Edited MTL Project

The knock on the door sounded, and Dr. Lu, who was giving love advice to Du Yue, looked at the time. It was 7:30 in the evening.

"Who is it? The clinic is closed, if there’s no urgent matter, please come early tomorrow!" Dr. Lu was a loyal supporter of never working overtime after hours. After suffering from overtime in the hospital, he refused to continue working overtime in the Nightmare World.

Knock knock knock.

The door continued to be knocked on. Whoever it was was very determined.

"I'll open the door." Du Yue stood up.

"Forget it, I’m coming!" Dr. Lu pursed his mouth, and the boss stood up from the comfortable sofa unwillingly. He walked impatiently to the foyer and opened the door.

The lights in the room lit up the person’s face.

"Ah! Qi Leren! You’re back!!!” Dr. Lu was overjoyed, and he jumped up with a bear hug. Because of his small size, it seems that his whole person was hanging off Qi Leren.

"Qianbei! You’re still alive!" Du Yue also ran from inside the house and said happily.

"You get off already, I am exhausted," Qi Leren pushed Dr. Lu down, and came into the living room without taking his shoes off. He collapsed on the sofa. "Pour me a glass of water, I’m thirsty."

Looking at the dying Qi Leren, Dr. Lu said strangely, "What's the matter? When did you come back? Where's Ning Zhou? When I met Chen Baiqi last time, I asked her. She said that you were fine, that is, you had been delayed in the Underground Ant City for a while and would come back soon."

"We came back yesterday and started training today. Chen Baiqi definitely wanted to murder me." Qi Leren took the water handed by Du Yue and drank it. He sat on the sofa and said weakly, "Do you know how much resilience it took me to climb over and report to you?"

As a matter of fact, as soon as the training was over today, Qi Leren just wanted to go home to sleep. When Ning Zhou came to pick him up, they had dinner together at Chen Baiqi's house—made by Ning Zhou. Ning Zhou was supposed to accompany him in the evening, but instead, the Court temporarily asked him for something, and finally Qi Leren was the only one who came to see Dr. Lu.

Dr. Lu gloated: "Hey, isn't that great? More training, more progress. You see, I’m running according to the training guide you gave me every day. I haven’t fallen very much recently."

"Qianbei, Dr. Lu rolled down the stairs the day before yesterday. He wore too many clothes and rolled to the bottom like a ball," Du Yue said in dismay on the side.

"Ahhh shut up! Don't say it!" Dr. Lu screamed, holding his head in his hands and playing dead.　

Qi Leren felt a burst of laughter.

"If you wear too much, how can you run like this?" Qi Leren said.

"Wearing less hurts! And now the weather is so cold, I’ll be frozen to death!" Dr. Lu glanced at the thin long-sleeved t-shirt Qi Leren wore and couldn't help but shudder. "You should add a coat at least."

"I don’t need it, I'm not cold," Qi Leren said.

He had never seen anyone at the half-field level still feel cold.

Looking at Dr. Lu and Du Yue, who were already dressed for autumn and winter, Qi Leren suddenly realized what Chen Baiqi had meant when she’d said, "You have stepped into the new world with one foot" when she taught the chapter "Consolidation and Growth in the Half-Field". He now had a deeper understanding.

Knock knock knock.

The door was knocked on again.

"Who is it?" Dr. Lu asked gloomily, "We’re closed, please be early tomorrow."

The person persevered, and knocked three times.

"Could Ning Zhou have come?" Qi Leren stood up, thinking that he shouldn’t have come back from the Court so soon, and went to open the door with full expectation.

The door opened, and a familiar yet strange person stood outside the door, and looked at the Qi Leren inside the door.

"Qi Leren?"

"Xue Yingying?"

Qi Leren looked Xue Yingying up and down. After he’d come out of their Novice Village and entered the Village of Dusk, he had never seen this "manly woman" again, but unexpectedly met her here.

"You... came to see a doctor?" Qi Leren asked.

"I came to see Du Yue. Is he here?" Xue Yingying smiled and quickly passed by Qi Leren, rushing to the living room, "Du Yue! I just went to your house and found no one, so I guessed you must be here! "

Du Yue said with a bitter face: "Ah... um... I’ll come as soon as I’m done here."

Dr. Lu whistled: "If she came all the way to find you, you can talk with her."

"How do you know each other?" Qi Leren asked, surprised.

"Didn't Du Yue save a pregnant woman who wanted to jump off a building before?" Dr. Lu said.

Qi Leren couldn't help but cast his skeptical eyes on Xue Yingying's stomach. He recalled that Xue Yingying had just had a misscarriage during their Novice Village, and was impressed at the thought that she could have already fooled around to this extent.

"Not me! She was a good friend of mine. At that time, she was about to jump. Fortunately, Du Yue pulled her up and she only broke her arm when she fell. I asked him for an address to thank him when he brought my friend to me, and then I became familiar with Du Yue." Xue Yingying's happy smile appeared on her face, and her eyes were shining when she looked at Du Yue.

Qi Leren: Oh, I see.

Unfortunately, Xue Yingying's enthusiasm didn't get a response, and Du Yue reluctantly dealt with it. Dr. Lu happily ate the cupcakes brought by Xue Yingying, which were obviously to buy him off.

"Qianbei, you were gone for a long time, when did you come back? Dr. Lu said it was a main world task. Did it still go smoothly?" Du Yue turned around and simply chatted with Qi Leren.

"Not bad, I just came back yesterday." Qi Leren didn’t elaborate, but vaguely brushed it off. "I encountered some difficulties, but it was still smooth and has been completed."

Xue Yingying pursed her mouth, and the boss looked at Qi Leren and Du Yue who were chatting happily, and began to insert a topic.

Talking was too tiring. Qi Leren, who had been trained to the point of his energy being completely drained, soon became dizzy and sleepy, yawned, and was ready to leave.

At that moment, the door was knocked on again.

Dr. Lu really collapsed: "Who is it now?! Why bother a doctor who’s left work?!”

"I'll open the door!" Du Yue suddenly jumped up from the sofa and actively opened the door.

The door opened, and Ning Zhou, standing in the shadow, nodded slightly to Du Yue, who had opened the door. His line of sight had fallen straight on Qi Leren.

Qi Leren stood up happily: "Are you done?"

"Hmm."

"Then let's go."

Qi Leren waved at the three people, and his face was filled with a sweet smile without knowing it: "Ning Zhou has come to pick me up, I will go first, goodbye."

Dr. Lu winked at him: "Go on, go home."

"Are you Ning Zhou?" After opening the door, Du Yue looked at Ning Zhou and asked sullenly.

"Who are you?" Ning Zhou asked.

"Du Yue, I told you last time," Qi Leren said.

"Oh, I forgot." Ning Zhou turned his eyes away and ignored Du Yue. He pulled Qi Leren's hand a few steps forward and nodded goodbye to Dr. Lu and Xue Yingying. "Goodbye."

Xue Yingying didn't wake up from her shock until they had walked out the door: "How handsome! He’s called Ning Zhou? The name is also great!"

"Don't think about it, he has a boyfriend," Dr. Lu said coldly.

"It turns out that Qianbei really does have a boyfriend. Hadn’t he dumped Qianbei and disappeared?" Du Yue asked gloomily.

"Ah? Why did you suddenly add so much drama to Qi Leren? I only said that he thought Qi Leren was dead, so he wandered off far waay," Dr. Lu looked dumbfounded

"But he came back!" Du Yue was extremely sad. "Qianbei will definitely ignore us in the future."

"Thank God, I’ll never have to do a copy with him again." Dr. Lu spread his hands. "If it weren't for friendship, I wouldn't ever accompany him on a task. It's bad luck every time!"

"Wait, you said the two of them are gay?!” Xue Yingying, whose reflex arc could circle the earth, finally came to her senses.

"Yes, they’re a couple." Dr. Lu gave her a look.

Xue Yingying's heart ached: "Two handsome men gone at once! Ah, my heart hurts. At least I still have little Du Yue."

Du Yue: "I want to go home!"

　　&&&

On the way back, Qi Leren asked Ning Zhou, "Du Yue is the new player who lives in my house. Didn't I tell you before?"

"Hmm." Ning Zhou frowned.

"Don't you like him?" After living with Ning Zhou for a while, Qi Leren could already sense some of his emotions—although his emotions were very few. For example, Ning Zhou's attitude towards Xue Yingying, who was also a stranger, was normal, but he didn't like Du Yue.

"No."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Not lying to me?"

"I’m not lying to you."

The two were just like ordinary little couples, exchanging short insignificant sentences. Finally, Qi Leren raised his eyebrows: "Is it because he took my house, so you don't like him?"

“……”

"Really?"

"...Mm."

Qi Leren couldn't help laughing. He put his arm around Ning Zhou's neck and whispered in his ear: "Ning Zhou baby, you are so cute!"

Ning Zhou: ??????

-----

Ning Zhou took his hand and shook his head slowly.

Qi Leren grinned and cheered in his heart: "Actually, I think so. If one day you forget me, at least I will remember you, so no matter where you go, I will definitely bring you back. "

Ning Zhou's eyes flashed deeply, holding Qi Leren's hand tightly.

But he didn't say anything. Because he couldn't make that promise. He couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't forget.

The sunset in the Village of Dusk was dim, covered by thick clouds, and rain clouds piled up at the end of the coast. The weather caught them off guard, and it began to rain.

The dull thunder sounded, and the whole Village of Dusk seemed to enter night. The rainstorm hit the ground, splashing the smell of dust and mixing with the fresh rain and water.

Qi Leren and Ning Zhou took shelter from the rain under the eaves, and watched the pedestrians rushing through the streets together. They didn’t speak for a long time.

At this moment, the world was noisy and silent. The rainstorm made everything outside the eaves seem like an old movie, and the texture of the film grain made the world seem full of ambiguity. The two people under the eaves were just like lovers sitting in an empty cinema, watching a movie on the screen, but their left and right hands were always holding each other.

The world they looked at seemed to be false, but the heat of their palms was real.

For a moment, Qi Leren felt that he heard Ning Zhou's heartbeat, or perhaps it was his own heartbeat.

"Do you like rain?" Qi Leren asked.

Ning Zhou shook his head and added another sentence: "I don't know."

He seemed to be born with a lack of joys and sorrows. He rarely liked something clearly or hated something deeply.

