Eternity or Death (5k)

Only at this moment did the Saint realize that all of this was Visas's scheme, designed to bring this part of his consciousness and cognition, which had not yet been fully assimilated, into Wildfire's divine body.

The Saint couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance and regret.

Because if he had just ten more minutes, he could completely assimilate this consciousness and understanding, and descend upon the world as a fully divine being. At that time, this land would be under His watchful gaze, and even Visas would have no chance of escaping.

However, he failed to control himself and was blinded by the imminent achievement of killing Visas with his own hands. He ignored the consciousness and cognition that had not yet been fully assimilated and prematurely returned to the divine body.

And now, within this consciousness, he has transformed back into the innocent Little Wolf he was a month ago.

"How are you, A De?"

Wei Ke, standing by the campfire, wore a blank, worried expression. He had already asked this question half a minute earlier.

The Saint did not respond.

Although it is an undigested "impurity," it is still his own memory. As long as he is willing, this memory will remain stuck at this stage until it is completely assimilated.

Yes, returning to the divine body doesn't mean it's impossible to deal with this impurity. In fact, the consciousness of God is even more powerful than that of the Saint, and the speed of clearing impurities would be much faster. It's just that there's a little more risk, but as long as the Saint has conscious control, this risk can be completely ignored.

But just as he was thinking this, he heard a "snap" sound.

A snap of fingers.

"Let time move on," someone whispered in his ear.

The Saint's eyes widened, and he abruptly turned to look at the person who had suddenly appeared beside him.

"Visas!"

The Saint was about to shout out Visas's name, but after the snap of his fingers, his body responded weakly before he could.

"Waaah..."

As time began to tick, the blankness on Wei Ke's face quickly faded, leaving only vivid worry.

"You will get better." He reached out and gently stroked the Saint's head.

A faint sense of peace, one he had almost forgotten, suddenly rose in the Saint's heart... It came from A De.

Saint stared intently at Bai Wei out of the corner of his eye. "Is this your goal, Visas? Do you really think this will work?"

"Whether there's a purpose or not is another matter." Bai Wei also smiled and reached out to rub Saint's head. "Have you forgotten? I promised you that I would lead you to find the truth."

This action filled the Saint with immense anger and humiliation.

He's going to become a god... no, he already is a god, he's "He".

What gives this guy the audacity to do this?

He wanted to attack Bai Wei, but He couldn't, because He was trapped in memories. Everything in the memories was fixed, and Bai Wei was the only non-fixed existence in this scene.

Therefore, He could only retort verbally, "You didn't agree to me."

"Huh? I didn't tell you that either." Bai Wei shrugged, speaking with a teasing tone. "A stray dog that can't control its body should just stay inside and watch quietly, shouldn't it?"

The Saint was furious, but he couldn't do anything about Bai Wei. This was A De's memory, and at most he could only stop it. But Bai Wei had somehow managed to start it again.

"It's my fault. If I hadn't been so obsessed with becoming Hunter, you wouldn't have ended up like this, would you?" Wei Ke's sigh came.

The memories continue to unfold.

A touch of sadness rose again in the Saint's heart.

It wasn't intense, like one or two sparks suddenly jumping out of a burnt-out campfire—weak, but definitely there.

"Did you feel anything? You were influencing it in the same way during that time, weren't you?" Bai Wei said with a smile. "You kept sending it memories and emotions to change its perception, and now, you're the one being influenced."

The Saint suppressed his anger and said coldly, "Do you think it can affect me, who has become a god?"

How will you know if you don't try?

"Heh, if this is your scheme, then I must say... how boring," He said. "It was nothing more than a spark about to burn out, but now I..."

As soon as the Saint finished speaking, a hissing sound came from above.

Bai Wei looked up and saw that a small gap had suddenly appeared in what should have been an endless night sky.

It was like a spark falling on a piece of paper, quickly igniting it, while the flames outside the night sky were even more intense.

"Soon, everything about it will be burned to ashes by me." The Saint stared at Bai Wei and said in a contemptuous tone, "You and your ambitions will be burned to nothing by me."

The Saint wanted to see panic and helplessness on Bai Wei's face, but to His disappointment, Bai Wei did not show such an expression. Instead, he smiled easily.

"Then you can burn it slowly."

He even rubbed the Saint's head again, which almost made the Saint explode with anger.

The memories continue to unfold.

He felt his body growing increasingly weary, watching as Wei Ke went from confusion and hesitation to making a firm decision to go to the Blood Healing Statue alone.

At this moment, sorrow welled up in His heart again, even more intensely than before.

"You must have been really heartbroken back then," Bai Wei said softly, as if she could empathize with Him. "After all, you never abandoned each other."

Bai Wei's words were like fuel, making that spark in my heart burn even brighter.

But the Saint was not one to be trifled with. After learning what Bai Wei wanted to do, He naturally had a countermeasure.

"It's just part of the plan," the Saint said calmly. "I've experienced this many times before."

The Saint brought forth more hidden memories.

Yes, this has happened many times before.

There isn't just one A De, nor is there just one Wei Ke.

For centuries, He has come here countless times, bringing countless people with him.

