I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Having witnessed Duke's successful gamble, Talia might still be thinking, "Maybe I'll have a chance to get the Soul Requiem too?"

Then, the bullet collided with the textile again. The textile fell down unharmed and unchanged, while Talia's soul remained in place... floating in the air.

"The prey has been caught."

Duke smiled triumphantly, but in that instant, a chill suddenly pierced his back, followed by a sharp pain.

Talia's first exposed voice rang out:

“I agree, Mr. Duke.”

Chapter 117 Deus ex Machina 3K3

“I agree, Mr. Duke.”

The predator's textile-like tentacles gripped a single, large pair of scissors, piercing Duke's spine with a single strike. His tuxedo exploded open at the top, revealing Duke's muscular body, and blood splattered out. But compared to the physical wounds, the severe injury to his soul was far more deadly for Duke.

It is the core of this world, and the strict rules of the other dimension are of little use to it. The birth of this monster is abnormal. Normally, it should also meet the other dimension rules it set for itself, but under Talia's intervention, it has become a monster without any scruples.

When preying on humans before, the predator would swallow them whole, body and soul, causing a bloody tragedy. Attacking Duke now also severely injured both his body and soul.

Duke felt as if a thousand steel needles were piercing his head; the pain was so intense it made it difficult for him to concentrate.

……what happened?

He barely managed to turn around. Starflower was still clutching the divine scissors they had been holding. Little Starflower was stunned by this sight, but Star Sound beside her reacted swiftly. Her Majesty the Queen snatched the divine scissors from Starflower's hand, rushed over, severed the tentacle for Duke, grabbed the other single-edged scissors, and then hurriedly asked:

"Mr. Amber, are you alright?"

"Puha—"

Duke spat out a mouthful of blood and bits of flesh, then looked up at Talia's soul.

Unlike the mature Megan, Talia, who revealed her true self, was clearly a young girl. She looked like she had just come of age, with a petite figure wearing a princess dress that resembled a nightgown and a crystal crown on her head, suggesting that she was also a princess or queen.

“The prey has been caught, Mr. Duke. Ignoring the ‘predator’ was a huge oversight.” After being forced out of the possessed body, Talia revealed a genuine smile and said in a clear voice, “In its home turf, even a moment is enough for it to undergo earth-shattering changes. With your damaged soul, do you feel like you’ve forgotten something?”

"...Not yet."

“It will begin soon. With the soul damaged, memory loss is unavoidable.” Talia shook her head. “However, the opportunity is rare. I’m considering whether to go further and nip this threat in the bud.”

Her voice was very clear, but as the conversation progressed, Megan, who had been confronting and resisting Talia, suddenly fell into a deep sleep. The little black creature she was possessing also turned back into a kitten and collapsed in a daze. On the contrary, Xingyin, who was supporting him, and Xinghua, who was standing next to him, were not affected by Talia's "magic".

However, the "predator" did not sleep. Hungry, it stared at Duke, Talia, and the Star Sisters. It seemed to have been drooling over these souls who still possessed conscious will for a long time—only because of the pressure Talia exerted on it, this final boss of the alternate dimension had not yet taken action.

"They are the protagonists and antagonists of this witch's game. With the protection of another dimension, I cannot get them to sleep for the time being."

Sleeping Beauty Talia spread her hands, everything was still under her control. Although Duke tried to stir up some trouble and successfully forced her out of the vessel she was possessing, the power of Cinderella's remains was limited. Even if the Soul Requiem was still resounding, what could he do?

“I really can’t imagine how terrifying you would be if you were any stronger, Mr. Duke.”

"...Now that I'm back in the floating city, I really need to start leveling up."

"It's a pity we can't go back."

Talia snapped her fingers.

Immediately afterwards, a switch inside the predator's body was flipped, and it roared. Its body began to grow and change violently, and the humans nearby withered at a visible speed. All their souls and blood were swallowed by it, and it became more and more like an ordinary human at a visible speed.

"What happened? Why is everyone..." Xinghua exclaimed in shock, while Xingyin put the two scissors together, grabbed the complete God's Scissors, pointed them at the predator, and shouted at Talia, "Devil, what have you done?! What have you done to my people?"

