sinovels Chapter 109 [Beyond the Laws]
Chapter 109 [Beyond the Laws]
On the edge of the Weeping Mountains, the four-person group was on their way back to the Dwarven Fortress.
"According to the map, once we cross that valley ahead, we'll be able to leave the main ridge of the Weeping Mountains. After walking for another two days, we'll see the smoke rising from Iron Fortress." Aijia put away a map made of animal hide and pointed ahead.
"Finally we're going to get out of here," Wang Xuan exhaled a puff of white breath. "This place is too cold. Besides, that server-wide announcement will definitely draw a lot of people here, so we need to hurry."
"We're now the mobile world boss." Chen Kai grinned, weighing the heavy [Heart of the Abyss] in his backpack.
The group chatted and laughed, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation.
The moment you step into that valley, the wind and clouds change, and everything vanishes.
The whole world has become a faded, grayish-white old photograph.
"What's going on?" Chen Kai couldn't make a sound, but he conveyed his question to his companion through mouthing.
Ai Jia was the first to react, and a pop-up window appeared on the UI interface.
[Error: The current area's 'rules' have been overridden for unknown reasons.]
The [Scholar Barrier] force field on Wang Xuan automatically opened, but then dimmed.
The four immediately stood back to back, forming a vigilant defensive formation.
Something is falling from the sky.
It is a three-dimensional structure that is constantly self-reorganizing, composed of pure geometric lines and light and shadow.
Countless runes radiating a cold light flowed and collided between its core and outer layer, each collision emitting a silent burst of light that corrected the surrounding space.
Each user interface displays the visitor's name...
[…Scanning…]
[A chaotic anomaly (one) has been detected.]
[Illegal creation detected (1)]
Target locked.
[Execution Protocol: Clear, seize.]
"They're coming for us!" Chen Kai tried to warn his teammates, but his words still wouldn't get out.
He reacted decisively.
Muscles tensed, and the tip of the [Wind Fang] spear glowed with a blue light.
He took a step forward, and with a straight thrust, carrying the wind, he pierced the geometric shape known as the "Guardian of Order".
The spearhead stopped quite close to the target.
It froze in mid-air, unable to move.
The violent winds accompanying the spears were like a movie scene frozen in mid-air, maintaining their spiraling shape.
[Static] The flow of runes within the body, guarded by the order.
"My power... has been frozen?" Chen Kai's expression changed from astonishment to horror.
Seeing this, Wang Xuan smashed the heavy armor on the ground.
"【Barrier Field】, activate!" he roared.
A pale golden hemispherical force field expanded out from him, attempting to envelop everyone within it.
The runic structure within the Guardian of Order has undergone a slight change.
[Rule Correction: The force field is determined to be an invalid energy dissipation.]
The force field, which had just taken shape and was powerful enough to withstand thousands of troops, disintegrated into countless golden specks of light with a "whoosh".
"The force field has been deleted?" Wang Xuan was stunned when he saw the bright red warning message "Rules do not apply" pop up on his UI.
All offensive and defensive tactics become a joke in the face of this enemy.
It doesn't compete with you in strength or speed.
It directly alters the "rules" you depend on for a living.
Wang Xuan only saw the announcement, and then a fist-sized hole appeared in Chen Kai's breastplate. He flew backward, his blood splattering on the gray-white snow, looking particularly glaring.
"Chen Kai!" Ai Jia exclaimed.
"Next, you."
Another attack.
Wang Xuan had no way to dodge and could only watch helplessly as a huge gap appeared in the most solid part of his [Scholar's Barrier] breastplate.
A sharp pain shot through him, and he coughed up blood, collapsing to one knee.
Aija planned to use the power of the Chaos Seed to analyze the other party, but all her probes were ineffective.
The system's feedback consisted of only one word.
Analysis failed: The target is a 'collection of rules', not a living unit.
Dimensionality reduction strike.
"Give up resistance," the Guardian of Order declared. "Your 'possibilities' are meaningless before 'absoluteness'."
Its form changed, reforming into a giant spear of light, the tip of which was aimed at Li Yao, who was sleeping on Wang Xuan's back.
[Execute final instruction: Clear the chaotic anomaly.]
"No..." Li Yao seemed to sense a deadly threat even in her unconscious state, and unconsciously uttered a muttered word.
She saw it.
I saw the blood-soaked hole in Chen Kai's chest.
I saw Wang Xuan kneeling on the ground, using his body to protect his back.
I saw Aijia's face, pale with despair.
"No...no..." She felt so small and powerless...
Fear gripped her heart.
In this darkness that represents her mental world, another consciousness awakens.
It is that [Seed of Chaos].
It is whispering, it is tempting.
Do you want power?
Do you want to protect them?
Then...accept me.
"No...you will devour me..." Li Yao struggled desperately, suppressing this power, afraid of losing control.
"Li Yao!" Ai Jia's words pierced through the barrier between reality and spirit, ringing in her ears.
"Stop suppressing it! Listen to me!" Ai Jia shouted at the unconscious Li Yao, watching the light spear about to fall.
