Star Railway: I'm developing the Star Railway mobile game at my company.

The scene shifts, and Sai Feier slowly walks out, clearly having followed them all the way.

Upon seeing this, Xia immediately put on a serious expression and began to help Bai E drive people away.

However, Sai Fei'er's real target was also the spark, and she only showed herself to draw attention away from the thief spirit.

Just like the previous cycle, after easily using the miracle of Oronis to pull the thief back, Bai E showed a slightly impatient expression.

My patience is almost exhausted, so I don't want to waste my breath. Listen carefully, Thief: Hand over the fire, and we'll pretend we never fought. That way, you and this world can be saved.

Immediately afterwards, we heard the thief spirit strike Bai E's weak point.

[Heh heh heh, that sounds better than a bard's song! Talking about saving...]

If you ask me... you yourself are the greatest scourge of Onphalus!

No matter how much you care, you're still just a mortal body! Bearing twelve flames? Don't be ridiculous, you'll only be devoured by the divine fire, dragging this world down with you...

These words stirred up Bai E's emotions, which hadn't been felt in a long time, and everyone felt a sense of empathy for him.

"I can't listen to this anymore...!"

"He couldn't save everyone... He's the one who feels the most guilty!"

"That hurts so much!"

"Is this the new super-powerful C-type move?"

"You've won the white zone abuse!"

Faced with the thief's curses, Bai E simply uttered a number.

134. This is the 134th cycle he has experienced, and the number of flames he has carried has reached 1,596.

My ability to get this far is proof enough.

In order to seize the fire, Bai'e has even begun to threaten the Thief Spirit with force.

Just like Bai E's understanding of his companions, he was willing to give his life for the cause of the fire.

Thief Spirit: [Even so, I, this great one, will use my divine power, despised by the world, to make that one in a billion possibility a reality...]

[Kid... if you've got guts, step over my dead body first...!]

[Cat-eared thief, run! Go find Aglaia...]

This brat... is definitely not a threat that the two of us can handle together...!

These familiar words, now in a different context, evoke a myriad of emotions.

"3.3 said the same thing when he gave the White Calamity Flame, but now he's saying it from the opposite perspective: I'm no longer capable."

"The words that stirred my emotions in the previous version have now stirred my emotions in a different way. It hurts, it hurts so much!"

"How could this happen... We were all trying to save the world..."

"Firmly secured—"

The same people will always say the same things.

The scene then shifts to a battle, where Caislan defeats the thief spirit Bartrus by himself and retrieves the fire from his stomach pouch.

But Xia immediately recognized that this spark of rationality was a fake.

Bai E was not surprised by this, and a deep voice rose with the mournful music of the prelude to the corona.

Ah... I know, I know it will always be like this. Under the cover of the thief spirit, the demigod of cunning will escape with the two sparks...

The next moment, a sob rang out.

Bai E, on the other hand, knew about Sai Fei'er's return without even turning around.

[...Then, out of resentment or hatred, they stood before me once more.]

Like countless others I've known in the past... both cunning and naive.

This passage, which Bai E foresaw, also made everyone wear a mask of pain.

"No! Don't come back, kitty!"

"I suddenly remembered Hei'er, whom we met. He stopped attacking when the cat pretended to hand over the fire seed. Did he still have a sliver of hope that if she actually did, he wouldn't have to kill her?"

"No wonder the cat believed everything the story told her earlier; it turns out she was trying to avoid her companion's death..."

"Waaaaah, I'm so sorry! I'll never laugh at you for being a can thief again!"

"I apologize, I will never laugh at you again for pressing the interactive elevator button when you stole the fire!"

"It hurts, it hurts too much!"

Hearing Bai E's perfectly predicted words, Sai Fei'er, her eyes slightly red, stared fiercely at Bai E with a choked voice.

Saifeier: [Since the same scenario has played out countless times in your eyes, tell me...]

[Next... will you pluck the seed of your scheme from my heart?]

Chapter 688 The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Now that their positions have reversed, former companions stand on the opposite side, glaring at each other angrily. In response to Sai Fei'er's words, Bai E turned his head and said coldly.

[...It depends on your attitude. At least so far, in the cycles where you asked that question...the ending hasn't been that cruel.]

Saifei: [Hmph... Well, thank you anyway. But I also believe you won't catch me this time—no one can catch me. I stopped running away a long time ago.]

Although Sai Fei'er was still very confident at this moment, the audience who knew her abilities, just like Bai E, knew exactly how to expose that lightning-fast lie.

"Kitty, no! Run! QAQ"

"No wonder the Fire Thief was able to guess the secret of Sai Fei'er's incredible speed; it seems it was all part of it."

"For the first few hundred times, he still considered negotiation; for tens of millions of times, all that's left is killing. The only thing that keeps him from indiscriminately killing innocent people is a sliver of warmth and humanity."

"It hurts so much... All those touching or inspiring lines from the previous version now feel like boomerangs piercing my chest..."

Just as the two sides were about to fight, Xia spoke up to stop them.

【--quiet.】

This sudden scene surprised Bai E, after all, Xia's actions at that moment were unprecedented, as if they had triggered some hidden plot.

