The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"Clang-clang-clang-clang-"

The tram moved slowly along the track with no end in sight. Mikael leaned on the handrail, his body rising and falling rhythmically with the carriage.

He was still the only one in the carriage. Growth is a process of constant loss, and it is also a process of constant gain while losing. But no matter what, when a person reaches the end of his life, the last threshold, for most people, needs to be faced alone.

And it is always at this time that people will inevitably begin to reflect-if I have to face my own ending alone in the end no matter what, then what I have lost and gained along the way... is it really meaningful?

Mikael has come all the way, and every day there will be a new answer to this question.

"I exist, I have been here, I have made changes, and it must be meaningful."-But after you die, what do these changes you make have to do with you?

"Even if the fate of death has been determined, I have to decide the process to reach this result myself."-But after death, no matter how beautiful the process is, what does it have to do with you?

"That's right, life is absurd and meaningless. Everything we do will eventually lead to the predetermined ending. Since we have to go to that ending and living is so painful, why not understand it earlier?"

The pessimist saw through this point, so he raised his pistol, put the black muzzle into his mouth, and then pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Death is not terrible, it is a kind of relief - everything in the future, whether good or bad, has nothing to do with me!

But death is also a kind of escape, a surrender to this absurd and meaningless world.

And living, living to the present, and continuing to live, requires greater courage for Mikael, because that is the best resistance to this absurd and meaningless world.

This may be the reason why he has not developed a fear of death until now - he seems to stand here resolutely, whether he intends to end his life or not, he himself can't figure it out.

After all, for him who has made countless mistakes and failed to save countless people along the way, sacrificing himself is much easier than carrying a heavy burden and continuing to live...

But even so, he still feels that the end of this life is a bit too lonely.

"I really want to find someone to talk to... just one or two words... even if it's just to say hello..."

The empty carriage was cold and silent, which made Mikael, who had long been accustomed to someone chattering in his ear, very uncomfortable.

So much so that... I miss it a little... I can't bear to let it go...

Once this thought appears, it can never be cut off.

He sat down in a daze, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on the back of his hands.

Death is the end of everything, the end of all connections. From now on, there will be no new stories between Mikael and Alicia.

If the consciousness really dissipated completely, it would be fine. If a person died, but the consciousness was transferred to another space, carrying the desire to reunite with her, enduring the loneliness that can never be relieved, how sad it is.

And for her?

"Kevin, do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand? What you said, 'If you don't get married, if you die, Mei can face the future with a more relaxed attitude', this is simply impossible."

This is what Mikael said to Kevin not long ago. He now understands that this is not so much a lesson to Kevin as a lesson to himself.

He seems to have left the chance to live to Ellie, but is this really what she wants?

No, this is just what he wants.

He no longer exists, but the memories related to him will become an unbearable weight for Ellie. She cannot calmly move towards the future, but will always carry this heavy burden until she is completely crushed.

However, isn't it the same for Ellie? What she wants to do is not what he wants, but what she wants.

Both of them are thinking about each other, but what they do is what the other party cannot tolerate.

Perhaps, there is no perfect solution to this problem - either the two live together, or the two die together, this is the only result that both parties can accept, or neither can accept.

After all... if only one person sacrifices, it is too cruel for the other person.

Mikael took a deep breath, he hoped that he would not dwell on it, but he couldn't do it.

The reason why he could ignore the fear in his heart before was just because he felt that such a sacrifice would bring happiness to Ellie.

But when he found that this would not make Ellie happy, but would only make her more unacceptable, the fear that had disappeared in his heart for a long time had become more and more intense - he would never be able to meet Ellie again, which was more terrible than death.

He even tried to use the power of consciousness to paralyze himself, but it didn't work.

But in the end, he reconciled with his fear.

In any case, time cannot flow back. From the moment he stepped on this tram, everything was destined and there was no possibility of change.

He spread his right palm on his knees and stared at his palm silently.

He bent his fingers, as if he wanted to hold something, but the touch of his palm told him that there was nothing there.

He opened his palm again, clenched it again, opened it again, clenched it again...

After repeating this countless times, he finally convinced himself that he had grasped something - the only hope for this era to cross the end.

Yes, he couldn't just think about Alicia. As the most powerful human in the world, saving the world was his responsibility... Even if he himself couldn't explain it clearly, why did people save the world?

Or, why was there any need to save this world?

But maybe some things don't need a reason, or maybe it's because this is also Alicia's wish?

No, it's more than that.

His clenched right fist trembled with excitement.

He walked through the mortal world, so he had traces of the world on him.