A rainy day. It was just a kind of weather, should he like it? Or should he hate it? It was obviously just the weather.

"I quite like it. When I was a child and there was a thunderstorm outside, I got into bed early. At that time, the room would be very quiet. I curled up under a warm quilt and fell asleep. I felt that I could sleep until the end of the world," Qi Leren said.

Ning Zhou didn't quite understand why: "Why did you want to sleep? Are you afraid of thunder?"

"Uh..." Qi Leren wanted to explain that falling asleep was just a description, but looking at Ning Zhou's expression at this time, he suddenly had a bad heart and gave himself the persona of a timid person who was afraid of thunder, saying, "A little."

The rain trickled down, and the street lights on the roadside were lit one after another. Two people chatted with each other, and they weren’t in a hurry to go home.

"What did the Prophet say to you?" Qi Leren asked Ning Zhou.

"Things like future plans," Ning Zhou said.

"What are you going to do? Let's hear it." Qi Leren was curious.

The dim street lamp lit up Ning Zhou's handsome profile, and his line of sight swept past Qi Leren’s bare ring finger: "...Before, you said that your house was taken away. Where do you live now?"

Qi Leren opened his mouth slightly and his heart beat faster.

Was this... was this an invitation to move in with him?

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Had Ning Zhou had an awakening?!

"Well, I, um... Before because I was busy with training, I didn't have time to find a new house, so I stayed at Dr. Lu's house for the time being. I stole his room and caused him to sleep on the sofa all the time. He complained to me many times," Qi Leren said, and felt that his hinting was a little obvious and not too reserved, so he added clearly, "Are you free to help me look for a house tomorrow? I have to apply for a new one."

Ning Zhou seemed a little disappointed. He chewed his lip and was silent for a long time because he didn't want to look for a house at all.

"It’s best to be closer to Chen Baiqi," Qi Leren added.

At this time, he was burning with anxiety. Chen Baiqi had said that Ning Zhou also had a house on Sunset Island! And it was close to her home!

This hint was obvious enough!

Ning Zhou, understand!

"Why don’t you live with me first? My home is very close to Chen Baiqi... A new house can be found slowly," Ning Zhou said.

"Okay!" Qi Leren agreed in one bite, and added at the end, "So that Dr. Lu doesn't have to sleep on the sofa all the time."

"Well. Sleeping on the sofa is not good," Ning Zhou said solemnly.

Qi Leren was about to lose control of the rising corners of his mouth: "Let's go back early, there’s been no one at home for a long time, so we have to clean it first."

"Alright." Ning Zhou nodded his head.

Qi Leren looked at the weather with a little worry: "The rain’s a bit heavy. Remember to take a shower quickly when you go home. The cold won’t be good."

Ning Zhou suddenly blew a whistle, and the eagle flew out of the pet bag its master was carrying, soaring into the sky above him.

Along its flight, a heavy force swept through the sky, passing through the thick rain clouds in the Village of Dusk, and the rainstorm stopped instantly.

The clouds disintegrated under the force of destruction, revealing the bright sunset behind them. Reflected in the accumulated water on the ground was the golden sunset, and the eagle hovering in the clouds that glided in the sea breeze.

Qi Leren was stunned and asked in astonishment: "Why didn't you make the rain stop earlier?"

Ning Zhou's serious face has an imperceptible blush.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he said.

At this moment, Qi Leren felt soft sweet weightlessness like a hydrogen balloon was tied to his heart, holding his heart fluttering and flying towards the sky. He could no longer consider what restraint remained, and put his arms around Ning Zhou’s neck and kissed him.

Reflected in the evening water, there was also reflected a pair of embracing lovers, in this deserted street after the rainstorm.

Drops of water on the eaves trickled down, splashing water, blurring the reflection of their kissing, just like a golden dream.

　　&&&

Ning Zhou's home was not far from Chen Baiqi's. Qi Leren calculated the distance and was pleasantly surprised to find that he could sleep ten minutes more in the morning.

Ning Zhou obviously didn't live in the Village of Dusk most of the time. There was a thick layer of dust in the house. Fortunately, the sofa and bed were covered with white cloth, which saved a lot of cleaning effort.

They started cleaning by tacit understanding, and Qi Leren also went out to buy some ingredients to prepare dinner. When he came back, he was dismayed to find that Ning Zhou had prepared two bedrooms.

It seemed that he couldn't sleep with Ning Zhou, and Qi Leren missed the night in the Dragon Ant Queen’s tomb, a little disappointed.

Fortunately, Ning Zhou's birthday was only one month away. When the time came, the marriage proposal ring would be given and they would get married quickly. From then on, they could sleep together fair and square! The more Qi Leren thought about it, the more excited he was. When cooking,he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

When they ate, his mood had finally calmed down a bit. The main reason was that facing Ning Zhou's handsome but abstinence-minded face, Qi Leren suddenly couldn't imagine how to push him down and then do what adults should do. He always felt that there was something wrong with trying to coax Ning Zhou like a girl...

After eating this meal that Qi Leren barely registered the taste of, Ning Zhou went to wash dishes. Qi Leren ran to the two bedrooms for a look. There were only beds and cabinets in the two bedrooms, which were so simple that it didn't look like someone had lived there. However, it was not surprising to think that this was where Ning Zhou lived.

Ning Zhou's requirements for life were almost no requirements. He would eat when he was hungry. It was good to have delicacies, but he would eat a piece of white bread with hot water if that was given to him, without any complaints or dissatisfaction. This was also reflected in his room. His bedroom was not decorated with any personal colours, it was just a place for him to sleep and rest.

Footsteps came from behind, and Ning Zhou, who had washed the dishes, came towards him.

Qi Leren turned around and waved to him. In Ning Zhou's confused eyes, he asked, "Where are your clothes hanging? I don't see a wardrobe."

"In the item bar," Ning Zhou said.

Qi Leren smiled: "Me too. There are many things in it, such as toothpaste, a toothbrush, a towel, and some picnic things."

"You cooked noodles for me and used a small stove," Ning Zhou said.

"Was it delicious?" Qi Leren asked.

Ning Zhou nodded.

"I'll do something else for you next time."

"Hmm."

It was still early. Qi Leren proposed to go to Chen Baiqi’s for a walk, and also to contact Dr. Lu so he knew they were back. Ning Zhou naturally had no opinion. As a result, he ended up chatting with Chen Baiqi for too long, and it was too late to find Dr. Lu, so he would have to talk to him another day.

On the way back, there was a sunset all the way. In the sunset that never fell, the two men walked hand in hand slowly on their way home.

When passing near the steel bridge, Qi Leren couldn't help but slow down and look there.

"What's the matter?" Ning Zhou asked.

"Let's look at the steel bridge." Qi Leren gave him a pull. On the busy steel bridge, a couple were kissing in the sunset.

In this doomed world, love would not stop happening because of danger.

It always came, coming suddenly to people who didn’t expect it, but it happened to be just right.

Now, they were no longer the "mistake" that separated on the steel bridge. They had turned their mistake into a love affair.

-----

"...Why choose me? My origin force isn’t time," Qi Leren said.

"My wording is wrong. It should be said that you would inherit a part of the Village of Dusk." The Prophet laughed, "For so many years, I’ve been studying field inheritance. The inheritance method like that of the Dragon Ant Queen isn’t suitable for the Village of Dusk, and the Holy See’s way is also not good. I thought for a long time until a few years ago, I had a new idea.

"In fact, it was also the inspiration given to me by the Lord of Destruction. When he was crowned, he merged his own field with the Underworld and gained unprecedented strength. So after his death, the Underworld’s field did not collapse, but it was maintained with one-third of his demon crystals, waiting for a new heir. The Lord of Power has been looking for opportunities to steal this field, but so far, her dream is just a dream. Over the years, the integration of the Village of Dusk and the world has been ongoing. Ten years ago I could bring the Village of Dusk from this coast to another corner of the world, but that’s no longer possible. It is already an inseparable part of the world." The Prophet looked at the sunset quietly, and the smile on his mouth made his face rendered by the sunset’s glow extraordinarily gentle. "My idea is to support the Village of Dusk with three different origin forces."

"With what forces?" Qi Leren asked.

"Change, freeze, and rebirth," the Prophet said. "You should have seen the Illusionist’s half-field. He can change everything in the half-field at will, and it is his specialty to create illusions and visual illusions."

Qi Leren nodded. He had seen it. Once when he was training in Chen Baiqi's home, he opened a door and saw not the living room, but a tyrannosaurus rex more than ten metres tall roaring at him...

"Si Ling has rarely moved since he took over as the acting CEO of the Trial. His half-field is a world of ice and snow. Now, the world of ice and snow under the Courthouse is maintained by him. Since... I was injured," the Prophet said faintly.

"You were injured? When did it happen?" Qi Leren looked at him anxiously.

"That was a long time ago." The Prophet's hand was on his chest, as if touching a nonexistent necklace. "Don't speak of it. Leren, now I want to ask you, are you willing?"

Qi Leren couldn't answer, and his worries made him ask the question he was most concerned about: "If I inherit a part of the Village of Dusk, can I help Ning Zhou?"

The Prophet chuckled: "You can throw him into the ice pool and freeze him before he goes crazy."

"No joking around, can you separate him from the origin force of destruction?" Qi Leren asked.

The Prophet looked at him quietly, with divine pity and helplessness flowing in his dark brown eyes: "If I can do it, why wouldn't I do it now?"

Qi Leren asked dispiritedly, "What's the point of inheriting the Village of Dusk?"

"It wouldn’t harm you, anyway. When your own origin force is strong enough and you condense a field, the Village of Dusk will be a part of you," the Prophet said.

"But this also comes at a price," Qi Leren asked.

"Of course. You will gradually forget a lot of things. Original human desires will gradually fade away from your heart, leaving only your most persistent things..." the Prophet said.

Qi Leren was silent for a long time.

This sunset lingered near the horizon, and it hadn't fallen for a long time. The whole beach and sea were golden, beautiful and gorgeous, but empty. The two of them were like ghosts wandering at the end of the day, imagining that they had reached the other side of an eternal life in a stagnant time.

"Why choose me?" After a long time, Qi Leren asked such a question.

"Probably because I saw your soul," the Prophet said.

"Does my soul look… special… er, pure?" Qi Leren said, feeling that the word was a bit disgusting, and he paused inappropriately.

