The terrible ritual was already going on, and I had imagined that the torchlight would never stall, but I didn't expect it to be a ritual that felt like this. It is impossible to know how terrible the ritual is until a clear and visible result is produced, but the madness of the people performing the ritual can be known at the first time, and this is definitely not a ritual full of good intentions that will result in some kind of benefit. I have always thought that there is no excuse for the crimes I have done that have destroyed the vast majority of humanity in this apocalyptic illusion, and that it must have been a heinous and insane act, and the original intention and purpose of doing it was not noble—for I am not a hero, and I did not commit these evil deeds with the great intention of saving the world's beings, but only for the sake of a few people I love—and these things that I have done are no worse than the ritual before me.

Of course, maybe for the people here, what I'm doing is more excessive than what they're doing now, and there's a normal reason for the madness they're showing now, so it's not too crazy in their eyes. What do my "old friends" think of this ceremony? Do you feel the madness that spreads here? Are they forced to push the ritual, or do they really think it is necessary? I have studied and practiced psychology in depth, and have had good experiences from past adventures, however, this knowledge and experience has not allowed me to parse the psychology of these people who are performing rituals.

I don't think I can understand why even a person as calm as Jung, who is full of a sense of justice and honor, can maintain such a calm and natural attitude towards the ritual in front of him. I peeped into his eyes, and the eyes that had been shaken by Tomie's abnormality, and were angry at my viciousness, were actually filled with longing and determination as they watched the ritual.

It was as if he was convinced that this ritual would be able to undo the current situation and take back the world from Doom.

I've always thought of myself as a psychopath, but the scene in front of me makes me feel like these people are more like crazy people than I am. Compared to my disbelief, Tomie's face showed a deep sense of relief, as if she was tasting dessert, and compared to these solemn and crazy people, she seemed to be able to really feel the sweetness of this madness with a smile on her face. I knew right away that Tomie was happy to see the scene in front of him, but such an attitude also carried deep malice, compared to her usual more humane her, at this time she had more "Jiang" flavor, and at the same time had a stronger "virus" flavor.

I suddenly felt that I had been thinking that I was "evil" before, and that it was wrong for others to call me a demon or a monster. Among the people standing here, I am the most normal human being.

In the brazier with a radius of more than 20 meters, the flames are blazing, the top flame is red, the middle is orange, the middle is gradually turning golden yellow, and the part closer to the basin is light blue, and these layered colors are definitely not the appearance of normal flames. It was as if the people around them were in a mad nightmare, playing frantically, beating drums, making harsh and incongruous songs, holding their hands high in worship of the unseen, and constantly pouring something into the brazier, causing wisps of black smoke to rise from the flames. Wisps of black smoke rose to the top of this subterranean space, but they didn't disperse, they were pooled together, with a certain thickness and transparency, and they seemed to be intent on conjuring something.

There is a clear distinction between the person who performs the ceremony and the person who watches the ceremony, the person who performs the ceremony stands in the middle, and the people who watch the ceremony, including me and Tomie, just look around from the side, and in my observation, no one shows the same concern as me, they just watch, or calmly, or excitedly, or expectantly, or indifferently, and that look makes me feel creepy, even if there are many faces I recognize, these faces look as if they are strangers at this time.

Like the "Jung" around me, he was just a stranger who was similar to someone I knew.

“…… Jung, is this the deviation ritual of the torchlight? My heart beat as the frantic ritual activity intensified, and I asked heavily, "Do you really think that such a ritual will bring good results?" ”

"Yes." Jung replied without hesitation, but paused again, seemed to sober up a little, and said to me: "I hope it will bring good results, but, from past experience, the deviation of the Torchlight is mysteriously a thousand kills and eight hundred, but now we have no better choice, do we?" We can only hope that this ritual can at least kill a thousand enemies, even if it costs eight hundred. ”

I think my face should be ugly, because I think the people in front of me are ugly, and although I can understand their choice, this may be the last deviation ritual gives me a very bad premonition.

"Maybe I should stop you." I'm pretty blunt.

"Really?" Jung didn't get angry, just looked at me in surprise and said, "I don't know why you think that, but, obviously, Ms. Tomie doesn't agree with you." With that, he didn't look at Tomie, but turned his head and continued to watch the crazy ritual.

I began to smell something stronger, something that wasn't there at first, however, when I did, it amplified to the point of nausea in an uncountable amount of time. I can't describe the smell, but it smells terrible to me, except that no one else but me doesn't seem to feel that way, and I can't even tell from their demeanor that they smell it too. I looked at Tomie, and she was still staring at the madness of these people with relish, but her gaze seemed to penetrate the existence of these people, and she could see the depths of all these behaviors, and taste the more essential things. She had a great interest in those essential things.

Am I the only one who thinks this ritual is disgusting? I have to ask myself. I felt like I had to make a choice, and however, there was a stronger intuition telling me that no matter what choice I made, it wasn't going to make anything better, that the most critical place had passed long before I got here, that what was happening now, and what was going to happen next, was as unstoppable as water flowing down, no, unstoppable. The strong premonition was hovering in my mind, and it was not something that could be described as "dangerous". I'm sure this deviant ritual is definitely the most terrifying ritual I've seen so far, aside from the Heavenly Gate Ritual of the past.

