Thanks (5K)

The two walked out of the station, and a path stretched out naturally from the Pale World, its destination unknown.

But the two of them embarked on this path without much hesitation, walking through this pure white landscape.

"It seems everything is over." Jie La Er felt a rare sense of relief. He looked at Bai Wei, who was walking leisurely beside him, and asked, "You succeeded?"

"You succeeded," Bai Wei corrected. "But to be precise, it was you who succeeded."

"I?"

"Yes," Bai Wei said lazily, "I was just the one who initiated the rules. You were the one who paid the price. You successfully held out until I used up both rules. So, you were the one who succeeded, not me."

"...Is that so?" Jie La Er didn't show any extra emotion for persisting to the end. He simply said softly, "I don't remember anything."

"Yes, that's normal, after all, you were already on fire at that time," Bai Wei said. "It's like asking someone who is self-immolating to also check what other people are doing while their eyebrows are on fire; that's really difficult."

... Is this a joke?

Jie La Er was a little unsure for a moment.

He looked at Bai Wei beside him, feeling a sense of absurdity that was both familiar and strange.

The reason he was so familiar with Bai Wei was because Bai Wei was the person he had truly confided in during this period, since Bai Wei had become a household name in his heart.

The reason it was unfamiliar was that this was the first time Jie La Er had seen Bai Wei's true form... That's not quite accurate. To be precise, it should be the complete form, not just the "three pieces" of skin and fingers.

So he carefully examined Bai Wei, wanting to see what this legendary being was really like.

To be honest, he had imagined Visas's image before, but his fantasies always fell on a monster that seemed to have four arms and eight legs, otherwise how could it fight against the gods?

So he was somewhat surprised when he saw that Bai Wei's true appearance was so "ordinary".

But amidst the surprise, there was also a strange thought that "this is how he should be," which is why Jie La Er was able to guess Bai Wei's identity the moment he saw him at the station.

The most important thing is those eyes, those eyes that seem to see through everything.

"So you've Going Home."

Bai Wei suddenly spoke up.

Jie La Er then turned his attention away from Bai Wei and looked around.

He noticed that the silhouettes of buildings were gradually emerging from the white light on both sides of the road. These were small houses, which were naturally the houses of Evening Star Village. However, they were not the dilapidated houses that had appeared later, but rather the houses that he remembered and the houses that remained in the yellowed photographs, which had a warmth as if they were in the sunlight.

Furthermore, there were even faint figures moving about inside those houses.

"Is this...the afterlife?" Jie La Er asked.

"I don't know how to answer that question," Bai Wei said, "Because I haven't died yet."

Jie La Er couldn't help but glance at Bai Wei again.

"Looking at me like that won't do any good," Bai Wei said calmly. "I was just dismembered, not dead."

... This sounds bizarre no matter how you look at it, but what's even stranger is that it sounds damnably reasonable coming from Bai Wei.

But perhaps because he was in a good mood, Bai Wei, unusually, didn't act as the riddle solver as usual, but instead gave an explanation.

"It's less about the afterlife and more about the world you wanted to come to," Bai Wei said. "Do you know Life Review is?"

What is that?

"It's probably like when a person is dying, their whole life flashes through their mind briefly," Bai Wei said. "But that time is too short to review a lifetime, so they might have more memories of things they care about more... So you might as well try to think about everything here more clearly."

"Can you think about it more clearly?"

Jie La Er nodded slightly and looked around again.

The phantoms emerging from the white light became increasingly realistic, and even the path beneath our feet gained a weighty feel that we hadn't experienced before.

"It seems you can indeed invite me to your home for a visit," Bai Wei said. "I mean, the one that hasn't become ruins yet."

Jie La Er smiled again and gestured "please" once more.

"Certainly."

... It's really over?

You Li stood beneath the massive Sword of Order, his face still filled with disbelief.

The Sword of Order he now faces is not the one that Bishop Wei Sen transformed into in the Fifth District, but the true Sword of Order, transformed by the Lyra God, whose height is the same as the previous Tower of Babel.

It was as if Sword of Order, cleaved from the heavens, stood on the earth.

Its enemy, the powerful and mad God of Eternal Life, has vanished.

It's not just the disappearance of the physical body.

Everything about Him has ceased to exist.

The "everything" mentioned here naturally also includes... pollution.

Yes, the pollution brought about by the God of Eternal Life has disappeared.

According to the Devil Knight surrounding the Sword of Order, the God of Eternal Life vanished suddenly.

In the blink of an eye, He was gone.

As He disappeared, the contamination faced by the remaining Devil Knight in the Fifth District also dissipated.

This is also why You Li was able to leave that room.

The pollution on their bodies, which should have been "irreversible" in theory, suddenly disappeared. Even the Knight whose bodies had been mutated by the pollution returned to normal.

And the level of contamination they detected was naturally zero.

It was as if the God of Eternal Life, and everything He carried, had vanished... no, not vanished.

