Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Could this place... be just Gensokyo?"

“In a sense, yes.” Alice sighed. “The merging of the two worlds has indeed begun, but it has also ended long ago. It’s not the world of Dark Souls that has been merged, because our ‘Worldship’ never even reached its intended goal.”

"Outsiders... are even more ruthless than I expected."

Her toes lightly touched the flat ground, and then everything around her lost its color. Accompanied by a screen flickering like an old-fashioned monitor with a bad signal, the true face of this world was then revealed to the two Penglai maidens and many other onlookers hidden around them.

It was a colossal painting, infinitely long and infinitely wide, yet with visible boundaries and an end—depicting the epic saga of Lothric's linking of the fire. The entire Gensokyo and its surrounding spatial structure became part of the canvas, embedded within it in an incredible way. Beyond the painting were countless faint points of light and a massive star, its outlines almost clearly visible on the landscape.

That was Earth, or rather, the world that carried Earth. A white flower bloomed in what appeared to be the Atlantic Ocean, then covered one-sixth of the Atlantic—numerous points of light surrounded the flower, occasionally colliding with it and exploding into countless tiny fragments of light. However, upon closer inspection, it became clear that those points of light were not points of light at all, but rather aerospace carriers carrying countless powerful weapons!

They were locked in a stalemate on Earth with a force capable of annihilating ten early interstellar civilizations' main planets and that white flower, while the number of motherships surrounding the world's canvas was more than five times that on the surface! Even though their various terrifying attacks all failed outside the world's canvas, in the eyes of those within the canvas who could witness this magnificent moment, even a single one of their fleets posed a deadly threat to anyone present! And the sheer number of such fleets had reached a level where even counting them seemed foolish!

"I released a meme virus called the Doomsday Flower on the land of the outsiders. The original strategy was to use this flower to delay the outsiders' advance, so that we could escape smoothly... In my original calculations, the success rate of doing so was over 99%, because the outsiders knew a lot about meme viruses. The Doomsday Flower meme virus takes a considerable amount of time to activate and take effect. With their technological capabilities and the instructions I left to prevent accidents, they should soon be able to conclude that as long as the Doomsday Flower is nipped in the bud before it fully activates, then not a single person on Earth will die as a result."

“However…” Alice shook her head. “My judgment was wrong. The outsiders would rather let the doomsday flower bloom on the earth, and they would rather pay the price of billions of lives to keep Gensokyo, which is separated from the earth world, forever. Their hatred for the alien species outweighs their desire for survival. And that is the error I made in my calculations.”

"We miscalculated, and outsiders were willing to pay a huge price to eliminate us. However, just before we were about to suffer the bitter consequences of this miscalculation, we received unexpected assistance—this painting."

"Do you understand? This painting saved Gensokyo before the outsiders arrived, helping everyone snatch a glimmer of hope from the outsiders' army. And now Gensokyo has become part of this painting, or rather, this painting has become part of Gensokyo's composition. The Dark Souls worldview is just a facade in this world. Pushing forward the so-called Season of the Fire before we reach the real Dark Souls world will only destroy this world. And the only thing we can do now... is actually only one thing."

She glanced at the two people who were already in a daze and sighed.

"That is, before reaching the true Dark Soul in this painted world, to honestly play a game of make-believe with the original owner of this painting, the game she longed for!"

....................................

Meanwhile, Alice Lillianu, who has transformed into another member of the Black Church and represents her true self, is wandering aimlessly through a forest, hoping to find the figure of someone close to her, and she knows that her wish will soon be fulfilled.

"That's why I hate people like that who are so annoying, yet so remote and there's no way or reason to fight them." Alice Liliano sighed somewhat melancholy. But she quickly put those random thoughts aside.

[Shinki is really annoying; she messed up my script.]

But she saved the entire Gensokyo.

Not only did they change my script, they also split me into three parts.

But she saved the entire Gensokyo.

[Splitting it into three parts is one thing, but then she forces me to play this 'severing cause and effect' and 'eliminating the weak' trial routine. Isn't she afraid I'll end up like that famous couple from Azeroth, becoming her 'filial daughter and grandson'?!]

But she saved the entire Gensokyo.

[And I don't remember having any blood relation with her in any sense!]

—She not only saved Gensokyo, but also Team Central, and more importantly, outsiders are still eyeing the world from beyond the canvas. Everyone's lives are still in her hands.

Okay, she's stronger now.

