The God King's refusal!

The air froze solid the instant Red Skull finished speaking.

The sadness law, born from the very source of the universe, seemed to find an outlet at that moment, turning into an invisible weight that pressed heavily on everyone's heart.

Harley Quinn blinked her beautiful, wide eyes, bewildered at first. Then a flicker of understanding crossed them. She looked at the bottomless cliff, then at Link's broad back in front of her, and finally at Red Skull, who was neither quite human nor ghost.

"Hey, red-face, you mean..." Harley raised a finger, pointed at herself, then at the cliff. "I jump off here, and my Lil' Puddin' gets a shiny rock?"

There was no fear or sorrow on her face, only a purity unique to her alone—a blend of curiosity and madness.

She even thought the idea was kind of cool.

"It's just jumping off a cliff for my Lil' Puddin'. Sounds way more exciting than getting strapped to a rocket by Joker!" she muttered, even pulling a face at Red Skull and sticking out her tongue.

The ghostly flames in Red Skull's eyes flickered. He had seen countless heroes, villains, and gods face this choice... Some had suffered, some had struggled, some had raged. But this was the first time he had seen anyone like the girl before him, who seemed to be discussing a novel game.

Just then, Link smiled.

He slowly turned, shielding Harley completely behind him as though cutting her off from the prying eyes of the entire world. For the first time, his deep eyes revealed an icy, bone-chilling killing intent, utterly undisguised.

"John Schmidt."

Link's voice was quiet, yet it swept over Red Skull like a polar wind, making even the flames of his soul waver.

"You seem to have misunderstood something very important."