An elegant voice sounded, and the darkness ahead squirmed. A pale face emerged from it, and Roger showed a terrifying smile.
He changed his appearance again, as if every time he met Lorenzo, his appearance was not fixed.
"Roger Cruz."
Lorenzo whispered, he raised his head and looked directly at Roger with his bloodshot eyes.
Roger seemed a little different this time.
His face was pale, like a dead person, and he smiled, but the smile was also extremely stiff. To be precise, his entire face was as cold and dull as plaster.
He is like a dead tree that has survived for who knows how long. It is old and dilapidated. It has just become like this. He does not want to die simply, but wants to live stubbornly. No matter what, he must continue the flow of life in the withered world.
.
Lorenzo thought of the Watchers sitting around the Well of Ascension, and Roger Cruz in front of him looked so similar to them.
Then he realized what the problem was.
"You and Adren Levien, and the Watchers..."
Lorenzo's voice began to tremble due to exhaustion, and he raised his head hard with mixed emotions.
"And I."
The surrounding buildings made a squeaking sound, with countless cracks all over them, and soon they were completely shattered, with smoke and dust surging.
The gravel should have fallen, but they did not cover Lorenzo and Roger. Instead, they continued to understand, turning from the wall into fragments, and then into countless dust, diluted in the air.
"We are all the same. We have embarked on the road of sublimation, but we have not reached the end. We have not yet been able to remove all the impurities from our souls."
The wounds on Lorenzo's body were healing rapidly. This degree of self-healing far exceeded his ability. It was like going back in time. He became intact, but there was still deep fatigue in his eyes.
"Therefore, we are still imperfect and impure.
We still have all kinds of bad qualities, even if they are infinitely diluted during sublimation, they still exist, clinging to our souls like shadows, following us, and reminding us all the time..."
The surging thunderclouds and storms in the sky also disappeared in an instant, leaving only a clear night sky. It was so clear, cloudless, and the bright stars were clearly visible.
"A reminder of the essence of what it means to be human."
Lorenzo took a long breath and sat back.
The gray cold air rolled, freezing the water on the ground and covering it with a layer of snow dust. The bench covered with frost also appeared with the wave of snow dust. It caught Lorenzo who was sitting down, and then he
Sitting on the bench, crossing his legs, he calmly looked at the visiting Roger.
"So is this what your consciousness looks like now? It's really bad."
Lorenzo saw through Roger's trick, but it seemed to be of no use, and the situation became worse.
From the moment he realized Roger's arrival, the fight between Lorenzo and Roger no longer existed on the material level. The moment Roger's voice sounded, Lorenzo was invaded. At this moment, they were in Lorenzo's
[Gap] in the middle.
"Withered and dilapidated, you have become like this...So, when you show up again this time, you are not just unable to bear it anymore, it's that simple, right?"
Lorenzo asked.
"Our existence will be almost eternal due to sublimation, but it is only close. Nothing is immortal. No matter how stubborn the will is, it will become corrupted over time.
It’s not that you can’t help it, you’re just running out of time.”
Roger was silent for a while, and then laughed hoarsely. Every time he laughed, countless dust shook off his face, like a cracked plaster statue, with fine cracks appearing as his expression changed.
"Yes, the sublimation is not complete. That's it. The bad nature still exists. It hinders me and makes me more and more... lost." Roger said.
"Just like the other lost ones."
Lorenzo affirmed that in that illusory temple of stasis, he had seen too many lost people. They did not die, but they could never wake up again.
This is also an eternity, a sad immortality.
"So Roger, what are you doing all this for?"
Lorenzo seemed very puzzled. He waved his hand and another bench appeared under Roger. Roger didn't say anything and sat on it directly. The two of them just looked at each other in a longing way.
"for what?"
Roger seemed a little confused about what Lorenzo meant. What was even more strange was that the tense situation just now suddenly relaxed and everything seemed very harmonious.
It was like talking all night long under the gaze of the stars.
"It's a bit complicated. I think you shouldn't be in a hurry, right?" Lorenzo asked, "After all, you have invaded my [gap]. From the moment I saw you, I have already lost."
Lorenzo admitted his failure. It was unimaginable that Roger could be so terrifying. His own protection had no effect at all. He followed the traces of his erosion and directly broke through all the defense lines.