Alice Liliane gave up trying to think. The situation had suddenly turned into this absurd mess, with outsiders risking less than a one percent chance to come and wipe them all out… What could she do in this situation? She was desperate! Even with a 90% chance of failure, things had gone wrong. She shouldn't be doing anything more—she couldn't afford to lose face!

She took a deep breath, and a makeshift wooden hut in the woods came into view. A witch with long purple hair sat at the door of the hut, giving her a gentle smile while lecturing a blond fool.

The id represents desire, the superego represents restraint, and the ego is the judge that determines the future.

Therefore, Alice Friede, who represents herself, was left with Shinki to make a decision about her future.

Therefore, Alice Julia, representing the superego, went to meet the inhabitants of Gensokyo to explain and clarify everything she knew.

As for Alice Liliane, who is the true self, there is only one thing she needs to do.

That means simply following your own desires.

So she took a step forward.

Transformation, Chapter Twenty-Nine: The World Revolves for You

Thus, the superego of order fulfilled its duty, the id of desire complied with its wishes, and in the end, all that remained was the ego that made the decision.

The Decision-Maker: Alice Friede

She knew nothing about everything, which allowed her to sit in the most impartial position and make decisions that, while not necessarily the most suitable, were absolutely the most balanced among all the choices presented to her.

And she will soon face the last and most important decision in the world.

....................................

Several days have passed since that question and answer session in the carriage. During these days, Alice has driven the carriage carrying Shinki to many places on this land.

They arrived at the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Carthus, and after dismantling hundreds of tomb guardians who had turned into undead, they ventured deep into the underground tombs. A bone goblet, said to be made from the skull of an ancient overlord, slightly piqued Alice's interest, but even after touching the goblet, she was unable to see the ancient overlord who was supposedly imprisoned within it.

They followed the fissures beneath Carthus to the sinful city, supposedly ruled by an ancient giant king. What awaited them, however, was only a multitude of gargoyles, their only flaw being their hard shells. After dismantling them, they discovered an ocean of gold and silver treasures stored within the city, and a solitary throne surrounded by gold—only then realizing that the ancient giant king had long since been used as firewood.

So they left the City of Sin again. This time, Alice, accompanied by Shinki, went to what was said to be the church of a branch of the White Cult once known as the 'Deep'—unfortunately, the leader of this branch had also become firewood in the distant past. And the church where it resided had fallen into ruin—when Alice arrived at the church, there was nothing there that moved.

The primordial flame, representing order, still burns brightly. While the curse of the undead exists, it is only sparsely distributed on the fringes of civilization. Even undead occasionally appearing in prosperous areas are quickly captured and sent to the undead fortresses for settlement. Therefore, these three locations are not as dangerous as one might imagine.

Alice arrived at these three places, and then left them—she came to these places because they were areas where, in her memory, the power of the abyss was sealed or lurking. But now it seemed that her memories were of little use.

She didn't find the Abyss, nor did she find Julia or Liliana, who should theoretically be very likely to appear in that area—she couldn't even find a single undead member of the Black Church, as if the Black Church had been completely wiped out when she came out of the world of paintings, leaving no trace in this world.

She failed.

But she did not give up.

After leaving the secluded church, she decided to head to the last place in her memory. It was one of the most mysterious and secretive kingdoms in the world, the dwelling place of countless undead wandering souls, the Kingdom of Londor, where the headquarters of the Black Church was located.

then……

..............................

"So this is the answer I got."

When she arrived at Londor, hidden deep underground, she was greeted by a desolate underground city—the so-called Londor had long since met the same fate as the Sinful Wasteland, and here, nothingness awaited her.

There are no living people, no dead people, no church, no nation. The most recent traces of this eternally dark city date back hundreds of years, and it has long been abandoned.

"Don't be discouraged, Alice." Shen Qi sat beside the carriage that went from the ground to underground, then back to the ground, and finally back underground again. Beside her knees was a thin stack of paintings depicting the battle between Alice and Zhao Yingkong—there were already twelve paintings, and the battle situation within them had gradually changed with each repetition. From Alice dying in two seconds at the beginning to being evenly matched now, victory would likely return to Alice in the thirteenth painting—but that probably wouldn't even require a thirteenth painting.

“Look,” Shinki said with a smile, “you’ve lost eleven times in a row in the future, and the twelfth time was a draw where both sides perished. But the thirteenth time might be your victory—you had to fight twelve times to have a chance against the Fire Keeper, and you’ve only searched four places so far. Perhaps with a few more tries, you’ll find your two sisters.” She didn’t seem to mind accompanying Alice as she ran around this vast land. Or rather, she was simply enjoying it.