Do I really have to do something about it? However, my intuition had told me that no matter what I did, it would not change the outcome, and this fact was frustrating and hopeless, and madness was turning into a poisonous snake from this frustration and despair, biting at my heart in the dark.

"I thought it would be a more normal mystical ritual, but I didn't expect it to be like this......" I said to Jung, and the chain judgment began.

Even the tiniest leap of dust could not escape the observation of the chain judgment, and the results of the observation unfolded in my mind a grand and precise image. The tiny substances that can be observed under the microscope, the subtle changes that can only be found in the senses, reveal to me what is really under the external expression of the ritual in front of me. I can't understand the connotations, but I can feel the twisting and skewing of it, and if I want to describe it, it is like a tornado that has been bent hard, drawing a lot of sewage from the dirtiest gutters, it is extremely unstable, but it maintains an extremely fragile balance at the limit of collapse.

As long as there is a slight external force, all this will be accompanied by the power of collapse to spill everywhere, however, this external force is not casually generated, and there is no sign of it so far. This external force is by no means the force embodied in matter in common sense, nor is it the force embodied in consciousness in common sense, but something else beyond cognition. It is precisely because of the lack of these things that although the ritual has begun and passed the most critical period that can be stopped, it has not reached the end, and has always remained at such a fragile equilibrium.

"No sacrificial ritual is normal, are you still just a naïve child? Mr. Takakawa. Jung looked at him with a clear gaze, "What matters is not the form of the ritual, but whether it can achieve the desired degree and accomplish the desired goal." There's a deeper nature beneath the surface of the madness you see, and I think this is our last chance. We have no choice but to ignore formal errors in pursuit of essential truth. ”

“…… You know? Jung. These words of your voice sound like the instigation of the Doctrine of Doomsday Shinrikyo. "I look directly into this gaze that does not hide the malice, and I believe that there is no one who has not yet fallen into the cult of Doomsday Shinrikyo who knows more about it than I do. Some of my words and deeds have become very much inclined to the truth of the end times, but, to a certain extent, it seems that these old friends go deeper than I do.

"Doomsday Truth ——?" Jung narrowed his gaze and said calmly, "What we have to fight against is the truth of the end times." Who are you who have already committed crimes against humanity to speak of us? What you've done is a thousand, ten thousand times worse than the madness you've seen now, and if you hadn't done something like that, maybe you wouldn't need this ritual of deviation. ”

Once again, I was stunned, because I never thought I would hear such words in the mouth of Jung. "If it's not you", "Qualification", "11,000 times"...... Jung, as I know, would never use these terms. Now that he is talking to me like this, I feel a kind of mental hysteria, as if he has reached the limit of collapse. I suddenly felt sad, sad for these old friends in front of me.

The flames were jumping, the black smoke was entwining, the people were screaming and singing wildly, and behind the frenzy and madness, the incomparably strong sadness was unstoppably welling up from my heart. It was so strong that I felt like I had re-grasped what sadness is.

"You know what? Jung. I suppressed my grief and said to him, "I will kill you." ”

"Yes, you will." Jung's calm eyes burned deep into the flames of madness, "But not now. Because you need this ritual too, and without us, the ritual cannot continue. What you really should do, in line with what we are about to do, is to inject the final catalyst into this ceremony, which you can't do alone. ”

I knew that the people of the Torchlight and these "old friends" had decided to let me stay despite their hostility to me—and I felt it in more detail than Jung had said. They need me to fill the gap, and they think I can fill the gap.

"Are you going to turn me and Tomie into sacrifices? Jung. I said.

“…… You know? Takakawa. Jung did not add the word "sir" to my name this time, "What is the greatest deviation from the truth of the end?" ”

I remained silent, and he continued: "Of course, there is no end time. When the end does not happen, the greatest deviation of this world appears. However, if the coming of the end has become the truth, then this greatest deviation has become an illusory lie. The Torchlight's deviant ritual could not make this lie true. ”

"So, what do you have such crazy hopes for?" I asked.

"While we can't directly reverse the outcome of the apocalypse, we can make every factor that leads to the end biased, and that's what Torchlight has been doing in the past." At this point, Jung paused, and said, "Although the deviations created by the Torchlight in the past have failed from the current situation, all these failures can also be said to be preparations for the success of this last deviation ceremony. The Torchlight has adjusted this maximum ritual countless times, just to deflect all the doomsday factors after this stage - if you hadn't done something like that, more people would have survived if there was a deviation, but there was no way now. After this deviation ceremony, all apocalyptic factors will be deviated, and even if you go back in time, the facts that happened before the deviation will not be able to be modified, and it will become a matter of fact. ”

"World Line Jump......" I gave an example, but he immediately dismissed it.

"There will be no change, no matter what kind of space-time theory it is, the death of billions of people will be a foregone conclusion." Jung said this, and the deep, crazy eyes also showed sadness in the depths, "So, I hate you, I curse you, Takakawa." If anyone can be saved, you will not be among them. ”

“…… Is it? I can't express the emotions in my heart, but, without a doubt, I have no room for regret, so I don't regret what I've done, "Just curse me." ”

"We don't need your mercy, you monster!" Jung heard my answer and immediately spoke to me in an angry gnashing of teeth.