Roger nodded. He was naturally not in a hurry. In the face of absolute force, everything was under his control. If he wanted to kill Lorenzo, he would have done so as early as the moment he stepped into this [gap].
It can tear up a crazy storm and strangle Lorenzo's consciousness into a ball of paste.
Not only Lorenzo was curious about him, but Roger was also curious about the young man in front of him. It had been so long since everything happened, and he never imagined that there was someone who could return to the path of sublimation.
"For what purpose did you do all this?"
Lorenzo asked puzzledly.
"You said that you longed to end the struggle of mankind, to enter the great sublimation together, and to make adaptive changes, but in front of you, you are about to become lost again, which means that you are actually going to die."
"A guy who is about to die and is completely lost..."
Lorenzo laughed. When he said this, he could recall too many people, people who did whatever it took to survive, and even degenerated into monsters.
"Are you trying to sublimate everyone for the continuation of mankind, or are you just for your own continuation and have chosen such a reason to justify your crazy behavior?"
Lorenzo questioned Roger, and Roger was silent for a while. He spoke, but did not answer Lorenzo's question.
"You think I would do something crazy like that under the threat of death... What about you? Holmes, you are going to die now, why aren't you afraid?"
Roger put his hands on his knees, his waist stopped, and there was no expression on his face. After Lorenzo said that he was going to be lost, he gave up all disguises and revealed his body like a corpse.
"Because I haven't lived long enough. I have only lived... for only a few decades. I am still passionate about the world and my mind is still single-minded. If I decide to do something, I must complete it.
So my reason is still dominated by anger, which drives me to do some seemingly irrational actions, even if it means death."
Lorenzo answered calmly.
"I just don't live as long as you do. The longer you live, the more time you have to think about it. In that long time scale, many things actually lose their meaning to you.
Yes, that's pretty much it. I have never experienced the so-called "eternity and immortality", so I am not afraid of losing it. After all, I have never had it.
But you are different, Roger Cruz, you have already enjoyed the taste of 'eternity and immortality', how can you be willing to give it up now?"
Silence is still silence.
Conversations between two people are always like this, one party talks, the other party is silent, and then it takes a long time for someone to respond, just like facing a huge wall, it takes a long time before you hear some echo.
"Maybe, as you said, I have lived too long."
Roger said slowly.
"Everyone's life is composed of different time periods, and in each time period, our inner thoughts are different.
In fact, many times, I can’t figure out whether I was influenced by the Unspeakable One to do such a thing, or whether I really want human beings to advance to sublimation, or, as you said, I am just afraid.
Just death."
Roger seemed to be telling the truth, but it didn't seem like he was telling the truth. Lorenzo was not sure about this either. After all, he couldn't read any useful information from his mask-like face.
"I can't remember it, Holmes. Even if I had any great wishes, as you said, they have slightly deteriorated over a long period of time.
So, it’s really difficult to maintain your original intention.”
Roger reluctantly lowered his head and swept away the snow dust with his feet, revealing a transparent ice surface, with Roger's face reflected on it against the backdrop of the stars.
"I thought I had not changed, but every time I looked in the mirror, I suddenly realized that I had changed beyond recognition, but I didn't realize it at all.
Holmes, you must have experienced it, just like at a certain moment, you suddenly look back on the past, and you will realize that you have become a completely different person from the original you, and what is left is not only nostalgia, but also
There was fear and a cold sweat all over my body.
Unknowingly, we have turned into such monsters, and we still think that we are normal, and we are advancing on an even crazier path."
Roger seemed to be really revealing his feelings, and thinking about it, Lorenzo was a dead man in his eyes anyway, so there was no problem in talking about this with a dead man.
"So maybe it's like you said, I just lived too long, and many things have become blurred and deteriorated.
Some things are no longer distinguishable. All I can do is believe stubbornly and execute them. This is the only answer to this dilemma, and it is also the answer I choose."
Roger stood up and walked slowly towards Lorenzo. Every step he took lightly shook the snow dust. The ice under his feet was filled with cracks, and the world in the "Gap" began to tremble.
This is the countdown to death and the final sentence for Lorenzo.
"I guess Edlen is like this too. What's the point of his perseverance? The Watchers are doomed to wither. All he does is postpone the destruction of mankind from morning to afternoon.
Death is still doomed, leaving only endless nothingness."
This was not a mockery, Roger was just stating the facts coldly.
