Chapter 288: The Task of Saving the World

After regaining consciousness, the alchemist, now restored to her young girl form, first scanned the ruins of the great hall, which had been battered into a state of utter devastation.

The crimson-gold lava had already cooled and solidified, the towering walls had collapsed and crumbled, leaving only a few broken stone pillars standing. The ground looked as if it had been trampled by a typhoon; there was almost no intact spot left to be found.

Her gaze finally locked onto a spot in front of her, where she saw a hateful figure.

From Carol's perspective, a large, strangely-drawn, muscular brute had suddenly burst into the home she kept in another dimension, asked if she wanted to save the world, and then proceeded to "Ora Ora" her. It was truly a case of sitting at home when disaster fell from the sky.

She had been a shut-in for hundreds of years, and she hadn't even begun her plan to destroy the world yet. Why had a fierce, burly man who looked nothing like a savior appeared in advance, acting as if he knew her so well?

Where was the holy sword? Where was the impassioned speech? Where was the hero's party?

And what about the script where she was supposed to make her debut with overwhelming force, pinning the protagonist group to the ground and rubbing them into the dirt, only to be defeated by their collective friendship and bonds as the world-destroying Demon King?

Even if the whole world of seven billion people didn't rise up to oppose her, she should at least have been remembered forever as the greatest alchemist in history, Carol Malus Dienheim, bowing out on the most magnificent stage with the most glorious finale, right?

She could see nothing else; she could only see naked, raw strength.

Her face burned with pain. Even without looking, Carol knew her cheeks must be red and swollen. Her mouth tasted of blood, and her whole body felt as if it had been shattered. Even if she wanted to move, she couldn't even twitch a pinky finger.

Yet, the injuries she sustained were much lighter than she had imagined. Moreover... although her body couldn't move, she had been thoughtfully placed upon the throne and draped in a witch's robe, with even that large hat covering most of her cheeks.

"Master... we can't handle this."

"This guy is ridiculously strong."

"Awoo."

Three different voices rang out, speaking to Carol, though the last one was currently trying its best to bite someone with its teeth.

"Hah." Jia Ji clapped his hands, pressed down the head of the autonomous doll that was preparing to bite him, and as if he had done something insignificant, he looked at the three autonomous dolls he had knocked to the ground and dismantled, saying, "So-so."

After Carol was beaten to a state of total destruction by the Friendship Fist like a ship-girl, the three alchemical autonomous dolls she created finally arrived, and ignoring the gap in strength, launched a suicide attack on him.

It was just that their master couldn't break through his defenses even at full power. These dolls, who might have possessed loyalty or might have simply been controlled by spells, had their threat neutralized in a single encounter by his White Heron spinning kick.

Although these dolls possessed human appearances, human language, and even personalities identical to human girls, Jia Ji, whose heart had always been as hard as iron, naturally shredded them all without a shred of pity.

Third-rate villains would start mindlessly spouting threats in such a situation where they were the fish on the chopping block, and second-rate villains would weep and wail for their own ends, begging for mercy with all sorts of ugly postures or excuses. Carol, however, was clearly not an ordinary girl or a typical villain.

Even if she was unwilling, as an alchemist, she had her own pride and would never allow herself to show such a pathetic appearance in front of an enemy.

She glanced faintly at the three miserable dolls, which only had their torsos and heads left and were still barely managing to smile at her, and then asked without any emotional fluctuation.

"Truly a merciless blow... are you not going to kill me?"

To be defeated by an unknown person in a time and place unknown to anyone—perhaps such a pathetic and ridiculous, disheveled fate was exactly what befitted someone like her, who had been consumed by rage.

But regardless, let her die maintaining the final pride and composure of an alchemist, just like a wounded bird dying in a bath of blood on a scarred earth.

The very first moment she woke up, she had already judged that she had no ability to continue resisting—all her armaments had been dismantled, and the gems containing the spatial transfer spell and Alca-noise had also been confiscated to the side.

"I have no reason to kill you."

The other party gave an unexpected answer. Usually, in this situation, one would answer, "I have no reason not to kill you," right?

And when she asked this question, the other party also showed a slightly troubled expression, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I don't know where to start... but I don't actually have that much malice toward you. On the contrary, I have a favor to ask of you."

Carol naturally showed an expression of disbelief. Who asks for help like that?

Jia Ji understood that her condition was actually quite common. If this were in a certain Academy City, she would be fine after being saved by a hedgehog-headed leader with half his life. Unfortunately, although he was also a hedgehog-head, he had skipped the part about risking his life to save a beauty, and he hadn't burned to ashes either.

Although he mastered the prototype of all face-breaking fists—the Beidou Compassionate Face-Breaking Fist—he lacked that kind of charisma to make a girl who had just been beaten believe in him.

"Don't you feel like something is wrong?"

—"To understand the world more."

This was Carol's task as an alchemist, and what was required for this was the ability to think calmly.

Under Jia Ji's words, Carol subconsciously recalled the various unreasonable points that had existed since he appeared.

Why was he able to accurately find and invade Tiforij City from the entire world?

Why, despite it being their first meeting, did he act as if he knew her?

And most importantly, why did he say he wanted to "save the world?"

As far as she knew, although this world was not peaceful, it wasn't so bad that someone needed to stand up and be a great hero to save it, let alone extend an invitation to someone like her?

There was too little information; it was impossible to infer anything.

"If I convey it with words, it's too slow." Jia Ji gradually approached the small, blonde, legal loli, straightened her face with a hand like iron pliers, and stared into her beautiful, stubborn, water-blue pupils with his deep, pitch-black eyes.

"You are an alchemist who manipulates memories, right? Then see it for yourself!"

Come and see the memories of the end of the century!

Come and see the scene after the world was destroyed!

Light gradually overflowed from his eyes, like a galaxy of memories flowing with shimmering ripples in the darkness, pouring into the girl's mind frame by frame.

"This is...?"

Carol was completely shocked, unable to react for a moment.

"Why save the world? Because that is my task!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 289 =====