In front of him was nothing, yet the sound of metal being struck rang out. Rong Yi tried to take a step forward but was blocked.
This was strange. As a soul, she was supposed to be able to pass through any object, commonly known as phasing through walls.
But now, there was an invisible wall blocking her path.
She tried to fly upward but almost immediately bumped her head.
“Ouch!”
The Demon Lord immediately flew up and awkwardly hugged the air, even patting it. “Bumped your head?”
Raymond: “…Even after ascending, we still have to deal with this kind of nonsense.”
They searched the invisible boundary, knocking here and there, unleashing skills to bombard it, but the unseen wall remained unyielding.
They continued feeling around for an hour until Rong Yi’s hand touched a turn.
She led the Demon Lord, who brought the other two, into this invisible space.
As they entered, Raymond felt like he was “back on solid ground.”
Here, there was a floor. Though looking down still revealed an endless sea of clouds, they could firmly stand on the ground.
Excitement surged in him, “Have we found the control of the instance!”
As the words fell, a door suddenly opened before them.
It was a towering city gate almost reaching the sky, invisible but radiating a brilliant light from behind.
Once accustomed to the dazzling light, they finally saw the world beyond the gate.
Light generously poured in from all sides, bathing everything as if under a spotlight, devoid of any shadows. Flowers, trees, birds chirping, dewdrops glistening like jewels on the leaves.
People in light and comfortable clothing of varied styles and appearances were leisurely chatting and laughing in groups.
Zhong Zhi Ming whispered, “Is this… paradise?”
The sudden appearance of the intruders caught the attention of the people above. They gathered warmly, curious about their arrival and how they managed to break through the divine prohibition to ascend successfully.
While Raymond conversed with them to gather information, Rong Yi observed quietly.
The Demon Lord asked softly, “What do you think is going on here?”
Rong Yi replied, “These people should be NPCs. If you followed the ascension path in this instance before, you would come here to see this scene. By the way, how did you know to walk in this direction?”
The Demon Lord replied, “I sensed a significant data fluctuation here, so I took a chance.”
Suddenly, Raymond, who had been chatty, fell silent. It seemed he saw something horrifying in the crowd and took an unbelieving step back.
“So… are you here to stop this game?” A clear voice sounded, silencing all the NPCs as they made way.
A delicate girl in a white robe walked towards them with a sweet smile, “Long time no see.”
Rong Yi looked at Raymond, who was staring blankly at the girl, displaying unprecedented confusion.
“You… you’re already dead,” he murmured. “You’re not her…”
The girl’s plain and serene face stood in contrast to Raymond’s extravagant appearance, yet a harmonious difference existed between them.
“Of course, I am her,” the girl said. “It’s been a long time, don’t you recognize me? Or have you been indulging in the game, wanting to forget my existence?”
“Have you forgotten why you entered the game?”
Raymond immediately retorted, “I haven’t! I wanted—to bring you back.”
The girl laughed, “Yes, you’ve found me. Taking me back is just a matter of time.”
Zhong Zhi Ming understood what was happening and quickly said, “You want to resurrect a dead person? Wake up, she’s already dead, this is just an NPC created using her network data for the game!”
“I know!” Raymond roared at him, but the momentum lasted for less than a second. When he turned back to face the girl, he instantly deflated, “…I know…”
“Ray, look at me.” The girl stepped forward, cupping his cheeks, the light in her eyes making him feel like he was the most cherished treasure in the world to her. “I’m here, real and true. Do you want to stop the game? Do you want to give up the slightest possibility of bringing me to reality?”
Raymond’s tone wasn’t very confident, “…The game is deceiving us, you can’t possibly come back…”
The girl replied, “Who knows, maybe there’s a one in a billion chance, isn’t that also a possibility?”
Raymond’s lips trembled, “…But to sacrifice thousands of players’ lives for that one in a billion chance for you?”
“People are dying every minute,” the girl said sweetly, “They entered the game out of greed. Such people—there are too many of them in the world, don’t you think?”
No, what she said was not right. Raymond shook his head subconsciously, but seeing the person he had always wanted to see, rationality had all but left his mind.
“Raymond.” The Demon Lord couldn’t help but call his real name, “The Lucky Carnival has mutated. It was originally a simple game, but now it’s aimed at harvesting players’ life energy—remember our common goal? Stop it! Don’t let more innocent people die here!”
Zhong Zhi Ming saw that Raymond’s sanity had been compromised by this NPC, so he unleashed a strong gust of wind towards the girl!
However, the girl was not as weak as she appeared. She dodged with a tilt of her head and redirected the wind towards the three NPCs behind her, instantly cutting them off at the waist!
There was a burst of exclamations among the NPCs, scrambling in all directions, while the girl stood smiling in place, seemingly oblivious to the tragedy that had just unfolded behind her.
She refused to show weakness and took another step forward, burying her face in Raymond’s chest, her voice muffled, “Ray, are you going to betray me?”
Raymond trembled, “I’m not—though I’ve been livestreaming to earn points, it’s all just for show. I only have you…”
She giggled, “I know. I know. When I said betrayal, I meant—you don’t want to save me anymore.”
“You’ve gotten used to a life without me, you don’t want me anymore.”
Raymond shook his head, holding her tightly, “I should say, from the beginning, I didn’t want you.”
