Chapter 1746: Chapter 90: The Last Minute
"Tap, tap, tap..." A series of footsteps echoed in the silent source point.
A group of Radiant Mother God believers has returned, led by an elderly priest who gasped when he saw Su Ming’an.
"Ah... this..." The old priest’s eyes were filled with shock. Just when Xiao Love thought they were going to attack, the old shaman crawled over in a frenzy typical of a martyr, devoid of dignity.
"Huh... huh..." The old man’s throat rolled as he fervently pressed his forehead tightly.
Following were the second, the third... More and more believers flocked like pilgrims, prostrating around the roots of the giant tree. They murmured indistinct words, some confessing, some praying. They marveled at the non-human divine power and surrendered to the overwhelming pressure.
Some people in the live broadcast room feared Su Ming’an was a "monster", but no one understood true greatness more than these zealots who dedicated their lives to the Deity.
The elder had once been a shaman and had seen the true form of the Radiant Mother God—a brilliant sea of light, revering an unattainable majestic peak, evoking awe and obedience in his heart. Yet the shock and vastness he felt now was far stronger.
Obviously, Su Ming’an absorbed the Demon Mother Goddess and grew to his present state, yet he bore no traces of the Demon Mother Goddess’s evil, lust, or darkness. Like moonlight flowing quietly, like the earth vast and profound. The old believer couldn’t understand why the "Divine Son" became like this, but it did not affect his faith.
In terms of pure divine pressure, he was not as heavy as the Radiant Mother God. Yet, the path of the Radiant Mother God was clear and solid, while this tree was like a newly sprouted sapling.
—As if this tree did not merely exist in the moment, its roots plunged into infinite "possibilities", every untrodden timeline, every unrealized future, was its potential growth direction.
The Radiant Mother God represented the pinnacle of deities, and the pale tree seemed able to break all peaks.
The old priest raised his head, tears falling.
"Noble God, you can imbue any color, walk any path..."
...
[Absorption Progress: 70%]
...
Wang Xingkong felt himself sinking.
In agony, he dreamed of his mother.
During the days and nights at Mingxi campus, he spun like a wind-up top, incessantly rotating with problem sets, exams, rankings, teacher’s reprimands, parental expectations... suffocating him.
He once thought, no more college entrance exams, no more studying. What’s wrong with doing something different in life than burying youth in endless problems and exams?
Mother gently patting his back, like coaxing him to sleep as a child: "Don’t worry, problems are endless, let’s take our time."
Take our time...
"But I no longer have time to take it slow, Mom." Wang Xingkong choked.
The person I’m waiting for hasn’t come out yet.
The home I’m returning to is still unknown.
I was deceived by humans. They tricked me that standing here would make me a hero, allow me to return comfortably and receive lifetime bonuses. I thought just standing here for a while meant home wouldn’t have to be in a cheap place, your hands wouldn’t have to be soaked in cold water all day, and Dad wouldn’t have to leave early and return late every day...
But they deceived me.
They deceived me...
Flooding sorrow and longing broke through the dam of dreams. Wang Xingkong cried silently, feeling his mother’s worried gaze, sensing her gentle hands on his hair. This room bearing all his youth and sorrow became his soul’s most desired harbor.
"Pop."
A soft sound, like a tear dropping to the ground.
He wanted to find them.
Whether the "parents" set up for him or those possibly existing in some "real" dimension who gave him life and name.
He wished to find them.
Even if just for a glance, to know how they are.
Lungs rotting, he coughed blood.
"Cough... cough cough cough...!"
"Mom, Mom..."
"Don’t leave me, don’t abandon me... It’s so cold here, it hurts..."
...
Inside the source point.
The pale giant tree’s outline trembled violently in the dark water, producing ripples like waves.
Heart demons like tides, illusions like prisons.
Su Ming’an’s absorption was exceptionally fast, even beyond Xiao Love’s comprehension. Until life was about to ascend, he suddenly curled up in pain.
This step should be shedding humanity, memory, warmth as a High Dimension... But for Su Ming’an, he was unwilling to abandon these, hence the excruciating torture seeped from the palms, eroding him.
They transformed into wandering souls, ghosts, skeletons, and the deceased, akin to heart demons, attempting to drag him into the abyss. If he died, the yet-conscious Isabelle would be reborn.
"Ugh—!"
A pair of cold and petite hands suddenly emerged from the void, gripping Su Ming’an’s consciousness’s "neck".
Mizushima Haru whispered beside his ear: "What they say about you being an idealist is all false. I want to save this world, save my sister. And what about you? Can you attain what you chase? ... You are a hundred times greedier than me, Ruler."
"If I had survived instead of you back then, I would surely do better than you..."
Su Ming’an’s body was filled with energy, stiff and immovable. Her ethereal hands tightened like clamps, ceaselessly tightening...
