CHAPTER 1173: CHAPTER 1170: TE: I SEAL IT MYSELF (PART 9)

The Blue Rose pierced through the chest, a large amount of blood gushed out, and Su Ming’an fell forward.

Noel crouched down and took the Sword of Destiny from Su Ming’an’s hand.

Shadow could not stop Su Ming’an from unsealing the Life Disk. The only method was, at the instant of the unsealing—let Noel seize the Sword of Destiny that acted as the key.

"Noel, what are you doing!" Lv Shu flared up instantly. He had instinctively foreseen this scene, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

"Noel..." Yamada Machiichi couldn’t believe it.

"It was also within expectations." Lu muttered to himself. He had interacted with many people, but Noel was one of the few he couldn’t see through. It was just a pity that Su Ming’an finally had someone he could trust a little, yet...

"Damn it, you golden-haired one dare to harm my brother, I’ll fight you!" Mo Yan saw Su Ming’an being stabbed in the heart and angrily leaped, but was firmly restricted within the grid.

"...Why." Massive blood spread from Su Ming’an’s left chest, he turned his head, seemingly still holding his last breath.

"Shadow gave me hope, about the New World." Noel said with only calm in his deep blue eyes: "You have seen the future presented by Shadow. Among many possibilities, we become enemies. Human strength is limited, but high-dimensional strength far surpasses humans. I just chose the side more favorable for realizing wishes."

"So, the adventure ends here."

"There is a Coagulation Potion in the Blue Rose Scepter, you can live for a while even without a heart, no matter what Authority you have, don’t think of returning."

Whether the Death Rebound exists is an answer that has yet to be determined. But Noel only needed to keep Su Ming’an in a dying state, unable to move, and Noel could usurp the millennia of accumulated emotions, transferring them to Shadow.

—The final Chess Piece moved by Shadow was indeed Noel beside Su Ming’an.

In the previous three steps, only the Queen was moved, intentionally waiting for Su Ming’an to complete all steps, and finally using the Chess Piece to backstab.

Shadow knew this was an inevitable victory for humanity, so he never tried to disrupt the millennia plan, but attacked the final executor. Even when Shadow provided information to Su Ming’an in the previous round, it was just to make Su Ming’an rest assured about Noel by his side. After all, this Noel was "the only and the real."

Su Ming’an closed his eyes, then slowly opened them, blood sliding from the corners of his eyes: "Do you... really think... Shadow can fulfill your wishes... better than I can...?"

A New World built on destruction and plunder... is it really the New World you want? The starry sea walked upon the bones of companions... is it really the adventure you desire?

Noel lowered his head, seemingly wanting to say something, but the ripples in his eyes became silence at last.

The vast starry sky was reflected in his vast blue eyes, showing no clear shadows.

The blood beneath Su Ming’an flowed more and more, he slowly closed his blood-stained eyelids, black hair drooped on the ground, breathing weakening bit by bit...

Noel grasped the Sword of Destiny with one hand and reached towards Su Ming’an’s neck with the other.

Just then,

Noel felt a very strong repulsive force.

"Boom——!!"

A violent explosion sounded, and Noel’s eyes widened.

A fireworks-like intense pain burst from his chest, the skin was torn apart, and the repulsive force pushed Noel back sharply, making him involuntarily let go of the Sword of Destiny in his hand—

"Snap."

Another hand firmly caught the Sword of Destiny.

In everyone’s shocked eyes, the blood-covered Su Ming’an stood up from the ground. Despite the terrifying penetrating wound in his chest, he seemed untouched by fatal harm.

Seeing Noel fall to the ground, Su Ming’an mercilessly inflicted another Spatial Vibration.

"Boom——!!!"

The skin was torn, and blood splashed. The blond teenage boy fell to the ground, staining it together with the surface red.

The situation reversed sharply, leaving everyone stunned.

"Your information seems to be lacking, it seems you are not always watching over The World of Old Days." Su Ming’an directed his palm at Noel on the ground.

Noel lay on the ground, his expression still very calm.