You Li raised his head and looked once more at the Sword of Order, which seemed capable of obscuring the sun.

It means to erase.

His existence was completely and utterly erased.

Is this chilling power... the work of Lyra?

You Li stepped forward, raised his hand, and gently touched the Sword of Order in front of him.

The Sword of Order remained unresponsive.

Just like the vanished immortality.

At that moment, You Li understood.

Lyra is gone too.

"Are they all gone?" Jie La Er asked.

"Is this the first thing you said when you invited me over?" Bai Wei glanced at Jie La Er sideways. "You're about to die, and you're still concerned about things from your past life?"

"How can I feel at ease if I don't ask clearly?"

"Tsk, alright." Bai Wei nodded. "In a sense, they are indeed dead."

They had now returned to Jie La Er's house.

This house is naturally not the one that was later mostly destroyed; it is still in good condition, so good that Jie La Er can even make a cup of tea for Bai Wei.

Bai Wei could also see Jie La Er's fingers, which were gripping the teacup, tremble slightly when he heard "They are indeed dead."

"I see," Jie La Er said softly.

"It seems you still have lingering feelings for the Lyra God," Bai Wei pointed out directly.

Jie La Er didn't deny it. "He is, after all, our god, and..."

"Do you believe He did not commit the sins Ao Li Wei described, or at least not sins deserving of death? And do you think the Lyra People still betrayed your God?"

Bai Wei guessed the half-finished sentence Jie La Er hadn't said.

Jie La Er nodded again. "That's a possibility."

"Yeah, I guessed it. After all, being called a traitor for ten years, it's natural to be sensitive to the act of betrayal." Bai Wei shrugged. "Besides, your opinion isn't too problematic, because it's your true thought, your true thought that hasn't been influenced."

Jie La Er looked up at Bai Wei.

Over this long period of time, he also learned that the Gods could exert influence on mortals, but Visas would eliminate such influence.

That's why Bai Wei said that this was his true thought, not a "believer's thought" influenced by the Gods.

"The reason you are so conflicted is also related to the Lyra. He is also a conflicted god," Bai Wei said. "Of course, I'm not saying that His contradictions affected you, but that His very existence is contradictory. His Divine Kingdom was destroyed, and his body is incomplete, making it impossible for him to remain conscious for long periods of time. In fact, due to his physical defects, even His most basic 'metabolism' as a god needs to be done by mortals."

Jie La Er listened quietly.

"That guy named Ao Li Wei is right, every Lyra People is His tool. So He influences your thinking, makes you use His power, and thus obeys absolute order. Essentially, it can be seen as 'polishing the tool to make it work better.' From this perspective, He is taming you, which is not wrong," Bai Wei said. "But what he said is not entirely correct, because you are in fact more than just tools, but something higher—cells, limbs, or to put it more emotionally..."

Bai Wei paused.

"A part of His body."

Despite being mentally prepared, Jie La Er still looked surprised when he actually heard those words.

"Isn't that interesting?" Bai Wei leisurely sipped his tea, then showed a hint of regret, perhaps because he couldn't taste anything. "But that's the truth. Lyra's own functions have long since collapsed. She needs you to maintain her body, to become the part of her body that I destroyed... I mean, that part that I don't know why I lost."

Bai Wei put down his teacup.

"Therefore, you are one of the very few people in this world with a relationship of mutual need between God and mortals. You should know that such a situation does not exist in other churches. For example, the Rhine people will never be able to see their God or enter their Divine Kingdom in their lifetime, but you were born in the Divine Kingdom of Lyra, and God is right at your feet."

"Do you remember what I told you before? Your biggest problem is that you are too close to God."

"But there's actually a second half to the sentence."

"God's biggest problem is that he is too close to you."

Hearing Bai Wei's words, Jie La Er's breathing became heavier and heavier. "You mean, God is influencing us, and we are influencing God?"

"It's possible, but not very likely," Bai Wei said. "It's extremely difficult for the will of mortals to influence a god. Compared to you, Lyra is definitely more concerned about His body."

"Then you said..."

"But you have already become His body."

Jie La Er was taken aback.

"It's been too long. Lyra has been sleeping for far too long," Bai Wei said softly. "The battle with immortality for more than ten years has greatly depleted His energy. He is not a normal god to begin with. After such a long period of torment, He may have already lost his mind. So, many times, His protection of you can be seen as protecting His own body."

Jie La Er's expression gradually became complicated. "Is that so?"

"These are all my guesses."

"...ah?"

"He is, after all, a god," Bai Wei said calmly. "I could never know Him that well; I can only deduce it from His actions. He truly wants to make all Lyra People a part of His body to work for Him. To this end, He doesn't hesitate to 'damage' your bodies, control your minds, and firmly imprint order into your brains, like the two locks of 'body and mind' that every Lyra People has. He does not allow you to betray Him in any way. Of course, this is also because of His own weakness. Other gods do not worry about the betrayal of their believers, but He does. Therefore, in terms of controlling believers, He can be said to be the most extreme one."

