Chapter 151 Who Will Proclaim the Way (Part 22) A Kiss...
"You did this on purpose."
The tone was confident; this was not a question.
The scene before her gradually became clearer. Icaria gasped for breath and closed her eyes regretfully: "So we've both gotten what we wanted, haven't we?"
“I hate sacrifice, and I hate even more sacrifice in my name.”
"The gods are not merciful."
Listen carefully.
Du Yu grabbed Icaria by the collar, staring intently into those lifeless eyes: "Since gods are omnipotent, of course I can do whatever I want—how do I use this?"
Du Yu released his grip, picked up the necklace on Icaria's chest, and looked at it from left to right. It was just an ordinary stone, only it happened to be shaped like a feather.
Icaria was drawn to Du Yu, her gaze shifting to the right. She looked down at the pendant for a moment before explaining, "This is the last ember left over from the 'past.' With it, along with the undying flames of this world, we can deceive the [Lord of the Pure Sea] and enter another world."
"That sounds good, but what's the price?"
"...a tiny, insignificant sacrifice."
Du Yu wasn't fooled by his ambiguous words. He carefully examined the bright stone, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "The sacrifice you mentioned, is it a seed?"
The person opposite didn't tacitly agree. Du Yu now understood the origin of Icaria's strange behavior.
The world "now" consists only of Du Yu and Icaria, who was forced into this world by the Lord of the Pure Sea to await his death. According to conventional understanding, it's impossible to slip away under that person's nose unless one kills them and activates the gifts of the "past" world.
A vicious cycle created by the twists and turns of fate.
...Unfortunately, Du Yu never believed in fate.
Du Yu caressed the gift from the "past" world, which was no different from a stone. The texture was rough, and it was hard to imagine that such a palm-sized thing had once been a prosperous world.
Du Yu seemed to have realized something.
The world is like soil, nurturing seeds while also needing the seeds to nourish it in return.
When the last living being dies and the last seed withers, the whole world loses its meaning and collapses into ashes.
But the death of a world is both swift and slow.
The destruction of the "past" world is inextricably linked to the actions of the Lord of the Pure Sea. Therefore, as long as the Lord of the Pure Sea has not attained true godhood, this stone and the world it represents will not die completely.
Icarusia took advantage of this time difference, sacrificing a seed to revitalize this "dead" world.
"...But a person is first and foremost a person before becoming a seed."
"What?"
Icaria was puzzled.
Du Yu touched his chest. "...Shi Wei wasn't a transcendent before he died."
Icaria's eyes widened, somewhat dazed.
Regardless of the specifics of the trait, the curser and the cursed must be on the same level for the curse to take effect; this is already considered a rather uncommon fact.
But what did Du Yu just say? Shi Wei—should be the recipient of the [White Witch] trait, who cursed a quasi-god before becoming a transcendent being?
Even from a scientific point of view, this does not conform to the law of conservation of energy!
But Du Yu had no reason to lie to him.
Although it's unbelievable, that's how it happened.
"So if you change your outdated thinking, you'll definitely find other ways to activate it."
Du Yu carefully drew out a wisp of purple fire and slowly injected it into the stone. One wisp, two wisps... Du Yu continued to increase the energy injected, but as soon as the purple fire passed through the stone, it disappeared as if it had vanished into the sea, without even having time to explore the environment inside the stone.
They are not only calm but also happy, and they respond to external stimuli, which is better than a lifeless atmosphere.
Because they needed to inject energy, Du Yu moved even closer. The woman lowered her head slightly, her long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly with her breath, like a water lily bud gathering strength before blooming.
Icaria lowered her eyes, not daring to look closely, and asked in a low voice, "...Is there anything I can do to help you?"
As long as they don't act like fanatical believers who have lost their minds and start shouting for sacrifices, Yu would still be happy to have an extra helper.
Du Yu gestured for Icaria to inject energy in another direction, his eyebrows slowly furrowing as he signaled for her to stop.
"That won't work."
