Rust, Lemon, and Sweet Orange

Silver Lantern was right. Watching Silver Lantern under siege, Igola knew this with absolute clarity. Yet he could not say it aloud—at least, not while Silver Lantern still drew breath. Silver Lantern’s correctness did not mean her worldview was right. Whether the notion that “reality is a fleeting illusion, the Void Realm an eternal future” was true or false, it could never serve as a lawful justification for her to torment all living beings. Could there truly be a justifiable reason for Silver Lantern to ravage the world so mercilessly? There was. This was the truth behind the third Truth Link—the outcome brought about by the Senluo Azure Lord lingering on the brink of death. Although the Senluo Azure Lord was the Dream Lord of this bubble known as Idealistic Senluo, His death would not destroy it. Aside from Him, there were tens of millions of prospective Dream Lords in the wasteland who could continue to sustain this fleeting phantom dream. This should have been a good thing, yet it had become the very fountainhead of despair. Because the despair erupting from the Senluo Azure Lord's demise would contaminate the entirety of Senluo without reserve. His will could usher in Senluo's Age of Gods; naturally, His despair could also dictate Senluo's final end. In a Senluo steeped in despair, the Strangling Green would surge to a degree no one could endure, leading to only one outcome: every last person would be transformed into a green beast. And green beasts were immortal and indestructible. Even if they tore into each other and devoured one another, their bodies ground to dust, their souls would still wander ceaselessly. In the past, only entering the Age of Gods could eradicate all green beasts. Igola suspected that the greatest significance of the Age of Gods was uniting the will of all people, turning every heart toward the light; under the mechanisms of Idealistic Senluo, that positive energy was enough to destroy all negative phenomena. Yet if everyone became green beasts and the Senluo Azure Lord died, there would be no Age of Gods, and the green beasts could never be destroyed. Worse still, those tens of millions of wandering monstrous souls would become the next generation of Dream Lords, continuing to nourish the phantom bubble of Idealistic Senluo and keeping the realm in existence. Unless an outside force intervened, the realm of Senluo would march toward... eternity. Undying, indestructible, wandering for all eternity. Unable to die, unable to live, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to sleep, unable to scream... Igola and the others could barely stomach the thought of being confined in a temporal cage for thirty thousand years, but at least they had the option of death to bring their misery to an end. The souls turned into green beasts would not even have a choice, and their sentence was infinite. It was a despair that made one's scalp tingle just contemplating it. And this alone was enough to make Silver Lantern’s actions undeniably right—every person she killed meant one more soul spared from this very despair. If she intended to destroy Senluo, then everyone in Senluo could finally rest in peace. Compared to wandering for all eternity, death was truly the greatest mercy. Killing to save lives; saving the world, not destroying it. Following the logic to this point, Igola had no objections. He did not care whether Senluo survived or perished, nor did he care whether Silver Lantern was good or evil, so long as Yaxiu could accept it. And so, a question arose: what if Yaxiu truly accepted this truth? What would he do? Igola understood Yaxiu’s character very well. Like Lisi, he was the type to feel joy when others were happy and sorrow when others grieved. Yet he also possessed clear self-awareness, never piling excessive burdens onto himself. Thus, if Yaxiu had the power but knew nothing of the misfortune, he would mourn without drowning in self-reproach; if Yaxiu knew of the misfortune but lacked the power, he would sigh without forcing the impossible. But what if Yaxiu possessed both the power and the foreknowledge of the impending torment? Igola’s worry was far from groundless—Yaxiu and Silver Lantern had virtually identical setups! Silver Lantern held citizenship in Melodic String, and Yaxiu held citizenship in Transcendence Prison; Silver Lantern was a Divine Fire Seed, and Yaxiu was a Divine Fire Seed; Silver Lantern was a semi-feeler, and Yaxiu was a semi-feeler... Igola did not know the details of Silver Lantern's plan, but if Silver Lantern could destroy the world, Yaxiu could certainly do it too! More importantly, Silver Lantern’s intention was beyond doubt: she wanted Yaxiu’s support. Yet how could Yaxiu support her? Support Silver Lantern in slaughtering tens of millions of people? Support Silver Lantern in destroying the world? Or even join her in committing an apocalyptic sin destined to be carved into the Void Realm for countless years? How many hardships lay on that road? How many dangers would they face? And when the world was annihilated, would they even be able to escape? Could Yaxiu shoulder such responsibility? Could he endure such agony? Did he even have the capacity? Igola did not know, but as he had said, there was no need to put Yaxiu in such a painful dilemma. They were merely passersby in Senluo. There was no need to sacrifice themselves for a foreign land. They hadn't come to play savior—and neither had Yaxiu. Silver Lantern was neither deceiving herself nor indulging in wishful thinking; Yaxiu truly would understand her, and might even support her. That was where her selfishness lay: she would drag Yaxiu into a desperate dilemma—whether to bestow release by personally slaying everyone, or stand by and watch all souls march into eternal despair. However, so long as Silver Lantern was