Noel indeed aimed to kill, Su Ming’an’s entire left chest was dripping with blood, theoretically, the heart would also be pierced. Previously in Qiongdi, Noel’s scepter indeed pierced and killed Su Ming’an. But the only exception was... in the Tenth World, Su Ming’an now used his own body.

And for his own body, the heart is situated on the right side.

...

"—When did you realize it?" Shadow’s voice came from afar. After all, this Noel really did meet the secret sign. Although even deities could guess one or two signals, Su Ming’an was overly cautious.

"Not long ago." Su Ming’an said lightly: "I just thought of two possibilities."

"The first: At the beginning of the board, when choosing the think tank, I called out ’Noel Agnini,’ and then Noel appeared by my side. But... is this really the Noel from my world line? All [Noels] are called Noel. If he is just a possibility of Noel, and your avatar? And that only real, my true friend Noel, was not summoned to the board."

"The second possibility: Noel was gone long ago. Accompanying me... was never the real Noel."

He felt his body becoming heavy, chaotic negative emotions gradually surged in his mind. But the Sword of Destiny he gripped in his hand allowed this massive ocean-like emotion to flood into his body.

Everyone listened to his analysis in shock, few paid attention to the pain he was enduring.

"Three days ago, I kept going back using Time Authority, trying to save Lv Shu, Yuanyuan, Noel, Li Yuxuan, and Lu Meng, who died in the Holy City explosion. I went back repeatedly and finally saved them, but... it overlooked one problem." Su Ming’an said:

"—Does the Time Authority of Old God override the world’s game instance?"

"—Was their death decided at the moment of the explosion, or at the moment I backtracked?"

Players who die in instances have their power cleared and return to the Main God World. In other words, the moment death occurs, the player has already left the instance.

Su Ming’an used to be able to bring players back, using his own Death Rebound. His own Death Rebound transcends everything, reversing the time of the instance. However, Old God’s Time Authority cannot override the instance.

In other words... before Time Authority was activated, players who had died had already left the instance. No matter how Su Ming’an subsequently triggered Time Authority, the players would not come back, so Noel and Lu Meng had in fact already left the instance, maybe he only saved their replicas.

As for Lv Shu and Yuanyuan, their death in the instance was real death, they wouldn’t return to the Main God World. So they would instead be successfully rescued.

"...Which of my two guesses is correct?" Su Ming’an asked from a distance: "Where did you hide the real Noel?"

Shadow remained silent.

Su Ming’an didn’t expect a response. While bearing the emotions, he continued to play the chess game with Shadow—

...

[Both sides move in the fifth round.]

[Red: Elephant (F2) moves diagonally to (E1).]

[Blue: Chariot (A8) moves vertically to (A3).]

...

[Both sides move in the sixth round.]

[Red: Elephant (F1) moves diagonally to (G2).]

[Blue: Chariot (H8) moves diagonally to (H3).]