The Prophet shook his head: "Only children who have never experienced the hardships of the world and don't know the hardships of the world will have pure souls. Untested kindness is precious, but it is not worth praising. Leren, your soul is not like this."

Qi Leren felt a little curious: "What is it like?"

The Prophet looked at him, but his eyes seemed to see the depths of his soul through his skin: "Your soul is crumbling. It is a soul full of cracks, which will break at any moment. However, it has neither broken nor fallen, but bravely broke through the obstacles and became stronger, which is already worthy of praise."

Qi Leren was shocked and only listened to the Prophet continue to say: "I told you not to use S/L Data again because this skill has been overdrafting your soul, and you have already felt it."

Qi Leren nodded silently.

"But you are very lucky. Every time, you have broken through when you were on the verge of breaking, and now your half-field has condensed. Although it’s still fragile, it has won you time," the Prophet said.

Qi Leren touched his forehead. Every time he woke up from a nightmare, the fatigue from his soul hinted at this to him, but sometimes he had to drink poison and quench his thirst.

"Leren, you have a beautiful pair of eyes. The way you look at the world is gentle, and you love the world. So I chose you. What is your answer?" asked the Prophet.

Qi Leren couldn't answer.

Inheriting the Village of Dusk was a shortcut that ordinary people dreamed of, just like Aya inheriting the Underground Ant City. It instantly leapt one to the field level. With such a field, he could at least persist for ten years in the monthly compulsory tasks as they increased in difficulty.

A field, this was a field!

But such a gift came at a price.

"How much do you remember about the past?" Qi Leren asked him.

"I can't remember the things from before I came to the Nightmare World, nor the things before I achieved the field. At first, it wasn't so serious, but then some accidents happened… My force began to go out of control frequently, and I spent more than half of my time sleeping in the ice pool, slowing down my time. This cage of time protected me, and also protected this Village of Dusk. Otherwise, even I would have been killed by the compulsory tasks. I didn't care about it, I didn't care about it until one day, I woke up from the ice pool and couldn't remember my name anymore." The Prophet looked at the sunset, and there was a trace of melancholy in his calm tone. "No one knows it anymore. Since I established the Village of Dusk, they have called me 'Prophet', and no one knows my real name, including myself."

Everything about him was no longer his own, even his name.

When everyone began to call him the Prophet, he was destined to no longer be the teenager who had begged Maria, whom he had never met before, to take him to the Underground Ant City.

The young man who had wanted to go with the flow was pushed by fate to the coast at dusk and founded a shelter for human beings. From that day on, he was no longer only responsible for his own life. He had an extraordinary mission and was destined to lose himself for this responsibility.

He even forgot his own name.

At this moment, Qi Leren seemed to be inspired by some kind of inspiration. He blurted out: "Zheng Nanxing, your name is Zheng Nanxing."

This familiar and unfamiliar name made the Prophet suddenly look at him, and his dumbfounded eyes made him look just like the boy of that year.

"When I was in the Underground Ant City, I happened to enter a memory of the Will of the World and saw the first time Maria met you," Qi Leren said.

The Prophet murmured his name and asked, "What kind of scene was it?"

"It was in the Garden of the Holy Tomb. You found Maria, and had her take you to the Underground Ant City. You introduced yourself with your name at that time, and I always remembered it," Qi Leren said.

He suddenly had a strange feeling, as if someone had arranged all of this: had let him see the past history, witnessed Maria's parting ways with the Destroyer, and learned the name of a person who had forgotten his own name.

"Zheng Nanxing... I was originally called this name." The Prophet solemnly said it once and suddenly smiled. "So this is my name."

Qi Leren felt sad.

The Prophet, he had done so much for people living in this field, but what has he gotten himself?

He had even forgotten his own name.

"...Do you think it's all worth it? Will you regret it?" Qi Leren asked.

"Of course it's worth it." The Prophet smiled and said, "But I will regret it too."

This seemingly contradictory answer puzzled Qi Leren, but the Prophet didn't answer him again. He looked at Qi Leren quietly and waited for his final answer.

The hidden darkness and selfishness in my heart prevailed at this moment, and Qi Leren stopped talking and finally got up the courage to say, "Prophet, I—"

"You don't want to," The Prophet seemed to see through his heart and said lightly.

"No, I don't want to. If the cost of strength is that I gradually lose myself and forget the people I love, then I will lose my original intentions. I’m sorry, there’s a person in my heart who I can't let go of. He can't lose me, and I can't lose him," Qi Leren said.

The Prophet looked at him with quiet eyes: "So do you want to give up your love for the world in order to love someone?"

Ning Zhou's blue eyes appeared in Qi Leren's mind, and his heart was filled with infinite love and gentleness, which made him unable to hold more.

So he said, "Yes, I love him more than the world."

His heart was too small to hold such a big world, and he couldn't protect so many people. He just wanted to protect one person.

His whole world was that person.

-----

Qi Leren was caught in all kinds of entanglements. How could he help him? Go over and pick up an eyeliner to help him draw the inner eyeliner? If he showed that he was skilled at this, wouldn't Ning Zhou have strange views about him?! No, he wouldn't help!

Qi Leren, who had made up his mind, pretended to look at the scenery, while the Illusionist at his side stepped forward. He picked up the eyeliner casually and said with disgust, "How many times have I taught you? Aren’t you supposed to be a teacher? I think Si Ling should be shown soon."

"..." Si Ling’s expression at the moment seemed to be very eager to explain that he didn't have this hobby, but he looked at his hands and stayed solmen and straight in the face of his teacher's request. He didn't speak at all.

"I am afraid of poking my eyes," the Prophet said.

"You can grow well even if you poke your eyes out. What are you worried about?" the Illusionist said.

"Hey... Don't say that, my eyes hurt." The Prophet covered his eyes and grinned.

The Illusionist traced his eyeliner, and as the Prophet was free, he glanced at Qi Leren and Ning Zhou out of the corner of his eye, smiled, and said, "Wasn't this task a big gain?"

"Well..." Qi Leren hesitated.

"Okay." The Illusionist capped the eyeliner and looked at it on the Prophet's face. "Okay, I think it's good."

"Thanks." The Prophet picked up the mirror and looked at it carefully. He asked the Illusionist, "Miss, what do you think of me?"

"I think you’re strange, teacher," the Illusionist said coldly.

Qi Leren was speechless. Why were they insulting each other when they were both like this?

The Prophet didn't care at all about the Illusionist’s mockery. He put down the mirror and said to the others, "There are some things I need to speak with you about, especially you, Qi Leren."

With this said, the Prophet made a ring, and the surrounding environment changed instantly from a pink room to a beach on the coast of the Village of Dusk. The Prophet, whose clothes were back to normal, sat on a bench by the sea and waved to Qi Leren who stood on the beach.

"Where are the others?" Qi Leren looked around and found that Ning Zhou had disappeared, and so had the other people. There was only him and the Prophet on this quiet beach.

"We’ll talk separately, come and sit here." The Prophet patted the empty half of the bench.

Qi Leren walked over and sat down beside the Prophet. They sat side by side and watched the sunset that never fell in the distance.

"You’ve been in the Nightmare World for a while, and now you know something about the Devils and the forces of the Holy See, right? What do you think of the factions?" asked the Prophet.

This problem was very complicated. Qi Leren had no time to think too much. He just said by feeling: "I don't think it is easy to distinguish a person by their faction, just like Ning Zhou. Although he has awakened the blood of the Devil now, I believe he will not do anything that hurts innocent people."

The Prophet smiled: "What if he did?"

Qi Leren remained silent.

"The trust you give him, and the pressure he gives himself, are two sharp tools that torture him. You are both desperately patient, but there are limits to patience. Leren, you have to face this day sooner or later. What is your choice?" asked the Prophet gently.

"Is there no way?" Qi Leren's heart hurt, and he asked angrily and desperately, "Has Ning Zhou done anything wrong? Yet why is it him? He is so good, so kind, so pious, he almost died in the lake of fire, just to not hurt the world! Is there no way to keep him alive?"

"He is inseparable from the fate of this world, and so are you. Leren, when you ask ‘why is it him', I also want to ask you, why can't it be him? When fate befalls a person, you call it torture, but fate didn't mean to torture anyone. It just… chose the only hope among the hundreds of millions of roads leading to despair. Have you ever thought that this may already be the gentlest 'torture'?" the Prophet asked softly, looking at the sunset.

Qi Leren waited for a while and seemed to understand.

"Do you know the original sin in the Holy See’s doctrine?" asked the Prophet.

Qi Leren nodded.

"In this way, the teachings of the Holy See and Christianity in the real world are very similar. In Christianity, Adam and Eve were lured by the snake to eat the forbidden fruit. This crime is passed down forever with love and fertility, and people will make atonement for this crime all their lives. Because of this original sin, people and God can never communicate." The Prophet moved his finger, and a bright red apple appeared in his hand. He held up the apple and overlapped it with the sunset in his field of vision.

"There is also a story in the Canon, in which gods who came from elsewhere sowed seeds, and only one of them was able to grow the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains and rivers, birds, animals, and humans. This God created man with his own appearance and talents. However, this kind of God had bred human greed very quickly. Man deceived God, tried to defeat God, and was finally punished by God. The crimes of deception, greed, and disobedience have been engraved on human beings since then, and have been passed down from generation to generation, teaching human beings to restrain their desires and atone for their sins by doing good deeds in order to earn God's care again." The apple in the Prophet's hand disappeared and was replaced by a small ball of light. He looked at the light as gently as if he were looking at his own child.

Qi Leren nodded: "I’ve read the Canon and heard this story."

"In fact, among the demons, there is another version of this creation story," the Prophet said.

Qi Leren didn't know this. He asked curiously, "What version?"

"Those overreaching humans deceived God and killed him. The sin of killing God has been branded on human beings since then, but the rights and glory brought by killing God have also been branded on human beings. Human beings who bathed in the blood of God have degenerated into demons and are the inheritors of the world—you see, God has never appeared again, because He has already died. Therefore, compared with human's conformity, demons are more greedy and arrogant. They follow their own desires, and atonement is nonsense to them. What they have to do is to become stronger through blood and fire, and then replace God. To this end, the strongest of them challenges God again and again."

"...Which one do you think is true?" Qi Leren asked.

