Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

The resounding shouts pierced through the barriers of time and space, carrying the faith and light of eight billion people, and crashed into the chickens, tigers, bears, wolves, and dogs!

The divine bodies of the chicken, tiger, bear, wolf, and dog instantly burst forth with boundless golden light, and their previously depleted faith and willpower were completely replenished!

"Light! Light is coming!" Freya shouted excitedly.

“Although this world doesn’t belong to us,” Sylvia said firmly, “it has supported us…and we will never let them down!”

"I... I don't want to let others down either... especially my mother..." Mu Zimi clenched her fist.

"What determines history is never the gods, but one mortal after another; the people are the creators of civilization," Mu Yuan sighed.

"Hmph, it is only natural for subjects to have faith in their emperor." Ji Yushen snorted lightly.

"I really want to die..." This is Li Xianyu.

Finally, Cheng Cheng's calm voice rang out: "Then, let's join hands with all living beings... and defeat Him together!"

The chicken, tiger, bear, wolf, and dog once again stood tall in the sky, the starry sky above them trembling. The boundless light, condensed from the wishes of countless beings, gathered in their throats and condensed once more into that one point of light, white to the extreme, encompassing the universe.

"Destiny or fate, fate or failure, the Immortal Venerable regrets, but I do not—"

A deafening roar that spanned eternity and shattered the void resounded throughout all the heavens and the myriad realms, through countless cycles of time!

"Divine Path Killing Move - Failure of Fate!"

The purest light, the most ultimate kill, the most magnificent faith...

The three combined into a golden beam of light that pierced through the sea of ​​stars and the end, striking straight at the demonic body of the Black Goat Mother!

Where the light passed, nothingness was filled, deathly silence was dispelled, decay was purified, and the millions of dark malice accumulated in the cycle of reincarnation were dissolved, disintegrated, and annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

"snore--!!!"

The Black Goat Mother let out an unprecedentedly mournful roar. The primordial darkness that had shrouded countless reincarnations and devoured countless heroes, the ultimate demon equivalent to the abyss itself, was utterly defeated before the light gathered by all humankind!

"boom--!!!"

The earth-shaking roar subsided, and the last wisp of darkness vanished.

The deathly dark divine kingdom vanished with a roar, the nothingness faded, and clear, faint light returned to the starry sky, bringing clarity to all things.

In the center of the void, a flawless, radiant Holy Grail floats quietly in the clear starry sky, warm, sacred, and all-encompassing.

【Beauty】Source Quality.

The chicken, tiger, bear, wolf, and dog slowly disintegrated, and the seven last heroes of humanity landed again, exhausted but with bright eyes.

All nine primal elements have been gathered, the twenty-two paths of destiny have perfectly merged, and the combined power of all beings in an entire civilization has been added to the blessing—

Countless reincarnations, countless falls into depravity.

This time, it was humanity itself, with the will of mortals, that gathered the glimmer of light from all living beings, dispelled the eternal darkness, and ended the destiny of the abyss—

The story has come to an end: the immortal [Crown] has been forged!

(To be continued)

(The final battle arc is over. There are still about six chapters left, including the forging of the Immortal Crown and the closure of the timeline. I'll post it when I'm done.)

Chapter 174, May Fate Forge "Immortality"

The moment the Holy Grail of Beauty fell into his hands, the entire moon began to tremble, and a huge crack appeared out of nowhere, instantly engulfing the lunar base.

This earthquake is nothing to the true God.

The group quickly took to the air, and Sylvia flicked out a golden chain, attempting to restore the moon. However, as soon as she reached out, her entire body began to shake violently, and the chain in her hand inevitably went astray, shooting into the vast starry sky.

"What happened?"

Sylvia instinctively tried to steady herself, but quickly realized it was all in vain. Mu Yuan, on the other hand, quickly figured out the reason: "...It's not the moon that's shaking, it's the whole world that's shaking!"

"What on earth is going on?" Freya was extremely anxious. She was about to say something when she suddenly looked at Sylvia, her voice filled with terror, "Sylvia, you—!"

Sylvia looked down and noticed that her clothes were fading.

No, it's not just clothes.

She turned to look at Freya—this beautiful girl, as lovely as a flower, had also gradually lost her vibrant pink and purple hues, leaving only a patch of black and white in sight.

It's not just them.

Mu Zimi, Mu Yuan, Li Xianyu, Ji Yushen... everyone present lost their composure, except for... Cheng Cheng.

Cheng Cheng subconsciously looked at Earth, that blue planet that nurtured life and civilization, his home planet.

At this moment, she too is losing her color.

"The world... is going to be destroyed?"

Something's not right. We've already successfully gathered all nine source materials and twenty-two paths. We're only one step away from the Immortal Crown. How could this happen all of a sudden?

Everyone was frantic with worry, but Li Xianyu, completely unconcerned, pulled out eleven coffins, chose one for himself, lay down inside, and cheerfully took out a wine flask. He sipped slowly while singing the ancient funeral blues in his ethereal voice:

"...I thought love could be immortal, I was wrong."

The stars are no longer useful; let them go out.

Hide the moon and conceal the blazing sun.

Pour into the sea, sweep away the trees.

Because from this day forward, there will be no more good things in the world.

“Well… it’s not that hopeless, is it?” Himeko pointed to her barren chest. “The fading seems to have stopped here.”

Everyone looked over and saw that a white jade tiger talisman on Ji Yushen's chest was glowing faintly.

"Source Material! Source Material can resist discoloration!"

