When I looked at him, all his injuries were healed. His robe was fixed too.
Am I seeing things—or had I really seen those things?

"Do you see now? She can scratch me, but how long the scar remains is up to me. Hahaha."

I felt relieved—even so, my eyes burst into tears.

I clutched him tightly, afraid that if I let go, he might vanish again. My tears soaked into his robe, and for a moment, I just listened to the sound of his heartbeat—alive, steady.
But then he laughed.

"You bastard! If you could heal yourself like that, then why show me such a horrifying sight?" I punched him in anger.

"Ou ou ouch! That hurts, you know!" Even in this moment, he was still joking. That made my blood boil, so I said,
"You think I'll believe anything now just because I'm a little emotional?"
"Sike!" He made that weird sound again.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Ariana screamed.
"You think this is funny? Why didn't you die?"

I chuckled—really, it sounded hilarious when she said that.
She got super pissed. She tore off her hair and threw it at me. The hair took the form of sharp needles and flew my way.
God, why did I have to laugh?

I put up some layers of barriers, but… ah well, what did I expect?
Those needles pierced through them like bullets through cloth. Just as they were about to make holes in my skull, Luo caught them.
For a moment, my heart leapt into my mouth. It was racing. Haven't I seen enough 'peak moments' today?

Ariana charged in anger.
"You bastard, just die! Why, why, why are you still alive? You should've died after taking that hit!"

Her eyes were wide and unfocused, shimmering with fury—and something else. Despair?
She didn't scream words anymore, just unintelligible sounds. Her grip on the sword faltered, her swings were wild. Not out of strategy—out of heartbreak.

She ran toward Basark. Has she finally lost it? Sloppily swinging her swords left and right.
CLANG! Luo nonchalantly deflected all her attacks.

At one point, Luo gave a powerful strike, and she flew back, slamming into the canyon's cliff. She was too tired to move. She was taking heavy breaths. She had received multiple scratches and sword cuts. Blood was everywhere. There was little sign of regeneration.

Luo stood before her with a sad face.
He then began to recite a poem with melody:


---

The sakura goes
Where the wind flows
And the wind? In the sea—
In search of melody.
If it dislikes, protest through nature,
But gives when it sees pleasure.
Free from the bonds of all,
Even from rain, storm, and heavy snowfall.
Look far into the horizon to see—
Like that, you too can be free.
Why do you wait when he left,
Without ever promising to be kept?
Run, swim, and dance in the sea.

—Author: This poem is written by me too. The title is: "Break the Chains."


---

Luo lifted Ariana's face with his index finger.

She looked into his eyes and said, "I never wished for freedom, nor do I want to see the horizon. I just want to see Him....." she whispered again.

"Is that so? Hmm. I guess as long as you live, you'll come after me, huh?"

She smiled at his response.

Luo stared at her and sighed.
"You know, if I were in your place, I would have done the same thing too. I could never forget my love. That's why I never got any. Because I didn't want to end up like this."

She gave out a small laugh while looking at the ground.

Luo continued,
"The so-called game your master, the Supreme God, played in this godless world—pretending to be god and all—creating a system based on his previous life, and you, who are still so stubbornly continuing the name of 'balance'... It has nothing to do with me.
But still, it interfered with my peaceful life.

You even used your pawns to target my newborn child.
You know, you're one crazy fu***. Even if I die today, will it end? No! Right?
My daughter will seek revenge and die in the process, then you might also kill Gar and the other seven kids.

Just for your measly game, more than one life will perish. Do you care about that? No! But I have to care about yours, huh?!"

She replied,
"Do you care about ants while walking on the grass? No, right? Same goes for me."

After that, I felt an extremely intense murderous aura.

Luo—
I mean, he—blood—how!?

Even though I saw it with my own eyes—
Luo plunged both of his swords into her stomach without much hesitation.
His expression shifted—just for a moment.
Then he twisted the blades and pulled them out.

Luo's smile was the biggest—and the scariest—while doing so.
"Huh! You shitty system, know your place. Who are you comparing to ants?
I tried my best to free you but... so be it. Be the stepping stone for me."

He kicked her. She fell.
He stepped on her face, rubbing his shoes. It was truly the incarnation of evil.

He turned to me.
"Gar! O' Ga...a...ar. My sweet little Gar, look, and see how I am. Hahahahahaha."

He laughed just like Zolarous.

He stroked his hair, fixed it, and said again,
"You always thought I was a scaredy cat, huh?
I didn't kill the monsters because I was mentally weak. Hahaha."

He started skipping around me and said again,
"You know, your expression is really worth seeing now."

He's scaring the shit out of me.
Is it some sort of system's scheme? Why is Luo behaving like this?

"You must be confused, huh! Ah—I got it.
But you know what? I awakened 200 years ago from now (meaning during the 800 study years).
So defeating someone like her is no more difficult than killing a mosquito."

I'm having goosebumps now. Am I speaking to a devil or a god? Why is he—

"Ah—are you even listening?
And that Demon Lord isn't real either. It's actually one of Ariana's creations—her fifth, to be precise.

Like its creator, it also seeks acknowledgment.
Fools! You give too much of a shit about others."
(While saying so, he stabbed four daggers into the gap between her ribs.)

She vomited blood.

He then pulled out her heart but didn't tear the arteries and said,
"I won't let you die easily, sinh. You still need to suffer more—you, who showed fun to the devil inside me."

She screamed again and again as Luo played with her heart.

"You vixen, why are you acting?
You created life and played with it as you wished, created demons for people to worship, and created dogs—Gods—for salvation.

Why can't I play with you, who played with millions?
So don't act too much. As you gain emotion, feel it. Feel the agony."

The sound was sickening.

Her body tensed, eyes wide, but she didn't stop screaming. She became pale like a ghost. Blood came out of her mouth.
In that situation, she uttered her last words with the rest of her strength—

"Huh, thank God you did that. Otherwise, I would've felt super guilty, you filthy scum!
It's not like… killing you is the only choice for me to save Wolfermia."
Secondary Command: Ariana-7th, take over. Proceed with the project.

Suddenly, I sensed a very heavy and dense magical energy.

I looked and saw—

Ariana the System snapped her fingers after uttering her last words, and a giant portal opened behind Luo.


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