Although the embers were instinctively absorbing the energy of the two of them, Du Yu could sense that it was also releasing energy at the same time—in a total amount even greater than what Du Yu and Icaria had injected.
This is similar to the classic question: a swimming pool is leaking water on one side and filling it with water on the other. When the rate of leakage is greater than the rate of filling, when will the swimming pool be filled?
Upon hearing this, Icaria stopped. Judging from the calm expression on his face, he was not surprised by the result of this test—after all, he had held this ember for so long and had some understanding of its condition.
Du Yu suddenly remembered a question he had overlooked: "How did you get this piece of ember?"
Logically, this question should have been asked immediately. But Du Yu only realized this problem after interacting with Yu Jin.
"These are fragments of the sun's corpse."
The calm voice betrayed no emotion: "[The Sun], before going mad, also thought of awakening this world."
"Is the Sun crazy because of this?"
Du Yu's current ability only allows her to extract relevant fragments of memories when someone is recalling them; she cannot extract all the memories. She has only seen the [New Sun] with Icaria.
She didn't really pay attention to the scene when she went crazy, as she didn't really know what caused Shinri's madness.
"Um."
Icaria nodded. "After his mother's unfortunate death, he chose to merge with the sun, which was about to perish in the Great Cataclysm, in a gamble on that slim hope. But later, with one failure after another, after failing to awaken the embers of the world and being corrupted instead, he went mad, and the church's purpose gradually shifted towards destruction."
"Therefore, becoming a god must truly come from the heart in order to withstand loneliness and madness. The reason of 'for someone' is a bit weak when facing a great catastrophe."
No.
A strange thought suddenly popped into Du Yu's mind, and a voice inexplicably refuted Icaria's words, saying that the goal of [New Sun] had never changed from beginning to end.
However, when Du Yu traced back her recovered memories, she found nothing related to that [future] god. Surely her encounter with [New Sun] couldn't have happened in the future?
Icaria lowered her eyes, thus missing the strange look that inexplicably appeared in Du Yu's eyes. "...Later, when He wasn't paying attention, I betrayed the church and took this piece of remains."
It's the work of [New Japan], no wonder they were able to condense another collapsed world onto this small stone.
After all, although the strength of [New Sun] is not comparable to that of [Lord of the Pure Sea], because it is integrated with the sun, its authority is much stronger than that of ordinary false gods (such as [Mimi Yin]).
If His church hadn't been busy causing destruction and arson everywhere, the New Sun's sphere of influence wouldn't be so small.
Du Yu examined the stone carefully. No matter how she looked at it, it was just an ordinary stone, no different from any stone picked up by the roadside. She could not find any trace of the remains of the "past" world, nor could she find any trace of the [New Sun] seal.
"This shouldn't be happening..."
Du Yu muttered something and couldn't help but rub the surface of the stone. Since she and Icaria's energy could be injected, it couldn't be an ordinary stone. Where did the energy go?
"Crack."
The stone cracked instantly.
Du Yu was startled, almost thinking he had crushed the precious item by squeezing it. Icaria's eyes widened as well; he first glanced at Du Yu in surprise before looking down at the stone.
Under the tense gaze of the two, the cracks on the surface of the stone grew wider and wider with a "crackling" sound, and the outer layer of stone peeled away, revealing a pure white, crystal clear egg with a faint silver glow.
Du Yu picked up the "egg" without understanding why, carefully held it in his hands, and looked at the person opposite him in surprise, only to receive an even more surprised look in return.
Clearly, although Icaria entrusted the embers of the world to her, she knew no more about it than Ikuto.
"Huh."
Du Yumei moved slightly. The quail egg-sized thing lying in her palm remained still, radiating a weak and harmless aura.
If Du Yu hadn't just realized that her energy was slightly depleted, she wouldn't have discovered that this thing was secretly absorbing her energy.
They forced it in, but it just kept flowing out. Now that they're not giving it to us, they're doing it secretly.
