The Never-Falling Fortress

The price of transferring a world secret realm was so steep that both Sonia and Diya were a bit reluctant to part with theirs. They had no such reservations about Vichy, however, and readily urged Yaxiu to take away Vichy's Garden. They didn't mind if Vichy dragged them down, but they minded even less if Vichy's future was cut short. Being willing to harbor a viper in one's bosom and wanting to pull its fangs did not contradict each other in the slightest. Even if Yaxiu had no need for a world secret realm, they would still have advised stripping Vichy of the Garden—crushing all her lingering ambitions and leaving her to spend the rest of her days obediently serving as a maid was best for everyone. Vichy was so anxious she bit her lip until it bled, but she did not utter a single word. She merely glared at Yaxiu with a fierce, pouty look, like a kitten having its food snatched away. In the end, Yaxiu vetoed the proposal, offering the excuse that he would not be taking part in combat anyway, so whether he possessed a world secret realm made little difference. Everyone knew he was simply making his attitude toward Vichy clear, but Sonia seemed to seize upon the opening in his words and asked earnestly, "Are you truly not going to participate in battle?" "Unless forced by unavoidable circumstances..." "In other words, as long as there is the slightest possibility, you will not actively walk into danger?" Sonia stared straight into Yaxiu's eyes. "No matter what happens, you will prioritize your own safety?" Weise asked as well, "Even if only for our sakes, you'll do everything you can to return in one piece, right?" "The promise you made to me," Diya said, clenching her small fists, "you have to come back and fulfill it!" Even Vichy muttered, "...You ought to learn to be cruel for once." ... They were all remarkably clever sorcerers. Yaxiu had never harbored any illusions about keeping the truth from them. The combat power he displayed during the divine battle of Senluo was far too abnormal, and the contrast before and after was too staggering. Sonia and the others could deduce something was amiss without even half trying. Because Yaxiu had not brought it up himself, they had not pressed him. Yaxiu placed his utmost trust in them, and in return, they gave him the deepest consideration. From the greediest Vichy to the most curious Witch, everyone maintained a tacit silence. Yet the truth was not hard to guess: Yaxiu was clearly capable of defeating three God-Leaders on his own, yet he held back until the very last desperate moment to unleash it. That meant this trump card came at a price so steep he dared not pay it lightly. So when Yaxiu prepared to enter Hell again, the girls could finally sit still no longer. Through roundabout probing, emotional encouragement, and pointed hints, all they wanted was a single promise. A promise that Yaxiu would not use that trump card for anyone else. If there were even a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Yaxiu naturally did not want to sell his soul either. Out of four chances, he had already used two, leaving only two remaining. The Doomsday Quintet's descent progress bar was already at fifty percent. Half of him had already crossed the veil of death. The fourth time meant death, which made the third chance his final margin for error. Reason dictated that Yaxiu should save this third time for an unavoidable, desperate crisis—such as the Paramount of Stars descending into the mortal realm to capture him... That was also what the Sword Princess and the others believed: the most crucial trump card should rightly be reserved to protect himself. What Sonia and the others feared was that Yaxiu would protect others regardless of the cost. To prevent this habitual offender from relapsing, Sonia had even weighed herself on the scale as bargaining collateral, practically guilt-tripping Yaxiu: There are so many pretty girls waiting for you back in reality, so stop stirring up trouble in Hell! Scrape up what you need and hurry back—wouldn't it be great to let them watch you and me cuddling together? That was why Dead Frenzy had asked whether Yaxiu would breathe a sigh of relief if they arrived a step too late. If the demigods of Hell had already lost, if Igola and Harvey were already dead... Yaxiu had never contemplated such things before, because he had never had the luxury of choice. He could only fight desperately to survive, fight desperately to seize whatever he could, shoulder whatever burdens fell upon him. What was the point of cherishing a life that had nothing to begin with? But without realizing it, he was no longer the rootless duckweed from his days at Shattered Lake. As a once-empty vessel, he had been filled to the brim. He could even consider... letting go of some less essential parts of his past. If possible, anyone would want to journey forward carrying everything precious. But