From the beginning, Mother Ceria, to Himiko, Mobius, Famas, Vashak, Alfred, Aldemir, Harris, and then to Lezren, Xier, Anna, Kiel, Taro, Michael, Lloydger...

In these ordinary people who were not heroes, the world showed him its dark, despicable, and desire to be destroyed side without reservation. It also showed him its bright, beautiful, and hopeful side.

The destruction of the dark side is certainly a great relief, but darkness and light cannot exist without each other. If darkness is destroyed, light will also be destroyed.

We cannot eliminate darkness, because then light will also disappear. Instead of depriving the beautiful side of it, it is better to... let the world exist as it is now.

Mikael, who has only existed for 22 years, or 12 years, is too small compared to this world, compared to humans who have existed for 200,000 years, compared to the earth that has existed for 4.6 billion years, and compared to the universe that has existed for 13.8 billion years...

He is too small, and his life is too short.

In such a short time, he naturally cannot give a comprehensive answer to "why to save the world".

But as long as he can reach a reconciliation with himself, as long as he can make himself realize that what he is doing at this moment is the right thing, it will be fine.

The trembling of his right hand stopped, but his fist did not loosen again, as if he was determined to hold the only chance and never let go.

After a while, the carriage fell down as a whole, and the sound of the wheels hitting the rails disappeared. The tram just floated forward by inertia, slower and slower...

Mikael opened his eyes and looked out the window. The misty clouds and the ruins that seemed to be there had disappeared. What he saw was an endless galaxy.

But Mikael knew that this was not the universe.

The background of the galaxy was made up of large blocks of scarlet, purple, and blue graffiti, but how could the real universe have so many gorgeous colors?

It was just a dark curtain sprinkled with untouchable salt grains.

So where exactly is this place?

There was no need for any arrival reminder, Mikael also knew that this was his destination.

He still clenched his right fist and stood at the door of the car just now, but the door did not mean to open.

Mikael bit his lower lip, thought for a while, and then turned to the front of the tram.

The road was smooth, and the door of the cab was not even closed... Of course, it was also empty.

When Mikael walked to the cab and pushed the power lever that symbolized forward, the tram pieced together by Alicia's memory began to disintegrate rapidly, turning into silk threads that flashed countless lights and drifted away.

Mikael's body began to fall, but he was not panicked. This was not the first time he came to the imaginary space. There were no dimensions that were perceived and defined by humans in the real world - whether it was length, width, height, or time, they did not exist here.

The so-called fall could not kill people, and besides...

He imagined that he would no longer fall, so his toes felt resistance, and the hollow feeling of falling disappeared.

He just stood in a galaxy out of thin air, and where his feet stood, the space was like the surface of water, rippling in circles.

Until this time, he finally had the opportunity to take a good look at the so-called end.

"Huh?"

Mikael tilted his head, seeming a little confused.

In front of him was a huge stone egg-shaped object, with a cross crack in the middle emitting purple light. It jumped twice from time to time, like a second that was constantly ticking, but if you had to say it, it was more like a big eyeball that was constantly twitching.

No, no, no, describing it as an eyeball is a bit abstract after all. With the same shape, it is better to say that it is a stone cocoon... Yes, a cocoon, the cocoon of the end. Every time it jumps, it is not a twitch, but it is indeed pregnant with something...

But it is not the appearance of "the end" that puzzles him.

After all, this is strictly speaking an imaginary world. Rather than saying that the end looks like this, it is better to say that Mikael subconsciously thinks that the end should look like this.

Besides, no matter what the end looks like, what does it have to do with Mikael?

What really surprised him was the state of the space around the end - it was cracked inch by inch, rising upwards, and there were small fragments floating around.

Everything you see in the imaginary space is your subconscious's "interpretation" of this space. In other words, what you see here may be far more real and credible than what you see in the real world - provided that you can interpret the materialized product of the subconscious again.

Judging from the state of the space near the end, there is no need for any brain-consuming interpretation at all - it is obvious that the so-called cocoon of the end has slammed in from the back of this space, destroying the surrounding space. It was smashed and then got stuck here.

"Are you an outsider too?"

Looking at the beating stone cocoon, Mikael's eyes narrowed slightly. He suddenly noticed a hint of throbbing, and then without thinking, he put his palm on his heart.

Yes, his core was beating like a heart, too.

His heart, his core, and the cocoon of the end in front of him, the three beat at the same frequency silently.

"Sure enough, my guess was correct."

After the seventh collapse, he discovered that instead of constructing the core of the other Herrschers, it was better to say that he projected his own core into other dimensions. At that time, he boldly guessed that the so-called final Is this also the case?

After Mei built the model and asked it to be calculated by Prometheus, the probability of arriving at this possibility was more than 90%.

