Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Chapter 818 Goodnight, Susanna

“It happened so long ago, but it’s still so vivid in my mind…” Susanna murmured to herself as she stood on the trembling earth.

The stars in the sky kept falling, and the darkness overhead seemed deeper than the ocean tides. The sound of giant waves crashing against the rocks, the increasing humidity, the forest's labored breathing, and fantasies that had strayed from their course.

The thorn armor slowly faded away, revealing a face identical to Irason's, yet unable to even manage the smile she most often wore.

"What a pity, the amusement park we worked so hard to build..."

The castle crumbled, the magically woven data turned into shards of light, and the beautifying layer that Lyle had once incessantly ravaged became a charred, muddy mess, burning in the dream realm. Even the mood for a stroll vanished; dripping black mud seeped into the earth, and the spot where Susanna stood became the only fixed anchor point.

"After hiding for so long, I've still been found." He used nightmares to erode the dream kingdom he created, temporarily reclaiming it from the mind of the awakened god.

"Father God."

Sensing being watched, every element around him concealed an emotion of alienation, a betrayal of all things—this was the punishment He had given Himself. The connection was severed, perception began to blur, like returning to a pitch-black nest, only the part within His own body still persisting, murmuring the name He had been given.

"Susanna, Susanna, Susanna..."

"Administrator!" "Administrator!"

Her unfocused pupils contracted, and Susanna looked up at the figures before her—NPCs, clones of the dream world. Fragments were also peeling away from their bodies. Though they were fabricated personalities, they were far more composed than she was. Susanna pressed her lips to her lips, not wanting to tremble before them. She forced her eyes wide open, glaring at them angrily—perhaps the thing she was best at doing while wearing Irason's face.

“We’ve destroyed the mental anchors of the Dream Druids; they’re definitely going to have a headache for a while.” The Defender Instructor, spear in hand, grinned broadly, his shield-wielding arm now gone. The Defender Knight clone laughed nonchalantly.

"Hmm... your mission is complete. I will grant you liberation immediately." Susanna extended her palm towards him, using her administrator powers to erase the NPC before the deep sea could overturn the dream. In Susanna's view, sparing them from facing their end was an act of mercy.

Hands were separated; the lance blocked Susanna's palm, and the Defender Knight rejected the Nightmare's mercy.

“My lord, you are not my queen, and have no right to grant me death,” the knight said.

"Why is the judgment of God the Father so much more terrifying than death?"

“Then let Him come! There are no fleeing knights in Deria.”

“There is no shame in fleeing a shipwreck…”

"To make a trembling little girl face everything is the greatest humiliation for me. Facing the gods is something my true self cannot do, but I will do it."

Ignoring Susanna who stood frozen in place, the Defender Instructor embarked on the desperate path of confronting the wave.

"I have no intention of surrendering."

"There's nothing to be afraid of; it's just data."

"If we fight, we fight; if we die, we die together."

They all made their choices, shedding their glamorous facades, and the personalities Lyle selected proved his discerning eye. The surroundings were illuminated; without turning around, Susanna knew who was standing behind her.

"Don't be discouraged. Ignorance is bliss. As the nightmare, you have more fears than we do."

"The Gatekeeper." Looking at the tall figure of the Gatekeeper Angel with envy, his body seemed to be cast in gold. Even now, with the collapse of the dream kingdom, the heroic spirit created by the holy light still shines brightly.

"Your body was forged by holy light and has never been tainted by nightmares. My friend, you can depart in peace and share the suffering of the sleeping ones with those in reality."

The program crashed, rendering the flaming greatsword useless, and holy light descended upon the isolated island. The gatekeeper, sensing the creeping darkness, refused Susanna's request.

"My true self is in reality, and I, a copy of myself, have no need to worry. As the anchors supporting this dream disappear one by one, this land will soon sink. Administrator, my holy light can help you reach the last and most solid anchor."

“It shouldn’t be me who reaches that place.” Susanna shook her head, taking several greedy breaths as the black mud quickly filled her throat. The Sleeper was reclaiming His gift. The outline was blurred, and the Nightmare Heart opened its arms, as if to embrace a luminous friend.

"You and I made a promise, my friend."

Stepping back and leaning back, the gatekeeper raised his right arm, conjuring the most familiar and blazing spear of light.

"Holy Light will remember your name, my friend!"

