Chapter 696: You Are Finally Here

Chapter 696 You Are Finally Here

Tian Lie’s sword did not stab into Nicole’s hand. Instead, it stabbed into the left portion of his chest.

At the same time, everything before him flashed. The red strands of hair enveloping the entirety of Longevity Palace suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced with the void outside the Longevity Palace.

A faint layer of light, which was growing dimmer with every passing moment, filled the space between his eyes and the endless void.

Tian Lie was taken aback and he quickly turned to check his surroundings. Then, he saw that Nicole was not too far from his position, a sphere of light enveloping her figure as well. Like his own, the sphere of light was gradually fading away.

Besides Nicole, there was also Chris, who remained in a terribly wounded state after the beatdown that Shen had given him. A sphere of light enveloped him even as he lay on the ground.

Standing with his back facing the three of them was the youngster in punk attire.

At that moment, they were all on another palace fragment within the void. It was as big as a football field. The structure that was supposed to be there had been destroyed, leaving only a small part of a damaged pavilion left.

There was a distance of at least 1,000 metres between the palace fragment and the Longevity Palace.

It would appear that Gabriel had utilized his spatial powers to teleport the three of them there.

“Thank you.” Tian Lie breathed a sigh of relief as he expressed his thanks toward Gabriel, who had his backs toward them.

“With this distance… … we should not be caught in it.”

Gabriel turned and rubbed his chin as he regarded both Tian Lie and Nicole with a doubtful expression. “Although you don’t look the part, you fellows are quite the loving couple, huh?”

“Loving couple?!” Nicole’s brows were raised. Just as she was about to speak up, however, Gabriel waved her off and said, “Enough, I don’t have time to hear your explanations. That Cheng Cheng… … it seems she has decided to die together with him.”

After saying that, he stretched out his right hand and made a wiping motion, causing a screen of light to appear in the air before them.

From their current position, it was practically no longer possible to see what was happening within the hall of the Longevity Palace, which had been enveloped by Cheng Cheng’s hair like a cocoon. And yet, the screen was able to show what was transpiring within the hall to all present.

Shen continued standing beside the chaotic maelstrom as he stared calmly at Cheng Cheng without making any moves.

The strands of red hair in their surroundings had stopped growing. They had wrapped up the entire main hall from the ceiling to the ground.

Not far away from the two of them was Zero, who maintained that emotionless expression on his face.

“Did you forget him?” asked Tian Lie as he turned toward Gabriel with a frown. “Is it still possible to teleport him over? He is the main program for Zero City. If he dies…”

“Don’t worry about him. He has no tangible body to speak of. The one you see is a projection created by Zero City’s main system. As long as the Oddity continues operating normally, he will not be harmed,” explained Gabriel with a shake of his head.

“Sir Gabriel… … do you not plan on doing anything?” Clutching his chest, Chris was barely able to stand up and he laboured to speak up, “If Madam Cheng Cheng dies…”

“She is insisting on going all out against Shen, what can I do about it?” Gabriel shrugged, a look of indifference on his face. “Don’t worry about it. This is not something that you can stop anyways. Even if your master finds out about this, he will not blame you.”

“But…”

Chris had wanted to say something else when Gabriel threw a glare at him. “Chris, if you have any objections, I don’t mind sending you back into the Longevity Palace.”

“All right. Let’s just watch the show.” Seeing Chris fall into a state of silence, Gabriel nodded his head in satisfaction.

On the screen, Shen looked around at the strands of red hair around them. Suddenly, he smiled.

“Since that day, I have not seen your red hair again. How unexpected. After having just seen them again, you had personally cut them off.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t see them again, ever.” Cheng Cheng sneered.

“Yes, I agree with you. However… … they way we arrive at that conclusion seems different.” Shen lowered his head to point at the strands of red hair covering the ground. “Besides, I am very puzzled about something. Just now, it was clear that you desperately wanted to kill me. Why are you suddenly starting a conversation now? If you want to find out why I left you, I can only say, I won’t be telling you.”

“You have indeed gotten stronger compared to before. It seems I would really be incapable of killing you through normal means. However! By putting my life on the line to unleash my Spatial Annihilation Skill, you will certainly die.” Cheng Cheng’s eyes stared intently at Shen. 

