Chapter 1657 - 125: Eternal War_6

York stared blankly at Sai Zong, his mind long shattered, his only reaction a mere glimpse into the Power of Fury.

"I’m sorry for making you endure so much."

Sai Zong embraced York, also embracing the Thorny Pain Lock.

The frenzied, bloodthirsty thorns completely calmed down, as did York’s fragmented heart.

Like a dying flashback, a hint of color returned to York’s eyes in the calm, as if his mind briefly climbed out of that abyss of despair.

"Wha... what happened?"

York asked blankly, and then the surging memories engulfed him, scenes of slaughter and violence in the Butcher’s Pit flashed before his eyes, countless shattered faces filled York’s vision.

Scarlet tears burst from York’s eyes, his body convulsing violently in agony. If Sai Zong hadn’t restrained his power, perhaps he would have committed suicide at the first touch of the nightmare, seeking release from this despair.

"It’s nothing, just dreams," Sai Zong soothed York, "merely dreams."

"Really?"

York seemed to truly believe Sai Zong’s words, his previously hideous face now appearing somewhat serene.

"Yes, York, you are a kind person, always holding onto your principles. You may have made many mistakes along the way, but mistakes themselves can be corrected."

Sai Zong reached into York’s shattered ribcage and grasped the heart entangled by countless thorns.

"Now, I bestow upon you eternal peace."

Saying that, Sai Zong crushed York’s heart, extracting the countless thorns from his chest.

York’s gaze and expression froze in that moment of tranquility. He stared into the deep void, helplessly falling towards the earth, shattering into countless pieces, swallowed by the surging tar.

Sai Zong lowered his head as the thorns gradually lost their vitality, retracting and finally transforming into a seed, filling the gap on Sai Zong’s vacant finger.

"He was also of the Night Race, my Debtor," the man recognized York’s identity, mocking, "Your Undying Club really is a garbage bin, taking in anyone?"

Sai Zong ignored the man’s ridicule and said expressionlessly, "Look at this world, what have we done?"

As he gazed in all directions, more and more buildings appeared within the Ethereal Realm, dragged in with the expansion of the overlapping points. More and more figures manifested, heedless of the changing environment, rushing across the vast Icefield, clashing with enemy swords.

"What does the world becoming like this have to do with me," the man said, puzzled, "and what does it have to do with you? We are Devils, Sai Zong, supreme beings, everything here is just resources awaiting harvest."

The man paused and added, "No, you are not one of us, you are not a real Devil, merely a fake."

Sai Zong indeed was not a real Devil; he was a product of crafty partitioning. Even if he possessed the Devil’s Power, he couldn’t wield it completely like Samuel.

After all, power and cost are intertwined. Sai Zong only held authority, but didn’t grasp the essence of the bone--Original Sin.

The man mocked, "A fake like you cannot defeat me."

"What if?" Sai Zong was also acutely aware of his own falseness, but it didn’t dishearten him. "Perhaps if I stake all my chips, I might defeat you?"

"Go ahead and try, fake."

Sai Zong was silent for a moment, then after a long pause, he said quietly, "There is a supreme idea among humans about a Condenser, you should know it, right?"

"Of course."

"That idea is quite similar to yours... to the Devils, just replacing the identity of the Ultimate Condenser with the King of Demons."

Sai Zong sat down on the ruins, knowing a life-and-death struggle was about to unfold, yet he wasn’t nervous, instead contemplating deeply, "Those people use so-called evolution to justify themselves, while you use the supreme essence of the Devil to excuse yourself."

"I, Samuel, even now, it’s difficult to completely understand this idea," Sai Zong said self-deprecatingly, "Maybe I haven’t evolved thoroughly enough, or maybe we’ve all been in battle for so long without time to think about such things, or maybe my thoughts are too backward, making me a lowly being."

"But I don’t despise this lowliness, because it constantly reminds me that I didn’t start out this terrifying."

Sai Zong recalled, his voice light, like narrating an unknown story, or outlining a fading dreamscape.

"At first, I wasn’t a warrior, a champion, a Debtor, or a Chosen One... I was just an ordinary child, my name was Sai Zong..."

In the eyes of everyone familiar with Sai Zong, he has always been a man of few words and shallow emotions, unlike Bologue, who hides a fiery heart beneath a cold exterior. Sai Zong was pure ice, freezing all blood inside and out.

Perhaps... perhaps Sai Zong was once a sentimental person, but no matter how complex the emotions, they had long since been eroded and numbed by the wars of a thousand years, with even the softest heart hardened like a rough block of iron.

A living human thus transformed into a bloodless, tearless weapon.

Until today.

Until this very day.

Tears suddenly welled up in Sai Zong’s eyes, scalding and pristine, not the foul-smelling tar.

His cold, harsh expression, like winter, melted with the tears as long-numbed emotions gradually intensified, and his shriveled heart grew flesh and blood once more, pounding vigorously until it broke free from its shackles.

"Ha... hahaha!"

As the tears streamed, Sai Zong laughed, a blend of grief and joy, this emotion so intense and vibrant even his pale self was illuminated with splendor.

Stretching out his hands, Sai Zong seemed eager to embrace something but found only emptiness, then he forcefully hugged himself, curling up as if to form a hardened cocoon.

"Samuel, my Monarch, my General, my dear friend, I once vowed to bring you eternal peace, but now, I’m uncertain if my actions will truly ease your heart..."

"Yet I think... no matter what, that day will come."

Sai Zong stood tall, seemingly facing the man, or maybe looking into the vast void.

"Yes, that day will come."

In his soliloquy, Sai Zong genuinely smiled.

"One day, we will all find redemption."

Sai Zong affirmed with resolute certainty.

"One day!"

The wild swords tore through Sai Zong’s smile; he, like a shattered vessel, could no longer contain the power within. The cracked wounds and severed limbs bore sharp spikes and saw-like edges. Countless twisted swords hacked and spun inside him, their piercing sounds and sparks resonating with a final elegy.

Even without the essence of Original Sin, Sai Zong staked his all at this moment.

The Original Sin Armaments assembled the Power of Wrath, and Sai Zong offered his body, will, soul, all of himself, everything, to fight this final battle.

The carcasses of sin rose from the ground, terrifying malice reigning over the domain, embodying the essence of weaponry and the incarna-tion of war, a pinnacle existence combined with the Devil’s Power.

This World Calamity · Eternal War.

The myriad swords severed the thousand hands and legs, breaking them into disarray.