Chapter 804: Perhaps This Too Is a Form of Atonement

Lynn was profoundly shaken.

She raised her head, gazing dazedly into the darkness above.

"And the most fundamental manifestation of this was this fall. In recorded history, every one of our consciousnesses that was annihilated in a Great Purge would reincarnate as the most primal rules and return to the law system of the main universe. But this time, the gods who were destroyed seemed to have been erased entirely, never returning. Even the portions of rules they represented suffered severe damage and left gaps."

"So we were divided into three parts."

"Those who were annihilated were annihilated, those who fled fled, and the rest, amidst the upheaval, were dragged down into hell together with the living beings of that shattered world."

And she.

She was one of those fallen rule-gods.

Lynn frowned deeply. He had never imagined that such a history existed.

And this seemed to have occurred in an era far more ancient than when Big Brother Titan and the others were killed. It was the Shattered World's destruction that came first, and only then did that Darkness further sweep into the main universe where Big Brother Titan and the others resided.

But if that was the case, then what role did this hell play in all of this?

Did it stand on the side of that Calamity?

Or on the side of the living beings of the main universe?

Or perhaps...

As if she had sensed his question, she said in a low voice:

"This hell does not belong to either side. It belongs neither to that Calamity, nor to the main universe. Its existence predates even the first generation when we rule-entities gained self-awareness. And based on our understanding, this hell is most likely a mechanism that coexists with that Great Purge, another mechanism designed to maintain the balance of the main universe."

And the reason a mechanism is a mechanism.

Is precisely because it holds no stance whatsoever.

It only executes, at specific times and specific places, according to some long-preprogrammed logic, the mission it was endowed with since its birth, mechanically.

And this hell's mission...

"To punish the guilty, to imprison the fallen ones, and to preserve the embers for various systems so that they do not perish in the new world... a repository of specimens."

Lynn said solemnly.

She said in a low voice: "Yes, those are probably what the Roots told you. They are correct. In past Great Purges, to prevent civilization from being completely severed, representatives of many forms of power would be dragged into this hell during each purge. After the Great Purge ended, their knowledge would be disseminated in the new world in some unknown form. This could also be considered another kind of inheritance."

"So I have actually been speculating."

"That the Calamity pressing down above us right now is very likely a mutation of that Great Purge's mechanism, resulting in a nightmare that indiscriminately swept across the entire main universe. But... this hell, which coexists with that Great Purge mechanism..."

"It did not perceive the mutation of the Great Purge, and instead continues to mechanically execute its mission just as it has in every past generation."

And her fall was the most compelling proof.

Because only when it detected that some form of power was on the verge of extinction would this hell activate, then pull them down and preserve them as embers.

But the problem was.

They themselves were rules!

They were components of the main universe, forms that would never be severed even after countless Great Purges!

Yet they were still dragged into this hell.

What did this mean...

This meant that in this hell's monitoring mechanism, even the rules themselves that sustained the existence of the main universe were already at risk of complete extinction!

She raised her head and murmured:

"That is why I said, if that Calamity completely engulfs the main universe, and even descends upon this deepest layer of hell in the end, then everything will meet its final end. There will be no new worlds, because from that moment on, the main universe itself will no longer exist."

She sat there hollowly, withered like a falling bloom, her twisted and mutated form casting a shadow of bone-deep despair over everything around her.

One could not even think about it.

The mere brush of the thought brought an indescribable shudder.

If a world where even rules no longer existed, then what meaning would anything have...

In her godless stupor.

A hand was gently placed upon her mass of flesh.

She instinctively snapped back to her senses, and then saw those confident, smiling eyes that seemed forever unbeatable.

"Don't think about those things. At least we're still alive right now, aren't we?"

She stared blankly.

For no reason at all.

It was as if, within those radiant, light-filled smiling eyes, she caught a glimpse of something familiar, those resplendent purple halos.

She instinctively lowered her attention, focusing on the warmth of his palm, feeling the steady, powerful pulse of his heartbeat. And this pulse of life seemed to continuously remind her of the disasters she had once wrought.

Finally.

She said in a low voice:

"I have killed people."

Lynn paused.

"I have killed many, many people. They were all... living human beings just like you. So do you want to know... why I possess such a form..."

Her twisted and mutated flesh began to violently tremble once more, as if countless evil spirits were shrieking within that struggling body.

Lynn's gaze was grave as he watched her.

She trembled and forced out in a low voice:

"In that world... when that Calamity descended... I... I... I personally..."

But before she could finish, Lynn interrupted her. He looked at her and said:

"I don't want to know."

She shuddered.

Instinctively, she gazed at him with hollow eyes.

Lynn rubbed his temples, adjusted his monocle, and said:

"Because whether it happened or not, those are all things of the past. I can feel that you have been filled with guilt and self-blame, so I also understand that perhaps you really did do some things that you deeply regret. But that wasn't from your true heart, was it?"

She opened her mouth, then wilted, her entire body trembling even more violently.

Lynn opened his eyes and said firmly to her:

"Because you are a god. Rule-gods should not have possessed such emotions and empathy in the first place, after all, you stand high above, already transcending this mortal world... I don't know what happened, but since you can feel regret, and you can feel self-blame and guilt, then you are no longer the heartless rules. You have already become a living being, haven't you..."

"So no matter what happened."

"If you truly cannot forgive yourself, then strive to change, to atone, to make the lives of those who survived better. Isn't that also a form of repayment?"