I already said this is not a life simulator!

Qianjie stood firm again, shook his arms and sneered, his words filled with the same madness and... a little bit of disgust as always.

"This is really... really..."

Raise your hands and let the water flow!

“It’s so ridiculous!!!”

The waves swept over, but were frozen into ice in an instant, and then violently smashed by Qianjie, rushing in front of Kevin, using his hand as a knife, making the blue water wrap around his hand to form the shape of a sword, and swung it violently, leaving a strange white mark in the air like a wave...

But even such a swift attack was still blocked by Kevin's sword. The place where water and fire met instantly turned into steaming water vapor.

He stepped forward, and the accumulated water flew up. In the blink of an eye, it turned into sharp spikes and attacked Kevin from bottom to top. However, Kevin just frowned slightly and clenched the flaming sword in his hand. The red flames surged, and the high temperature swept away all the dampness and coldness around him, and forced Qianjie's figure back...

He stepped back, and the accumulated water surged up, helping Qianjie to offset the oncoming flames time and time again. He tilted his upper body back to avoid the flaming sword that followed closely behind. He tapped his toes lightly, turned over and jumped to avoid the ice that spread from his lower body and wanted to freeze all the accumulated water... But Qianjie laughed.

Although blocked by the mask, Kevin could still feel the slightly smiling, teasing and sarcastic look from under the mask. The sudden sense of crisis came over him instantly, causing Kevin's eyes to freeze and his body to retreat.

Qianjie also turned his hand around, and raised his hand from bottom to top while his body was still spinning in the air!

【Jumping the Waves】!

A huge and extremely solid azure water blade directly penetrated the spreading ice and attacked Kevin forcefully.

Fortunately, Kevin noticed it in advance, otherwise, given the position of the water blade... Kevin would probably have been split in half by the water blade from bottom to top between his legs.

Hmm... that doesn't sound good.

But Qianjie's attack did not end there. He rolled over and fell, and the blue water rushed forward, carrying his body forward in an instant, and arrived in front of Kevin in a flash.

Raise your hands and drop them!

【Tide Hit】!

The azure water flows down from the sky carrying rain!

"Tsk..."

Kevin pursed his lips at the heavy force and the strong sense of threat. This familiar feeling reminded him of the time when the Herrscher suppressed them in Xi Wang's guise... What happened? Did the Herrscher change his skin again? Did he become Qianjie?

But Kevin no longer had the leisure to think about these things. While he was waving the flaming sword to evaporate the water above his head, Qianjie in front of him had already broken through the ice that Kevin was using to block him.

A hand wrapped in azure water had quietly reached into Kevin's arms, and then... clenched his fist! At a distance that was almost touching Kevin's chest, it instantly struck out!

In an instant, in the brief time when the huge force was transmitted, Kevin seemed to catch a glimpse of a blue shadow flashing behind Qianjie, and the shape... seemed to be some kind of [shrimp].

Unfortunately, when the huge force penetrated his body and he was suddenly knocked away, as if he was about to be "shattered" in an instant... Kevin no longer had the energy to think about what the phantom was.

He inhaled, concentrated his mind, and forced himself to hold back the blood rushing up his throat. The ice and flames spread, and he stepped heavily on his lower body to stabilize his body, and then... he gripped the flaming sword tightly!

[Skyfire——]

Swipe forward!

[Unsheathed]!

The red flames surged and submerged Qianjie's figure in an instant. The transparent rain disappeared without a trace, and the azure accumulated water instantly evaporated. Even the earth soaked by water was left with only a long, burned red mark.

"........."

However, Kevin did not relax. After judging Qianjie as a "herrscher in disguise", he knew that the enemy in front of him would not be easily defeated.

“Hehe…hahaha…hahahahahaha!!!”

Qianjie's unbridled laughter could be heard from the raging fire.

As expected!——Kevin’s eyes narrowed.

Kevin knew that nothing would end so easily. Next, he should summon flowing water, extinguish the flames, and then show a more powerful posture... right?

……Um?

Why did the flame... not go out? It even began to... flow? It was as if it was being controlled by someone, controlled by him...? !

"Ah... Should I say it's unexpected? Should I say it's worthy of you, Kevin?"

