Chapter 1423

Through the ritual of Anakshagos, the 'Conflict' Demigod divided its soul into five parts: honor, courage, resilience, sacrifice, and reason, sealed them into blood crystals, and threw itself onto the battlefield.

People held a grand ten-day funeral for the fallen God-King, and he used sacrifice — exchanging it for two hundred years of peace for humanity.

—

Absolute Zone Zero

Keluoda bit the wrapper of the energy bar, speaking indistinctly: "How can this Laigushi be so awful? His tone is polite, but his words send chills down one's spine."

Xiaobudian, the answer might be simpler than you think.

Gelis lay on the engineering bench, staring at the instrument panel ahead without lifting her head, and said: "Laigushi is a tremendously ancient intelligent construct, likely manufactured hundreds of thousands, even millions of years ago. Moreover, its predecessor was human, even retaining 'memories' from that time… Do you know what that means? Xiaobudian."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"It means it also performed a soul-splitting ritual like Wandi did." Gelis suddenly clutched the instrument panel in her hands tightly, showing a look of longing and intoxication, "I really want to know how it did that—I'd love to tear it apart with my own hands to see…"

"Wait… soul-splitting ritual? Big sis, you're joking, right?!"

"Nope." Gelis shrugged, "If Laigushi fully inherited human memory and emotion, it absolutely couldn't bear the loneliness inside the Imperial Scepter. The only answer is that Laigushi erased its own 'emotions' from when it was human, or something else. Just like the soul-splitting ritual, it turned itself into a pure machine aimed at destroying knowledge."

"Its underlying logic has been locked onto the single-minded path of 'destroying knowledge' from the start. As long as it can achieve that goal, it can sacrifice anything. But if we want to change Laigushi… we'd probably need someone skilled in fourteen-line algebra to help it rewrite its underlying logic, or… help it add a love module like the Excavator Miss."

"Mm-hmm… huh??!"

Keluoda had been nodding, but Gelis suddenly shifted the topic so sharply she almost choked on her energy bar, thumping her chest with a "thud thud", "Big sis, why did you suddenly bring up love? Do you think a being like Laigushi would even have a need for romance?"

"What if?"

Keluoda made a big "X" with both hands in front of her chest: "How could there possibly be such a 'what if'! Moreover, you can hardly find any geniuses in the universe who still use fourteen-line algebra—they're all antiques among antiques. Zandalar's fate is unknown, the Silent Lord can't be observed, so there should be no one else in the universe likely to do this."

—

Star arrived at the gates of Aohema, where Xilian reenacted the final conversation between Nakesha and Safir from days past.

"A lie requires more lies to sustain it; the seamstress's words are indeed true…"

"Nakesha said meaningfully: 'Reason' and 'Deception'… I never expected the final plan to require us to work together."

"To catch that tin man, we can't do without your little tricks. Besides, this is our last chance—there's nothing to nitpick, right?"

Nakesha shrugged: "Don't oversimplify things—Laigushi just discovered that Aohema has been an empty city for the past fifty years; it must be furious and willing to do anything."

Safir exclaimed delightedly: "Ha, that's exactly what we need! Anger can blind anyone's eyes, no matter if they're a so-called genius—the same principle applies. Once he ventures into the senate and faces me… you just go 'bang' and unleash Alchemy, turning him into a caged beast."

"Regardless of how you disguise yourself as a 'savior,' you still can't let anyone notice… dreaming of using a human transmutation circle to imprison a being comparable to a god? That's just wishful thinking."

"Are you chicken, or do you not believe in the worth of the 'Deception' Demigod? Simply put, just tell me: can you do it?"

"……"

Nakesha fell silent for a moment, gravity flickering across his face before vanishing, and he quickly regained his usual confidence.

"'—Hmph, of course I can, and it's easy as pie.' Nakesha held up two fingers, 'But there are two additional conditions. This is the final battle—if we do it, we do it completely, leaving no room for retreat.'"

Safir instantly perked up: "Oh, how so?"

"'One, move the battlefield to the Genesis Vortex; emotionally and logically, Star appearing there would be more convincing. Moreover, the Vortex itself is a sealed-off forbidden zone— in other words, the entirety of Wengfaloss is the most suitable place for a prison.'"

"With you pulling this off, won't our 'savior' have to face Laigushi head‑on when he returns?"

Nakesha nodded, saying matter‑of‑factly: "This battle is inevitably unavoidable; we can only create more opportunities for her, and this is precisely the second condition… Do you remember? The Vortex rightfully belongs to Falgina, and among the few survivors left in the world, there happens to be a Demigod of the Ocean."

"Tell Hesyin the plan so she can join the fight. I will beforehand transmute myself into a Philosopher's Stone, inscribing it into the formula… then she will shatter me and scatter the dust into the ocean of the Vortex."

—

Fullmetal Alchemist

"You're turning yourself into a Philosopher's Stone again?!"

Alphonse no longer wanted to ponder why he had to say 'again'.

In his previous life, Nakesha also transmuted his heart into a Philosopher's Stone, leaving him with no chance of survival. It seemed to him that turning his flesh into a Philosopher's Stone wasn't taboo; in every reincarnation he remained that same Nakesha, a scholar who would readily sacrifice himself for truth and the ever‑burning flame.

"Nakesha's actions are all founded on the basis of his own death."

As an alchemist, even Edward couldn't help but admire this fellow from another world—not just for his talent, but because he unhesitatingly chose self‑sacrifice.

But Edward was equally curious about what plan Nakesha had prepared that required him to sacrifice himself from the very start.

"Imprisoning Laigushi… how exactly can that be done? Even if Nakesha gave up his life, it might still be impossible."

Alphonse's curious voice echoed inside the empty armor—this endeavor undoubtedly attempts to bind a god with mortal power—but aside from White Evil using the mechanism of eternal return to forcibly trap it, within a single reincarnation he could scarcely imagine what it would look like for Laigushi to fall for the trick.