Chapter 371: Full Synchronization, Diverting the Threat Eastward

In the time that followed, Ansu took advantage of the Filthy Heart's ability to directly access the deepest depths of one's heart, using the illusion as a projector.

He "selectively synchronized" several of Celia's most extreme timelines from his previous simulations, all of which were Bad Endings.

These included, but were not limited to:

The battle of the field of carnage in Norvigel, where a jealousy-consumed Celia faced off against a darkened Freya who forced a God-Descent to fight to the death, even if it meant burning herself to ashes.

Celia repeatedly suffering backlash from magic pollution while researching the 【Ring of Pure Protection】, transforming into various extreme forms.

And...

A battle at the peak of yandere! Ansu, who had just solved the mystery of the North, was dragged back to the little black room by the lovesick witch. Meanwhile, the little Holy Maiden, highly stimulated by her skyrocketing strength from the divine spark fragment, clashed with the witch in the skies above the Black Forest, staging a "battle for ownership of Ansu."

The strongest yandere in history versus the strongest modern yandere! (Not really.)

Naturally, the journey to the South was not left out either.

Celia was subjected to relentless mental torture by the persistent "Samantha," causing her inner demons to run wild. Her guilt and anxiety over losing him were magnified infinitely until she finally abandoned all hope, tore away all her weakness, and went completely wild with bloodlust.

Finally, there were the most recent simulations...

Being trapped in a dead end by the curse of the God of Clamor and Filth, searching through all the ancient texts and trying every possible solution but finding no way out. Watching the light in her eyes fade bit by bit, powerless to do anything but watch her own life slip away, filled with the deep sorrow of not even having enough time to say goodbye to the one she loved.

At this point, every negative emotion Ansu could possibly think of, and every extreme of pain and madness, was poured entirely into her memory!

Throughout this entire process, the wails of the Filthy Heart never stopped.

It repeatedly begged in his consciousness. It was terrified of the impending eruption of Celia... and equally terrified of Ansu, who, knowing it would destroy heaven and earth, still pushed everything forward with his own hands.

Why were the two humans it met today so terrifying?

The writhing tentacles and tumors on the ground withered, and even the overwhelming blood mist had thinned by more than half at some point.

Even the spreading contamination was shrinking at a visible rate.

Because it was afraid.

Survival is the primary instinct of all living things. To stay alive, spreading contamination, hating all living things, magnifying fear and hatred... none of it mattered anymore.

And this time, Ansu finally stopped.

Like a director standing backstage at the end of a play, he stared unblinkingly at the figure on the verge of collapse in the center of the stage.

But he knew this was not the end; everything had actually just begun.

Celia's current state was clearly approaching a critical threshold. Her eyes flickered and trembled non-stop. Ansu had no doubt that in the next second, she would completely break free from the illusion and burn the entire blood mist zone to ashes.

Fortunately, there was not much time left.

The retention time for a ten-minute simulation was very short, only three hours. Even though the passage of time within the illusion was much faster than in reality, Ansu still had to rush to finish stuffing all the "materials" in.

Ansu silently counted down the seconds in his mind.

Finally...

The system prompt indicating his return popped up.

【Reality】

【October 16, Year 625 of the Radiant Calendar, 14:10】

【Evaluation: D】

【Reward: 8 Points】

【Remaining Points: 113】

【Evaluation Comments: ......】

【(Why can't I deduct points from the host? This is not fair!)】

【The world is at the threshold of a massive crisis. Host, please choose: Do you want Celia to inherit the memory and combat experience of this simulation?】

【Yes / No】

Ansu: "......?"

During the previous simulations, he had still been wondering why the system, which usually talked a lot of nonsense, had been so quiet despite such a severe and urgent crisis and repeated simulations.

He hadn't expected that his actions would actually force the system comments out.

Ansu glanced at the Filthy Heart hovering in the air ahead. It had only been threatened by him and had not yet experienced "the great terror."

Then, he looked at Celia, who was holding hands with him, her brows furrowed as she had only recently entered the illusion.

Ansu quietly let go of her hand.

Then, he took a step back.

And another step back...

Since everything had gone smoothly in the simulation, it was time to begin the next step.

