Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

After all, the universe of the mind isn't filled with nothing but trash. Even with her initial combat power and a massive material army, the Imp would always encounter formidable adversaries, those of equal or even slightly superior caliber. Her greatest setback came when she was attacked from both sides by the angelic legions of the High Heavens and the local allied forces while advancing into a neutral elemental plane. In that battle, she even had her descent vessel destroyed.

But so what? She was just a program, a super AI that behaved like a living person. When her physical form was destroyed, her backup quickly regenerated in another fortified dimensional planet. As for the legions that died in the ambush with her... a mere few million really didn't count as battle casualties.

And so, the battle continued. Even without Alice's guidance, the Imp still managed to detect Sajou Ayaka's scent during this war. Although she didn't find Sajou Ayaka's true form, she could sense the angels' presence from their unusual tactics and equipment—she swiftly unleashed a hidden card, incinerating the elemental plane along with the angels into glass. She did indeed kill Sajou Ayaka, who was hiding among the angels, but it was all in vain.

After all, Sajou Aika's essence wasn't much different from hers. The personification of the Great Library and the humanoid access terminal of the Hunting Saint Ritual—both were essentially programs edited using sophisticated methods, merely super AIs operating on different paths, but practically indistinguishable in reality.

Props against props, puppets against puppets, programs against programs, AI against AI.

While the little devil gained a slight initial advantage, Sajou Aika possessed a different core; she was a different kind of individual who knew how to cry out for help to Luo Ye. The superiority of the material universe was quickly diminished as Sajou Aika awakened the general consciousness within the mental universe. Perhaps, in a chain reaction, the general consciousness of the material universe would also materialize, but by then, the advantages and disadvantages between the two sides might have already returned to the same starting line.

The battle thus reached a stalemate—a development that the true gods had been destined to see.

A boiling flame of war ignited in the mental universe, creating a burning band that nearly split the entire cosmos in two—a band of nearly a thousand dimensional stars bound in the heat of battle. Every minute, every second, countless fleets, legions, mortal warriors, and hordes of angels clashed in space and on earth.

They fight with fire, with lasers, with spells, and with combat techniques.

The legions of angels are endless, for they are born from light, and as long as the spiritual universe continues, their numbers will be inexhaustible.

The mortal armies were endless, for the Imp had long since replaced them with clone legions; after all, she had plenty of ways to manipulate the soldiers' minds. And this provided her with a tremendous advantage.

The war lasted a long time.

In the universe of the mind, time is an unstable phenomenon. In some places, tens of thousands of years may have passed, while in others, only two or three days may have passed since the material invasion. Taking advantage of this spacetime loophole, the lesser demon launched seven surprise attacks on the High Heaven, each attack causing severe damage to that region and even killing Aika Satori's physical form several times.

In the material universe, a full three hundred years have passed since the establishment of the portal between the two realms. Thanks to the war profits gained from the spiritual universe, even without the instigation of the lesser demons, Earth has independently developed a resource-gathering fleet capable of traversing interstellar space. Mortals intend to turn the surrounding stars into resources for war; however, it is precisely because of this action that some opportunities have been successfully seized by Ayaka Sajou.

She seized upon a loophole in the Imp's surveillance, taking advantage of the slight decrease in monitoring density due to the gathering fleet's departure from Earth. She successfully orchestrated a covert 'reverse journey'—sending a missionary with no supernatural powers but possessing knowledge sufficient to create memes to the material world. Thus, when the gathering fleet returned to Earth, many believers unknowingly sprang up deep within the hive, worshipping the Supreme Heaven and a fictional god of the end times.

They possess little combat power, but through rituals and sacrifices, they can actively connect to the interdimensional portals established by Ayaka Satou in strategic stars surrounding the High Heaven. However, unlike traditional blood sacrifices that summon demons, these believers, betrayed by the harsh rule of both lesser demons and script memes, summon undisputed holy angels. And after opening the portal, they will be transported to the High Heaven according to the doctrine, and then—

—Angels began doing the things of demons.

Ai Ge has a keen eye and ruthless methods. After successfully laying her groundwork, she remained patient and waited until the battle on the psychological front reached its climax with a crucial war that could determine the fate of several planes and stars—a war that could almost be considered a strategic anchor point—before launching all her preparations.

In that operation, a total of sixteen nests were completely destroyed, and a third of the Earth was engulfed in war. Even though the Imps awoke in time in their stored containers on Earth, they could only barely defend their lair. And it was in that battle that Ayaka completely reversed the Imps' initial advantage, pushing the battle line from her own territory all the way to the enemy's lair.

