Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

The Ocean of Consciousness was created for the inhabitants of Terra, that's true. But even so, the native inhabitants of Terra do not entirely belong to this Ocean of Consciousness, which has since been renamed the Warp.

They are outsiders, outsiders with almost 100% compatibility with this universe.

However, being close to 100% is not truly 100%. That remaining infinitesimal fraction provides the space for the birth of the true natives of this universe, the offspring of all things.

And so, one day, something called 'demon' was born.

They were named 'demons' because they shared striking similarities with a natural phenomenon that occurred hundreds of years ago, when the Sea of ​​Consciousness was first established. This phenomenon, known as the Demonic Descent, subsequently created countless mortals in the present world and allowed them to grow and prosper. Initially, the native inhabitants of Terra even believed that mortals had already chased them from the present world into the dream world.

This event caused widespread panic across New Terra. However, when Lin Xi, as the leader, decisively took action, capturing and analyzing the demon, she discovered a significant difference between this newly born 'demon' and the 'demon' of the old era, which was essentially a mortal soul.

The demons of the old era were alien beings whose souls, consumed by pain and torment and enveloped in negative emotions, died. They were then reborn in the warp—their essence was soul, with hatred and curses as secondary attributes. If the negative emotions and pain were removed, even the most vile and violent demon would revert to a mortal form. However, the demons of the new era are entirely different.

Because they are not souls shrouded in negative emotions—they are the very manifestation of negative emotions themselves. The various emotions that surge and linger in the present world, those that have endured in this universe of consciousness, intertwine and twist, ultimately constructing this new type of life that shares a similar appearance with the demons of the old era, yet possesses a different essence. Compared to mortals or the native inhabitants of Terra, they are more like the offspring of this nascent universe.

They cannot be restored—the alien species formed from negative emotions, after all negative emotions are stripped away and eliminated, the only outcome is that they are completely erased from this universe—they are the embodiment of evil, and from the moment they are born into the world, they crave all kinds of filth and blasphemy.

Purifying them is tantamount to killing them. Transforming them is also tantamount to killing them—Lin Xi discovered that he had encountered another intractable disease similar to Oripathy from years ago. Because as long as there is contact with them, the constantly dissipating negative emotions will erode the life form, even causing irreversible transformations that are tantamount to death. And after the life form has completed all the transformations, it naturally becomes one of the demons of the new era.

This is a dilemma.

Lin Xi found herself, as the ruling party, almost powerless against this demonic phenomenon—akin to the original inhabitants of the universe, akin to a natural occurrence. She couldn't allow Terra to kill and erase them as it had done with the Infected for centuries when it was helpless against Oripathy, because that would mean the complete collapse of Terra's ideology, tantamount to self-destruction in this idealistic universe. However, if she ignored it, the fate of the new Terra would likely not be pleasant either.

Because she knew that Terra's victory over Oripathy back then was due not only to the extraordinary efforts of Sirin and her companions, but more importantly, to the inexplicable and sudden rise in the moral standards of the entire island. This allowed the Infected and the Uninfected to set aside their prejudices and barriers and work together. However, things are completely different now!

The Terran inhabitants, corrupted by these new-era primal demons, don't possess the normal rationality and communication abilities of the infected from the old era, where cooperation could be achieved simply by speaking politely and treating them with sincerity. No, after being corrupted, they have transformed into a completely different species, a new species that possesses nothing but the negative emotions it represents!

They became a new species, one that seemed to inherit the will of the universe, indiscriminately hating all life except themselves. And they had absolutely nothing to say to the inhabitants of Terra!

The two groups cannot tolerate each other. Therefore, war is the only way to solve the problem.

However, for Terra, for what was once an ideal nation, war was an unacceptable solution.

—The inhabitants of Terra should feel fortunate.

Fortunately, the ruler was Lin Xi, who hadn't become twisted or held excessively high moral standards. If it had been any other wise person from Terra who held the position, they would have been helpless, only able to lead the escape from the region, and ultimately watch helplessly as the newly born demons eroded Terra's inhabitants, unable to retaliate—because this was their ideology. They could resist, they could retaliate, but they couldn't proactively eliminate the enemy when they were weak. They couldn't strike first, just as they hadn't been able to shut out mortals when they were weak.

They won't work, but Lin Xi will.

They can't do it, but Lin Xi can.

While scholars were at a loss about the future, Lin Xi took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility—she didn't need to expend much effort to arrive at the conclusion that 'when a demon, symbolizing the manifestation of negativity, is born, a Holy Spirit, equivalent to the aggregation of positive emotions, will also appear,' and developed a technology to utilize this phenomenon. After that, she took the initiative, keeping it a secret from all her close friends and companions, gathering all the newly born 'Holy Spirits' in this universe near New Terra before the 'demons' could expand in scale—

—She transformed Neo-Terra into a wellspring, pump, and supply well of positive emotions, and as the demons of the new era spread and expanded in this nascent universe, a sacred kingdom inhabited by countless holy spirits was created, centered on Neo-Terra!

