Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 433 Whispers of Chaos

The roar of the "Progenitor of Entropy" was like a thousand volcanoes erupting simultaneously. The sound waves, carrying destructive power, made the fused beings' eardrums ache. The golden data flowing from their ear canals condensed into tiny crystal clusters in the air, like shattered stars. The ancient tree's roots, growing in reverse, suddenly trembled violently, as if suffering unbearable pain. Black sap gushed from the cracks in its bark, like the saliva of a demon, corroding the vines that encased its dark purple heart, emitting a teeth-grinding sizzling sound. The black-robed replicas seized the opportunity to break free of their restraints. The crystals between their brows burst forth with blinding purple light, the light like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, shattering the light points gathered by the young Firefly one by one. The little girl's scream exploded in her sea of ​​consciousness, her voice filled with fear and despair, like a helpless cry for help in the abyss of darkness.

"His consciousness... is rewriting the rules of the seal!" A tearing tremor emanated from the roots of the adult Xiaoying, each vine displaying charred lines as if scorched by fire. "The woodcutter's voice... is the key to unlocking the core of the Entropy Abyss!" The fused body shuddered, countless images flashing through her mind. She realized then that the dark red pulsating frequency deep within the black hole perfectly matched the vibration waveform of the chip the woodcutter had left her. Memories flooded back—those moments fighting side-by-side in the ruins, the young man always reminding her of "entropy anomalies" at crucial moments in the battle; every seemingly caring warning concealed a deadly trap. She clenched her fists, her heart filled with both the anger of betrayal and the fear of the unknown crisis.

The black-robed leader's laughter seeped from the slime, a sound like the hooting of an owl, filled with sinister eeriness. His body continuously reorganized within the increasing entropy energy, transforming into a translucent fluid form. The patterns on his surface resembled flowing nebulae, radiating a mysterious and dangerous aura. "A thousand years have passed. Finally, the moment has come for the container and the key to resonate!" He raised his hand, summoning the Sword of Entropy Annihilation. The twisted runes on the blade suddenly emitted a red light, like flames being ignited. Where the blade cleaved, space twisted and deformed like dough being kneaded by an invisible giant hand, groaning under its strain. The instant the fused entity's light blade collided with the sword, a powerful shockwave swept in like a tsunami, shattering her wrist guards. Chain patterns identical to her dark purple heart appeared on the back of her hand, writhing on her skin like living creatures, searing her nerves.

In the nick of time, the remaining remains of the twelve X-Series test subjects suddenly formed a circular matrix. Their mechanical eyes lit up simultaneously, like twelve bright lamps, concentrating their last energy into a golden pillar of light, which shone with their unwavering faith and indomitable will. This pillar of light temporarily suppressed the attacks of the black-robed replicas, but their bodies groaned and twisted under the strain of the energy impact. "Destroy the core! We can't hold on..." The test subject at the forefront was swallowed by the entropy increase symbol before she could finish speaking, turning into a stream of scattered data, leaving only a pile of broken metal debris. The fusion body gritted her teeth and injected the ancient tree's essence and the power of the light core into the roots of the anti-ancient tree, trying to accelerate the sealing process. However, she was horrified to find that her heart was beating faster and faster, as if it were on a final countdown, each beat causing her heart to clench.

Just then, a spiderweb-like crack suddenly appeared at the edge of the black hole, as if a huge wound had been torn open in the sky. Countless dark purple tentacles emerged from them, their surfaces covered with bizarre protrusions and depressions, each topped with an incompletely formed human face. Among those distorted faces were familiar companions from parallel worlds. Looking at those faces that had once fought alongside her, a sharp pain surged in her heart. "You thought you were fighting against just a consciousness?" The woodcutter's voice came from the depths of her heart, carrying an unfamiliar coldness, as if from another world. "The entire black hole is the neural network of the 'Progenitor of Entropy,' and you are merely nodes waiting to be activated within that network." These chilling words, like a biting wind, almost froze the blood of the fusion.

The merged entity's consciousness was suddenly pulled into a flashback: in ancient times, a traitor embedded fragments of the consciousness of the "Progenitor of Entropy" into life forms of different dimensions, and the woodcutter was the host of one of those fragments. In the scene, the youth's eyes gradually became cloudy, slowly eroded by evil forces. At this moment, at the core of the black hole, the chains on the surface of the dark purple heart began to dissolve in reverse. With each broken link, an entropy-increasing energy powerful enough to destroy a galaxy would escape, and space would crumble inch by inch wherever the energy passed. The branches and leaves of the Anti-Ancient Tree turned to ash in the energy storm, and the ash scattered in the air like countless black butterflies. The merged entity's skin began to show signs of carbonization, and pain surged like a tidal wave, but she still gripped the light blade tightly, her eyes revealing an unyielding determination.

"With my roots!" The adult Xiaoying suddenly channeled all her energy into the fused entity's consciousness, her voice filled with resolute determination and tragic grandeur. "Within the ancient tree rings... there remains the guardian's final sacrificial ritual!" The fused entity's pupils contracted sharply. She saw the phantoms of past guardians re-condense within the increasing entropy energy. Their faces were blurred, but their eyes shone with unwavering conviction. They chanted ancient incantations in unison, their voices echoing throughout the space like ancient bells. As they chanted, they transformed their own consciousness into chains, binding them to the surface of the dark purple heart, attempting to prevent the awakening of evil forces. Seeing this, the black-robed leader attacked frantically. The moment the Entropy Annihilation Sword severed the guardian's phantom, what splattered was not light, but corrosive black blood. The blood dripped onto the ground, instantly corroding deep pits.

However, just as the fused entity pierced the final weak point of the heart with its light blade, a sound like the cry of an infant suddenly echoed from the depths of the black hole—a sound both eerie and filled with an unknown threat. The dark purple heart cracked open, and a child covered in symbols of entropy increase emerged. His face was identical to that of the woodcutter in his childhood, but his eyes held a sinister and evil quality unbecoming of a child. "Welcome to the new world of entropy." The child opened his arms, and all the entropy-increasing energy within the black hole began to converge on him, forming a massive energy vortex. The ancient tree completely disintegrated, turning into countless fragments. In the instant the fused entity was swept away by the energy torrent, it saw the light of young Xiaoying transform into a cocoon, enveloping her consciousness within—that faint light seemed like the last hope in the darkness.

Outside the cocoon, the boy resembling a woodcutter curled his lips into a sinister smile, a smile that sent chills down one's spine. He raised his hand, summoning twelve swords of entropy annihilation, their blades gleaming with a cold, icy light, aimed at the transparent cocoon floating in the black hole. "The game has only just begun, my perfect vessel." His voice echoed through the entropy abyss, filled with mockery and an arrogance of absolute control. Suddenly, the remains of the twelve X-series test subjects began to reassemble, their eyes flashing with an eerie purple light, as if they had been given new life by an evil force. Deep within the cocoon, in the consciousness of the merged entity, a dark purple mark resembling the child was quietly taking shape, foreshadowing an even greater crisis to come…