I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

For various reasons, Joan didn't really understand Anne's true nature. If Anne had retained her memories, she might have been more reserved in front of Joan, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

At this moment, she was in a dream woven by the whole world, without any memory of being "Anne". Instead, her true nature was exposed to Joan without any disguise - it was a terrifying feeling of being a hunter. After Joan appeared in front of Anne, she felt as if she was being watched.

"Who are you? Tell me everything you know."

Although Anne pressed her for details, Joan hadn't originally planned to tell her everything, because she hadn't yet determined the setting of this dream world, nor did she know what role Anne played here. A hasty confession might confuse Anne...

Then Annie tricked her into revealing everything, even the color of her underwear.

"Waaaaah...Why!"

"I'm the one who wants to know why, right? I don't want to know anything about wearing black lace underwear to win battles." Annie pouted and said irritably, "You're about as gullible as some stupid woman who's always shining."

Annie's memory hadn't returned; it was still somewhat ambiguous. She couldn't recall the names or specific appearances of the people, but as long as they were residents of the floating city, regardless of their attitudes towards the powerful witch, they could understand who the "stupid woman who shines all day" was.

Joan was shocked: "Am I really as gullible as Cecil?"

In the floating city, this description is considered the ultimate form of persecution—it persecutes both the person being described and Guangbao.

Anne shrugged noncommittally, but soon she narrowed her eyes and looked around at the world: "So this was a dream? That explains a lot of the incongruities."

"Did you notice the anomaly in the world before, Annie?" Joan asked with some surprise. "Such a solid dream should have almost no flaws. If there were obvious flaws or inconsistencies, such a large-scale dream would collapse very quickly."

Anne frowned. She didn't understand the theoretical basis for maintaining dreams; she wasn't a researcher in this field. But the fact was that she had sensed the incongruity and the falseness of the world even before Joan appeared.

But then she suddenly shook her head, as if trying to shake all the distracting thoughts out of her head. Anne's memories hadn't returned, and she probably could only do so by leaving this dream, but from Joan's narration, she kept focusing on one particular name.

Duke.

"Forget all that boring theory... You said Duke came to save me, right? Duke is waiting for me outside the dream right now, isn't he?"

"That's right."

"I see." Annie's lips curled up slightly. Hearing these words, her mood improved dramatically. She looked up at the azure sky in the dream and murmured to herself, "Looks like I'll have to put in some effort and find a way to destroy this dream."

……

Duke raised the neon gun in his hand, the next round in the magazine was a sheep, but for a soul, the sheep spell obviously couldn't solve the problem. He was just bluffing by holding the revolver like that.

One by one, his companions fell into a coma, and his greatest asset, Lady Scarlet, was entangled with the mute's séance, unable to help for the time being. Duke, who had previously held an absolute advantage, was once again forced into a desperate situation.

Under these circumstances, Talia was virtually invincible; even without her physical body, she had no chance of losing to Duke alone.

And so, she finally showed up.

A somewhat disheveled Talia appeared before Duke. She was in a spirit state, but her expression was both tired and excited. However, she was not complacent despite having an absolute advantage. Instead, she was observing Duke warily, fearing that he would stage another desperate counterattack.

“You almost drove me to the brink, Duke… or rather, you’ve driven me to the brink several times already. If I hadn’t been lucky, I would be dead.”

"Are you mocking me?" Duke chuckled. "I don't need your approval."

"I see."

In Talia's eyes, he was a respectable enemy.

Sleeping Beauty carefully opened her arms. This was Talia's choice to fight here, because the body left behind by the "Creator of Genesis" was in this altar, in the great underground cave below it, where the power of dreams was especially strong.

"Before the final battle, can you satisfy my curiosity, Talia?" Duke asked curiously, "What exactly are you planning to do?"

The representative of the Aphasic Tower faction is Talia. The basic idea of ​​the Tower faction is to embrace the alternate dimension and its bizarre rules, so that the world can usher in a "great evolution". However, in Duke's opinion, what Talia, as the representative of the Tower faction, wants to do seems to be subtly wrong.

To put it bluntly, does she really care about reality?

"I want to save my world." Talia looked at Duke and said slowly, "This place is beyond saving. The slumber has greatly delayed the time of the world's destruction, but it cannot stop the destruction in the end... I want to transfer everyone to the floating city and save everyone."

No one will save them; only they can save themselves.

No matter how sordid the things she had to do, or how many sins she had to commit, Talia was determined to save her homeland and her world.

"Therefore, the Sleeping Beauty game must become a crown-level witch game."

"Therefore, the power of the Aphasic Tower must be strong, and my voice must be powerful enough."

"Therefore, I must find a way to eliminate those who might hinder this plan, such as Carol, Eve, Cecil, and you, Duke."

Chapter 161 People will die if they are killed

No matter how many years Talia prayed, no one came to save the world.

Before her fall, the creator must have been extremely unwilling to accept the destruction of the world. She used all her strength to plunge the world into a lifeless slumber, weaving a beautiful dream so that the life she had just created would not perish as soon as it was born.

However, after accomplishing such a great feat, the great creator perished, leaving behind only a soulless body and a bewildered child.

