Looking at the faint but real holy light, Xiao Jingzhe's pupils shrank, his whole body was shocked, and his expression was complicated beyond description. The appearance of this holy light was a catastrophic blow to a paladin. The Holy Light in the hands of the Demon King, this will cause a subversive shock to the Holy Light Faith. If Xiao Jingzhe's former knight companions saw this scene, they would probably be terrified, and even directly extinguish their Holy Light Heart.

The Holy Light is in faith, and once the paladin shakes his faith itself, then everything is over.

But Xiao Jingzhe was not an ordinary paladin, he just stared deeply at that brilliance, and after a long silence, he opened his mouth in a deep voice: "If you are really on your own path of justice, then it can be proved that you are at least not just a simple bastard who has done a lot of evil. ”

Zoro was interested: "Then what am I?"

"A respectable bastard. Xiao Jingzhe replied very seriously: "But no matter how respectable you are, it will not change the essence of you being a bastard, nor will it change your and my position towards the enemy." Whenever I have the chance, I will cut off your head with respect, just as you would tear my body apart with admiration. In this regard, we are the same. ”

"Hahahaha, that's right, that's great, we're the same!" Zoro laughed, out of breath. This laughter did not echo in the dark field, but only the most ordinary laughter, and tears were almost squeezed out of the corners of the eyes of laughter. No one could understand why the Demon King was laughing, and Zoro just looked at the brave man in front of him with a happy and mysterious expression after an extremely hearty laugh: "Speaking of which, I have to thank you. Because not so long ago I was just a simple bastard. It's you. Changed everything. ”

Xiao Jingzhe didn't seem surprised. He raised his left hand, holding a golden ring in his hand, which was none other than the One Ring. Since the turbidity invaded Middle-earth, the Nine Rings, the human kings of the Nine Great Rings, have all turned into scrap copper and rotten iron, and have all been discarded. But only this supreme ring, Xiao Jingzhe has always held it by his side.

"It's because of this. ”

"Yes. It's a part of me, and even if it's out of my senses, it's not an ordinary dead thing. The moment you return to this world with the One Ring. Through it, I touched two diametrically opposed high concepts. One is this," Zoro pointed behind him, the nine clouds of turbid black fire burning silently. He raised his hand again, making the light shine brighter and brighter: "The other one, this is it. ”

The Demon King smiled lightly, graceful and luxurious: "For me, you are special, and it is you who have made me." ”

Xiao Jingzhe took a deep breath when he heard this, and closed his eyes tightly. He was silent for a long time, because he had to uncover a heavy puzzle with his own hands. From a long time ago. And there was a knot in his heart. He traveled north and south to practice the path of justice. The accumulation has long been quite deep, but he has been unable to raise his holy light to the height it should have reached, and the root cause of this is this knot.

"Since I made you, can you answer me a question? The answer to this puzzle will be about all his future and future, and one bad one will even pull him into the bottomless abyss. But Xiao Jingzhe finally opened his mouth, he slowly opened his eyes, his eyes were neither sharp nor pressing, and some were just hard-won firmness:

"What would have happened to the world if I hadn't come back with the One Ring?"

It's a matter of trust.

The Ringwrath resurrected the soul of the corpse because of the turbidity, Sauron died and came back to life because of the turbidity, countless lives were slaughtered and mutilated because of the turbidity, and the world of Middle-earth was turbulent again because of the turbidity.

In the final analysis, it was the "master" behind him who pointed him back to this world in the name of salvation, but it turned out that he himself brought the turbidity with him, causing an almost irreparable disaster.

It's a matter of faith.

Xiao Jingzhe has been asking himself: What would have happened to the world if I hadn't come back with the Lord of the Rings? If I hadn't come back with the turbidity, wouldn't Aragorn have struggled between life and death? Would the hobbits not have to be tortured endlessly? Would the victims not have died?

To the world, I, Xiao Jingzhe, as a paladin, am I worthy of a beautiful change or a terrible disaster? Am I worthy of the support of the world, the courtesy of the kings, and the admiration and trust of the victims?

This question was in his mind, and he couldn't let go of it no matter what. There is pain in the heart, and the pain is incomprehensible. If the mind is not accessible, how can the Holy Light advance by leaps and bounds?

Before the final battle, he thought about it repeatedly. He can choose to kill at the same time as the twins, and the three of them will cooperate to face Sauron, kill Sauron at a critical moment on the road to godhood, and bury this problem forever.

If you don't ask, a question will always be a question, and there will be no definite answer.

But if asked, there will be an answer. If this answer is the one he can't accept, then infinite regret and guilt will come like a tsunami. All the worship, all the prestige, all the legends, will magnify the guilt infinitely, and in the end, it is very likely that his Holy Light Heart will be completely destroyed at once, and he will never recover.

