Enlightenment · Two

The inner darkness subsided, and Miss Surtr carefully set the Fire Keeper down, handing her care to Ren, who claimed to be merely an observer. She gazed at the bone cup, watching the dark substance surging at its bottom.

She threw the bone cup off the tower.

"King of Slumber, I command you to offer firewood!"

Words transformed into thunder, and the power they had just gained suddenly crashed down, shattering the bone cup beneath the tower. The massive bolt of lightning spread and tore through space, and with the shattering of the bone cup and the manifestation of the seal, the ancient city ruins beneath the tower were instantly engulfed by a dense black mist of cursed poison!

A gigantic skeletal arm emerged from the thick fog. The colossal skeleton, as large as a mountain, stood atop a crown, sword in hand, glaring angrily at the top of the tower.

"Who... dares to offend His Majesty!"

The Undying King roared, its magnificent greatsword, tens of meters long, gleaming with light. It wielded the sword, cleaving the tower. And in the instant the tower was struck, Twilight- colored flames burst forth from every breach!

The flames eroded the holy sword, its pure white light melting like ice cream in the Twilight Flame. The Lava away the bones, leaving the mountain-sized behemoth only able to howl in agony. From skull to spinal cord, not a single limb of the former overlord could escape the raging inferno. And as the air grew thick with the stench of Sulfur, the boiling flames had already consumed the overlord, burning away the poisonous black mist and spreading deeper into the earth!

The Undead King met a swift and permanent death.

Its inability to utter a wail or beg for mercy was its final act of dignity, and its purified soul fire, along with the shattered bone goblet fragments, floated into Miss Surtr's hands as the Flame-haired Girl beckoned. It was then placed atop the skull goblet, forged together by brute force.

The flames were still spreading when Miss Surtr turned her head and glanced at her followers.

The steps already taken cannot be taken back, and the difference in the flow of time has been greatly widened. Now, perhaps every minute that passes for me is equivalent to several days on the edge of the world.

Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back.

She turned back towards the dark, poisonous mist that rose and fell beneath the tower, its vapors rising and receding with the Twilight Flame—

It fell like a falling star.

They survived.

We won.

Kal'tsit breathed softly, slowly withdrawing the hand that had pierced the pale, unformed creature within the tree skeleton. Behind her, all the undead that had surged towards her like a tide just moments before collapsed in an instant—clearly, their rapid transformation into undead after the curse of immortality was due to the pale creature's actions. They had long since become puppets of the Giant Tree's corpse, no longer truly living beings.

It's a very interesting technique; she had seen similar techniques in Terra.

Therefore, she was able to see through the only flaw under the heavy protection, and at the cost of exhaustion and minor injuries, she wiped out the evil thing that was born from the curse and evil worship, or rather, was about to be born.

Because she found the core.

A core part is now in her hands.

As she completely withdrew her hand from the pale creature's vitals, along with the alien's bodily fluids, a cross-shaped spear wrapped in flesh-colored thorns came into view.

A wisp of memory appeared in her consciousness.

' —Alster! '

A dark cloud hung over the bloody battlefield as brutal soldiers impaled screaming prisoners one by one on spikes. They chanted the name of their Monarchs with fanaticism, praising the cross-shaped spear wielded by Piercing Duke Alster, the Piercer!

The Duke, invincible in battle, was poisoned by traitors on the final battlefield. In the end, the Duke and his army were impaled by their spears and left to rot on the battlefield. The land was abandoned, and over the long years of sun and rain, the army's remains turned to dust, while the Duke's spear and flesh remained standing. On an ordinary day after the passage of time, they transformed into a cursed tree.

The name of this gun is the Spear of Alster. And when she was gripped tightly by Kal'tsit, the Duke's memories and the hatred and curse he harbored before his death instantly engulfed her.

The Duke's hatred wanted to kill her, his curse wanted to possess her. And the Duke's power wanted to be rekindled within her!

The air fell silent for a moment.

The still, Verdant Dragon Serpent suddenly sprang up, brandishing its sharp bladed feet, and was about to slash down at her gun-wielding hand!

The blade stopped.

Miss Lynx's gaze shifted from scattered to focused. The color in her eyes remained as steadfast as ever.

"My heart already belongs to another, and you cannot possess me, Duke," she whispered, pointing at the gun.

A dark mist immediately rose from the surface of the gun, accompanied by a silent wail that only she could hear. The cursed flesh on the gun then peeled away.

The ancient, Piercing Duke became her sustenance. She twirled her spear, the technique, though used for the first time, performed with the practice of a thousand repetitions. And her physical abilities surged with each meal.

The body becomes stronger, and reactions become faster. The five senses... become more acute.

She suddenly turned her head to look at something behind her, her gaze fixed on a quiet spot a hundred meters away.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Two-in-one... 24/75

Ah... I'd like to recommend a book without any responsibility. "Humans in Honkai Impact, Just Left the Type-Moon, Scientific God," the protagonist is Doctor. Mei.

... I feel like I've already recommended this book before. But the author, Ji, said that Alice from my book two years ago will appear in this one, so I'm recommending it again ().

Chapter 213 Enlightenment Part Two

The mist of cursed poison is the residue of the abyss, which can be transformed into usable fuel by the burning of Profaned Flame.

Fire is the soul, but the Profaned Flame does not belong to Surtr's soul—it is more like a fiery vessel bound by Surtr's own will. It can function as a soul, but it is not important for maintaining Surtr's existence as an individual.

It's not important, but it's still firewood. Whether it's a soulless wanderer or a byproduct of the abyss, they can all change their nature through the burning of the Profaned Flame, thus becoming closer to the essence that Miss Surtr reveals in this world.

It is closer to that Twilight -like, End Flame.

—My specifications are expanding.

—Following the transformation of my mouth, tongue, and nose, now my eyes, my ears, and my head all exhibit structures similar to Terra's form... I can use many of Terra's powers. And this means my power system is spreading from Terra into the Dream Realm.

At the very bottom of the dense fog, Miss Surtr, enveloped in flames, floated above the completely burned-out void. She now possessed the same five senses as Terra. This meant that the essence of this body was gradually approaching that of Terra.

What does that mean?

This means that if she can grasp this pattern, then no matter which dream world she travels to in the future, she won't need to adapt to the local power system, but can instead use universal methods to restore her power. It means she can even touch the extraordinary in slice-of-life dream worlds, the only difference being the time it takes.

The idea of a universal power system is quite exciting.

But she wasn't excited; she was just thinking.

This is a vision of the future, but my current advantage lies in my greater control over the cycles of this world. If I can restore Terra to its Terra in this world, then...

Even if I ultimately fail to find Clara, even if I ultimately fail to learn the primal runes of this world, I... can still create a new world through methods found in Terra and other dream realms. So what if the First Flame is extinguished? The First Flame is the soul, is order. Then isn't my soul also flame, also order?

Ah, another way to solve the problem. This is good news for both the world and myself.