I'll kill you after I finish this game!

Aponia can see the fate of others, but she cannot grasp it, or can hardly change it, because the cost of grasping it is often much higher.

The emergence of the ultimate fatalistic concept of eternal recurrence allowed Aponia to see an even more terrifying ruler of fate.

"If some people in that world could perceive this feeling, they would probably have already reincarnated more than once. Those who can perceive this feeling must be in great pain."

Aponia sighed, feeling genuine pity for the beings in another world, who were ruled by an even more terrifying and hopeless fate.

Are they like puppets? No, they're more like puppets from a horror movie, or even worse than puppets.

Only those who can perceive the truth of pre-existing knowledge are qualified to become puppets; others who cannot perceive the truth of pre-existing knowledge are merely insignificant cogs in the workings of the world.

"Is there no afterlife after death? Do we just return to the starting point, repeating our unique lives? Only those with strong souls can recall their past lives."

Inside the Hall of Rebirth in Liyue, a hint of disbelief flashed in Zhongli's amber eyes.

To be honest, this truth about a world from another world really shocked this thousand-year-old man.

Zhongli put himself in the shoes of his deceased friends. If they had returned to their starting point after death and lived a happy and fulfilling life, that would be fine. But if their lives were filled with misery, then it would truly be an eternal pain and torment.

Fate is the most frequently mentioned concept by astrologers on the continent of Teyvat, and this concept of eternal recurrence directly governs the destiny of all living beings.

Your destiny was predetermined from the beginning and will not change, provided you are unaware of the truth of the world.

Back in the video projection, the image fell into darkness again, and this time someone's voice could be heard.

[This has been repeated billions of times in this prison, hasn't it? You must be getting tired of it by now.]

Whether it's responding to Mercury's expectations or our own,

[Who is it that wants to transcend this cruel law? It was agreed that it would be you.]

[A necessary existence—Zarathustra.]

........

"[The Suwahara City beheading case has a seventh victim.]"

"[At approximately 6:30 AM on the 4th, the bodies of Masayuki Shibuya, an employee of a company in this city, and his colleague and friend Mitsunori Oda were discovered in the parking lot of a family-run restaurant located on a side street in Suwahara City, and the staff member called the police.]"

"According to the police, both victims died from severed necks, therefore it can be concluded that this case and the series of murders in the city were committed by the same killer."

"Police are continuing their investigation in order to bring the perpetrator to justice."

"Furthermore, all the victims identified so far have nothing in common, which undoubtedly suggests that this is a case of indiscriminate serial killings."

"[A modern-day decapitation demon—a terrifying shadow looming over Suwahara City.]"

From the 1st to the 4th of this month, the number of victims in the serial killings in Suwahara City has reached seven.

On Monday morning, Fujii Ren woke up and silently watched the news on TV, feeling very heavy-hearted and with a headache.

School officials are discussing whether to suspend classes because of this incident. Parents are very unhappy, and students are complaining.

In fact, the current attendance rate in the class is less than 70%, and the situation has become so bad that even normal teaching is difficult to carry out.

Fear, anxiety, and suspicion, instead of making the students excited by the extraordinary situation, either confined to the small space of the school until evening, or better yet, simply skipping class.

Fujii Ren is now in the latter situation, the kind that is forced into it by circumstances.

"If you want to deliberately ignore these things and continue enjoying your daily life, that's fine too..."

Suddenly, the apartment door opened, and Skadi, dressed in casual clothes different from her usual school uniform, walked in, raising her eyebrows, and said, "If you can do it."

How could that possibly be possible?!

If it weren't for those ghostly events, Fujii Ren would have thought he was just an ordinary high school student.

As Skadi said, Fujii Ren really wished that his time at school would never end.

However, when Skadi said that Suwahara City would become a battlefield and the whole world would face a devastating war, Fujii Ren's mind was filled with a sense of familiarity that wasn't particularly shocking, but he was also very tired.

She was still in high school, and then the story jumped straight to the point where the world would end.

Having witnessed the unrealistic power of the demon last night, Fujii Ren had no choice but to believe Skadi's words.

"Senior, let's continue talking about how I've become stronger." Fujii Ren pouted and then placed the tea she had brought from the kitchen on the table.

Now that she has made up her mind, Fujii Ren will no longer run away.

Skadi had told her that most of the Black Round Table members were mentally ill, and that the transmutation circle in Suwahara City was something they had spent several years setting up.

Therefore, the option of communication and reconciliation never existed in the first place.

"Hmm, you've been having nightmares these past few days, haven't you, Ren?"

When the topic of strength came up, Skadi suddenly mentioned that Fujii Ren had been having headaches at night.

"Is my dream... related to this matter?"

Fujii Ren's expression turned somewhat strange. In his dreams, he was either beheaded or transformed into a murderer, slaughtering innocent people.

If it were just a dream, that would be fine, but every time I have a nightmare about a murderer, I wake up the next day to see news reports of people dying.

As for the nightmare of being beheaded, it started after I accompanied Kasumi to the museum, and the blonde girl on the beach is also very unsettling.

"It is indeed related. You, who are carrying out the Demon Ritual, have actually begun to hunt souls on your own."

Skadi's sudden words made Fujii Ren's eyes widen. Had he already started hunting souls?

Does the senior student mean her dream, not a dream in the true sense of the word?