Du Yu ruffled the "egg" in his palm and couldn't help but mutter to himself that the only good news was that after turning into an "egg," although the speed at which this thing absorbed energy was greatly reduced, at least it wasn't losing more energy than it gained.
The small amount of energy had no effect whatsoever. Du Yu wasn't stingy either; he held the white egg in his palm and began to settle accounts with Icaria later.
Although she didn't know why the egg had changed, that didn't stop Du Yu from using the egg as a pretext to condemn Icaria's extreme actions.
The other person was clearly also confused by this change. While bowing his head and being scolded, he stared blankly at Du Yu's palm. Although he had a cold and aloof appearance, he did not look very smart.
"Want to touch it?"
Du Yu sighed inwardly, knowing that the other party's mindset couldn't be changed overnight. When Icarus peeked again, he simply opened his hand and held it up in front of Icarus's eyes, which startled Icarus.
"Huh?"
Icaria extended her index finger and carefully nudged the white egg. Before the joy in her eyes could even surface, it was replaced by surprise. "It seems to be absorbing my energy."
Without him saying anything, Du Yu felt it herself. The moment Icaria reached out, the white egg, like a deer accidentally caught in a trap, excitedly snapped into it with a "snap." The invisible suction force expanded a hundredfold, and she could almost "see" the pale golden energy being continuously sucked into the white egg like a whirlwind of noodles.
Du Yu's expression tightened. The white egg's thirst for energy was almost inexhaustible, and it was already straining her. But she had almost the entire world as her backing, so she could still persevere. Icaria, however, was different.
The opponent was already in poor condition; he was sent here to die by the Lord of the Pure Sea. The elements contained in his traits were not recognized by the world, and the replenishment he could receive was extremely limited.
Sure enough, when Du Yu looked over, Icaria, though still able to stand upright, had become much paler, giving the illusion of ice and snow against her golden hair.
Du Yu frowned, but Icaria comforted her instead: "Don't worry about me. I'm just an insignificant person. I can only use my last bit of strength to help..."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Du Yu raised his other hand, which wasn't being held captive by the white egg, and grabbed Icaria's hand. His tone wasn't particularly forceful, but it conveyed an undeniable air of authority:
"Focus your mind and feel it."
The gray fog in the sky churned, and flames rose behind them. While dealing with the increasingly greedy white eggs, Du Yu forcefully extracted a stream of energy and transmitted it to the other side through the part of their skin that was touching.
"Hmm."
Icaria groaned, her brow twitching violently as she struggled to withstand the energy being channeled by Du Yu.
Energy transfer is not like pouring water from one container to another; for Icaria at this moment, Du Yu's actions were like pouring boiling water into hot oil. While in excruciating pain all over his body, he had to try to draw out his mental energy to fill the bottomless pit in his body with the hot oil that had been poured in.
Icaria could no longer stand, her forehead resting on Du Yu's shoulder. She closed her eyes in embarrassment, her lips pressed tightly together, afraid of letting out any undignified cries of pain.
Despite his efforts, Bai Dan was not satisfied. The "injected" energy was quickly drained away and then violently withdrawn at an even faster pace, worsening his already poor internal condition.
"Heh..."
Icaria stubbornly refused to call for help, but Du Yu could tell from his increasingly clenched hands and increasingly bent back that his condition was deteriorating rapidly.
Du Yu cursed inwardly. She wasn't a newbie who had just awakened her superpowers; how could she not know that the energies of two superpowered individuals with different traits were likely incompatible? But Du Yu couldn't think of any other solution for the moment. The pain of energy conflict was better than being drained of energy and dying from exhaustion.
But Du Yu never expected that her energy compatibility with Icaria would be so poor, almost to the point of being incompatible. She also never expected that this damned white egg would not only extract energy without making a sound, but also be picky about what it eats!
Why didn't you just starve it to death!
