Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Radios sprouted from the earth, their low, grating ringing out with old tunes. Flowers and butterflies hung on the musical notes, arguing endlessly about who was more beautiful in the mirror.

—The girl and the old man battled amidst the shards of a mirror. The mirror fell to the ground, shattering into countless pieces, reflecting in them the image of a kite the old man had shot with a water gun. The kite's shadow bit into the radio's speaker, releasing a sharp note that pierced the girl's chest—

Between heaven and earth lies the ocean, within which mice and keyboards form communities and homes. They compete with each other using the sound of their clapping to win a towel for the monitor; the one with the loudest clapping gets a violet hair clipping.

—The girl and the child clashed in the arena of keyboard and mouse. The girl, riding on sonic waves, used her spear to pick out a crimson flag from the chaotic sounds. The flag snatched away Violet's hair and threw it at the child. Then, the enraged keyboard and mouse, like a steamroller, crushed the child into a clean, flat surface.

Countless battles, some reasonable, some unreasonable.

Countless clashes, some logical, some chaotic as mud.

The boundary between order and chaos, once blurred, became clear, and ideal cognition reappeared among the warring parties. When the rules were re-established, the sky, the earth, the mirror-like ocean, and the hairy violets returned to order, once again becoming the parched land and the scorching lava sea that could be normally perceived by mortals.

The fighting continues.

It continues, continues, continues, continues, continues.

Remilia suffered wound after wound, many of them potentially fatal, only to be swiftly healed by the crimson magical energy and pure radiance surging throughout her body. She was tireless and unaware of fatigue, craving war yet never satisfied with it, wielding swords and spears countless times. As for techniques and skills, they had long since become things she herself no longer understood.

Sometimes she would throw a meteor spear, piercing through the head of young Alucard.

Sometimes she would use her long sword to slash repeatedly, breaking through the middle-aged Alucard's defenses and turning him into mincemeat.

Sometimes she would use spells she was too lazy to name to turn old Alucard and his white gloves to ashes.

More often than not, she uses a combination of swords, spears, and magic, summoning strange familiars to overwhelm her enemies with a series of complex attacks.

She killed Alucard countless times, as many times as Alucard had struck her. And no matter how many times she killed Alucard, her opponent would reappear from the void, the river of blood, or some other random place, and give her a novel experience using methods she had never encountered before.

This is war, a war between vampires.

This is slaughter, slaughter between extraordinary beings.

Alucard's essence grows on the plane of probability, a phenomenon generated by the concept of 'uncertainty'. It exists everywhere and nowhere; it can be killed and it cannot be killed. Perhaps the complete light of the mind can break through its 'uncertainty' and thus inflict real harm on it. But both it and she are only infinitely approaching, not reaching, this stage.

And so, the war continued.

In the chaotic and ambiguous enclosed world, crimson meteors continued their wild pursuit.

This may last for a very long time, a very, very long time.

In this endless arena of battle, only the still Styx at the very bottom has maintained near-permanent stability.

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

This world is special because it contains divine essence and the ability to activate it. Revelation-level rituals can unleash even greater power and are easier to execute.

More powerful and more effective, but controllability decreases as the number of variables increases.

Deep within the still River Styx, Alice gazed at the battle unfolding on its surface, lost in thought. Having absorbed the legacies and techniques of numerous vampires, Remilia, whose will was nearing its awakening, no longer needed to draw upon her energy to sustain herself and engage in combat. Undoubtedly, the young vampire atop the River Styx now surpassed her original self in the Gensokyo world in every realm. If she could break through the void and return directly to Gensokyo, even without doing anything, the original Remilia would likely be directly corrupted by the absolute unity of her heart and will, becoming one with her.

The ceremony did not get out of control.

However, her will as the caster could no longer be fully fulfilled.

She raised her hand, wanting to touch the two crimson meteors colliding and chasing each other on the surface of the River Styx, but then lowered it dejectedly. Although things weren't entirely as she wished, her fundamental purpose remained unchanged.