“Then you should ask it, not me.” Talia shook her head, looked up at the moon hanging in the sky, “This world is about to collapse, and the sound of its collapse has been drowned out by this deafening requiem, so you haven’t noticed… Star Sisters, haven’t you noticed that there are only the two of you left in this world?”

"What did you say?" Xingyin lowered the scissors in her hand in shock. "How is this possible?"

"In that short period of time, everyone else has become part of the predator."

The predator has completely shed its original textile doll form and has transformed into a human wearing a bikini. However, the madness and evil within her have not diminished with her transformation into a human; on the contrary, they have increased several times over.

With a stomp of her foot, she arrived in front of Xinghua at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, slapping her away. Then she kicked Xingyin, who barely managed to catch it with the Divine Scissors, but ultimately could not resist the enormous force, and was kicked to the ground, rolling seven or eight times before barely stopping.

“It’s over. I’ve won, Mr. Duke. You can no longer start the cycle of reincarnation… Making a wish comes at a price. The conditions for stopping the cycle of reincarnation are definitely not just ‘the dissipation of my soul.’ Your death should also be able to stop the cycle of reincarnation.”

Talia told the truth.

All of this was within her calculations. Did Talia not know that the rules of this world posed a great threat to her? Of course she knew, but she didn't care, because she didn't think Duke could threaten her at all.

Even with Megan's restraint, the requiem for the soul and the Cinderella remnant interlude, and the schemes he devised in return... it wasn't enough.

"Deus ex machina".

"What?" Talia didn't hear what Duke said. "What did you say?"

"The description of the 'Deus Ex' item was not clear enough, so I had wanted to activate it for a long time but had never succeeded. Now I finally understand how to use it."

Duke raised his head, a potion dangling from his lips. It wasn't a healing potion, as healing potions couldn't heal damage to the soul, but rather a stimulant potion; its stimulation allowed Duke to temporarily regain his senses.

"I have to write a script that is both reasonable and unreasonable for 'deus ex machina' to come true according to my ideas."

Listening to Duke's words, Talia felt a sense of inexplicable fear for some reason.

[Item Name: Deus Ex Machina]

[Item Description: The technique of deus ex machina will break the story's logic and ruin the viewing experience, but it can save the protagonist, such as you, from a desperate situation.]

[Item Effect: Creates one "Deus Ex" (Cooldown: One Final Act).]

The power of the potion erupted in Duke's mouth. He opened his mouth, letting out the fiery heat with each breath. At the same time, he took out the "Deus Ex" he had already taken out and held it in his hand. It was something that looked a bit like a tape recorder, with three buttons: record, start, and stop.

Duke pressed record and began to narrate the script he had just written:

"The Soul Requiem has seized control of the rules of the alternate dimension."

"The Star Sisters, wielding the scissors of God, shattered the predator's evil delusions."

"Talia's soul was caught in a suddenly appearing spatial vortex before the world collapsed."

"Duke's one-hit kill..."

Before he could finish the fourth sentence, the recording of the deus ex machina automatically disconnected, and Duke coughed up blood. The use of "deus ex machina" was not without its price; the price was the further extraction of the soul. Duke felt that even in his best condition, he couldn't utter five complete sentences, let alone now that he was severely injured. Being able to utter three and a half sentences was already a sign of his last burst of energy.

He took a deep breath, pressed the start button, and then heard the "recording machine" playing:

"Deus Ex Machina"

The essence of the Soul Requiem is the erosion and takeover of the rules of another dimension. Otherwise, in the previous Cinderella game, he wouldn't have been able to successfully make a wish on Cinderella, who "would not respond to self-destructive wishes," nor would he have been able to preserve Cinderella's last remnants. With the help of the deus ex machina, the requiem in his ears began to change tune.

The world began to shake.

“@＃￥@＆*”

The predator sensed the threat, but its control over the spatial rules had been taken away, and it weakened considerably. It roared and pounced, but no one could understand what it was saying. As if driven by some force, Xinghua and Xingyin got up from the ground, one of them grasping one side of the God's Scissors and stabbing it into its body at an unbelievable angle.