She did not achieve her goal completely, because she ultimately failed to conquer the Earth.

But it is still a victory, because she has successfully established the sect's power on Earth and carved out a large territory in the mind universe from the little devils.

The war continues, and it has dragged on for a long time. As both commanders become more cautious due to their increased understanding of each other, the war is destined to extend into the more distant future.

One hundred years? One thousand years? Ten thousand years? Or nearly one million years until the end of the era?

Both are possible, after all, there aren't many variables in this universe. And because even with both sides fighting to this extent, the script meme's repairing power still hasn't appeared.

Within the palace of the Mind Universe, the two true gods, who had decided to cease their actions, watched over the two remaining chess pieces on the board for such a long time.

Everything remained as silent as it had been long ago; the hall was still vast, and the goddesses, seated high on the twin thrones, remained solemn and dignified. However, in the eyes of the goddesses—

—It's all meaningless.

Ah, yes, it's meaningless. After all, this was an expected development. After all, this is just the thirteenth ordinary cycle after twelve complete eras. The goddesses have long been accustomed to every birth and death of every individual in this twin universe. And all these changes have not stirred any ripples in their hearts.

Nothing has changed. Although the war between the two worlds has fully commenced, its core remains unchanged. This is because all the pieces are placed on the chessboard, and there are no hidden squares or horizontal lines on the board.

There were no surprises, no unexpected events, no variables or intruders; everything was quiet and peaceful, just like a serious and simple ordinary teaching session on transcendence.

A proper and straightforward teaching method for ordinary transcendent beings...

Alice was somewhat bewildered. She clearly felt that there should be more to it than this, and she could clearly sense some vague clues. Luo Ye's invitation, her connection to this world, the division between idealism and materialism, even her and Patchouli's somewhat reckless actions—all these were suspicious points in her eyes. And such suspicious points should have led to some terrible trap, or some complex and bizarre scheme. Yet, twelve epochs had passed without a trace of them!

She had so suspiciously delayed for twelve epochs precisely to uncover Luo Ye's true purpose hidden behind the teaching process, hadn't she? But now she had found a solution; she was certain that the war she had instigated would recur in the next epoch, greatly expanding her own timeline reserves and eradicating Luo Ye's traces here. And then…

And then everything just happened so uneventfully?

Luo Ye really didn't have any hidden tricks, and there were no formidable monsters or secrets lurking in this world.

Are you kidding me?!

If that's the case, wouldn't it be just like going on vacation?

But what kind of vacations had she taken before? Was it the biohazard that turned the earth into an Apple logo, or the long and tedious Wandering Earth?

This is impossible, this is unrealistic, this... shouldn't be true.

However, if there truly is some secret, some trap involved, then what is the point of this situation where tools are used against tools, and the players are merely observing? Luo Ye would never allow himself and his companions to waste their time here!

She truly couldn't understand, she was utterly bewildered, because she simply couldn't imagine it—

—Was this spontaneous trip really just a normal holiday filled with sisterly interaction and fun educational moments?

She couldn't help but tilt her head to look at her partner, who had spent so many years with her here, seeking their opinion.

"Patch!"

Section 15 - I feel very bad

“Patch, I’m… a little lost right now.” Alice’s voice was full of confusion.

—She immediately received a response: “Where are you confused, Alice?”

“I can’t find my way forward.” Alice reached out, gently clenching her fist, as if trying to grasp something, but only space itself fell between her fingers—she then emphasized again, “I feel like I’m caught in a conspiracy, that there’s a crisis and an enemy I haven’t yet discovered lurking in the shadows… I think so, many of the clues I’ve observed lead me to this conclusion. But actually…”

“But I think…” she frowned. “I seem to be worrying unnecessarily.”

“You’re not a fool,” Patchouli said earnestly, her fingers resting on Patchouli’s wrist. “For you and me, the collapse of the sky isn’t a rare occurrence. If you wanted, you could make the sky of a star collapse anytime.”

“Patch…” Alice’s lips twitched. “Your way of comforting people… is rather novel.”

“Just stating the facts,” Patchouli shrugged. “Or do you think you really need my comfort?”

She smiled gently, and Alice immediately pursed her lips as well.

