A surging, Eerie Monsters.
It bypassed Li Chen and split into two long black rivers, surging towards those who were still struggling.
The killings have long since stopped.
He strode forward, stepping through the blood- Li Chen.
Su Xian, carrying Su Zhe, floated to a spot not far from Li Chen, her tone somewhat complicated, and asked, "Why!"
"This shouldn't be happening... If it does, there will be no turning back for you."
Li Chen's eyes were completely calm. He didn't answer or give any reason. He just stared at Su Xian's familiar appearance a year later with a calm and deathly stillness.
In just one year, they have changed.
Even Su Zhe has changed. The chubby boy of the past has learned to think and understands his current situation.
Su Zhe took a deep breath, his eyes filled with hope as he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure, and said in a trembling voice, "Chen-ge, can we still go home?"
"The Magic City, Canglan, and everyone else are waiting for you to come home... In the year you were gone, everyone scattered. That battle made us realize our own weakness and understand that only strength can change fate. Now we've come to bring you home."
"Chen-ge, stop killing..."
When he said the last sentence, Su Zhe lowered his head.
Li Chen stopped, gripping the umbrella handle tightly. He looked at the two of them in silence for a few seconds, then said, "There's no going back."
"When willpower surges, our stance will ultimately change."
"Whether it was in the past or is now, let's just treat it as a heavy rain... and let it pass..."
As he finished speaking those last words, a trace of sadness flashed deep in Li Chen's eyes. Going home—what a wonderful word, one that everyone has uttered, yet how many people have truly returned home...?
From the moment he awoke, from the moment he stepped out of the Magic City, the Trajectory of fate may have already led him astray in the darkness.
Su Xian fell silent... her clear eyes seemed to have become somewhat cloudy.
Did all our efforts ultimately come to nothing?
He had already considered countless worst-case scenarios, but he never expected Li Chen to turn out like this.
This is no different from Evil Cult, and even more terrifying than Evil Cult...
The three face each other, but things are different from before.
A complete shift in stance.
Su Xian remained expressionless, her voice growing heavier. "A year ago, you had a secret. I knew it, everyone knew it, but no one cared. I don't want to know how much you suffered this past year, nor do I want to understand what caused you to change like this. I also know your personality. Now that things have come to this, there's no going back."
"Right now, all I want to know is what you're really after!!"
Since Su Xian met Li Chen, he has never seen through Li Chen's true nature. It's as if Li Chen has always been a fake person in front of them, like a puppet living among them day and night.
Li Chen is a person, and a living, breathing person at that.
They never understood what this boy, who had lost his youthful innocence, was thinking, or who he was fighting for his destiny with.
But at this moment, Su Xian only wanted to know everything, even if it meant digging to the bottom of things.
Su Zhe stood to the side, his face also paling. He kept clenching his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, the pain constantly reminding him that it was all real.
There's really no going back.
Li Chen removed the half-face mask with his slender fingers, his eyes, like those of the deepest hell, slowly closed, and he said in a calm voice, "The wind has stopped, the rain has ceased, why not try to find my true face?"
"Others may regret, but I will not. In the future, I will follow my will in everything I do. Death is but a sacrifice for that Great Dao to heaven."
"I will annihilate all living beings, returning the world to zero. I am who I am, and yet I am not who I am. Depart... Su Xian."
"Go to the future and find a way to kill me..."
Su Xian was stunned for a few seconds, unsure how to respond, as the answer had already been given to him.
Faces... all living beings...
Everything is too crazy.
He was also terrified. Why would such an incredibly frightening thought appear in Li Chen's mind?
Suddenly Su Xian's pupils dilated as she looked at Li Chen's thin figure. Recalling everything that had happened, she understood... Then she took one last deep look, her eyes filled with increasingly complex emotions.
Ignoring Su Zhe's feelings, she took him and transformed into a white rainbow, departing without a trace.
Only the sound remained, echoing within a very small area.
"Take care on your journey, Li Chen!"
Li Chen's expression was frosty, but a rare smile appeared on his face. It was unclear whether it was from joy at witnessing Su Xian and the others' growth or from genuine emotion. He murmured, "I hope so."
"After all this time, it all came to an end."
"But aren't we all making great strides forward?"
"The future is uncertain, as is the present."
"This is the pursuit of freedom!"
At that moment, the Eldritch God's mocking voice rang out. "Pfft, haha, how interesting! Indeed, human emotions are the biggest joke."
"You Li Chen, are ultimately just a human being swayed by your emotions!"
Li Chen ignored its mockery, put on the mask, and looked around.
The cleanup is nearing its end...
The night is coming to an end, and he is about to stride confidently into the future.
Beyond the high walls of the Sinful Pass, which block all Eerie Monsters from entering, lies an unknown distance, deep within the Black Mist.
A man dressed in a blue robe stood suspended in mid-air. His appearance was very strange, with two bumps on his forehead and eyes like snake pupils staring at the crawling Eerie Monsters below.
Then he slowly raised his hand, his energy flowing, and a drop of water flowed around his fingertips.
Suddenly his eyes narrowed, and the water shot downwards like a bullet.
Boom! Boom!
A deafening water explosion rang out.
The ground outside the gate wall seemed to have been baptized by the fire, and the man had only made a slight move.
His gaze was fixed on the dark clouds, as if waiting for something. Suddenly, a clap of thunder roared, illuminating the surrounding darkness.
The man's expression turned ferocious as he roared, "I aspire to godhood! What right do you, the Cosmic Consciousness, have to stand in my way?!"
"Why can't our Human Race achieve godhood?!"
"Is there nothing we can do but wait for death to come?"
"I refuse to accept this!"
A deafening roar erupted.
The only response from the sky was the lightning carrying an aura of utter destruction.
He transformed into a black dragon serpent, surging within the Black Mist, and lightning struck his scaled armor, unleashing a dazzling and incomparably brilliant light.
He fought against Heaven and against fate.
Countless blood-red eyes within the Black Mist were also watching him, waiting for their chance to strike.
Chaotic whispers echoed constantly.
Having discovered freedom, the boy has finally spread his wings and begun to soar through the sky.
The world is never small; it's just that your perspective determines your overall situation.
The world outside the wall will eventually reveal its unknown and unseen aspects.