Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

—The ritual of ascension to godhood, a journey back in time.

The woman who called herself Sirin was indeed right about many things. She was right; Alice had indeed arrived in this world a long time ago, much earlier than both her and Zheng Zha. The exact amount of time difference was difficult to determine, as she had initiated numerous Dragon Breaks in this world, each representing a period of chaotic time.

Alice gazed at the tiny sphere in her palm, and at the same time, at the world of Nirn, which had become her body. Even though she had become all things, the atmosphere, the earth, all living beings, and even the void, she could still clearly see Nirn, which had become a part of her, when she looked inward at her body.

Nirn, Nirn Star, Tamriel Continent.

She could clearly see the numerous altars scattered across the continent, the nine holy spirits, the fifteen demon gods, and statues of many other obscure and hidden beings. And she knew that all these gods and demons were herself.

She hadn't been, yet she had been. Long-forgotten memories surfaced, and she clearly recalled the history she had created when she first arrived in this world—awakening in Helgen Fortress, defeating the dragon Alduin the moment it first appeared. The immense power she displayed became the stepping stone to her throne, and after slaying her first dragon and gaining Dragonborn status, she, possessing both power and prestige, successfully established her own regime.

The rebellion in Skyrim Province was quelled. With her unparalleled martial prowess, easily defeating dragons, she assembled a powerful army and marched towards the imperial capital. Days later, the original emperor abdicated, granting her access to even greater resources to begin her conquests—she was an exceptional puppeteer; when she treated her army as puppets, no powerful army or fortified city could stand in her way. Those powerful figures who sought to behead her fell to her sword, and within a few years, she had conquered the entire continent.

Only then did she completely erase Alduin, whom she had defeated long ago, and with the unification of the continent, she initiated the grandest war and then brought peace. She successfully usurped the authority of the ninth Holy Spirit, the god of war and peace, Tyros. She activated Dragon Break, rewrote the past, replacing the ninth Holy Spirit with a part of her own emotions and soul, and then time was reset to the day she was born into this world.

Thus, the second cycle began. This time, the process was largely predictable. With the assistance of her now-godlike self, war erupted once more, bringing chaos and famine to the world. Her actions even drew the descent of Dagon Menels, the demon god representing destruction and change. This time, she successfully usurped Dagon's divine power, and the result of the second dragon's destruction was that one of the demon gods in the heavens was replaced by Alice.

And after that, there was a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth—when she replaced the goddess of the atmosphere and the sky, the sky became part of her. When the master craftsman was defeated by her, all creation belonged to her. When she also overtook death, she simultaneously gained control of all souls. And when the master of time and space was finally defeated, the past and the future were filled with her traces.

It was a very long process. Extremely, extremely long. Sometimes she had to fight alongside both the Digital Demon and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, chosen ones from the past or future would even try to replace her in the same way. She had experienced countless life-or-death crises, and yet, in this moment, she became the ultimate survivor.

Finally, all the gods were replaced by her, and everything in this world belonged entirely to her. She was the sky and the earth, all things and all beings. When everything in the dream of 'Anu,' the master of the forces of order, became a part of her, she naturally became the dream of this ancient god-head. And before she could take the final step and completely replace 'Anu' herself, there was only one step she lacked.

That is 'waking up'.

'Awaken' from this dream of the divine head.

However, when she reached this stage, all her emotions and soul had been completely exhausted, leaving only the most primal, pure essence—this was inevitable; to completely overshadow a true god a level higher than herself, one must naturally give up everything. Not even the smallest scrap would remain, for every scrap has its proper place.

There are no longer any enemies in this world, for the entire world is a part of her. The Alice who descended upon this land for the last time without a mission is her final, remaining essence. All the missions she encounters are, in essence, interference from her fragmented thoughts with her true nature. And her aimless journey is the process by which 'Alice' as a whole contemplates how to awaken from the dream of Godhead.

This wasn't a test of willpower, nor a tribulation. Miss Alice, who habitually acted with a 90% certainty of success, wouldn't gamble on such a minuscule chance of success when she had ample time. She had already won when she reached this point; the only difference was when she would collect her reward.

When, however, time has no meaning here. Ten thousand years or a million years, this is the past, and when she returns to Disbote, the point in time will be the same as before. She has plenty of time to think, until she figures out how to solve this problem.

However, she didn't want to waste so much time. In her view, 'Anu,' the master of the Force of Order, had never been able to figure out how to wake up from her dream since its creation. Replacing 'Anu' with 'Alice' would probably yield the same result. However, unlike 'Anu,' 'Alice,' a reincarnator, was not alone.

She has advantages, and she knows how to use them.

"So I made preparations long ago, and prepared a ceremony to pull Zheng Zha into this past world. What he did here is not important, what is important is that he will descend here."

