Chapter 1371

Laigushi spread his arms, as if wanting to embrace this world where living beings suffer.

I am enough to sound the victory song of the Recreation of the World.

Ha... hahaha...

Bai'e suddenly chuckled softly.

Lord Bai'e?

"Your incompetence disappoints me, but what truly makes me laugh is your oblivious arrogance." Bai'e spoke bluntly, "Think about it! In this story, who exactly is the bound prisoner? Who has been enslaved by a boring 'revenge' to this day, and mistaken the courage to defy the gods for foolishness?"

……

This time, it was Laigushi's turn to fall silent.

"You're not wrong; perhaps I should have grown weary of this endless toil by now. But even so, I won't accept the mercy you offer. For you are both a slave of the gods and my prisoner—a mere lowly captive—what right do you have to discuss fate and choice with me?"

——What right does a mere lowly captive have to stare directly at my wrath?!

——

Offering blessings to a beautiful world.

Well said! Bai'e!

Just like that, he shut Laigushi up with a crushing retort——!

That's great, really satisfying!

Inside the Adventurers' Guild of Axel City, cheers and applause rose and fell throughout the hall, as countless adventurers raised their beer-filled mugs and applauded Bai'e's powerful words.

"Bai'e is absolutely right—how did I not think of that before? I always thought Bai'e was Laigushi's prisoner, but why didn't I realize Laigushi is actually his prisoner too?" After hearing Bai'e's words, Chris instantly understood, and in an instant she recalled the lyrics that had once echoed in the heavenly canopy.

The prisoner asks the puppet, who is more absurd?

Laigushi is both prisoner and puppet. No…… not only that, but even the iron tomb it created is also a puppet.

Chris discovered that as the Fire Pursuit Journey progressed, the true nature of reincarnation gradually unfolded, and the lyrics of that song continually gave her new insights.

Looking from another angle, Bai'e's resistance is not futile; he essentially imprisoned Laigushi and the iron tomb through his own strength for thirty million generations of reincarnation, and even outside the scepter where time flows differently, that amounts to hundreds of amber ages.

What Bai'e bears is not just the fate of Ullr, but also that of the galaxy; if it weren't for his silent burden, the iron tomb would have already been born, bringing destruction to countless worlds...

Chris felt a chill at the back of her head.

Only now did she comprehend the weight of what Bai'e bears; if his will wavered even slightly, countless stars in the heavens would dim beneath the wrath of the Great Lord of Extinction.

——

Bai'e didn't want to waste more words; he raised his hand and struck—with a flash of cold light, Laigushi's head tumbled to the ground with a gurgling roll.

"Ha, ha, ha... you know this is meaningless. You cannot kill me." Laigushi's broken mechanical voice rang out again.

"Of course, I'm just tired of being treated as a worthy opponent by a worm raised by the gods." Bai'e lifted his head, gazed at the sky shrouded in Heichi, and shouted angrily:

"'Creator of Destruction, listen well: this cry comes from all the beings you have abandoned——"

"In the tenth reincarnation, I drove Qinshen into the heart of every Titan; golden blood trickled down my fingertips, the searing agony of divine fire almost made me give up the struggle—but I endured."

"In the ten-thousandth reincarnation, my former companions had all become enemies; endless slaughter left me unaware of what pain was, and crushing void nearly consumed me, forcing me to cease resistance—but I endured."

"In the hundred-thousandth reincarnation, Destruction had already coalesced into a blazing sun, surging within this fragile vessel; reason had burned to ash at the dawn of the epoch—but even with only this broken body left, I endured."

"In the twenty-three million five hundred seventy-thousandth reincarnation… this time I felt it: within my long-emptied chest, a flame unlike the obsession to save the world sparked…… relying on its faint light…… once again—not, countless times—I endured."

"Now, a sun is about to fall; in an instant it could burn this absurd spacetime to ashes——"

"It is me——countless past versions of me——and my countless brethren who were not born willingly into this world, repeatedly sinking and rising in your golden blood; the amalgamation of all this world's suffering and despair, the purest hatred, the fiercest wrath——"

Bai'e raised Qinshen in his hand, pointing it toward the burning, boiling heavens.

"'Nanuk, you arrogant fool! Do you think becoming firewood is our fate? Fine then, as you wish, let the firewood burn——"

"'If I was born as the blazing sun of Destruction, then let you and your minions become the flares of my eruption! Then let this futile blaze, fueled by thirty million epochs of rage, engulf everything——"

"'——May you receive the dawn that sets all stars ablaze!'"

——

Renya

Here I come.

Inside the Tokugawa residence, the air suddenly solidified.

Hanma Yujiro's red hair stood on end, like the mane of a beast standing on its head. Bai'e's declaration of war made the Hanma blood surge within him like never before, and in an instant veins bulged across his entire upper body.

Besides him, every martial artist present held their breath and focused, eyes fixed on the heavenly canopy, afraid to miss a single second to come. As a martial artist, to swing a sword at the highest star god of the universe, to pour out one's fury…… they wouldn't dare even think of such a thing, let alone actually do it.

King Retsu especially remembered that moment when, on the space station, Nanuk cast a glance toward the stars——

That was the first time he felt the gaze of a star god——though he only saw it faintly through the heavenly canopy, that look…… made goosebumps rise all over his body, his whole being as if plunged into an ice cave.

To declare war on a god—on that Nanuk? On the very entity that cast that glance?

Can it really be done……?

However, even though his body trembled uncontrollably, the martial artist's instinct still kept roaring in his heart.

I want to see!

He wanted to see how far a destroyer on the path of fate could go, and what kind of towering wave the rage of thirty million generations could stir up!

——

>>> Experimental procedure abnormal: subject Kaesulran not properly loaded into buffer——

>>> Detected memory abnormal release█ illegal reference██ undeclared object███ unimplemented method███ uncapturable exception███

██ detected █ abnormal █ 「destruction█constant█destruction」 █ high ███ receive ability ███ effort oppose overcome respond █████