Positive and negative are destined to be incompatible.

The Holy Spirit and the Demon are destined to fight from birth.

New Terra has in fact become the legendary kingdom of the gods—the gods dwell in an eternally beautiful and prosperous garden. They live happily and carefree, while countless holy spirits surround the kingdom, protecting the gods' beautiful garden and resisting all external evils.

Lin Xi accomplished this; she successfully provided a sufficiently strong protection for New Terra—the inhabitants of Terra would not impose their own moral principles on other races, they would not interfere with the actions of the Holy Spirits, and the Holy Spirits would fight and kill each other with the demons.

She saved Terra.

In order to protect Terra and its inhabitants, she must, as ruler, prevent the people of Terra from leaving this safe land—she must break the unwritten rule of centuries-old abdication and become the Empress of Terra.

So she did just that.

She became a dictator, alienating all her former friends. Apart from Skadi, who had always stood by her side, she became the only truly alone person on all of Terra. And her sacrifices made her will manifest, bringing to life the myths and legends that permeated the many universes.

—The King of Gods issued a decree, and from then on, the gods could no longer leave their palaces. They enjoyed all the good things in their eternally prosperous gardens, but remained deaf to the suffering on earth.

Ancient myths have become reality. From the heavens above, the Queen of Kings watches over the suffering of the mortal realm. And everything unfolds exactly as she foresaw in her decision-making: while the demons are thwarted by the Holy Spirits, the Holy Spirits are also bogged down in the sacred realm that Terra has created, unable to escape. And as more demons are born in the mortal realm, rushing towards the mortals, their defeat becomes an inevitable consequence.

Because this is a world of idealism, where the power of the mind surpasses the power of matter. The war between mortals and demons will breed even more demons. Therefore, unless, like Lin Xi, the source of turmoil is nipped in the bud, mortals will ultimately be overwhelmed by an endless stream of demons.

The mortal civilization of the present world was thus destroyed.

When Lin Xi, who had elevated her life to a terrifying level over the long course of time, descended to the mortal realm as the only god-king who didn't need to consider moral boundaries, she saw only ruins and remnants of human civilization that had degenerated to the tool-making stage in the ruins of Old Terra.

The demons destroyed mortals, taking everything they possessed. Yet, they didn't exterminate them completely, for they needed mortals—a group of beings with complex emotions—to provide them with a source of power. They scattered mortals across the stars of the mortal realm, letting them struggle against each other in the mire. And amidst all the fighting, killing, and slaughter, the demonic hordes grew stronger.

They foresaw, or rather, sensed, Lin Xi's arrival. And they welcomed it—they knew they couldn't kill or defeat Lin Xi, even alone. But they knew that what Lin Xi was about to do would give them even greater opportunities to grow stronger.

They peered out from the shadows, watching Lin Xi's every move.

They saw the God-King of the Dream Realm come into contact with mortals in the mortal world, and then the God-King brought a potentially useful gift to this barren land.

--Belief.

What you believe is not important; the key is belief itself. As long as you empty your mind and focus on a single belief, then naturally there won't be too many negative emotions.

Lin Xi spent ten years on the land of Old Terra, during which time she provided at least a hundred distinct beliefs to the mortal civilization there. Some believed in nature, some in the void, some in celestial phenomena, and some in her. Besides these, there was another group of mortals hidden among these hundred beliefs, and this group believed in the inherent sacredness of humanity itself.

She taught them, and she watched their beliefs purify. She knew they would fight each other because of their differences. She also knew that countless other mortal civilizations lay scattered in the depths of space beyond them.

She knew everything, but she still chose to do it.

Because she understood that if they didn't drink the poison, the mortals would die of thirst in this perilous desert before they could grow strong enough to face their own problems.

So, ten years later, she returned to the dream world.

She has once again become a dictatorial god-king.

She knew that no inhabitant of Terra would overthrow her, because conflict did not align with their ideals, and she was merely a dictator who had not harmed the rights of other lives.

And so she began her long wait in the court of the God-King.

One hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years.

She waited, watched, and observed the development and changes of the civilizations on both sides.

Then she discovered that everything was exactly the same as it had been ten thousand years ago.

The Holy Kingdom remains the Holy Kingdom, unchanged, exactly as it was ten thousand years ago. The inhabitants of Terra, now equivalent to gods, still possess noble sentiments, yet they remain isolated from the outside world within the paradise woven by their divine king. They are unaware of the struggle between the Holy Spirits and the demons, and thus they stagnate, repeating the same years over and over again in this unchanging kingdom.

A mortal kingdom remains a mortal kingdom. They have risen and fallen many times, and even with faith—a tool to sustain themselves and resist demonic corruption—they are still destined for destruction when faced with an endless sea of ​​demons. They rise and fall time and again, hundreds of faiths taking turns dominating, only to return to dust once more.