...

```

[Both sides are at the seventh round of the chess match.]

[...]

...

[Ninth round.]

[Tenth round...]

...

Dieying’s strategy failed, so it could only resort to obstructing Su Ming’an from the larger picture. The black mist advanced, and the tainted tentacle monsters attacked the city...

These tactics were nothing but futile struggles. Barring any human errors, there was barely any chance of a breakthrough.

Su Ming’an confronted each step. Wherever Dieying attacked, he defended. The army moved with his scepter, as one piece fell, tens of thousands of troops moved.

Under the solitary blue moon, he sat on his throne, dry blood at his feet, and even his robes were covered in dried blood stains. He raised his scepter high, with an entire civilization behind him.

He sent disciples of Ancient Martial Families to lead the ancient martial arts practitioners, ordered those wandering for a thousand years to go to coastal cities to guard the front lines, instructed the two who had lain dormant for ten days to purify the black mist at the frontline, appointed the silent blademaster to watch over Dao Ya City, and had the brave one join the front battlefield...

The battlefield in his eyes was like a chessboard, where red and blue pieces collided. Interlocking, attacking, defending, capturing pieces, retreating pieces... Vehicles flowed on crisscrossing roads, like arteries and veins delivering blood, which translated to clear blue-purple hues in his vision.

...

Holy City.

Thunderous and ear-piercing sounds resonated from all around.

Dieying made a move, attacking the Holy City, attempting to bring this city in the clouds down.

"Quickly, quickly consult the deity!" People ran hastily.

"Don’t worry, the deity will surely manage..."

"The Holy City must not fall..."

Amidst the surging crowd, no one noticed a girl. With a black ponytail and a pink dress, she looked just like any ordinary schoolgirl.

"—Have you made your decision?" The deity’s voice sounded in her ear.

"...Perhaps." The girl’s answer was uncertain, even timid.

No one would believe that Su Luoluo from the Holy City could survive until a thousand years later.

She lived in the virtual realm, becoming a network ghost. Utilizing her Causality Authority over the millennium, she perfected each dream patrol game. Thus, when the Holy City faced difficulty, the most effective resistance to Dieying’s chess wasn’t from those clever and mighty Principals but from her, who also controlled causality.

She never considered—timid and cowardly as she was, she could become the "only" who could save the Holy City.

All dream patrol games were fully crafted, she donned a beautiful persona, singing daily, editing videos, living carefree. People liked her as this lively and cheerful game streamer.

If life continued like this, it would be perfect.

But the deity inquired if she wanted to awaken from the network, to which she unexpectedly agreed. Even the deity hadn’t expected her consent.

...It was hard enough being a coward.

"You don’t have to confront Dieying’s attack, you can leave it to others, although the sacrifices will be greater..." the deity said.

The deity only thought rationally and considered whether Su Ming’an cared because Su Ming’an cared about Su Luoluo. Therefore, the deity hoped to use others instead of her. The lives of others were not in the deity’s consideration.

From His observation, this girl was the most reluctant to die in the Holy City. Shy, timid, lacking willpower. Her steps in using the Causality Authority depended entirely on His guidance. Any deeper into Dieying’s causal line, she would scream in fear.

She couldn’t manage it.

In fact, this was the limit of what an ordinary person could achieve.

"Dieying has already played a chess piece. I don’t think you can withstand His attack, so..." the deity said.

"Have I become the only one?" Su Luoluo suddenly interrupted Him.

The deity paused: "Yes, you are the only one."

In terms of authority, she was indeed the only one.

Su Luoluo smiled: "That’s great..."

She only uttered this sentence.

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heartbeat was very clear.

The chess match had reached the eleventh round. Su Ming’an continued to unseal the Life Hard Drive, while Dieying aimed its attack at the Holy City. Causal lines in deep blue drifted towards the Holy City, sharp like the blade’s edge.

Su Luoluo took a deep breath.

"Deity." She walked forward.

"You never told Su Ming’an that I survived. He thought I had long perished."

"When he leaves, you must tell him what I am doing now."

"You have to tell him that Su Luoluo is a coward, but she is a one-of-a-kind coward. She hid in the network for many years but touched his sky."

"You must tell him... A coward does this, not because she is brave. Merely because... In school, she once imagined a monster appearing in the playground and her awakening as a Magic Girl, defeating the monster amidst panicked cries from the entire school—now this scenario has appeared."

She walked forward.

Found those causal lines threatening the Holy City and stopped them.

It wasn’t a Brave confronting the Demon King, merely a feeble Slime. The Slime held a wooden sword, poking forward little by little, trying to protect the village behind her.

There was no one behind her.

This scene of a Slime bravely resisting the Demon King was unseen. People were busy with their affairs, having no time for this side.

The Holy City was just a trivial battle among many, with countless similar to "Su Luoluo" stepping forward, most not leaving a name. Saturated rescue, she wasn’t a unique hero.

One line, two lines, three lines.

Tainted with yellow-green contamination, the pain made her want to cry.

When she finally succeeded in severing them, losing strength, she sat on the ground. Cheers erupted from the Holy City.

"—Dieying’s attack has been repelled!"

"—Who was it?"

"—It must have been the deity’s dispatched team, wonderful, everyone quickly proceed to the next step..."

After brief cheers, people hurriedly went to the next steps. No one cared which hero saved the Holy City, there was simply too much to handle.

Su Luoluo sat where she was, wanting to stand, but her legs already decayed, only able to crawl back slowly.