Qianjie's wanton voice came from the raging fire.

“I can’t do anything to you at this level… I know! I know! Hahahahaha!!! Good! This is great!”

With a wave of his hand, the flames flew up and spread out to the side like some twisted wings, revealing his twisted and hideous appearance in the flames, as if he was covered in lava, as if magma was flowing in his body... his upper body.

As he continues to go down, the traces of fire on his body will gradually fade, just like lava flowing in the deep sea, and the high-temperature magma is cooled by sea water. The further he goes down, the dimmer the red color becomes, and finally it turns into a dark blue like the deep sea.

As he took a step, the azure water was still flowing, weaving through the flames, dancing with the swaying flames, and stimulating Kevin's nerves.

"Ah... As expected! As expected!!! Only this one! Is more suitable for me!!!"

"Fire! Fire that shows anger! This is me!!!"

"Oh? What's wrong, Kevin? Are you stunned? Can't move? Ah... I can feel the surprise emanating from you, that sense of astonishment... It's really funny!"

"Hahahaha!!! That damn snake is only capable of this! This ability to directly sense your emotions is only useful for this!"

"Okay... Kevin."

Qianjie pressed his mask covered with molten fire slightly...that was his [compatriot].

"Let us continue our...fight, our fight!"

"Until one side's blood runs out! Until one side's breathing stops! This fight will not end!!!"

"Come!!!"

Qianjie's figure disappeared in an instant.

Immediately...

The water spread and the flames raged.

……

…………

"…It seems like I'm being treated specially~"

Alicia, who had left the "painting" that had trapped her, looked around and spoke softly.

She didn't have to face many enemies before, or rather, she didn't encounter any enemies in the "painting". She left the "painting" with almost no effort. But when she returned to reality, she found that the scene around her had changed. She seemed to have come to a... town, or a "nest"?

The surrounding walls were covered with a moss-like azure substance, which occasionally emitted a faint light in the dim atmosphere, illuminating the surroundings like a lamp, preventing the surroundings from falling into complete darkness.

The air was still filled with the smell of dampness, but there was no more water on the ground. With every breath, some strange bubbles would emerge and float upwards, as if Alicia was no longer on land, but in the deep sea.

"........."

Alicia calmed down, held the beautiful bow tightly in her hand, and walked forward slowly with caution. Pink crystals emerged and gathered around her, and finally bloomed into a beautiful flower... This is a small prop for her to assist in combat. Isn't it beautiful? Just like her?

As for the "Black Abyss White Flower"... she had no use for it. She had already found someone more suitable to wield that weapon, so she gave up owning it.

Although, logically speaking, the "Fire Moth" should not allow her to do this, especially when carrying out this kind of mission, Alicia's behavior is even more... difficult to understand. After all, the power displayed by the "Key of God" is undoubtedly strong, and giving up using it at this critical moment... is really hard to understand.

However, Alicia still gave her reasons... On the one hand, she herself was not used to using "Black Abyss White Flower". In comparison, she was more accustomed to using her own [ability]. Since someone was more suitable, she would naturally give up her position; and the other reason... was not known to others.

After all, her own special nature means that she does not need to possess the "God's Key" constructed by the "Herrser Core". Even if she does not possess the "God's Key", her combat power will not decrease much... In short, she is strong enough.

It's just that she often limits her own output, which is why the title of "Humanity's Strongest Warrior" now belongs to Kevin, not Alicia... If she really wanted to, even if she couldn't defeat Kevin, she could at least be on par with him.

After all...she is too special.

A Herrscher who loves humans, prefers humans, and wants to become a human... no matter what, he is still a Herrscher.

The power she possesses is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

However, when she thought of this, Alicia couldn't help but think of another person who was similar to her... "Hersher".

He clearly loved [humanity] just as much as she did, and like her, he was willing to give everything for [humanity], and even in the end... he died as a [human]... Is that right?

"........."

Alicia pursed her lips, not knowing whether her guesses and thoughts were correct.

