The moon in the sky, the moon in his soul—above and below, they merged into one.
Endless crimson moonlight gathered on Lynch's fist. Laden with the vast, majestic power of laws, it descended from the heavens like a falling moon, hurtling toward the noblewoman on the ground.
Yet the noblewoman with the black fan remained with her face obscured by her fan. Facing the moonlight, she raised her head, her eyes locking onto the descending fist.
They were a pair of unspeakable eyes, pitch-black within. Yet through that deep darkness, one could seemingly glimpse an endless universe, containing countless points of light like billions of galaxies scattered across the cosmos.
Her gaze met the fist filled with moonlight. The tangible and the intangible clashed in the void.
Boom.
The fist stopped in midair, and her gaze froze with it.
An extremely bizarre aura brewed at the intersection of fist and gaze.
It was not a matter of power or majesty; it could not even be called force.
It was merely an aura, a concept—the concept of destruction.
The ground slowly sank. This was soil being annihilated, destroyed, and reduced back to its most primitive information.
Space slowly warped. This was air turning into nothingness, and vision being distorted by laws.
The stalemate persisted. One second, two seconds, three seconds.
After three seconds, Lynch took a deep breath. Forcing his consciousness to focus even further, he poured his entire mind into his soul.
The two red moons in the sky and behind him grew even brighter. The crimson light condensed on his fist flashed once more, and his fist abruptly broke through the shackles of her gaze, smashing violently into those alluring eyes.
Bang.
The fist struck her face, yet Lynch did not feel as though he had hit a solid entity.
It was a sensation that defied description. It was not a physical contact, but rather, at the instant of impact, two consciousnesses and two sets of rules clashed billions of times in the void.
Mortal language could not describe it, and mortal will could not decipher it.
This was a war between supreme wills, a collision of Divine Authorities.
It did not matter how long it lasted; before a supreme will, time had lost all meaning. In the next instant, the entity struck by his fist let out a shriek of agony. Upon her face, half-hidden behind the round fan, several cracks suddenly appeared like a shattering mirror.
No, it was not cracks appearing on her face, but cracks appearing across the entire space. Centered on the point of impact, the cracks rapidly spread in all directions, the spiderweb-like fissures growing more numerous and dense.
“Red Moon!”
The sharp roar was like a piercing sonic assault, nearly tearing Lynch's eardrums. As the roar echoed, all the cracks shattered simultaneously, and everything before Lynch's eyes turned into countless shards like glass.
Crash.
Lynch abruptly opened his eyes, his consciousness dazed.
Where am I? What just happened?
His mind gradually cleared, and his vision sharpened. Lynch realized he was lying on a soft, large bed. Outside the window, the night was thick, and only the round red moon cast a crimson glow through the glass, spilling onto the floor in front of the window.
A soft, warm, and slightly damp sensation came from his hand. Lynch looked down to find Miss Valente resting her head on her golden hair, sleeping soundly by the bedside.
Her smooth face and fair skin glowed softly under the moonlight. With her long eyelashes, rosy lips, petite nose, and translucent ears, her beautiful face was as exquisite as a work of art.
Looking at this silly sleeping face, Lynch's brain slowly began to function again, and he pieced together what had happened.
It seemed that only his consciousness had been drawn into the mystery documents, while his physical body had remained behind.
Pulling out his pocket watch to check the time, he saw it was already past eleven o'clock at night. He had entered that bizarre world around five in the afternoon, spending about five or six hours inside. The passage of time seemed to be identical.
Miss Valente must have noticed him suddenly losing consciousness and moved him to the bedroom. However, despite having her own bedroom and her own bed, she insisted on coming over to hog his bed while he was unconscious. How stingy of her.
Yes, that had to be it.
Though he thought this, looking at her sleeping face, the corners of Lynch's mouth could not help but curl upward. Just moments ago, in that bizarre world, he had been matching wits with an evil god who toyed with human hearts. He had nearly stepped into her traps several times, trembling with anxiety at every choice, and every second had felt like an eternity. Now, the moment he opened his eyes, he found someone waiting by his bedside for him to wake. This warm feeling sent a rush of blood to his chest.