This is underground; whatever happens above ground has nothing to do with what happens underground. And all the places Alice explored before were, without exception, treacherous and remote places rarely visited by humans. If we exclude Fran, who had been unconscious ever since leaving the world of painting, this period had been a private world just for the two of them.

Alice Fried shook her head slightly.

“I am not discouraged; I have simply found the answer.” She gazed at the cluster of buildings before her, lurking in the deep darkness like the remains of a colossal beast. Suddenly, a ray of bright light flickered at her fingertips and then shone forth, its warm glow silently casting a silvery-white hue over the deep underground.

“I left the world of painting to find Julia and Liliana,” she said softly, voicing a question directed at herself and also at Shinki: “But why do I need to find them?”

"Because you owe them so much?" Shenqi shrugged. "You replied to me on this topic some time ago. And you also told me some other things—you abandoned your duty in the past, no longer serving as the leader of the Black Church to revive the Abyss, but instead letting your two sisters continue to make futile efforts outside the world of painting—and now you intend to fulfill your duty again."

“Yes.” Alice nodded, walking slowly along the dimly lit abandoned streets of Rondor, while Shinki jumped down from the carriage and followed at a leisurely pace. “I do intend to fulfill the duty I abandoned. Because only when the three of us are together can we be considered a whole.”

"Of the three sisters, Julia is law-abiding, while Liliane is impulsive. In terms of talent and wisdom, they are both far superior to me. But both Julia and Liliane lack decisiveness—they can come up with a hundred action plans in the blink of an eye, or accumulate enough resources in a very short time to execute all one hundred. But neither Liliane nor Julia can choose the right plan and execute it—Julia thinks every plan is good, while Liliane thinks none of them matter. And the end result is that they can't do anything."

“They need me to make decisions, and only I can make decisions for them.” Alice clenched one of her fists slightly, feeling the power within her increase in tandem with the time she spent away from the world of painting. Then she sighed softly. “But they are avoiding me, unwilling to meet me.”

Shen Qi raised an eyebrow. Then she asked, "Why do you have such thoughts?"

“Isn’t it obvious?” Alice tilted her head slightly, looking at Shinki who was following behind her at a 45-degree angle. “I can clearly sense that they are still alive, and they can obviously sense that I have left the painting. And under such circumstances, I have been away from the painting for so many days, almost without any disguise, exploring those lands that hold the abyss in search of them—they certainly cannot be unaware of what I have done.”

“Even in the Age of Order where flames blaze, the Black Church could not completely disappear from this world. So even if I haven’t seen a single member of the Black Church, they must still exist somewhere in this world—I need my sisters, and my sisters need me. But in this situation, I can’t find them no matter what. That can only mean that they don’t want to meet me.”

She found a flat stone, brushed off the dust, and gently sat down.

“I have now become an older sister who is no longer needed by my younger sisters, so I think perhaps my journey should come to an end.”

"Didn't you consider the possibility that they might be blocked from meeting you?"

“I consider such low-probability events to be non-existent,” Alice replied. “I know very well how powerful I am in this world, and I also know very well the level of power they would have gained with their talents and gifts. Even in the ancient times when the gods still existed, they would not have been nobodies. And there are not many people or things in this world that can trap or hinder them.”

She looked at Shen Qi and said seriously, "Unless, the one who is stopping them is you."

"I have no motive whatsoever." Shenqi tilted her head slightly, revealing a smile.

“You don’t need a motive,” Alice replied slowly. “Because you have the ability to do it, but also no motive not to. There’s no need to repeat the stupid thing about not being able to beat a wolf—Kamiki, I know exactly what level of power you possess. Those twelve so-called future predictions of my battle with the Fire Keeper are actually things that have already happened. You simply reversed time and recorded that future on paper.”

“…Oh dear, it’s not always a good thing for a child to be too clever.” Shinki chuckled, but still smiled. “So, do you hate me? Alice, do you hate me for separating you and your sister?”

“You used ‘separate,’ not ‘prevent us from meeting,’” Alice lowered her eyes. “But I don’t hate you, there’s no need, and I can’t, because ‘hate’ and ‘love’ are Lilian’s domain. And all I can do is offer my judgment. And…”

“Actually, the three of us are all the same person, aren’t we?” Alice Fried said softly. “In reality, there is no such thing as Fried, nor is there any Julia or Lillianu. From the beginning, there was only one person named Alice, and her mind was split into three—in the world as I know it, only you could have done such a thing. And the memories in my head, and my past experiences… if they weren’t fabricated by you, then this whole world must be fake.”