The Prophet turned and smiled at him: "It's just a story. Although the relationship between the Court and the Holy See is better, I disagree with many doctrines of the Holy See, like this sentence: 'I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.' It can be said that Ning Zhou must feel that his life is the portrayal of this sentence. At that time, Maria sealed a third of the demon crystal that destroyed the Devil King in her own body, but she didn't expect herself to become pregnant. The demon crystal gradually merged with Ning Zhou. Maria tried various methods, but still couldn't stop it. Before Ning Zhou was born, she felt the future of this child would be even more dark. She almost... almost killed him."

Qi Leren's hair stood on end.

Looking at the sunset, the Prophet seemed to be remembering something, and his tone gradually softened: "But at that time, the Destroyer was dead, Maria was on the verge of collapse, and she pinned all her guilt and expectation on this child. She had already killed her lover, and was unable to kill her own child. In order to avoid that future, Ning Zhou should not embark on the same path as his father. After her death, Ning Zhou was sent to the Holy See... At least on the day she left, she still believed that Ning Zhou would have a good future... Because I lied to her."

In Qi Leren's puzzled eyes, the Prophet smiled slightly: "At that time, Maria had just given birth to him, and the demon army pursuing us had just receded. We landed on the coast, which is this present place, the future Village of Dusk, and the sky was full of the golden glow of sunset. I held Ning Zhou to predict his future. I told Maria that this child would have a bright future, and that he would live a pious and happy life."

"But this was a lie," Qi Leren exposed him.

"Yes, this was a lie. In fact, what I saw was endless pain and destruction," said the Prophet.

Qi Leren's heart sank. Despair made him bend down, his arms supported on his knees, and he didn't want to move.

"Don't be depressed yet. I'm not telling you this to make you sit here and cry," the Prophet said.

Qi Leren looked up and looked at him hopefully: "What else can I do?"

The Prophet put the pulsing ball of light in his hand gently and asked:

"Leren, are you willing to inherit the Village of Dusk?"

-----

The author has something to say:

PS: "I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalms.

-----

After entering the Village of Dusk’s airspace, Qi Leren suddenly felt something and looked out of the window—the originally blue sky suddenly turned into a yellow sunset. Qi Leren looked at the golden sea reflecting the sunset, and a warm current surged in his heart.

In the vast heaven and earth, this pure land of human beings was gently guarded by one person, who was still sleeping in the ice and snow beneath the Courthouse.

"Do you feel the Village of Dusk’s power?" the Illusionist suddenly asked.

Qi Leren looked back and nodded thoughtfully: "I’ve never felt it before, but this time when returning to the Village of Dusk, there is indeed the force of time. It seems that as long as the Prophet controls his thoughts, he can freeze us here, right?"

Saying this, Qi Leren looked at Ning Zhou, who nodded to him.

"The premise is that he is awake," the illusionist said, "and this feeling will become stronger and stronger as your strength increases. Generally speaking, the owner of one field will rarely enter other people's fields, just like a beast will not easily enter another beast's territory. This is an extremely dangerous signal."

"But Su He has been to the Village of Dusk before," Qi Leren said.

The Illusionist sneered and disdained: "He dares to let his avatar enter here covertly."

Qi Leren recalled Ashley, the avatar of the Devil of Slaughter, and asked, "Do all people at the field level have avatars?"

"Yes. Once they reach the field level, they rarely leave their own field. Most of them walk outside as an avatar, and you can understand these as a weakened version of themselves, usually a half-field level. The Devil of Slaughter’s body is suppressed, and his avatar is not even at the half-field level, otherwise you would have died this time," the Illusionist said.

"So I'm lucky?" Qi Leren made an optimistic joke.

The Illusionist has a face of "you’re teasing me".

Qi Leren himself felt amused and couldn't help laughing. Ning Zhou looked at him inexplicably. Qi Leren looked at the confusion in his serious expression, and became more and more happy. He buried his face in his neck and laughed breathlessly for half a day. Ning Zhou didn't understand what he was laughing at, but when Qi Leren leaned over, he still held his waist and let him laugh.

The Illusionist turned his eyes and looked out at the scenery instead.

　　&&&

When the aircraft landed in the square in front of the Courthouse, Qi Leren was the first to jump off. When he saw Chen Baiqi, who was holding the three-headed hellhound, he was shocked and said, "Why are you here?"

"Walking the dog, he missed you." Chen Baiqi shook the dog’s leash in her hand and nodded to Ning Zhou.

Qi Leren looked at the three "dogs" who together had their tongues lolling out dripping drool. Feeling his chrysanthemum tighten, he couldn't help but want to hide behind Ning Zhou.

It's a psychological shadow like a conditioned reflex.

"Walking the dog to the Courthouse, you are really good." The Illusionist tugged at his skirt, came down from the airship, put on a women's hat, and joked, "A fine of 300 days."

Chen Baiqi ignored him and turned to look at Qi Leren: "Going out for a trip has improved you a lot."

Qi Leren apologized: "A little progress is not worthy of praise from the teacher."

"Okay, go back to my place and make up for the lessons you missed. I’ve prepared a training regimine, but don't want to skip classes this time," Chen Baiqi said with a laugh.

Qi Leren recalled how many mornings he hadn’t been able to attend lessons, or to rush to buy breakfast for Chen Baiqi and Sissi in the sunset, and suddenly his face was white and bloodless.

Chen Baiqi smiled lightly and looked at Ning Zhou with a slightly dignified colour: "Can you still hold up?"

Ning Zhou nodded.

"Go in, the Prophet has been waiting for you for a long time. I’ll see you later." Chen Baiqi nodded to the group of people, and walked home with her dog at a slow pace, as if she really had come to walk the dog.

"What the hell was she doing here?" Seeing that Chen Baiqi had walked away, Qi Leren whispered to Ning Zhou.

"Seeing us," Ning Zhou said.

"She cares about you very much," said the Illusionist, pouting.

Qi Leren looked at Chen Baiqi's back and couldn't help smiling.

In fact, Chen Baiqi was really concerned about and loyal to her friends. However, all this was hidden under the mask of uncaring sophistication, and few people could read her real thoughts from her sarcastic smile.

But Qi Leren knew. Therefore, he was extremely grateful to Chen Baiqi. She was willing to teach him who was such a rookie and force him to grow up. If it weren’t for Chen Baiqi's hellish training, he would have died in the laser corridor when he was in the Star Death Reality Show task.

This kindness makes him grateful, and he would remember it forever

This time, when he walked into the Courthouse, Qi Leren didn't feel nervous and cramped like in the past, but quietly looked in all directions. The Illusionist walked at the forefront, first taking them to see Si Ling, the acting chief executive of the Court.

Si Ling was still the same, expressing his thanks that they had all returned—although because of his cold expression, this gratitude was like a courtesy.

"Can't you give me a warm hug?" the Illusionist said with poor spirits.

"If you take over the disciplinary branch as soon as possible, I’ll give you a hug," Si Ling said, and his reptile-like slitted pupils showed a hint of distaste.

"No, let me continue to do errands, don't give me a promotion." The Illusionist didn't think it was shameful that his brother* who had entered the Courthouse at the same time as him had become the boss, while he was still an errand boy. If he cared about other people's views, he wouldn't parade around in women's clothes all day.

Si Ling gave up on the worthless younger brother*, turned to align with Qi Leren and Ning Zhou and said, "Are things going well?"

*{E/N: shixiong and shidi, ie. brothers in the sense that they studied together, no family relations} 

"Mn." Ning Zhou dismissed him in one word.

Qi Leren glanced at Ning Zhou, and after making sure that he had no supplementary meaning, he had to open his mouth and briefly describe the incident: "...In a word, the Devil of Slaughter’s avatar who was sent to do his bidding has been brought back by us. The new Dragon Ant Queen has ascended the throne and is rectifying the public security situation in the Underground Ant City. She is very friendly to the Court and will continue to cooperate in the future. What is more troublesome is Utopia. During this time in the Underground Ant City, we cracked an incident where worshippers of Utopia were committing a sacrifice. In the selection ceremony for the Dragon Ant Queen, there were also sacred priestesses who betrayed their duties and were trying to summon the Utopia."

"The Devil of Power is just like her little pet, with arms everywhere, I can't remember how many believers have been cleaned up," the Illusionist sighed impatiently.

"We’ve brought the Devil of Slaughter’s avatar, and we’ll hand him over to you in due course," Qi Leren said. Ashley was now locked up in Ning Zhou’s half-field, and his further handling should be handed over to the Court.

"I see. Let's take you to the Prophet first. He's been in a good condition recently. He's awake right now. Come with me," Si Ling said.

Under Si Ling’s leadership, Qi Leren once again came to the world beneath the Courthouse.

After forming a half-field, Qi Leren "didn't know the cold and heat" better than before. When he and Ning Zhou walked hand in hand in the magnificent underground ice palace, he whispered to Ning Zhou: "Have you been here before?"

"Mn, I’ve been here," Ning Zhou said.

"What was your impression of him at that time?" Qi Leren asked curiously.

"...A strange brother, but I have to call him uncle." Ning Zhou’s expression is very serious, but Qi Leren could see that he was depressed inside.

"Pft," the Illusionist laughed. "Go on, I'm not eavesdropping."

Qi Leren and Ning Zhou glared at him together, and the Illusionist had to go to Si Ling, but Si Ling also took a step to show that he didn't want to go near him: "The perfume on your body is too heavy."

The Illusionist snorted and strode to the front.

The four people came to the huge cathedral of ice and snow, and the ice sculpture puppets opened the doors to the inside of the cathedral for them. The Illusionist led the three people through rows of ice and snow pews, and in front of them was the ice lake where the Prophet was sleeping. However, this time the Illusionist did not stop, but walked towards the corridor on the right side. There he knocked on the door twice and pushed it open carelessly.

Inside the door was a very fresh and girly room, and the Prophet dressed like a young girl in lolita style clothing was pulling on his eyelids and carefully tracing his inner eyeliner.

Illusionist: ...

Prophet: ...

Si Ling: ...

Ning Zhou: ...

Qi Leren: This picture seems to be familiar. When did it happen...

This must not be a pleasant memory. I suddenly don't want to recall it very much.

-----

The streets were crowded with people and demons. Looking down from the roof, it was an ocean of colour.

