The Madness of the... Finale / Casualties: One

"Once a person decides on the path they want to take, it is very difficult to change it."

Some people may be forced to abandon their decisions due to the influence of their families, but that is only because family carries more weight than their own ideals and ambitions. People who are alone rarely have such concerns.

"So... how exactly should I decide the path I'll take in the future?" Su murmured, gazing at the bright moon, lost in thought.

"No, Sue, you've already decided on the path you want to take."

Suddenly, Su looked up and saw Lin put down his cup and say something that Su didn't expect.

"You have decided to dedicate the rest of your life to saving others, which is why you gave up your original dream of becoming a doctor."

"You..."

Su stared blankly at Lin, this man who seemed different from the first time they met.

"So even if you made the same decision in your dream, being compassionate and empathetic is a basic quality of a good doctor, but you gave up your dream because of it."

Lin seemed to smile, but he also seemed completely unmoved. He nodded to Su.

"You have won the bet with her."

Su stood silently in the empty white space, looking at his hands. He exhaled and turned to look at the silent Eighth Herrscher.

"You lost."

Chapter 129 The Final... Madness

"... Losing to two people at the same time, I'm truly a failure as a Herrscher," the Eighth Herrscher said, resting her chin on her fist in contemplation. "But thinking about it, all my 'older sisters' also lost to humans, so it doesn't seem so bad, does it? Humans are becoming increasingly terrifying, with even instances of individuals surpassing Herrscher. I wonder if my 'younger sister' will ever have one..."

"But it seems I have no time to think about what will happen next. What a terrifying look."

Su stared at the Eighth Herrscher with eyes that were almost as sharp as a sword, radiating murderous intent. Only after experiencing the dream firsthand did Su understand what the Eighth Herrscher had done.

So-called dreams are actually a cage. They do contain the dreamer's ideal world, but the dreamer cannot actively escape the dream world.

However, if she tries to regain her senses, she will be forcibly suppressed by the Eighth Herrscher; her claim of not being forced is simply empty talk.

She didn't give those people a choice at all; she just wanted their consciousness to drown directly in their dreams.

The Eighth Herrscher tilted her head, seemingly unaffected by Su's rare angry gaze... Rather, she herself didn't possess any real emotions or humanity. No matter how anthropomorphic she was, she was essentially no longer the same species as humans.

Therefore, two species that were hostile to each other and could not understand each other did not need any more words; in the next moment, they began to fight in this world of consciousness.

"Time is up."

Yan Luo suddenly leaped out of the sea. The seawater on her body evaporated the moment she emerged from the sea due to the high temperature emanating from her body, and she floated on the surface of the sea. Her eyes turned into dazzling Prismatic Eyes.

"... Why do you have to do this?" he sighed in her ear. "Even if we fail this time, we can try again. There are countless Parallel World on the branches of the Imaginary Tree. Why go to such lengths?"

"For you, there might be a next time. No... As far as I am concerned, you probably only need to spend tens of thousands of years to find another one, and you will have countless opportunities to try and fail."

Yan Luo to the land and picked up the Black Abyss White Flower. Her expression was indifferent as she looked up at the empty world where only she remained.

"But he made a promise to me, and I will not give up, so there are only two possibilities left."

"Either I kill him like I killed every Lin in the past to prove the future is immutable, or he tramples on me to prove your theory is possible to be implemented. Whichever happens, I will not be able to continue cooperating with you."

He heard Yan Luo's unwavering voice and didn't know what to say.

"You are no longer the same as us. Ten thousand years is enough to change a person." Yan Luo's words touched a nerve.

Change...

After a long pause, he said quietly, "Then if you wait a few thousand years, you might end up like me."

"But at least, I'm not yet."

After Ling Lie finished speaking, Yan Luo was about to head to the location of the Second Divine Key, but he was stopped by him.

"Wait a minute, since that's the case, why don't you do me a favor while you're at it?"

"What?"

"I'll lend you something, and you can use it on Lin." He paused for a moment and said in a joking tone, "Because your civilization ended after the Eleventh Honkai War, you never saw this thing come into existence. Let me introduce it to you."