But ninety percent does not mean one hundred percent, which means there is still a possibility of error.

Now, when he felt that his Herrscher core was completely in sync with the Cocoon of Finality in front of him, this conjecture was finally verified to be correct.

And more importantly, the reason why Mikael feels that he can become the End is largely based on this.

Once this is confirmed, there is only one question left - without the power of the Twelfth Herrscher, can it become the end?

Neither he nor May were sure of it.

But he has come this far and can no longer look back.

Clenching his right hand tightly, Mikael walked straight towards the Cocoon of Ending without hesitation.

The distance between him and the cocoon of finality was obviously very close, so close that he could clearly see the uneven lines on the cocoon like a stone surface. But when he really took a step forward, he found that the distance between him and the cocoon didn't seem to be much. Variety.

He had no choice but to keep his head down and walk forward until he couldn't even count how many steps he had taken.

But he knew how long he had been gone—twelve years, twelve whole years.

Now, he finally stood at the foot of the end.

Cocoon seemed to be aware of his presence at this moment. It changed its posture while beating. The purple cross crack glanced in the direction of Mikael, and then a figure appeared in front of Mikael.

The figure's whole body was emitting bright white light, and the details of the facial features could not be seen clearly, but Mikael could clearly see the outline, that was what he looked like.

This way of appearing was quite different from the "collapse will" of civilization in his memory.

"Hello."

The white shadow clearly did not speak, and there was no doubt whether it could open its mouth to speak, but the meaning it wanted to convey suddenly appeared in Mikael's mind, and what he had to say...

It's like my brain is flooded.

"We meet at last, my boy."

The distance between the two was only an arm's length, and it stretched out its hand towards Mikael.

"It doesn't matter if we lack the power of the Twelfth Herrscher?"

"You have arrived here, and it will come back soon, and you will be complete and complete."

My brain is flooded again.

"Yeah……"

Mikael's right hand unclenched and clenched, unclenched and clenched... After repeating this several times, he suddenly punched Bai Ying in the face without any warning.

The white shadow staggered back two steps, cracks quickly spread on its left cheek, and the glowing white shell peeled off, revealing the flesh and blood underneath.

"who are you?"

Mikael asked coldly.

Bai Ying opened his mouth and asked in reply. Although his voice was exactly the same as Mikael's, there was no sadness or joy in it, as if he had already expected this:

"How did you find out?"

Mikael was slightly stunned. He put on a vigilant posture and replied:

"It was Alicia who reminded me at the end. I almost forgot this - the so-called end should still be chaos at this time, and it is impossible to have a clear consciousness. In other words, if I had done it four times before I really felt the prying eyes from the imaginary space. It must not be Zhongyan, but someone has already stolen Zhongyan’s authority.”

As he spoke, blue light flickered in his hands, condensing into the most basic form of the Key of Dominance - the Black Abyss White Flower was given to Mei by him, and now he can no longer use the God Key.

But...if the man in front of him had indeed stolen the ultimate power, how effective would his resistance be?

"No matter what, we can't sit still and wait for death!"

Mikael held the sword in front of him and narrowed his eyes to hide his gaze that occasionally slipped towards the Cocoon of the End——

He and Ellie had made an agreement that once he failed to obtain the final power, he would create the last chance to cut the so-called thread of fate.

Although he didn't know exactly how to do it.

Even though this is just a... one-sided agreement.

He was already prepared, but unexpectedly, the white shadow just sighed softly:

"Oh...how many times has this happened? I have to be punched every time. Even I can't bear it."

"!"

"Mikael, this is already...the fifth time!"

The cracks just made have spread all over the face, and now as it slightly raises the corners of its mouth, all the white skin falls off, revealing Mikael's familiar face underneath.

"You are! No! This is impossible!"

Mikael's head suddenly became dizzy, and he couldn't even stand still, so he could only retreat in panic. The power cannot be maintained, and the key to control in his hand quickly dissipates.

At the same time, the memories that were originally buried due to the time paradox also emerged one after another when time once again flowed through the nodes that had been anchored...

"Let me try again!"

"Let me do it again and never let tragedy happen again!"

"No... no, give me another chance!"

"I still couldn't stop her, give me one last chance! The last time!"

"ah!"

As Mikael standing in front of Mikael said, this is already the fifth time the two have met.

"How could...how could this have happened..."

Those four sights from the imaginary space turned out not to be spying, but as an anchor point in time, proving that everything can be started again.

And Mikael never needs to become the End, because...

“Since I obtained the authority of the end, I have been reincarnated tens of billions of times before I finally got the possibility of the Origin turning away from me.

"And you, the other me in the world, have only been reincarnated five times, and you can't bear it anymore?"