The predator fell as easily as if it were child's play.

As the game nears its end, the world collapses, and the cycle mechanism begins to activate.

But at that moment, the collapse of the alternate dimension caused an unexpected spatial vortex, which captured Talia, who was trying to escape, and stuck in place, unable to move.

"Duke, what did you do? What exactly happened?"

Talia couldn't understand it. She couldn't comprehend why such a dramatic reversal had occurred all at once. She simply couldn't comprehend the power of "deus ex machina," a realm that even legends couldn't fathom.

Duke didn't answer her question. Squeezing out the last bit of power from the potion, he strode towards her.

He could accomplish the fourth sentence that the deus ex machina failed to remember without the power of the deus ex machina.

He rushed in front of Talia, his clenched fist bearing the rules of this alternate dimension that directly attack the soul, and he punched her!

"boom--"

This punch shattered Talia's soul!

Her soul was shattered into countless irreparable fragments by a single punch!

The cycle ends, and the game is completed.

The start button for Deus Ex will skip, and the end button will be automatically pressed.

As the Requiem ended, Starflower and Starsound seemed to collapse from exhaustion. The spatial vortex that had trapped Talia grew larger, delaying Duke's return after completing the game, and even threatening to swallow him up, preventing him from returning to the floating city.

But just then, a "meow" rang out.

Is it Blackie or Megan?

The shadows enveloped the unconscious Star sisters and the soon-to-be unconscious Duke, carrying them away from the spatial vortex, out of the collapsing alternate dimension, and back to the floating city.

Duke finally felt relieved when the streets of the floating city came into view, and then completely passed out.

Chapter 118 You Owe Me a Date

“I’ve told you to be careful so many times, but it seems you haven’t listened at all, Duke. Do you have to come here every week? Seriously, you don’t have to do this for my business. I don’t need your medical bills.”

Eve's voice woke Duke, who struggled to open his eyes, but instead of seeing the witch in the white coat immediately, he saw a black kitten sitting close by—the kitten was sitting on his chest in an elegant and noble posture.

Upon seeing Duke wake up, Little Black blinked and meowed happily.

It must be said that some creatures are pleasing to the eye simply by existing.

The thought flashed through Duke's mind, and then he saw another beautiful face that was pleasing to the eye, except that this person was so beautiful that it could make one's heart stop.

"You're awake, darling?"

When Annie's radiant smile came into view, Duke felt his heart stop for a moment.

“Annie…”

Duke reached out and hugged the little black boy in his arms, almost falling off the bed in excitement. Fortunately, before he could do it, Eve spoke up first:

"Alright, you've seen Duke open his eyes safely, shouldn't we go out now, Annie?"

There's an unwritten rule at the potion-making witch's clinic: family members aren't allowed to stay in the clinic and disturb the patients. Before, Amber, Cecil, and Gretel had all been sent back by Eve, but Annie didn't seem to listen. She insisted on coming to Duke and opening her eyes.

"I understand, Sister Eve."

Annie showed no murderous intent whatsoever (so Little Black didn't show any fear). In fact, to avoid affecting the seriously injured Duke, she even got rid of the lingering aura of the undead creature on her body. She stuck out her tongue cutely at Duke and then shook her head, saying, "Duke, if I hadn't brought you here in time, you would be dead."

"You saved me?"

Duke rubbed his temples. Having just woken up, he was still trying to confirm his memories before he fell into a coma. The last thing he saw was Blackie wrapping himself and the Star sisters in shadow, but Annie was not there.

“She’s telling the truth. If she hadn’t found you lying on the street the moment she saw you and brought you here so quickly, I would have had a hard time saving you.” Eve nodded and chimed in for Annie. As she spoke, she walked toward Duke, reached out and picked up the cute little black cat. Her full breasts made the cat let out a contented purr. “Any later and your injuries would have been much worse.”

Duke turned to look at Annie, who seemed somewhat smug, but her eyes betrayed a deeper sense of lingering fear and regret.