Nightfall, the Twin Palace.
As the holy ground of the Twin Cult, it was now cluttered with blackboards and clipboards. Harvey watched Igola weave between the blackboards, chalk in hand, scribbling and sketching while the floor lay strewn with pages of laboratory documents. Yet the Swindler moved with the grace of high society mingling at a ball, his boots treading upon vivid petals strewn to enhance the atmosphere.
The necromancer naturally watched from the side with a clear conscience; after all, he didn't have the mind for sifting through intelligence, and getting too close would only earn him a scolding.
Still, having watched Igola toil away for several days, Harvey couldn't help but say, "Hey."
Igola ignored him.
"Your hair's getting really long. How many days has it been since you bathed? Even Alice is tidier than you."
Igola paused for a moment, then went right back to ignoring him.
"My guess is that once Yaxiu is rescued, it'll be your turn to collapse."
Seeing that his persuasion was useless, Harvey couldn't be bothered anymore. Caring three times for a living person was already his absolute limit. But right then, Igola suddenly said, "Go call the Dark Snake Twins over."
Harvey didn't budge, but Alice leaped out of the coffin, turning into a plume of mist and leaving the palace. With time, Harvey's technique in converting corpses into other undead troop types had grown increasingly refined; he wasn't far from unlocking the ultimate undead troop types—the dracolich and the Blood Moon Corpse King.
Soon, the Dark Snake Twins followed Alice into the palace and asked, "Do you need more documents brought over?"
"No," Igola said, shaking his head. "I have some questions for you... Where did I put it...?"
He glanced around, suddenly realizing his hair truly had grown long enough to obstruct his vision. He casually brushed it to both sides, pulled an elastic band from a desk, tied back the messy golden mane behind him, and crouched down to search the floor for the page he needed.
The Dark Snake Twins instinctively stole a glance at the pale expanse of his exposed nape, quickly realized how inappropriate it was, and looked away—only to find themselves peeking back again.
"Found it." Igola picked up a sheet of paper from the floor and asked, "Although the Twin Cult doesn't follow the Grand Law of the Fangyuan Cicada, your cult's core doctrine originated from the experimental findings here, didn't it?"
"That's correct." The Dark Snake Twins nodded. "In the experiments regarding the Grand Law of the Fangyuan Cicada, the concept of 'Perfect Twins, Destiny Spiral' was proposed. It meant that only Fate Twins could combine into a perfect destiny, freeing themselves from pain and transcending all things in the world."
"Broadly speaking, that is indeed the case," Igola said. "However, after carefully comparing the Nature Cult's materials with the experimental records here, I noticed some discrepancies.
"The records mention a crucial clue: the concept of Perfect Twins didn't originate from the Grand Law of the Fangyuan Cicada or its followers, but from—"
Igola turned toward Harvey. "—Gospel."
The necromancer showed a puzzled expression. "Why are you looking at me? Did we ever encounter Perfect Twins back in Gospel?"
"We didn't see it with our own eyes," the Swindler said, "but we've heard of it.
"Numerous experimental records indicate that the Perfect Twins required by the Fangyuan Cicada didn't involve both Fate Twins transcending together. Rather, it required stacking one person's life, destiny, willpower, and everything else entirely onto the other, thereby allowing that other person to attain absolute perfection—"
Harvey caught on. "The List of the Unconnected?!"
In the underground mermaid palace of Nabistin, they had learned the secret of the List of the Unconnected from the First Sea Witch.
Only after arriving in Senluo did Yaxiu mention in passing that the reason the Yisu imperial family could ensure every generation's First Gospel hailed from Yisu was through the effect of the List of the Unconnected, stacking the destiny of one princess onto another.
"Wait, didn't the followers of the Fangyuan Cicada want to transform themselves into sentient grand laws?" Black Crow suddenly interjected from the side. "What does that have to do with Fate Twins?"
"The reason grand laws lack sapience is the same reason mortals cannot wield gods," Igola said. "The instinctive consciousness of a grand law or a god is enough to overwhelm the will of any mortal sorcerer.
"Yet in Gospel, someone used destiny stacking to allow a mortal who combined the destinies of two people to barely command a god. The Fangyuan Cicada cult likely seized upon this very point. But the destiny stacking in the Gospel Realm stemmed from a miracle of a god; if they wanted to replicate it, they could only substitute it with mortal miracles.
"Gospel's destiny stacking has no prerequisites for the recipient, though higher compatibility yields better results. The example we know of is a pair of sisters undergoing destiny stacking, allowing one of them to reliably possess the aptitude to house a god.
"Because the Fangyuan Cicada cult couldn't replicate a divine miracle, their requirements for the subjects had to be even stricter. So, with the technology of the Grey Fox God Era, how could they find two individuals with the highest possible compatibility?"
Everyone's eyes turned toward the Dark Snake Twins in the palace.
"The Grey Fox sorcerers found the optimal solution," Igola said. "By tailoring a perfect clone, they could attempt destiny stacking."