As his gentle voice rang out, a huge golden object fell from above Yan Luo's head, landing in front of her like a shooting star.

"This is Divine Key made from the core of humanity's 'most terrifying' enemy; it was once my weapon."

It is a magnificent golden... cross.

"Bang!"

As Lin was withdrawing from the observation instrument, he couldn't stop his weakened state and fell to the ground. Seeing this, Vill-V immediately put down the measurements she was taking and helped him up.

Lin's mind went blank for a moment, and phantom pain still lingered throughout his body.

External injuries to the consciousness body do not affect the original body, but this time Lin not only received the consciousness energy of Aponia and Yan Luo, but his consciousness was also severely damaged. Even if no major problems occur, it will still affect his spirit.

Unlike going to Parallel World or one's own consciousness world, this time it's the genuine consciousness world of Herrscher.

"Huff... Huff..." Lin's pupils contracted and then dilated rapidly. His entire body was in an abnormal state, and his endocrine system was probably out of balance.

"Dessidobia has been sent to the Medical Department. Wait a moment, I'll have the Armed Puppet..."

"... Kevin... where are they?"

Lin shook his head, suppressing his discomfort, and looked around with his double vision. He found that apart from Su, who was still in the instrument, and Einstein, who was still working next to the instrument, some people were no longer there.

"Mei, Kevin, and Mobius are now heading to the Eighth Herrscher's real-world coordinates. Dessidobia, Kosma, and Spasi are in the Medical Department treating Dessidobia." Vill-V quickly explained the situation. "Su is still fighting the Eighth Herrscher in the consciousness world, preventing most of her consciousness from returning to reality or transferring."

Su...

Lin turned to look at Su, who was still inside the medical equipment.

Is he still fighting...?

Lin gritted his teeth, pushed Vill-V aside, and stood up.

The battle against the Eighth Herrscher is nearing its end. All Kevin others need to do is find the Eighth Herrscher's physical location, and then...

"Clatter."

...wrong.

Lin and Vill-V exchanged a glance, and at that moment, they thought of something.

According to Aponia, the Eighth Herrscher can split their consciousness into different parts to act, so...

Three minutes left!

The Eighth Herrscher stared calmly at the screen in front of her. With only three minutes left, she would be able to contaminate the consciousness of all humanity in the world. After completing this, she would transfer her consciousness to another corner of the world, at which point the Fire Moth would be completely unable to find her!

But that Su... that Flame-Chaser is still in her consciousness world, and she has to devote most of her power to dealing with him!

As long as he is still holding onto most of her consciousness, even if he completes the consciousness contamination three minutes later, he will not be able to transfer his own consciousness.

Moreover, she knew that Kevin had already arrived in the vicinity, and he was definitely rushing here as fast as he could!

What to do...

What to do...

What to do?

The Eighth Herrscher smiled.

"Clatter."

Vill-V turned her head abruptly and saw Sakura standing at the entrance of the Spiral Workshop, but her face did not have its usual calm expression; instead, it had a twisted smile.

She drew the Frostblade from her waist, leaped up, and stabbed at Su in the instrument!

Vill-V's mind went blank. She took a step forward and stood in front of the equipment.

"Bass!"

The blade pierced through the body, taking away the blood and warmth.

Chapter 130 Number of Sacrifices, One Person

Once a person breaks a taboo, there is no going back.

There are countless paths in this world that lead to inhumanity, but there is never a way back.

Within the gradient of pink and white pupils, blood droplets danced wildly in the air. The cold, transparent blade pierced through the neck, which was much thinner than the sword itself, tearing open the flesh and taking away the body's warmth.

Vill-V felt her face was burning hot, as if a basin of hot water had been poured on her face.

But it wasn't water; it was blood gushing from a human body.

A few drops of blood flowed into her eyes, making them swollen and uncomfortable. She dared not blink, and stared at everything happening before her eyes, unable to make a sound, because it was all so strange.