Alice said softly to herself.

Stopping a working geared machine without switches or power lines is not difficult. Simply throw a stone into the gap between the gears, and the machine will stop operating. As both the machine itself and the one throwing the stone, Alice only needs to find a stone that is strong enough that it won't be crushed or damaged by the gears.

Because this world is her, it is a part of her. And all foreign objects that descend upon this place will become bricks hindering the machine's operation. The reason Zheng Zha was chosen is not for any other reason than that he is tough enough, resilient enough, and persistent enough not to be crushed by the gears. And it is precisely for this reason that it is Zheng Zha, not the more suitable Patchouli, who is torn down by the ritual. And it is precisely for this reason that once Zheng Zha is torn down, everything is already set in stone to end quickly.

Sirin's arrival was unexpected, but not particularly significant. After all, the difference between one brick and two bricks isn't that great. However, to Alice's surprise, this woman skilled in time manipulation initiated a global rejection reaction, awakening her with multiple layers of time interference before the gears even began crushing the bricks. Whether this was due to profound luck or keen intuition is unknown. Because it doesn't matter.

And more importantly—

"I've woken up here."

The next moment, Alice's form, which was as tall as a ray of light, suddenly collapsed and condensed. In this time gap where measuring time units was already a foolish act, Alice, who unified this world into one, appeared in front of Xilin and Zheng Zha. Then she stretched out her finger and tapped on the outer wall that separated everything.

"Hello, both of you," Alice said with a smile.

—The barrier shattered silently.

"You, you're good too. Margot Lloyd." Zheng Zha clutched his stomach, his face ashen, and forced a smile.

—Let's ignore this rude guy for now and settle the score with him later.

Celine responded politely.

“Hello, Miss Alice.” She gently lifted her skirt. “Although this should be the second time, let me introduce myself again—I am Sirin, a future member of the Central Continent Team, your future teammate. And now…”

"...Is there anything we can do to help you?"

“Of course there is.” Alice said readily. She waved her hand, and the entire empty universe began to collapse and crumble, being destroyed piece by piece along the boundary of the world toward the three of them!

“I am about to awaken from this dream of the head of God as a replacement for ‘Anu’. And when I awaken, I will become Him.”

"I will accomplish the great work of destroying all things and then creating all things again. I have already reincarnated all things and all things have returned to me."

"The reserves of concepts and energy have reached their full potential, and the ritual of revelation has been carried out to its final stage. Having accomplished such a great feat and about to transform it into authority, I need to be a witness as the anchor."

Alice spoke calmly, and the next moment, the empty, desolate world completely collapsed, and an endless sea of ​​energy surged in. This era had come to an end!

“I will hereby relinquish Satan, relinquish the Red Dragon, and relinquish my position as Lord of all nations on earth.”

"For the Book of Revelation has been completed, and I will become Brahma."

Chapter Seventy-Six: Time Flies Like the Tide

Brahma.

Brahma, also known as the Creator of Books, the Great Brahma King, and the lord of the First Dhyana Heaven in the Form Realm, is the creator of the world in ancient Indian mythology. The entire world is merely a dream he created, and he himself is also a part of that dream.

A dream of the mortal world, a slumber of Brahma. Just like Anu, the primordial ruler of this world.

Then, Alice, who had reformed into her normal size, raised her hand.

“Now I have fulfilled all the conditions to become Brahma. I have the energy restored from the collapse of the entire world as my support, and I have the great work of turning all things into myself as my foundation—the energy and concepts needed to initiate the Revelation are all in place, and now the only thing I need to do is to relinquish my past status and ascend to the new one.”

"What should we do?" Sirin tilted her head and asked. She was not only asking Alice what she wanted to do, but also what she and the other 'observers' needed to do.

“Nothing much is needed.” Alice shook her head slightly, giving her answer: “In my initial ritual design, only Zheng Zha would come here as an assistant. And at the moment of success, I might not have the time to explain the complex execution steps. So—”

Her raised hand slowly fell, her fingertips pointing downwards—the vast, dark universe, a hazy yellow expanse, and the 'downwards' she pointed to was an endless darkness.

And the next moment, from that endless darkness and chaos, a gigantic crimson dragon's head suddenly materialized!

"I had already completed all the steps when I was preparing for this ceremony. And at this point, both you and I just need to stay here and watch."

As he finished speaking, a colossal beast with seven heads and ten horns emerged from the endless chaos and darkness below and soared upwards. Simultaneously, from the infinitely clear sky, a gigantic humanoid figure with four arms and five faces, its length and size measured in astronomical units, extended forth. The seven heads pointed upwards, the four arms downwards, and the point of clash was precisely in the middle where the three of them stood!

Zheng Zha instinctively made a defensive movement, and then, in the instant he raised his arm in a gap measured in microseconds, endless radiance obscured his vision!