“Perhaps.” Shen revealed a faint smile. There was no way to tell if he agreed or disagreed with the statement.

Both of Cheng Cheng’s hands began to glow with fluorescent light. At the same time, the strands of red hair around them began to shine in unison. “Even now, I can still remember the day you left me.

“That day, you told me you wanted the Lifehymn Music Score in order to enter World’s End and find Bai Qi. I was unwilling to give it to you not because I could not part with it. Rather, it was because I was afraid that you would get stuck there, never to return.”

“But I returned in the end, didn’t I?” replied Shen coolly.

“Yes.” Cheng Cheng crouched down and her right hand pressed down on the strands of hair on the ground. “Although the matter worried me, given how hard you insisted, I finally relented and gave you the Lifehymn Music Score. And you, you did indeed return from World’s End. However, when we met again, you said to me: The next time we meet, just assume we are strangers.”

Shen said nothing. He simply observed Cheng Cheng quietly.

“I had thought you were jokingl How unexpected, you were serious.” Next, Cheng Cheng pressed down with her right hand and every strand of her red hair released a faint glow into their surroundings. “Even when I asked you about it, you would stubbornly refuse to give me an answer. Since that day…

“I had gone through denials, rage, hope, anguish… … and now, I have accepted this fact.

“Shen, I had once loved you deeply. I also believe that you loved me. I believe that there must be a reason why you left me and I wanted to know what that reason is. However, since the day I split that doppelganger and left it in the stage, that thought had been utterly erased from me.

“I have no intentions of pursuing that reason anymore. It is no longer important. All I want now is…”

As Cheng Cheng spoke, the light shining off the strands of hair increased in intensity, becoming incomparably dazzling in quality.

Then, every single strand of hair transformed into a Dimensional Rip Blade.

The countless blades hovered within the hall, lined up in intersecting positions to firmly lock down the surrounding space.

“To send you off!”

…

“She really intends to die together with him?” Tian Lie, who was observing the screen of light, frowned and asked, “However, now that Shen has become so strong, could she really…”

“Did you forget how she beat you up back then?” Gabriel gave Tian Lie a glance and said with a smile.

“Even if I am a weakling, I can still tell who is stronger.” Tian Lie pursed his lips to the side.

If a member of Thorned Flower Guild were there, their eyes would likely pop out from their sockets after hearing Tian Lie’s words.

The infamous Angel Killer and Guild Inspector calling himself a… … weakling?

“You are quite the interesting fellow. I like you.” Gabriel squinted his eyes as he looked at Tian Lie. “However, you do not know enough about Cheng Cheng. If she is really determined to put her life on the line to kill someone, forget Shen, even Bai Qi from back then…”

“Bai Qi?” Tian Lie repeated the name. “Is he very strong?”

“Very.” After mentioning the name Bai Qi, Gabriel’s face grew grim. “Amongst us all, he was the strongest.”

“You bunch of old monsters… … you are too scary.” Tian Lie smiled wryly and shook his head. “I cannot even imagine… an existence stronger than Shen, what kind of existence could that be?”

“He is already dead, thankfully.” Gabriel gave a soft sigh.

“Dead?” Tian Lie stared with widened eyes. “If he is as strong as you say, who could kill him?”

“Us.” Gabriel was silent for a moment before slowly continuing, “The six of us, together.”

“I understand what you mean.” Tian Lie considered it and sighed. “The one known as Bai Qi was someone that required the combined efforts of all six of you to kill off. However, if that red-haired woman is willing to sacrifice herself, she could even kill someone like him.”

“Although Shen is currently very strong, in your opinion, he is still not as strong as Bai Qi from back then. If so… … he will die for certain?”

“You are no fool.” Gabriel nodded his head. “Just watch. It is coming.”

There on the screen of light, the countless Dimensional Rip Blades had begun vibrating intensely. Next, all of them disappeared.

At the same time, the Longevity Palace disappeared from view.

A huge gravitational force suddenly erupted into effect. Tian Lie felt as though his whole body was on the verge of being torn apart. The palace fragment that they were standing on was instantly sucked toward the spot that the Longevity Palace was at.