That summer: [Go, Sefaria. Give us some private time.]

This isn't for her, it's for you.

As she spoke, Xia looked in Bai E's direction.

You've gone too far down this path; it's time to discuss a possibility: perhaps what you're doing isn't a path to salvation at all, but simply dragging the world into flames.

For the sake of our past teacher-student relationship, turn back. I don't care how many times you've tried, because one thing I'm very clear about—

The savior complex in your heart has made you no different from the indifferent god you speak of. Those children of humanity you swore to save... now, in your eyes, their lives are probably no different from ants, aren't they?

His insightful remarks were also the reason why Xia stopped standing on Bai E's side after the 134th reincarnation, because he also discovered that Bai E's mind was beginning to change.

This scene, in which he proactively showed concern for Bai E, also moved the audience.

"Teacher! As expected of Teacher Xia!"

"But if he didn't do that, there wouldn't even be a chance to save them."

"Teacher Xia's words were truly a rare display of gentleness; he must feel sorry for Xiaobai too... But this time, the teacher is also on his side..."

"It's not that I don't understand, on the contrary, I understand too much, and I'm afraid he'll fall into nihilism..."

"It's true. The more cycles of reincarnation there are, the stronger the final Iron Curtain becomes. That's why Lai Gushi didn't interfere."

"Judging from Bai E's reaction, Teacher Xia probably wouldn't have stopped him before. It's because he's been through so many reincarnations that Teacher Xia started to realize that Bai E's mind was having problems."

"From now on, the only teacher who would believe him is gone..."

Hearing Xia's conclusion at this moment, Bai E fell silent, while Sai Feier couldn't help but laugh.

Saifeier: [Heh, no wonder.]

Every day I wonder, what kind of demon could burn down my hometown in an instant, without even blinking an eye...?

Now I know the answer. All that nightmare of being engulfed in flames, all that was in my head was a fantasy of becoming a savior!

Another line that dealt massive damage, sending the audience into a state of utter devastation.

"I can't take it anymore, those words hurt so much!"

"This statement fundamentally negates all of Bai Er's efforts."

"That thief duo really knows how to inflict real damage!"

"Cat's hometown probably wasn't burned by Bai E, it's just that he always appears with the Black Tide, so Cat misunderstood..."

"What's that saying again? The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

"How many times must Bai E have endured such sorrowful rebukes along his journey..."

"I can't blame either side...it's so frustrating."

"No wonder he didn't show up during the Fire Thief's era, sob sob sob."

His eyes had completely lost their light...

Faced with Sai Fei'er's mockery, Bai E had no heart to say anything more, because the ending would not change no matter what.

Fight with all your might, or accept your fate and pass the torch to me...

Even if it's all in vain, you...we all have the right to choose.

Thus, in the 134th Eternal Return, Bai E killed Sai Fei'er and Na Ke Xia simultaneously for the first time.

Or perhaps, they weren't the only ones whose fates were fulfilled. I just can't remember anymore.

At this moment, only Bai E's numb eyes remain in the camera's view, and the fire in his eyes gradually increases as time goes by.

In that boundless darkness, a voice echoed in Bai E's ears.

The pursuit of fire is a journey of constant loss, and in all of it, life is insignificant.

Looking back at this statement now, in this despairing world of Onphalus, even following fate and falling on the path of one's ideals is such a luxury.

Finally, after the 134th cycle, the administrator's comments reappeared.

【>>> Eternal Regression #134: Object Caeslana's 103rd attack on the scepter kernel layer failed. To avoid past ally sacrifice decisions, the decision weights approached 0.00018, noting the risk of overfitting.】

Then time began to accelerate. In each cycle, Bai E attempted to break through the core of the scepter, and the rate at which each cycle ended increased.

[>>> Administrator instruction received: Stop displaying warnings about the risk of mental function corruption.]

This cold, detached annotation and data report only fuels anger towards the mastermind behind the scenes.

When the bell rang again, it was already the 108642nd eternal cycle.

Wan Di: [...This posture is truly ugly, Savior.]

Having fought his way through all obstacles, Kauslana now had corpses of the Hanging Edge Clan members, whom all enemies feared, lying behind him.

Caislana: [Even after 108,642 reincarnations... myriad enemies, your form of address to me has never changed.]

Comrades who were once, or will be, entrusted with their lives are now only met with hatred and ridicule.

Wan Di: [What's so smug about? That's a derogatory term.]

Caislana: [Yes... I know it all too well: it's not a derogatory term, it's only for the first cycle of reincarnation.]

These few words were like a knife cutting open his own wound, making people feel sorry for him.

"Waaaaah, this sentence is killing me, you know?"

"In the first cycle, Bai E still held onto hope, collecting sparks to find a way out of the predicament, but later there was simply no way."

"There is one last cycle of reincarnation; he hopes you will become the dawn!"

"Little White remembers the number of reincarnations so clearly..."

"How did he go so crazy? If it were me, I would have collapsed long ago."

"Even death is a luxury. Once Bai E falls, everything will be over..."

"I can't bear to watch anymore! What if every Golden Descendant has to do this later?! (Sad)"

Let the world feel pain!