His face gradually flushed, his body numbed, yet his gaze remained steadfast. Until a moment, her figure disappeared.
The next instant, a tall figure with golden hair and blue eyes condensed before him; Edward tilted his head, tidying his exquisite collar, stepping forward, examining Su Ming’an and said indifferently: "Su Ming’an, are you really a hero? Look at yourself... you’re practically a terrifying monster. The ones you protect, do they love you or fear you? When it’s all over, would they lock you in a cage?"
"You say I’m controlled by the United Group, becoming a pathetic puppet. Marching on this path, becoming walking dead, even sacrificing life at the end... Heh, where are you clearer than me? Smarter than me? Wouldn’t you be skinned and dismantled by humans, exploited to exhaustion?"
"On the path you walked, how many skeletons are underfoot? Can you face their resentment?"
"Crash—!!!"
As if Hell’s gates were fully opened, the mountain of corpses and sea of blood were concretized, countless lives vanishing due to his choices crawled in sequence—wraiths from instances, soldiers from battlefields, enemies he executed by his own hands, innocents he couldn’t save... White bones stark, flesh blurred, endless.
They howled, reaching out myriad skeletal claws as persistent water ghosts climbing layer upon layer, clasping every luminous tendril, hugging the growing trunk, some tried tearing the bark, drilling into his fragile interior.
Weight.
Unparalleled weight.
The weight of guilt, regret, death.
"Monster... you monster!!"
Countless bone claws grasped his "neck", "torso", "arms", "legs"... covered his face, crushed his bones...
Soul tortured inch by inch.
The agony of cognitive assault.
Light flickered intensely, like a candle in the wind, a sign of bearing limits on the soul level.
Yet he unwaveringly kept his eyes shut.
Like the calm in storm’s eye, like the rock beneath the deep sea.
"I must... advance."
This thought remained in mind.
Edward said his obsession became demonic, then let it be demonic. He contracted an incurable disease, defying life’s instinct, walking toward death without turning back; this was transcending physiological illness.
He dimly realized that the thirteen rounds of the game from the Source Point were indeed "trials," a repeated honing of oneself, one’s essence, one’s ideals, and one’s beliefs. Without experiencing these thirteen rounds, faced with these heart demons, he would think of Su Qi’s death, hesitating amidst the countless voices in the barrage. However, having gone through the votes of the deceased in the game, these heart demons couldn’t make him retreat.
The most challenging heart demons in the ascension to High Dimensions couldn’t obstruct him.
The last impurity was completely burned away.
The last "human" obsession was sealed.
If becoming high-dimensional meant only instinct and brethren remained. After his ascension to high dimensions, he wasn’t much different than before. His instincts were his ideals, his companions were the ones he cared about.
Neither fearing nor avoiding.
The pain of a thousand deaths made him recognize who he was in the face of such agony.
...
[Absorption Progress: 90%]
...
Outside, before the abyss.
"—Hold the defense! Activate shield skills! Activate invincibility!"
"—Close combat, hold! Hold!"
"—It’s not working; combat power below three thousand dissolves in an instant, too fast..."
"—Damn it, we’ve killed so many! Yet it... it’s too strong!!!"
Above the firmament was an endless expanse of blinding golden light, like countless spears of light piercing the earth, nailing it fiercely. Scorched earth, corpses, bloodstains, ruins... all impurities and discolorations swiftly faded under the morning sun’s wash.
It was as if the crust was kneaded by a giant hand, continental plates moving under the deity’s will. Centered around the vast rift of the abyss, the charred ground cracked inch by inch, with crimson magma erupting from the fissures.
On the ground, life forms as insignificant as ants gathered continuously.
Commanders of various guilds, teams, and races commanded in real time.
Hua De of Cross Judgement, Ali of the Sky Alliance, Fang Yuanyi of the Remote Control Army, strategists sent by the United Group... Faces both familiar and unfamiliar stood at the center where signals intersected most frequently. As far as the eye could see, the crowd extended to the horizon, melding with the falling light, uncountable in number.
At the forefront, heavy armor warriors stood shoulder to shoulder, layers of shields stacking to form metal barriers. Behind them, the Mage Team, Warlock Corps, Archer Cluster, Firearms Formation, Shaman Sacrificial Array... all ranged and casting units arranged by their range and attributes. Arcane magic, hymns, shadows, arrows, bullets... various distinct forces constantly fired, creating a splendid sea of light.
In the sky were Griffin Knights, Flying Dragon Cavalry, magic hovercrafts, steam flying machines, elemental flying spirits... Within the formations, auxiliaries shuttled busily, priests and druids sprinkling healing rain, engineers and alchemists fortifying makeshift magic barriers, minstrels singing aura battle songs.
Like a colossal beast crouched in the apocalyptic landscape, comprised of countless small individuals, looking up at the golden sky.
