The violent, black high-dimensional Law raged wildly within the underground ruins of Simon City, like a greedy beast.

"Ahhh—"

Chun's screams echoed through the empty ruins, filled with the agony of having her Soul torn apart.

However, just seconds later, those shrill cries uncontrollably faded away.

The green, fluorescent life force on her originally crystalline skin was being stripped away in large gulps, turning into pure data garble and surging into Mr. Duan's body.

But in the very next second, contrary to everyone's expectations.

Mr. Duan's left hand, which had been tightly gripping Chun's neck, suddenly loosened.

Immediately after, before Chun's broken, falling Physical Body could completely collapse, he reached out with both hands and, with the utmost gentleness, pulled her into his embrace.

This embrace held no killing intent; it even radiated a deep attachment that spanned endless epochs.

"Chun..."

Mr. Duan rested his chin gently upon Chun's lusterless green hair, his voice low, hoarse, and carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

"Do you remember when we first met?"

He ignored the ruins collapsing around them due to the Law's devouring, his deep eyes—usually filled with absolute reason and calculation—now rippled with tenderness, as if piercing through the scorched earth before him to see the distant past.

Because of the loss of her Origin, Chun, held in his arms, no longer had the strength to push him away. She could only lean softly against the chest of the man who had personally pushed her into the abyss, breathing rapidly.

"The First World back then did not have this damned Heavenly Dao System, no so-called mana values, nor any cold, rigid Rank caps."

Mr. Duan closed his eyes, the smile on his lips becoming incredibly sincere. "Back then, I was just a wanderer who had lost his way in a dimensional storm. I didn't understand what a Law was, nor what a Transcendent was. I was swept into a spatial turbulence and fell onto that primitive meadow covered in blood. I thought I would die there, becoming fodder for those ancient behemoths."

His hand gently stroked Chun's back. "It was you who saved me. You used the purest drop of Origin water from the origin sacred tree to heal all my wounds."

"I still remember that you were as innocent as a child who had never seen blood. Every day, you would weave wreaths for me using those huge, colorful flowers. You told me that life is the most precious miracle in this world, and that you would never stand by and watch a life fade away before your eyes."

Mr. Duan held Chun tighter, as if afraid she would disappear right then and there.

"During the days I spent recovering in that sea of flowers, you accompanied me every day. We watched the two huge, colorful stars of The First World rise and set together. I have experienced countless years, seen the rise and fall of countless civilizations, and even I have almost forgotten how long I have lived. But, to this day, I still feel that was the happiest time of my life."

"Drip..."

A crystalline teardrop slid silently from the corner of Chun's bloodless eye, landing on Mr. Duan's exquisite black suit and staining it with a small, dark water spot.

Her emerald eyes, once full of vitality and pride, were now dull and lifeless, leaving only endless sorrow.

"You... you guy..."

Chun's voice was so weak it felt like it could be blown away by a breeze. She spoke intermittently, her tone devoid of the previous anger and spite, leaving only a deep sense of powerlessness and sorrow.

"I really don't know... which of your words are true, and which are false..."

"Back then... when you swore to the stars in that sea of flowers... you said you would always protect me, and never let anyone hurt me..."

A miserable smile, uglier than crying, tugged at the corners of Chun's mouth. "But what was the result... every time I was killed, it was by you..."

"During the Great Purge, in order to survive, you pierced my heart from behind and stole the core of the origin sacred tree... Now, for that ridiculous god-making plan of yours, you are going to suck dry my last remaining Soul remnant..."

"Duan, do you actually love me, or... are you just using me?"

Hearing this heart-wrenching accusation, Mr. Duan's body stiffened slightly. He did not refute it, only held Chun tighter, so tightly it was as if he wanted to knead her into his own bones and blood.

"Every word I have said to you comes from my heart, whether you believe it or not."

Mr. Duan's voice remained gentle, but the devouring speed of the black high-dimensional Law did not slow down at all. He was like an extremely contradictory combination, simultaneously revealing the deepest affection while executing the cruelest slaughter.

"The Great Purge of the Heavenly Dao System is a dead end destined to destroy everything. If we do not resist, those beautiful memories, including you and me, will all become deleted data trash."

He lowered his head and gently kissed her withered green hair. "Give me a little more time, and I will be able to fulfill my initial promise soon. As soon as I completely replace the Heavenly Dao and establish a new era without Rank or System restrictions, I can reshape everything. I will let you be reborn in the new world, and we can return to that sea of flowers..."

"I... don't believe it..."

Chun shook her head incessantly, tears welling up more densely at the corners of her eyes. She looked at the man before her, whom she loved and hated, the last spark of life in her eyes fading away.

"You are crazy... Duan... You are no longer the boy who smiled at me... in that sea of flowers all those years ago..."

"I..."

Her voice grew weaker and weaker; before the last word could even be fully uttered, her arm, which had been hanging powerlessly at Mr. Duan's waist, slipped away silently.

"Hum—"

A blinding green pillar of light shot up from within Chun's body, then, as if attracted by a black hole, it all surged into Mr. Duan's chest. This continued until the very last bit of Origin life energy within her entire body had been completely absorbed by Mr. Duan's overbearing, high-dimensional Law.

Having lost the support of her Origin, Chun's originally stunning face slowly aged at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Her smooth skin became covered in deep furrows, and her long green hair turned into gray, withered grass. In just a few breaths' time, the high and mighty Nature Goddess of The First World had turned into a shriveled, withered husk of an old woman.

Mr. Duan did not let ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) go. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He continued to hold Chun tightly, holding this broken Physical Body that had completely lost all signs of life, standing in the collapsing ruins like a frozen statue.

"Drip..."

A scalding tear slid down Mr. Duan's face—a face that was always calm and unruffled—and landed on Chun's shriveled cheek.

This Transcendent, who had personally orchestrated countless slaughters and dared to scheme against even the will of heaven, seemed at this moment to have been drained of all his strength.

He closed his eyes gently and, in a voice only he could hear, murmured in the deathly silent space.

"Sorry, wait for me."