Qi Leren and Ning Zhou walked on the roof and shared in the spirited mood. He and Ning Zhou talked about their experiences in the mission, and also talked about the story of Maria and the Destroyer.

Ning Zhou had been listening quietly, but Qi Leren could feel the undercurrent of sadness in his heart.

What was the end of power? What was his future? Where did this road lead to?

All signs suggested to Ning Zhou that there was only destruction ahead of him, and that he was destined to become a devil.

But when Ning Zhou took Qi Leren's hand, he suddenly had the courage not to bow to fate. He wanted to give it a try. Even if it didn't end well, at least he had this.

"The Sacrifice of the Devil task required one-third of the royal power. What did it mean?" Qi Leren asked.

"That's a third of his demon crystallization, one of which was in his own body, another should be in the hands of his old followers, and the remaining one..." Ning Zhou's hand was on his chest, over the place where his heart was beating, which was also his demon crystal.

Qi Leren looked at his hand and felt sad.

In the Will of the World’s memory, one third of the authority was taken away by Maria, and this one third was in Ning Zhou's body.

"She should have sealed this in her own body to avoid the power, but leaking, but later she had me." Ning Zhou said quietly, "She has foreseen this possibility, so she tried her best to stop me from taking this road. But sometimes, there are some things that cannot be decided by people's will..."

It was like when he was young, when he sat in front of his dying mother's bed and prayed to God again and again, begging Him not to take away his only relative, but she eventually left him.

There was an earth-shaking cheer in the crowd. At the far end of the street, the honor guard of the Dragon Ant Queen was approaching.

The lively hubbub caused the solemn atmosphere of the ceremony to melt away. Qi Leren looked down at it, and the Dragon Ant Queen could already be seen in the distance.

"Aya is coming!" Qi Leren pulled Ning Zhou's sleeve and said excitedly.

"It will take some time for her to get here," Ning Zhou said, calculating the slow speed of the honor guard.

Qi Leren smiled and looked at the group slowly coming. He started another topic: "Speaking of it, the half-field is really good. If my tasks don’t ban half-fields in the future, I can rest in my own."

"Don't use it too much," Ning Zhou warned.

Thinking of Ning Zhou’s own broken half-fiend, Qi Leren felt sad.

In fact, ordinary half-fields were not so fragile, but Ning Zhou had forcibly condensed his half-field with an incompatible original force, which was inherently unstable. In addition, before that task, he had just continuously overused his half-field, causing serious overdraft, and finally it was broken in the Witchcraft Sacrifice task.

Ironically, the half-field condensed by the force of destruction that he hated was so solid that it may even be infinitely close to a field.

Ning Zhou quietly took his hand, and a kind of silent sweetness emerged in Qi Leren's mind. He smiled and rested his hilted head on Ning Zhou's shoulder for a moment, as if he had just told a joke.

"The name of the field, have you thought about it?" Ning Zhou asked.

Qi Leren sighed, "Of course not. Please help me think about it, I really can't name it. When I met Aya in the Dragon Ant Queen's mission, I still used your name in reverse as my pseudonym."

Ning Zhou stunned: "Zhou Ning?"

"Yes, do you like it?" Qi Leren poked Ning Zhou's waist with his elbow.

"Hmm," Ning Zhou responded softly.

Qi Leren stole a glance at him and whispered in his ear, "I see your ears are red."

“……”

"Your face is red, too." Qi Leren laughed.

Ning Zhou looked at him with a serious face. Qi Leren couldn't laugh. He wondered if he was angry.

Qi Leren didn't react until his lips were kissed hard: He was careless! Ning Zhou had tricked him!

But when he looked at Ning Zhou again, he had already turned his blushing face and was looking at the crowd below intently.

Qi Leren shouted "cute" in his heart, and it felt like his heart was dancing as his feelings surged.

"...The Underground Ant City has changed a lot," Ning Zhou suddenly said.

"Ah? Oh, yes." Qi Leren was stunned by this sudden change of topic. "Aya’s worked very hard. When I went to see her the day before yesterday, she sat with me and talked for a long time about her vision of the future of Underground Ant City, which was discussed by her and her subordinates at a meeting overnight. She’s also learning how to manage this field and be a qualified leader. She also told me that she dreamed of the little Queen and she was very grateful to her."

Ning Zhou was silent. At that time, when Qi Leren was chatting with Aya, he and the maid had gone to the Holy Flame to check how it was doing. When he came back, he had found that Qi Leren and Aya had changed from sitting face to face to standing side by side, looking at the plan of the Underground Ant City together. If it weren't for the Dragon Ant Queen’s lower body hidden beneath her large skirt, the two of them probably would have been standing even closer.

It could be seen that Aya really liked Qi Leren. When she looked at Qi Leren, her eyes were full of longing for affirmation and approval, but when he walked into the palace, Aya stopped laughing. She was dignified like a student who had not finished her homework, and her face was full of uneasy introspection in front of the teacher.

He had tried to stand far away, eager to give them the seat in the center of the palace, while he stood in the corner with her maid.

Even after they left the Dragon Ant Queen’s palace, Ning Zhou was still thinking about this question: Why was Aya so afraid of him? When he’d met her in the desert, she was obviously not like this...

The cheers became very loud, and in the noise, the dressed-up Dragon Ant Queen came toward them along the road that was covered with bright red carpet.

The honor guard pounded the drums, played the trumpet, played the rites and music, and surrounded the Queen walking in the center.

She held a scepter and the heavy Canon in her arms. The Queen’s crown was heavy and gorgeous, and a hazy veil hung down before her eyes. Her long skirt was made of gold silk, and the train dragged for more than ten meters. Seven children carried the train for her.

Under the guard of soldiers and ants, the group marched across the street and walked toward the altar, with humans and demons cheering along the way.

The magnificent altar had already been set up in the central square. The new Dragon Ant Queen went up, looked down at her subjects, smiled and waved calmly in the deafening cheers, and started her speech.

"Today, I stand here and see the residents of the city surrounding me on the altar. I feel the heavy responsibility shouldered by me, and am deeply honored and deeply scared.

"...The city has experienced too much suffering. The monthly evil tide causes us to lose our relatives and friends. We are afraid, desperate and helpless. In addition to this natural disaster, man-made disasters have never let us go. In the lower city not far away, every day and every hour is filled with bloody killings and brutal plunder. We have been numb, letting demons bully humans and letting humans crowd out demons. We reject each other and look at each other with suspicion and malice.

"...When I was a young girl, I lived on the Surface. It was not a beautiful heaven, but another hell on earth. The desert destroyed my people all the time. We endured hunger and discrimination, but it didn't bring us hope. My people, they died in a demon attack. Only I, a humble sacrifice dedicated to the Dragon Ant Queen, survived by luck. Now I stand here.

"...Pain and suffering have taught me sacrifice, dedication, and forgiveness, but it is not worth boasting about, and my people should not bear it. Although you live underground and suffer from evil, you may never be able to bathe in the sun again in your whole life. But you are all people of the Ant City, my people. When you live in this field dominated by me, you have crossed the boundary between humans and demons. Demons should restrain your minions. Humans should also let go of your prejudice. Laws and morals make you different from monsters and beasts. You understand rationality, so you are equal.

"...Now, please listen: in my field, no bullying, no tyranny, no discrimination, and no unprovoked killing. You don't need to love each other as family members, but you need to treat each other as you would own kind, and shield them with armor and sword to protect each other against the evil tide every month. You are all my people. You must abide by my rules when you accept my protection. Now, I declare: You are created equal! If the law cannot make you learn to be equal, then death will tell you the answer, and I will not have the slightest tolerance for atrocities, because this is abhorrent.

"...Until now, we have lived in a long night, but my subjects, dawn is not too far away. Don't curse fate for the injustice and darkness that hasn't ended yet, it shouldn't have made us so afraid. For the coming dawn, we have endured, fought, and sacrificed. Let us once again ignite hope and courage, hold the hands of our companions, and bravely meet the coldest night before the dawn!

"...I am full of hope for the future of this field and this world, and we will finally break free from suffering and embrace the real light. Let's live for that day! Live! Live!"

At the end of the speech, Aya looked at the direction of Qi Leren and Ning Zhou if she felt something.

Separated from the cheering crowds, the future Dragon Ant Queen showed a sincere smile, and her anxiety and fear were smoothed out.

She put her hand on the old Canon and silently said to herself, I will do it, and all this will come true one day.

-----

[A reward of 200 survival days is given; For capturing the Devil of Slaughter’s avatar a reward of 100 survival days is given; The total number of survival days awarded is 300 days.]

[Data synchronization countdown, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, synchronization completed.]

　　&&&

The aroma of coffee wafted through the office, and Celia, the chief person in charge of the Court’s headquarters in the Underground Ant City, held her forehead after listening to Qi Leren’s report, and gave a long sigh: "Fortunately, it was you, otherwise the Illusionist would be in trouble, and perhaps the whole Underground Ant City would have become a vassal of Utopia."

The Illusionist snorted coldly, but instead of making sarcastic remarks, he looked at Qi Leren and Ning Zhou sincerely and said, "I owe you one favor... The bastard Prophet must have known something would happen! He didn't even mention it to me!"

Qi Leren knew that this was true. With the Prophet's skill of foreseeing the future, he probably knew that the Illusionist would encounter danger when he went on this business trip, but it could still be avoided.

The Illusionist snorted again, and began to gush out how much his teacher had cheated his three students.

"Want to drink some? A little bitter?" Seeing that Ning Zhou hadn't been talking, sitting beside him silently, Qi Leren took the coffee and poked his arm with his elbow.

Ning Zhou looked at the coffee that had been passed to him, lowered his head and took a sip from Qi Leren’s hand: "It's too bitter."

Qi Leren took another sip: "It is a bit."

If there were no other people here, Qi Leren would have the urge to kiss Ning Zhou, and then flirt with him: Look, it would be sweet to kiss.

In the "Queen’s Inheritance" task, the two people were so blessed that they generally began to understand their hearts. The original estrangement melted quickly after their two kisses, and they suddenly realized that the boundaries between lovers were different from those of friends. Just like now, the two people sitting in Celia's office actually hooked their hands like nobody was watching, and distributed dog food* with their love.

