Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

[Kororos is not an enemy, nor is Aichidra. This planet called Disbot, this world that the **returners call No Game No Life Zero, is not as noisy as I imagined or knew! Several factions are each played by one person in multiple roles, or rather, this world is simply a resource used by certain individuals for advancement!]

[A box within a box... I've really been dragged into something incredible. Now it explains why my one-eternity contract was terminated at this time. Sure enough, that guy Kororos had already predicted my return to the Main God Space. Was this karmic connection its initial investment? If so, its quasi-saint identity was probably just a disguise; its true power is even greater than I expected...]

[Damn it! Why did I have to get involved in such unlucky things?!]

A multitude of thoughts raced through Celine's mind in an instant, but the reflection solidified her stance and subsequent course of action. She gave a slight bow to the vampire lady before her and extended an invitation in a very polite yet absolutely unyielding tone.

“I’m here to take you home, Miss Serana Valhatch. It’s not a short journey from here to Hafendal, so we should hurry.”

“I did not make such a request to you, stranger.” Miss Sirin’s offer was met with an immediate and firm rejection. “Please leave. Alice will take me back to my family. If you don’t leave, I will be very unpleasant!”

“You’ve already broken free from Alice, so why are you still clinging to her?” Sirin shook her head and sighed. “But you can’t be blamed for it. Ashes always yearn for embers, and stripped emotions always long for their return. Perhaps this is what the Easterners call an obstacle, and if it weren’t for that, Zheng Zha and I probably wouldn’t be here.”

"But in any case, I'm not here to negotiate with you. Since you're unwilling to resolve this peacefully, then don't blame me for being rough."

Before she could finish speaking, a fierce gust of cold wind swept over her! The vortex of frost and thorns filled Sirin's vision in an instant, and then all crumbled before the imaginary barrier she casually pulled out!

"You are not Alice. You are not like her, who, even when isolated from all emotions and most powers, still possesses extraordinary combat skills." The storm of frost dissipated completely, and Serana, about to cast another spell, found that Sirin had already closed in on her! A part of the vampire princess's limbs instantly underwent some strange mutations, but the moment she switched to melee mode, she was directly slammed to the ground by an extremely precise throw!

She let out a scream, and her form abruptly disintegrated into thousands of black bats before touching the ground. But the next moment, countless black imaginary lines suddenly appeared, capturing all the fleeing bats and converging them towards the center!

"Life level is not the same as actual combat strength. You are just a vessel," Sirin said calmly. Black lines formed a birdcage in front of her, binding the vampire girl who had lost all ability to resist. The previous indifference and toughness had completely faded from the girl's face, leaving only a look of panic and unease.

Emergency response system, personality disguise. This wasn't a tactic Sirin hadn't used before. And precisely because of this, the moment the vampire girl showed a look of utter panic, just like a mortal, she didn't hesitate to punch her into a deep sleep.

"Time waits for no one," Sirin said calmly.

The next moment, her form and the birdcage containing the vampire girl vanished. At the exact instant she disappeared, a sword aura cleaved through the air from the main battlefield and slammed into the outer edge of the inn, reducing the building to dust. Simultaneously, a powerful spatial-temporal disturbance emanated from within the blade's edge!

Just one step away, just one moment away.

Meanwhile, Xilin had already moved her passengers to an area nearly 100 kilometers away.

One teleport after another extended outwards, and in less than a few seconds, Sirin successfully arrived at another location.

She had a map; she knew that west of the Whitelands, where Morningstar City was located, lay the Hafendal Territory, home to the Serana family. Skyrim was a large province, but this distance was at most five or six hundred kilometers.

Five or six hundred kilometers is nothing. In the past, even when she had just entered the God Realm, Sirin could jump from the north to the south of Earth in an instant, and with a little effort, she could even teleport directly to the interior of the moon. Although she has been demoted to a transcendent state, it still doesn't take her long. After several teleportations, an ancient castle isolated overseas finally came into her view.

“We’re here.” She carried Serana and landed easily at the outer edge of the vampire castle. Her steps were light, and neither human nor non-human noticed her arrival.