Standing in the array, player Ali felt a sense of suffocation.
Not a lack of breath, but a suppression rooted in life’s instinct, as if the entire world was contracting, an inescapable shudder that low-dimensional beings faced against high dimensions.
"—Can’t hold it!" Rolga spat blood, bracing his shield heavily in front, the shield’s surface sizzling under the erosion of golden light, fragile as paper.
"We’ve been... targeted... by the world..." An elf archer kneeled, forcibly severed from her link with nature, blood spilling from her mouth.
—As time went on, the power of the Creator grew stronger. The entire world rejected outsiders.
The air became as viscous as glue, breathing difficult; magic power movement sluggish, skill potency greatly reduced; even the body felt heavy, as if the world itself oppressed them.
Above the firmament, at the source of the falling golden light, at the core of the fissure—a slender humanoid figure became more tangible. Surprisingly, deities were often bizarre in appearance, yet the Radiant Mother God descending upon the world was humanoid.
Dust howled in the gale, yellow sand drummed against armor.
Heaven and earth lost color, only the army formation was as iron.
—When "It" looked over, golden light descended.
As if the firmament liquefied, turning into molten golden heavy paste that irresistibly pressed down.
"—Something’s wrong, we can’t let that thing press down!" Hua De instantly realized this.
Once the golden light descended, the land, along with all those struggling with might, would be washed back to its original form. Scorched earth, fresh blood, corpses, demonic Qi, light, will... all impurities would evaporate like morning dew in the golden torrent.
The world’s repulsive force peaked, the air leaden as mercury, many ranged spellcasters’ magical glows crumbled before forming, rebounding to knock them to the ground.
The magnificent sea of light slowly descended, illuminating countless resolute, fearful, or bewildered faces... as if in the next instant they’d be completely erased by the golden tide.
Countless people desperately cast skills, trying to stall the golden light bit by bit, yet it was like stones sinking into the sea.
"Stop it!"
"Damn it, we can’t block it!"
"It’s still descending! Still sinking!"
Amidst the critical moment.
"—This place is not where you get to define, Kritchens." Several figures emerged as if splitting the primordial chaos.
Golden light flowed over Su Rin’s raised wings, fiery flames soared to the sky, standing tall as if a deity in the pillar of light, he raised his right hand, palm up, making a lifting gesture.
"Bang! Bang bang bang——!!!"
Golden light paste collided with the Holy Power Field, erupting in rings of destructive shockwaves, tearing the remaining high-altitude clouds to shreds like cotton candy.
In the east, a dark silhouette rose.
Lü Shu stood above the sky, white hair flowing like a waterfall, black robe billowing, he raised his right hand, a black blade as deep as ink rose before him, and with his command, it flew skyward, transforming into a gigantic blade.
On the other side, a dragon roar broke the dawn.
"Ang——!!!"
Ian’s body swelled instantly, dragon eyes burning with blazing white flames, he roared, pouring all his power into his unfurled wings!
The wings transformed into two colossal shields blocking out the sky, bursting forth with dazzling starfire. He arched his dragon body, taking on the posture of bearing up the blue sky, fiercely colliding with the descending tide of golden light!
Using himself as a fulcrum to support the firmament!
Ian’s claws seated Eni, whose face was pale, having abandoned all the flamboyant techniques of "Fire Mystery," using his honed elemental control to the utmost, providing Ian with the purest flame power.
He understood, he completely understood... What "Fire Mystery" was never about manipulating flames into various flamboyant forms, nor was it about displaying awe-inspiring visual impact... but rather pure refined flames, truly blazing fire!
Not the fire of killing, but the fire of protection!
The people on the ground knew it was up to them now.
"Hold the last minute!!!!" Hua De shouted hoarsely.
They all saw through the live broadcast room’s barrage; Su Ming’an said ten minutes, so they believed Su Ming’an could absorb the Demon Mother Goddess in ten minutes! Nine minutes had passed already, just one last minute left!
They must endure this last minute!
With mortal bodies, uniting the will of all living beings, to resist the deity representing the world’s original order!
Awaiting the dawn to step forth from the eternal night.
"Hold the last minute!" Lin Yin screamed into the intercom.
"Last minute!" Ali looked into the distance, commanding his team members.
"Come on..." Xining halted his motorcycle, standing at the abyss’s edge with Qiuqiu, yelling.
"Hold on, it’s the last!" Hua De directed the overwhelming mage team, shouting hoarsely.
At the World Lord’s Palace, the red-haired photographer Zhao Yuan staggered out holding a newspaper, residues of flame ash on her face. She heard people’s roars through the communication device.
"—Hold the last minute!!!"
Standing atop the broken walls, she stared blankly at the golden firmament flooded with rays, for a moment thinking it was a summer sunset somewhere on Zhai Xing, warm and brilliant.
