We cannot predict the value of a particular moment until it becomes a memory, only then do we learn to cherish it...
Li Chen remained silent for a long time...
His memories had long since faded to a certain extent; he had almost forgotten many things—people, objects, and emotions—he had discarded everything that needed to be discarded.
Just as the Eldritch God said.
Don't you want freedom?
Don't you want to see the world of the future?
Is this the ending I wanted?
"Ha..." Suddenly, Li Chen covered his face with one hand, his whole body trembling. An indescribable emotion erupted within him, and he roared, "Li Chen... you underestimated my emotions, underestimated how much I paid for freedom, underestimated their place in my heart. I deceived myself, I overestimated myself, I overestimated them."
"They also underestimated their importance to me."
Tell me, what else do I have left to give up? Is it my own will?
"Now I'm like a wild beast, aimlessly biting anyone I see, constantly trying to comfort myself, doubting myself, and now I'm completely lost."
"What else can I lose? Is it my physical body becoming Forbidden, or the Forbidden deep within my soul? I am already Forbidden, but is this the price you spoke of back then?"
"Whether or not I can save those I want to save, their fate has already been marked by the word 'death' by you?"
"Ridiculous... ridiculous..."
When a person gives up everything, will they become cold and heartless? The answer is always no, unless they disappear forever.
This questioning was like a shackle.
His resolve was crumbling... like shattered glass, but it wasn't enough.
Li Chen's figure seemed to appear in front of Li Chen, meeting his gaze. He chuckled softly, leaned his head close to Li Chen's ear, and whispered, "Didn't you choose all of this yourself?"
"Through tens of thousands of reincarnations, I have given you countless choices, but your choices have always surprised me. The deaths of those mortals are part of the process of awakening your consciousness."
"Don't you have to give up everything if you want to become a god?"
"What does it matter to you if a mere mortal, whom I have granted immortality, dies?"
"There's no blood relation, no kinship, don't you think this is just part of the plan?"
"God should have his own judgment."
"Do you still think of yourself as that spirited young man you once were?"
"What you do, you have to pay the price for, don't you think?"
Li Chen was stunned... The word "price" seemed to have permeated his entire life. Wasn't everything he had done just to break this farce?
But who borne all those costs for me?
Li Chen? High Priest? Human?
Ultimately, I am the one who exerts influence, and every move I make holds the lives of countless beings in my hands.
Just like Huizhou City at that time, I only wanted the plan to succeed, so all the lives in the city should be wiped out.
Li Chen stood before him with a light laugh, a pure white smiling mask and a jet-black mask appearing in his palm. He said, "I once told you that the closer you get to the truth, the less you want to know it, because for you, the truth is cruel, while the reality is often quite the opposite. Now, all the pieces are in place, waiting for your choice."
"Black or white, which would you choose?"
"To become this world-destroying demon king?"
"Or the hero who saves everything?"
The choice is entirely yours.
Li Chen's deep eyes revealed no emotion, as if he were talking about something very simple, but in Li Chen's eyes, it was like a tilted scale.
Choice... and another choice.
Suddenly, Li Chen swatted all the masks out of Li Chen's hands, then looked at Li Chen and said, word by word, "I don't want to make any more choices."
"I want to make choices for my own life."
"Whether it's stepping into freedom or falling into Forbidden."
"You've planned my whole life, you've arranged everything for me, isn't that enough?"
What else do you want me to do?
"Taking everything to the path of death?"
Is this what you wanted?
"Heh... that's right. You're just a dead man devoured by the Eldritch God now, with only a wisp of your remaining consciousness appearing before me. What makes you think you can make a choice for me?"
Li Chen looked at Li Chen, who was showing anger in front of him for the first time, and laughed... He laughed loudly, even drowning out Li Chen's question.
"Pfft, haha."
"Finally... finally, do you understand?"
"Li Chen... do you finally understand?"
"All things in the world are interconnected, and no matter which path you choose, you don't need others to tell you. Just like when I asked you back then if you had found your own path or way, your answer was confusion. You were so confused that you didn't even know what you wanted to do. You always followed the choices of others. Have you ever asked your own heart and chosen what your own heart truly desires?"
"Didn't you choose to be a puppet?"
"Are they the ones who deliberately avoid your pain and emotions?"
"Shouldn't it be that you yourself don't want to be in contact with them?"
"Isn't your own choice to be afraid of their deaths this time, of losing everything again?"
Did I say that being Forbidden means you can't walk with others?
"Isn't this because you're afraid of bringing disaster to Su Zhe? Su Xian... and your friends?"
"The word 'love' is etched into the human heart, and I understand it better than you, because I was once a human being myself. Tell me, Li Chen, is it really just that you want freedom?"
"Isn't it for those people to create this so-called Realm of Freedom?"
Li Chen closed his eyes... and fell silent.
The illusion of Li Chen before them was also dissipating. After taking one last look at Li Chen, it slowly stepped into the void.
At this moment, my state of mind became as fragile as glass, and began to shatter.
What am I afraid of...? Is it the loss of family or friends?
Can he calmly face the deaths of all those who have been kind to him, right in front of him?
Whether it's Su Zhe or Su Xian, they are both people he considers family. Could he really kill them?
The answer had already appeared in his mind.
Won't...
Otherwise, if he could have killed them back in the Sinful Pass, why didn't he? He even knew they might be pawns of the Human Race, so why didn't he act then?
That's because you're still a human being!
He had not completely abandoned his humanity. If he wanted to become a god, would he have to give up his Seven Emotions, as Li Chen said? Then he would have to kill them. Otherwise, as the High Priest said in his "Trajectory," he fought for Human Race but could not become God because he had not overcome the great obstacle called "emotion."
This is why Gods do not appear among Human Race.
And I am that only hope.
Because he doesn't exist in this world, he is an outsider, an outsider brought to this world by Li Chen. He developed Seven Emotions through life among Human Race, which is why Li Chen has been forcing him to make a choice.