In her research into the history of this world, she discovered a very interesting fact. That is, the so-called 'Dragon Break' actually has two meanings. One is a kind of dragon roar related to dragon descendants, a kind of magical ability. The other refers to a path from mortal to godhood.

The specific principles are complex, but simply put, it's not impossible. In this world, dragons are essentially fragments of spacetime. And if we elevate the concept, the idea of ​​'dragon' can actually represent time itself.

The so-called "Dragon Break" involves shattering the timeline, rewriting the fact that the ascendant became a god into the distant past. Once the timeline recovers, the ascension of the god becomes the predetermined outcome of the 'present'. Although the cost is enormous, divine power and authority will come naturally.

In this world, there are twenty-four named true gods. Fifteen demon gods represent fifteen kinds of evil deeds, but can also be understood as fifteen kinds of evil thoughts. Nine holy spirits represent nine kinds of blessings, which can also be understood as nine kinds of good deeds. So, do the fifteen evils and nine good deeds combined equal a complete soul?

Or conversely, if we strip a soul of its fifteen evils and nine goods, is all that remains merely obsession and its most primal inner self?

Celine wasn't sure, but she felt it was very likely. She looked up at the sky, and the stars that represented the Holy Spirit and the Demon God looked down at her.

He remained motionless and silent.

If I'm not mistaken, when we arrived here, Alice... had already ascended to godhood twenty-five times in this world.

With each success, she discarded an emotion. These emotions transformed into deities, appearing in the heavens above, gazing upon the earth, silently awaiting the decision made by her unwavering convictions and her original self.

However, without reaching the fourth level, her obsession couldn't be eliminated. Therefore, she was initially stuck at the last step due to her stubbornness. Unable to advance, unable to find liberation… that blizzard was likely a manifestation of part of her inner conflict. As for my former boss, although his motives were unclear, he probably intended to build a good relationship by sending me here. And why that Aiqidra would send Zheng Zha here… that remains unclear for now.

Fine, I just need to do what I'm supposed to do now.

“Your commission is over, Alice. You can decide what to do next.” Sirin said softly, tossing the bound vampire into the castle. Before the vampire castle could become noisy because of this sudden 'surprise,' her form had already disappeared from the airspace.

………………

………………

………………

With a loud 'clang,' a dirty hand emerged from the ruins of an ancient building outside Morningstar City. Accompanied by a clatter of collapsing stones, Zheng Zha, who had just been thoroughly beaten, slowly got up with a dusty face.

"Pah—" He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, feeling utterly depressed.

"I can't even beat that brainless Margot Lloyd?!"

Section 65. Alice's Progress

The next moment, a voice he knew all too well rang out less than five meters away from his ear!

"Is defeating me an important matter to you?" Alice's form appeared on a broken stone pillar, shifting from ethereal to solid at a visible speed, like a translucent shadow. She still held the dark, reddish ebony blade in her hand, but the tip drooped, pointing towards the ground, showing no intention of raising it again.

Zheng Zha almost jumped up.

However, he immediately noticed that Alice showed no fighting spirit or murderous intent. Her pale blue eyes gazed at him quietly, like pure crystal reflecting pure light.

—She had no intention of continuing the fight.

“Margot Lloyd…” Zheng Zha’s arm muscles tensed, then relaxed, finally letting out a sigh of helplessness. “I suppose so. I really want to defeat you once. A fair fight, a head-on confrontation—though it’s rather shameless to say such things to a spellcaster. But I really want to succeed just once… just once. If you’re still Margot Lloyd.”

"Is this a commission?" Alice asked casually.

“A commission? No, this isn’t…” Zheng Zha shook his head. Although Xilin’s words before leaving were somewhat ambiguous, he still instinctively adopted a conservative approach. “I didn’t commission you, Margot Lloyd. I don’t want to commission you.”

“Understood.” Alice nodded, and the next moment she appeared at the bottom of the pillar as if by dimensional leap. She turned around and headed towards Morningstar City, which was now far away from the battle zone. Then she left without looking back.

"Wait! Aren't you going to continue fighting?" Zheng Zha asked loudly.

Alice stopped ten meters away.

"Is this a commission?" she asked, her tone as indifferent and detached as ever.

"No!" Zheng Zha answered hastily before the unease in his heart could surface, and then immediately followed up with another question before Alice could leave. "But you were just fighting me for that vampire. Why are you giving up so easily now?"