Feeling tense and filled with self-doubt, Fujii Ren glanced at the news about the murderer on TV, then looked at the smiling Skadi and stammered, "S-senpai, you mean the Suwahara City murder case... I did it!? Could I be... sleepwalking!?"

Does she dream of killing? Are the murderous nightmares that Fujii Ren has actually come true?

Dreams are an extension of reality, and this is not an exaggeration, at least when it comes to the power of dreams.

Dreams can also be another world; if someone is killed in a dream, someone else will die in reality.

Moreover, it wasn't just once; as someone who dreams, Fujii Ren was inextricably linked to it.

Fujii Ren already had this realization, but now that Skadi pointed it out, she suddenly began to doubt herself.

“Although you didn’t do it yourself, they all died because of you. You actually already possessed some extraordinary power, but because your understanding of reality was still in a state of normalcy, you couldn’t control your power,” Skadi explained.

After a moment of silence, Fujii Ren accepted the reality that those people had died because of him, and went straight to the point:

How do we control it?

"The time is very short; giving you enough time to cultivate is far from enough. First, you need to harmonize your spirit and soul..."

The battle is about to begin, and Fujii Ren can only grow stronger through combat; there are very few opportunities for her to train.

Therefore, Skadi needs to get her into the zone as quickly as possible using the most direct and simple method.

In fact, Skadi herself is not in her original form, just like Reinhardt. It is not the right time for her to enter the scene as her main form.

There will be battles, but Skadi has her own plans.

Quantum [spiral] rotation — five thousand horsepower of power.

Heaven and earth created!

"Snapped--!"

In less than a Planck's time, with Skadi's snap of her fingers, a terrifying quantum effect occurred, and the earth-shattering power instantly enveloped the apartment where Fujii Ren lived.

In a moment of daze, Fujii Ren's vision shifted, revealing a landscape of cliffs, rocks, and barren land.

"Where are we... Senior, where did we teleport to again?"

Although she was confused about where she was, she thought of Skadi's teleportation ability and assumed that Skadi had taken her to an unfamiliar place.

"No, this is just an alternate dimension that I created. It just so happens that I can use it to explain power to you and train you."

Skadi ignored Ren Fujii's surprised expression and casually used a material reconstruction and 3D printing technique to directly create a large number of training devices that the other party could not understand.

Fujii Ren looked at the desk and chair in front of him, which looked like they were used for class, and wisely sat down.

Skadi stood in front of the blackboard, picked up her teaching stick, and began explaining to the only student in the room:

"Lotus, first I need to explain to you the essence of the power within you, that is, the secret ritual within you, which is called the divine secret technique of eternal destruction."

This has piqued the curiosity of not only Fujii Ren, but also viewers from countless dimensions.

The otherworldly power that Skadi casually created was extraordinary, but most people were very interested in the fact that it could create such a world-destroying demonic technique.

"Divine secret arts?"

Clearly, Fujii Ren grasped the key question: calling it a divine secret art... could this kind of secret art be...?

"That's right, it's the great secret technique passed down by the [God]. It's a terrifying secret technique that can elevate a person to godhood and transform them into a demon powerful enough to shatter celestial bodies and destroy galaxies."

Skadi conjured a piece of chalk and began drawing on the blackboard behind her, following her thoughts.

"Those guys in military uniforms all use this secret technique, this magic system, which is essentially a demonic technique that combines 'sacred relics' with human souls and uses human souls as fuel. It is also known as 'Demon Transformation'."

"What do you mean by 'Holy Relics'?"

In fact, Fujii Ren knew the literal meaning of the words, but as a student who was still learning, it was better to humbly ask questions.

"It's the kind of thing you're thinking of, like items left behind by religious saints, such as holy nails or holy chalice. But that's only part of the explanation. Any item that absorbs human thoughts, emotions, or resentment can be called a relic, not just sacred objects."

As she spoke, Skadi conjured up some historical artifacts and other such items and placed them in front of Fujii Ren.

The first thing that came to mind was Christian items such as crosses. This was the first thing that Fujii Ren thought of, since there are so many religions and so many saints in the world.

Of course, there are also things like the golden statue of a living Buddha and relics, which Fujii Ren had never seen before, but Skadi materialized samples for her.

“Hmm, Ren, and then I have a question for you…” Skadi looked at Fujii Ren and asked, “What does ‘saint’ refer to?”

"What are you asking..." Fujii Ren looked puzzled. She understood the literal meaning, but she was sure that what the other person said was incomplete.

“A sacred person, a sublime person, a person who is different from others, also known as a superman, a heretic, a person who has achieved great things that are unimaginable according to common sense and that normal people cannot do. If this is defined as a saint, then an extraordinary murderer can also be called a saint.”

This is undeniable; historical generals have always been like this.

Killing one person is a crime, killing a thousand people is heroic, killing a million people is conquering, and annihilating humanity is godlike.

Skadi looked at Fujii Ren with a hint of a smile in her eyes and said softly, "Not just anyone can use Eternal Destruction. Only those of high status are qualified to use it. This secret technique will create a microcosm within the user's body and soul that is different from reality."

"universe!?"

Fujii Ren was stunned by what he heard, as were the countless viewers from different dimensions who were watching.

Understanding the concept of the universe reveals its vastness and immensity. The fact that eternal destruction could create a universe different from reality within the human body is simply unbelievable.

"Yes, the universe..."