[Formatting Process in progress, current progress: 2.57%.]
[Formatting Process error occurred, running self-check…]
[Formatting Process in progress, current progress: 2.43%.]
[Formatting Process error occurred, running self-check…]
“Mm…”
While jogging through a verification passage, Cyrene asked in confusion, “Doesn’t this Scepter have a problem… why is the Formatting progress going backwards?”
“Maybe it’s because Demiurge is exerting influence.”
Perhaps because she wasn’t very good at physical activity, Xian Ling was already slightly out of breath, her voice carrying a faint weakness.
“Look, even the mechanisms along the way are rarely active.”
“True… so that means Demiurge is still conscious right now?”
Cyrene perked up, a genuine smile unconsciously appearing on her face.
“Hehe… looks like luck is on our side ♪”
“Everyone… Demiurge included… is working hard together.
I need to do my best too ♪”
“Pfft—cough cough…”
Xian Ling, already weakened from Data Displacement, nearly choked.
“Xian Ling?”
“N-no, I’m fine.
It’s just… don’t use that kind of sentence casually in the future.”
Xian Ling looked genuinely pained.
If it were normal times, it wouldn’t matter—but at a moment like this, combined with her real plan… that was way too perfect a flag.
Her method of protection was actually very simple: she would convert her own body into Data State, then overwrite Cyrene’s data using her own, replacing Cyrene’s original data so that she would be deleted by the Scepter instead.
In short—trading lives.
As a Memokeeper, she was more resilient than Cyrene anyway.
Even if she truly couldn’t hold on, it didn’t matter—once Demiurge awakened, everything that followed would essentially be a final battle.
Someone like her would just get erased by Iron Tomb in a single basic attack anyway.
It was better to use her data for something more useful.
More importantly, Cyrene and Demiurge were actually the same person.
Xian Ling knew this very well.
In a sense, only together could they be considered the complete Demiurge.
Of course, she could not tell Cyrene such a cruel plan in advance.
On top of that, she used the embarrassment caused by the earlier kiss to mask the fact that she was continuously performing Data Displacement on Cyrene.
It wasn’t that Cyrene would necessarily object—more likely, after understanding the necessity, she would agree through grief and pain.
But… Xian Ling did not want her to face Demiurge carrying sadness or guilt.
In the original story, Cyrene herself had said she would only record love and beauty in the tale she gave to Demiurge.
So Xian Ling would also try her best to preserve that.
“Alright, the runes of the three Titans are collected… I didn’t expect this book to have so many strange functions.”
“This thing has even more uses than that…” Xian Ling said softly.
“In previous cycles, the Ritual Sword would kill you at the beginning of a loop, and at the end, your soul would return here with all the memories of the cycle.
This time, we’re going in light—our speed should be a bit faster.”
After briefly checking her remaining data capacity, Xian Ling let out a small sigh of relief.
At least for now, protecting Cyrene all the way to Demiurge was no problem.
As for the storytelling afterward… she could only try her best not to let Cyrene notice anything unusual.
After all, while Cyrene still lacked experience, Demiurge had already witnessed the scene of Cyrene’s departure millions of times.
She might see through her instantly.
But it didn’t matter.
By then, Xian Ling’s data conversion would be nearly complete.
Even if Cyrene didn’t want it, it would no longer be something she could refuse.
As always—some people simply keep giving their lives.
This time, it was her turn.
And if this worldline continued afterward, Herta’s Curios still contained a strand of Xian Ling’s Mind-consciousness.
In a sense, that counted as a kind of “revival”—though the resurrected version would lose this portion of memory.
“Since the mechanisms here are unlocked, let’s move to the next area.”
Xian Ling glanced at the Titan runes overhead.
“This time it’s Law, Passage, and Time… the three Destiny Titans.
There are still nine more Titan runes after this.”
“Oh right, Cyrene, did you know something?
Before Eternal Recurrence began, Amphoreus originally had thirteen gods.”
“Eh?” Cyrene, clearly interested in trivia, immediately perked up.
“Then why later—”
“After Eternal Recurrence was activated, the Law factor was fixed into Chrydella, so Amphoreus was left with only twelve demigods.”
Cyrene couldn’t hold it in and laughed.
“Xian Ling, pay me back my merit points!
This is such a serious moment, and you’re still telling old jokes!”
Of course it’s to distract you, idiot.
Xian Ling silently apologized to Chrydella in her heart and began searching through her internal “iCurtv” for the next joke.
Honestly, if she materialized the contents of her brain, it would probably be thicker than the dictionary of Sharfeng City.
…
After a fairly straightforward process of data collection and submission, Cyrene—who had experienced the same flow three million times—and Xian Ling—who had watched god-knows-how-many playthroughs of it—cleared the Tomb of the Nameless Titan’s preliminary puzzle with almost zero errors.
At this moment, the two stood on the central transit platform, quietly advancing deeper into the Great Tomb.
“Out of all my cycles… this might be the first time I’ve felt this thing is slow…” Cyrene shifted uneasily, glancing around.
The Formatting warning had not disappeared—it still lingered around them like a death god, dutifully reporting its progress.
According to the latest update, the Formatting Process had already reached 25% and was still steadily increasing.
“Still… the scenery here is completely different from outside.
Even the style feels… strange.”
“In a sense, this is a server room.
It’s normal for Amphoreus not to have this kind of aesthetic.
Lygus wouldn’t allow a normal technological civilization to develop here.”
Xian Ling paused slightly.
“After all, in earlier experiments, civilizations simulated by the Scepter broke into space and discovered their own existence was fake, which caused those experiments to fail.
After that, Lygus finalized the current world structure of Amphoreus.”
“Xian Ling really knows a lot…” Cyrene said—then suddenly stopped.
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong?” Xian Ling asked casually.
“…Nothing.
Maybe I just saw wrong…” Cyrene rubbed her eyes hard, then squeezed Xian Ling’s hand before finally relaxing.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but… she felt like Xian Ling’s body had flickered and become semi-transparent for an instant.
★ ★ ★
T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me.
★ ★ ★
Shilling time!