Synchronize the memories.

Ansu chose 【Yes】.

Almost the exact instant he made his choice, Celia's eyes snapped open.

Countless memories of pain, rage, and despair rushed into her mind without reservation, like a red-hot iron searing deep into her consciousness.

Black, filthy mana erupted uncontrollably from her body, instantly incinerating the surrounding flesh tentacles into ashes.

And a completely darkened Celia easily broke free from the illusion.

Her eyes, streaming with blood tears, locked onto the figure drifting further and further away from her.

“An! Su!”

Her roar shook the entire fleshy ground, causing it to tremble.

All negative emotions, all love and hatred, tangled together frantically. Celia couldn't even describe her feelings at this moment. She couldn't sort them out, nor did she understand why she suddenly remembered all of this. She was entirely ruled by the most primitive emotions and impulses.

Destroy! Destroy this world that brought her nothing but pain!

Destroy everything!

But before that—

First, catch him!

Catch Ansu!

She wanted to ask this man: Did he even have a heart?

She wanted to ask what all his repeated lies were for. Why did he always betray her love? Why did he hate her so much? Did he ever have even a shred of sincerity?

And then!

She would...!!!

But Ansu was already prepared.

At the exact instant Celia opened her eyes, he had already swiftly retreated to a hillside.

And he pulled out a powerful magic item from the ancient demon ruins—the 【Homing Compass】.

If he tried to cast a teleportation spell on the spot, he would definitely be intercepted by the enraged Celia. Fortunately, the item in his hand was reliable and activated incredibly fast.

Under Celia's slightly stunned gaze, Ansu looked at her expressionlessly as his figure gradually faded into the blood mist.

He left behind only a light sentence, or rather, a silent lip-reading.

“Goodbye.”

“Never see you again!”

This parting sentence was like the final match, completely detonating the entire powder keg.

Celia's eyes nearly split from their sockets, and her filthy mana fluctuated violently, but when she reached out to grab him, she only caught empty mist.

“Ansu! Ansu!! Ansu!!!”

Why on earth did he do this! Why!

She couldn't let him escape!

Catch him, catch him, catch him, catch him, catch him, catch him...

Catch him!!!

Black Flame instantly swept through the entire area, and the Filthy Heart let out a shrill, mournful wail.

Massive patches of blood vessels, tentacles, and flesh tissue rapidly withered, turning into blackish-red ash.

Terror, unspeakable terror...

Countless tentacles and flesh began to cluster around its massive heart body, forcibly building a flesh pedestal on the ground. Then, dragging its heavy body, the Filthy Heart began to crawl southward, inch by inch.

It wanted to escape from this place.

Having witnessed two lunatics back-to-back, especially the latter one who was a world-ending psycho...

...its resolve instantly became clear.

Its writhing, crawling posture looked clumsy and pathetic, but it was extremely determined... If it could have grown a pair of fleshy wings, this heart probably would have flown ten thousand miles away long ago.

And what made the Filthy Heart incredibly grateful was...

...the witch covered in black flames only spared it a single glance, her eyes as venomous as a snake's, before tearing through space in the next second and chasing after the direction where Ansu had disappeared.

The world was finally quiet.

All the writhing flesh trembled and came to a halt.

...

On the other side.

Before the dizziness of the long-distance teleportation could even fade, a salty sea breeze brushed against his face, and warm sunshine fell upon his shoulders.

Ansu stood in a bustling marketplace. Tall palm trees filled his vision, roadside shops were piled high with tropical fruits and colorful fabrics, and pedestrians dressed in light linen shirts, a vibrant atmosphere of daily life flowing everywhere.

The Kingdom of Lenaya, the City of Lenaya.

This was the southernmost port city of the northern continent, warm and humid year-round, practically a different world compared to the heart of the South, which was filled with crimson and deathly silence.

Although the tropical atmosphere here was quite pleasant, he was not here on vacation.

The reason why Ansu wanted to teleport here was very simple:

The royal family of Lenaya had long been sidelined by Barcas's people, reduced to puppets constrained by the demons at every turn. In other words, this city was now Barcas's territory, and he himself had been stationed in the royal capital for a long time.

Diverting the disaster eastward was just perfect.