Nihility

(Better if you reread the first chapter of this volume first.)

Sometimes, the most complex plans ultimately require the most straightforward methods. For example, appearing before Caelus wearing a mask, drawing his attention and vigilance, then guiding him all the way to the room containing the cryo-pod.

After all, protagonists like him always possess immense curiosity. Twilight merely showed herself in the corner of Caelus's vision a few times, and he predictably followed, right until he saw Little Twilight lying in the cryo-pod.

What followed was much simpler—after all, saving the damsel in distress is a trope the protagonist absolutely wouldn't miss.

Watching Caelus stare blankly at the person in the cryo-pod, the smile on Twilight's lips gradually tightened. Then, without further hesitation, the moment the dagger appeared in her palm, she shattered the cryo-pod glass, the blade's tip pointing straight at the heart of the person inside!

And Caelus, just as she expected, subconsciously intervened. However, his attack, in Twilight's view, was no different from a child waving a wooden stick. Power, speed, even the technique itself... Caelus's strength was like child's play to Twilight. If she wished, she had countless ways to easily defeat the Caelus before her in an instant.

But Twilight wouldn't do such a thing. She merely made herself appear as if she were desperately trying with all her might to kill her past self within the pod, while precisely controlling the pressure, forcing Caelus to exert his full strength without holding back, yet ensuring he wasn't truly harmed.

"Who are you? What exactly do you want?!"

The question received no answer. Caelus could only grit his teeth and continue fighting the strange, masked woman before him. Her strength was indeed immense, occasionally giving him the feeling that even his full effort couldn't achieve victory.

Yet, amidst this desperate pressure, hope for victory still existed. Though he felt it was only a 20-30% chance, it was enough for Caelus to keep fighting.

Although he didn't know the person before him, nor the girl lying in the cryo-pod, nor why this person wanted to kill her, Caelus had a vague feeling—the girl lying there was someone very important; he should protect her.

And the person before him... honestly, Caelus also had some faint feeling about her, but before he could discern what that emotion was, the fierce battle robbed him of the leeway to ponder it.

In a moment of divided attention, Caelus felt his hand suddenly lighten. The baseball bat he picked up was quietly flicked away by the dagger, and then he himself was easily slammed to the ground.

The next moment, the enemy had already pressed down on him, the gleaming dagger plunging unhesitatingly towards his chest. If he hadn't instinctively raised his arms to grab her wrist, Caelus felt he would likely be chilled to the heart by now.

The situation instantly became a life-or-death standoff. But thankfully... although the blade tip now pointed at his heart, her strength wasn't greater than his!

Her wrist was slender and thin; it was only natural she couldn't match his strength. But if he didn't resist with all his might now, he would be the one to die. With his life on the line, Caelus couldn't afford further thought.

Grabbing those wrists, he desperately twisted the dagger's direction bit by bit, until the tip pointed at the heart of the person on top of him, then pushed with all his might—

Shhk!

In just an instant, scalding blood splashed onto his face.

Caelus's expression turned blank. He couldn't quite comprehend what happened; the situation seemed to have come too suddenly.

By his estimation, the standoff should have been much longer; achieving a counter-kill with the dagger wouldn't be easy; the opponent would surely resist desperately—yet events unfolded differently. The moment the dagger pierced her heart, he felt almost no resistance.

Only when he felt the warm blood flow down from the dagger and heard the painful, drowning-like gasps in her breathing did Caelus finally realize what he had done.

He killed someone... He personally took a life. But strangely, at this moment, Caelus felt no joy of victory or horror of killing in his heart. He only felt emptiness, an emptiness difficult to describe with words.

It was as if someone returned home jubilantly, full of interesting stories to share with family, only to open the door and remember their family was long gone.

Honestly, everything happened too quickly; he still didn't quite understand the situation. Who was she? Why lure him here? And why harm the girl in the cryo-pod? Caelus had many questions, but unfortunately, it seemed he couldn't get answers from the person upon him anymore.

And what puzzled him most right now was the person before him... Why was she smiling?

Under Caelus's bewildered and surprised gaze, she tremblingly reached out, gently wiped the bloodstain from Caelus's right cheek, then powerlessly collapsed onto the ground, showing no further signs of life.

She died. Impossible to revive again—for some reason, Caelus had this faint feeling in his heart.

The next moment, the girl lying in the cryo-pod suddenly showed a pained expression. Caelus could no longer afford to care about the corpse, hastily scrambling to pull her out from the cryo-pod's nutrient fluid.

And when his gaze swept over the place where the corpse had fallen again, he found nothing but bloodstains.

Probably just some insignificant bad guy...

With a strange sense of melancholy, Caelus turned his attention back to the girl in his arms, asking with concern, "Are you okay?"

The blue-haired girl just stared fixedly at him, then blinked her lake-green eyes, raising her hand to gently wipe the remaining blood from his left cheek.

"Caelus?"

The girl's voice held confusion, seemingly puzzled why she would call out this name. Seeing the person before him actually call out his name, Caelus cast aside the earlier melancholy, asking curiously, "Do you kno■■■■"

The words couldn't be spoken, dissolving into syllables lost in nihility. When the story's end connected to its beginning, when the finale was destroyed before the departure, then the story itself became a paradox that couldn't exist. Since it never existed from the start, naturally there were no records worth remembering.

...

Caelus subconsciously clutched his forehead. He suddenly felt somewhat dizzy for some reason.

Strange, did something happen? Why did he feel like he forgot something important? Did a Memokeeper target him... Damn it, can't remember what I forgot!

Caelus stood there, deep in thought, until March 7th's voice pulled him out of his brainstorming.

"Caelus, what are you spacing out for! Hurry back to the Express! We need to discuss the next destination!"

Ah, right! The Xianzhou matters were all settled! Now it was time to decide where the Express would go next!

Caelus slapped his palm excitedly, finally remembering what he forgot.

He looked back at March 7th somewhat sheepishly, scratching his head. "Sorry, sorry, too many things happened recently, got me all confused... Mm, let's go! Call Twilight, let's head back to the Express!"

He didn't feel there was anything wrong with what he said. After all, Twilight usually traveled with either him or March 7th. Since she wasn't beside him now, she was likely just playing somewhere with March 7th earlier.

But then, Caelus saw a strange expression appear on March 7th's face.

"What are you talking about, Caelus? Who's Twilight? Is she a new friend you met?"