Chapter 44: The Non-Existent Reality

Along with the sound of flowing blood, a rearranged storyline slowly took shape in her mind.

Reviewing the past, numerous irrational details began to surface.

From the moment she awoke, she had felt an indescribable sense of incongruity, as if she were a foreign body forcibly shoved into this world.

She could not understand this world, nor could she adapt to its rules.

As a newcomer to a completely unfamiliar world, how could she remain calm in the face of so many dangers and unknowns?

When she killed all those living creatures, the emotion that welled up within her was not guilt or fear, but an indescribable, deeply buried... excitement and joy?

Could this be... the reaction of a normal human being?

Facing the unknowns of this world, she should have felt fear, and she might have wanted to escape.

Yet, the truth was that she accepted everything with an attitude bordering on indifference.

Even in dangerous moments, when she deliberately feigned fear, the emotion was merely a ripple on the surface that quickly subsided, returning to an unnatural calmness.

In order to blend into this world, she had unconsciously imitated and played the role of every human she encountered.

She played Qixue's younger sister, subconsciously repeating the words Hill had spoken, imitating the slightly detached attitude of the Overseer, studying Tianwu's combat techniques...

All of this suddenly seemed so absurd.

Yet, as her self-awareness returned, her reactions to the outside world grew increasingly indifferent; she no longer felt an intense fear of death, and even began to care less if her identity was discovered...

The concept of humanity was nothing more than a thin disguise to her.

"Have you remembered?"

She had once tried to explain everything using the identity of a "transmigrator," weaving an elaborate lie for her missing memories and comprehension, telling herself that it was all just adapting to the environment.

At this moment, however, that lie was collapsing.

Xingyu tightly gripped her forehead in pain. The world before her eyes began to distort, and she could feel these things tearing at her nerves.

"Recall your true identity... your name..."

Some unknown presence, cold and soft, had already crept up to her ears. It was a female voice that filled her with an incomparable sense of intimacy, familiarity, and longing.

Her blood felt as though it were about to boil, scalding and burning hot.

That cold touch cleared her mind for a fleeting moment, but her consciousness was quickly plunged back into a vortex composed of unknown knowledge.

Unknown knowledge flooded into her mind.

How could she possibly be a "transmigrator"?

Traveling across dimensions was impossible.

Without the will of gods, who could traverse the foam-like universe?

What soul could pierce the membrane between dimensional lattices?

Whose physical body could cross the probability cloud without instantly being decomposed and reassembled, returning to the primordial void?

An invisible gaze had crossed the dimensions, watching her all along.

"Do you remember who you are?"

"I..." She wanted to answer. Just as she was about to speak, she felt her entire body suddenly twist and deform.

A violent agony rolled over her like a tidal wave, as if her entire existence was being torn apart and reassembled by the forces of the universe—torn apart and reassembled over and over again.

This sensation was far beyond anything she had previously experienced; there was not a shred of pleasure to be found, only pure agony that transcended human comprehension.

As the pain intensified, a silvery-white substance flowed within her like a living thing, every inch of skin and every bone undergoing an indescribable transformation.

Her senses began to merge, and boundaries gradually dissolved.

Fear spread across the tip of her tongue, bitter like metal; the scent of passing time filled her nasal passages, carrying the stench of eternal decay.

The silvery-white substance stirred restlessly beneath her skin, as if about to burst forth.

Her blood called for transformation, and countless tiny seeds took root and sprouted within her.

Xingyu felt herself being pushed to the edge of consciousness, becoming a stranger within her own body. She fought desperately against it, but that force was almost entirely irresistible.

Amidst the spinning hallucinations, she seemed to hear that strange voice emit a low chuckle.

The laughter carried no emotion whatsoever, yet it caused a bone-chilling terror to pierce her to the marrow, as if mocking her hubris in attempting to use human reason to control an irreversible transformation.

"I... I don't..."

Her consciousness shook violently, her pupils trembling as she struggled to squeeze out those words from her lips, but the words turned into an incomprehensible string of syllables.

Something was about to replace her.

There were still so many things to handle, so many unfinished tasks, so many unanswered questions...

She didn't even have the slightest understanding of this world...

Qixue... Hill... the Overseer... What else did she want to... what else?

Within her field of vision, the numerical value of [Bloodline Resonance] began to rise sharply.

20%... 40%... 90%......

With confusion over countless unsolved mysteries, and harboring the resentment of failing to touch the truth even at the very last moment, her black pupils gradually unfocused, and her consciousness began to dissipate.

Her human form began to disintegrate, her limbs twisting into impossible angles. The sounds of bones cracking and reassembling echoed in the air, replaced by an indescribable entity.

Her blood transformed into a silvery-white liquid metal, seeping out from every pore of her skin, writhing like a living creature until it gradually covered her entire body.

Her form was like an unceasing abyss of currents, soft droplets constantly twisting, reforming, and reshaping themselves in the air, recreating self-destruction and rebirth over and over again.

They continuously dripped down, but the droplets did not scatter like ordinary matter. Guided by an invisible force, they gathered on the ground into miniature vortexes, returning once more to her endlessly flowing body.

Her form gradually stabilized, droplets gently circulating in the air.

An consciousness reshaped by another logical chain replaced the old existence.

So dry...

Why can't I break free from gravity...

She felt an abnormal dryness, as if her entire existence had been placed within an infinitely expanding vacuum.

Every atom screamed in thirst for moisture, yet could only struggle vainly within this eternal aridity.

An unusual sense of gravity oppressed her, as if the entire reality were squeezing her very being. The feeling was both strange and uncomfortable, like being trapped in an invisible cage.

「Nag eth-th thu.」

Open your eyes.

Obeying the command, she "opened" her non-existent "eyes."

In an instant, two distinct yet simultaneously existing worlds unfolded before her.

The reality beneath the surface had been revealed.

She saw two different worlds at once, existing simultaneously at this time and in this place.

One was a landscape of gray buildings, with three moons shining in the night sky above blurred streets.

The other was a void world without any physical form, set against a background of pure white, where words, text, and truths wriggled together.

Within the pure white space, there was a nest.

Upon it were countless fluttering wings, constantly trembling and unfolding. Below it connected to the darkest abyssal current, from which countless tentacles extended. They resembled both the limbs of some deep-sea creature and unknown energy flows of the universe. These tentacles continuously writhed and intertwined, forming a complex, unending cycle.

This nest was prepared for her, her dwelling place in the new world.

The strange voice promised her.

「Vor mur-zo eth-th, dak-ni kel-th thu.」

Abandon your mortal shell, and you shall gain everything.

「Dak-ni kel-th thu, nag-ka eth-th vor-zo.」

Make your choice, and all shall belong to you.

「Vor zhi-zo kel-th nag-ni thu, eth-ni vor-kel-th thu. Dak-ni thu kel-zo eth-vor-th, kel-zo zhi-eth-th.」

You shall break free from the shackles of the chip in your mind, traveling between the phantom realm and the material world. The folds of space shall become your resting place, and eternity your final home.

「Dak-ni thu kel-ul vor-eth-zo, kel-ul mur-th-zo. Dak-zo kel-th-zo dak-ni thu kel-zo, zhi-ni mur-th vor-zo thu.」

You shall become the kinsman of night and silver mist, the agent of mercy. Supreme glory and power shall be your crown, and your enemies shall scatter before you like dust.

「Nag-ni eth-th vor-zo thu.」

Once more, make your choice.

「Nag-ni thu kel-zo eth-th, vor-ni thu kel-zo vor-th…」

Embrace your true nature, return to your eternal home...

「Zhi-ni thu.」

Or perish.