“Serana’s request has ended, and she has returned to her family. Since the request itself no longer exists, you are no longer an obstacle to my completion of it. If you still desire battle, I can treat this as a new request and fight you to the end. So—”

With her back to Zheng Zha, she tilted her head and asked, "Is this a commission?"

Even Zheng Zha could clearly sense the abnormality emanating from the individual 'Alice' at this moment. The girl before him seemed to have lost her human form in his vision, replaced by a concept, an empty shell, or even an interface.

Yes, one port!

What appeared before him was not a person, but a real, completely rational character playing a role-playing game! She would not fight unless attacked, and would not take any action unless there was an item on her quest list. She was like the protagonist of a sandbox game hosted by AI; without a goal, she would not make any choices.

No, it's even purer than that. If it were anyone else here, it wouldn't matter. But if it's Alice, Alice Margotrovid, it's definitely more than that! She must have a much more important identity. Perhaps not even a terminal, but something deeper, something more fundamental!

[—She was the only, seemingly mad, audience member deep within the Descartes theater, listening intently, receiving all external messages, and cheering and applauding them!]

Such an idea quietly emerged in Zheng Zha's mind, and then, as if it had taken root, it was difficult to eradicate.

He couldn't help but ask—

“Margot Lloyd! Do you have to have a ‘commission’ to do something?! Can’t you make a judgment based on your own subjective ability?”

He received an answer that was exactly what he expected, yet left him both amused and bewildered—

"So there's no commission after all? Then forget it." Miss Alice, who had tilted her head, slowly turned it back and continued walking towards Morning Star City.

The first step was that an unsettling atmosphere filled the air, with an invisible force converging on this place.

In the second step, the spatial structure becomes unstable, and the sand and gravel fragments in the ruins begin to tremble. Fine dust particles, under the interference of an unknown force field, form patterns like magnetic field lines.

Step 3 —

The spatial structure suddenly collapsed, and as white lines and crystals extended outward, a figure that was very familiar to both of them suddenly appeared out of thin air!

With a whoosh, Sirin's form materialized as spacetime shattered. She appeared no more than five steps away from Alice! The moment she appeared, their gazes met directly in mid-air, and then both Sirin and Alice continued forward!

She didn't stop, nor did she back down an inch. Under the oppressive, almost rain-laden air, the two brushed past each other on the narrow path, less than two meters wide. Neither gave the other a second glance.

There was no conflict, no hostility, no confrontation, no battle—two women who had been bitter enemies just minutes before simply ignored each other's presence and walked away—Alice's figure gradually disappeared at the end of the road. Sirin, meanwhile, slowly walked to Zheng Zha's side.

Zheng Zha suddenly let out a long sigh of relief.

"Phew... I thought you two were going to fight. You know what? The intensity between you two was terrifying! It scared me!" He pressed his chest; the wounds from the previous battle had completely healed. Even his torn clothes had been completely repaired by magic. Yet, even so, Sirin, only a few steps away, could clearly hear the unusually loud pounding of his heart.

—It looks like someone just suffered quite a bit, but this guy is tough and doesn't care.

Celine shook her head and said firmly, "No, she won't do anything without guidance right now. Unless we take the initiative to attack her, she won't attack us—she won't attack me just because I completed the task she was supposed to do—she will stop us, but she won't hold a grudge or get angry. Because she simply doesn't have the emotions to support such an action right now."

“Is that how it is…” Zheng Zha frowned. He activated the third-stage gene lock again and simulated Alice’s thought process, only to find himself in a void once more. Either the simulation failed, or this emptiness was the result of a successful simulation, and he was now more inclined to believe the second conclusion was correct.

Zheng Zha couldn't help but tentatively ask, "Is Margot Lloyd......?"

"I can't say," Sirin interrupted him before he could finish speaking. She flicked her fingers, and the spacetime power she had previously hesitated to use activated. In an instant, she swiftly restored the battlefield—which Zheng Zha had guided from the outskirts of Morning Star City to the ruins of ancient buildings on the city's outskirts—to its state before it was affected by the aftershocks of Alice and Zheng Zha's battle. As she did this, her gaze remained fixed on the sky.

