That Is What Counts as Death

"————"

The sound has disappeared from this world.

The sound of the ground being ravaged and cracked by Invisible Hand.

The sound of trees being struck and severed by a dark, shadowy hand.

Petelgeuse roared madly.

The sounds of birds, beasts, and insects in the forest.

In that instant, all sounds vanished from Fang Li's ears, his heart, and even his mind.

Only one voice remained, softly echoing in Fang Li's mind.

"Splat..."

That was the sound of something breaking.

This sound can be the sound of anything breaking.

However, in this very moment, even without conscious thought or understanding, Fang Li could instinctively comprehend it.

The source of this shattering sound is none other than the soul.

The soul of Petelgeuse.

As the crescent-shaped dagger Petelgeuse's chest, slicing open the Death Lines that belonged only to the soul, Petelgeuse's soul was killed.

Therefore, the madman's soul shattered.

Fang Li can confirm this fact.

Because Fang Li had already heard the same shattering sound in his own soul.

Unable to bear the constant recording of deaths, and with his soul shattering under the heavy burden, on that day, it was in such a voice that cracks appeared in Fang Li's soul space.

Now, the exact same voice entered his mind, and Fang Li understood almost instantly.

"This is the death of the soul..."

Petelgeuse, who intended to resurrect himself by taking death as an opportunity, could no longer be resurrected once the outcome of his death was fixed and his transferred soul was erased.

However, this is merely a result-oriented approach.

If the outcome of death is not fixed due to the power of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, then death is merely a phase in Petelgeuse's transition to rebirth.

Since that's the case...

When the soul enters the stage of death, is death truly the only option?

In most cases, the human body will die when it is damaged.

This is common sense.

However, in these mysterious worlds where anything can happen, there are still beings that do not die even if their bodies are destroyed.

Therefore, for such beings, the death of the soul is often the true death.

However, this is only limited to these worlds.

What if there were beings whose souls could be destroyed but who would not die?

Such beings must also exist in the Main God Space, which possesses all possibilities, right?

However, even such a being, as long as it is alive, Fang Li's eyes can kill it.

In other words, for Fang Li, there is only one value in his existence.

That is death.

Everything in the universe is subject to death.

Fang Li is the one who can record all these deaths.

Even so, there are still things that Fang Li's soul cannot record.

That is itself.

It records the souls of the dead, but cannot record its own death.

This confirms the insights Fang Li gained when observing Subaru Natsuki's death.

"Although the death of one person is far too insignificant compared to the death of all things, sometimes, even the death of one person can accomplish things that the death of all other things cannot."

There's a saying among humans, "Even in death, one should die with value."

In other words, the so-called "death" is not something whose value is calculated in terms of quantity.

The death of all things is death.

Even a person's death is still death.

Since both sides are going to die, why is the side with more people considered to have an advantage?

Aren't they all going to die anyway?

The death of the body is death.

The death of the soul is death.

However, Petelgeuse could transfer his soul to another body upon physical death, thus achieving the goal of continuing to live.

That outcome wouldn't be death.

When the soul is killed, Petelgeuse truly dies.

This is true death.

Death is just an outcome.

Whether the object is killed physically or spiritually, as long as that being is still alive, it is not considered dead.

Only the end can be considered death.

So...

"Even if the soul is shattered, as long as there is no end, it is not considered death."

Fang Li seemed to understand.

As the being that inflicts death on others, how can there be any other path to one's own end besides the same death?

Although he still didn't understand why his soul could record death, and he hadn't yet found the origin of his own essence, Fang Li seemed to understand what he should do through Petelgeuse's death.

"Zheng..."

The Ice-Blue Demon Eyes slowly dimmed in Fang Li's eyes, returning to its dark color.

"Buzz..."

The invisible demonic hands that had been wreaking havoc in this space also stopped unknowingly and gradually dissipated.

The surrounding area had been completely turned into ruins, with pitted caves and scattered tree debris, a scene of unimaginable devastation.

Only Fang Li, still holding the silver-haired Half-Elf girl in one arm and gripping the Moon Blade in the other, plunged it into the chest of the person before him.

There, Petelgeuse remained in his frenzied state, his body seemingly frozen in place.

The anxiety in his eyes had long since vanished.

When Fang Li pulled the sharp dagger from Petelgeuse's body, there wasn't a single wound on his body.

Petelgeuse died here, still looking the same.

Looking at Petelgeuse like this, Fang Li spoke with pity, breaking the surrounding silence.

"You remained this madman until your death; you were truly beyond saving, Petelgeuse Romani-Conti..."

Besides Fang Li, another person present also felt the same way.

As Emilia watched Petelgeuse die in his mad state, an indescribable sorrow welled up within Emilia.

"Well?"

When Emilia senses, she realized that she was actually shedding tears.

Emilia quickly wiped away her tears, then became confused.

The way he looked was as if he was surprised that he was saddened by the death of this madman who didn't care about human life.

If Petelgeuse remained in this mad state until his death, then Emilia probably retained this innocence and kindness until her own death as well.

This is both Emilia's weakness and Emilia strength.

Therefore, Emilia in this Fang Li, but simply waited silently for her to adjust her mood.

After a long while, Emilia finally came to her senses and spoke softly to Fang Li.

"Let's go..."

Fang Li nodded.

After all, even though Petelgeuse is dead, the matter is not over yet.

The battle against the White Whale continues.

Although, in this situation, the outcome was already predetermined.