Ah, that's right. Comfort is unnecessary, because all emotional shifts are within Alice's own control. Aside from the feeling of love, which she neither needs nor will interfere with, every emotion that arises in her heart is under her grasp. Even this perplexing 'confusion,' and even 'confusion' itself, is the same.

With just a slight shift in her mind, she could erase all these meaningless distractions. And when she did so, she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

Then, he opened his eyes, which were no longer filled with confusion.

“Patch, I have a suspicion about something.” She pressed her fingers to her chin, speaking calmly and concisely. “I suspect that our decision to have the imps act on our behalf and to use tools against tools was arranged by Luo Ye. Because our previous attempt to break the rules was a bit reckless. In the past, we wouldn’t have done something like that.”

"Is there any evidence?"

“There’s no evidence. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t. Do you remember why we started this course? Luo Ye severed my absolute trust in her.” She paused slightly, because she sensed Patchouli’s fingers on her wrist curl slightly—she took Patchouli’s hand in return. “And that, in fact, can be considered evidence.”

“She knows me very well and has a high probability of being able to predict my next move. In other words, her severing of this absolute trust is the starting point for me to embark on the path of transcendence and question everything. Based on this theory, it is only natural that we would question the information she has already released and thus have the intention to test her.”

Luo Ye called it a competition, a lesson, a practical class on transcending interspecies conflict, and that she would only use the love song of gauze as a pawn in her intervention in the world—in the past, even before this fantastical journey began, Alice would have unconditionally trusted every word she spoke. Because Alice knew that if there was anyone in this world who would never harm her, it would undoubtedly be Luo Ye—however, Luo Ye severed that trust.

Trust, what is trust?

The essence of trust is that, in the absence of certain conditions, external factors can lead to a biased acceptance of one side of a choice. In other words, it is driven by emotion and lacks rationality.

A stranger will not unconditionally trust another stranger. But if this 'other stranger' has provided some help or shown kindness to the former, then the former may trust the latter because of that help, especially if the latter's request to the former does not require the former to pay much of a price.

This is common sense, it's something that should be taken for granted.

The concepts of 'stranger' and 'another stranger' can also be extended as subjects. For example, 'individual' and 'nation'. For example, 'scholar' and 'law'. For example, 'believer' and 'deity'. For example, 'warrior' and 'comrade'. And for example... 'children' and 'parents'.

For mortals, for the extraordinary, and even for the true God, this 'trust' is precious and necessary. It is precisely these acts of trust that constitute the entire network of human relationships, the nation, society, and the space in which an intellectual being exists in the universe. And all of this will become worthless the moment one embarks on the path of transcendence.

No, it's not that they're worthless, but rather that they're obstacles. Because to transcend everything, one must understand everything, ensuring that none of these things become a burden. And understanding doesn't mean abandoning them, but rather quantifying and measuring them, allowing one's past to become mere 'memory,' thus erasing all influence of the 'past' on the 'present.'

Only in this way can a true god embark on the path of transcendence and survive the inevitable cataclysm of the era.

Luo Ye's actions severed the trust between 'parents and children,' 'warriors and comrades'—the trust still existed, and Alice still regarded Luo Ye as her sister and loved her. If one day Luo Ye were to suffer trauma before her eyes, or even lose her, she would still be immersed in grief. But this grief would not have the slightest impact on her.

Everything will be purified, leaving only one's own path and obsession.

The result of this action is that Alice will inevitably question all of Alice's actions as a stranger, rather than ignoring all the doubts about her because she loves her as a sister—love and questioning are not contradictory, and naturally, they can exist independently without affecting each other.

I love her more than I love myself. But she taught me that once this sisterly love is seen through and purified, I will turn my blade against her if she threatens Patches—without hesitation. Ah, the Transcendent… truly a lonely existence. But then again, if one desires to rise above all, then having no one by one's side is the necessary price.

Her longing didn't occupy much of her time. And after that thought passed, she naturally continued the previous topic.

"...Similarly, since this is inevitable, it is only natural that she calculated our subsequent actions in advance. So after she made that 'punishing' response, it is only natural that we would come up with a 'tool against tool' strategy based on the psychology of compensation."

“In other words, we’ve been manipulated by my sister all along?” Patchouli nodded, then asked, “But what does that mean?”

“…I don’t know.” Alice hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “I can only take this as evidence that Luo Ye had planted some secret scheme in this lesson. But what exactly she planted, and for what purpose, and which scheme she planted…I don’t know.”

