The thirty-sixth ti... the thirty-seventh... the sixty-eighth... the seventy-third... the eighty-fifth... the ninety-ninth... the one hundredth... the two hundredth... the three hundredth...
Jack didn’t know how many years he’d spent in the loop, nor how many tis he had killed Natas. He had already grasped the truth, yet he just couldn’t save Akita Town.
Every ti, in every single loop, Akita Town was destroyed right before his eyes.
It was like a Curse from God, damning him to never be able to save Akita Town, to never be able to escape.
Through countless years in the loop, through innurable failures, Jack felt Anger, self-recrimination, confusion, despair, numbness...
But he never gave up. He never stopped running.
Gradually, Jack grew older and older. In the earlier loops, he hadn’t yet shielded himself from the ntal corruption, and as he aged, the damage from that corruption began to show. His mory started to fail, and even the once-brilliant Red Crystal grew dim. ’Perhaps when the Red Crystal’s Power is completely exhausted, this endless Christmas loop will finally be unable to continue?’
’For him, would that be a release or a punishnt?’
Jack didn’t know. He wanted to save Akita Town, but he also wanted to be freed from this endless cycle.
After countless more loops, Jack’s mory grew increasingly hazy. In the end, he tattooed all the clues he knew onto his body—not to remind himself, but to remind those who might co after.
Even if there was no guarantee anyone would co after him, and even if soone did, there was no guarantee they would discover this information.
He still had to pass this information on.
Because this was the last useful thing he could do.
’So legendary agent... what a load of crap...’
’In the end, I’m just a useless Joker.’
’I’ve looped thousands upon thousands of tis, yet I can’t even save a single town.’
’It’s pathetic.’
·
In a daze, it felt as though a long Nightmare had ended.
Jack Reeves looked at Zhou Chen and gave a weary, bitter smile. "You’re finally here..."
"Please, help ..."
Using the last of his strength, he pressed the dim Ruby that had ford in his palm into Zhou Chen’s hand, his plea a sorrowful cry. "Save... Akita Town..."
The mont the dim Ruby touched Zhou Chen’s palm, it dissolved into pure Essence and rged into his body.
The residual Power left within it made an expression of disbelief cross Zhou Chen’s face. Along with it ca decades of Jack Reeves’s fragnted mories.
His pain, his tornt, his helplessness, his self-reproach, his determination...
’So that’s how it was...’ Zhou Chen lowered his gaze and made a wish in his heart. The fatal injuries on Old Jack’s body healed in an instant.
"Alright. I’ll help you."
Zhou Chen gently laid him down. "Your journey is over. Now, it’s my turn to take over."
Deep within his Soul, the Star Chain binding the Book of the Dead began to loosen.
A corner of the ancient and evil book creaked open, and viscous Darkness gushed out like a tidal wave.
"What—!"
The charging Satan screeched to a halt. It sensed an evil aura no weaker than its own!
It wasn’t one of the seven Original Sins of humanity... It was...
Pure destruction!
And... pure... silence?
Like the final, silent End after the Destruction of All Things...
"What are you!!!"
Satan shrieked.
Zhou Chen’s body began to rapidly degenerate and twist, yet his aura soared, becoming evil, dark, profane... A cold, incandescent white fire ignited in his eyes as he solemnly declared to his great enemy:
"I am—the End!"
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