Li Mo concluded. In this state, once his own door was opened, the balance of rules on Kira Shigure would instantly shatter.
Downstairs, for safety's sake, Li Mo still carried Kira Shigure in a princess carry.
In his arms, after Kira Shigure regained consciousness, she immediately let go of her clenched hands and shyly whispered, "It, it doesn't hurt anymore."
"I'll put you down when we're further away. You adjust yourself first," Li Mo said.
"Li Mo, I'm much better now. That house has something very important to you, right? You should go back, don't mind me."
Kira Shigure took the initiative to break free, pulling away from Li Mo's embrace.
The moment she landed, her legs trembled. It took a while before she could control her balance.
She didn't want Li Mo to have any regrets.
Li Mo was silent, thinking for a long time, then shook his head.
"Forget it. Going to the door is enough. Rushing forward might lead to some unexpected things."
The next place to go was the border of Siberia.
Not far, not close.
With a Schicksal pass, crossing borders wasn't that complicated.
After getting off the plane, they stood at the junction between the city and the snowy plains.
"What strange weather. Is the snow always this heavy here?" Kira Shigure stretched out her hand, catching one frozen snowflake after another.
After landing on her palm, Kira Shigure was surprised to find that these snowflakes weren't cold at all, but incredibly warm.
"Mmmhmm~~"
Kira Shigure cupped the snowflakes in her palm and brought them to her nose to sniff lightly.
"Huh?"
How could soft, white snowflakes have a pungent, strong smell of blood?
"Li Mo, you have to smell this snow, it's very strange!"
Kira Shigure called out to Li Mo, wanting him to know the strangeness of this snow.
However, Li Mo stood where he was, unmoved, his eyes vacant.
A choice had finally appeared in his mind.
Only this time, there was only one choice.
[My name is Li Mo. I made a choice I regret immensely.]
[Return to the very beginning of this world, cross the never-ending blizzard alone, enter the cabin, and close my eyes. — Everything, will come to an end.]
Li Mo: "..."
This is the choice that will make me regret immensely?
To abandon everything and return to the place that changed me.
Immensely regret. What is there to regret?
Li Mo couldn't figure it out. This time, he didn't want to accept this choice.
Because it was clearly asking him to give up on dealing with the Bizarre.
Everything will come to an end. Could it really be everything? Why is the choice like this?
However, the moment the thought of turning and leaving was born, the choice gave the corresponding result.
[My name is Li Mo. By the time you hear this sentence, I will have already died.]
[I chose to escape, rejecting the choice formed by the Bizarre rule. It could have helped my soul return after death.]
[My name is Li Mo. No one can hear what I am saying right now, except for the me who is about to die.]
Li Mo: "..."
"I see."
Refuse = Die.
Soul return after death. On the third night, he had already triggered the rule of the ninth room, killed by the rule. It was just the special nature of the rule that forcibly sent the deceased soul back to the place it cared about most.
The choices constantly appearing in his mind were the only way for the soul to return.
"So the contamination on my body wasn't temporarily cleared. I... was actually already dead. It was just my soul that was still continuing, not yet dissipated."
"But without a vessel to store the soul, dissipation is only a matter of time."
"But I can't understand why the choice would require me to return to that place. Could it be..."
Li Mo glanced sideways, thoughtfully staring at Kira Shigure for a long time.
The initial choices were all related to Kira Shigure. This was definitely not a coincidence.
The target was not Kira Shigure, but the Bizarre Kiana.
Because the cabin in the snowy plains, this clue also pointed to the Bizarre Kiana.
And that hint— "Everything, will come to an end."
It was very likely that every choice he made before was correct, which was why he had unlocked the final, unique choice.
And this choice, he would regret immensely, but it could let his soul return, back to the haunted manor, so as to completely deal with the source Bizarre of the haunted manor.
"Li Mo, what are you saying? Can I know?"
His soft murmurs made her very concerned. She didn't interrupt, but only asked when Li Mo was quiet.
"Kira, would you be willing to die for me?" Li Mo asked again.
"This is the third time. Sigh... even if you ask many more times, my answer will still be the same."
"Li Mo, I am willing," Kira Shigure answered firmly.
Li Mo smiled.
