CHAPTER 1035: CHAPTER 1032: IT’S RAINING

Su Ming’an sent an alliance invitation to Mizushima Kawa Sora.

At this moment, he clearly saw the astonishment on Mizushima Kawa Sora’s face and the burning instant death rule pattern mark. The bright red pattern, like blood.

"...Are you trying to provoke me?" Mizushima Kawa Sora murmured.

She could activate the instant death rule and kill Su Ming’an right now. But despairingly, it would be useless, as Su Ming’an could start over.

"Your root of despair lies in the fact that if you don’t become a ’Goddess,’ you can’t face me, the ’Old God,’" Su Ming’an said. "But what if you form an alliance with me? You wouldn’t need to face me, and we could achieve a more exciting ending. Since you are so averse to being a dog, I offer you a way to return."

He extended his hand: "If you’re tired of this helpless situation, then form an alliance with me. Even if you encounter difficulties later, and even if the ability to restart is not yours, I can help you solve them. You’re not like Edward; you don’t harbor much hostility toward me. We don’t have major conflicts of interest, do we?"

His voice was soft and calm; the Missionary Halo and Charm added persuasiveness to his words.

The deity was not far away, watching this scene quietly. There was no approach, nor any voice of opposition, as if... the deity had already anticipated the outcome.

Mizushima Kawa Sora’s eyes trembled; she stared at Su Ming’an’s hand. The standoff lasted for dozens of seconds, and no one moved.

Su Ming’an looked back at Mizushima Kawa Sora, his pupils reflected a ghostly blue light in the moonlight, appearing particularly sincere and clear.

"...How many times have you tried to strategize against me like this?" Mizushima Kawa Sora suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Su Ming’an blinked his eyes.

"How many times? Have you sent me this invitation? Didn’t I refuse you multiple times before and activated the instant death rule to kill you?" Mizushima Kawa Sora said.

The colors reflected in Su Ming’an’s eyes gradually retracted, his expression turning from gentle to withdrawn. He mildly withdrew his hand, ending the strategy mode. He had already thought of this; since Mizushima Kawa Sora knew he could start over, the chain of suspicion was formed. No matter how sincere he was, she would subconsciously doubt how many times he had repeated it, suspecting that he had done unforgivable things to her in previous instances.

Though Su Ming’an would not act on impulse in these abandoned cycles under non-essential circumstances, others’ perspectives would differ—no one could see what happened in those abandoned cycles, and from their perspective, it would seem like Su Ming’an could have done anything terrifying because it would be covered by the timeline. Even if he brutally tortured someone, that person would still face Su Ming’an with a smile in the next cycle.

"You must hate me... hate me for always targeting you, hate me for wanting to drive you mad in Qiongdi. You should hate me," Mizushima Kawa Sora tightly gripped her knife handle, speaking slowly and deliberately, as if licking her own wounds: "You possess that ability—restarting... You can foresee anyone’s actions, and I could never win against you. In countless cycles, you must have killed me, and you must have seen my most disgraceful state—have I ever knelt before you, begging for mercy? Have you done even more terrifying things—"

Her expression was utterly distraught. The crystal crown on her head chimed, "Ding—ding," and it seemed as if only the crisp echo remained between heaven and earth.

Su Ming’an gazed at her, stepping back one step, then another.

Ding—ding—ding.

"The first time... ah," he said.

This is the first time I have invited you.

And I have never killed you, not even once.

But you... wouldn’t believe it, right? You would treat anything I say as experiences I gained from those abandoned cycles, imagining that I must have defeated you, maybe even humiliated you. Even if I lay something like ’restart’ openly before you, it would only make you—you all—this human race—fear me even more.

Moonlight stretched between them, the thin light slicing through the shadows between them. Su Ming’an retracted his hand by inches, the refracted moonlight flowing between his fingers, the blood-red pattern in his palm like split blood.

He focused on the pattern mark in his palm, his fingers folding bit by bit.

Watching Su Ming’an’s initial gesture for Spatial Vibration, Mizushima Kawa Sora reacted in an instant. She did not activate the instant death rule; she knew doing so would only give Su Ming’an another chance. The tip of the blade pointed forward, her whole body radiated an angelic and holy golden light, converging towards Su Ming’an—

"Bang!" Xue Qixia’s sniper rifle fired, aimed at Su Ming’an.