The pink-haired girl with animal ears held a long sword. The moment she plunged the sword into her neck, her chaotic eyes cleared. The confusion in her eyes quickly turned into panic, and finally into a deathly despair.

The pain, which she only realized belatedly, spread from the edge of her neck. Vill-V ignored it, because it was just the overly sharp blade grazing her neck and had not actually hurt her.

At the last moment, someone pushed her away, while he himself was pierced through the neck by the very blade that had claimed countless lives.

Vill-V's eyes rolled stiffly. She dared not move her body, not because of the knife less than a centimeter away, but because of the body in her arms whose temperature was rapidly disappearing.

"Lin..." she uttered a sound that didn't sound like her own. Her brain, heart, fingers, every part of her body was trembling. A sudden and long-standing panic overwhelmed her.

A man with medium-length black hair lay on her body like a broken doll. Blood from the wound pierced by the sword dripped from the blade, which was so sharp that no blood could remain, and flowed into her clothes. It was still warm from his body, but it was so cold that her teeth chattered.

Sakura pulled the knife from Lin's neck, the sound of it scraping against flesh was deafening.

Vill-V, at a loss, clutched Lin's horrific wound, her hands covered in blood. Unable to stop the bleeding, she forced a trembling scream from her throat, "Lin! Lin!"

My head hurts so much.

As if something was about to emerge, Vill-V unconsciously breathed heavily, her pupils gradually dilating, and the glaring liquid on her hands.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much—

Why did it turn out like this? She's a genius now, right...?

She possesses talent, capable of doing things that many people cannot do in their entire lives, but why... would she kill her... companion?

A sense of bewilderment and timidity emerged from what should have been a closed-off place.

This series of sudden changes caught Einstein completely off guard. She quickly walked over to the three of them, looked at Sakura, who was pale and hadn't even noticed the knife had fallen to the ground, and then at Vill-V, who was clutching Lin's neck and yelling. With a serious expression, she stepped forward and grabbed Vill-V's shoulder.

"Dr. Vill-V, we need to get Lin to the Medical Department immediately..."

"Don't touch him! I can't let go!" Vill-V had never been so panicked, like a little girl. "If I let go... Lin will die!"

"You'll kill him by choking him like this!" Einstein never expected that the usually carefree and unflappable Vill-V would suddenly lose her composure and judgment. Her face was filled with terror, which was hardly the demeanor of the owner of the Spiral Workshop.

Meanwhile, Elysia was searching for any remaining contaminated individuals in the base, rushed back after discovering the commotion at the Spiral Workshop. She saw Lin, whose life was uncertain, in Vill-V's arms; Sakura, who was completely numb; and Vill-V screaming. Even without knowing the cause and effect, she now knew what to do.

"Vill-V! Let Lin go!" He stepped forward and forcibly pulled Vill-V away.

"No! No! Aaaaaaah!"

The moment Lin was pulled from her grasp, Vill-V's pupils shrank rapidly, and the pain in her head exploded, causing her to faint instantly.

Elysia couldn't care less about the unconscious Vill-V at the moment. She forced herself to calm down and checked Lin's wounds.

The situation is not optimistic. The knife was precise and ruthless; the wound won't stop bleeding easily, and Lin's various physiological characteristics are weakening...

Elysia immediately used her ability to bandage Lin's wound, which barely stopped the bleeding, but it was of little use. She immediately picked up Lin and rushed towards the Medical Department.

Sakura, now fully awake, stood there in a daze until Elysia rushed out of the Spiral Workshop. Only then did she realize what was happening and hurriedly followed after her.

"Doctor Spacy ..."

Just as Spasi had settled Dessidobia, he saw Elysia carrying Lin and crashing into the Medical Department like a madwoman. He was stunned for a second, and when he saw the unfocused pupils in Lin's wide-open eyes, his breath caught in his throat.

"What... what happened?" Spasi wished he had an extra leg to run to Elysia, snatch Lin from her hands, and solemnly examined Lin's injuries. Then he grabbed a flashlight and tested Lin's pupil response.

Then he quickly pressed his ear against Lin's chest and placed his hand on Lin's pulse.

"... Quickly, save him!"