It was not simply the palace fragment that they were standing on. Even the surrounding palace fragments were sucked toward the spot that the Longevity Palace had been occupying.

“Gravity attack?” Tian Lie did his best to stabilize himself before asking aloud.

Could it be… … that red-haired woman had created a black hole just now?

“No. It’s much more terrifying than that.” Gabriel shook his head slowly. “Just now… … she erased the space there.”

“What do you mean?” Tian Lie had realized the mistake in his judgement. After the instantaneous shift in positioning of the fragments, everything had returned to its normal state. It would appear there were no signs of a black hole. “Breaking space, is it that terrifying? Earlier, this Chris fellow had also broken space to attack Shen.” 

“After reaching a certain level of power, or with the usage of certain special skills, it is not hard to break space,” said Gabriel with a sneer. “However, you need to understand the difference between poking a hole through a piece of paper and making that paper disappear entirely. Remember this, I said disappear entirely.” 

Tian Lie’s head was lowered as he carefully considered Gabriel’s words. Suddenly, his body shook and he jerked his head up to look up front, at the empty space that the Longevity Palace had been occupying earlier. A look of terror finally appeared on his face. “In other words, just now, we did not actually move at all?”

“You finally understand?” Gabriel gave a harrumph. “Yes, we have not moved in the slightest. What changed was the space. It is like when a bubble appeared within a tank of water. The surrounding water will flow in to fill up the space within the bubble. Likewise, when a certain volume of space disappears, the surrounding space will move in to fill it up.”

“Then… … the people within the space…” Tian Lie whispered. “What will happen to them?”

“Naturally, they will disappear together with the space.” Gabriel spread his hands. “Not killed, not teleported, not banished elsewhere. Rather, they have completely disappeared from whichever corner of the world they are in, along with the surrounding space.”

“It cannot be blocked?”

“No.”

“It cannot be nullified?”

“No.”

“It cannot be escaped from?”

“No.”

As Tian Lie was about to ask again, Gabriel waved him off impatiently, “How many more times must you ask? Fine, let me make this clear for you…

“Everyone in our group managed to comprehend a portion of the powers within the Oddity! The principles behind each power are different for each of us!  For Cheng Cheng, the power she obtained was the ability to erase space! See that? The space that the Longevity Palace was occupying earlier had utterly disappeared. There is nothing there anymore!

“Which means, right now, Shen is dead! One hundred per cent, absolutely dead! Not a single drop of power, not a single scrap of soul, not a single cell is left! You cannot even find him in the Yellow Springs anymore! Because the space housing his ‘existence’ had been utterly erased!” 

“Ok! Ok! Ok! Don’t get aggravated, elder!” Tian Lie took a few steps back while gesturing downward with his hands. “I understand. All of you are powerfully terrifying ancient monsters. I also understand that the move earlier is undoubtedly very powerful. It is just… … there is one more thing I do not understand.”

“Out with it, then.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“That chaotic maelstrom in the centre of the hall… … mm, the one you call the Oddity. The powers that you all possess now were most probably obtained from it, right?” Tian Lie said carefully. “If so, it should be a very powerful item, right?”

“What a nonsensical question!” Gabriel gave a harrumph.

“So… what I do not get is… … this powerful item, could it be erased by the red-haired woman as well? Even though her powers had come from it?” Tian Lie smiled wryly as he extended his finger to point at the emptiness of space. “That Oddity has disappeared as well.”

Gabriel’s whole body suddenly jolted and he quickly jerked his head to look at the area.

“The Hell! You are right!” Gabriel’s face became twisted. “I forgot about that! There is no way the Oddity could disappear! Even if Cheng Cheng’s skill could erase everything within space, the Oddity… … the Oddity…”

He clenched his fists tightly. “The Oddity is simply not an ‘existence’ belonging to this world!”

“Meaning?” Tian Lie looked at Gabriel.

Suddenly, the gravitational force reappeared. This time, though, everything happened in reverse.

The palace fragment that they were standing on was pushed in the opposite direction and the Longevity Palace reappeared.

All of it… … remain unchanged!