Du Yu's brain was racing, constantly searching for a gentler way to transfer energy, while also trying to merge with the other party's energy so as not to be rejected by the picky "white egg." A faint gust of air brushed past his neck:
"Ten, thank you so much... That's enough, don't be sad for me... This is exactly what I wanted..."
Icaria tilted his head slightly and finished speaking haltingly. Du Yu looked down and saw him close his eyes. Although his face was pale, his expression was peaceful and even showed a hint of relief.
This guy is still trying to comfort himself even now!
While she was feeling anxious and worried, she instinctively felt a nameless fire rising in her heart, burning so intensely that her heart ached and felt heavy. There were things she had to say that she couldn't hold back.
Du Yu and Icaria had only known each other for a short time, but that brief time together was enough for her to see this man for who he really was—if she was a fool among the candidates for godhood who was stuck in the past and unwilling to give up, this guy was a complete idiot who didn't care about himself and had no sense of self at all!
The Lord of the Pure Sea probably banished him here not only to let him fend for himself before harvesting his seeds, but also because he didn't want to deal with such a fool.
This is detrimental to the image of the evil god!
It is said that people are blinded by anger, but Du Yu actually gained inspiration while burning with rage.
The clasped hands loosened, and the scorching energy that had sustained him while bringing him endless pain also withdrew. His body, accustomed to struggling in excruciating pain, even slowed down for a few seconds before belatedly feeling a wave of emptiness.
It's over—including everything.
Icaria leaned on Du Yu's shoulder and let out a deep sigh of relief. He said Du Yu was very tired, but wasn't he tired too?
He dedicated the first half of his life to religion, the second half to betraying it and wandering aimlessly. After his soul died, he struggled in hell. Now that everything has come to an end, all that remains is a sense of relief.
Fate still occasionally treats him kindly.
So that when his life, entangled in lies and madness, comes to an end, he can see the flames that will eventually consume everything in the future, and use his decaying body to fuel her flames.
That's enough.
Amidst the overflowing ease and joy, a tiny trace of emptiness and melancholy awaits the final end, seemingly nonexistent.
Then.
The hand that had just been intertwined with his fingers gripped his chin. He struggled to open his eyes, his golden pupils moist and empty, staring unblinkingly at the pair of purple eyes that were burning brightly with anger.
So beautiful... eh?
The fingers gripping Icaria's chin tightened, and Icaria tilted her head back uncontrollably, watching the anger in those purple eyes subside, replaced by a hint of mockery and ill intent, and then—
Those purple eyes were so close to him that nothing in the world could get any closer.
The owner of those purple eyes kissed him.
The long, bright, fiery hair slid down with its owner's movements, brushing against Icaria's cheeks, forehead, and ears. The bright purple color rushed towards him, and for a moment he even thought he had finally thrown himself into that bright sea of fire.
Until a soft touch came from where they met.
Du Yu wasn't very skilled at it, but she quickly found the knack. She moved her hand that was pinching Icaria's chin down and kept rubbing her thumb against the man's Adam's apple.
"Hmm—"
As Icaria gasped for breath, she instinctively opened her mouth, and then something soft probed inside, scraping against her palate, entwining and sucking. As the ambiguous sound of water arose, pure energy surged in along with the connected atmosphere.
Icaria was completely dazed, mesmerized by the purple hue, and only followed his most basic instincts. His lips parted, clumsily trying to please the softness that coiled around him like a snake.
The previously incredibly violent energy seemed to have been affected by his dazed state of mind. This time, after entering his body, it obediently retracted its claws and consciously merged into the body, filling the soon-to-be-depleted land.
"Buzzing".
The white egg trembled a few times, seemingly quite satisfied with the energy it had received, and appeared to have grown considerably larger. However, neither of them had time to pay attention to it at the moment.
"Bang!"
After an unknown amount of time, Du Yu was startled by the muffled thunderous sound. He subconsciously looked up and saw the white egg that had been clinging to their hands and impossible to shake off, seemingly having finally eaten its fill. Satisfied, it floated in mid-air, with cracks appearing on its surface and slowly widening.
