I already said this is not a life simulator!

"Now it seems that our original guess was correct. The number of [cores] should be 1000... It's just that we only recovered 999 at the time. This is the one that was missed."

"But how did it get here?"

[Of course I came here with Kiana and the others~]

"Um?!"

「Oh my god~ Really, they actually set up such a plan just for me to appear, and arranged such a grand ceremony... I really am very popular~」

It controlled the body, posed in an exaggerated and weird posture, and spoke in a narcissistic and sarcastic tone.

[Let me see... you are really amazing~ You are willing to release such a body just to catch me... I remember you were going to use this to revive him, right? You are just giving it to me? ]

[What's wrong? What's wrong? Why aren't you attacking? Are you reluctant to part with it? Let me think... Isn't this body the last one you prepared? If it's destroyed, it's gone? You won't be able to revive him? Right? Right?]

"…How do you know this?"

[How do I know? It's very simple~ I heard you guys tell me~]

"Listen to what we...said?"

[Haven't you figured it out yet? I've been following Mei all along, just like another compatriot~]

It sounds slightly proud.

[After all, the ability of your mind-controlling guy is very useful. It allowed me to attach myself to Mei and see many things.]

"...No, you...wait a minute, don't say anything yet!"

For some reason, Alicia suddenly became a little nervous.

"I think for your own safety, you'd better not..."

[Oh? What if I insist on saying it? ]

It suddenly became interested.

「I am extremely grateful to Mei-san for letting me know about the events of the previous era and for allowing me to see a glimpse of his power.」

[What was his name? Oh... "Xiwang"... Pfft, "Hope", this name is quite interesting, but in the end, wasn't it destroyed by you? By you yourselves~]

Lala——

Faintly, there seemed to be something making a slight sound.

Like the sound of chains clashing.

[If I remember correctly, it was you, Miss Velvet, who did it yourself, right? You pressed the launch button~]

[Oh~ Let me think... Who was the one who caused all that in the first place? ]

Snap——

Faintly, it seemed that something had cracks.

[It seems to be... the "Eighth Herrscher", right~]

[What a coincidence! The power I control now seems to be the power of the Eighth Herrscher. It is the power of consciousness. What a coincidence! Don’t you think so? Isn’t it?! ]

"Herrserker...Herrserker!"

An angry roar reached everyone's ears.

Lala——

Snap——

It is the sound of countless chains colliding with each other, and the slight sound of countless chains cracking.

"Alisa...sister..."

Gresh came running over, holding a strange painting in her hand... The painting was actually emitting fire! The blazing heat from it made people shudder. Gresh hurriedly put it in a place and ran away... Even though she was already a grown girl, she was still very afraid of the person in the painting.

[Oh yeah? Oh yeah yeah? ]

However, it didn't seem to care about it, even though... it knew who was inside.

[Is it you, Qianjie? ]

"Herrserk!!!"

A hand that seemed to be wrapped in lava stretched out from the [painting], with countless red-hot chains clasped on it, and it was clasped on the ground.

"Hehehe...hahaha...hahahahaha!!! Very good! Herrscher!!! My rage has been in vain for too long!!!"

Snap——

The chains broke one by one, and a "monster" wrapped in fire and lava walked out of the [painting] step by step, breaking the chains that bound its body bit by bit.

"Without further ado!"

Bang!

He broke another chain.

"Come!!!"

At this moment and in this place, he only had one last chain left on his body... but anyone could see that the chain... was extremely fragile and would break at any moment.

All you need to do is... all you need to do is Qianjie take one more step forward.

then……

[Hahaha~ Sure, come on, Qianjie]

It spoke to Qianjie as if on purpose, using exaggerated movements and an aria-like tone.

[Come and give it a try, Qianjie, try to...save "Xiwang"~]

Hmm...very good.

"The Eighth Herrscher", a sarcastic tone, the moon, related to Xiwang, approaching the final moment, and now this sentence... Very good, the conditions are completely met.

The scene before my eyes almost overlapped with the past.

"Herrserk!!!"

Qianjie’s nerves... were completely broken.

"You! Deserve! Death!!!!"

boom! ! !

The huge explosion shook everyone's eardrums, and almost in an instant, Qianjie arrived in front of it, raised his fist, and swung towards it with endless flames and anger accumulated from the past!

However, at this moment, it seemed leisurely. It just slowly raised its head, controlled its body, and called softly.

【Thousands of calamities?】

The voice was gentle, yet contained a hint of confusion and doubt.

That was... Xiwang's voice.

"?!"

Even though he knew it was fake, Qianjie's figure still hesitated for a moment, as if a raging fire was poured with a basin of water, and the consciousness that was overwhelmed by anger seemed to regain clarity in that instant.

But at this moment...it was impossible to stop his attack.

boom! ! !

The body it controlled... was blown away, like a kite with a broken string, rolling on the ground, with its limbs bent like a puppet with a broken string.

Qianjie also rarely gave chase. He just stood there, staring at the direction where the body flew out, without moving for a long time.

[Hahahahahahaha!!! Qianjie! Look~ You still hit him~ You still attacked him~]

But then, its voice came again, with mockery and sarcasm. That twisted and weird laughter was disgusting.

[Look, look! Qianjie~ This time, you didn't control your strength well~ You used all your strength and hit him with one punch~]

[Look~ His arms and legs have become as flexible as a puppet~ Even his head~]

It also deliberately manipulated the silk threads and gave a live demonstration to the people present.

[Even his handsome face was burned, and even his beautiful white hair was burned~]

[Look, look! Thousand Tribulations~]

It sneered.

[This time, you failed to save him again~]

It laughed.

「Not only that, you also hurt him with your own hands this time, Qianjie～」

Its voice is unbridled and ostentatious, just like... the original "Eighth Herrscher".

And this completely ignited Qianjie's...anger.

“Herrserker!!! You deserve to die!!!”

[Come on, come on~ Attack however you want~]

[After all, no matter what, you can't change the fact that you hurt Xiwang, right? ]

[Come on, come on~ Crush this body, burn this body to ashes~]

It fiddled with the body at random, like an irresponsible and bad-mannered puppeteer fiddling with a puppet it disliked, swinging it up and down, allowing the limbs of the "puppet" in its hand to bend and its body to twist.

【Come on, come on～】

It said so.

[Come and destroy your "Xiwang"~]

“No…”

But at this moment, another voice was heard around.

It was crisp, like the voice of a young girl, but her words carried the childishness of a newborn baby.

"To hurt the senior..."

The strange fog spread quietly, shocking everyone present, including Qianjie and Kevin who was hiding in the dark.

"Mutilating the body prepared for the senior..."

The fog... quietly enveloped it.

[Hmm… Hmm! Why… can’t I move…]

"Is it not allowed?"

A pair of pure white, pale hands that truly belonged to a puppet... reached out from behind and gently held its face, or rather... its [core].

[Wait a minute?! How did you just... Ugh!]

"You can't talk?"

Her tone was calm, yet full of strong...hostility.

"It's not allowed to hurt a senior...ok?"

Boom~

The slight sound of the silk thread breaking echoed in the mist.

Finally... only silence remained in the fog.

“…………Get lost!”

Qianjie glanced around and waved his hand, creating a large flame that dispelled all the fog around him.

"Alas--"

Some strange sounds echoed in the fog.

"Cough cough..."

But soon, she seemed to realize that something was wrong with her, and quickly dispersed the mist, revealing her figure.

She was a standard girl, but her clothes... seemed familiar to me.