gone, even if Yaxiu realized there was a mission to save the world, he would not know the method. So long as Silver Lantern was gone, Senluo would march toward its predetermined end, but before that happened, they would find a way to escape. Therefore... It was time to bring down the final curtain. Igola suddenly fixed his gaze on Chikala, his lips moving faintly in a long-distance voice transmission. Then he pointed behind Silver Lantern, and Gwen immediately fired a blinding beam of starlight. Weise, who was pummeling Harvey at that moment, was just about to turn and meet the edge of Yaxiu’s sword, but the instant she looked back, the piercing starlight robbed her of her vision. The next second, Chikala unleashed a shattering roar from behind, throwing a heavy fist of black flame! An orc’s full roar was enough to stun a human even without a sorcery spirit! Impaired in both sight and hearing, Weise had no way to evade, and her body was sent flying far into the distance. By the time she finally regained her vision, she saw the terrifying Death-Herald Black Crow descending once more. *Thump!* Black Crow’s long-gathering, all-out kick blasted with a sonic boom shockwave, kicking Weise straight into the interior of the ruined skyscraper! That was the place that restricted flight the most! Even without Igola directing him, Harvey seized the opening, charging inside to unleash a five-slash combo of Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood! Weise was unable to dodge; she barely managed to swat Harvey away with a backhand strike, taking the full brunt of the damage with her sanctuary! Yaxiu followed right behind, his longsword hammering Silver Lantern like a deluge of rain, punching straight through the dilapidated floors one after another, as if intent on battering her all the way down into Hell! *Yes, just like that.* Watching the rubble suspended midair within the tall building, Igola let out a long breath. Gwen noticed and asked, "Is she dead?" "Not yet," Igola said. "But soon." Silver Lantern’s consumption of sorcery power was simply too immense, and sorcery power could not naturally regenerate inside the Shelter. Her reserves were undoubtedly running dry. In truth, Silver Lantern should have fled long ago, though Igola could faintly grasp why she hadn't. She had kept this secret hidden in her heart for so long, and now that she finally had the chance to bare it to the person she loved, why would she run? Like a little girl eager to present a gift, only to be wronged until her heart brimmed with grievance, anyone in her place would be furious enough to burst. She wanted to stand right there, righteous and defiant, and watch him regret. In a sense, Silver Lantern and Black Crow were remarkably similar. Both bore a destiny too heavy for any single person to carry, and both carried out missions that no one else could accept... Then perhaps Silver Lantern’s heart was also hoping... hoping that someone might suddenly appear to deliver her from her agony. *So, please.* Watching the tall building erupt with continuous crashes, Igola prayed silently in his heart. *Don't whitewash yourself. Don't clarify. Don't be understood.* *Just die here completely, as the wicked Silver Lantern.* *** At the base of the ruined skyscraper, amidst the rubble floating in midair, Yaxiu and Weise locked eyes. Yaxiu’s body was covered in countless cuts from the fall, surrounded by drifting beads of blood. However, he had already struck himself with a Joy Sword, and his wounds were rapidly healing. He was not the only one injured. Weise was battered and bruised as well. Her lovely attire was torn to shreds, her fair skin sliced open, blood-stained and grimy, surrounded by silver blood frozen in the air. Yet even so, she kept her chin raised, looking at Yaxiu, her enchanting grace carrying an unyielding pride. Igola had calculated correctly: her sorcery power was nearing empty, and she could no longer maintain her sanctuary. Even so, Weise did not beg for mercy, nor did she take the initiative to confess the truth to Yaxiu. She had thought she cared nothing for the things of this illusion, including tedious matters like dignity and honor, which was why she had rebelled, defected, plotted, and resorted to any means necessary. Yet she discovered that she actually did care. It was simply that in the past, no one had been worthy of her surrendering her pride; she had always looked down upon the mortal world with haughty disdain. Weise could not understand her own feelings right now either. She only knew that if surviving meant bowing her head to Yaxiu here, she would rather die— Even if Yaxiu was just a hair's breadth away from understanding her. Then let that hair's breadth remain. *Boom!* Seeing the sword thrust toward her, Weise instinctively deflected the blade, pivoting to deliver an elbow strike! Yaxiu raised a palm to block the elbow, retreating to evade while cutting downward to the right with his longsword. Weise tilted her head slightly to dodge the blade, pressing into his guard to strike fiercely at his torso. Yet Yaxiu seemed to anticipate her movement; he tossed his longsword straight upward, transitioning into close-quarters grappling! Weise’s heart trembled, but her hands did not falter in the slightest. With supreme skill, she neutralized Yaxiu's offensive, catching the falling blade first to slash back at him. Yet within a single exchange, Yaxiu found an opening to check her attack and reclaimed the sword. It all flowed like running water. It all unfolded so naturally. Because this was the very combat they had fought countless times during the Divine Fire Trial, the match they had practiced again and again. As Weise moved, she suddenly realized that the air was filled with blood floating all around—hers and Yaxiu’s. The air was heavy with the scent of rust, lemon, and sweet orange.