This is not the date I wanted.

<…That person is gone. The dream has vanished, leaving only the cold and cruel reality. But, even so! The future is definitely not hopeless! ——A certain girl swore through gritted teeth. >

What rang in my ears was a terrifying roar like the collapse of the sky and the splitting of the earth.

What the skin felt was the scorching heat coming from the burning building.

The tragic and desperate situation, as if it were the end of the world, was reflected in Tokisaki Kurumi's eyes as always.

"Ah... failed again?"

Walking slowly on the deserted sidewalk, Kurumi said in a hoarse voice.

How many times has this cycle happened? Kuang San couldn't help but ask herself in her heart.

Ten times? Twenty times? Fifty times? Or even over a hundred times? Honestly, I have long lost the energy to calculate these.

Every time, no matter how hard she tried, she could not change the fact that the person was killed. Even if she had the memory of the last reincarnation and avoided the fate of death in the memory, a new misfortune would soon befall him. And Kuang San could only watch the people she loved pass away from her again and again, powerless.

At first, Kuang San could still feel angry and sad about the tragic scene in front of her. However, as the number of reincarnations gradually increased, she mechanically digested the same things, and the fluctuations of these emotions became smaller and smaller, as if she was numb. Even if she witnessed the death of the other party with her own eyes, Kuang San's heart did not fluctuate at all.

I'm afraid she is losing some of the emotions that a normal person should have.

This is helpless - Kuang San convinced herself in her heart. Extra emotions will only affect her judgment like noise. If she can't become numb, she will definitely be tortured to collapse by this countless reincarnations.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Kuang San stopped at her destination.

——It was that person, or to be more precise, the corpse of the person who used to be “that person”.

The head and body were brutally separated. Perhaps some time had passed, and the bright red blood flowed on the ground, mixing with the sand and gravel to form black blood clots.

"Zafkiel (Emperor of Keke) - Dalet (Fourth Bullet)"

Calmly summoning her angel, Kurumi skillfully transformed the soulless corpse back to its original state, kissed his lips lightly, and regained the power of "Vav (Six Bullets)".

"It's okay... Shidou-san... I'll definitely..."

Kurumi spoke with a trembling voice, moving the flintlock in her hand to her temple.

That’s right, it doesn’t matter if I die this time.

There's always next time.

Only if he doesn't give up, he won't be truly dead.

As long as you persist, this seemingly unsolvable cycle will eventually reveal a flaw.

But - someday? When?

[Holding on to revenge won't change anything, you should know that better than me.]

"Goo-"

The advice her collaborator had given her rang in her mind, and Kuang San couldn't help but purse her lips tightly. Her chest felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on it, making it hard to breathe.

Although she denied the other party with a sarcastic tone at the time, deep down in her heart, Kurumi had already acknowledged her opinion.

Revenge ultimately brings destruction, not redemption. If you lose yourself due to your emotions, you will end up being a clown played by "fate".

As long as there is no way to change it, then no matter how many times it is repeated, the future cannot be changed.

Yes, Tokisaki Kurumi knows this better than anyone else.

However, rational understanding and emotional acceptance are two completely different things.

“…How can I possibly do this?!”

With her cheek twisted in pain, Kurumi roared at the deserted street.

"Mio has messed up my home! My home! My best friend! My life! Why should she be forgiven? Everything I have done in the past ten years was to kill her! Now you want me to give up revenge? Are you kidding me?!"

For the sake of revenge, she has endured countless pains and tortures, and trampled on countless lives. The driving force that has pushed Kuang San to where she is today is undoubtedly the burning fire of revenge in her heart.

Kurumi knew that the moment she gave up revenge, everything she had done so far would be meaningless, and she would no longer be herself.

If she insists on revenge, what awaits Kurumi is an endless cycle with no exit.

If she gives up revenge, all the life that Kurumi has accumulated so far will be negated.

An unreasonable contradiction was placed before her. The moment she realized this, Kuang San held the right hand of "Emperor Keke" and trembled uncontrollably.

"me……"

"Kuang San!"

At this moment, just like the previous reincarnation, a familiar voice sounded in Kuang San's ears.