the road was not always smooth sailing; there always came a time when one needed to lighten the load. You had to discern what was important, and what was more important. This had nothing to do with morality. It was simply destiny. Yaxiu followed distractedly behind Dead Frenzy, failing to notice when she halted and passing right through her phantom silhouette. Dead Frenzy hooked an arm around Yaxiu's neck from behind, her supple body instantly pinning him to the ground as she ground out through gritted teeth, "Didn't you hear me tell you to take cover?!" Snapped back to reality, Yaxiu lifted his head and realized they had reached the end of the snowy realm. On the distant horizon, he saw hundreds of thousands of black dots, swarming so densely they looked like an overwhelming plague of flies. "Are those... Forgotten Ones?" Yaxiu caught his breath. "That number... even if you dragged out every demigod sorcerer who has ever lived in the sorcerer world to serve as cannon fodder, there wouldn't be this many, right?" "One worldline might not be enough, but several dozen added together certainly are." Dead Frenzy said wistfully, "On the eve of doomsday, it is often a great era teeming with the strong. It's perfectly normal for tens of thousands of demigods and dozens of God-Leaders to emerge within a few short decades... But in the end, they all ended up in Ouroboros's belly, serving as Forgotten Ones to conquer civilizations on its behalf." "It even vomited out its reserve of Forgotten Ones. Seems Ouroboros has lost its patience." Even at this distance, Yaxiu barely dared to breathe, terrified of being spotted. If the Forgotten Ones detached even a hundredth of their forces to deal with him, he would be completely overwhelmed. "Hundreds of thousands of Forgotten Ones..." Yaxiu muttered, "How have the demigods of Hell held out until now? Even in a war of attrition, their source mana and source crystals should have been exhausted by now." The Forgotten Ones possessed the exact same strength as they had in life, with only one added trait: infinite source mana! Every Forgotten One was a soldier with endless endurance. One-on-one, they could be eliminated quickly, but when massed together in massive legion-scale warfare, any demigod faction would be worn down and drained completely dry! "What era are you living in, still thinking in terms of conventional warfare?" Dead Frenzy chuckled softly, leaning close to Yaxiu's ear. "You have that wonder borrowed from Gospel, right? Take a look at what's going on inside." Yaxiu nodded. Immediately, a book materialized before him. As his source mana drained rapidly, distant scenes flickered into view across the pages. Wonder: Gospel Book! A massive dark curtain stretched across the front of the Forgotten One legion. While other ranks bombarded the dark curtain with relentless firepower, several thousand vanguard troops at the very front deployed various defensive miracles and wonders, forming an impregnable mobile fortress that slowly pushed into the dark curtain. Yet at the breach where they penetrated the dark curtain, a blindingly brilliant white light erupted. Like winter snow meeting a blazing summer sun, the vanguard troops disintegrated and dissolved one after another. Just like that, an advance force of several thousand demigods was snuffed out without a sound, without causing even the faintest ripple! "Is that..." Yaxiu was filled with sudden wonder. "A world secret realm," Dead Frenzy said. "And a light-and-dark world secret realm newly constructed within this past month. I've seen it in other worldlines, called the 'Morning Star'... This kind of world secret realm has no productive value whatsoever. All of its might is concentrated on destructive damage—a true killing secret realm." "This is the proper way to fight the Forgotten Ones. There's no need to waste source mana or source crystals. Since the Forgotten Ones charge recklessly to their deaths wave after wave, simply use killing secret realms as ramparts and watch them smash themselves to pieces against them!" At the edge of the Gospel Book's pages, Yaxiu saw another sight: vanguard units soared through the air at top speed attempting to bypass the "Morning Star," but they were quickly teleported back to their previous positions. No matter how many times they tried, they could make no headway, resembling mosquitoes that could never breach a netting. "'Worlds Apart,' a spatial killing secret realm," Dead Frenzy explained. "The demigods of Hell pooled all their resources this past month to rush out five killing secret realms, constructing a line of defense. They themselves are hiding inside, continuing to find ways to bolster and reinforce the killing secret realms' power." "What you are looking at is the final desperate stand of Hell's gods," she said. "Yet at the same time, it is the crowning masterpiece that Hell prides itself upon—" "The Never-Falling Fortress."