The universe has come to a standstill.

Although the universe itself continues to expand, the stories within it have come to a standstill.

Because all the characters are trapped in their own positions and cannot move, all the actors can only perform the same monotonous repetitive performances on a predetermined platform.

Lin Xi finally came to the conclusion that he had reached the end of his ideal world.

"Excessively high moral standards can create an ideal state of perpetual peace, but such a state, upon reaching its peak, will inevitably undergo a complete transformation."

'Because an ideal is inherently a state of equilibrium, whether dynamic or static, it implies that the country will never develop again.'

It became rigid—but it did not decay or perish.

'Because corruption and decay are also forms of change.'

【So……】

On the throne of the God-King, Lin Xi whispered to himself in deep thought.

"An ideal, a balanced nation that brings together all that is true, good and beautiful, but is stagnant."

"...What benefit would this bring to the multiverse?"

Side Story: The Pursuit of Ideals - Conclusion

"...I did something unnecessary."

“I… have deviated from my original beliefs and stance.”

On her throne, Lin Xi gazed at her own hands and found the answer. She finally understood why everything had turned out this way, and why she had been worried about these changes. She also understood why she had those thoughts just moments before.

What use is Terran civilization to the multiverse?

Ah, that's a good question. But why should she be the one to ponder it? Why should she be the one to answer it? Lin Xi is clearly just an observer, just a recorder, so why should she deal with a conclusion that even gods and saints cannot reach, and why should she have to cause such mental turmoil?

This was a mistake, something unnecessary.

As the saying goes, one cannot discuss ice with a summer insect, because the existence of ice is of no value to a summer insect.

As the saying goes, "Every man has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation," but a man's responsibility is limited to the rise and fall of the nation. Even the most responsible man has no need to think about the birth and death of a galaxy a hundred million light-years away.

As the ruler of Terra, Lin Xi may have an obligation to maintain Terra's stability, expel its external enemies, and even extend Terra's rule into the future. However, under no circumstances should she consider the 'value of Terra to the multiverse'.

"Those who are not in a position should not concern themselves with its affairs."

"I am merely the ruler of Terra for life, not Terra itself."

Lin Xi's fingertips brushed against her hair, her vision clearly observing every corner of the Terra land. She watched every event happening and to happen in this sacred kingdom.

...She will soon lose her rule. During her millennia-long reign, the inhabitants of Terra have become acquainted with her as a ruler for life, but the secret she has concealed remains a ticking time bomb. While she has kept it hidden for millennia, her secrecy is not without its flaws.

She overlooked someone, someone she was closest to and most familiar with, but who was not of the same origin as her.

And now, this individual, whom she trusts and who knows many of her secrets, is subtly revealing the secrets she has kept hidden to the many inhabitants of this sacred kingdom.

Skadi betrayed her.

No, it should be said that she was the first to betray Skadi and all the inhabitants of Terra.

Because Lin Xi is the only individual in all of Neo Terra who hasn't suffered a mental distortion and thus achieved a high moral level. And she has never truly accepted the idea that 'Skadi is also a member of the Terra population.'

“I made a mistake.” She withdrew her gaze, silently reflecting before Terra’s dignitaries arrived at the court and launched their impeachment proceedings. She reflected on her actions over the millennia, observing the many subtle changes within. Then, she knew exactly where her mistake lay.

She is the observer.

She should have remained outside the two civilizations, observing their changes, recording their development, and collecting the ultimate conclusions they pointed to. But why, why did she unnaturally become involved, thus distorting these two civilizations in the universe into such a way?

When demons invaded Terra, why did she begin building this sacred kingdom to protect its inhabitants, instead of simply participating and observing its eventual development?

When mortal civilizations are destroyed, why does she descend into a mortal form and guide the rise of lost mortal civilizations time and time again, even though she had already declared herself no longer an ordinary person before ascending to the throne?

Was it because he was the ruler of Terra? — But a ruler should only last a hundred years, after which responsibility and power should be handed over to the successor for decision-making. To be a ruler for life and bear so many secrets on one's own is not something a ruler should bear, and the reason he did so was clearly out of his own will and desire.

He was merely in power, yet he did things outside of his official duties.

Despite not being an ordinary person, they always shield others from view.

The reason why the two civilizations in this universe have developed into their current state is nothing more than the interference and distortion of Ms. Lin Xi. It was clearly she who created the current balance, it was clearly she who caused the mortal world and the kingdom of Terra to fall into the current stagnant and stable state, and now she is making useless entanglements and worries about what she herself has accomplished?

There must be a reason for this.

Now, after analyzing herself, she has a clear understanding of the true cause.

She closed her eyes, and then softly uttered the word.

“…Connection.” she whispered to herself.

The Holy Spirit and Terra are connected through cooperation and symbiosis. Mortals and Terra are connected through faith and hatred. And Lin Xi and Terra are connected through her position of power and Skadi's existence.