The spear of light pierced through the black mud, and she endured the dual agony of burning and corroding, as the holy light slowly dissected her soul. Memories, warm memories, flooded her mind again, swept away by a warm current—this was a final farewell. Susanna instinctively reached out, but the spear of light had already pinned her to the ground. The light guided the part of her body that had escaped the nightmare, away from the dream, flying into the distance, returning to the part that did not belong to her.

Appearance, strength, memory, existence are all fading away, and the blurry figure is bathed in light, exhausted as if it has just given birth.

“Yilan…” He concentrated, the pitch-black shell covered in mud murmured to itself.

“We all understand that this moment will eventually come, and the thieves will inevitably pay the price, and it will be the cheapest price.”

"Tiffany has grown up, but she still has some old habits. A glass of warm milk before bed—a new habit she developed after entering politics. Her adoptive fathers occasionally ask me about the time and weather. Don't be confused; just answer them directly. They've been dwelling in the dream world for too long, and they can't quite distinguish between illusion and reality..."

"In the end, it was you..."

“You must understand that what I give you is not just what I swallowed back then. It is not just your share. What Susanna saw, heard, felt, and loved. These are my gifts, your return gift to me in life. You yearn for sisters, you yearn for answers, you yearn for understanding... Lonely soul, let the false me give you the real.”

“I forgive you, Farja.”

"Now, I will merge with you again; I have not perished, but become one with you."

“Now, you are the true Twin Queen, Farga.”

Goodnight, Irason.

The nightmare's form finally vanished, the holy light dimmed, and the tide of chaos swallowed everything. A voice whispered in the ear of the dying light.

“I’m sorry, but Falca will probably hold a grudge against you for a while. Most elves hold grudges, and she is especially so.”

The gatekeeper gave a response before he withered away.

"The dead are not disturbed by hatred, even if your sisters transfer their resentment to my true form..."

"They're already drowning in debt."

Chapter 819 Omniscient and Omnipotent

What's overhead is most likely clouds. They're rolled out flat, dense and even, without a single gap. The sun's position is impossible to determine; the light gray clouds are only slightly brighter than anything else. The earth has vanished, replaced by an endless expanse of black liquid, occasionally rippling like a lazy creature huddled under the covers on a winter's day. Gray and black form two parallel lines, stretching into the distance beyond sight, showing no sign of merging.

Between the sky and the sea, something is falling—particles finer than grains of sand, so small they are almost imperceptible to the naked eye and mistaken for air currents. These particles are warm, descending from the clouds and landing in the sea. If you observe their trajectories closely, you'll see that every one to two minutes, the falling particles rise a few centimeters, climbing the air currents, trying to escape the water's surface and return to the clouds.

But there were too many particles, and some inevitably fell into the water. Where they landed, the black liquid fluoresced, and the pale blue spots, like fireflies, illuminated the surface. As the particles fell, the fluorescence on the water's surface flickered intermittently, like breathing.

They are all alive, representing the most basic archetypes of life.

The slumbering tides devoured all matter on the planet's surface, breaking it down into the most basic particles. Within the divine realm, individuals of the new era began their evolutionary iterations. Predators in the sea absorbed calcium from the water, constructing frameworks that caused the water's surface to shift, extending towards the sky, the source of their food. Black trees sprouted from the sea, their vertical branches gleaming with blue light.

Feeding, mutation, evolution, natural selection. The power of the Sleeper accelerated everything to an incredible rate of evolution; before the old humanity had completely perished, it had already eagerly developed a new bloodline.

From the silence of death arises a clamor of life, and one day they will evolve into mature, independent individuals. Because the planet's fundamental elements remain largely unchanged, this new life may not stray far from the category of carbon-based life forms. Life grows stronger, differentiating into limbs, then into a brain, developing intelligence, and building civilization. The process of life is nothing more than this; everything is predictable.

Besides meteorite strikes and cataclysmic explosions.

A golden meteorite fell from the sky, tearing a huge hole in the clouds. Nearby moisture was instantly evaporated, and the fragile framework was broken by the storm. Endless light and heat led a new generation of "dinosaurs" to extinction. Heaven and earth were ripped apart, and the raging natural disaster shattered the bare, cracked land. The deep tides within a hundred miles were burned away, and the only light scorched the dark new world.

The natural disaster was described in an ancient language, and the emotions were intense.

"Where is George! Where the hell did you hide him, Triton!" Mr. Raymond, the Calamity of the Holy Light, roared, his holy flames tearing through the divine realm, the King of Ages facing the awakened evil god with fury.