He suddenly reached out, gently lifting Kira Shigure's ice-blue hair at her temples, shaking off the frost and snow, trying to commit this scene to memory.
"Kira, why do you wear your hair so?"
Li Mo murmured the words he remembered Eden saying to Elysia before her death.
Only at this moment, Li Mo had no beautiful hair ornament in his hand, and could only simply tidy Kira Shigure's hair.
The snowflakes reeked of a strong, fishy smell. It was rotten flesh, fresh blood, scraped feet, and scratched arms.
Kira Shigure stood there stunned, at a complete loss, quietly watching Li Mo help her comb her messy hair.
Li Mo patiently brushed away the snowflakes on it, even though the snowflakes fell endlessly.
Finally, Li Mo bit his finger and wrote a line of text on it.
"It is to—crown the 'Person Under the Moon'."
The "Person Under the Moon" will end everything.
"Strive to live on, try your best to gain control of your body. Even if you don't succeed, you just need to maintain the existence of your consciousness. A human's consciousness can't fight a ghost's, you can only counterattack when the ghost is at its weakest, in a state of silence."
"As long as the consciousness doesn't dissipate, anything is possible."
Li Mo spoke quickly. With his rich experience, he had already realized that this was another clash of rules.
The soul disappears in the cabin, but the body remains in this world; but the soul will return to the haunted manor.
At that time, the Bizarre Kiana possessing Kira Shigure would fall into a contradiction. In this process, Kira Shigure would have a chance to obtain the Bizarre Kiana's abilities, then go to the haunted manor and help him survive the fourth day.
"A ghost will descend upon you soon. If you die, I won't be able to live either."
"I entrust my life to you. Perhaps, as the rule's hint says, I will regret the ending immensely; but I will not regret believing in you."
"If you succeed, and temporarily master her power, then go to the haunted manor through the bizarre cave. I'll be waiting for you there."
"Maybe on the third floor, maybe on the fourth."
It just depended on whether Kanagawa Yume had also brought his corpse up.
If she had, he would be on the fourth floor now. If not, he would still be on the third.
Li Mo motioned for Kira Shigure to stand where she was, not to cross the line, while he resolutely walked into the blizzard.
After a short walk, he completely disappeared into the biting frost and snow. The only trace of his existence was a pair of blood-stained footprints on the ground.
But it was soon covered by the newly fallen frost.
Frost and snow, buried everything.
"..."
Kira Shigure opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
Thump—!
The body of an S-rank Valkyrie fell to the ground without warning, completely losing its center of gravity, face-planting into the snowdrift.
The originally warm snowflakes instantly became bone-chillingly cold, seeping into her skin and bone seams.
Cold... so cold...
But Kira Shigure's body didn't move a muscle, her eyes scattered, their color gradually deepening, finally condensing into a pair of scarlet eyes with dark gold patterns.
Her sky-blue long hair quickly faded of its clear, bright color, becoming as pale and dim as the frost and snow on the ground.
Her skin quickly changed from rosy, a pale color crawling all over her body.
Suddenly, "Kira Shigure" stood up, her demonic scarlet pupils rolling left and right like mechanical gears.
"Where are you?"
No one answered this call, except for the frost and snow.
"A-Mo?"
No one answered this expectation, except for the frost and snow.
The gray sky at this moment was like the descent of eternal night. The round moon in the sky was like a bizarre, giant eyeball, monitoring every move of the world, every corner, every bit of filth.
In St. Freya Academy, the dormant Head Ghost, and the head in the collection bottle in the infirmary, suddenly opened their blood-red eyes, twisting their half-necks.
Thump! Thump!
The Head Ghost tried to jump, each jump more violent than the last.
The power of the space-time lock was actively released by the Bizarre Kiana, all used to search for the indelible figure in its instinctual rules.
The door of the infirmary was smashed open. Beds, shoes, heads... all rushed out of the infirmary, wandering and wandering in the eternal night of St. Freya...
---||---
Schicksal HQ. The Overseer's seat was empty.
Only a huge screen displayed Otto's avatar.
In the picture, Otto was heading towards the sealed St. Freya Academy.
In his hand, he was constantly flipping through the report submitted by Kira Shigure. Although he had read it countless times, he still hoped to find some way to break the stalemate in it.
