Hert’s gaze was vacant; he couldn’t refuse the woman, just as he couldn’t stop the mories returning like a tide.
"They all died, under my own eyes, mummified by the blazing sun."
On the horizon, Nolen’s rescue ca late, and by the ti he saved Hert, Hert had already fallen into complete madness under the influence of overwhelming grief and Illusion Syndro.
"Lula healed ; she crafted a false illusion for ..."
Hert spoke emotionlessly, "She cruelly left with a goal that could never be achieved, just to give motivation to keep living."
The woman lifted Hert’s chin, making him tilt upwards to look at her. Her captivating beauty filled Hert’s eyes, yet this ti he felt no desire, only a near-numb sorrow.
Nolen had always stopped Lula, as his brother, Nolen didn’t want him to face this terrible nightmare again.
A cruel tenderness.
"I can fulfill your wish, Hert."
The woman said, "I can create replicas of your wife and daughter, identical to the originals, with the sa mories, and you will reunite with them."
"But ’they’ aren’t truly them in the end."
"That’s right, the Devil can’t change what’s already happened, but we can take shortcuts."
The woman knew Hert wasn’t satisfied with this wish, so she continued, "How about a dream from which you never wake? In the dream, you’ll forget all of reality and spend a beautiful life with them."
"Or perhaps... I erase your love for them?"
The woman laughed, her voice so enchanting, like the music of a masterpiece, carrying the magic to entice and stir desire.
"Yes, I can make you no longer love them, so they won’t affect you anymore; you won’t grieve for them, feel guilty about them, or experience any emotional upheaval because of them.
Essentially, I could completely erase your mories of them, as if they never existed in Hert Motley’s life."
Hert was silent for a long ti, shaking his head.
"None of these are ’real’.
"Is reality that important?" the woman asked, puzzled. "After all, all these reactions are just physiological influences, hormone secretions... they’re just perceptual illusions."
"No... this is different."
"What’s the difference?"
Facing the woman’s questioning, Hert couldn’t provide an answer; he just felt it wasn’t right. "I can’t make any more mistakes."
"But you’ve already committed unforgivable sins and are destined to never be forgiven; why not abandon everything?"
The woman held Hert’s face from behind, a srizing warmth emanating from her fingertips.
"Continuing to cling to your remaining conscience won’t wash away your sins, but if you abandon it, your wish will be fulfilled—even if it’s not real."
Hert didn’t respond, but the woman already knew his answer. She let go of her hands, leaving a perplexing statent.
"I really don’t understand, is reality that important?"
The woman vanished, leaving Hert alone on the desolate sea surface. He clung tightly to the dried corpse, like self-harm, savoring the pain brought by mories until the illusory world began to collapse.
Lula’s hand dropped down, the Secret Energy consud a massive amount of her Ether, and even erasing the seal she had once placed in Hert’s mind nearly depleted her strength.
Hert stood dazedly, grasping the terrifying Ethereal Blade in his hand. It took him a few seconds to regain clarity from the illusion, then his gaze fell on Nolen in front of him.
For a mont, Nolen felt that the old Hert had returned, the Hert full of strength and ideals, but this Hert vanished quickly. His face once again showed signs of madness, swinging his sword like a madman, uttering bleak screams.
He was like a completely deranged beast, tearing at random, furiously destroying everything.
Wishes, family, soul... All of Hert’s being was ruthlessly toyed with by fate, with reality and illusion intertwining and overlapping completely, as if countless giant rats were crawling and gnawing inside his body, erging from underneath Hert’s shell, hollowing him out.
Endless sorrow seed to tear Hert apart, but this sorrow was quickly transford into waves of ecstasy.
Hert scread and cursed himself; he should mourn his wife and daughter, yet he felt joy from their deaths—this was the mockery and tornt from the Devil.
He was going insane, yet he was imnsely joyful, nearly breaking into laughter.
The iron wall ruptured, and the Blade-Biting Wolf descended from the sky, accompanied by continuous tallic tearing sounds, with gashes blooming on Hert’s body. But what flowed out wasn’t Ether, but actual blood.
It shouldn’t be like this; under the Protection of Moyang Euphoria, Hert possessed endless Ether; he could have completely sustained his Etherealization.
Nolen noticed Hert’s difference and caught a glimpse of clarity and sorrow within that mad gaze.
"He hasn’t gone mad! Lebius!"
Nolen tried to stop the fight; today’s deaths were already too many, and no more blood should be spilled. But his words couldn’t stop Lebius’s slaughter.
A sharp blade light slashed down vertically, shattering Hert’s proud Ethereal Blade in one strike, followed by a hideous wound splitting open across his head, splitting through his neck and chest, nearly severing most of his body.
The shattered pupils reflected the Death God descending from the sky, with Lebius and the Blade-Biting Wolf overlapping, covered in icy, lethal Iron Armor.
A weak voice sounded from the shattered throat, "I still... can’t beat you."
Lebius replied coldly, "Hm."
Sharp wolf claws extended and pierced, with one strike, Lebius pierced through Hert’s heart, pulling out swiftly, drawing a trail of blood.
The Ethereal Radiance on Hert’s body flickered several tis before completely extinguishing. He knelt in place, with blood gushing from his shattered shell, taking away the last warmth.
Nolen fell onto Hert’s body, repeatedly calling his na, hoping to save his brother. Such wounds shouldn’t have killed him with Etherealization.
But Hert still died.
Nolen roared in fury, "Lebius!"
Throughout, Lebius’s emotions never changed, as if he had rely slaughtered a rabid dog.
Facing Nolen’s rebuke, Lebius replied calmly, "Livestock can only be slaughtered."
Nolen’s expression froze; he said no more, silently picking up Hert’s body, his eyes downcast.
Amidst blood and sorrow, the Butcher finally beca the livestock, and death brought eternal peace.
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