“You created a world and then made it run according to your own will. Since you are willing to spend so much time by my side, then this world is spinning for me… or more accurately, for that ‘Alice’ who includes me, right?”

“Yes.” Shinki nodded. “This world does indeed operate for the individual ‘Alice’. Because ‘Alice’ is an important tool for me, and also my cherished daughter.”

“Trying to treat a prop like a daughter, you really are a strange person.” Alice shook her head slightly: “Why would you do that?”

"I thought you would criticize me for 'using my daughter as a prop,' but I didn't expect that I was just being presumptuous?" A bitter expression seemed to appear on Shenqi's lips. Although it was fake, it was real.

However, the person she was wasting her expressions on remained unmoved.

“I think you know very well what I’m going to say and what I’m going to do afterward. So I don’t think this is what you call being presumptuous,” Alice replied coldly. “I’m only responsible for making judgments, and the rest is none of my business. If you’d like, please tell me what you’re doing all this for. Then I’ll give you an answer.”

“…It’s really not cute at all.” Shen Qi raised her head and looked at the underground dome that was blocked by layers of rock. Probably no one would have guessed that the so-called Kingdom of Wanderers, Rondor, was located directly below the Valley of the Cold, and that the Black Cult was located about 10,000 meters below the White Cult. As she looked, the underground dome began to tremble.

She didn't actually do anything, but while she was gazing at the Earth's Dome, the Heavenly Emperor and her army launched a full-scale attack on Irithyll of the Valley. Although the outcome was already decided, just as Alice used Mokou and Kaguya, the two Hourai people, as her alarm clock, she also saw the Heavenly Emperor's offensive as a reminder to herself—

It's about time.

“Alright.” Shen Qi nodded. “Since you want to know why I did all this, then I’ll tell you everything. It’s not a long story, but it’s not a short one either, so…”

"Next, you need to listen carefully."

Transformation, Chapter 30: Choice

"Alice, have you ever seen what a tree looks like when it grows?" Shenqi picked up her pen and drew a few strokes on the thick stone slab beneath her. Before Alice could answer, a small patch of ground not far in front of them began to tremble slightly. A tiny crack then appeared on the surface, from which a tender green seedling sprouted.

The seedling grew rapidly, thickening and expanding, branching out into many twigs as it grew. In just a few seconds, it had grown to three meters tall, with many tiny, emerald-green leaves sprouting from the branches and swaying gently. One of the outermost leaves detached from the branch and floated lightly into Shen Qi's hand.

"You should know that there are countless worlds in the void, and many of these worlds are roughly the same. It's like a big tree with many branches growing out of it, and on those branches grow countless worlds."

“Some worlds are very large, with perfect rules and order, and vast spaces. Planets are just insignificant tiny structures to them, while stars form galaxies, galaxies form galaxies, and the grand worlds that are ultimately constructed are their whole picture.”

“Some worlds are very small, disordered, and full of loopholes. The entire world, from the inside to the outside, is only a few hundred thousand kilometers long, not even as big as a star system in a large world.”

"But they are all part of the world, a part of the thousands of green leaves growing on the branches. Although there are differences in size between worlds, there is no difference in quality. They represent the many directions of growth of the tree that holds them together. And it is precisely because each leaf is different and each branch stretches in a different direction that they can equally obtain the sunlight and rain under different conditions, and the tree as a whole can grow healthily."

"Naturally, since it's a tree, it's inevitable that bacteria, microorganisms, aphids, ladybugs, and even hummingbirds will grow on it. Some of them are beneficial to the tree, and some are harmful, but without exception, they all originate from the tree itself. To the tree, they are its offspring. And as parents, trees are always tolerant of their children. Until..."

“Until?” Alice tilted her head slightly, looking at her.

“Until people appeared on these leaves.” Shenqi glanced at her and replied, “You probably wouldn’t believe it, Alice, but this multiverse tree originally had no people. It only had many ancient creatures that naturally arose from the world. Some were powerful, some were weak, but without exception, they were all offspring of this infinite multiverse. They were favored by the world—or rather, all the flowers, trees, birds, beasts, fish, and insects in the world were favored by the world. And with them as a backdrop, humans, who did not belong to this infinite world and were not recognized by this endless world, seemed particularly out of place.”