Above the sky, stars twinkle.

However, it only flickered.

“Just as I thought, nothing concerning her will be interfered with. So it’s a self-rescue mechanism…” Xilin smiled and gestured for Zheng Zha, who still wanted to ask more questions, to calm down. She looked in the direction Alice had left, and while signaling Zheng Zha to follow, she started walking.

"I can't express the specific details here in words or thoughts. Although there is a chance to remedy the situation if complications arise, it will be very troublesome and time-consuming. You can only figure this out yourself, but it doesn't really matter to you if you don't figure it out."

She held up one finger. "First of all, I can tell you that your coming here was not an accident. You were destined to be here from the beginning, and whether I came to help or not was irrelevant. The previous deduction was wrong. Kororos and Aichidra are not enemies—and certainly not allies. They are not necessarily allies who will fight alongside you. As for you... or rather us, in Disbote, there is only one true enemy, and that is the Lord of War, the God of War Artesius."

She didn't give Zheng Zha a chance to interrupt.

"Next is the second thing I can tell you. It's perfectly normal that you can't beat Miss Alice right now. At least here, right now. Not to mention that you and she are both at the limit of the third tier, even if she were to descend to a mortal body, you still wouldn't be able to beat her. If you ask why, the only thing I can tell you is that this is her home turf. Although she can't actively mobilize her full power."

“The third…” She held up a third finger, then shook her head. “No, there’s no third. I think after all this, you should have a full understanding of the current situation. After all, you’ve been her companion for so long, you should have some understanding of each other.”

She continued forward, following the route Alice had taken towards Morningstar City. The city, recently engulfed in flames and fissures from the aftermath of battle, was now in chaos. Screams and cries echoed clearly in their ears even from miles away, as she led Zheng Zha onward.

Meanwhile, Zheng Zha's brows gradually relaxed as he pondered.

“…I think I understand.” He pondered, carefully organizing his thoughts. “This world is Margot Lloyd’s home turf. My arrival was inevitable, especially considering her strange behavior just now and what you called the real enemy…”

[I should be in one of Margot's rituals right now, a crucial part of her fight against the Lord of War… I see, something went wrong with her ritual. No, not really. This situation should be one of the stages she anticipated. But she's destined to get stuck at this stage and needs external help to move on to the next step!]

[...She's about to advance! She's about to gather the light of her soul here and become a fourth-tier intermediate being! And what she's been doing before must have been dealing with her inner demons... Damn! The Margot Lloyd I fought before must be her original self, freed from all external desires! It's a true spirit, a life imprint. And her purest self is trapped in a part of this ritual, but she had already made arrangements, arranging for me to descend here and being certain that I could help her overcome the obstacles without needing an external thinking device—]

His eyes lit up.

I understand! This world is both her sustenance and her tribulation. And what she needs me to do is help her, to bring the story to a close now that she's unable to cope properly!

“Okay.” Celine snapped her fingers. “It’s good that you understand. There’s no need to say it out loud. After all, her ritual isn’t complete yet, and revealing too much information could still lead to some uncertainties.”

Zheng Zha took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "I understand. The primary goal now is to get Margot Lloyd to complete her ritual... What should I do? Margot Lloyd probably thinks that my mere presence here will definitely help her finish the current process. But you must have a more convenient strategy, Sirin."

“Of course, such things happen.” Sirin nodded with a smile, and the next moment, the two appeared atop a watchtower in Morning Star City through a shift in spacetime. Unbound by constraints, spacetime interference unfolded; damaged walls were restored, and innocent victims of the battle had their bodies repaired and were brought back to life—the Grim Reaper of this world had voluntarily relinquished ownership of the souls of the dead when Sirin acted, and the Holy Spirit, theoretically ruling spacetime, turned a blind eye to Sirin's overstepping of authority!

The city returned to its pre-war state, and the memories of the disaster in the minds of ordinary people were completely wiped away, as if it had never happened in the first place. Meanwhile, Sirin, standing atop the watchtower, lowered her gaze to the dragonborn girl who had arrived a step slower by walking rather than leaping or flying.

She stared at Alice, but Alice's eyes showed no unusual emotion.

Do you know?