"It's a shame to say hello like that - I thought we had a common language and could get along better. Is. ”

The frivolous man with long hair and white robes who inexplicably left a colorful impression said so.

The wall behind him has already left several deep paw prints on Conrad Coetze, I don't know what Rika Fujimaru will say when she comes back and sees this.

Undoubtedly, this is the stress behavior of Coetze, who is plagued by prophetic visions, after realizing that the scene he sees has been altered by external forces, but attacking a shadow that does not exist here obviously will not lead to anything.

The alternate for the crown, the magician of flowers, Merlin, still stood in place with that fluttering smile.

Koz's several fierce attacks in an instant all hit the shadow made of illusion, and they passed through and landed on the wall without hindrance. As for Merlin himself, who was not here at all, he didn't even mess up his hairstyle.

"It's the first time I've spoken to you officially, but haven't we seen each other in the Illusion Trials a long time ago!" Old Merlin complained, "I am on the side of the Chaldeans through and through, you should know that!" ”

"Shut up, Alien," Coates retorted, gritting his teeth, "you've crossed the line." ”

His confirmation came up with this figure, this face. Merlin, the legendary magician, a hybrid of humans and dream demons, has a clairvoyant eye to observe the "now", and supports the Chaldeans who executes the existence of human principles out of his own needs and preferences.

He knew this information in the illusion, but it didn't stop there. Something so engraved in his genes that he couldn't take a liking to Merlin, a creature that feeds on human emotions, let alone get to know and connect.

Even the reluctance to live in peace with him was the biggest concession Koz could make.

"I know that I am indeed doing a bit too much, but the problem is that Lixiang has basically exhausted these modest means such as persuasion and demonstration. Judging from the results, it doesn't work at all, does it? Merlin was unapologetic in his tone, "So I thought, if you can't change your habit of blindly believing in prophecy, then just change the prophecy you blindly believe!" ”

"False prophecies are meaningless, and you are just trying to manipulate my actions." There was a clear threat in Koz's voice.

"I don't deny my purpose, but I have to question the first half of the sentence." Merlin, who completely regarded the other party's threat as the wind in his ears, calmly retorted:

"It doesn't matter whether the prophecy itself is true or false, after all, there is no way to prove the truth of something that has not yet happened. Prophecy is just prophecy, and its meaning is determined by the choices of the person in the middle of it - and you always choose the bad side, which is too much to bear! ”

Kotz rolled his eyes away in annoyance: "You're all on the same page. ”

Similar words, Fujimaru Rika has already said to him dozens of times. He could have guessed what would happen next: something like "even if the outcome is predestined, the process has its own meaning", "making changes in the process may affect the outcome that has not yet come"-

"I know what you're trying to say, and I've tried." There was a sense of boredom in Koz's expression, "I don't know what this kind of behavior would have achieved in your original universe, but in front of me, things just got worse because of it. ”

When he screened out the eighteen Midnight Lords of the Chaos Gang, if he had asked Koz to judge by the omens he had seen, he would have killed them there, but Fujimaru Rika stopped the act at that time, and he acquiesced to the change; When he found Sevita on Jestal, he was supposed to leave with one of his favorite heirs, but Rika Fujimaru thought he should respect the other party's choice a little more, so he tried.

The process may have changed, but the outcome was no different, or even worse—the chosen eighteen would still be executed by him, and this time their souls might be consumed by the chaos; And the fate of Saivita, who had been killed in battle, was pushed to an even less honorable situation.

This only reaffirms that Coetzes is struggling with prophecy never makes sense. Even the act of trying to derive meaning from it doesn't make sense. The malice and cruelty of the universe itself are beyond the imagination of human intelligence, as if there is always an invisible hand controlling the wheel of fate, so that things can only evolve in a bad direction forever.

"I admit that the rules of operation of the two universes are somewhat different, and the malice of the subspace on your side towards intelligent beings is indeed very great...... However, it is clear that things have not progressed to the point of no return, are you sure you want to give up like this? ”

Merlin's unprovoked voice still echoed through the corridors of the Storm Boundary, causing Conrad Coetz to whisper in annoyance, "You mindless monster! What do you understand?! ”

However, while scolding him, he knew that this was not just for Merlin.