*{E/N: PDA}

"Ahem, let’s continue to get down to business. When are you going back to the Village of Dusk? How will you deal with the captured Devil of Slaughter?" Celia felt the expanding "lovers' field" in the air and struggled to bring the atmosphere back to business before she suffocated.

"I handed over the Devil of Slaughter’s avatar to Ning Zhou." Qi Leren pursed his lips. His half-field had just taken shape. He was worried that the Devil of Slaughter could break out of the half-field, so he simply handed him over to Ning Zhou, who was more reliable. "As for returning to the Village of Dusk... We have to delay for a few days. We have to wait for Aya's inheritance ceremony to be completed, and she invited us to watch the ceremony."

The new Dragon Ant Queen had been born, and the next step would be to hold a grand ceremony for her by her household, announcing to the residents of the whole Underground Ant City and even the whole Nightmare World that there was a strong new field-level person here.

"It seems that the position of the new Queen will be more inclined to us, which is a good thing," Celia said.

"Come on, people don't even know which direction the door to the Court opens. She’s just an ordinary little girl. Maybe in the future she’ll look towards the Devil of Fraud at and follow him." The Illusionist said with a look of disdain.

When he heard the Devil of Fraud’s name, Qi Leren suddenly remembered his agreement with Su He.

Now, he had been promoted to a half-field. If he found the laptop again, he would have to hand over the computer loaded with the Nightmare Game to Su He… Although the contract at that time hadn't really taken effect because of his "cheating", how could he explain it to Su He?

Then don't explain it, Qi Leren thought. Anyway, the remaining survival days gained just now are enough, so don't do a copy for a while, and study hard for a while. He really had too many things to learn, especially the knowledge related to half-fields and fields.

But after this trip back, Chen Baiqi would certainly be surprised. Qi Leren imagined her surprised expression, and his heart was full of joy.

After going back, he should also prepare the ring for the marriage proposal. Ning Zhou's birthday was on the Village of Dusk’s founding day, and he was going to propose marriage on that day. Imagining Ning Zhou's surprise, his heart was even more excited.

Qi Leren couldn't help smirking, and received Ning Zhou's worried eyes and the Illusionist's disdainful sneer.

Celia tried to find a topic to save the atmosphere: "Illusionist, before you went to the Dragon Ant Queen’s royal palace, you went to the underground casino. What did you do?"

"Nothing, I saw someone on the road who looked like a fugitive I’d seen before. Oh, you should pay attention to that underground casino. At that time, I was in a hurry to go to the royal palace, so I didn't search carefully. That person is very similar to the remnants of the Slaughter Secret Society who escaped from the Village of Dusk, called Kathleen," The illusionist said.

"I see. Don't worry, Mrs. Kathleen has been arrested," Qi Leren said with a smile and looked at Ning Zhou.

Ning Zhou gave him a smile back, which was a rare response for a person with few other expressions.

Illusionist sitting on the side: So angry! A pair of gay men show their love in front of me like no one's watching! Can't stand it!

　　&&&

"Your Majesty's hair is really good, black and thick, and it looks good when combed," said the Dragon Ant Queen’s maid as she ran a comb through her hair.

Aya looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was still brown. She had cried the night before because she learned that the Valentine tribe had been exterminated, and there were red ring lines around her eyes. She had seen her appearance in the water many times, but reflected in this luxurious bejeweled dressing mirror, she seemed to be different from the past.

What was the difference? Was it the precious earrings that adorned her earlobe? Was it her complicated and gorgeous extravagant dress? Or the scepter that belonged to the Queen in her hand?

After stripping away these things that she didn't deserve, was she still the same as before?

No, she wasn’t.

Aya was still the same Aya, an illiterate girl from a lonely tribe, but in this short bout of ups and downs she had experienced, she had learned many things, such as faith, sacrifice, and responsibility.

But there was still only more and more that she would have to learn.

She was destined to bid farewell to worldly happiness, and her joys and sorrows were no longer her own. Everyone expected her to lead them on the correct road. This responsibility was great and arduous, which was enough to make a girl who was only 18 years old feel fear—because what she saw was the thorns on the road ahead, not the wealth brought to her by power.

She was eager to seize something and give herself more courage to fight against this cruel world.

"Serena," Aya called her name.

The maid lowered her eyes and asked respectfully, "What is Your Majesty's order?"

"Can you help me find a female officer who knows the Canon? I want to learn." Aya smiled shyly. "I don't know how to read many words."

The maid asked, slightly surprised, "Do you know about the Devil of Destruction?"

Aya showed some confusion: "You mean Lord Ning Zhou?"

"It was the previous one. The previous Queen swore allegiance to him," the maid answered.

"Oh, I don't know much about this." Although Aya has some memories from the Dragon Ant Queens of past dynasties, it is more about strength, and she knew little about many things. "What happened to him?"

"Once, rumors of his secret love with the Holy See’s Holy Nun were circulating throughout the Underworld, which were true. Later, he led the demon army to attack the human world, and the battle ended with the Holy Nun killing him." The maid told her the story of that year.

Aya was stupefied. Like every girl, she was filled with infinite curiosity and regret for this tragic love story: "Then why did he attack the human world? If he hadn't done this, they may not have had such a tragedy."

The maid smiled, "Your Majesty, you don't know the power of Destruction. The farther you go on this road, the more you lose yourself. Those who chase power at all costs will eventually become power itself. The love in the world is profound, but when you step into the field, the love, hate, and hatred of mortals should no longer be your shackles, and you will be destined to break away from all living beings and become a god on high. On that day, are Order and Destruction really good or evil for a god?"

Aya seemed to understand, and she murmured, "But if the price of power is to make the people you love and the people who love you so miserable, why should people pursue it?"

"Because power is greater than love, Your Majesty. In those days, the Destroyer and the Holy Nun loved each other so much. You didn't see it with your own eyes, but we all saw it. It was like their love was burning up the world. He believed in the Holy See. Before he became the Devil, he thoroughly studied everything about the Holy See. It can be said that he was a divine person with faith and love. However, such a person still couldn't resist the force of destruction. In the end, he opened the road to the human world, did something that he would not do before, and then died at the hands of the person he loved."

Tears welled up in Aya's eyes, and she choked and asked, "Couldn't his love for the Holy Nun allow him to overcome destruction?"

The maid smiled and shook her head gently: "No one can do that."

"So... what about Ning Zhou?" Aya even forgot to address him. She missed them, and felt such great anxiety at how she could hardly imagine their future.

"...Speaking of it, Lord Ning Zhou is still the child of the Devil of Destruction and the Holy Nun." The maid sighed lightly and told the news she had just received from the Devil of Evil. "He has true loyalty and deep affection. When I saw him incarnate into the magic dragon, I seemed to see that one from more than twenty years ago."

Tears fell from the eyes of the Queen dressed in extravagant clothes, and the maid quickly wiped them for her. She comforted softly: "Your Majesty, the ceremony is about to begin. Don't cry, it is not necessary."

"Yes, it won't be like that." Aya choked with tears. "They will be fine, and together forever."

The young Queen really wanted her maid to smile, but she didn't say any more. She just followed her words and whispered, "Yes, they will be fine, and together forever."

-----

How can an ordinary human girl not feel fear when she saw such a horrible monster?

Aya's teeth chattered, and she watched in horror as the dragon came towards them. She trembled all over.

The dragon stared at her. No, it stared at the Qi Leren holding her. With its heavy and majestic steps, its body began to change, and its huge dragon body that was like a mountain began to shrink. When it stood in front of her, it was already a handsome and silent man.

Someone she knew well and had never forgotten for a moment.

He looked at her with a strange look.

Aya couldn't make any sound come from her mouth anymore.

At this moment, she couldn't connect the man who was exuding deadly fire and bloody intent with the man who had taught her the Canon gently in her memory. It was obviously the same appearance, even the same clothing, but this person's eyes had lost the gentleness of compassion, leaving only endless darkness.

He looked at her coldly, and if there was a fateful sight, it slowly fell on her hands holding Qi Leren.

An indescribable fear made Aya retract her hand as if pricked by a needle.

Qi Leren didn't notice Aya's behavior, so he stood up and took the initiative to come to Ning Zhou. The joy of seeing the person he wanted to spend his life with made his emotions surge. He wanted to kiss Ning Zhou's face very much, but Aya was still behind him. He was embarrassed to act too intimately in front of others, so he stretched his arms and prepared to give Ning Zhou a hug.

But before his arms were stretched out, the other hugged him, and a kiss fell on his lips and caught him off guard. Qi Leren never thought Ning Zhou would kiss him so suddenly, and when he recovered, the kiss had already happened. In the heat of their lips rubbing, there was a change from the gentleness of the past to domineering possessiveness, just like a dragon trying to monopolize its peerless treasure, repeatedly confirming that its treasure was unscathed.

By the time he stopped, Qi Leren felt breathless. He couldn't help laughing, pressing his forehead against Ning Zhou's forehead and whispering, "I'm fine, really. Every cloud still has a silver lining."

Ning Zhou’s eyes, which had been restored to blue from red, were full of doubts. This expression was really cute in Qi Leren’s eyes, so he couldn't help but take the initiative to gather them together and kiss Ning Zhou's lips.

The little kiss was even more shy than an irresistible kiss. Both of them were red. Qi Leren lowered his head, and his lips moved three times before he finally found his voice: "I... that... This is Aya!"

He turned quickly and pulled up the stunned brown-skinned girl. "Haven’t you seen her before, in the Valentine tribe? You also gave her a book."

Ning Zhou really looked at the human girl's face, and he was even surprised, because he hadn’t realized that he hadn’t really seen her before this glance. What had haunted him until now was the anger and murderous rage that made him feel like he was dying.

If Qi Leren hadn't come up and grabbed him at that time, what kind of things would he have done?

Aya shivered, trembling as she saw the little Queen in the distance. The little Queen stared at Ning Zhou for a long time, and finally lowered her head and walked towards him. She picked up her skirt and bowed to him, as respectful as the Dragon Ant Queen who had died of old age.

Until now, she didn't understand why her other half was so melancholy and meaningful when she mentioned "him", because they all knew that their hearts were shaken when they really saw the future Devastator.

This desire for strength had been engraved in the soul by the dead Dragon Ant Queen. She was so full of longing and yearning that this obsession affected her and could never be erased.

"There is no time, Aya. Go," the little Queen urged.

