bullyxtreme Chapter 442: The Puzzle of Keyyuan
Chapter 442: The Puzzle of Keyyuan
The consciousness of the merged entity swirled in chaos, as if caught in an endless vortex. The pull of the Key of Time was like a deep black hole, greedily drawing her power and thoughts into the abyss of darkness. Her body gradually became transparent, and beneath every inch of her skin, dark purple energy veins pulsed wildly like living things, eerily resonating with the aura of the Lord of Entropy in the distance, as if responding to some ancient and malevolent call. In a daze, the memories remaining in the fragments of Xiaoying, like shattered mirrors, painstakingly pieced together an ancient scene in her mind: a group of mysterious figures clad in star-patterned robes, sealing the power of entropy within the Key of Time at the end of time. However, this act, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, triggered a violent split within the observer camp. Members of the camp, due to their different understandings and attitudes towards the seal, went down opposing paths.
"Destroy the Key of Time..." The golden figure's final shout resounded like a heavy hammer blow within the merged being's sea of consciousness. She struggled to maintain her fading consciousness, her nails digging deep into the uneven patterns of the Key of Time; the pain from her fingertips ironically brought her back to her senses. The instant her fingertips touched a raised rune, the Sea of Time fell into an eerie silence, as if the entire world had been paused. All energy fluctuations abruptly subsided, and the fierce roar of battle ceased abruptly. Her gaze pierced the silent void, landing in the center of the array set up by the black-robed figure and the silver figure. A massive, dark purple hourglass slowly emerged; with each grain of sand that flowed through it, spacetime, like fragile glass, cracked open with a small yet alarming fissure, as if foreshadowing the imminent collapse of the world.
"So the true mission of the Key of Time was to serve as a cage of entropy and silence, not as a key..." the fused being murmured, her voice filled with shock and bitterness. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, dripping onto the surface of the Key of Time, blooming into eerie flowers, as if fate were cruelly mocking her. She endured the excruciating pain in her body, attempting to mobilize the power of her twins to destroy the Key of Time. However, the yin-yang symbol that had been harmoniously rotating in her dantian was now being relentlessly eroded by the dark purple, its golden light growing weaker and weaker, like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
"Want to destroy it? Too late." The black-robed figure's voice whispered in her ear, carrying a chilling coldness and smugness. The merged entity whirled around, only to see that the black-robed figure's body had completely assimilated with the Lord of Entropy. Six pairs of wings, cracked with star trails, sprouted from his back. With each flap, countless fragments of spacetime fell like withered petals, leaving trails of despair in the void. He raised his hand and grasped the golden figure's longsword. The jade patterns on his palm and the runes on the sword devoured each other, bursting forth with blinding light. "What about the observer's primordial power? It's nothing more than a sacrifice offered for the Lord of Entropy's resurrection."
The golden figure was tightly bound by dark purple energy, as if chained by a demon. Crystalline patterns, similar to those of the fused entity, appeared on his gradually transparent body—symbols of the observer's power. He swung his sword with all his might, the blade slicing through the void, but the instant the blade touched the Lord of Entropy, he shattered like glass, transforming into countless golden specks of light that vanished into the darkness. The fused entity tried to cry out, but her throat was sealed by the suction of the Key of Time. She could only watch helplessly as those specks of light, carrying hope, were sucked into the dark purple hourglass, her heart filled with despair and resentment.
Just then, a deafening roar of breaking chains echoed from the spacetime rift, a sound like the fury of an ancient beast, shaking the entire Sea of Time. A shadowy figure, even larger than the Lord of Entropy Silence, slowly emerged. Its body was pieced together from countless distorted fragments of spacetime, resembling a monster composed of shattered worlds. Its head was a collapsing black hole, its edges swirling with eerie silver patterns, as if containing the deepest secrets of the universe. The black-robed man's expression changed drastically, his voice filled with disbelief: "Impossible! The 'Gatekeeper of Entropy Silence' should still be slumbering at the end of time!"
The sound waves emitted by the mysterious black shadow were like an invisible giant wave, causing the entire Sea of Time to tremble violently. The fused body's eardrums ruptured instantly, blood streaming down her face, blurring her vision. Amidst the excruciating pain, she suddenly discovered that the runes on the surface of the Key of Time began to resonate with the silver patterns on the black shadow's body, as if there was some mysterious connection between the two. Even more bizarrely, the twin powers that had been corrupted by the power of entropy were now undergoing a new change within her body—golden and dark purple energies began to surround the Key of Time, like two intertwined dragons, forming a miniature spacetime vortex, within which flickered a mysterious and powerful light.
“So that’s how it is… The Key of Time needs to absorb enough Entropy to awaken the Gatekeeper.” The silver figure’s voice trembled with unprecedented fear, like leaves falling in the autumn wind. The silver staff in his hand suddenly shattered, making a crisp sound, as if symbolizing the collapse of his beliefs. “We have all been deceived by the ancient prophecy!” The black-robed man laughed maniacally, his laughter filled with despair and madness, but then suddenly froze—the tentacles of the mysterious black figure, like sharp daggers, pierced through his chest, and dark purple energy, like a punctured balloon, leaked out wildly, forming dazzling yet eerie streaks of light in the air.
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, the merged entity submerged its entire consciousness into the spacetime vortex within its body. It saw the tiny spark of light from the young Ying flickering at the vortex's center, like a beacon in the darkness, surrounded by the afterimages of observers from past generations, their faces blurred yet resolute. "In the name of the observers, restart the Key of Time!" the merged entity and the afterimages shouted in unison, their voices echoing within the spacetime vortex, filled with power and determination. The spacetime vortex erupted with dazzling light, illuminating the entire Sea of Time. The runes of the Key of Time, after rotating in reverse to their extreme, suddenly burst forth with a holy radiance completely opposite to its previous state, a radiance like the warm spring sun, dispelling darkness and evil.
However, just as the holy radiance was about to envelop the Lord of Entropy, the mysterious black shadow suddenly opened its massive maw, a gaping abyss that devoured everything. All light was instantly swallowed, and darkness once again enveloped the entire Sea of Time. The consciousness of the fused being was instantly sucked into the black shadow, as if she had entered a chaotic world. Here, she witnessed a truth even more terrifying than Entropy itself: before the birth of time, Entropy and the Gatekeeper were one, forced to separate upon the birth of the universe. And now, the Gatekeeper was devouring the power of Entropy precisely to restore the original chaotic state, returning everything to nothingness.
"You think you're the savior?" The gatekeeper's voice echoed in the merged consciousness, filled with mockery and disdain. "The observers are nothing but pawns maintaining a false balance." The merged body began to disintegrate, turning into countless points of light that merged into the gatekeeper's body. She could feel her life slowly fading away. But in her final moment, she used the last of her strength to inject a wisp of consciousness into the Key of Time, which then fell into the ruins of the Sea of Time. In the distance, the guardian's tattered armor was dissipating. With his last strength, he shot a beam of blue light towards the direction where the merged body had fallen, a light containing his final hope and blessing.
Somewhere in the Sea of Time, a mysterious figure clad in black robes and wearing a golden mask slowly picked up the Key of Time. His movements were elegant and enigmatic, as if performing some sacred ritual. A low chuckle came from beneath the mask: "Finally, you've arrived, vessel of the observer. Now, it's time for the true 'Chess Game of Time' to begin..." As his voice fell, new crimson runes appeared on the Key of Time in his hand. The runes shimmered with an eerie light, and the remnants of the fused entity's consciousness emitted a faint distress signal from the depths of the runes. The signal was like the faintest starlight in the night sky, yet it carried endless hope, waiting to be discovered and saved.