She would rather believe that the existence that was the same as herself adhered to her identity as a human being and sacrificed herself in the end, and believed that another "law enforcer" had taken on his skin and done evil, than she would rather believe... that everything that followed was done by him.

only……

?~

Before Alicia could continue her thoughts, a soft humming sound came from the depths. It was a voice Alicia was familiar with, as if it was deliberately guiding her to move forward and go deeper.

"........."

Alicia calmed herself down again, suppressed the confusion in her eyes, and took a step forward.

No matter what, she came here for only one purpose - to defeat the "Herrserker" and put an end to this [Great Collapse].

Humanity...will definitely win.

The magnificent civilization that belongs to mankind...will surely continue to exist.

?~

As Alicia got closer, the humming seemed to become a lot lighter, as if the singer was thinking of something beautiful. The feeling of happiness, joy, and love came along with the song... and then, it suddenly stopped at a certain section.

It was as if... the singer had sensed Alicia's arrival.

However, Alicia didn't have the energy to pay attention to those things... everything in front of her left her no time to care about anything else.

The azure blue is endless, azure blue bubbles.

In this "nest"-like place, numerous and huge bubbles that stretch as far as the eye can see form a unique underground ocean, which always reminds people of the origin of the planet under their feet - at that time, "life" was also born from the [ocean].

Magnificent life comes from the sea, and may stay in the embrace of the mother ocean; or step onto land and walk on the thick mud; or soar in the sky and enjoy the comfort brought by the clouds and breeze...

And now, everything returns to... the sea, to [water].

Yes, that’s right… those staying in the bubbles are exactly… [human beings] one after another.

The people inside looked like they were asleep, curled up, or lying on their sides, but they were floating quietly in the bubbles, like a "baby" waiting to be born.

It looked like some kind of "egg", like the "nest" of some alien creature that appears in some horror movie. The impact of the scene in front of her was a little too much for Alicia.

"The devil has deceived people into believing that there is heaven above, hell below, and the world in between... but that is not true."

A voice like a chant, a intonation like a recitation, a voice with a hint of holiness and madness that is difficult to describe, came softly and then echoed here.

"The journey to hell is destined to pass through heaven."

"...How is it, Alicia? You are determined to travel from the human world to hell. What did you see along the way?"

"........."

Ai Lishiya looked in the direction of the voice and found Xi Wang's figure... At this moment, he was standing next to a bubble, as if waiting for something, and... the bubble next to him seemed to be larger and darker in color than the other bubbles, as if it was specially prepared for a special person.

"To be honest, I quite like your response to the Nun... Think of the whole world as a sandwich cookie. Hell and the human world are the soda crackers on both sides, and heaven is the cream sandwich in the middle."

Xi Wang did not look up at her. It seemed that compared to Ai Lishiya, he had more important things to do and people who needed more attention... The only thing that remained unchanged was his gentle voice.

"But at the same time, you're right. How can the human world and hell be the same? Right?"

He was still talking to himself, seemingly not caring about Alicia's answers and responses... Of course, because Alicia didn't remember these things at all, and had no impression of these words.

Ah... It seems that I can find out some manifestations of my own [Power]... Every time I start over, the impressions left by others seem to be related to me? Otherwise, Alicia should have a similar impression to Sakura, and she would not be like now, always maintaining an ignorant appearance, and her attitude towards him would remain at the level of liking, without any extra attention or extra favoritism.

...Haha, this is only natural, after all, she is Alicia.

"Xi...Wang..."

Alicia pronounced his name with difficulty, her face filled with disbelief and sadness... Her guess was confirmed, but precisely because of this, she felt sad.

Once... a companion who was just like her and loved [humanity]... eventually became like other "Herrsers", a tool for destroying civilization and a butcher knife for killing humanity.

"Yes, it's me."

At this time, when it was just the two of them, Xi Wang no longer pretended or concealed anything, but admitted it openly. At the same time, and only at this time, did he look up at Alicia, and then retracted his gaze... Compared to Alicia, he had someone he needed to wait for more.

"……Why?"

"what why?"

Xi Wang asked back.

"Why did you become like this?"

There was sadness, confusion and reluctance in Alicia's words.

"You didn't die at the beginning, right? Everything that happened afterwards was also caused by you... Then why... did you do this?"

"Don't you like [humans] the most, Xiwang?"