Aya looked at the nearby Flame rift, and the road was covered with reddish-brown blood and broken limbs, but this hellish road led to great power.

She felt as if she were having a dream, a dream she couldn't even think about.

The blood that the little Queen had marked for her on her forehead had dried up, which was proof of her recognition. As long as she walked to the front of the Holy Flame and jumped into it, she would no longer be an anonymous orphan girl from the Valentine tribe.

She would be the ruler of this field.

In front of this glory and great authority, what she felt was not elation, but deep suspicion and fear.

Could she really do it well? An ordinary person like her, a person with a broken ring mark on her face, could she really lead the life in this field to prosperity and happiness?

Suddenly, her feet were tied with heavy iron blocks, which made her unable to walk. The idea of retreating came up again. She hesitated and asked timidly, "Is it really me? I... can I do it?"

The little Queen looked up at her skeptical face and said faintly, "Only you. Among so many candidates, I only chose you."

This sentence made Aya’s emotions surge, biting her lips and smiling shyly. She glanced back and looked at Ning Zhou and Qi Leren standing side by side behind her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Thank you, thank you. Thank you, I will continue to learn the teachings you gave me, and learn every word. Now, please keep it for me until I come back." Aya took out the book that had never left her body and carefully tried to pass it to Ning Zhou, but turned halfway and gave it to Qi Leren.

Qi Leren took a look at Ning Zhou and accepted it.

"Aya, do you understand what it means to be the Dragon Ant Queen?" Qi Leren asked anxiously.

It meant responsibility, it meant pain, and it meant she had only twenty years left.

For the rest of her life, she would enjoy monstrous power and painful torture. In her field, she was ruler, law, and morality. Even if she wanted to suck human blood to prolong her life, her subjects could only respectfully offer her the most delicious blood.

"I understand, I am willing, thank you, I am really willing." Aya smiled brilliantly. "I'm afraid you don't know: living in this desert, I can't even live to that age. I also... I also want to do something for my people. I think everyone can live better. I want to give it a try!"

The earth was shaking more and more violently. Looking up at the sky, countless cracks had appeared in this huge underground city, just like a glass ball covered with cracks, on the edge of breaking.

Aya knew that time was running out. She stepped back and took two steps, looked at them reluctantly, then smiled and turned and ran.

This was the last time in her life that she ran with her own legs. As she ran, she burst into tears. It was not sad tears. At this moment, her heart was full of joy and courage, full of longing for a bright future. She was like a chick that finally flew out of the bird's nest, and was about to fly under the blue sky.

A flood of flames poured into her eyes, and Aya stared at the Flame that the legends said would blind her. It was burning in this huge rift valley, and countless flames turned into burning butterflies and flew to her, leaving only these dazzling things in her field of vision.

Her eyeballs burned up, and she saw it, but she couldn't see it. In this endless fire, it seemed that half an insect's body was burning, and the flame was so hot that it tore the insect's body apart, and also tore her living body.

Her soul flew away from her body and watched it all in a commanding manner.

She saw that her body was left in the flame, leaving only the upper body, and the insect shell torn by the Flame stuck to her body piece by piece, making the area below the waist perfectly integrated with the dragon ant's body.

Countless women with vague faces came to her from the flame. Everyone's lower body was an ant's body. The first woman put a crown on her, the second woman put a scepter in her hand, and the third woman put a gorgeous dress on her... When she recovered from the general state of the out-of-body experience, Aya found herself standing quietly in the Flame.

Suddenly, the world was no longer the one she was familiar with, and she was no longer the one she was familiar with. Even the flame that used to make her feel afraid has become soft and tame. She clenched her scepter in her hand, took a step, and walked forward—the dragon ant's body moved, and the inhuman legs and feet hidden under the huge skirt moved.

As if the Flame had heard her call, the fire parted like the sea before Moses, and she looked down at the crowd ahead.

Under the high altar of the Holy Flame, the maids and Virgins who were not involved in this cruel ceremony crawled before her under the guidance of the head maid, and the guests who had been waiting for the result of this ceremony on the observation deck had already come here. They bowed their heads and saluted the Queen who was about to lead this field.

Aya stared at all this in a daze. The guards who had scolded her unsmilingly, the chief priestess who had severely admonished her, the maid who had laughed at her skin colour and accent, they didn't even dare to look up at her face.

She stood calmly, but in her heart, she hesitated like an intruder who had accidentally run into a gorgeous ball, until she saw the two men who had come to the underground valley from above the rift.

Aya's face showed a sincere smile, and she walked quickly towards them. The huge skirt swayed gently because of the hidden dragon ant body, and a group of burning butterflies danced around her.

Qi Leren watched this girl who was both familiar and unfamiliar come to him. Her eyes were as bright as a whole starry sky, and the ring lines around her eyes became beautiful and extraordinary. She held out her hands that held the scepter and excitedly asked for the Canon. Despite being dressed like this, she looked like a little girl begging for a toy.

Qi Leren put the Canon in her hand, and Aya held it, recalling the memories and understandings she had gained in the flame. The dead Dragon Ant Queen was loyal to the Destroyer. What about her? There wouldn't be a second choice. On the day when she had met a traveler in the yellow desert, God had pointed out the way for her.

Aya bent down and said to Ning Zhou, "Your Majesty, I swear by my field that I will always be your most loyal follower!"

-----

Editor’s Notes: Fanart of Aya

-----

The maid of the Dragon Ant Queen asked nervously and respectfully, "What is your order?"

Ning Zhou kept staring at the expanding black hole—even under the suppression of force of destruction, the black hole caused by the Dragon Ant Queen’s death was almost out of control, and all his energy was focused on mobilizing the destructive force to suppress its collapse, so that the dying flame in the distance would continue to bur. If he relaxed even a little...

The whole Underground Ant City might be swallowed up by this collapsing black hole at any time, and would fall apart endlessly.

The Devil of Power had been plotting for Utopia to appear here in the Underground Ant City at the moment when the flame went out, annexing the broken Underground Ant City.

She didn't care how many casualties would be caused in the Underground Ant City, just as she didn't care how many ants had been trampled to death on the road she walked through. This Devil King who had already merged with the force of power was now in the Underworld, its absolute monarch. She was only one enthronement ceremony away from becoming a real Devil King.

It was this ceremony that stopped her in front of the barrier. She could see the unique scenery beyond the barrier, but could not cross it. She could only do everything she could to strengthen her force, waiting for a cold wind to blow over the cliff and let her fly to the other side.

Ning Zhou took the first step.

He couldn't wait any longer. He felt that Qi Leren was in extreme danger and may lose his life at any time.

At this moment, he forgot his mission, forgot that he wanted to maintain the existence of the Underground Ant City, and the only thought in his mind was "to protect him". Under the domination of this idea, he forgot to think about how much danger he would bring to the Underground Ant City if he left here rashly, and also forgot to think about how fast this black hole would destroy this field after losing his suppression, and even forgot to ask for strength from the abyss again and again, while he himself was heading for the abyss of destruction.

All he remembered was the only person he couldn't lose.

He wanted to protect him.

This step taken by Ning Zhou was like a war trumpet, which made everyone present feel a terrible coercion!

The origin force of destruction that had been restrained began to expand crazily despite his best efforts. Whether it was the black hole formed after the death of Dragon Ant Queen or the Holy Flame in this rift valley, it was all influenced by this force, as he himself was—the smooth black dragon scales had climbed up his skin and spread from his heart. When he walked to the front of the observation deck, half of his body had been covered by dragon scales.

Both human beings and demons were silent at this moment, in awe of strength and in awe of the heir to the man who once reigned in the Underworld more than 20 years ago. The extreme power of terror, as long as you felt it once, can't help but make people surrender.

The Witch of Lust’s heart beat faster and Devil of Greed's Adam's apple rolled. If it weren't for their long-standing allegiance, they could borrow the original force of fraud and power to fight against this coercion. Kneeling at this moment was the best answer.

The Devil of Evil licked his lips, and his heart surged. As followers of the old Devil King, his "loyalty" to his Majesty came from his strength. After the old Devil King fell, he carefully hid in the Underworld, relying on one-third of the demon crystals he left behind to maintain the operation of the Underworld, and resisting the encroachment of Utopia and the Village of Dawn. To this day, it was just for...

In order to wait for the new force of destruction to reappear, this new Devil of Destruction may even be stronger than his father, or even crazier, but who cares? As long as he could lead them to greatness and immortality!

Looking at his Lord’s uncontrollable force of destruction, the Devil of Evil couldn't help but smile, watching him turn into a huge and majestic magic dragon of destruction in the rift valley, let out a terrible roar in the silence, and then flap its wings and fly toward the place above the rift valley where the cruel ceremonies were taking place...

　　&&&

As if heaven and earth were hanging upside down, the ground near the rift of the Holy Flame began to collapse crazily and collapsed towards the rift.

A loud dragon’s roar sounded in the rift valley, and Qi Leren was stupefied as he watched the familiar black dragon pass through the underground wind and rock, and rush out of the Flame’s rift—when it flew, the huge airflow even set off the flame butterflies, and countless burning butterflies flew out of the valley along with it in the wind, burning in the sky, on the ground, and in his eyes.

The magic dragon saw him, and he saw magic dragon, among this swarm of burning butterflies.

Just a look allowed the magic dragon, who was on the verge of rage, calm down—Qi Leren was fine.

However, this bloody mess on the ground and the nearby mud that constantly produced demons made its anger surge up. Their existence was so out of place with Qi Leren.

Angry, the magic dragon roared up into the sky and rushed towards the demon swamp!

The crying woman with no legs floating on the mud watched in horror as the magic dragon swooped toward her. The horrible memory of the dragon's destructive fiery breath once again came back to her mind. Even though she wouldn't ever die: as a part of the Dragon Ant Queen, she would always coexist with the Dragon Ant Queens of all previous dynasties. However, this eternal luck couldn't make her forget her fear—she would always remember that fear.

This seemed to be a short and long moment. The avatar of the Dragon Ant Queen’s negative emotions couldn't do anything. She couldn't escape, and she couldn't resist. Under the suppression of this absolute power, she felt like a worm. In front of the huge natural force, under the sweeping of the dragon's red breath, in the flames that burned like hell, once again, together with the demons she had created, everything was grey.

Aya fell to the ground and gasped desperately.