Talia was this innocent child. She did not receive any mission from the Creator. As the last soul created by the Creator, she was undoubtedly a lucky one.

She doesn't need to prolong her life through slumber, nor is she burdened by the world. She can freely enter and leave this dying world, and she even controls the core power of this world—the legendary destiny of "slumber."

However, after leaving this world, she still chose to come back and try her best to save it.

Her homeland left a deep mark on Talia, and she would never deceive herself by saying, "It's okay, I won't do anything, and the world will be fine."

If the first "Talia" was the creator, then the second "Talia" wanted to become the savior; she wanted to save the world.

To save her world, Talia would stop at nothing! Knowing the world was about to be destroyed, this was the sole meaning of her life.

……

Duke understood Talia's meaning, that everything she had done was to save her home world, and he also understood her actions up to this point—to put it bluntly, all the misunderstanding stemmed from their different perspectives.

The Tower faction among the mute are utterly insane, but Talia, as the representative of the Tower faction, is not insane—she is from another world, so who can accuse her of going too far? Doesn't the floating city lack adventurers or witches who run rampant when they enter another dimension?

For most adventurers, the people from other dimensions are not human at all; they are just NPCs that can be respawned. They may not intentionally go on a killing spree, but they don't care too much about the lives of humans from other dimensions. If necessary, they will take action on their own.

To put it bluntly, how are their actions any different from Talia's?

Even Duke, who would save as many people as possible, didn't have much time to worry about the humans he encountered in the Witch Game—he had never considered what would happen to the humans still living in the alternate dimension after the Witch Game was completed.

Will they die when the alternate dimension collapses? Or will they be forced to leave their homeland and randomly transported to other worlds?

Duke shook his head.

He wasn't a saint; he would save people within his power, but he wouldn't risk his life to save complete strangers. His power wasn't enough to save everyone, much less the world... and he had no desire to either.

He could understand Talia, yet he couldn't understand her either.

"But no matter the reason, I can never forgive you."

During the Cinderella game, during the Clothes Kingdom game, and during Truth or Dare.

Amber, Cecil, Natasha, Kazuki, Joseph, the Star Sisters, Anne...

"You have hurt too many people around me. I simply cannot accept the idea of ​​saving the world... not to mention that the world you are saving is not the world I belong to."

Duke shook his head, the neon light in his hand still pointed at Talia. They had no way out; the only possibility was to fight each other.

She had her principles, and he had his reasons.

Regardless of reason, right or wrong, good or evil.

All they need is a fight to the death.

"Come on, let's fight each other."

He came to kill Talia, and Talia was standing there to kill him. Their relationship was simple, direct, and straightforward—the relationship between killer and victim.

Before Duke could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a strong drowsiness. Duke shook his body violently and finally managed to stay awake with the help of the system. However, this brief moment of confusion caused Duke to miss his only chance.

Talia suddenly appeared in front of Duke, reaching out to pierce his chest. The Hand of Souls easily pierced through his chest, grasped his heart, and then abruptly filled with power, becoming tangible.

With a sharp pain in her chest, blood gushed out like a fountain. In the blood fountain, Talia, in her soul form, was not stained with a single drop of blood, except for her right hand, which she had pulled from Duke's chest, which was covered in dripping blood.

Duke collapsed silently.

Without anyone else to restrain them, level 10 elites are so vulnerable in the face of a determined near-legendary.

Duke is dead.

[Task completed, reward available.]

In the previous game, Duke accepted a mission:

[Quest Acceptance: Who killed me?]

[Mission Objective: Be killed by Talia.]

[Quest Reward: Sulfur Fire]

He originally thought the mission would be completed after being ambushed by Talia, but because of Annie's selfless rescue, Duke did not die, and naturally the mission was not completed.

But frankly... even if you complete the mission and obtain the sulfur fire, what then?

He is dead.

……

Anne suddenly felt her heart skip a beat, as if something was happening far away, unseen by her.

She began to worry.

But knowing nothing, Annie didn't know what to worry about, so she could only shake her head and look at her parents.

In this dream, they wielded considerable power, holding high titles as Duke and Duchess, enjoying the King's favor, and possessing a vast estate. Thanks to them, Anne's brief dream life was quite comfortable.

She also has a younger sister, who, according to Joan, is Jasmine, another kidnapped person still trapped in a dream. However, Jasmine is not currently in the Duchy, so Anne cannot confirm Joan's statement.

It's worth mentioning that Joan, who was refreshed halfway through the dream, is set as a bard in this dream—but here's the problem: her singing skills are comparable to her fiancé, the Mad-Singer, making them veritable hidden dragons and phoenixes of the floating city, only she's not as bad as him.

Being a bard at this level... almost got Joan kicked out by the angry duke.

If it weren't for Anne's help in mediating and persuading, Joan definitely wouldn't have been able to stay.

Just as the two women were greeting Anne's parents and contemplating their next move, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them.

Anne was stunned for a moment, because the man who suddenly appeared in front of her looked so familiar, which made her feel a surge of impulse.

"Duke?!"

Joan made a somewhat surprised sound, and at the same time, Annie pounced on Duke without hesitation, hugging him like an octopus!

"Duke!!!"

Chapter 162 What Kind of Man Are You?

"Duke!!!"