a tool by Red Spider, and under Red Spider's orders, she began to spread Deep Purple medicine in Suwahara.

This was something that Red Spider obtained by accident during his research. He had Duan Mulian spread this medicine to conduct experiments and see its effects.

Duanmu Lian avoids Fujii Lian's activity time and usually acts at night, spreading Deep Purple according to Red Spider's orders.

There was no hope in this kind of life, but Duanmu Lian did not complain at all.

He dreamed of defying the whole world and doing something utterly impossible, and even if he fell halfway through, he would have no regrets.

"Fujii...kun?"

As Duanmu Lian strolled through the night view of Suwahara, chewing on a lemon slice to refresh herself, a puzzled female voice suddenly came from behind her.

He turned his head, his gaze deep and unfathomable, like a deep pool in an ancient well, as always, unfathomable and silent.

What met his eyes was a beautiful girl with a pretty face and short silver hair, who had just come out of the convenience store.

At this moment, the other party was looking at Duanmu Lian not far away with great surprise through those beautiful pale purple eyes.

With just a casual turn of her head and a silent look, Himuro Reia knew she had mistaken the person for someone else.

"......"

Upon seeing the girl, Duanmu Lian reacted calmly, turned her head, and walked towards the alley around the corner.

"wait wait wait!"

Seeing Duanmu Lian disappear around the corner, Himuro Reia finally realized what was happening and couldn't help but chase after her.

But when they turned the corner, they never saw the other person again.

Knowing she couldn't find or catch up with him, Himuro Rei pursed her lips, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

For some reason, she felt a sense of resonance with the person who wasn't Fujii-kun.

She was extremely familiar with and understood the other person's eyes.

It is the indifference to tragedy, the silence in the face of pain, and the apathy in the face of predetermined death.

Duanmu Lian is a tragic figure.

Reia Himuro is also a tragic heroine.

She is a descendant of Yzak, the first Sun Prince, and was destined to sit on the sixth seat of the Black Round Table at birth.

Its characteristic is a voice devoid of intonation and filled with a sense of weariness.

They may appear weak and listless, but their emotions fluctuate intensely, and they often become unhappy or shy in an instant.

Their unchanging expressions and tone of voice create an impression of imbalance, leading them to be considered "electronic" types.

However, it was not intentional on his part, but rather because he desired to be as numb as a stone.

Because they are direct descendants of Yzak, they have his genetic memories implanted in them. The closer they get to the alchemy of gold, the more their genetic memories are awakened.

Whenever the Altar of the Gold Transmutation Circle is opened, I feel pain like labor pains. Because I am afraid of such things, I wish to be indifferent to everything.

Furthermore, due to her environment, the girl often had suicidal thoughts.

No one can accept being born to become a sacrifice or a human sacrifice.

She is the core of the Gold Alchemy Array. Although she has little combat power, she possesses the "principle" of "sacrificing herself to allow others to be born in the strongest form".

Both Himuro Rei and Duanmu Ren knew they would not have a good ending and that they would inevitably die, which made them indifferent.

So with just a glance, Himuro Reia understood that the other person was her kind.

Whether Duanmu Lian understood or not is unclear.

He didn't care at all and didn't want to have anything to do with that girl.

Unlike the female character Himuro Rei, who has a male protagonist who will save her, this tragic passerby has no one to lend him a helping hand.

During the summer vacation of 2006, Kasumi Ayase, Shiro Yuza, and Ren Fujii rode motorcycles to the beach.

Yuza Shirou was involved in a motorcycle accident on his way home. Honjo Erii found Shirou at the accident scene and formed an inextricable bond with him.

Duanmu Lian also sensed that her death was imminent. She cut off a fragment of her soul one last time and spent most of her time studying in the system space.

In early October 2006, nearly two months before the official start of the Day of Divine Wrath, Fujii Ren was hospitalized after a near-fatal fight with Yuza Shirou.

Having lost Fujii Ren as her role model, Duanmu Lian began to act alone in a state of confusion.

They continued to intensify their efforts to spread Deep Purple, and deliberately left clues that could be traced back to the Suwahara Genetic Engineering Research Center.

This also attracted Yuza Shirou and Honjo Erii.

The first to arrive was Honjo Erii.

"This must be the place..."

Taking off her motorcycle helmet, Erii Honjo arrived at the gate of the towering, dark building in front of her, in order to investigate the Deep Purple that had spread in Suwahara.

After spending some time unlocking the electronic lock on the gate, Erii Honjo entered with a flashlight.

Inside, the walls, illuminated by the flashlight beams, were pure white, reminiscent of the white of bones.

This is also the white color unique to medical facilities.

The air inside the building smelled of a stuffy, murky substance, making it feel very cramped.

Erii Honjo's family owns a hospital; Honjo Hospital in Suwahara is her family's, so she is naturally very familiar with hospitals.

White is a color that is often associated with negative connotations such as coldness and death.

While thinking about such things, Erii Honjo walked purposefully toward the archives or an office.