She looked up in confusion and couldn't remember what she had just been doing. She only remembered that she was running, constantly running, but she had run for so long, why hadn’t she reached it yet?

What was going on now? Why had she suddenly tripped over the rocks on the ground? Where had the demons that had been chasing her gone? She seemed to hear a long roar in her dream.

Her eyes were dark with fatigue, and her heart was about to break through her chest and fly out. Just now, her running beyond the limit of the human body had completely overdrawn her physical strength, and she didn't even have the strength to look up.

The rift was just ahead, less than ten meters away.

Aya struggled to get up from the ground. The blood under her feet had already splashed her dress completely. When she’d fallen to the ground, she was covered with scrapes. Her mind was blank, and she looked straight at the rift in front of her, and she climbed slowly towards it with her willpower.

Step by step, climbing over the blood of the mountain of corpses.

The burning rift seemed to be the end of her soul, and she even forgot why she was working so hard. She only remembered that she must climb there.

All over her was pain and a suffocating collapse. Exhausted, Aya sobbed, but did not dare to stop. She seemed to be in hell, and she had to climb over the sea of blades and flames inch by inch before she could be saved in death.

Until... Until someone hugged her.

"Alright, it's alright, Aya, it's alright..." The familiar and gentle voice rang again, and Aya vaguely remembered that once, when she was in the most painful and desperate time, that voice had comforted her, encouraged her, and praised her.

Aya opened her eyes, looked at the blood and debris on the ground, and looked at Qi Leren who gently pulled her up from the pool of blood. She once again hugged him and cried, as if to vent all the pain and grievances.

Qi Leren comforted her in a low voice, but his eyes drifted to the black dragon that landed slowly not far behind him.

An unutterable sweetness welled up in his heart, and he couldn't help but smile, but he quickly choked—the magic dragon fell to the ground, letting out a pained groan. His huge wings tucked behind his back, and he couldn't restrain himself. The ground shook, and this restraint turned into another roar after a short silence, piercing the quiet world.

Aya was so frightened she forgot to cry. She looked at the huge black dragon behind Qi Leren with trembling eyes full of fear.

"Run, run quickly!" Aya took Qi Leren's hand and urged him while shaking.

She didn't know: that was the traveler she had never forgotten.

-----

Less than 100 meters ahead was the huge Flame rift. Under this rift, there was the Flame of the Underground Ant City, and their last hope.

Aya did not dare to look back. She did not dare to look at the black mire spreading and raging behind her, and the endless demons born in that mire. She did not dare to look at the little Queen who fought with the women. She did not even dare to think about Qi Leren who was involved in the ominous scarlet "enchantment"—the object suspended in mid-air like a red sphere, it looked like it could only accommodate several people, but there were countless beasts under its bloody light...

Hurry up, run a little faster. Aya, who was running, already felt that her heart was about to explode, and every breath of air sucked in couldn’t sustain her running, but she was afraid to slow down, and she was too afraid of being too late.

It was just like that day when she chased the portrait from the Canon in the boundless desert. Under the scorching sun, she had desperately put everything into running faster, but even then, she hadn't run fast enough. But the demons in the mud didn't catch up with her now—this was not the speed that a human should have!

Aya knew nothing about how she was breaking through her limit. She ran towards the rift valley in front of her through the blood and corpses on the ground.

The woman with blood and tears in the mud looked at the girl who was about to arrive at the rift, and waved her arm in no hurry. The original rift was suddenly pulled away, but Aya continued to run, unaware of the immediate changes.

"Is this your so-called 'method' to cooperate with the Devil King with an unpredictable heart?" the little Queen said, holding the sword and holding back her anger.

"So what? Either way, on the day when things are solved, you, I, and the entire Underground Ant City will no longer exist... After I die, how can there be a great flood? " The woman sneered, "It should have ended long ago. Watch and witness our end, and end with me."

　　&&&

Qi Leren was lying on the bloody muddy ground, with severe pain all over his body.

He was slow in thinking and vague in consciousness. The fierce battle just now had exhausted his strength and all his cards. He could kill several enemies with S/L and guns and ammunition, but in the face of endless monsters, his thin strength couldn't compete after all.

So he fell here and was knocked down by this group of crazy walking dead. They devoured his body greedily. At first, he still felt pain, screamed and struggled, but in the end, he was numb. His arm was bitten off, his abdominal cavity was torn by claws, and his internal organs were dragged out... Death had come before his eyes in a harsh chewing sound, and Qi Leren clearly knew that he was going to die.

At present in a bright red sky, the thick clouds were raining—scarlet, like blood. The rain hit his face, and he seemed to be soaked in a pool of blood. The liquid filled his nose, which made him suffocate.

This was not a quiet death, it was noisy like a war. Qi Leren constantly heard someone talking in his ear, accompanied by the sound of beasts chewing, but no matter how he concentrated on listening, the sound was as far away as the horizon, which made him unable to hear clearly.

He finally got tired, gave up, stared at the scarlet sky and waited for death.

Just like at the beginning when he was placed in a tree tomb, sleeping quietly in the gentle wind.

But who looked at him with sad eyes, raised his hand, and put a grass ring on him.

Who was it?

It was...

Ning Zhou.

Qi Leren suddenly took a deep breath, but his ripped lung couldn't handle this basic action. He didn't get oxygen, but only got heartbreaking pain.

His chaotic brain suddenly woke up, and Qi Leren asked himself desperately, how could he die?

What would Ning Zhou look like if he died?

They had a hard time reuniting in Purgatory. Even if the future was uncertain and things had changed, they still saw something in each other that had once attracted them—an unchanging soul.

But if the body was dead and the soul had no place to rest, the ring would not be given, the wedding would not be held, and the bright future would be shared. Everything would cease to exist.

Maybe, even Ning Zhou wouldn't exist.

For a saint destined to destroy the world, every minute he lived in this world was suffering. He was restrained, patient and persistent, but only because there was another person in the world who he couldn't give up. He wanted to accompany him, guard him, and spend the rest of his life with him. This desire kept him wandering on the border of hell, fighting with instinct painfully, even if it was a battle that was destined to be lost, all he could do was try his best to make himself lose later.

So he couldn't die, for Ning Zhou and for their future, he couldn't die here! No matter what!

Tears of anger and unwillingness poured out from the corner of his eye, and he glared at the sky with wide eyes. A flame that could not be extinguished by death was burning in his heart, and it burned into his soul, so that he never dared to close his eyes again.

In a flash, a touch of pure blue bloomed in his eyes—in the red sky with bloody rain, a blue gap was opened. The trace of blue spread rapidly, like an angel unfurling, spreading his pure wings in hell.

The monsters that had gathered around Qi Leren rushing to grab food were suddenly lifted up by a huge force. When they fell heavily on the ground and struggled to pounce on their prey again, they suddenly found that a force was advancing towards them.

It is inexorably advancing!

Wrapped in a layer of expanding transparent membrane, Qi Leren watched in a daze as it turned into a blue sky.

The blood rain stopped, the killing stopped, even the pain in his whole body, with his torn heart and broken lung, also stopped.

He suddenly thought he had returned to the Garden of the Holy Tomb, because the air around him, which was originally full of the smell of blood, had been replaced by the natural fragrance of flowers and trees, and the soil under him, which was full of blood, had become grass and flowers. His mood was calm and even detached as never before. When he closed his eyes, he suddenly felt that he had already flown into the sky...

No, he really had flown into the sky!

Qi Leren opened his eyes again, and was horrified to find that he had already flown, but when he "looked down", he could still see another himself—lying in the tree tomb in the Garden of the Holy Tomb, his scarred body was constantly recovering. The bloody internal organs in the torn abdominal cavity grew back quickly, and the bitten limbs grew like budding plants, and he quietly closed his eyes and slept in the tree tomb.

Qi Leren continued to "look" forward, and the world in front of him had become indescribable. In the Bloody Wilderness with bloody rain and wandering monsters, there was a small world with green grass and a blue sky. This small world spread wildly in this red and black world, tearing away the killing and bloodshed, and constructing a pure land.

Outside the pure land, the Bloody Wilderness fluctuated violently like a broken water surface. Ashley, who was suspended in the air, gave him a complicated look. He waved his arm and tore open a crack, trying to escape from it.

But before he could tear the space apart, the vigorous force of rebirth broke out from the blue sky and green water, and immediately pushed in all directions. Everywhere, the Bloody Wilderness turned into pure fertile soil, and the crazy monsters walking in the wilderness were purified one by one. Almost in a flash, the endless blood rain disappeared, and the clouds opened, revealing the blue sky.

The world had turned into a green field, and the body of Qi Leren was still sleeping in the center of the world, in a cemetery garden full of white wild roses.

I can't move anymore. Ashley realized this, and he was stuck here.

This was the power of a half-field. Once trapped in the half-field, all creatures below a half-field level could hardly escape. The Devil of Slaughter’s avatar could only produce a projection of his field, and naturally couldn't confront a real half-field.

"...I didn't expect that you would break through to a half-field at this time." Ashley's tone was full of surprise and a little bit of imperceptible fear.

Qi Leren also looked at him. A few minutes ago, the strength he borrowed from the Prophet had expired. He had fallen from the sky to the ground and was killed by countless monsters. But just before he died, he returned to the sky again. This time he used his own strength.

Although he still felt that the force filling his body was unfamiliar, it was so vibrant that he could display this vigorous force if he moved his mind.

"Life is always full of such accidents," Qi Leren said and even smiled. "It's getting late, go ahead."

A sound like broken glass smashing on the floor burst in the ears of two people. Qi Leren’s half-field finally broke through the projection of the Lord of Slaughter’s field and smashed it completely!

At the moment when the projection of "Bloody Wilderness" shattered, Qi Leren's consciousness returned to his body. He sat up from the tree tomb and couldn't bother to deal with Ashley. He said casually, "You just stay in my half-field for a while."

There were still many secrets in Ashley's body, and there was also a task for Qi Leren, which required him to completely destroy the Devil of Slaughter. Right now there was no time to fight with Ashley, and Qi Leren was ready to solve the imminent problem of the Dragon Ant Queen first. As for Ashley... He had been trapped in the half-field by him, and he would be cleaned up later.

So Qi Leren's mind moved and returned to the violently shaking, near collapsing reality.

At that moment, he saw a black dragon rising from the rift valley, and the whole Underground Ant City echoed with its angry roars.

-----