"Swish!" A bluebird arrow shot out, aiming straight for Su Ming’an’s right chest.

At that instant, Su Ming’an’s fingers completely curled.

——But he only curled his fingers, not triggering Spatial Vibration, as if he did it just to admire the moonlight flowing through his fingers.

This marked the first official day of the divine battle, initiated by Mizushima Kawa Sora, the Goddess, as a declaration of war.

Earth and stone fissured, moonlight vibrated.

The brilliance of "Noah’s Chain" flashed by, and Xue Qixia’s body suddenly had multiple holes; he coughed up blood and fell downwards, yet Su Ming’an remained unscathed.

At this point, Su Ming’an then re-folded his fingers, triggering a Spatial Vibration loud enough to shake the heavens and earth.

Lv Shu stood below, always raising his head high, gazing up at the battle in the sky. He had no means of flying or long-range skills, only able to watch.

"You didn’t let me do anything, kept me confined in Dao Ya City. Even Yamada Machiichi and Lu were early assigned tasks by you." Lv Shu murmured, "Is it because... you also think I’m not real?"

Su Ming’an couldn’t hear him.

Above the sky, Su Ming’an’s right hand held a horizontal sword, his left held Spatial Vibration. Huge Floating Cannons manifested around him, resembling jellyfish floating by his side.

"I never expected, my first full-scale battle in the Tenth World, wouldn’t be against a deity, but against you," Su Ming’an said.

"In countless cycles, you have already understood me very well," Mizushima Kawa Sora wielded a Black Blade, a red string tied to her wrist. She reversed the Black Blade and held it upright in front of her: "Can you guess how I’ll attack you? You must have seen it countless times... Su Ming’an."

Black light burst forth, red strings fluttering.

Both sides were skilled in long-range combat. Mizushima Kawa Sora used divine angel power as her weapon, while Su Ming’an used space as his weapon. When they met, it generated gigantic aftershocks and ripples.

The sky wailed, explosive sounds echoed one after another, and the people on the ground hastily lay flat, violent dust and storms swept over their heads, nearly severing their necks.

Su Ming’an seized the advantage while Mizushima Kawa Sora kept avoiding direct confrontation, merely using her Angel Sword to block critical points. She knew that once Su Ming’an exhausted his Mana Points, she, with her divine power, would emerge victorious in the end.

After all, the deities were always... watching over her. She wasn’t like Su Ming’an, beloved by the world, and this was one of the few places where she was favored.

The night grew increasingly oppressive. With bluebirds on the side, Bivis’s cover, Miao Bu, and Chang Qingluo assisting as players, alongside hundreds of priests and priests providing firepower, they relentlessly drained Su Ming’an’s Mana Points, intending to exhaust him. As for Su Ming’an, he had no one behind him; he was always fighting alone, forever fighting alone.

One deafening sound followed another, shadows fell like drowned seabirds, some shattered under the moon, and blood sprayed across the sky. Corpses plunged under tonight’s blue moon, their faces preserving a remnant of loyalty to the deities.

Blood splattered beside Su Ming’an’s face, he expressionlessly raised his hand to wipe it, red moonlight flowed through his fingers.

He once fought sustained battles in the Ruined World too, but then he was killing Mechanical Men, invaders of civilization, it felt nothing real. But now they were people, one memory after another flooded into his brain, transforming into tiny white lights gathered around him.

Their voices—their shouts before dying—their unwillingness and hatred—

Exploded rapidly in his heart, like fireworks causing him pain.

"Demon—Demon!"

"He is definitely a demon... You heard it, didn’t you, he possesses the power of death, only a demon can have such an evil power..."

"He’s a demon, his companions are followers of demons too... The Bishop was bewitched, Xiao Jingsan is a Heretic, Chao Yan is a Witch, that Su Luoluo beside him is also a Witch, along with Li Yuxuan and Yi Zhongyu, Xia Jiawen... The deity said—these people tempted him, he was meant to be the Archangel of the deity!"

"He killed me. My wife, my daughter... How will they survive..."

"He insisted on awakening history—it’s he who wants to awaken the Exotic Species King! Once the Exotic Species King descends, humanity will perish!"

Listening to these absurd accusations, Su Ming’an wiped the blood stained at the corner of his eye, without a word.