In an instant, a taut string in her heart suddenly broke, the pistol fell from her hand, and Kuang San fell to her knees on the ground powerlessly, abandoning all her pretense and disguise, and burst into tears.

Why? Why have I suffered so much?

I've had enough! I've had enough! It doesn't matter anymore!

I... don't want to fight anymore.

————————————————————I am the dividing line that transfers time forward————————————

Thursday, March 15th. DEM headquarters, London, England.

[Warning! Warning! Space shock reaction occurred at the coordinates of location (XXX, XXXX), the scale of space shock is A+++, spirit wave analysis begins - Individual ①: Spirit type E, reverse body confirmed, spirit identification code Hermit (hermit). Individual ②: Spirit type B, spirit identification code Hacker (hacker). Please follow the order, magicians of our company, and quickly prepare for battle. Repeat once -]

"Throat... has it finally appeared?"

Hearing the alarms sounding throughout the company, Westcott smiled excitedly.

Just a month ago, under Westcott's plan, Shido Gokawa, a young man who possessed the power of sealed elves, was successfully killed. The development was just as he expected. After losing the most important spiritual support, the elves fell into reversal out of despair.

However, there was only one elf who was an exception.

Liang Yi Meng Yue, the elf who is said to be the most dangerous to humans, not only did not lose her mind because of the reversal as planned, but she continued to secretly restrain Allen and others when they were preparing to catch all the reversal elves.

In the end, Westcott could only watch helplessly as the reversal elves, who had made enough noise, disappeared one after another back to the "neighboring world". Liang Yi Mengyue herself didn't know where she had hidden. All his efforts were in vain. He was very depressed.

(Well, think about it. It was indeed a bit reckless to kill all the reversed Pokémon at once. It was also a good choice to wait for them to disperse and kill them one by one. In this sense, I may have to thank Ms. Mengyue.)

Westcott shrugged and quickly adjusted his mood. He always looked at various emergencies from an optimistic perspective, which was also one of his strengths.

And one month later, today, Westcott, who had returned to England, finally waited for the first space shock reaction of the elves.

At this moment, the automatic door of the office suddenly opened, and Alan and Artemisia walked up to him in a hurry.

"Ike, Liang Yi Meng Yue has appeared."

Not caring about the existence of a reverse elf, Alan told Westcott his primary goal of the battle as soon as he opened his mouth.

Seeing his men full of fighting spirit, Westcott couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

"Yes, of course. In order to avoid failure like last time, this time the priority is to kill the Yin-Yang Dream Moon, and the reversal spirit is secondary. Artemisia, you will be responsible for assisting Allen in this operation as a deputy. Do you have any objections?"

"Yes. Sir Westcott."

Artemisia nodded, her brows furrowed, a rare hint of anger showing on her dignified and beautiful face.

"I will definitely kill the Hacker and avenge Miss Wu Lian."

"..."

After hearing Artemisia's words, Allen remained silent, while Westcott nodded and said with a look of great regret.

"Artemisia. I completely understand your anger. Ai Wulian was attacked by a hacker to protect innocent citizens from the hands of the reverse elves and unfortunately died. Although we have only been together for a few months, she is undoubtedly a very good magician. I am also very sad to lose such a capable subordinate. However, I have said before that the hacker - Liangyi Mengyue is a very cunning elf. Please don't be blinded by anger. I don't want to lose another excellent subordinate."

"...Yes, I understand. Thank you for your concern, Lord Westcott."

After taking a deep breath, Artemisia calmed down and nodded solemnly.

As if he couldn't stand Westcott's hypocritical acting, Allen sighed and interrupted at the right time.

"Well, we're ready to go. Ike, are you planning on staying with the company?"

"How is that possible?" Westcott smiled and shook his head. "Although I don't plan to go into battle myself, I don't want to stay in the company like a turtle. You guys go to the target location first. I will arrive by another airship."

"Understood. Get ready to go, Artemisia."

"Yes."

Alan nodded and left the office with Artemisia.

"... Well, now that both of you have left, is it time for you to show up, Miss Liangyi Mengyue?"