He felt sadness throughout, but it was quickly washed away by the memories He regained. So He used these memories, using those different faces, to cleanse that spark of sadness, and soon the sadness in His heart faded.

"This was all expected," the Saint said to Bai Wei. "Why would I be saddened by something that was expected?"

Bai Wei smiled and pointed at Wei Ke: "How about this?"

At that moment, Wei Ke cut off his own flesh.

At that moment, the Saint felt the flame in his heart grow even larger, causing his brow to twitch involuntarily.

"Not everyone would cut off their own flesh to let you leave at a time like this, would they?" Bai Wei asked with a smile.

The countless faces in my memory quickly dwindled to just two or three.

The Saint was silent for a moment, then had to admit, "They are indeed a minority, but not non-existent. They are individuals who are more emotional, and I want to understand those emotions."

The flames, which had been growing larger, stopped growing again, while in stark contrast, the karmic fire overhead continued to burn.

In just a few minutes, the flames had burned away a third of the night sky, and countless streaks of fire fell at the edge of the horizon, igniting the forest.

The consciousness of the gods is destroying A De's consciousness.

"Is that all?" the Saint asked dismissively.

"Don't rush." Bai Wei watched as Wei Ke left, clutching his wound, then pointed to the meat on the ground. "You haven't eaten this piece of meat yet."

"Ha, so what if I ate it?" the Saint said. "I already ate it in reality; this is just a memory."

Although he said that, when he actually dragged his extremely weak body forward and bit into that piece of meat, the sudden surge of intense sorrow in his heart, like a raging fire, still made his eyelids twitch.

"You influenced it back then, didn't you? Or rather, you influenced yourself, causing yourself to devour this piece of flesh," Bai Wei said leisurely. "So, do you feel it now?"

The Saint chewed on Wei Ke's chunks of flesh, his mouth full of blood.

"Of course there are feelings... the feelings of eating and hunting." The Saint looked at Bai Wei, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and said coldly, "For a wolf, eating and hunting only bring joy."

Is Wei Ke your prey?

"Isn't that so?" the Saint retorted. "From the moment I chose him, his fate was already sealed... to be eaten by me."

So are you happy now?

"Of course," the Saint said, "I'm very happy."

Bai Wei glanced at His claws, which were completely embedded in the ground, and said with a smile, "Perhaps, then you should continue."

...continue?

Next, we need to find Wei Ke.

The Saint felt a sense of resistance, because he realized that he had underestimated the impact of this experience on A De, and also underestimated the impact A De had on him.

Although this was still not enough to change anything, it did make the Saint uneasy.

Fortunately, the fire on the horizon had grown even stronger, and half of the night sky had turned into a sea of fire.

"You can't change anything, Visas," the Saint said to Bai Wei. "It won't last much longer."

"Don't rush." Bai Wei patted his bottom and stood up. "We should continue."

Without needing Bai Wei's reminder, the Saint had already stood up.

After eating Wei Ke's flesh, he regained some of his strength and was now able to go find Wei Ke.

Yes, he had to find Wei Ke, no matter what happened, he had to be by Wei Ke's side.

So he ran in the direction Wei Ke had gone, while Bai Wei walked slowly beside him, but the two of them were moving at the same pace.

"You've affected yourself again at this time," Bai Wei said. "After eating Wei Ke's flesh, you're not the same as before."

"Human flesh and blood can help me regain myself," the Saint said coldly. "This is also part of the plan."

He was running wildly.

Meanwhile, the flames had spread to above their heads, and the streaks of fire ignited the forest; everything was ablaze.

"You're too late!" the Saint roared at Bai Wei.

"Then what are you in such a hurry for?" Bai Wei asked with a smile.

Yes, the Saint felt impatient.

But he couldn't tell whether this impatience came from his eagerness to see Wei Ke a month ago, or from his current eagerness to end everything and ascend to godhood.

Perhaps it was both, and the combination of the two turned that spark in his heart into a flame.

Although this little spark can't change anything, but...

The Saint narrowed his eyes.

He saw Wei Ke's back, right in front of the statue. The statue was burning all around, making the scene where Wei Ke was standing look like a piece of paper that had been set on fire and was rapidly shrinking.

The anger in his heart was ignited.

Just like he had done countless times a century ago, he roared and pounced.

Wei Ke heard the sound and turned his head with a look of surprise and joy, an expression that then froze on his face forever.

Because he cut Wei Ke's body open with his claws.

Wei Ke's warm blood splattered on his face, further fueling his ruthlessness and instincts.

He began tearing at Wei Ke's body with all his might, as if he were tearing apart prey.

At that moment, the Saint felt an unprecedented surge of anger and sorrow welling up in his heart, and the flame was growing rapidly, as if to echo the karmic fire burning the sky.

It was like this a month ago.

By then, A De had realized what he was doing and desperately wanted to stop.

But...

Just like a month ago, the Saint unleashed even more instinct and ruthlessness. The countless "Saint" plans over the past century and the indifference unique to the gods instantly overwhelmed the few years of affection between A De and Wei Ke. Like Wei Ke's life, they rapidly vanished under each vicious bite.

