The world began to collapse, to crumble. In the pitch-black silence, at the very edge of vision, it seemed something could be seen rolling towards them.
That was the edge of the world. In the utter darkness, nothing was clearly visible, but people could just feel it—this world that only had eight cities left was disintegrating.
Faintly, one could still hear mournful cries coming from the distant horizon.
It was unclear whether it was an illusion or something truly present.
Simultaneously, the same voice echoed in the heart of every person.
[Game Over. Congratulations, Player, Perfect Clearance!]
[Now, you may choose to leave on your own, or accompany the game world to its demise.]
The game's cold voice sounded, that familiar AI tone.
But for some reason, the content of this message gave people a strange feeling, sounding somewhat off.
This voice was sounding in the heart of every player still alive! Meaning, they had all achieved Perfect Clearance!?
Huh?
Perfect Life had already steeled himself for a desperate last stand, resolved to accept his own failure to send "Sin" soaring to the clouds.
But looking at it now, it seemed the turning point was quite unexpected.
How, for no apparent reason, had he achieved Perfect Clearance again?
And by observing the expressions of the others, he could keenly sense that these people had probably all achieved Perfect Clearance too!
"That's right," Xie Antong said softly, looking at her game interface and thinking for a moment.
"Before the game started, it said only those who survived to the end would be considered as having cleared it."
"And after he and the Divine Messenger's side died, the game would be considered over, and those who cleared it at that point would be considered to have achieved Perfect Clearance."
"These two statements should be read together. At first, I thought there was some ambiguity..."
Xie Antong shook her head. This counted as an unexpected boon.
But what was even more chilling was that when [Death] spoke earlier, regarding this matter, it was equivalent to "deceiving" Lu Ce!
A God, using deception as a method!
It showed that He truly, deeply wanted this game to end in a draw! Then... the upheaval after this game was probably going to be significant.
Moreover, if that was the case, then Perfect Life also still maintained his record of all Perfect Clearances!
Perhaps the game side didn't want to lose such a fine pawn as Perfect Life and still wanted his existence to check and balance Lu Ce as much as possible.
Suddenly, she turned her head to look at Perfect Life and spoke with a half-smile, half-sneer:
"You, are quite interesting."
"Your original plan was to lose yourself, then help 'Sin' win? You really do love him, huh."
Perfect Life: ...
He didn't quite understand why this woman chose to mock him at this moment. Before, he truly hadn't thought too much, just felt that if "Sin" died, the game would have succeeded this time.
But now...
"In other words, everyone here now has achieved Perfect Clearance, correct?"
His eyes swept over Sun, Chiyo Eine, and the others. Most people felt somewhat uncomfortable.
In this kind of game, basically everyone was a competitor. They still didn't quite understand Perfect Life's mentality of being able to communicate amiably with everyone.
But after confirming it, Perfect Life's eyes instantly erupted with a fierce light. The Halberd in his hand suddenly slashed towards the side!
That Halberd was infused with all his strength, shooting out like lightning towards Yang Feng and those few players who had some unknown dealings with the Divine Messenger!
Crack!
A head instantly shot into the air, made a turn, and without slowing down, charged towards the side.
They had already been worn down terribly by Perfect Life and Chiyo Eine before, and now they were completely caught off guard.
Yang Feng, seeing the Halberd arriving before his eyes, instantly chose to exit the game, not lingering any longer.
But the moment he left, an arm still attached to the shoulder remained here.
The others also left instantly. The game had ended;
this was their right.
But without the buffs, Perfect Life's sudden violent assault still claimed two lives and one arm.
On this battlefield, daring to be careless was seeking death!
Everyone's hearts chilled, all feeling somewhat solemn. Perfect Life rarely displayed this state of outwardly released killing intent.
But towards those few people just now, he truly, deeply wanted them dead!
After killing, seeming regretful that he hadn't managed to wipe them all out, he shook his head slightly in disappointment.
Then he looked towards Lu Ce on the other side and asked:
"It's time to leave. This world is about to collapse."
"Do you have any plans regarding the consequences [Death] mentioned?"
Lu Ce didn't respond. After [Death] left, he had been leaning on his giant axe, standing there like a withered tree.
The world in the distance was now gradually rolling towards them. The time left for this world was already running short.
Pride suddenly moved. He lifted the giant axe in his hand, slowly turned around, and walked step by step in one direction.
—Jiang Yuan.
At this moment, Sun was also looking at Jiang Yuan, looking at the loneliest person in this world.
They were just players. Coming to this world was just to play a game, although they fought desperately. But when the game ended, it ended. They could all leave.
But Jiang Yuan was different.
This was his world, the place he had waited for who knows how many years, hoping for a chance to save.
Now, the world was destroyed, old friends had taken their own lives, the people had long lost their own spirits... he had lost.
He looked very calm now, sitting cross-legged on the ground, hands on his knees, gazing at the distant sky, at the endless darkness.
A pair of feet walked up to him. Looking up, he saw it was Pride who had come.
"Thank you... Saint Lord!"
"You are not from this world, right? Then please leave. I wish you a smooth journey ahead, all the best."
Jiang Yuan's voice was calm, but his face was ashen, clearly having lost all spirit, waiting to live and die together with this world.
Pride didn't speak. He just threw out a golden coin, which fell in front of Jiang Yuan, bouncing and slowly coming to a stop.
An Exit Coin. He still had quite a few of these things.
"How to choose, it's all up to you."
Pride didn't say more. After throwing down the Exit Coin, he just silently watched the Jiang Yuan before him.
Jiang Yuan was stunned, thinking he had become a beggar. Picking up the coin, he didn't know how to use it.
"Infuse it with your own spirit. Perhaps you can leave with us, go to our world," Perfect Life spoke up.
Jiang Yuan stared blankly at the object in his hand, unable to speak, but could feel that he somehow knew how to use this thing.
"What exactly is this 'sliver of a turning point' you mentioned? Your nonsense prophecy wasn't clear either," Sun impatiently said.
"Is it possible that the moment you realize you should shoulder a world and continue moving forward is that sliver of a turning point!"