In fact, Roger doesn't know what kind of person he is anymore. In his long life, his consciousness has been changed too much, including the teachings of the Keeper of Secrets, the meeting of Edron, and even the erosion of the Unspeakable.
.
He has long been lost, and only blind and stubborn actions are left to affirm his existence.
"Edron knows all this, and he also knows that such a useless move, but he still does it, just like pushing a boulder to the top of the mountain. No matter how many times he tries, the boulder will still roll down.
He has to be like this, no matter how many times he fails, because he is the pope and the patriarch. This is the meaning of his existence. Even if this 'meaning' is meaningless, he still has to be so blind and stubborn, just like me...
…”
Roger walked up to Lorenzo, stretched out his finger and pressed it on his forehead. The corrosive force was expanding, almost bursting Lorenzo's [gap].
"Just like you, Lorenzo Holmes."
Roger's voice was very soft, as if he was coaxing a child to sleep.
"We are all walking zombies. For our own purposes, we keep moving forward, even if our bodies have become rotten, our consciousness has become blurred, and we can't even understand ourselves."
The ice began to collapse, the seawater boiled and wailed, and the stars lost their original splendor and fell into deep darkness.
Roger's face began to wither, and a corner of that cold face was broken, like a broken mask, but what was hidden underneath was not scarlet flesh and blood, but a deep darkness. In that deep darkness, there were hundreds of scarlet eyes.
He opened it and peered at Lorenzo.
"It's so sad, Roger, you've been dead a long time ago," Lorenzo looked at his scarlet eyes and shook his head, "But I'm different from you, Roger Cruz."
Facing death, Lorenzo showed no fear. Even though huge waves were rolling around him, he sat steadily on the bench and glared at Roger.
"I am a human being, a fragile and ridiculous human being. I have not lived as long as you, and I will not live as long as you.
I knew what I was about to do and I never forgot it.
I will always stick to it.
Until you are driven out and killed, or I am devoured by fire."
Lorenzo laughed wildly, stared into those scarlet eyes, and shouted loudly.
"Enemy, I'm here to kill you."
This was a ridiculous and cruel statement, but soon Roger felt another force rising up, a force he had never felt before, it was so... grand.
Tens of thousands of bells chimed, the prayers continued, and the collapse of the [Gap] stopped in an instant. Lorenzo stretched out his hand and immediately grasped a beam of starlight that pierced the darkness.
An antimeme is a piece of information, a piece of self-enclosed information, and its carrier can be anything that can be recognized, such as a bullet, such as a black cube, such as... an unyielding will.
In reality, Lorenzo was sitting on his knees in the shadows, and the black cube in his hand cracked apart at some point and turned into countless black fragments, scattered on the ground.
The erosion carrying the antimeme begins to expand. It is like a train burning with fire. It is not known when it will collapse, but what you can know is that before death comes, it will be fully loaded with gunpowder and rush towards the target.
Lorenzo comforted himself, don't be nervous, he had already planned it many times.
Use [Final Echo] to become its carrier, invade [Gap], and constantly jump among the crowd...
Lorenzo had calculated that he was very fast. With only a dozen [Gap] invasions at the extreme range, he could reach the Cathedral of Saint-Naro, the Temple of Stasis, and the Well of Sublimation through this method.
Roger also realized Lorenzo's intention immediately, and he used high-intensity antimemetics to temporarily force himself back.
"I'll stop you! You can't have a smooth journey!"
Roger yelled that every jump of Lorenzo must be carefully calculated. As long as there is a slight mistake, he will be overtaken by Roger. More importantly, Roger believes that Lorenzo will be able to do it in Stasis Saint.
The palace was blocked.
The demon hunters already knew the cause of all this, and they would not let anyone get close to the Well of Ascension, where Lorenzo had no vehicle to jump.
"Do you think... all this is just a temporary move?"
Lorenzo scoffed.
"No, this has been planned for a long time."
In the distant temple of stasis, the new pope had already knelt down by the Well of Sublimation. He accidentally took off the silver crown of thorns and put it together with the telegram from the old Dunling.
Seine Lothair didn't know if what he was doing was right. He even thought he was crazy for believing such nonsense, but in the end he still appeared here.
Staring at the darkness down the well, behind him stood a group of demon hunters holding nailed swords, with expressionless faces and crowns on their heads.