An era of history has come to an end.

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

When Zheng Zha, Xilin, and the others regained their senses, what they saw was the primordial chaos at the beginning of the world's creation. It was as if ancient, majestic gods were chanting hymns in the chaotic void, and then the sky, the earth, the ocean, and many other things came into being within this grand symphony. The very first group of gods opened their eyes from eternal silence and knelt before their creator.

Zheng Zha remembered this place; before they traveled back in time to the era of Tamriel, he and Sirin had witnessed a similar scene. Unlike the time reversal they had experienced before, time was now flowing in a forward direction. Although the two of them remained within the isolated flow of time without interfering with the outside world, the great symphony of creation still pierced through the barrier of time, echoing in their ears.

"You're awake?"—A familiar voice came from the side. Zheng Zha turned his head and saw Alice, now back to her familiar appearance, sitting at a tea table that had been created independently within the flow of time. There were three chairs and three cups on the table. Alice held a cup of coffee with wisps of steam in her hands, sipping it slowly while gazing at the great symphony sung by the ancient gods outside the flow of time.

“The last era has ended, and now another era begins. The chief deity of the Lord of the Rings universe, Ilúvatar, is composing her creation hymn. Listening to it will benefit you all,” Alice said calmly, her gaze never wavering from her target. “Don’t worry, she can’t see us.”

“Her?” Zheng Zha scratched his head, then asked, “Margot Lloyd, did you succeed? How long have we been sleeping here?”—He twitched his ears but couldn’t glean anything of value from the strange, tuneless melody playing beside him. There was no emotional resonance, no intellectual spark. But perhaps their awakening at this time was somehow connected to that melody. He looked at Alice, not noticing any difference between the girl before him and before.

Xilin, who was standing a few seconds earlier than him, unceremoniously sat down in any empty seat and picked up her teacup. Zheng Zha followed suit, sitting down and raising his cup, only to find that it contained just plain water.

He frowned, but still drank it anyway.

“Yes, that’s right, it’s her. I no longer need to refer to these strange things as ‘He’.” Alice replied calmly, “I have succeeded. The Brahma ritual is over, and I should now be in the mid-stage of the fourth rank, having gathered the light of the soul. Although I should have followed the path of proving the Dao through force, ignoring inner demons and forcibly piling up the quantity—but what’s done is done. I am different now than before.”

Alice exhaled softly, a simple breath, which silently passed through the barrier of time as it left her body, propelling a tiny rock within this primordial chaos.

In the creation of the universe, Ilúvatar immediately turned her gaze in this direction. However, the flow of time enveloping the three of them suddenly accelerated, and when she touched the slightly moving rock, she abruptly rolled backward thousands of years along the flow of time. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the time of the Silmarillion story, when the gods created the primordial earth and the first elves and dwarves appeared.

"As for how long you slept... well, that is indeed a question. The battle between the red dragon and the ancient god lasted for about 14,000 years. The final conclusion was that the dragon's body was destroyed and one of the five aspects of the ancient god was erased—which is probably not much different from what I expected. After all, even the original Brahma would have one aspect erased for one reason or another. It's not very strange that I, who borrowed a persona to initiate the ritual, would have the same experience."

Alice spoke softly, casually manipulating the flow of time, watching the ever-changing world outside, the sea turning into mulberry fields. Era after era alternated, elves rose, demons rebelled, and with the passing of one era after another, the first mortals of this world descended upon the earth.

Appearing and descending without reason, mortals were bestowed with ineffable and immense fortune upon arriving on this land of the Lord of the Rings. Even through the barriers of time and worlds, Alice could clearly see the torrent of humanity flowing through the void!

Wherever there is life, mortals are destined to be the protagonists. Alice witnessed the elves, who had created a glorious civilization, retreat into the forest, and watched the dwarves created by the Lord of the Earth disappear underground. Countless heroes rose, fought, and perished. Even the powerful gods who could freely descend and dictate the course of history in the primordial era departed from the earth for various reasons, no longer able to directly alter the continuing era.

This is fate, this is destiny. The Alice of the past, witnessing all this, might have been furious, or perhaps tried to do something to bring about change. But now, having gathered the light of her soul, she has arrived at a single truth—

—The general trend is irreversible, and she is powerless to change it.

She snapped her fingers, and time began to fly by once again. In fact, she had only just finished saying that one sentence.

She looked at her companions, and her companions looked at her as she answered all their questions.

“I feel like you haven’t changed at all, Margot Lloyd…” Zheng Zha forced a smile, carefully choosing his words. “At least not in any fundamental way…in essence. I feel like the only difference between you and before is that your mindset seems better, and you have more energy reserves. But in reality, you haven’t changed much?”