The Midnight Wraith is nothing more than a monster that doesn't fit in with humans.

From this point of view, Merlin's initial remark that "you and I have a common language" is not wrong, after all, they are also in a sense alienated from human society, but one is a relatively pure observer, and the other is a judge who spreads fear.

Of course, this sentence is not correct, but the heartless Dream Demon does not understand the most essential difference between the two of them very well, and Conrad Coetzes, who sees this clearly, only firmly holds his strong dislike for each other, and does not intend to explain this.

The fundamental conflict lies in the fact that as an alien pretending to be a human, a hybrid of a human and a dream demon, Merlin himself has only a half-self. He understands but cannot develop feelings, and he cannot distinguish between good and evil; However, Conrad Coetze, as a prototype, was created with a clear purpose, and when he was cultivated in the podium, he was preset with emotions that were too vivid compared to ordinary humans, and a strong view of good and evil that gradually developed into extremes in the future.

If their acquaintance is not premised on the existence of Chaldea or Fujimaru Rika, then the best relationship they can maintain after that is only to die.

"I don't understand it, but I can at least see it clearly." Naturally, the foreign body that does not produce emotions will not be angry at this level of accusation, and Merlin's voice is still smooth and brisk, which is really tiresome to put on this occasion, "Your genetic children love you very much. Let's not talk about how this love came about, but don't you want to work hard for their love? ”

- This is the speech of the very dream demon, provocative and unconscious, which made Conrad Coz's heart immediately fire.

A similar topic was mentioned by Rika Fujimaru, but she only brought it up simply, and asked very little. She knew what Coates had experienced in the past, that the concept of "love" was almost non-existent in Nostramo's society, that Konrad Coetz had no way of knowing or learning about this feeling when he shaped his worldview, and that by the time he was able to come into contact with the concept of "love", he could hardly believe that it existed.

Conrad Cotz is a primordial, and the learning ability of the primordial is unimaginable to ordinary people. So he quickly understood love and knew how to use it after he had the sample. He sees love as a weakness in human nature, and even knows how to use his offspring's love for him to manipulate them – but he doesn't know how, doesn't bother to respond to love, and refuses to admit that he needs love and deserves to be loved.

He refused to accept the emperor's forgiveness after his death, deliberately provoked conflicts with those close to him in his second life, often ignored the natural kindness of Fujimaru Ritsuka, and always acted mildly or seriously provocative towards him, perhaps with some element of this element in his motives. It may not be much, but it must be there.

Rika Fujimaru understands this, so she doesn't ask Koz to accept these feelings that are too heavy and difficult for him to deal with, let alone to respond to his heir, but only wants him to show a little basic respect, and what Merlin says is clearly the exact opposite.

In Conrad Coetze's mind, Merlin was almost forcing him to do something he didn't want to do at all, something he didn't need at all. It sounded ridiculous, but it did offend him, and even doubled the offense because it sounded ridiculous.

But given that "Merlin" in front of him was just an illusion, Coates really couldn't make a real effective attack on him, and he had to endure this breath after all.

"That's stupid." Eventually, Coetzes simply said in a voice that reminded the listener of a cold venom slowly flowing into a vein, "I'm not going to bother so much to add some weakness to myself." ”

Merlin was confused for a few seconds before he could barely keep up with Coetze's train of thought.

“…… Do you think love is a weakness? Whether it is the giver or the gainer? Dream Demon's voice, which had always been calm, was finally tinged with a little surprise because of this, "Objectively speaking, love can indeed make people get carried away or become lazy, but if you want to talk about weakness...... Hmmm......"