"Conventional methods are no longer effective; stop resisting! Take control of it! Use your will to turn it into your weapon!"
Using "breaking the rules" to fight against "absolute rules"...
Why should I only be a stabilizer?
Why should I be forced to passively "suppress" it?
I am a new student, and I long to live.
The will to survive is the most powerful force!
"Accept me!" the Seed of Chaos called out once more.
This time, Li Yao did not resist.
"Okay, I accept you."
"But it's you who devoured me."
"It is I... who will control you!"
boom--!
Li Yao, lying on Wang Xuan's back, burst forth with a chaotic seven-colored light.
The light was sometimes blazing, sometimes icy, sometimes present, sometimes nonexistent.
The gray and white world was forcibly splashed with a layer of chaotic colors.
The light spears that the Guardians of Order were about to unleash paused.
[Warning: High-level chaotic reaction detected...]
[Repairing...Repair failed...]
Li Yao slowly floated up from Wang Xuan's back. She still had her eyes closed, but her entire demeanor had completely changed.
She pointed her finger at the spear of judgment.
"Conceptual definition: You both 'exist' and 'do not exist'." Her voice pierced through the still space and resounded in everyone's minds.
The spear of light, composed of pure laws, would solidify for a moment and then vanish into a phantom.
Its own "existence" became paradoxical, making it unable to maintain a stable form and ultimately leading to its collapse.
"It works!" Wang Xuan was overjoyed.
"Again!" Ai Jia shouted excitedly.
Li Yao raised her head, her delicate face expressionless, and colorful tears slid down her cheeks.
This is the price she paid for her soul being overdrawn.
Using her mortal body to manipulate the underlying logic of the world, every time she does it, she is burning herself out.
She aimed her hands at the body of the Guardian of Order.
The runes within the Guardian of Order continued to circulate, constructing layer upon layer of defensive laws.
Absolute Defense
[Causality Lock]
[Existential Anchoring]
"I command," Li Yao said, her voice trembling with tears, yet strangely imbued with authority.
"You... have fallen into a self-contradiction."
Your mission is to 'clear away chaos,' but your very existence is to 'maintain chaos.'
You are 'absolute order,' but you are currently engaging in the act of 'creating disorder.'
The countless stable laws governing the Guardian of Order began to conflict and self-negate due to the injection of this paradox.
Cracks appeared on the body that was made of light and laws.
Its form began to collapse and disintegrate, revealing its core: a perfect twelve-sided crystal emitting a stable white light.
That is its core.
"Now! Chen Kai!" Ai Jia reminded the strongest warrior in the team at the right time.
Chen Kai leaped up from the snow, gun in hand, and charged forward. This was a soldier's purest and most resolute act of self-sacrifice.
He rushed toward the crystal and thrust the broken spear in his hand into it!
"Smash it!!!"
All the laws that maintained this gray world collapsed at this moment.
Colors and sounds have returned; the valley is still the same valley.
All that remained on the ground were shattered armor, three long streaks of blood, and...
"Li Yao!" Ai Jia rushed towards the girl who had fallen from mid-air.
Li Yao's body was ice-cold, her breathing was weak, and the value representing her soul state on the UI panel had turned a dangerous red.
[Warning: Player "Newborn" has fallen below 10% soul integrity and is in a deep coma...]
Chen Kai put away the broken [Heart of the Abyss Obsidian] and staggered to the side of the group.
Just as he got close to her, another strange event occurred!
The [Heart of the Abyss] in the backpack resonated with the [Seed of Chaos] within Li Yao's body, which had become extremely unstable due to overactivation!
Two streams of energy, one black and one white, intertwined, clashed, and merged from the crystal and Li Yao's body.
The entire team, having just escaped a desperate situation, has fallen into a new crisis.
……
In the distant real world, inside the study.
A satisfied smile appeared on Xu Ye's face.
He looked at the progress bar on the Genesis Diary, which represented the story and nourishment, and saw it leap forward significantly during the battle just now. A slight smile appeared on his lips.
The ultimate outburst under high pressure, the brilliance of humanity in adversity—this is the highest quality nourishment.
"The tailor-made high-difficulty dungeon is indeed very effective." He wrote a new note in his diary.
"Li Yao, the first Chaos Adaptor, has extremely high potential; as a 'catalyst,' she deserves more investment."
On the snowy plain, Aijia looked at the unconscious Li Yao, and a long-held question surfaced in her mind.
The Hydra, a mutant found in the swamp, is a boss that requires a team to solve puzzles to defeat.
The Order Guardian just now seemed to have the ability to perfectly counter each of their weaknesses.
Why... are all the disasters in this world so targeted?
It's as if there's a hand in the dark, arranging one "trial" after another for them.
She shook her head; now was not the time to think about these things.
"To Iron Fortress!" Ai Jia shouted to Chen Kai and Wang Xuan. "We must do it immediately! We need to create the 'Runic Binding Container' before Li Yao and these two forces get out of control!"