On the ruins of the city wall, a black severed finger was nailed firmly to the surface of the stone by the sword Ame no Murasakibara.

"It seems that this time, the guy [Key to the Gate] is serious... He must have paid a heavy price for launching an attack of this magnitude across the long river of time." The voice of the severed finger came out slowly. He looked at the time and space vortex that was gradually dissipating in the distance, and the corner of his mouth slightly raised.

"Is it over..."

A willow branch with eyeballs on it stuck out from the colorful smoke and wrapped around the hilt of the Kusanagi sword. Just as he was about to pull the sword out, a spear whizzed over from afar and instantly blasted the willow branch into pieces!

The tip of the spear pierced through the blood mist and stabbed accurately beside the severed finger. He turned slightly in the direction where the spear came from, seeming a little displeased.

In the dust swirling with electric arcs, a figure in blood-red armor and a ragged young man were slowly walking towards them.

The moment he saw the young man, he was startled, then he spoke in surprise:

"It's you? Why aren't you dead yet?!"

“The [Key to the Door] failed to kill me... You are surprised, right?” Lin Qiye’s expression was extremely calm.

The tip of the severed finger faced Lin Qiye without saying anything else. Logically speaking, since [Key to the Door] had paid such a huge price, there was no reason not to completely wipe out Lin Qiye... He didn't know which link had gone wrong.

But Lin Qiye is still alive, which means that He is in crisis again.

“How is this possible… How did you survive?” The broken finger looked at Lin Qiye, as if he had sensed a change in him, and said in an unbelievable voice, “You hid your own karma?! You erased your existence in the long river of time?”

Lin Qiye said calmly, "You are so sure that humanity has no hope, isn't it because there is the omniscient [Key to the Gate], who is always watching the past and the future... Now, variables beyond your control have appeared.

You tell me...what would I do?"

The severed finger stared at Lin Qiye intently, and was slightly startled. ..

He had thought that Lin Qiye's ability would be very tricky, but he did not expect that Lin Qiye could actually hide his own existence... In this way, even the [Key to the Gate] could not see his actions, and his past and future were all hidden. Even if the [Key to the Gate] wanted to change history, it would not be able to affect him at all.

In other words, Lin Qiye has completely transcended their control, and his cause and effect are only in his own hands!

Imagine setting up a precise trap to ambush and kill Lin Qiye like this time. It is almost impossible.

The severed finger's mind was turning rapidly.

Lin Qiye was about to say something when a voice suddenly came from a distance.

"Lin Qiye!"

Lin Qiye turned around and saw Chloe, who was covered in wounds, holding a willow branch and running towards him.

She looked at the wounded Lin Qiye and walked over here as if relieved. "Just now I saw lightning bursting over there, and I thought the person in there was you... Are you okay?"

Lin Qiye glanced at her, his eyes narrowed slightly.

He snapped his fingers, and the sword of Ama-Kushu was pulled out from his broken finger, whizzing across the earth and piercing Chloe's heart in an instant!

A blood-red flower splashed out, and a look of disbelief appeared in Chloe's eyes. She stared blankly at the indifferent Lin Qiye, as if she couldn't understand why Lin Qiye wanted to kill her.

"You can't fool me the second time with the same trick. Put away your thoughts, Chaos."

Lin Qiye grasped the flying Kusanagi sword, his gaze fell on the severed finger in front of him again, and he walked towards him step by step.

At the same time, Chloe's body, lying in a pool of blood, strangely transformed into a willow branch with eyeballs, staring in their direction.

“You saw through it so quickly?” Broken Finger originally wanted to take advantage of Lin Qiye’s carelessness and use Chloe to plot against Lin Qiye. He even asked the fake Chloe to pick up a willow branch to increase credibility... After all, this was his last resort.

But he never expected that Lin Qiye's attack this time would be so decisive, leaving him no chance to counterattack.

"Appearances can be deceiving, but karma cannot."

Lin Qiye stood in front of the severed finger, a hint of coldness appearing in his eyes.

He stepped on the lower half of the severed finger, creating a huge pit in the ground. Amid the flying dust, Lin Qiye spoke slowly:

"Chaos, listen to me... You can't kill me, and neither can the Key of the Gate. Since I survived, I will take back the grudge between us sooner or later, with interest.

Now that I have returned to this era and become a variable hidden beyond your control, I will not return empty-handed... The more you fear something, the more I will bring it to you.

From today on, I, Lin Qiye, will be the nightmare of your Cthulhu pantheon."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Qiye suddenly exerted force with his feet, and a surge of power poured out. With a loud bang, the severed fingers on the soles of his feet were crushed into bloody pieces!

“My Lord, help me burn Him… Don’t leave even a trace of residue.” Lin Qiye spoke slowly.

Huo Qubing nodded slightly and hooked his fingers. A ball of burning fire from a distance flew over quickly and instantly engulfed the flesh and blood on the ground.

There was a crackling sound of burning and a foul stench spread out. The two of them stood in front of the flames until the flames engulfed the last trace of blood and the world finally returned to silence.

“Cough cough cough…”

A red-haired girl in a church robe slowly walked over from a distance. The colorful smoke dissipated little by little behind her. Her fair face was now covered in dust, as if she had just experienced a fierce battle.

"Um... have you seen my fake?" Chloe walked up to Lin Qiye and Huo Qubing and asked.

Lin Qiye pointed at Liu Zhi's corpse beside him.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this.

"Where is Kusuen?" Lin Qiye asked.

“Is it that willow monster?” Chloe shrugged. “I killed it. Without those fakes blocking it, its true form seems very fragile.”

Killed?

Lin Qiye seemed to be thinking about something. He had previously thought that Kusuen should be a god from the Cthulhu pantheon who could not be killed without laws, but now it seems that this is not the case.

This Kusuun doesn't seem to have reached the god-level in terms of realm or combat power. It should be just a monster of the Cthulhu pantheon, and can be killed even without laws.

"That's good."

A glimmer of dawn rose from the end of the horizon, dyeing the dark night sky into a fish belly white. The pale sunlight swept across the bloody Chang'an city wall and the three wounded figures on the ruins, dragging their shadows very long...

"What are your plans next?" Huo Qubing asked.

Lin Qiye watched the flames gradually dissipate. After a long silence, he slowly spoke:

“I want to make some preparations in this era.”

"To stop Cthulhu?" Chloe thought for a moment, "These things are indeed terrifying... Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm still thinking about the specific plan...but I may need your help."

"Those monsters want to destroy all living beings, so I will not sit idly by and watch." Huo Qubing said in a deep voice, "Lin Qiye, if you need me to do anything, just tell me."

"Count me in too." Chloe said seriously, "If everyone is killed, there will be no more faith in this world."

Lin Qiye's eyes swept over Huo Qubing and Chloe. In the dim light of dawn, the corners of his mouth slightly raised...

"good."