"call."
Du Yu exhaled, wiped the water stains from his lips, and kept his mental focus firmly on the white egg, but his consciousness was wandering.
Strangely enough, as Icaria's energy was about to be drained, Du Yu's brain raced, and the only thing he could think of was a dirty joke Wen Xi had told him during a casual chat with Shi Wei and Wen Xi:
"Dudu, I've discovered a very serious problem."
"What?"
"As we all know, each superhuman's traits are unique, and therefore each person's energy is also unique. Except for a very few healing superhumans, rashly injecting energy into another person's body will often backfire and may even kill the injured person."
"Hmm, and then what?"
"Miss, don't interrupt me, let me finish—but, another well-known fact is that when superhumans are emotionally agitated, they subconsciously release energy, and the unclaimed energy will subconsciously flow towards the nearest superhuman. If the two people's energy cannot merge at this time, how do you think those superhuman couples get together?"
"Ugh—Wen Xi, you're disgusting!"
"Ugh, why am I disgusted? I'm doing academic research here. Don't you think it's amazing? Incompatible energies have just merged like that. If it weren't for the fact that handsome guys are so hard to find in the apocalypse, I'd want to grab someone to experiment with with me..."
Memories flashed back rapidly. Du Yu took a deep breath, almost as if he had nothing to lose. But Wen Xi's distinctively blind approach actually worked. To be honest, even Du Yu was stunned for a moment when the energy was successfully transferred.
However, there were others here who were even more confused than she was.
Icaria leaned on Du Yu's shoulder, her golden eyes even more moist than before, her gaze unfocused, subconsciously looking at Du Yu's lips, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.
After being freed from the white egg's absorption, Icaria's complexion improved considerably.
Du Yu raised an eyebrow, waiting to bring up Wen Xi's dirty jokes to quell any questions the other party might have.
But to her surprise, Icaria straightened up, stared at Du Yu for a moment, and then said nothing. She looked away at Bai Dan, and finally looked down, her long eyelashes falling to cover her entire expression.
Du Yu:......
Her non-existent conscience suddenly ached.
The other person's expression was as if they had encountered a heartless woman who would flirt and then leave, yet they managed to endure it with an astonishingly saintly heart.
"Hello."
Originally intending to brazenly pretend not to see it, Du Yu nudged Icaria's shoulder, but before she could even formulate an explanation, the other woman lowered her eyes even further:
"...I know it was all to save me, you don't need to worry about it..."
The phantom pain of conscience that Du Yu didn't have intensified.
That being said, the expression you're making is exactly like that of a stray dog that's just been adopted and then kicked out in the rainy night!
It was intentional, wasn't it?
"Tsk."
Du Yu brushed aside his messy hair and forced Icaria to look up at him: "Hey, we're both adults. I didn't have time to ask for your opinion. Just tell me how you want to handle this."
"I, I..."
Forced to look at Du Yu, unable to escape as if nothing had happened any longer, Icaria's eyes darted around, avoiding Du Yu's gaze. What had just happened was a first for him; to be honest, even if Du Yu had beaten him up, he wouldn't be as helpless as he was now.
What could someone whose sex education probably started with killing people possibly know?
Du Yu loosened his grip, since he wasn't the one who would suffer a loss anyway. "In an emergency, one must act expediently. My initial intention was to save lives, and I hope you understand."
Even though no more energy is needed later, it's not over yet...
Rescue people.
His lighthearted heart and mind finally felt real, but it was just a downward fall. He should understand, he should be content, that bright flame would illuminate him, and it would illuminate everyone.
Like the bright moon.
but……
Icaria pursed her lips, her golden eyelashes trembling, and looked at Du Yu as if making a final struggle—
"But judging from the feedback, you don't seem to mind what happened just now. How about we give it a try once everything settles down?"
"Give it a try?"
Icaria seemed unable to believe her ears, and murmured the last two words that Du Yu had said.