"Love makes people weak." Coetzes said blandly, as if explaining that one plus one equals two, "and I'm not allowed to be weak." ”

"It's not like that. I've seen many forms of love, and it's a very one-sided idea to think that love makes people weak. Merlin retorted, "Love may be indulgent, it may be forward-looking, it may be painful, it may be despairing, it can be maddening; But love can also be transformed into the strongest armor and sword, can also become a glimmer of light that pierces the darkness, and can also become the source of power to create miracles; Love can destroy a race, but it can also create a universe. ”

He looked at Coetze's pure black pupils with jewel-like sparkle and inorganic eyes, and asked bewitchingly, "Even if you don't want love, don't you want to try it just to use it?" Don't you want to see if your children's love for you can free them from the quagmire of chaos? Can false love, prescribed by a base contract, break through the shackles of prophecy? ”

Merlin did not say these words in his usual role as a "guide". At this moment, he is just as a dream demon, purely from the perspective of an observer who "makes things more interesting", so he stretches out his hand to try to lead the direction of the story:

"Before the clock strikes midnight, you still have a little time to make a decision."

He gave an ultimatum.

Conrad Coetze was speechless. The nature he had forged in his previous life told him to give up quickly and stop bothering to do such useless work. But the few miracles he saw in his second life gave him a small glimmer of hope.

He admits that he has a little bit of a heartbeat.

-----------------

"You said, 'You don't understand.'" On the way to the launch area of the drop bay with Rika Fujimaru, Ranmarok asked, "Are there any uncertainties in the events that are happening on this planet?" ”

"Be the messenger of calamity." Rikka replied in a low voice, "Although it is almost certain that there must be a Tzeentchi demon behind the scheduling of this large-scale ritual before the one hundred and ten years of Terra, I really can't judge its level. ”

"Are there any distractions?"

"Not really." Rikka sighed, "That's probably the kind of, 'When your enemy is stupid just right, you really can't tell if it's acting or if it's really that stupid.'" ”

"......" Ranmaroke didn't keep up with this train of thought for a while, or was shocked by this idea, and paused for three seconds before speaking, "I remember the previous introduction...... Isn't the Tzeentch camp known for snooping into all the knowledge and mysteries of the world? ”

"Knowledge is not the same as wisdom, and mysteries lack everyday practicality. A master who has been studying in a certain field for a long time may not even be able to do something as trivial as going out to buy vegetables, and we generally call this kind of person a 'nerd who can only die reading'. Rikka explained with a sneer.

"Judging from the comparison of the waveform diagram of the subspace energy level, it is very likely that the initiator prepared a similar ritual on this planet 10,000 years ago. If the ritual had been successful at that time, it would have increased the success rate of this ritual because there was a precedent for success, which logically made sense - but the problem is, based on the data provided by the Dark Angel from 10,000 years ago, they clearly failed that time. ”

"If you have succeeded in the past, the success rate of the same ritual will increase, but if you do not, will the success rate of the ritual decrease?"

"That's it. I don't understand the logic of the demon's attachment to this ritual. Rikka nodded, "In the thirtieth millennium, it was acceptable to spend such a long time taking such a long time to capture a planet in the material world by some roundabout means, because at that time the distinction between the real and the unreal was still very clear. But with the passage of time, the gradual integration of subspace and the physical world, after the fortieth millennium, the curtain between reality and subspace is no longer as difficult to break through as it was 10,000 years ago - with these 110 years of Terra, wouldn't it be easier to directly blast nine subspace rifts in the planet and drag the entire planet in? ”

Ranmarok thought for a moment: "Maybe the mastermind behind this matter is the demon from 10,000 years ago. It has failed, so it is extra persistent at this point. ”

"You're right, I'll add this conjecture to the list of possible countermeasures."

The corresponding area in the ship was already close in front of him, and Ranmarok slowly spoke as if he suddenly remembered something:

"There's another important thing: the Lion's Mane doesn't have a drop-off slot that can be used by mortals."

This is obviously a little obscure difficulty, and Fujimaru Rika does not move:

"It's okay, I expected it." "As long as you open the hatch of the launch mechanism after the Lionmane reaches low Earth orbit," she said calmly. ”

“…… Only open the hatch? There was also surprise in Ranmaro's tone, while Rika Fujimaru sounded calm as if she was just going to dinner:

"Yes. I jumped directly. She said so.