He had said too much. However, some weighty and stubborn beliefs do not change, they become the "social values" that people rely on to live. The voice of the world is constructed by the upper echelon, always named "orthodox" rather than "real," it only shows people what they want to see, trapping them in a cocoon of information. When everyone feels that betraying the deity is wrong—no one will stand up.

"Now, you are an executioner too." The deity chuckled from afar.

Blood and corpses on the ground... Su Ming’an had never stained his hands with blood in ten cycles, now the deity finally saw this scene.

"Deity." Su Ming’an glanced at the value of [Mana Points: 52/7000]: "I once heard an anecdote."

Mizushima Kawa Sora raised her sword, she didn’t want to hear Su Ming’an’s rhetoric, his Charm value was too terrifying.

"—I guess your Mana Points are now 52." The deity’s calm voice echoed: "And your Mana Points recovery speed is 60 points per minute. So, I can hear you talk for two minutes."

So, everyone ceased their attacks. They were almost in rags, each had wounds caused by the vibrations, blood dripping.

On the ground, people had long hidden in buildings. Only Lv Shu—Lv Shu alone stood under the moonlight, still gazing skyward. Around him lay numerous Priests’ corpses.

"[Can one kill a person for the benefit of the world?]" Su Ming’an said: "[This one person is innocent, the people of the world are also innocent. What explains the innocence of one person and the world’s people?]"

Mizushima Kawa Sora frowned, she had already answered this question long ago: "Of course, the innocence of the world’s people weighs more."

"[Guan answered: Whoever harms the people of this world, punish them. If it’s another person, rally the Warriors to kill them. If it’s a group, dismantle it by mechanisms. If it’s a natural disaster, resist it. If it’s a man-made disaster, hold accountable. If it’s a system, reform it.]" Su Ming’an said: "As long as one person stops the chariot, whether ’one person’ or ’the world’s people,’ there is no weight difference. Unaware of harming the world, stealing others’ space to live, making another group beg for survival, yet judging by the survival of one group, that is what you’re doing now."

"In times of civilization crisis, ’moralists’ always strive to find enemies within, putting every sin on others, expediting their crimes. The more judgmental they are, the more they absolve their own sins."

"Deity, you are doing such a thing. The culprit is you, the one who wants to destroy the world is you, the chariot is you. Yet, you push the ’one person’ and ’world’s people’ issue onto someone like Mizushima Kawa Sora, making her have to ’judge’ me. In the end, in everyone’s eyes, it seems like everything is her fault."

Mizushima Kawa Sora gripped her knife tightly, knowing Su Ming’an is trying to switch her stance again. Because his Mana Points have bottomed out.

This person... never lets go of the last chance.

"I’ve heard enough." The deity calmly said: "I fully acknowledge what you said, yet I remain unmoved. Act, Goddess."

Mizushima Kawa Sora raised the Black Blade high, her eyes slightly red.

Su Ming’an simply smiled.

"Deity." Su Ming’an raised his hand: "It’s going to rain."

"What?" Mizushima Kawa Sora didn’t understand the sentence. What does it mean by it’s going to rain?

Su Ming’an raised his head. The blue moon above gradually veiled by dark clouds, revealing heavy rain clouds. The last beam of moonlight lingered on his forehead, then slid off gently.

The first drop of rain fell at this instant.

...

"Forward—forward—!!"

"Lin Yunting, has the amplifier started?"

"Requesting aid! Coordinates (298,391) for 30,000 people requesting help—we need the Talisman Family of The Way of Healing! Someone’s been heavily wounded by an Exotic Species!"

"Spirit Cat pilot Yamada Machiichi, please proceed to the third station for treatment, system shows your Exotic Pollution level reaches 76%..."

"I’m almost close to the Holy City Institute, just a bit, just a bit more—"

"Isabella team’s signal interrupted, location East City Baiyu Street! Where are the allies of Louyue Nation?"

"They are already calibrating the Immortal’s Talisman, this thing needs to lock onto a suitable sky coordinate to cover large-scale rainfall."

"Communication frequency 492, 902.192—anyone in East City with combat power over four thousand? Why are all radars interrupted?"

"The Steam Age people are too stupid, they stubbornly block our way, not letting us near the coordinate point—"

"Lu, can you ascend?"

"Don’t mind me, go—go!!"

Noel’s earpiece transmitted chaotic voices. Anxious, tense, impassioned. The front line swiftly spread through words, seemingly taking people back to that far-off era of warfare.