Flipping back and forth, in the end, there was only one conclusion: the Bizarre, must not spread!
The reason was very simple. With human power alone, there was no way to curb the contamination. It was irreversible, unrestricted, not targeting any object, and could even change and twist the rules and concepts within the universe.
No one knew better than Otto what it meant to be unable to control something.
What he could accept least was "variables."
"Lord Overseer, all countries have reported that their territories have fallen into darkness, and clocks and phones and other time-displaying things are disordered, becoming inaccurate and irregular!"
"Lord Overseer, the stationed soldiers at St. Freya Academy have sent an urgent report. A large number of bizarre life forms have appeared in St. Freya Academy... No, they can't even be called life!"
"Lord Overseer..."
"Lord Overseer..."
Otto: "I know, be quiet."
Otto Apocalypse disconnected.
"Tsk, my friend, what a big surprise you've given me as soon as you arrive!"
This sudden catastrophe, if not handled properly, everything will come to an end.
Soon, Otto arrived at St. Freya Academy... a thousand meters above it.
Because he was worried about being attacked by ghosts and triggering rules, Otto observed the situation below with a telescope from the air, while also contacting the soldiers outside the academy walls to share intelligence.
Soldier: "Reporting, Lord Overseer, many deformed life forms have appeared in the academy. Currently, they are only active in the academy, with no signs of leaving."
Otto: "Good, continue to observe. Report immediately if they show any signs of wanting to leave."
Soldier: "Yes! But... Lord Overseer, there's no need for you to personally take risks... You've landed on the roof of the school building, and it's full of ghosts below."
Otto: "What are you talking about? I'm clearly..."
Suddenly, a chill ran down Otto's back. He slowly lowered his telescope and gradually turned around.
"Great inventor, did you miss me~?"
"Ugh, I'm so hungry. Can I eat you?"
Otto: "Okay...? Tsk!"
Otto slapped himself and quickly looked down, finding himself still a thousand meters above St. Freya Academy.
But the soldier on the communication device told him he had already landed on the roof of the school building.
Who to believe?
"Calm down, calm down... Kallen is by my side. She was with Kira Shigure on her last mission. The report said Kallen is not affected by Bizarre contamination, so the message from the communication device is very likely a ghost speaking."
"The ghost is telling me my current situation is very dangerous. Why would it do that? It doesn't make sense. It should tell me my current situation is very safe to make me unaware of how dangerous my actual situation is..."
Otto suddenly turned around and confirmed that the person behind him was indeed the incredibly familiar Holy Maiden: Kallen Kaslana.
A brilliant smile, the perfect face from his memory.
She came with absolute beauty, the sky was cloudless, the stars were brilliant. The most wonderful light and darkness converged in her appearance and eyes.
Brewing such a gentle light, it was something that the bright daylight could not give...
Otto glanced at the lever in his hand, then closed his eyes and resolutely decided to pull it in the downward direction.
When he opened his eyes again, he was above St. Freya.
"I bet right. My cognition was mistaken. My sense of direction was even reversed."
Soldier: "Lord Overseer is now above St. Freya, very safe. But it seems there's a black shadow behind the Lord Overseer. I can't see it clearly from here."
Otto: "..."
Heh, the ghost that modifies cognition is right behind me.
Otto was not panicked at all. He sat on the ground, his hands empty, deciding to do nothing at all.
Fortunately, he had seen in Kira Shigure's mission report that the ghost that modifies cognition could modify almost any cognition. It was suspected that the longer one spent with it and the more frequently it acted, the more severe the cognitive contamination would be.
Otto didn't dare to drive the cognition ghost away, because driving it away was itself an action and would also be affected by the cognitive modification.
Who knew if he had really driven it away in the end?
This ghost currently had no record of actively killing people, so Otto could only bet one more time.
Let this ghost stay by his side, betting that it had no other way of killing.
Just now, Otto had almost fed himself to the hungry Kallen...
"My friend, you've tricked me this time. I'll remember this."
"Dealing with ghosts is really... despairing. I just hope this ghost hasn't modified my behavior of doing nothing. What if I think I'm doing nothing, but am actually walking into a ghost swarm? That would be disastrous."
Otto laughed self-deprecatingly.
In reality, Otto had stuck his hand down his own throat.