‘Phew, I'm starting to like this world more and more. Neighbor, thank you for giving me the chance to embark on this journey.’
【I hope you can always maintain that thought, Lynch.】
‘I can't say for sure about the future, but at least at this very moment, that is indeed what I think.’ Lynch smiled. ‘Everything just now was real, right?’
【Yes.】
‘What exactly was the state of that place? My guess is that it was a special space created by the evil god using that mirror. I just don't know if the things inside were real or fake.’
【Truth and falsehood hold no meaning before a supreme will, Lynch. There is no need to obsess over that. Knowing it was a special space created by an evil god is enough.】
‘Fair enough. But at least that evil god was real, and she's the strongest enemy I've encountered since I woke up. I barely managed to defeat her this time.’
【You did not defeat her, Lynch. It was merely your Divine Authority heavily wounding her, leaving her power unable to protect that world. That place could not withstand the collision of two supreme wills, so the entire world collapsed.】
‘Burst from the pressure?’
【You could understand it that way. The world will recover soon, and she will recover soon as well, but at least you successfully taught her a lesson.】
‘Then I'm satisfied. The reason I refused to die to get out was precisely to teach her a lesson.’ Lying on the bed, Lynch sneered, but then let out a sigh. ‘I'm a bit worried now. This evil god is much stronger than Mordiggian. Will I have to face such powerful evil gods often in the future?’
【You should say that evil gods as weak as Mordiggian are rare. Besides, the one you encountered just now wasn't particularly powerful. Perhaps her true self is formidable, but this individual manifestation of her was not.】
‘Wait, true self? You know this evil god? So what I encountered was just another clone? I thought I met her true self this time.’
【It was not a clone, but an identity. He has a thousand identities, and the Swelling Daughter is but one of them.】
‘Huh? That many? Which identity is the real one?’
【All of them are real. His state of existence is difficult to comprehend with your current cognition, and I cannot explain it to you. You can understand it as each of his identities being him, yet independent of him. You can view them as separate individuals, yet they are one with his other thousand identities.】
‘I don't get it at all.’
【That is only natural, Lynch. You are not an evil god, so it is impossible for you to understand his state, nor is there any need to. As for the matter of power, you must note one thing: the upper limit of your power after activating Divine Authority depends on your understanding of that Divine Authority.】
‘So it depends on my own level and strength.’
Although Lady Red Moon's description was still vague, Lynch had gradually learned to understand her meaning:
‘Don't worry, I understand. That means I still need to increase my own strength as quickly as possible. I can't just rely on Divine Authority and become complacent, or I won't stand a chance against powerful evil gods.’
【Yes, you have done well. I look forward to you walking further and further along the path of immortality, all the way to the supreme.】
‘I will. I firmly believe so, because you said we will always be together.’
‘Heh...’
A gentle chuckle echoed in his mind. Lynch smiled. To avoid waking Miss Valente, he carefully and slowly sat up, stretching his back under the gentle moonlight.
He was a bit curious whether the items he consumed inside had any effect on the real world. Lynch fumbled around his clothes, wanting to check his belongings.
However, the moment he shook his coat, something fell out.
Lynch frowned. He had never seen this item before. It was an ancient parchment book that looked as though it had a very long history.
Where did it come from? Did she put it on me?
Puzzled, he looked at the cover, which was drawn with bizarre, distorted patterns and writing.
Lynch did not recognize the characters, but the moment he saw the cover, his consciousness inexplicably understood its meaning.
It was a name he could never forget.
《Goddess of the Black Fan》
Cold sweat instantly broke out on his back, and Lynch felt a chill run through his entire body.
Holy shit, how did this thing end up on me?
Before he could even figure out what was happening, a cold yet playful voice suddenly echoed in his ear:
“Little guy, I had a lot of fun watching today. You're a very interesting playmate, hehehe. From today on, I've got my eye on you.”
Rate on N.U.