***
The Cicada Metamorphosis Hall.
Yaxiu sheathed Honeyed Words with a Dagger.
Two Cicada Metamorphosis Pods, four people.
Someone had to remain in the hall to serve as an offering for the trial-takers inside the pods.
According to normal logic, one pair should defeat the other, leaving the losers in the hall as expendable materials to be devoured clean by the victors.
Cruel as it was, Yaxiu had made it through all the preceding trials; he had long known this Divine Fire Trial was no ordinary inheritance, and he had mentally prepared himself.
Yet the two pods were situated so far apart, and the moment one was activated, the other had only thirty seconds left to enter.
If both pairs of trial-takers intended for themselves and their halves to enter the final trial together, a life-and-death battle would naturally ensue, allowing the victorious Fate Twins to return laden with spoils after braving the trial together.
However, if even a single person discarded that idea and sought only to pass the trial alone, the present situation would unfold.
Silver Lantern had already stepped into a pod. Yaxiu and his companion had barely twenty-some seconds to enter the other. And no matter what they did, only one surviving spot remained.
Only one person could survive alongside Silver Lantern.
At that exact instant, Yaxiu sensed an attack from his flank. Even with his lightning-fast reflexes, the Watcher's speed far exceeded his imagination—
*Thud!*
Struck hard in the small of his back, Yaxiu gagged. Weakness and numbness instantly flooded his body; his vision blurred into double images, completely stripping away control of his limbs. What was going on? He had no memory of ever mastering such a combat technique...?
In his daze, he felt himself being lifted and then tossed onto the cold floor.
Once his vision cleared, Yaxiu managed with great effort to turn his head, finding the Watcher looking down at him from above.
"I told you from the very beginning," the Watcher said. "You're on your own."
Stepping out of the pod, the Watcher took out the candy Yaxiu had given him, flicked it against the pod's activation button, and the hatch sealed shut.
"I won't be looking after you anymore."
Watching this scene from afar, Weise felt little surprise. Instead, there was a touch of happiness—perhaps even a faint sense of gratification.
By the time Yaxiu recovered, the countdown had just run out. He only had time to rush to the glass, staring intently at the Watcher through the transparent barrier.
What was he trying to say?
For once, the Watcher actually felt like listening to him. But in the next second, Yaxiu plummeted into the abyss along with the Cicada Metamorphosis Pod, joining Weise to meet their destined fate.
In life, far too many partings came before one could even say goodbye.
"I thought you would seize this chance."
In the vast underground hall, the only other voice sounded. Youlan took off her fox mask, revealing a sorrowful, cold face. "This was the best opportunity. Yaxiu laid the groundwork for you, and you could play his part. As long as you swapped just now, you could have achieved a perfect rebirth.
"Though Dead Frenzy might throw a fit, someone as adept at weighing gains as you naturally understands what matters more." She spoke softly, "After all, compared to Yaxiu, you are more rational, more powerful, more—"
"Even if you don't remind and cajole me like this," the Watcher said coldly, "I know full well that like you, I'm a demon caked in filth.
"Nor do I deny that I did have that thought in the beginning," he continued. "The Divine Fire Trial was my midterm exam for Yaxiu.
"True to my expectations, he is still as disappointing as ever.
"Weak enough to need someone to confide in.
"Merciful enough to shrink from killing.
"Reckless enough to squander trust on people he just met.
"Placing so much weight on friendship, on family, on love. I used to think he merely wanted to use love to control them... Now it seems the opposite is closer to the truth...
"He even managed to find a home here," the Watcher said calmly. "A stray dog content with any doghouse."
"You say that," Youlan remarked, "yet aren't you quite pleased? Staying behind is your highest acknowledgment of him."
"Staying behind was our original plan anyway. I simply didn't want complications; Dead Frenzy is still quite troublesome to deal with." The Watcher looked down at his hands and gave a soft shake of his head. "Besides...
"As an elder brother, it's only natural to protect one's younger brother as much as possible.
"For the midterm exam, I'll count him as having passed."
It was the first time Youlan had ever heard such words from him; she couldn't help narrowing her eyes, the corners of her mouth curving upward.
Soon, however, her expression slowly shifted. "How... is this possible...?"
White mist began to rise from both of their bodies. Instead of dispersing, the mist condensed into snow-white ribbons, resembling... a fluttering bridal veil.
The Watcher stared fixedly at the anomaly on his body; he naturally understood what was happening. This was the fusion miracle of Fate Twins, stacking one person's destiny onto another. Across the realms of the gods, only the Gospel Realm and the Senluo Realm possessed the inheritance of this miracle, yet he had never witnessed the scene of the miracle taking effect with his own eyes... almost never.
The Mirror Master looked at him and instinctively reached out a hand, as though wishing to comfort the Observer of the End. Yet the moment her fingers touched him, they turned into mist. The Watcher did not look at her; he merely closed his eyes, until both of them transformed into white vapor and vanished completely.
Chapter 590