The stakes are just too great. Normally, it's still rare to be confused, bury this forever, forget it.

But Xiao Jingzhe is Xiao Jingzhe after all, and today, he walked in front of the demon king alone and opened this nightmare magic box with his own hands. He looked firmly into the eyes of the Demon King, and with all his might, asked again: "If I hadn't come back with the Ring, what would have happened to you?" Answer me—please, answer me!"

Zoro and Xiao Jingzhe looked at each other, their eyes were full of banter, and they opened their mouths easily: "If you hadn't come back, I wouldn't have come back so soon, and the land will enjoy long-term peace." Humans will work and cultivate, elves will cross the sea and travel eastward, and all races will thrive in the sun. ”

Xiao Jingzhe's pupils immediately shrank, his face turned pale, and his body shook. He didn't yell hysterically, he didn't deny it hoarsely. He just rolled his gaze, staring at this obscure netherworld in distraction, and could no longer control the holy light on his body. The light flickered and dimmed, and it was like a fire that is about to be extinguished in a gale.

Zoro watched all this with great interest, and after a moment he spoke faintly, "As I expected, this answer will hit you hard. Why, don't you doubt me? I'm a demon king, don't you suspect that I'm lying and deceiving you?"

But Xiao Jingzhe didn't yell and shout, "I don't believe it! You lied to me!" or anything like that, he just tightened the corners of his mouth bitterly, and shook his head slowly but firmly: "No." Even if you are a demon king, those who have the Holy Light will not lie. ”

"Hahahaha, good, very good, I really appreciate you more and more! Even for a demon king, you can abide by your faith, it seems that you are not a hypocrite and false compassion who can only talk about benevolence and morality!" The demon king looked up to the sky and laughed, and then suddenly straightened up and said, "Since this is the case, then I might as well tell you." Although I don't lie, I am good at misleading others by concealing some facts, just like I did with the Elven Kingdom and Mu Continent. But today, in the face of you, in the face of this eternal darkness, I will not play such a little trick again!"

Xiao Jingzhe's breath moved slightly, he raised his eyes to look at the Demon King, and his voice was dry: "What do you mean?"

"In the face of the final cross-examination, no one can lie, and no one can hide it. Moreover, the purpose of meeting you is not simply to destroy you, but to end the deeply entangled fate between you and me. ”

Sauron slowly rose and stood high on the royal steps. He raised his hand, as if embracing the endless dark wilderness, and his breath became strong and mighty, and his voice was like thunder: "If you don't return, Middle-earth will indeed enjoy a hundred years of peace and tranquility." But in a hundred years, when I return, I will be completely enthroned as God! At that time, there will be no one in the Middle Earth who can stop me! I will destroy the creation of the world, destroy everything I hate, and create a beautiful world!"

Xiao Jingzhe's eyes froze, he suddenly remembered what the person behind him said, and asked with wide eyes: "If I don't come back, will you become a god smoothly?"

"That's right!" the Demon King looked down at Xiao Jingzhe, with deep arrogance and excellence, and spoke deafeningly: "You know, I was born as Maiya, a creature of the gods, destined to live forever, never be able to touch the lofty throne of God, and unable to usurp the authority of God - but how can this seat be at the mercy of this ridiculous fate!"

"Nothing can manipulate me Sauron, not even God, not even fate!"

"I struggled so hard to find a way for Maia to become a god. I took refuge and betrayed many times, just to try various paths to godhood. I've followed the Demon Gods in the hope of finding a smooth path. But in the end, I found that there is no easy way to become a god! I must abandon the identity of Maia!"

"So, I found the elves. I have stripped away all the 'favors' that the gods have given me, condensed them into one, and forged them into a golden ring. That's right, it's the One Ring in your hand, it's the embodiment of my 'past'. ”

"The world thinks that the One Ring is a treasure that I can't live without, just like a fish that can't do without water. But no one knows that it is both a source of my power and a curse and a confinement for me. ”

"I'm always thinking frantically about breaking free from its confines and breaking through its shackles! Maia, elves, dwarves, hobbits, they all want to destroy this ring. But actually, it's me who wants to destroy it the most!"

"But alas, the deep entanglement between me and it cannot be resolved. Once it is destroyed, it will drag me into the depths of eternal calamity. ”

"So I'm going to take it in my hands, and then study it slowly, hoping that one day I can—" Sauron clenched his fists and raised his head through gritted teeth, roaring, "I can- throw it into that damned crater myself! Melted the so-called 'divine gift' and 'glory' into a puddle of slag!" )

PS: This is yesterday's chapter ~ under the hard squeeze time, I finally wrote it out in a hurry.