"..."
"..."
Quiet.
Silence.
Without realizing it, the sound of the tides hitting the deck had vanished. The sea was calm—no direct sunlight, no sweeping winds. There was only a terrifying stillness.
The boundless sea horizon; behind that line lay an infinitely extending ocean.
Yes. As he said, across the sea, there was nothing. At least in this world constructed of "consciousness and memory," there was no need to build such a vast and detailed range.
So, when did he realize this "world" was wrong?
...The moment Mobius emphasized that "time travel" was absolutely impossible, he had already discovered it to some extent.
Since time travel was impossible, he had to think about what method could achieve something so similar. The result of that thought was... this was not the real world.
In a game where you can Save and Load, returning to the save point is essentially time travel. From that moment on, it was confirmed that this was a virtual world.
"You are using infinite loops to trap me, to wear down my spirit and modify my memories. Though I don't know how much you've changed, the blurred and contradictory parts of my memories have become too many to ignore."
Lin drew God-Slayer, pointing it at Prometheus face, his tone grim.
He could no longer remember the main subjects of most key events clearly. It was only during the time he sat with Mobius that he thoroughly went through his memories and realized that many people didn't match up.
"But according to what you said, I can control this so-called consciousness world at will and even kill others all at once. Why would I need to disguise myself as—"
"Because this is not a consciousness world with you as the subject."
"Prometheus" was pinned down by the gaze from that azure visor. His eyes were no longer gentle or indifferent; they had become aggressive.
He might have learned the truth of these three "loops," but they had tangibly changed some things in his consciousness and personality.
"At first, I guessed it was a world made only of my consciousness and memories. But later, when I was tracking the incidents, I found that the overall layout of the headquarters was completely intact. Not even I could remember every detail of the headquarters. That means you must have used the memories of everyone in the headquarters to form this fake base. Everyone is indistinguishable from their real selves—but the vital information you want, the WM series data, is known to no one. That is the only flaw in the reality."
"Back to the topic of why you took such a long detour: it's because you knew that simply torturing and killing me wouldn't break my consciousness or make it turn. And you couldn't perform large-scale modifications within my primary consciousness. After all, your original goal was to modify my consciousness. If you could have done it from the start, you wouldn't have come here to play role-play."
"You can 'erase' others, but you can't modify how they appear in my consciousness. That is the fundamental reason you were exposed."
Because you are not omnipotent, you lose.
Because you only wore the mask of a god, your inferior skin was torn off.
He had seen it countless times—the way those fake gods looked down from on high.
And he would personally pull them down from their thrones.
"You've already lost the battle of consciousness, Prometheus... no, I should say, the Eighth Herrscher."
Lin spoke his declaration coldly to "Prometheus."
He could think of no other technology or ability besides a Herrscher's power that could achieve this.
Lin guess was not wrong. The Eighth Herrscher was a Herrscher who had already been born and was lurking among humans. The time of her birth might have been earlier than the Seventh or even many before her. The reason she lurked was to completely annihilate humanity.
Perhaps she had finally found a way to wipe them out in one go, or perhaps she had reached the final step, and then this Herrscher—whose power was likely consciousness-related—discovered there was an outlier in the headquarters.
An outlier whose consciousness had mutated after entering a Herrscher Core, who was not under her control, and who had the ability to slay multiple Herrscher.
"In reality, your combat power is likely inferior to mine, let alone Kevin's. So you couldn't leave any room for error; you had to eliminate me first before proceeding with your plan."
"And your plan involves the WM series data."
The WM series data... things tied to the stable structure of human society. It could be said that it was the root of everything in modern human society.
What would happen if a Herrscher capable of eroding consciousness got hold of the WM series data?
Even just destroying one key node could effortlessly throw humanity into chaos.
"...Truly brilliant. It seems my decision to finish you off first was correct."
The "Prometheus"—or rather, the Eighth Herrscher in Prometheus guise—who had been silent with her head bowed, looked up. She revealed a seductive smile on that cold face, an expression the real Prometheus would absolutely never make.
"How could I have imagined that when I woke up in the Fire Moth, I would find two 'kindred'? And they seem so close to humans—so close it makes me jealous..." With her hands behind her back and eyes squinted, she walked by Lin side like a cat toying with its prey, treading on her tiptoes.
"Two?" Lin froze for a moment, then spoke sharply—"No, you're still lying."
Using lies to make him doubt the people around him—he wouldn't fall for it a second time.
"Hehehe... Lying, am I?"
The Eighth Herrscher stopped before the tip of Lin blade, giggling. Her long hair fluttered in the wind like an unfolding scroll.
"Then treat it as a lie. I'm looking forward to it. At the moment you learn the truth, what will your expression look like?"
"Even without me constructing these scenes and plots, it will surely make your consciousness—"
Bang!
"..."
The Eighth Herrscher looked coldly at the large icicle protruding from the hole in her chest, then looked at Kevin, who was standing at the deck door with his hand raised.
Finally, she met Lin eyes again.
Her lips parted slightly.
"Do you know what I see most in human society?"
"Friends and family turning against each other, brothers killing each other, beloved couples deceiving and betraying. In the 'last time,' it was the same for you and Kevin."
"And so—"
Lin interrupted her impatiently: "And so, can we begin?"
He raised his blade coldly.
"You have no humanity. Why discuss the humans you don't understand at all?"