When the plot-skips players into the game world

At this moment, Aiwass's eyes were incredibly bright.

By now, Aiwass finally realized—why the Serpent Celestial Marshal wanted to seize multiple Source Rivers.

This should have been a very simple question, but because of Aiwass's overly humble nature, he couldn't quite understand why another self of his was so greedy, willing to completely forsake this world just to return home; to achieve his own strength, he didn't even care about the life and death of this world.

Now he finally understood—

In other words, the Serpent Celestial Marshal believed that the power to prevent the fusion of Source Rivers is related to this world itself—the Binding of zero and ten makes the Holy Number impossible to reach eleven. If one could reach eleven, it would mean transcending the limit of "ten".

Both the Path of Love and the Path of Dusk had undergone serious distortion and gradually drifted towards the Void over time. Among these, the Path of Balance inherited the best, followed by the Path of Wisdom from the Fourth Source River and the Path of Adaptation from the Sixth Source River. But Dedication and Strength—or rather Authority—had already shown signs of corruption. Beauty and Transcendence were even more severely afflicted...

According to the law, the closer the Path is to the sides, the earlier and more severe the distortion.

—This might be because of the influence of the Void on the Source Rivers.

If this continues, I'm afraid the Source Rivers at both ends will be the first to be consumed, and the powers of Love and Dusk will dissolve here.

...What would happen then?

Perhaps people's hearts would no longer know love and desire, and things would lose their end; or maybe people would no longer be born or die. It's also possible that all Transcendents and life on the Path of Love and the Path of Dusk would turn into monsters... that's why Amber is the strongest Pillar God, controlling the power of time reversal.

Turns out the sky falling really does have tall people holding it up.

It's just that the sky had long collapsed, and the tall ones were nearly unable to support it.

"Is this the form the end of the world takes? So it's said... the Holy Number of the Void is zero, or ten… devouring both sides of the Path at once...

"Therefore, the Serpent Celestial Marshal wants to take away the Paths of Dedication and Transcendence, perhaps because..."

A thought suddenly emerged in Aiwass's heart: "Want to go out to synthesize the Holy Number eleven, then come back?"

"You finally understand."

The voice of the Lord of Scalefeather slowly echoed in Aiwass's heart: "It is precisely the division of the Source Rivers that leads to the balance of power, thereby limiting the abilities of the Pillar Gods and causing mutual restraint and Binding."

"Boss!"

The long-absent voice made Aiwass somewhat surprised: "Since I returned to the Material Realm, you have been silent."

"Because I feared affecting your thoughts..."

The Lord of Scalefeather sighed, and Aiwass could even imagine his action at this moment: "Some things cannot be rushed. If you don't understand such a truth from the bottom of your heart, it's merely cramming. How can a 'heart' formed like this be strong enough, reliable enough to withstand trials and tests?"

"So, my guess is right? Does the end of the world really come from the corrosion of the Source Rivers?"

Aiwass asked in his heart: "Does the Serpent Celestial Marshal want to take away two Source Rivers because he thinks that as long as he leaves this world, he can cause the Source Rivers to fuse?"

"—That's why he became an alternative plan.

"You guessed it right, Aiwass… this is probably from the memories of the Serpent Celestial Marshal. The corrosion from the Void is just like this.

"That is a world-ending disaster known as the 'Dusk', and it is one of the sources for the name of the Path of Dusk. One interpretation of the name of the Path of Dusk is 'Consolidation'; the other is 'End'. All things perish, and the death of our world is called Dusk. Thus, the Path representing death became known as Dusk."

The Lord of Scalefeather finally revealed the answer to what Aiwass always failed to understand—why would gods still stand by the Serpent Celestial Marshal, or still test Aiwass, when he wanted to pull away the Source Rivers and abandon this world?

The reason is simple, because they also do not know if the Serpent Celestial Marshal is reliable.

"Dusk…"

Aiwass murmured: "The Dusk of the Gods?"

"Exactly, the name comes from here. They are disasters born from the wreckage of other worlds, bearing the wails and despair of an entire world. Each individual Dusk is different... they will devour other worlds in their own ways, thus bringing the same destruction and despair to others. If they accomplish this, then our world will be destroyed in the same way… we will merge, becoming part of them.

"And if under the pressure of the Dusk, our world is destroyed in another way, we will become the new Dusk."

"Death of the World… Egg of Dusk…"

Aiwass softly murmured: "Then... what about the Dusk of our world?"

"It's called 'Void Whisper', merely one of the individual Dusks… but even so, we've exerted all our efforts and are unable to defeat it.

"It can corrupt people's hearts and wills, silently altering their consciousness yet making them firmly believe those are their own thoughts. Thus, it is deadly to a world like ours which gains power through thought… Divine beings, these Phantom Demons without bodies, cannot withstand it. Perhaps even some gods have been corrupted."

The Lord of Scalefeather said sarcastically.

"Would even the Pillar God's?"

My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|L0EMPYR) hosts the original.

"Of course."

The Lord of Scalefeather said: "Otherwise, what do you think Candle Master's vanguard is dealing with? When Void Whisper descended upon our world, it locked the birth of the only thought that might defeat it—[Hope]. Originally, Source Rivers were continuously increasing, and it occupied the position of the Holy Number ten, so no new Source Rivers could emerge. That's why… Ai Shiping has always pursued the 'impossible Holy Number eleven'."

Aiwass finally understood—

It was like a group of people trapped in the mountains, and one person planned to take all the supplies. Using these supplies, he could at least survive. He claimed that once he went out to find help, he would return with rescue.

—The current issue is whether this person is trustworthy. And how long this world can hold out.

If they have no other choice, they would eventually have to make this choice.

But they now have a new choice—that is to believe in Aiwass.

If they trust Aiwass, he would lead them straight out of the mountains.

But can they do that? If not, it equally means death.

The reason Candle Master doesn't have much malice towards the Serpent Celestial Marshal, probably is because he thinks… it's better for one person to survive, letting the power of this world be passed on, than for everyone to die here together.

Maybe this plan was even proposed by Candle Master from the start.

"Do you believe," the Lord of Scalefeather inquired, "that guy will come back?"

"I..."

Aiwass was about to say no but then fell into silence.

…Hard to say.

After all, he was once Aiwass too. Although he had cast aside all of Aiwass's Heart of Devotion…

Thinking of this, Aiwass shook his head, dispelling the fleeting whim—he could not place fate in someone else's hands.

"I will not trust him."

Aiwass closed his eyes: "The world will be saved by me."

But now, instead, a trace of courage arose in Aiwass's heart—

The most terrifying things are the unpredictable unknown.

And being able to understand the opponent's manifestation clearly gives the possibility to defeat the opponent.

"I thought it was something... it's just a tangible BOSS."

Aiwass slowly said: "As long as there is a health bar—I can kill."