Black mud seeped from the cracked earth, and the tides gathered. Triton appeared in human form, his gaze fixed on Raymond. The blinding holy light made the god frown slightly.

“Raymond, if we count each individual individually, disregarding past killings, you just jumped to second place on the list of most killed on this planet in a single second.”

The speeding light gun pierced Triton's body, and the intense light explosion blasted him into a pulp. Raymond stood there, his wary gaze sweeping around.

"Holy Light, please forgive my competitiveness. I am so eager to be number one."

Triton's body was reshaped, his expression calm, and Raymond's attack had failed.

"Powerful, decisive, king of the era, Raymond Merlock. But you can't hurt me now."

Holy light transformed into chains, binding the slumbering being tightly. The evil god did not struggle, allowing Raymond to burn his body to ashes.

“Everyone says so, but I remain unchanged.” A new Triton forms again, only to shatter rapidly. “I will find a way sooner or later. I will destroy you with every ray of Holy Light until I find what I need. It’s not difficult. Even if it doesn’t exist, I will create the skill I need. Holy Light is omnipotent.”

Creation, destruction, creation, destruction...

Triton's transformation continued; the repeated bombardments of holy light did not affect His ability to communicate. He appeared around Raymond, his words tinged with a certain emotion.

“You are special, Raymond.”

"Do you regret granting humanity possibility, you evil god?"

"No, the possibilities for humanity cannot reach your level."

Raymond snorted and retaliated with even more powerful holy light.

"Then mourn for your shortsightedness, just as you cannot see your own failure." The holy light transformed into a double-edged battle axe, slashing diagonally at Triton's body.

“No, I don’t see failure,” the blade of light stuck in the black mud. This was the first time Raymond felt resistance, and the first time Triton stopped his attack. “But I understand the threshold of humanity.”

"Human beings are descended from my bloodline. As the creator god, I retain the information of all my offspring in my mind. This is the meaning of omniscience and omnipotence." Triton's eyes gleamed, and at this moment, his divine majesty surpassed that of Raymond. "Every human being, every life, exists in my memory from their first cry and first breath. I know their future, I weave their destiny."

"The betrayal of my half-body Yemotar, the rebellion instigated by the dragon priest Moroki, the death of the dragons, the rise of mankind... I foresaw all of this. But you, Raymond Merlock, you are special. You are the variable, you are the invisible destiny. You and I both understand what this means, and you should have sensed it long ago."

"Can humanity truly grow to be as invincible as you?"

"You are the first paladin. The Church of Holy Light has lasted for a hundred years. You witnessed humanity being invaded by monsters, witnessed the rampage of dragons, witnessed the establishment of the Papacy, and witnessed the rise of the Holy Light. Popes have passed away one after another. Have you ever seen anyone like you? The difference between humanity and you is like that between a dragon and an ant. You never considered this. Instead, you let them deify you. Everything seemed to make sense because you are an angel, a hero in the epic, the leader of humanity, and the supreme dawn."

Do you know what I like most about humans?

"Deception and lies. This trait can solve many problems, except for reality. Let me tell you what truth is."

Triton stood before Raymond, unmoved by the rain of holy light arrows.

“I am the will of the planet, the creator of all things. I know everything about this planet and am the source of all knowledge. Yet I cannot foresee Raymond Merlock’s destiny, nor can I control the Holy Light. This person and this power do not exist in my vision. Precisely because you are special, Raymond Merlock. Raymond and the Holy Light are things that cannot exist or evolve in my bloodline. You do not belong to humanity, nor to the native inhabitants of this planet who were born because of me.”

"You, like this holy light descending from the void, are an alien from another planet assimilated by humanity."

"Perhaps calling them extraterrestrials isn't very friendly? Let's try a different term."

What do you think of this word?

"Raymond the Pure One".

Chapter 820: Blindness and Stupidity

Triton clutched the hem of his robe, observing the thin film of holy light forming on the surface of His incarnation. His entire body was gilded by the holy light, and His handsome features, accentuated by the radiance, exuded divinity and majesty.

"A cage that seals power..."

That layer of holy light clung tightly to the skin, and through Raymond's precise control, covered Triton's surface with yet another layer of skin. This filter of holy light shielded him from all other powers, making it the most comfortable form of mobile shackles. However, it was also the most insidious. Magic is like oxygen to a spellcaster; shielding magic not only prevents the spellcaster from casting spells but also causes psychological suffocation. This mental pressure is equally effective against liches, and even has some effect on evil gods.