Cheng Cheng, Shen, the Oddity in the centre of the hall and Zero. They were all standing in the same positions.

Cheng Cheng’s eyes were wide open as she stared at Shen, who stood before her.

Shen was not dead.

She was not dead either.

The Longevity Palace, which should have disappeared along with the erased space, remained.

She only recalled seeing the countless Dimensional Rip Blades vibrating before disappearing. Besides that, nothing else changed.

In other words, the skill that she had utilized while fully prepared to die along with Shen had failed to bring about any effect.

“You…”

Cheng Cheng had only managed to utter that one word before stopping. Fine lines of blood spurted out from every pore on her body and her figure fell limply as she fell into the endless void.

“That fellow…”

Gabriel’s eyes glinted and his right hand sent a sphere of light slamming into the ground. In a flash, the sphere of light reappeared around Cheng Cheng, enveloping her figure and hovering within the void.

In the next second, Gabriel appeared beside Cheng Cheng.

“Shen… … how did you do it?” Gabriel looked at Shen. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “When we were still together, we had discussed it before. All of us believed that Cheng Cheng’s Spatial Annihilation Skill is a skill that absolutely cannot be defended against.”

“Back then, our vision was too shallow.” Shen had both hands clasped behind his back and he said with a faint smile, “Since the Spatial Annihilation Skill is meant to erase a volume of space, it is easy to counter it.”

“Easy?” Gabriel smiled wryly. “Tell me what this easy method is.”

“Yes. All you need to do is to create another volume of space before the annihilation occurs. As long as the volume of space created is the exact same as the annihilated space, you can counter it.”

“Create… … a volume of space?” Gabriel’s face grew distorted. “Come again, Shen? Did you just say… … you created space?”

“There is no need to make me repeat myself to express how surprised you are.” Shen displayed a calm demeanour and there was a hint of ridicule in his tone. “Given who you are, showing such a display of shock will degrade your status.”

“You are right, I forget myself.” Gabriel recollected himself and slowly nodded his head. “However, after not having met you for all these years, I never expected you to become so strong. No… … you did not simply become stronger…”

His eyes suddenly stared intently at Shen. “Through the Oddity, we had managed to comprehend a portion of the governing laws of this world. Thanks to that, our level transcended that of the other Awakened ones and Players. The present you, however… it is likely that you have already transcended the level of ‘comprehension’. You can already… … create governing laws!”

“No, not yet.” Shen gently shook his head. “What the present me can accomplish is simply ‘modification’. Only after obtaining the Oddity can I possess the ability to create.”

“So, what do you plan on doing after obtaining the Oddity?” asked Gabriel with a frown. “Given your present level of power, it is likely that there is no longer anyone in this world who can match you.”

“You… … don’t need to know.” Shen shook his head. Then, he turned his gaze toward the sphere of light beside Gabriel. “Why did you save her? Back in the Romania instance dungeon, the two of you kept bickering with one another hatefully. Once she dies, you will be able to take that instance dungeon for yourself, no?”

“If I hadn’t saved her, will you really just watch as she dies?” Gabriel turned to look at Cheng Cheng, who was within the sphere of light, before turning his gaze back toward Shen. “Since when did you become such a heartless person?”

“She was the one who wanted to kill me.” Shen spread his hands. “I was simply defending myself.”

“You have changed, Shen.” Gabriel was silent for a moment before releasing a soft sigh. “I suddenly feel like I no longer recognize you.”

Shen suddenly laughed out. “No, I have not changed. I have simply…”

“He has simply recovered his self.”

Another voice rang out.

Both Shen and Gabriel turned in unison to look in the direction of the voice.

A man was standing quietly within the void. Although he had spoken up all of a sudden, his words did not give off a feeling of the unexpected. It was as though he had been there since time immemorial. 

He sported elegant-looking, red-coloured hair that was completely similar to Cheng Cheng’s. The lazy expression that had once been displayed on his face was no more. Instead, his pair of eyes shone like the stars.

Shen sighed and a wry smile appeared on his face.

“Duwei… … in the end… … you came after all.”

…

[TL: Only one chap today. In my defence, it's a long chap. =P]