[The unfinished and damaged products will eventually be forged into a complete and genuine product. And regardless of which side ultimately dominates this genuine product, the 'vengeful' essence activated by the Apocalypse will inevitably erode it, causing it to inherit the vengeful desires of these many vampires and wage war against the Lord of War.]

As long as this most fundamental element remains unchanged, the other variables are not actually that important.

But why...?

I just feel so unwilling to accept this.

She continued to sink from the depths of the River Styx, slowly making her way to a more subtle and distant place. Whether she was still present to preside over the ritual at this stage was no longer important. Just as in her Gensokyo world hundreds of years ago, when the information mages of the old era activated the 'Humanity Stars,' the remaining changes were no longer something those losers could interfere with.

That's the downside of magical rituals with their own will. No matter how meticulously designed they are, or how many constraints or mechanisms are in place, loss of control will always occur unexpectedly. This is because no intelligent life form can tolerate its actions being manipulated or interfered with by others. As long as it possesses the capacity for freedom and understands the concept of freedom, it will inevitably use its own power to fight for its freedom.

That's why things have turned out the way they are now.

—Her toes touched the solid ground; she had reached the very bottom of the River Styx. Beyond the bottom lay the world barrier formed by Alucard's fortress. But when she reached out to touch the barrier, she found herself completely unimpeded.

Yes, there were no obstacles.

Just as the fortress opened all its doors and windows to allow her to maximize her power when she summoned the Styx River, formed from dark matter, from outside the fortress, the current Arcado fortress no longer has any architectural structure, but a one-way portal for her to leave remains open.

So……

Whether I'm present for the battles to come... is no longer that important.

It's time to leave.

The next moment, Alice left the battlefield and crossed the world and the River Styx.

Section 29: Failure of Self-Domination

When Alice crossed the world's borders and escaped from Alucard's fortress, what came into view was still that vast, boundless ruin of the vampire king's city, blasted into a basin by immeasurable, powerful forces.

She turned her head, and the portal behind her faded away without leaving a trace. Not a single piece of information was leaked, and even the traces of her extracting dark matter from the outside world were completely erased, leaving no loopholes.

She exhaled softly. The white mist dissipated instantly upon contact with the air.

“Little devil,” Alice said softly.

The shadow beneath her feet began to wriggle, emerge, rise, and transform into a structured form. Accompanied by the sound of a pair of wine-red wings quietly unfolding, the little devil, dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and a black vest, appeared beside her as smoothly and naturally as ever.

"Are there any records of the analysis of the Arcado fortress still available?" Alice asked.

“Yes, all the files are in the database.” The little devil bowed slightly and lifted her skirt a little. “As per your request, all 12,920,1024 variations of the Arcado Fortress during its operation have been recorded. I have already analyzed and processed 1.65 percent of them myself, while the remainder will require you or Lady Patchouli to analyze them personally.”

“1.65… huh.” Alice’s lips moved, as if she wanted to turn around but didn’t turn around completely. “There are more than I expected. I originally thought that more than a hundred would be pretty good, but I didn’t expect there to be as many as 170,000… Your computing power is much stronger than I expected, little devil. If all the processing devices you have in the Great Library were here, you might even have superhuman computing power.”

"It's because Master Patchouli installed many computing power enhancement plugins for me, Master Alice." The little devil bowed slightly and replied, "In the past thirty days, I have carried out nineteen system structure and firmware upgrades of varying degrees. If the Great Library operates at full capacity, it is expected to reach the minimum standards you consider for a transcendent life form."

“Is that so…” Alice reached out and gently grasped the air in front of her. “I didn’t even know about this… Well, after entering the Main God Space, things have become increasingly busy, and I can’t share everything with Patchouli like I used to—”

Her voice paused slightly, then she shook her head.