"So you just sense a trap, but you don't know what kind of trap it is, or even what the purpose of its existence is?" Patchouli nodded, looking at the only person she trusted. "Alice, you might just be habitually suspicious, like how you used to prepare hundreds of strategies for different situations in advance, even if the situation was so simple that you could see it at a glance, but in the end only one or two... at most three or four plans would be put into practice."

“Alice,” she said, placing Alice’s hand on her chest to warm the coldness. “You’re too suspicious. So suspicious that you overreact.”

“…Perhaps.” Alice nodded. Then she asked, “But Patchouli, if my doubts are truly meaningless, then it means this really is just an ordinary teaching session. And for us, it could even be considered an ordinary vacation. Patchouli, will we really encounter an ‘ordinary vacation’?”

This time, it was Patchouli's turn to fall into deep thought.

Ah, that's right. While the path to transcendence requires understanding and purifying everything—in other words, questioning and no longer blindly believing in formulas, theorems, common sense, and everything else taken for granted—the rule that 'vacation always brings bad luck' should naturally be included—but doubt aside, will such a thing really never happen?

Think about your past. What exactly did you and your friends experience on each of these so-called 'vacations'?

The first vacation was Transformers, which left me exhausted. The second vacation was Ju-on, an apocalypse. The third vacation was after the end of Bleach, a battle between gods from another world. And the fourth trip to the East even saw Shinki, who should have been in the audience, actually participate!

And then there's the biochemical journey that dismantles the Earth into Apple logos, and the subsequent, indescribable, wandering Earth...

Damn it! Patchouli even suspected that even if she and Alice became saints one day—which was unrealistic, then quasi-saints—they might still run into the multiverse reshuffling war when they decided to take a vacation!

She was unaware of the extraordinary feat she had just accomplished. However, the very fact that she could set such a precedent proved the damnably correctness of this principle. After all, the so-called path to transcendence, which supposedly sees through everything, ultimately only seeks to understand the residual influences within the source world to survive the great epochal calamity. It doesn't mean one should even try to understand things and concepts at the multiverse level!

After all, they are reincarnators, and Alice and Luo Ye have even more extraordinary backgrounds. If everything truly needs to be deciphered and purified, then wouldn't that mean even the Supreme God, the Abyss of Death, Gaia, and Shen Qi would all need to be deciphered?

Are you kidding me? It's one thing to disbelieve those three nonsensical things, but to disbelieve in the Supreme God? Is the Supreme God too weak to wield a sword, or are the side quests and privilege rewards no longer appealing? Alice is one thing, but she can only roam freely here because the Supreme God is protecting her!

She couldn't help but cough lightly, originally wanting to cover up her embarrassment—but after thinking about it, it seemed there was no need to cover it up, so she simply exposed her embarrassment directly to Alice—she sighed softly, and then found that Alice was sighing with her.

They looked at each other in silence.

Though no tears flowed freely, they remained silent as they gazed at each other.

Patchouli even felt a pang of nostalgia for Mr. Zheng, who was enjoying himself far away in the Main God Space. Even though that muscular gorilla had embarked on the path of transcendence just like them, he was still an incredibly stupid idiot. And an idiot of that caliber wouldn't be bothered by such things!

The light screen in mid-air continued to flicker. Just as Alice had predicted, the war between the Little Devil and Sasaki Aika quickly devolved into a tedious, attritional tug-of-war of endless battles. Now, aside from a very few planes and stars that the two of them deliberately ignored, and the far too remote and isolated borderlands, every inch of void or galaxy in this twin universe was engulfed in flames of war.

They couldn't determine a victor, because the decapitation strike was impossible, and they couldn't possibly create a decisive weapon that could turn the tide in an instant. Therefore, their battle would continue. Perhaps only when the thirteenth era of this universe reached its end would they be able to settle their differences in that apocalyptic twilight—a 'life-or-death struggle' where they could be resurrected at any moment beside Loy or Patchouli.

Does this mean anything? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.

Luo Ye didn't admit that the battles between the transcendent species were in this pattern of 'using proxies to fight and thus occupying a source world's timeline for a long time,' but she also didn't deny Alice and the others' speculations about the war between the transcendent species. Without any additional intelligence channels, the clueless Alice and the clumsy Patchouli could only stay there like puppets, watching the two sides fight like rag dolls.

It's boring, but what can you do if you're bored? Cutting off this feeling won't change the situation.

Silence returned to the spacious hall. And within that silence, two silent sighs mingled.

Silence, silence that lasted for a long time.