The girl in his arms stiffened slightly, then suddenly began to struggle, her voice coming in fragmented bursts, “What are you… what are you saying—”
“I’m saying, you’re not her.” Raymond buried his face in the girl’s fragrant long hair, his voice tender as if whispering to a lover, “You’re a phantom, an illusion, a visible but invisible barrier in front of us.”
With the girl in his arms, he took a step towards the direction they came from.
The girl panicked, “What are you going to do?”
Rong Yi also panicked, “Raymond!”
Of course, he couldn’t hear her voice.
“She’s a strong one, I’m actually grateful that the game has reshaped her into someone so powerful. If she were a crybaby needing my protection, she probably wouldn’t be too pleased.” Raymond muttered to himself, then suddenly looked towards the others, showing a relieved smile:
“I can’t let you come back to life.”
“But this time, I can die with you.”
The girl in his arms finally realized what he intended to do and punched his abdomen in an attempt to break free from his embrace.
Raymond spat out blood and fell backward—plunging into the boundless sea of clouds.
“No—” Rong Yi’s outstretched hand was stopped by an invisible barrier. She didn’t know what role this girl played in this hidden level, but as soon as she left, this heavenly space closed off, the ground rolling like molten lava, erupting into a raging pool of fire that spanned from left to right!
Zhong Zhi Ming’s eyes reflected the flames, “The instance is getting anxious, which means we’re headed in the right direction. We can’t let his sacrifice be in vain. We need to quickly cross the fire pool!”
Rong Yi composed herself. Raymond had taken away the current biggest threat with his own life, which was the most efficient solution for them.
She’s just emotionally unable to accept it.
“Quickly clear the level, seize control, Rong Rong. This way, maybe he won’t have to die,” the Demon Lord said.
Yes! Rong Yi’s hope reignited. This is a game, they are here to seize control, as long as they change the game rules in administrator mode, Raymond doesn’t have to really die.
He would be the first player to benefit after the game settings were changed!
Thinking of this, she shifted her gaze to the fire pool.
Flames soared straight into the sky, and Zhong Zhi Ming tried to leap several times, but he was a foot high, and the fire was a foot higher, unable to cross it.
The fire pool seemed to extend to the invisible distance on the left and right, and it might not be possible to go around it time-wise.
It was a firewall made of fire.
The Demon Lord and Zhong Zhi Ming repeatedly tried water and ice spells, hoping to counter the fire. But here, the fire seemed to have overwhelming dominance, extinguishing all spells in the unstoppable flames with overwhelming strength.
Rong Yi floated forward, even as a soul, the fire wall obligingly sprang up for her, firmly blocking her way.
But she didn’t feel very hot.
Perhaps because she was a soul, the fire wall could block her path but couldn’t give her the burning sensation.
Thinking of this, she took out her copy skill tree.
In the advanced skills, there was a move called “Giant Spirit God” that she had never tried. But judging from the name, it should be an enlarged spell.
Rong Yi tried to use “Giant Spirit God”, and the three-foot-long sword suddenly grew to over a person’s height. She measured the width of the fire pool and found it lacking a bit, so she held her breath, and the sword continued to rise, making her dizzy.
The Demon Lord noticed her movements, “Rong Rong, you—”
The huge sword clanged down on the fire pool, the flames couldn’t move her, only rising high from both sides.
“Hurry up.” Rong Yi’s voice slightly unstable. Flying over the fire pool didn’t feel hot, but being so close to the source of fire, she gradually began to feel a different kind of scorching heat.
This heat even felt somewhat familiar. She thought, maybe it was the memory of the sword itself, forged and polished by the roaring flames in its early life.
The thinnest sword handle was already emitting a melting red light, Zhong Zhi Ming gritted his teeth, made a decision, and stepped across the sword.
Although he was fast, when he reached the other side of the fire pool, the soles of his shoes and hem caught fire. While he extinguished the fire, the Demon Lord quickly stepped on the sword as well.
He was also burned on some clothes, with even small flames on his hair. But he didn’t care to put out the fire, turning around and lifting the already glowing red broken sword from the fire pool.
Zhong Zhi Ming made a rapid decision, from seeing her action to stepping across the sword in just a few seconds. She spent just over a dozen seconds on the fire. But in those dozen seconds, she had already felt the immense power of the replica firewall burning.
It hurt, her whole body hurt, a genuine burning sensation.
If the Demon Lord hadn’t pulled her up, she would have almost melted into the scorching fire pool, returning to become an invisible mass of molten iron.
They walked forward, applying cooling spells one after the other on the sword. Zhong Zhi Ming watched the fiery red retreat on the sword, while the Demon Lord focused on the soul gradually returning to consciousness.
“…Have we arrived?” Rong Yi asked softly.
Only then did the Demon Lord divert a bit of attention to the front. Zhong Zhi Ming had already taken a combat posture.
In front of them was a modern laboratory square that was completely different in style from this replica of “Heaven.”
At the laboratory entrance, a familiar elderly man with white hair and beard smiled kindly, with a Western face but speaking in fluent Chinese as he greeted them:
“Welcome, my students. My enemies.”
Author’s note: There should be another chapter later today that should bring the story to a close~
Thanks to the little angels for their companionship all along, see you in the next chapter~