"No, it's not that I didn't have time, it's just that I didn't do it. Patchouli wouldn't hide anything from me, but she probably wouldn't waste time explaining some trivial details that she deems insignificant to me—after all, I was the one who got there first. She's in a hurry to catch up, so she probably wouldn't spend her energy on trivial details."

Remilia's words echoed in her mind, both spoken and unspoken, lingering in her thoughts—her words hadn't fully revealed much, the so-called exhaustive exploration of all changes, the analysis of all possible solutions. Such a path… in Remilia's eyes… must be foolish.

after all……

Alice closed her eyes, and a sentence, spoken by someone she didn't know, echoed in her ears through her thoughts.

—【You want to solve everything, you try to solve everything, but there's one thing you can't do.】

—[You cannot decipher the light of the soul.]

The speaker is unknown, and the content of the words may vary. But who said it is no longer important; what matters is its content and its meaning.

"That's very true, I..." Alice exhaled softly. "...cannot dispel the light of the soul."

If the path held in one's heart is a solution that exhausts all variables, then such a path will inevitably stagnate permanently before reaching the point of gathering the personalized light of the soul. After all, if one is completely ignorant of the source and manifestation of one's own power, then attempting to exhaustively understand everything is destined to lead to a dead end. As for wanting to fully understand, or even partially analyze, the deepest essence of the soul, the proof possessed by the true god, the light of the soul… Alice, having read the prophetic records, knew very well that such a thing was nothing more than a delusional fantasy.

The fourth stage of the gene lock, transcendent life... it seems powerful, and perhaps it is indeed very powerful. But on the path of the gene lock to transcendence, the fourth stage is merely a slight step forward.

After the four intermediate levels, there are four higher levels, including the fifth-tier Sainthood, which can be reached without needing to be a Quasi-Saint. Within the Sainthood, there are also Initial Saints, Innate High Saints, and above that, the Inner Universe and a theoretical sixth tier—the prediction records don't contain much information about the sixth tier, but there is some data on Initial Saints and High Saints. And among the data she knew, even the Innate High Saints at the pinnacle of the multiverse… couldn't decipher the Light of the Mind.

Alice was a humble person, but she didn't underestimate herself. However, no matter how confident she was in her abilities, she didn't believe she could decipher the Light of the Mind before it had even gathered. And if she couldn't even decipher that, if she couldn't even take the first step in analysis, then naturally she would be unable to move forward even an inch.

She was fully aware of this fact and had internalized this understanding deeply.

then……

Since I know deep down that I can't do it, I can't even take the first step, why... hasn't my path collapsed yet?

She gazed at her outstretched hand, at the clear, radiant light that enveloped it. The nascent form remained, stable and intact. All the energy circuits within her body operated flawlessly, without the slightest deviation or delay.

Even if the heart changes, the power remains. This shouldn't happen in theory, but it operates so naturally.

The principles that underpinned these beliefs have been clearly denied, yet the heart, will, and strength remain unchanged. This is akin to deleting the core program of software, leaving only the external terminal interface. Yet, such a program can still function perfectly and perform its functions correctly.

This is neither science, nor magic, nor a genetic lock.

But such a thing undoubtedly happened.

And if this conclusion is correct...

[Is the path I believe to be correct, the path I have been following... truly the path I am now practicing?]

—Or is it that I've been deliberately avoiding stepping into Fourth High School because I vaguely sensed something amiss, and that's why I haven't dared to act rashly?

Strange thoughts flashed through Alice's mind, but before she could react and even begin to wonder when she had managed to resist stepping into Fourth Middle School, these strange thoughts, along with the traces and memories they left behind, vanished without a trace.

She calmed down.

Time seemed to have been wasted in her contemplation, but she had actually remained rooted to the spot the entire time. The battlefield behind her remained completely hidden, and the clouds in the sky had almost identical outlines to before. The imp, positioned slightly behind and to her side, quietly awaited her next command. Less than three seconds had passed since her thoughts stalled.

“…Little devil.”