Everyone hurriedly activated the power of their source essence to resist the continuous loss of their own colors. Even Bugu stepped out of Mu Zimi's mental space and snatched the [Beauty] Holy Grail. Serafina also left Sylvia's divine kingdom and took the [Kingdom] Coin from Himeko's hand.

Each of the eight source materials has its own owner, and the remaining source material, [Benevolence], is still in Cheng Cheng's hands.

"So, why did it fade..."

This question was quickly answered—

"Because besides the nine elemental substances and twenty-two paths, proving immortality also requires earth, water, wind, fire, and the entire world 'Scepter δ-me2961' as the alchemical furnace."

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out behind them.

He is the priest!

Faced with this extraordinary opponent, this time, the group did not act rashly. Instead, Sylvia asked, "You have never appeared in Earth's five thousand years of history. Why are you here now?"

The priest raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the colorless world, and sighed softly, as if reciting an epic: "The author of every epic, as the predetermined prophecy has written, puts down his pen here. Just as every calculation, as His original design, ends here."

"Answer my question, priest!"

"No need to be nervous, Lady Sylvia."

The priest slowly opened his arms, his tone gentle yet icy, like a bard's final verse: "I entered this place for one pure purpose: to become the most faithful reader of the epic, the audience who will witness your heroic deeds—to witness with my own eyes the 'birth of immortality' foretold in the oracle."

Cheng Cheng showed little interest in the riddle-solving speech of the priest, and instead asked his most pressing question: "You just said... the reason why everything is fading now is because achieving immortality requires earth, water, wind, fire, and the entire world as a crucible for alchemy? Will the world be destroyed because of this?"

"Indeed. The fading of all things is a manifestation of the calamities of earth, water, wind, and fire."

The priest's expression remained indifferent, seemingly showing no pity for the deaths of billions: "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand; only by devouring an entire world—the 'Scepter δ-me2961'—can true immortality be forged."

"Our goal has always been to protect our own world and end the tragic cycle of endless reincarnation, not to become some kind of strongest god!" Cheng Cheng couldn't contain his anger and shouted angrily, "Divine Ritual Officer! You treat the world as a game, personally creating tragedies in two worlds. Have you never felt guilty about this?!"

"What do you consider yourself? An arrogant god? An absurd creator? Or a scholar who will do anything for knowledge?"

Cheng Cheng thought that his angry rebuke, which was almost an outburst of rage, would only sink without a trace and would not move the priest in any way.

However, this otherworldly being showed a genuine sense of loneliness and regret in his eyes and sighed softly: "Although I am a character in the play, Lord Mu Yuan's deduction is not wrong - as you know, this world is a simulation game so huge that it is difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion for me."

"Mr. Cheng Cheng, you are also a player. When you brutally kill NPCs in the game, steal cars and commit crimes, and reload your game time again and again, do you ever feel guilty?"

Cheng Cheng was taken aback: "I only play 'Yuanshen'."

As we all know, "Gen Shen" is a sunny, cheerful and positive game where NPCs are not selectable, unlike "Xenoverse" where you can freely commit crimes, steal cars and kill people.

"So, do you develop feelings for the characters in the game?"

"Yes, I will." Cheng Cheng nodded as if it were a matter of course.

Kurumi is my wife, Ayaka Kamisato is my master, Narcida is my mother, Frinina is my girlfriend, Columbia is my family... How could I not develop feelings for them?

Leaving aside "Genius," even in "Fate/stay night," after developing feelings for Sylvia and Freya, Cheng Cheng never again used the suicide-and-reload method to complete the game—even though it was the simplest and most direct way to play.

But to everyone's surprise, the priest said with a complicated expression:

"I can too."

"what?"

"No one is perfect, and I was once a human being, so I naturally develop feelings for the characters in the game..." The priest walked slowly through the void. "When that lonely chicken, tiger, bear, wolf, and dog bid farewell to everything and plunged alone into the Black Tide Sea, I was listening on the shore; when that majestic Cave Rain Realm removed its armor and filled the cracks in the earth with its own body, I was looking down from the mountaintop."

"Through the journey of 29,643 reincarnations, I have taken in the suffering, determination, division, and unity of you heroes, and have sliced ​​them up to preserve them as an underground city... simply because I admire your will and determination, and have also developed a deep affection for you."

"...Then why did you commit such an evil deed?!"

The priest slowly stopped, raised his head and looked towards the deep, dark end of the universe, a trace of weariness flashing in his eyes: "For if the immortal star god does not reappear, the entire universe will surely come to an end."

“What I, we… did was no different from what you did; it was simply to save the world, to ‘save ourselves.’”

Having said that, he didn't say much more, seemingly unwilling to discuss the time beyond the heavens, and instead said: "The destruction of Earth is not the end of everything, but the beginning of all things—the power of immortality is enough to reverse cause and effect, rewind time and space, and bring back to life everything you cherish."

"So, please ignore me as an observer for now and go and complete the task you must complete, Your Excellency Cheng Cheng."

Having said that, the collapsing world melted like ice cream, transforming into a black and white torrent that flowed continuously into everyone's bodies, merging into the source matter. Not just the moon, but also distant Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter…

Even the blazing sun lost its color and merged into it.

In the end, only a touch of black and white remained.

Amidst the black and white, a flash of red light appeared.

In the next instant, the "Scepter δ-me2961", the enormous corpse of the deity, and the raging sea of ​​blood all turned into nourishment for the newborn god, and the world simulated by the deity's brain and the false heaven completely dissipated.

As everyone stepped out of the play and into the real world, all they could see was a vast and boundless real starry sea.

Cold and deathly silent.

"This is……"

Cheng Cheng subconsciously took a step, and then, where he landed, under the lonely and cold starry sea, a colorful nebula appeared.