So the flame in his heart was suppressed.

The karmic fire in the sky had burned everything away, leaving only Wei Ke's half-body and countless "precursors" who had long since turned into skeletons.

After taking the final bite, the Saint regained his body.

He turned around abruptly, staring intently at Bai Wei, who was standing in the sea of fire, his eyes filled with mockery and excitement.

"You failed, Visas!" Wei Ke's intestines were still hanging from his mouth, and his face was covered in blood, making him look extremely ferocious. "I ate them all! A De and Wei Ke, I ate them all, so what can you do about it?"

"I've done this for the past hundred years! There's never been a special case, never a change. I still remember their names: Finkel, Liren, Wei Ke ..." He pointed to the skeletons behind him, "Each of them had feelings for me, each of them was willing to give everything for me, but I still ate them, even after understanding everything about them. Because that's their value, that's what allowed me to ascend the long staircase to God!"

"You expect me to betray myself for these steps? You expect me to delay my ascension to godhood because of a lingering thought in my sleep?!"

"Do you think that's possible?! Visas?!"

The Saint roared at Bai Wei, the wind carrying a strong smell of blood.

Bai Wei's expression remained unchanged until the Saint finished speaking, at which point he softly said, "Yes, they are all the steps you took to ascend to godhood. Understanding and absorbing them is one step. From them you learned about trust, courage, and emotion, and after understanding all of this, you chose to transcend them, because God is meant to transcend humanity, and you have been doing just that for the past hundred years."

The Saint stared coldly at Bai Wei.

Although he didn't know why, even though he had already won and A De's last bit of consciousness had gone out, he still felt uneasy, deeply uneasy.

It was as if he had forgotten something very important.

"But unfortunately, you still encountered an accident on your last attempt," Bai Wei said. "The only accident you couldn't understand."

... An unexpected turn of events that defies comprehension?

Before the Saint could figure out what it was, a faint voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"A De ..."

He paused for a moment, then slowly turned around and saw Wei Ke, who only had half a body left, reaching out his hand to him.

"Leave this place, A De," Wei Ke said softly. "Never come back."

The Saint's expression froze.

Why is this happening?

Why would Wei Ke say that to him? He clearly killed him!

Why is there absolutely no memory of that sentence in his mind?!

Why?!

Suddenly, the flame in my heart that should have been extinguished flickered again and quickly grew larger.

"This is the Final Truth."

Bai Wei's voice came from behind again.

"Wei Ke has given you the only emotion that you cannot understand and swallow in the past hundred years, and that is forgiveness, or rather, the most extreme love."

The Saint slowly turned around and stared intently at Bai Wei, who was walking slowly towards him.

"For a century, you have killed countless people here. No matter how close or good you were before, everything changed the moment you showed your claws to them. They cursed you madly, resisted you madly, and only Wei Ke chose to forgive." Bai Wei stood in front of the Saint, looking into the Saint's dark green eyes, which seemed to burn with flames. "Of course, we can no longer guess what he was thinking at the time. Either he was bitten and lost his mind, or he never believed that it was your intention in the end, or... he truly had a love for you that transcended life and death, so much so that he could forgive you no matter what you did."

The Saint opened his mouth, but could not utter a word.

"In short, you can't get a definite answer, so you can't truly understand. And without understanding, you can't absorb it," Bai Wei said slowly. "This has greatly impacted all the knowledge you've built up over the past hundred years, causing you great mental confusion, to the point that you've lost your memory. I'm talking about you, not A De. A month ago, it wasn't just A De who lost his memory, it was you too, otherwise you should have become a god a month ago."

The Saint's body trembled incessantly.

He felt it, felt the fire in his heart burning fiercely, as if roaring silently, so much so that he had to desperately try to put it out.

This can't be done! Absolutely not!

He roared inwardly.

He's about to become a god! He's just one last step away!

He cannot waver here, absolutely not!

Bai Wei walked past him and squatted down in front of Wei Ke, whose face was burned to a crisp.

Facing that familiar yet unfamiliar face, Bai Wei said softly, "This boy you used as food delayed your ascension to godhood by a month with just one sentence. That's truly..."

He reached out and closed Wei Ke's eyes.

"You've done enough," Bai Wei said. "Goodnight."

After saying this, he stood up again and looked at the Saint.

At this moment, half of the Saint's face was filled with anger, and the other half with struggle.

Just as He had taken A De's body.

"You can't influence me, Visas!" He roared at Bai Wei. "One step forward is godhood, one step back is death! Everyone knows which to choose!"

"Yes, everyone knows what to choose." Bai Wei looked at the angry half of his face. "You should be able to hear me now, so make your choice, A De."

"To go with him is eternity, to go with me is death."

"But..." Bai Wei reached out his hand to him, "I will help you end eternity."

A De slowly closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

Then...

"Aww!"

It made its choice with great effort.

The real night sky.

The indescribable divine body suddenly began to twitch.

Then there was a loud "boom".

Flames tore the divine body apart from within, and countless streams of fire fell, illuminating the night sky and igniting the graveyard that had been silent for centuries.

God is wailing.