Bai Xi stopped in her tracks, hesitatingly looking at El, who was hanging in mid-air with his head down and only his chin showing, like a sinner. His hands and feet were bound by inexplicable silver chains, his snow-white wings were stained with blood, and even the halo above his head was broken in half.
His miserable appearance suggested he had been subjected to torture.
Bai Xi watched silently, slowed her pace, and gently approached him, raising her head just in time to see El's face clearly.
His face was pale, and there were still traces of blood on his handsome face. His eyes were closed as if he was enduring some kind of pain, and he did not even notice her approaching.
Or perhaps he hasn't come to his senses yet.
The misty space was quiet. Bai Xi stood in front of him, silently pursing her lips. Every time she saw El before, she had a cold expression that was cold to the bone. Even when she had a somewhat unusual attitude towards her at the Angel Temple, she had never seen El so disheveled.
Who on earth could have brought such a powerful archangel to such a state?
Bai Xi was unsure whether she was more wary or conflicted; she was cautious of her surroundings, yet she paid excessive attention to El.
After waiting for a long time, Bai Xi did not notice anything else unusual around him. It seemed that the chains on El's body were tightening, digging deep into his flesh and leaving marks on his wings and arms, and even tearing open his skin, with blood flowing down his skin and dripping onto the ground.
It was quickly absorbed and disappeared into the misty space, and no trace of blood could be seen on the ground anymore.
A muffled groan escaped El's lips, a sound that sent a chill down Bai Xi's spine.
She quickly stepped forward, looked up, and called his name.
"El, wake up! You're going to die!"
Bai Xi knew something was wrong here, but she was still relatively safe. El, on the other hand, was about to die. After all, angels shouldn't have physical bodies, but in this space, he was bleeding.
She had no doubt that El might be tortured to death here.
As Bai Xi thought about it, she called his name several more times, her voice tinged with urgency.
Perhaps it was because he heard Bai Xi's voice, but a trace of expression finally appeared on El's handsome face, which was contorted with pain. He frowned, slowly opened his eyes, and met Bai Xi's gaze.
Bai Xi breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something when he noticed that El's eyes were empty, like a doll's, simply staring straight at him without any emotion.
It should be said that the situation is even worse than when we first met El. Back then, although El had no emotions, he could at least think. Now, it seems that he is just an empty shell. Even when he is tortured, it seems to be just a physical reaction, and has nothing to do with his soul.
Bai Xi's ominous premonition grew stronger. She reached out to touch El, but the next second, an inorganic voice echoed in the space, indistinguishable from male or female, and as ruthless as if it were coming from a machine.
He became like this because of you.
The moment the sound appeared, Bai Xi immediately tried to find its source, but after searching around, she realized that the sound seemed to be circular and had no fixed source.
"Who are you?"
Bai Xi asked warily.
"He attempted to collude with the gods, undermine the rules established for this world, and destroy the Temple of Angels; he deserves to be punished."
The voice didn't answer Bai Xi's question, but continued talking about El.
Bai Xi subconsciously turned to look at El, and for no reason, she recalled the words of the Goddess of the Dead, and a guess formed in her mind.
"You are the world consciousness, right?"
She asked.
As expected, after she finished speaking, the voice fell silent for a moment, seemingly not expecting Bai Xi to guess its identity, but it quickly spoke again.
"He's willing to break the rules for you, are you going to stand idly by?"
As its voice faded, Bai Xi saw the scene that the world's consciousness wanted her to see through the mist.
A scene that Bai Xi could never have imagined.
Based on her fragmented words, El discovered that the angel statue might be detrimental to her, and he even told this information to Gracius.
The gods' final decision was to attack the Temple of Angels for her.
Believers prayed fervently to the gods, gathering a halo of light with the power of the Elf Mother Tree. The power of faith was disrupting the order established by the world's consciousness. The gods were attacking the Angel Temple, launching an attack on the eerie angel statue inside. Meanwhile, El, standing beside her, was expressionlessly leading the angels to resist the gods' attack.
The El in the picture is clearly not right; he is completely different from the El we knew before.
Bai Xi almost caught her breath; she had never imagined such a thing would happen.
She was perfectly fine before she left, and she didn't reveal anything about the world's consciousness. At most, they could only guess that it was about fighting Tartarus.
She didn't even know about the conspiracy of the world's consciousness, or why they would do such things.
Although it was long ago conceived that angels were controlled by the world's consciousness, the gods' authority should also derive from the world's consciousness, so how could they...?
"So? What are you trying to say?"
Bai Xi forced herself to calm down. Facing the world's consciousness, her chances of winning were basically zero, but that didn't mean she had to be a lamb to the slaughter. Now that she had discovered the truth, she wouldn't be herself if she compromised.
"You are the culprit behind the instability in the world, and you need to be held accountable for this."
The voice of the world consciousness was clearly devoid of any fluctuation or emotion, yet Bai Xi could still hear the accusations and reproaches in its words, as if she were Daji, the harbinger of chaos in the world, bringing disaster to the country and its people, and all of this was her fault.
Unfortunately, this tactic of moral blackmail might work on others, but it won't work on Bai Xi.
She merely gave a mocking smirk, her voice betraying her sarcasm.
"Oh? Isn't this the price you pay for trying to manipulate the world and make it run according to your will? What does this have to do with me?"
Bai Xi never engages in internal strife. Even if she was the one who triggered that scene just now, as long as the world consciousness continues to do these things, the hidden dangers and crises will be exposed sooner or later, just in a different way.
After all, it's normal for employees to rebel sooner or later if their boss treats them like a puppet.
Seeing that the world consciousness remained silent, Bai Xi decided to provoke it with sharp words. After all, something devoid of emotion probably didn't have the option to get angry, and it might even reveal a lot of useful information.
"What? You couldn't turn me into a puppet, and now you're angry and embarrassed after encountering resistance?"
After a long pause, the World Consciousness spoke again.
"You can choose to rebel, that's your right, but he will become a substitute for your willfulness and... a consumable."
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