Looking at his empty office, Westcott said with an intriguing smile.

…………

However, the only response to Westcott was silence.

"...No one? Well, that's normal."

After confirming that there was no one else's scent, Westcott touched his nose, smiled bitterly, stood up and left the office.

"Hello! Director Westcott!"

"Hello, Director!"

"Yeah, good work, everyone."

After smiling and dealing with a few ordinary employees who met by chance, Westcott slowly walked to the airship hangar and summoned his own demon king - Beelzebul (Divine Eclipse) on the way.

"Hmm... There are no signs of hacking in the company, and the psychic detector is functioning normally... Am I overthinking it?"

Westcott muttered to himself.

Divine Eclipse Chapter Order——A demon king who can obtain everything in the world and has omniscience. Although it is said so, it is not omnipotent. There are a few special cases in the world that it cannot detect.

And one of them is Liang Yi Meng Yue.

Although he did not understand the principle, whenever he inquired about Liang Yi Meng Yue, "Shen Shi Pian Zhi" would never provide any feedback.

In the past, Westcott could investigate the people around Liang Yi Meng Yue and infer Liang Yi Meng Yue's whereabouts and conversations through the information attached to their messages. However, this tricky method is no longer useful now. The eyes that monitor Liang Yi Meng Yue are either dead or reversed. She has become a lone ranger and has completely become a transparent person outside of Westcott's sight.

That is why he felt somewhat confused about the name "Hacker" appearing in the alert.

But now that I think about it, I was indeed a little too suspicious. Although the elf had reversed, it was undoubtedly still a partner of Liang Yi Meng Yue, and the place where Hermit landed was a densely populated city. Given his character, no matter what the considerations were, there was no reason for him to just sit back and watch.

"That's true. Fortunately, Allen and Artemisia went out first, otherwise it would be somewhat embarrassing for the boss."

With an awkward sigh, Westcott adjusted his mood and took the Demon King back into his body.

However, just as the "Divine Eclipse Order" was taken back and Westcott let down his guard,

--boom!

A cold gunshot suddenly rang out, and the bullet shot out from behind without any warning, hitting Westcott's spinal cord.

In an instant, Westcott felt that he had lost consciousness all over his body and fell to the ground uncontrollably.

(What happened?)

Westcott, who couldn't understand the situation, couldn't help but have such questions in his mind.

(B... Beelzebul (Divine Eclipse).)

Westcott hurriedly tried to summon the devil to protect himself, but things went against his will. Just before he tried to summon the angel, countless blue and white electric sparks spread throughout his body. The spiritual power in his body not only did not obey his command, but instead seemed to be forcibly controlled by someone, gathering from all parts of his body to one point on his chest.

“Ah—Ahhhhhhhhhhh—”

It was as if all the blood in his body was flowing backwards. Unimaginable discomfort and pain eroded his consciousness. Although he could not control his body, Westcott's body still shook instinctively as if he had epilepsy.

Then, the chest was thrown open alive, and Westcott felt as if the spiritual crystal in his body was being pulled out roughly.

"The extraction of the spirit crystal was successful. Thanks to Westcott, I now roughly understand what needs to be improved."

Finally, a voice sounded beside his ear, and in Westcott's almost black vision, a blurry figure appeared in front of him.

"...Liang Yi... Meng Yue."

Westcott moved his lips weakly.

He didn't understand why she was here. To be on the safe side, he had already used the Divine Eclipse to detect the spiritual power and magic reactions in this area. Nothing was abnormal, and he had indeed detected her spiritual power reaction dozens of kilometers away from the company.

(Could it be that…)

In an instant, an absurd possibility emerged from Westcott's mind. Although he couldn't be sure because he hadn't tried it, if it was true, Westcott could only be impressed by Liang Yi Meng Yue's madness.

(Really? I thought I had the upper hand, but in the end I just destroyed the chains that bound the wolf...)

"Kill me...Liang Yi Meng Yue."

Westcott said hoarsely.

"...Okay. Although I really want to torture you to death, my purpose this time is not revenge. I will just let you suffer."