“That’s just an appearance.” Alice shook her head, then nodded. She naturally reached out and gently tapped the barrier of time flow.

"But what you said isn't entirely wrong. The 'current' version of me hasn't really changed in any fundamental way."

The next moment, the scene of time flowing outside came to an abrupt halt.

Section 77 The Fourth Layer of the Box

What comes into view is a familiar scene from the Lord of the Rings movies. It's the end of the film, when Frodo and Sam, two hobbits from the Fellowship of the Ring, step into Mount Doom to throw the Ring into the lava and destroy it.

Naturally, all stories encounter twists and turns as they approach their final moments. Thus, Frodo the hobbit, on the verge of success, was tempted by the Ring and attempted to leave, putting it on.

For the same reason, this final twist ended with the sudden appearance of Gollum, who took the One Ring from Frodo.

In the struggle and battle, the monster who obtained the One Ring, along with its treasure, plunged into a volcanic fissure. And at the very moment the monster fell into the lava and the Ring touched the surface of the magma, the epic tale known as The Lord of the Rings came to its thematic end.

The ring's surface shone brightly, but just as it was about to melt, a rock drifting from the fiery currents of Mount Doom delayed the process by a tiny moment!

The flow of time abruptly ceased. The two people within the time barrier clearly saw that the drifting rock was the very one Alice had propelled by her breath in the distant past of this world! And as their astonished gazes fell upon her, Alice's fingers pierced through the time barrier, deftly retrieving the melting magic ring and bringing it back into the time barrier, leaving behind a matching metal coffee spoon!

Time continued to flow, and the story continued silently. Although the One Ring, which commanded all the Rings, was replaced with a coffee spoon, the fact remained that the One Ring had disappeared from the world. The Lord of the Rings saga concluded with the death of Sauron, the Dark Lord, and the Hobbits, the main characters, escaped Mount Doom, which was erupting for unknown reasons, with the help of giant eagles.

The heroes celebrated their victory and their end amidst flowers and glory. No one could know the truth about the Doomsday Volcano within that tiny gap in time. But inside the time barrier, Alice casually tossed the ring towards the stunned Zheng Zha.

The latter then hurriedly caught it.

“Take it. Only you can handle this without any problems. Wearing it will give you some extra help.” Alice said easily, “Time and space are strange things. I wouldn’t have discovered the anomalies they present if I hadn’t reached this point. I’m actually quite envious of you, Zheng Zha. Unlike me, you didn’t have to work so hard to barely get to this point. You only need to return to a higher level of reality, and you’ll instantly reach the top.”

"Gurgle?" A clueless fellow uttered a strange question.

“It’s nothing, you don’t need to worry about it too much.” Alice shook her head, her gaze seemingly piercing through the flow of time and the barriers of the world to look at the distant outer reaches. When she was in this position, the hunting ritual, which was not deliberately interfering with her, no longer obstructed her view.

She saw the Tree of Events, and its eight branches, and vaguely, she even sensed another version of herself in the distant future.

The secret of the Hunting Saint had been exposed to her—no, perhaps it shouldn't be called exposure, but rather that she was granted access after reaching this level. Naturally, she also understood the responsibilities she bore here, and as a matter of course, she saw the fog surrounding the A Song of Ice and Fire universe, and the fact that Zheng Zha's future self was not in the future.

If his future self doesn't exist in the future, then he must only exist in the past. Since his past and future selves have already merged into one, it means that his time-space tribulation has already ended, and he only needs to return to the future to naturally enter the Fourth Middle School.

It was unbalanced, utterly unbalanced. The thought that she'd toiled away for so long to get this far, while some foolish fellow, oblivious to all the blessings he'd received from some saint, was already standing in the same spot, completely oblivious, sent a wave of guilt she'd felt not long ago for using an important companion as a stepping stone. She now only regretted not being ruthless enough, for having planned things too decisively. If only she'd left some troublesome elements at the end of the ritual, letting this idiot grind them down slowly!

Alice sighed slightly.

“The Dragonbreak isn’t over yet.” She explained to herself, “If I call the process of the Ancient Scroll… or rather, the process of the gods in Tamriel being devoured and assimilated one by one the Minor Dragonbreak, then my act of going back in time to complete my ascension is the Major Dragonbreak. This is a large-scale ritual involving three eras, and its end will be marked by my return to the future, the point in time when my past self and future self become one.”

"The moment I return, I will directly ascend to the top of the fourth tier mid-stage. This top is a blessing bestowed upon me by the current worldview's status and energy. Then we will begin the final battle of this world there, defeat Altshu, and then move on to the next battlefield."

Her last half-sentence was vague, and her two companions paid no attention to this 'next battlefield'—Cilyn, having finished her juice, noticed another concept in her words and immediately raised her own question.