Du Yu thought he was dissatisfied, so he coughed, looking unusually uncomfortable. "I'm not trying to shirk responsibility, it's just that nothing is settled yet. Making promises rashly would be irresponsible to you..."
"No."
Icarusia suddenly interrupted her, as if he had finally gleaned an answer he had never dared to hope for from Du Yu's words and expressions. He couldn't help but reveal a very faint, very light smile, but one that was no longer as empty as before:
“You don’t need to explain to me. The future you promised is enough. It’s something I’ve never asked for.”
Du Yu was momentarily stunned by that smile, heard his heart beat very slowly—and heard a loud "coo-coo" sound.
"My time is precious, lol. How long are you going to ignore me, lol?"
Du Yu turned his head and saw that the white egg had disappeared, replaced by a white dove the size of a palm.
The pigeon was pure white with bright red eyes, and apart from having six wings, it was no different from an ordinary pigeon.
"Who are you?"
Having gone to such great lengths to "hatch" the white egg, Du Yu certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to forget about it.
Despite having a common enemy, Du Yu couldn't immediately ascertain the pigeon's intentions, so he decided to let it linger.
"I am—Tai Sui!"
The pigeon raised its left wing and pressed its right wing against its chest, its voice ringing out with pride.
The air was still for a few seconds.
Du Yu hadn't expected the pigeon, despite its small size, to be so loud. She looked at the pigeon strangely, scrutinizing it several times. Icarus, with her low ego, bluntly said:
"You are a pigeon."
"Tai Sui! Tai Sui! Tai Sui!"
The pigeon, as if its sore spot had been touched, screeched and circled, stretching its wings to attack Icaria, but was forced back by Du Yu's purple flames. "I am the ancestor, where did this impolite junior come from!"
Seeing Icaria give Du Yu a shy smile, Bai Ge grew even angrier—this thing was, after all, a Transcendent, and only had some of its primal energy extracted; how could it be so weak that it couldn't even withstand a single blow?
"Alright, alright, don't you have anything to say to me?"
Du Yu offered perfunctory advice and began to try to smooth things over.
Out of respect for her (or perhaps because it was tired from flying), the pigeon landed back on the ground, preened its wings, and said, "Coo, aren't we just waiting to see what you'll do?"
"I?"
"Otherwise what? Look here: a dead ancestor, a half-dead, rude pretty boy, and a healthy woman who looks like she can live for a few more years. Who do you think is the most reliable person here?"
Du Yu realized that while he didn't know much about this pigeon's abilities, it certainly had a sharp tongue. Instead of speaking plainly, it would always find a roundabout way to make sarcastic remarks.
"I don't have many ideas, I just want to do one thing: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
"oh?"
The pigeon fluttered to Icaria's shoulder, its scarlet eyes meeting Du Yu's. "Well, I do have a plan. Let's turn the tables on them, go to that petty territory and start over, and seize the divine position before He does."
Are you sure I'm not walking into the lion's den?
Du Yu looked at the pigeon with suspicion. Although her world had been turned upside down by the Lord of the Pure Sea, who was still randomly stuffing people into it, as long as she didn't die, she was the number one person here, and the Lord of the Pure Sea couldn't do anything to her.
Entering the other person's world is another matter entirely; wouldn't the other person be able to strangle her with a mere gesture?
"Oh."
The pigeon sneered—it was hard to tell which organ made the sound—"Of course it would be like this if it were just the two of you, but it's different with me. When the fisherman loses patience, he will naturally become impatient and reveal his weaknesses. I have a way to prevent her from directly attacking you. It just depends on whether you have the courage to start from scratch."
"Oh, right."
The pigeon maliciously reminded him, "In order for this world to keep running after you leave, I need to take the [memory] and give it to this fool."
Lacking the strength to infiltrate the enemy's headquarters, and even with fragmented memories, Du Yu looked down at his hands, then raised them and roughly squeezed the pigeon:
"So what?"
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Author's note: Romance scenes are so hard to write, but I'm almost done (sadly).
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