"But at the same time, He has indeed brought you a better life and a better order. In sharing His power, whether voluntarily or not, He is the most generous. Every train and every prosthetic limb is imbued with His power. He has shared His divine power with you, so you live a life that no other church can imagine, because you were born into the Divine Kingdom that no other church can reach."

"As long as you have no ambition and never think of leaving, He is willing to provide you with this kind of life forever."

So, from this perspective, is He good or bad?

As he said this, Bai Wei's lips curled up slightly, just like a nasty teacher who had given elementary school students a lot of homework that was way beyond what was required.

But the person sitting opposite him wasn't a primary school student, but an old man with gray hair.

Even so, this question still stumped Jie La Er, who didn't know how to answer it for a moment.

He had no more time to think, because he found that everything in front of him was fading away, as if it were about to return to that pale nothingness.

Jie La Er chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Looks like I'll have to save that question for when I die... if I can see Him in the afterlife."

He's leaving.

But just then, he saw Bai Wei calmly say, "No, He is not dead yet."

Jie La Er's eyes widened instantly.

"Gods don't die so easily." Bai Wei stared at Jie La Er with his star-like eyes. "I can only take immortality with me, that's already the limit."

Jie La Er immediately stood up. "Then where is He?"

Bai Wei didn't speak immediately, but instead turned his head slightly to look at the window beside him.

Jie La Er followed his gaze and was astonished to find that what was outside the window was no longer Evening Star Village, but the Sword of Order standing on the earth.

... Lyra!

"Although it is very faint now, I can still feel His presence," Bai Wei said calmly. "One day, He will return to the world."

"...Return to the world?" Jie La Er's expression became complicated. "What will happen then?"

"Who knows?" Bai Wei shrugged. "We can't even be sure if it's Him who comes back. After all, He has lost most of His things now, and He may have even lost His memories, just like you back then... In that case, would it still be Him who comes back? He may be the same as before, or He may become even more chaotic and disordered. Everything is unknown."

Jie La Er looked down at Bai Wei: "Then... is there anything else we can do?"

Somewhat unexpected, yet somehow expected, Jie La Er saw Bai Wei nod. "Indeed, it is possible."

But then paused for a moment.

"But are you sure you want it?"

Jie La Er didn't speak, but watched as Bai Wei also stood up, walked to the window, and looked up at the Sword of Order.

"Like those bishops, infiltrate them and become their anchor."

"Anchor point?" Jie La Er asked. "You mean Thought Amber?"

"No, not only that." Bai Wei shook his head. "You no longer have a physical body, so you can't enter the Thought Amber. You can only store your soul directly in that sword... that is, in the body of Lyra. And you can no longer leave."

Bai Wei turned around and saw Jie La Er looking at him calmly.

"It seems you understand what I mean," Bai Wei said. "When Lyra wakes up, your relationship with Lyra might be like your relationship with me, or it might be like..."

"Ian and Yong Xin," Jie La Er said softly.

"Yes." Bai Wei nodded. "When that time really comes, you will face Lyra alone, with no way out... What do you think?"

Bai Wei walked to the door again and opened it.

The scenes outside the door and the scenes outside the window are completely different.

Outside the gate was still Evening Star Village.

But the familiar streets were no longer as empty as when they had been.

There were quite a few people waiting outside.

"Hey, Captain!" Hermes put his arm around Isha and waved to Jie La Er with a grin. "You're finally back."

"We've been waiting for you for so long." Eric held the orange. "Look, this is my daughter."

Jie La Er's gaze swept across the faces of countless familiar people, finally settling on the young couple.

"Father," Ian said softly, "You should rest."

Jie La Er opened his mouth.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't get the words out.

He turned to look at Bai Wei.

Bai Wei didn't speak, but simply looked calmly at Jie La Er.

Finally, Jie La Er walked to the door and, under countless familiar yet expectant gazes, closed it.

"Aren't you going to rest yet?" Bai Wei asked.

Jie La Er smiled, then walked alone to the window.

As he made his choice, his beloved little house crumbled in an instant, leaving only the abrupt and sharp Sword of Order in the world.

Then he heard Bai Wei's voice behind him.

"If that day ever comes."

"I will come back here."

"I'll help you kill Lyra one more time."

"This time, it's free."

Jie La Er turned his head and saw Bai Wei waving at him in front of the dissipating white light. He smiled.

"Thanks."

Lyra is dead.

You Li gradually released his grip on the Sword of Order, his expression filled with solemnity and complexity.

Are they going to walk their own path from now on?

In this desolate place?

Just then, a faint but resounding buzzing sound rang out throughout the city.

At the same time, a familiar power surged back into everyone's hearts.

Everyone turned their heads, instinctively looking towards the source of the sound.

That broke through the dust and mist

The Sword of Order.

Ina was still frantically searching for something in the ruins, suddenly raised her head and looked at the Sword of Order shining brightly in the sunset. She suddenly felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

It made her murmur to herself.

"...Father?"