"Mortal, you have gone astray." After a long time, the ice crystal phoenix finally spoke.

Its expression is still as cold as the deepest ice, but its voice is unexpectedly gentle and warm, as warm as the best sunshine in March, so refreshing that it is impossible to imagine such a cold body.

How on earth can such a sound come out of a body that has reached its extreme limit?

Karsus didn't answer. He was silent for a while, and suddenly he laughed lowly. At first it was soft and hoarse, like a crow, then it got louder and louder, and became more and more crazy. In the end, his whole body was shaking hysterically.

When he stood up, he seemed so violent that he could hardly hold the scepter in his hand. If this old guy hadn't really become rotten and his blood had dried up, he would probably even laugh out loud.

After a long, long time, Karsus finally stopped laughing. He stood up again, raised his head and looked at the most beautiful creature in the world high in the sky, and said with a smile: "Hey

, then, should I thank you for your concern?" As he spoke, he picked up his staff again. He even had time to gently straighten his slightly messy and complicated robes, which seemed to be completely out of focus.

Any influence from the phoenix high in the sky.

"Mortal..." The phoenix hesitated slightly, as if it had not expected that the guy in front of it, whose strength was close to its own, would say such a thing. It didn't know what to say for a moment, "Tell me your purpose."

.”

This is a kind of recognition. Although Karsus has just lost to it, and this guy's power is a collection of extreme paranoia, he is indeed strong enough to be recognized by it and qualified to sit down.

Let’s talk.

Karsus nodded. He was very satisfied with the result of this negotiation. This was the most standard test and recognition between strong men.

Just when Karsus was about to speak, he suddenly turned his head because he heard a voice coming from the direction where Chen Senran fell.

"Tap——" It sounded like something being opened.

The phoenix looked at Chen Senran almost at the same time as Karsus.

The next moment, the man whose soul had been frozen was ignited with a huge fire, and in an instant it enveloped the girl in his arms.

The flames rose and raged, but did not hurt little Annie in the slightest. The flames flowed violently throughout her body, licking her pale little face, but they were gentle and soothing, just like a lover's hands.

————————————

Chen Senran could no longer feel any sound, temperature, or color, and his consciousness had completely sunk into endless darkness.

He didn't know where this place was or why he was here. The only thing he remembered was that his whole body was about to freeze and he could only watch helplessly as little Annie died in his arms.

A voice suddenly whispered in his ear, come.

Almost out of instinct, or like a drowning man grabbing the last straw, he rushed towards the source of the sound without hesitation, the only thing that could move in his body, the endless void.

He embraced the darkness.

Then, he didn't know anything anymore. He gave everything to the darkness that seemed to be able to swallow everything, and just hoped to protect the flower.

In the outside world that Chen Senran could no longer see at all, the flames were still burning fiercely, and little Annie's little face, which was originally pale and pale from the cold, finally had a trace of blood.

It seemed that Chen Senran's wish had come true, but just under the raging flames, some pure black substances were rising with the flames, condensing in Chen Senran's open eyes, and they became more and more intense.

The more they gathered, the more they seemed to occupy his entire pair of eyes and crawl directly out of them.

"It turned out to be...them." Karsus had already walked to Chen Senran's side. He first glanced at little Annie, whose situation had improved, and then focused all his attention on Chen Senran's eyes and said

Almost a sigh of shock.

"Do you know them too?" That phoenix is ​​still in the sky. It doesn't even move its body and just stays in the highest sky. However, it seems to be omniscient and omnipotent, seeing the situation on this side clearly.

Judging from its tone, it also knows about those black things.

"No, strictly speaking, I don't know what these things are." Karsus shook his head and stretched his hand towards Chen Senran's blazing body, "I just felt them. In fact,

My visit this time is related to them. Do you know what they are?"

"What did you feel from them?" The phoenix did not take over Karsus' words, but asked instead.

"The instability of the world." Karsus nodded and put his hand on Chen Senran's forehead. Purple light emerged from his fingers. "I captured this substance from the fluctuations of space. After research, I

This unstable substance felt the most terrifying devouring force, but its quantity was not too large at first, but at the beginning of this year it suddenly grew on the periphery of our plane. I'm afraid..."

"Are you afraid that the world will be destroyed?" Phoenix directly guessed Karsus' answer.

"Yes." Purple brilliance began to surge on Karsus's hand, and the brilliance flowed into Chen Senran's almost pure black eyes along his metal glove, "So I think

Ask you, when will the world end?"

"This is a very troublesome energy. It is produced in the endless plane turbulence, so they have the characteristic of swallowing everything, including planes. Because it is almost difficult to capture, I call it void." Phoenix did not.

Directly answering Karthus' question, "Your perception is very keen, but you are wrong about one thing. These powers of the void have been resurrected in the near future, not reproduced. It first appeared in my perception a few hundred years ago."

Years ago, it was a pity that my power of rules had not yet been fully formed at that time, and I could only capture a short breath of time."

"As for...the destruction of the world." There was a hint of helplessness in Phoenix's voice, "Rules are not everything, so I don't know."

"You don't know either?" There was uncontrollable disappointment in Karsus's voice. He saw the dark void in Chen Senran's eyes retreating unwillingly into his body, raised his hand and let out a long sigh.

tone.

As the void receded, the flames on Chen Senran's body also extinguished, and little Annie's face that had just become rosy suddenly turned pale again.

"This girl..." Karsus came back from his slight daze. He looked at little Annie's childish face and raised his hand again.

The purple brilliance comes again.

——————————————

It's really a vicious cycle. I got stuck after I returned to school.
Chapter completed!