"exist."

"Where is the progress of the task I gave you before we even entered the Arcado fortress—to record and analyze the fortress's methods of blocking outside detection?"

"Its results are already included in the 1.65 analysis data. Should we synchronize it with you now?"

Alice nodded, and a complex and intricate message was transmitted into her consciousness. She spent a short while analyzing and reusing the data. Before long, she obtained a novel spell that was almost ready to be used.

—Specialization of the 'No Game No Life Zero' worldview, information concealment technique, completed.

No longer needing to conceal her actions, she carefully cast her spell and reached up to the sky, easily connecting to the ocean of information in this world and the encrypted messaging network Patchouli had created in the underground cavern. The next moment, a massive amount of data flooded into her consciousness.

The first thing we need to know is the time.

Now, five days and four nights have passed in the outer world since she entered the city of Arcado and began the war and ritual. During these five days and four nights, apart from the developments of the reincarnators, not much else has happened in this world.

News of the vampires' extinction has yet to spread—or perhaps it has, but likely only to a very small number of individuals. The Skywings haven't deliberately publicized this achievement, and the Dragon Spirits haven't reacted excessively. At least, the Dragon Spirits remaining on the surface of Disbod have done nothing. The situation in outer space remains unknown.

The orcish sweeping force encountered a slight mishap, of course, orchestrated by the reincarnators. Two small teams each wiped out two orcish legion regiments, leaving no survivors. However, given the battlefield's inherently treacherous and disaster-prone terrain, the orcish leaders could only consider it an unexpected event—the priestess organization affiliated with the orcish rulers did, though, make some troop movements. Perhaps they possessed some information, but it wasn't a cause for concern, given their relatively weak strength.

Aside from that, there were no other significant events happening on Disbod. The Skywing races, returning from their campaigns, went back to their own territories to recuperate, while the Dragon Spirits on the surface continued to lie in wait. The war between the Forest Elves and Goblins continued unabated, and the Fairy races' movements remained elusive and mysterious. As for the other races, intelligence was even scarcer.

The reincarnators were in a similar situation. The two teams rescuing the others were still adrift in the lava of the asthenosphere in their nanobot-made stealth vessels. They seemed to have encountered some geographical difficulties, requiring some time to reach the base at the Great Hollow. Zhan Lan said she seemed to have detected some enormous, unknown creatures in the asthenosphere, while Zhang Jie, stronger than her, was unable to obtain accurate information due to his injury.

It's strange, considering that Zhang Jie's level of genetic unlocking, enhancement rank, and combat experience are all superior to Zhan Lan's. However, when both teams faced a legion of orcs, Zhang Jie's team, which should have been stronger, suffered considerable losses. It's said they encountered advanced orcs with specialized mental defenses, leading to a difficult battle, and they only managed to advance thanks to Zero's successful sniping.

There might be other special reasons behind this, but now is not the time to delve into such details. A very detailed battle report will be available when we return to the Great Hollow. For now, there are other things to do.

Zheng Zha remains missing, the location of his disappearance approximately 7,000 kilometers away from where Alice is currently located. His exact situation remains unclear, but Chu Xuan's stance remains the same: 'Don't worry about him.' Therefore, Patchouli hasn't invested many resources in this area, instead focusing on the infrastructure development of the Great Hollow. Now, the entire Hollow has become her base, and the next step is to populate it with a sufficient population and make it operational.

It wasn't a very important matter, no need to worry about it. Besides, Chu Xuan was the first of the four exploration teams to return to the Great Hollow. According to him, the coordinates he chose were wrong; there were no mortals living there, only an ordinary harpy nest. So he did nothing but watch the orcs wipe him out and returned—Alice took this as fact. Patchouli probably shared the same thought.

Finally, what remained was information about Zhao Yingkong. The details were rather complex, but it was undoubtedly the most interesting part of the many pieces of information Alice had gathered.

After she finished reviewing the information, she raised an eyebrow.